UGN Info Manager UGN Info Manager
eWeek ran this article talking about "a monster update to correct 16 potentially serious vulnerabilities in the Mac OS X operating system."
Apparently, this update is to correct flaws that might have lead to security bypass, spoofing, Dos attacks and more. ... see the full story...
America's Network, a publication aimed at the telecom/wireless industry said that a start up company, SunRocket will offer a flat-rate VoIP service to Chicago. The rate will be $199 per year. Read more...
Not sure where I got this information. I believe it was from a newsletter called Internet Daily. But I don't even have a record of where I subscribed to it at.
But, they are saying that AOL is planning to launch a free e-mail service in 2005 with @aim.com as the address and thus relating it to its free instant messager service. That may put additional pressure on Apple to provide new services on .mac. (It will also open a whole new realm of opportunity for spammers!)
There recently was a discussion on InfiniteLoop mailing list. Apparently one of the benefits of having a .Mac account is a subscription to 'VersionTracker Plus'. that would normally cost $24.95 a year. When you sign up at VersionTracker, you are also give the option of signing up for a highter package. But in any case, it is well worth the money for any professional user of the Mac. Makes it easy to stay up to date on all your software. (Thanks to Johnathan on the InfiniteLoop list for pointing this out.) Check out all the options and the links to your favorite software at http://www.versiontracker.com or look for the free VT Plus subscription at ... mac.com/WebObjects
ZDNet ran an article last week taking about the fact that more and more DSL providers are switching to VDSL from the much more common ADSL that most of us use. This means that VDSL (Very high bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line) will outpace ASDL, (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) in terms of growth.
According to Instat/MDR, ADSL will grow 52 percent this year, but in 2005 will only grow 14 percent compared to the expected growth rate of 65.2 percent for VDSL in 2005. Read more...
Last week, executives working closely with the proposed Wi-Fi technical standards, 802.11n said devices based on the new radio technology - called multiple input/multiple output - would begin arriving on store shelves in 2006. The standard is based on technology that allows data transmission speeds of up to 100M bps.
So far, four separate 802.11n proposals have been discussed. Engineers working on the specification mulled the proposals over earlier this year during a meeting in San Antonio. It is expected that two of these proposals will be cut when the IEEE 802.11 Task Group N meets at Monterey, Calif., early next year.
But eventually, it will be cut to a single standard. But all that speed does sound exciting. ... see the full story...
Last Friday, Apple annouced that the iTunes Music Store in the US will accept PayPal for purchases. That is good news for those who want to limit the places on the Internet that have their credit card numbers. Read the press release at: www.apple.com/
The rumors maybe coming true. China View, a Chinese based publication has a story about how Apple has agreed to purchase flash memory from Toshiba. This memory is specifically designed to work in music players. The sales are suppose to start early next year. Flash-based players, are described as "store music on memory cards instead of drives with moving parts, allow for more shock-resistant, sleeker designs."
They claim that the Apple flash memory iPod could sell for as little as $149. MacWorld Expo could be very interesting. ... see the full story...
Here are online articles which are actually excerpts from Peachpit books... Includes: Dock vs. Sidebar: Which To Use?; Creating Audio CDs from Any Source; Faxing with Mac OS X Panther; Securing Mac OS X; Creating a Custom Screen Saver with iPhoto; and Wireless Networking with a Macintosh ... in the UGN Library
Mac Evangelist Joe Showker takes the G5 iMac to a business conference of about 500 people where PC users rule -- then blows them all away! PC attendees agree that Mac is a lot more than "pretty pictures and cutsy sounds..." -- gushing over the iMac vs. their boring PCs! G5 WOWs PeeCee Business Users
Chuck Green is back with a major blockbuster -- his Design-it-yourself GRAPHIC WORKSHOP is a delightful instruction manual for non-designers, and a healthy shot of creative energy for the pros... don't miss it! www.design-bookshelf.com
Following our Picture-to-Text piece last month, Kathy writes from Deer Island, OR, USA to tip us on three others which generate ascii text from an image:
* Text to image online: an Italian site with the source code:
http://pic2text.divxmania.it/
* text-image.com with a similar software package:
http://www.text-image.com, and
* TOOGLE, a Text version of Googles Image Search that creates images out of the very term that was used to fetch those images.
* We searched for "Santa" http://www.c6.org/toogle/index.php?phrase=Santa
See our column ART TEXT
Unfortunately, Alien Skin's latest Eye Candy plug-in collection for Photoshop arrived just yesterday -- too late for this month's issue -- but I just have to mention it here. The new addition to the Eye Candy series is called "Nature" and delivers 10 plug-in filters for Adobe Photoshop 7, CS and other image editing programs, complete with fire, smoke, rust, icicles and more. Nature delivers four brand new filters and six totally revamped classics. Nature is compatible with Windows 2000/XP and all versions of Macintosh OS X.
Just in time for a "winter wonderland" check out two awesome new filters:
the fabulous SNOW filter, and believe it or not, Icicles.
Others include Fire, Drips, Corona, and an all time favorite -- the best Water Drops filter you'll see anywhere www.alienskin.com
Planet Spogg has rolled out four all new Mac online games. The games; Crosswise, Multris, Ooze and Sketchorama, are all multiplayer in the genres of word, drawing and puzzle. Planet Spogg is known for their unique multiplayer online games -- played directly on the Web using Java. Membership is $4 per month or $34 annual...
See Screenshots ... macgames.spogg.com
This week we'll have fun with games and some rather cool iPod and iLife utilities including... Reckless Drivin, Dangerous Mines: remake of popular game, Burning Monkey Solitaire, iPod iSpeak It , ZappTek iPod Launcher, iPodRip iPod control, ZappTek iPod It, Guitar Rig, and more! In UGN Shareware Department
MaMug's Daniel East gives the Epson 2200 another run for its money... if you are looking for outstanding professional grade output, this is your printer ... Epson 2200
Authors Tom Stafford and Matt Webb delve into cognitive neuroscience in an attempt to give the brain its due... most interesting reading! Hacking the brain! ...
Anyone who uses a Mac will tell you that most of the time your Mac is your best friend. But there are also those times--whether you're the proud owner of the very latest version or you're still tapping away on yesterday's model--when your Mac can show its dark side. This book helps you through those hard times! ...
Adam Engst writes:
>> Shopping for the right digital camera can be overwhelming" So, this book will be a great help -- with everything you need to make the right decisions about buying a digital camera.
Prosoft Engineering is offering Picture Rescue at 50% off What are your digital picture's worst enemy? Accidental deletion; unintentional re-formatting; and inexplicable corruption, happen all too often. Fortunately, Picture Rescue offers picture recovery options in even the most extreme digital media disasters. Now you can pick it up for just $30 (use code 'PIC007') Download, or Read more...
According to Secunia Research, Safari is vulnerable to malicious spoofing of Web sites. Research has reported that a website can inject content into another site's window if the target name of the window is known. This can e.g. be exploited by a malicious website to spoof the content of a pop-up window opened on a trusted website. With this test you can determine if your browser is vulnerable. We tried the test and found OS X with Safari to be vulnerable, but Explorer 5.7 under OS 9.2.2 was NOT -- we suspect it's a ploy to sell Secunia's software. Take the test
The occasional graphics or drawing creator should check out WorksWell 2.5 and DrawWell 2.5 for Mac OS X. WorksWell is a vector drawing application with a set of drawing, charting, PDF annotation, slidesow and text tools to create virtually any presentation or document. DrawWell is the lite version of WorksWell, featuring only drawing and text capabilities. WorksWell is $100, while DrawWell is $50. Upgrades from DrawWell to WorksWell are $60.
DrawWell: all of WorksWell's powerful vector based illustration and DTP features without the Charting, Presentation, PDF markup and external Data Merging features... for less www.drawwell.com
The Dashboard and Dashboard Widgets are intriguing new technologies that will be available in Mac OS X Tiger. Apple has announced a second Apple Dashboard Widget Contest. Now through January 5, developers have another chance to win a 40GB iPod and receive public recognition for their work. Enter the Apple Dashboard Widget Contest today to take advantage of this terrific opportunity to begin developing Widgets for Tiger. Submissions must be made between December 9 and January 5, 2005. ... see the full story...
When one door of happiness closes, another opens: but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.?
- Helen Keller
"Courage is not the towering oak that sees storms come and go; it is the fragile blossom that opens in the snow."
- Alice Mackenzie Swaim
Have a great week...
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