Info Manager for September 9, 2002

[*]  Aloha music Internet radio;   [*]  JVC claims 'uncopyable' CD-ROM;   [*]  Get a degree in Cell Phones;   [*]  The Newton just won't disappear;   [*]  Temporary boot from another System;   [*]  Mac on x86?;   [*]  iPod at Best Buy;   [*]  Boston keeps trying for Expo;   [*]  "Happy Mac" icon for Jaquar;   [*]  Hoax virus warnings and spam scams: The top 10;   [*]  FTC asked to stop commercial spam;   [*]  Sony announces an Internet connected hard-disk video recorder;   [*]  Train simulators;   [*]  Piracy And Privacy;   [*]  Walmart.com Offers $199 PC;   [*]  Watson;   [*]  MUG of the Week: HSMUG "Best User Group Web Site";   [*]  Quotes: Horace, Sam Walton, Eva Love;  
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Aloha music Internet radio

At the end of August, a reader of the Honolulu Advertiser pointed out that the new royalty plan had killed off his favorite Hawaiian Internet music station. But he recommended a number of places to purchase Hawaiian goods and then later, another reader pointed out an alternative advertiser backed station. The web sites follow. (I started my user group career with the Honolulu Apple Users Society in 1982. Always glad to support the locals.): BuyHawaii.com, Mele.com
... or try ... http://www.alohajoe.com

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JVC claims 'uncopyable' CD-ROM

A ZDnet article with the above title is certainly interesting. They seem to have figured out a copy protection scheme that will be VERY difficult to break. However, it doesn't work on audio CDs.
Full story at: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-955918.html

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Get a degree in Cell Phones

Wired on August 30th, ran an article about how Auburn University students in Alabama will now be able to major in cell phones. Why not? Someone has to design the next generation. (G3 won't be the last!)
Full story at: http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,54536,00.html

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The Newton just won't disappear

Wired also has an article that should make Newton users proud. They tell how strong the Newton is still going after Apple killed it off years ago. It can even be used as an MP3 player and of course can surf the net.
Full story at: http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,54580,00.html

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Temporary boot from another System

I don't remember which mailing list this was on, but some of you may find it interesting: "I was just browsing the Knowledge Base, and came across something I'd not known before. Of course, if you buy a new machine, it comes preconfigured with both OS 9 and OS X in the same, single partition. So then there's the obstacle of utilizing Startup Manager when booting (holding down the option key) Startup Manager will search for all available boot volumes, but will find only one operating system per volume, and will find the OS which was booted last. Most of us already know that holding down C on booting tells the computer to look for a bootable CD.
     I just discovered today that holding down the X on booting instructs the computer to boot from OS X, even if OS 9 had been the previously-booted OS or if OS 9 was the current selection in the Startup Disk control panel. And, unlike Startup Manager, which does not permanently change your selection, booting this way will change your System Preferences to select X as the bootup OS."
That was followed up with:
     "Here is a related tip for those multi-partition dwellers: Holding down the ‘D' key at startup boots up to whatever OS resides in the first partition. Since I have placed my production OS X partition first, I can always get home. Upon reflecting about how I might do this differently, I might put a small pristine OS X partition first, populated with troubleshooting utilities.
     One other thing that has not even been mentioned is use of the option key at boot time. This gives you a graphical picture of what disks are available and what OS; it even shows CDs (and a network boot if it is online.)
The only problem with the option key boot is that if X and 9 are on the same partition, option-booting will only show one of them (X, in my case)."

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Mac on x86?

According to an article on eWeek, Apple is indeed keeping its options open and has a system that will run on Intel chips as a backup project (code name: Marklar). While this probably won't happen for awhile, if ever, it does make an interesting read:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,496270,00.asp

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iPod at Best Buy

Best Buy has agreed to sell the iPod. According to some articles, they will sell all the models, while another one says that will happen only via BestBuy.com and that the stores will carry two Windows models and one for Mac. In any case, it is a good deal for both companies.
A complete story at: http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=883

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Boston keeps trying for Expo

In an article in last Wednesday's Boston Globe the paper shows how much Boston wants Mac World Expo to return. If they can convince the powers that be to the return, they may also get LinuxWorld. MacWorld Expo was held in Boston for the first 13 years of its existence and prior to that there were a number of Apple Fests. (I remember attending one Fest with a Pirate Flag flying at the hotel across the street from the show. It was my first major computer show.)
Read all about the efforts at: http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/247/business/Boston_woos_Macworld+.shtml

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"Happy Mac" icon for Jaquar

Thanks to MacMinute.com, I learned about Ryan Schmidt's detailed instructions on how to change the startup screen so that the "Happy Mac" can be replaced in Jaguar. Of course, you could use this to do a custom startup screen as well. See the instructions at: http://www.ryandesign.com/jagboot/ Another solution is at:
http://www.fishbacksw.com/

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Hoax virus warnings and spam scams: The top 10

Here's what's been fooling email users this summer. While the site lists all 10, the one that caught my eye was #10: "Mobile phone hoax (2.3 per cent) - A hoax virus warning with a twist - it's about mobile phones. "NOW THERE IS A VIRUS ON MOBILE PHONE SYSTEMS. If you receive a phone call and your phone displays "UNAVAILABLE" on the screen DON'T ANSWER THE CALL. END THE CALL IMMEDIATELY!!!

Verdict: More nonsense preying upon users' techno-fears. Don't worry, your Nokia is quite safe."
See the story at: http://www.silicon.com/public/door?6004REQEVENT=&REQINT1=55363&REQSTR1=silicon.com

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FTC asked to stop commercial spam

According to Computer World, three consumer groups launched a petition drive to ask the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to stop deceptive and unsolicited commercial junk e-mail, or spam. They are claiming that up to 40% of the traffic on the Internet is SPAM.
Full story at: Computerworld ... or from the
Direct Marketers point of view: http://www.dmnews.com/cgi-bin/artprevbot.cgi?article_id=21467

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Sony announces an Internet connected hard-disk video recorder

Last Wednesday, Sony unveiled the above mentioned recorder that can seek out and record TV programs it thinks its owner would like. "The device, which uses a hard-disk drive instead of optical discs or magnetic tapes, will be the first of Sony's ``Cocoon'' line of products that aim to become an alternative to the PC for accessing Internet content."
Full story at: http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/4000223.htm

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Train simulators

London's The Guardian has a computer advice column and got this question:
"I'd love to buy my father a train sim, but he has a Mac. The only train sims I can find are for PCs."
The response was pretty good: "The best non-Japanese game seems to be Microsoft Train Simulator, which was written in the UK by Kuju Entertainment. No Mac version has been announced, but your father may be able to run it using Connectix's Virtual PC for Mac, which Mac users buy so they can run Windows software. Alternative gifts include Abracadata's Train Engineer Deluxe and 3D Railroad Concept And Design (www.abracadata.com/maclist. html ) and Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon II, which may be old but is still a great game.
For more on train sims, see http://www.trainsim.org.uk

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Piracy And Privacy

The Washington Post has a good (if scary) article about the trade offs between the end users privacy and the act of music piracy. The RIAA is trying to get Verizon to turn over the name of a DSL subscriber that they suspect of distributing MP3 via his Verizon account. So far, Verizon refuses to do so citing privacy concerns. But what is REALLY scary is this line:
     "Pending legislation sponsored by Reps. Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.) and Howard Coble (R-N.C.) would allow the industry to hack into offenders' computers to disrupt file sharing, while the industry is also putting out fake music files to try to discourage downloads."
Can't you see innocents getting hurt here?
Full story at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38034-2002Sep4.html?referer=email

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Walmart.com Offers $199 PC

According to TWICE, a retail industry publication, Walmart.com now has an 800 MHz pc for sale for $199. You can choose between one with an Ethernet card or one with a 56K modem at that price. They do come with Lindows and 10 applications.
Full story at: http://www.tvinsite.com/twice/index.asp?layout=story&doc_id=100703&display=breakingNews

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Watson

Even though some were predicting that Sherlock 3 would kill off Watson, Karelia has announced an X.2 version. This one works directly with Google and does Amazon searches. (Apparently Sherlock does not.) So there is still some life in this terrific product.
Full story at: http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=904

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MUG of the Week: HSMUG "Best User Group Web Site"

I neglected to cover the UG Academy Awards during July's Expo. You should look at the web site winner from the Hot Springs Mac Users Group. One thing they do is list other Arkansas MUGs. It is good to stick together.
See: http://www.hsmug.org/

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Quotes: Horace, Sam Walton, Eva Love

Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.        Horace

"Anything worth doing well is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well."
        Eva Love

"Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish."
        Sam Walton, 1918-1992, Founder of Wal-Mart

t's not the years in your life that count but rather the life in your years.
     Abraham Lincoln

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News and Info you can use...

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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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