Info Manager

Info Manager for August 18, 2003

[*]   Business Week's "Future of Technology"

[*]   MacTech: How Blaster Worm Affects Mac Networks

[*]   Blaster Coverage from HotWired

[*]   AOL's e-mail releases Communicator

[*]   NetZero and Juno Play Catch-up

[*]   OS X School Upgrade Extended

[*]   101 Uses for Apple IChat

[*]   Plastics

[*]   "We Can Put an End to Word Attachments"

[*]   Help for tired typists: BBAutoComplete

[*]   Coupon bar codes

[*]   Microsoft Cuts Price on Office v. X.

[*]   Jury orders Microsoft to pay more than $520 million

[*]   Michigan law chief slams 'bogus' anti- spam group

[*]   StarBand Embraces Mac Users, Offers More Bandwidth

[*]   DiskLabel gets fixed

[*]   Tacky Shirt Clarification

[*]   Quotes: Pagnol, Peck, Gandhi
 

Business Week's "Future of Technology"

As part of this "special issue", BW talks about sensor networks. This is really intriguing as they will be a collection of sensors the size of a spec of dirt that communicate with each other and send information back to a data collection computer. The US military is already experimenting with them to see if they can detect troop movements. That story is at: www.businessweek.com/

MacTech: How Blaster Worm Affects Mac Networks

Last week MacTech posted this report:
While the Win32 Blaster Worm is wreaking havoc on the net, you might think that this only affects Windows networks, but that appears now to not be the case.
      Reports are still coming in, but it does look like the Win32 Blaster Worm *can* affect Mac networks as well. Macs do appear to be unaffected, but if even if you have only a single Windows machine on your network, it can affect not only the Internet connection ... but also your LAN. Even machines that are on private IPs on the net will have connectivity problems, and the worm appears to be able to permeate through routers which would normally act as a gatekeeper.
      The solution: Unplug the Windows machines from your network, update with the appropriate security patch, and then run the removal tool. More details can be seen at SlashDot.org
Patches can be downloaded from the Microsoft web site and the removal tool can be downloaded at Semantec dot com
Details are still evolving, but already this morning we've seen multiple large, primarily Mac networks be seriously affected. Unplugging the Windows machines from the network instantly brought them back up.
Thanks to MacTech Magazine for sending this in.www.mactech.com

Blaster Coverage from HotWired

Last week, Blaster Worm news was flying all over the place but hotwired.com/ seemed to have the coverage with the most personality

• Microsoft Downplays Mail Worm -- (8/4) Microsoft issues a warning about a worm that exploits a flaw in its Internet Explorer browser, but claims it won't cause major security problems.
• New Worm Mocks 'Billy' Gates -- (8/12) Window is the target of yet another worm. This one, known as Blaster, not only attacks the operating system but also goes after the Microsoft website that distributes the patch.
• New Fears Around Blaster Worm -- (8/15) Asia braces for Saturday, the day when Blaster is expected to leap snarling onto the flanks of a cowed Internet-using public once again. This assault is expected to be more disruptive than the original.
• Power Failure Not Tied to Worm -- (8/15) Computer network and security experts say they have no reason to believe Thursday's massive power loss in the U.S. and Canada was related to the Blaster computer worm.
• Microsoft Braces for Blaster -- (8/16) As the worm's preprogrammed blitz begins, the software giant takes advantage of a flaw in the malicious code to sidestep the threat to one of its websites. Meanwhile, new versions of Blaster make the rounds.

AOL's e-mail releases Communicator

In the Chicago Tribune, there is a review of AOL 9.0's mail program. Says that it now has everything you would expect in an e-mail program. If this is true, then it can't happen fast enough. I quit using Claris' eMailer program when I switched to OS X, and certainly am not happy using the current version of AOL's mail program. However, since this new version called AOL Communicator is available for both platforms, it is possible to switch right away. YEAH!!
      I will check it out and let you know what I think. Meanwhile, keep get the story at:
www.chicagotribune.com/

NetZero and Juno Play Catch-up

You've heard the term "Bass Ackwards"? When NetZero and Juno launched Internet access for Mac OS X users earlier this year there were peals of applause from at least some Mac users. Another large segment of the Mac market was quite puzzled however: "Why did they skip OS/9?"
      Last Wednesday they played catch-up by introducing NetZero Platinum for Mac and Juno Platinum for Mac Internet access services for the Mac OS 9 platform. The $9.95 a month service is less than 1/2 the standard price of EarthLink and AOL, but seems to boast about the same features and benefits.
      If you're using either service, we'd like to hear your comments. Both services can be downloaded at www.netzero.com or www.juno.com with your Macintosh computer, or you can order service by phone at 877-NETZERO or 800-TRY-JUNO, or zip on over to: www.untd.com/

OS X School Upgrade Extended

Good news for districts wanting to upgrade to Mac OS X -- Apple has extended the deadline for participation in the Mac OS X District License Program -- until September 27 take advantage of this great program and its numerous benefits. The cost is still $25 per system, which may yet present a hardship for some schools. See: www.apple.com/education/districtlicense/

101 Uses for Apple IChat

Leander Kahney writes: "People are finding many versatile uses for Apple's iChat AV software, like sharing video across town or finding dates. Thing is, they're not using it much for video conferencing, the task for which it was built." in his Wired column:

Plastics

According to the issue of Business Week, the future of computers is "plastics". Actually they are taking about the viewing screen, but it is still a big deal. Rollup and flexible screens. What next? Full story at: Businessweek.com

"We Can Put an End to Word Attachments"

In a web site with the above title, it is proposed that we stop using Word documents as "standard" format for text attachments. They not only have alternative formats, but provide you with boiler plate SIGs and reply messages that help get the point across to your correspondents. See it at: GNU.org/

Help for tired typists: BBAutoComplete

The Freeware program BBAutoComplete adds word auto-completion to BBEdit, Mailsmith, Script Debugger, Tex-Edit Plus, and TextWrangler. You type the start of a word, press a key, and BBAutoComplete types the letters to complete the word. If BBAutoComplete guessed wrong, you can keep pressing the key to cycle through other possible completions. Other auto-completion utilities need to be taught the abbreviations and expansions that you use; BBAutoComplete avoids this hassle by automatically looking for expansions in the program's open documents. This means that it always suggests completions that are relevant to your current task.
      BBAutoComplete is probably most useful for programmers, who need to remember and type long variable and method names, but it can also help with prose writing. It's useful any time you need to type long words quickly and accurately.
      Mac OS X 10.1 or later, it's free: Direct Download... or more Info:
C-command.com

Coupon bar codes

In order to save money, I have done a lot of couponing for groceries over the years. I am on a mailing list that talks about couponing in the DFW area. There a member posted a web site that tells of the codes used in the bar codes on the coupons. So sometimes a coupon is good for a product that isn't listed on the coupon itself. For example perhaps it would actually work for a smaller package. Or perhaps it will give you the discount on a smaller number of products than what is actually printed in English. The numbers are referencing the two "XX" numbers in this example bar code: 5 15300 110XX 3. So you can get the codes yourself at: Barcode-graphics.com

Microsoft Cuts Price on Office v. X.

Microsoft reduced the price of the standard edition of Office v. X to $399 from $499. They also introduced a new $499 professional edition of the Office software suite for the Macintosh, which adds Virtual PC to the package.
      Microsoft also announced another edition of Office v. X for students and teachers at a discounted price of $149, previously only offered to Windows PC users. Details at:
Microsoft.com/mac

Jury orders Microsoft to pay more than $520 million

According to the Associated Press Newswires, a federal jury awarded a software company and the University of California more than $520 million in damages Monday after finding that Microsoft Corp.'s popular Internet Explorer browser infringed on a patent. Details at: Statesman.com

Michigan law chief slams 'bogus' anti- spam group

Remove.org, the "Do Not Spam" list outfit that has been accused of making false claims about its offering and even spamming people itself, has been warned by the Michigan Attorney General to buck up its act. Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox last week issued a legal notice to Remove.org warning the company that it faces a potential lawsuit under the Michigan Consumer Protection Act for deceptively marketing its supposedly anti-spam service to consumers. Full story at: Theregister.co.uk

StarBand Embraces Mac Users, Offers More Bandwidth

On August 12th, StarBand made an announce many Mac users have been wanting for years At last it is possible for Mac users to get broadband service via satellite dish. This possible because they are using a new modem called the 480 Pro. Thus, any machine that speaks Ethernet should be able to connect via the new modem. There is a problem with expense, an up front cost of $599 or more and a base rate of $149.99 a month on a 2 year contract. There are some discounts if you already use their service. There is also an announcement on the page about coming pricing. So it is only for people who have no other option. Details at: Starband.com

DiskLabel gets fixed

Many were thrilled with Disclabel at Macworld Creative Pro (Macworld magazine's Best of Show Award) and took home a copy. Disclabel helps you make great-looking labels for your CDs, DVDs, cases, and related materials: but you may have been alarmed when it crashed on import from iTunes or iPhoto. Well, those bugs have been squashed, and several new features added in their Disclabel 1.0.1 upgrade. It requires Mac OS X 10.2 or later, and you can download a free 30-day trial [2.9MB], or Visit them at:
Disclabel.com/

Tacky Shirt Clarification

I asked Sam Crutsinger, (former member of the MacPack of Dallas), at Tacky Shirt about the possibility of groups renting the OS X DVD that they have developed to the groups members. However, he has agreed to provide NFR copies for review and demo to MUGs. You can check with him at: questions@tackyshirt.com. Meanwhile, you can get a preview at the web site at: Tacky Shirt.com

Quotes: Pagnol, Peck, Gandhi

"Honor is like a match, you can only use it once."
      - Marcel Pagnol, French dramatist and filmmaker

"Life is a series of problems. Do we want to moan about them or solve them?"
      - M. Scott Peck

"Keep my word positive.
Words become my behaviors. Keep my behaviors positive.
Behaviors become my habits. Keep my habits positive.
Habits become my values. Keep my values positive.
Values become my destiny."
      - Mahatma Gandhi

Happy Birthday Fred
      Today is Fred's birthday -- I understand he'll be 39 again this year! (GRIN)

pau

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Also see: MUG NEWS bursts from the AACUG Mac User Guide (MUG)

Note: Features schedule

The InfoManager invites user groups to use his column in full or in pieces in their newsletter. Or add a link to their web site. He would appreciate word that you are doing so however and if you can, please send a pdf version of the newsletter for his perusal. Or provide him with a link. The address is InfoManager@user-groups.net. You can also use that address for feed back.
Note: Features schedule
1st Monday Vendor of the Month; (VOM)
2nd Monday "InfoManager's Humble Opinion (IMHO);
3rd Monday TBA (What would you like to see?)
4th Monday: User Group Tips. (Send them in)
5th Monday: Nothing extra - my day of rest. ;-)
Of course I could make adjustments to this schedule as I see fit and will take suggestions. Have a great week! Note: In light of the new AACUG MUG tabloid publication, I may be changing the above schedule. Please send me your input.
Pau

The Info Manager is a veteran of the UGN (AOL User Groups Forum) and User Group Network. He's been a supporter and volunteer on many, many UGNet and User Group Academy projects. As a long time user group member, he's served as volunteer from Honolulu to Boston and many points in between. Currently working with the Apple Corp of Dallas, the Dallas Mac Pack, Cowtown MUG of Ft. Worth and TUMS (the Tulsa Users of Macintosh Society) doing newsletter articles and the monthly CD-ROM Update. Post a lead Info Manager should follow up on.

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