UGN Info Manager UGN Info Manager
Which side are you on? Now, there's even a protest song about Net Neutrality! It's difficult to figure out who is who in this media melee... both sides arguing half-truths and emotional rhetoric. This is an issue everyone who uses the internet should follow: Net Neutrality
Our report continues with the war against Phishing -- including: Symantec Puts Threat Warnings On Desktops * Yahoo contains Phishing worm * Windows Live OneCare Protects your PC - almost * HSBC customers hit * Columbia's First National Bank targeted * EDITORIAL: Phishy smell certain sign of sharks * Taiwan fingered as the hub of spam distribution * Oklahoma Attorney General ... and others ... www.user-groups.net/safenet
Jason D. O'Grady on ZDNet talks about the old prices of Macs. He has a price list from August 1991, showing a Mac Classic with 4 MB Ram and a 40 MB hard drive for $1,679 and a Mac IIfx with 4 MB or RAM and a 160 MB hard drive for $5,389 (no monitor, keyboard and mouse extra.) He points out that today, MacBooks start at $1100 and iMacs at $1300. Thus "closing" the price gap. Or at least shrinking it. His story
On Silicon.com, there is an analysis of Apple's market share. Even though Apple is selling more Macs than ever, they do not seem to be able to grow its market share.
In fact, reports are that Apple's market share over the fourth quarter of 2005 has continued to shrink. He points out that one problem with the market share is its definition. Do you define it by annual sales, or by installed base? Another issue is that Apple makes its money off the hardware sales and people have a tendency to compare it to Microsoft's almost only software sales.
Another issue is comparing Apple's sales to the major hardware vendors. (Dell, HP, etc.) However, it might be better to compare the profits of those companies. (Read More)
Derrick Story says that once he got his MacBook Pro, he decided to only run Universal applications. In an article on O'Reilly's web site, he talks about how he was able to find an application in Universal format to do anything he wants to do. For example, he uses Nisus Writer Express, Apple's Pages and TextEdit to handle his Microsoft Word format files. ... see the full story...
n a blog called Digital Story, the author comments about the uses of the application Preview. Most of us consider it to be a viewer of PDF and many graphic formats. However, it can also convert graphic formats, including RAW. You can even do things like adjust exposure, gamma, saturation, contract, brightness and sharpness. With the Save As, it is possible to save the RAW image to Photoshop, Tiff, PNG and PDF formats. There is more, but you can read it yourself
Stephen H. Wildstrom on Business Week's web site recommends getting a Mac for college. While he has written before about Macs, he says that he has never recommended the Mac by default. Now, with Boot Camp, he feels that a student would be able to have the best of both worlds.
What is more interesting here is not his recommendation, but the comments of Mac haters that won't even consider it. They make some really ridiculous comments.
Last week, Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit released version 11.2.4 update for Mac Office 2004. This update fixes vulnerabilities in the entire suite and fixes other problems wit Entourage and PowerPoint. They also said that there would be additional updates soon. Download the update
According to this article, a new patented nanotechnology from Colossal Storage Corporation, makes this storage option real. This uses a 3D Volume Holograpic Optical Storage Nanotechnology. This was presented in a study almost 2 years ago. (BTW - there are a lot of good science stories at this site.) (Read More)
Need a basic backup program. iBackup can be set for scheduled backups and you can set preferences as to what files you want backed up. And while it is free for personal use, there is a donation button on the web site. Some of the features: Universal binary (PowerPC/Intel), Allows multiple selection of items, ability to copy only modified items and more. Requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or 10.4.x www.grapefruit.ch
This is the second year for the O'Reilly conference Where. According to this article in Wired, there appears to be a concentration of GPS and mapping applications being presented there.
"...That's what brought this diverse crowd of 800 people together: technologies that produce information about location, whether a spy plane, an API for web-mapping applications like Google Maps, or a geolocation hack that pinpoints people's positions using Bluetooth, Wi-Fi access points or cell-phone towers. I could see going to this show instead of going to MacWorld Expo. Last year and this seems to have covered a diversity of topics.
Article at: http://tinyurl.com/lvoyk Conference details at: Conference details here
If it's true that the backbone of any small business is its employees, then it's fair to say that the muscle of many small businesses would have to be their computers. So what about computer downtime?
A professional website is an important step in reaching potential clients -- Pawel Otto shares pointers and tips on making your web site work harder for your benefit... ... see the full story...
"Assuming either the Left Wing or the Right Wing gained control of the country, it would probably fly around in circles."
- Pat Paulsen
"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."
- Douglas Adams
"The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it."
- Henry David Thoreau
Have a great week... (See last week)
User Group Network Affiliates may reprint articles as long as full credit and a link to this web site: http://www.user-groups.net/info/ provided. Other Non-profit or non-commercial publications should contact us. The UGNN cannot guarantee accuracy or timeliness of articles beyond the date of publication. All URLs, links and email addresses are accurate as of date of publication. Clicking links in articles older than 30 days may result in a broken link. If you encounter a broken link, please let us know.
Return to: the top of this page, or the INDEX for this department
Exit to: The User Group Network front page
Contact: The Editor, Webmaster or Membership Director