"I hate to seem dense or out of the loop, but for the life of me I can't think of many really useful applications for the located-based encryption technology being touted by Steve Wozniak's company.

"It does, however, help me understand why the Apple co-founder is known as 'the other Steve,' the one who had his day in the sun and left.

"While Steve Jobs, generally considered the less charming (unless he really wants to be) of the two Apple boy geniuses, has bounced from success (Macintosh ) to success (Pixar) to success (iPod), Wozniak gets recent credit for things such as concerts and TV remote control devices. His new company grew out of—I swear—a desire to create a better invisible dog fence...."

"Apple Computer Inc. late Thursday rolled out a monster update to correct 16 potentially serious vulnerabilities in the Mac OS X operating system.

"According to an advisory from Apple, the update corrects flaws that could lead to security bypass, spoofing, exposure of sensitive data, privilege escalation, DoS (denial of service) attacks and unauthorized system access.

"Research firm Secunia has tagged the update as "highly critical."

"Apple Computer Inc. launched its on-line music store in Canada yesterday, a late but much anticipated entrant into a market that already has some successful vendors.

"As it does in the United States and in some European countries, Apple's iTunes music store allows consumers to download digital singles or entire digital albums. Singles, Apple said, are 99 Canadian cents each.

"Albums are priced at different points but, as an example, the latest record from Irish group U2 was selling for $9.99 yesterday. By comparison, Toronto-area record stores are selling the album on compact disc for $15.99.

"One of iTunes major competitors in Canada will be a homegrown vendor, PureTracks, operated by privately held Moontaxi Media Inc. of Toronto.

"PureTracks, which launched just over a year ago in Canada and last month expanded into the U.S. market, also offers digital singles. PureTracks, though, offers some singles for 79 cents each while others cost as much as $1.39."

"S&P counsels caution on Apple's stock as its digital music player's dominance may be challenged by new devices from Sony and others

"You don't have to look around for long to see that Apple's iPod digital music player has made waves in pop culture. You've seen the TV ads: Silhouetted, plugged-in dancers whipping themselves into a frenzy to the sounds of iconic rock band U2. The two-story Apple store in downtown Manhattan looks more like a high-tech art gallery than a retail outlet and draws enviable crowds. The design of Sony Ericsson's new T630 mobile phone has iPod echoes. There's even the "iPod nod," a silent, cool-affirming exchange between strangers sporting the tell-tale white earbuds.

"The music player is also having an impact on Wall Street. Apple shares have more than tripled thus far in 2004 and received another boost on Nov. 22 from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who raised his $52 target price to $100.....

"Amid the hype, Standard & Poor's equity analyst Megan Graham-Hackett thinks there's reason for caution. "

"Although Canadians had to wait awhile to get access to the iTunes Music Store, they are getting a comparative bargain.

"Apple Computer, which opened the virtual doors on the Canadian store late Wednesday, is selling songs for 99 Canadian cents, which translates to about 83 U.S. cents, 16 percent less than those in the United States pay for their iTunes.

"It's an even bigger bargain when compared with Apple's European store, where most tracks cost 99 euro cents, which these days translates to $1.31 U.S. and a whopping $1.56 Canadian. Those in Britain pay even more, 79 pence ($1.52, or $1.81 Canadian)."

"My response to The Mac attack: No sympathy here for teachers polishing Apples by Rich Brooks, an article published in the Sarasota [FL] Herald Tribune on Saturday, November 27, 2004.

"Dear Mr. Brooks,

"You know what this message is about. You're even now, as you skim over the opening lines of this message, trying to make a split second decision about whether to read the rest of it or delete it along with the dozens of other pro-Mac letters you've gotten. Some of them will be poorly written, riddled with personal attacks or insults, most centering on the whole "no-brainer" opening you left for them. Others will be thoughtful, listing dozens of studies and giving links to web sites such as John Droz's ( http://www.macvspc.info ) and Doug Gilliliand's ( http://honorsphysicalscience.com/ ), which you manage to mention without providing a Web address so we can read it for ourselves.

"So maybe you can respond to this message without reading it, since you've probably classified it already as one of those "fanatic" letters and had your incoming mail route it to a special folder where you can read it later when you're not writing important stuff....

"From your point of view, you won't need to read it. Your mind is made up; like all objective journalists and balanced editorial writers, you've seen both sides of the issue, thought about the opposing arguments, taken a stand, and stuck to it. Amazingly enough, you've done so without actually using a Mac, so my hat is off to you."

"If you've spent any time at all using a Windows PC connected to the Internet, you know the horror of malware -- viruses, spyware, adware, mailbots, and other programs that allow others to hijack your computer for their own purposes.

"I know, because I use Windows. I know, because pretty much every time I run Ad-Aware SE, Spybot - Search & Destroy, AntiVir, or Anti-Spy (part of the Yahoo! Toolbar for Internet Explorer on Windows PCs), these programs find new things to remove.

"It's become so bad that a recent report (see Unprotected PCs can be hijacked in minutes) found that Windows PCs would come under attack within minutes of being connected to the Internet. For that matter, so did Macs, the difference being that none of the attacks compromised the Macs.

"In fact, there were no successful compromises of the Mac OS, Linux, or Windows XP computers -- but only when ZoneAlarm was used on the XP machine. Firewalls are the best protection Windows PCs have against such attacks."

"The UK's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has reported Apple's iTunes Music Store to the European Commission (EC) on the grounds that the service may infringe European trade regulations.

"The reason for the move lies in Apple's refusal to allow buyers in one country to purchase music from another nation's iTunes store. While UK consumers pay 79p for songs, customers in France and Germany pay €0.99. At current exchange rates, that comes to 68p. Unfortunately, Apple prevents UK buyers from going to the French store and buying songs there, more cheaply than from the local iTunes store."

"Analysis Snocap, the company formed by Napster creator Shawn Fanning, today launched what it claims is the first music licensing platform that will allow music download services and P2P networks alike to allow any track to be delivered or shared in the knowledge that the copyright holder is taking their cut.

"The company's system essentially takes Napster's original centralised P2P architecture - the one that allowed the music industry to prevail over the company in its epic legal battle - and ditches the P2P client."

"The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has referred Apple's iTunes service to the European Commission on grounds that it overcharges UK customers.

"The move follows a complaint from Which? that iTunes charges UK users 20% more than those in France and Germany.

"Which?, formerly the Consumer Association, also complained that the UK customers were barred from logging on to the French and German sites.

"The OFT is asking the European Commission to rule on the matter."

"Despite lowering its unit-shipment growth forecasts due to caution about the PC market in 2005, Morgan Stanley has suggested that Apple stands the best chances of gaining market share in 2005."

"International Business Machines Corp. has put its personal computing business up for sale in a deal that could be worth as much as $2 billion, The New York Times reported Friday.

IBM , now the No. 3 PC manufacturer behind Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co., is likely to include all of its desktop and laptop computers in the sale, which could bring $1 billion to $2 billion, people close to the negotiations told the newspaper."

"Canadians have at long last got access to their own iTunes Music Store - and are getting bargain songs in the process.

Songs on the Canadian iTunes Music Store are priced at 99 Canadian cents, which works out at around 83 U.S. cents - some 16% less than users pay in the U.S. Songs on the Canadian store work out as the cheapest in the world at present, as European customers pay 99 euro cents - roughly C$1.56 - while British customers pay even more, thanks to their price of 76 pence per track, around C$1.81.

A spokesman for Apple claimed the differences in pricing were down to varying costs imposed by record companies on Apple, which has to negotiate different deals for each region. The company also has to deal with different local tax rates."

"The Apple iPod is the player by which all others are judged."

"Apple Computer Inc. late Thursday rolled out a monster update to correct 16 potentially serious vulnerabilities in the Mac OS X operating system.

According to an advisory from Apple, the update corrects flaws that could lead to security bypass, spoofing, exposure of sensitive data, privilege escalation, DoS (denial of service) attacks and unauthorized system access.

Research firm Secunia has tagged the update as "highly critical.""

"The Olympus m:robeIt is certainly one of the more serious threats to Apple's iPod hegemony. Olympus, best known for its photographic products, this week in Tokyo announced its entry into the portable hard disk music player business with the introduction of two m:robe brand products.

"In contrast to most Japanese electronics manufacturers, Olympus has always ignored the audio business. That it now feels it must jump on the bandwagon is a clear indication that portable digital audio and video players are becoming a booming business. "We believe that because of some unique features we can compete with Apple," a spokesman told European reporters at a press conference at the International Forum in Tokyo."

"The president of Rio has described the company's plans to usurp the iPod from its position as leading product in the music player market, claiming that its products are already taking away market share from Apple's device.

In a report in Business Week, Rio CEO Hugh Cooney claimed it intended to "design the right product at the right value, and then use any kind of buzz we can take advantage of."

Vice president for marketing Dan Torres claimed the company was already stealing away from of the iPod's share, which stands at around 60% of the entire digital music player market. Pointing to its new Carbon 5GB player, Torres said "it's a little hard for us to figure out what share we're taking from them, but we're competing with them directly. So far we think we're doing quite well, and we'll be taking share away from iPod mini.""

"IBM, a cornerstone of the PC industry for over twenty years, is rumored to be putting its PC business up for sale.

The Armonk, NY, technology giant was one of the first companies to come out with the PC, and perhaps the strongest player to push computing into the corporate world. The rumored sale would include all desktops and notebooks, not a big moneymaker for IBM, which has been pushing and expanding its services business. IBM has been trailing leaders Dell and HP in marketshare for some time, ranking third in worldwide PC sales. The NY Times reports that IBM is in talks with Lenovo, China's largest PC maker."

"Preparations are underway this month for a new computer lab in the art department and will be ready for the Spring semester.

The new lab will be made up of Macintosh G5 computers and will be used for graphic design, said Wen-Shu Lai, assistant professor of art.

'For graphics, Mac is better,' she said.

"Lai said the new computers will have a dual processor and plenty of memory, which is necessary for graphic design majors in the professional world.

"The Carr Education-Fine Arts building, in particular the art department, has never had its own computer lab, Lai said.

"She said classes have to be taught in the Mathematics-Computer Science building on PCs.

"The software students used on the PCs will still be the same, but will be offered in the Macintosh version....."

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