WV and Apple Team up for a Super Promotion

It had to happen sooner or later.

Consider the supersleek design, the unparalleled engineering, the extraordinary fun of the New Beetle and, well, the supersleek design, the unparalleled engineering, the extraordinary fun of the iPod — and they just had to come together.

They have. From now through the end of September, buy a New Beetle (all models except the Convertible) and get a free 15GB iPod along with a kit that includes everything you need to enjoy your iPod on the road (you even get free music and a $100 Apple Store coupon).

Apple Music Store Policy; Read the Fine Print

Subject: Apple's Music Store policy -- the fine print for expatriates
From: Shawn Yeager
To: declan@well.com, dave@farber.net

Declan and Dave:

I just received a harsh lesson in DRM and record label-driven policy that
may be of interest to those on your lists who are Apple customers and may
be leaving the United States in the future. Having purchased a number of
songs from the Apple Music Store while in the US and using a US funds
credit card, I regrettably didn't read the fine print. I've now discovered
that if you leave the country, your songs may just disappear, as mine have.

I've recently moved to Canada and just this week had a problem with my
PowerBook that called for me undertaking a reinstall. After firing up
iTunes and attempting to play purchased songs, I was asked to reauthorize
those songs, using the Apple ID associated with the purchase. No problem, I
thought. This is the Apple Music Store, not PressPlay or MusicNet. I paid
for these songs and they're mine. Silly me. Apparently, if you change your
contact address and/or have your US credit card address changed, as I did,
you are no longer able to play the songs you paid for while on US soil.

After going back and forth with AMS customer support, they pointed me to
the terms of sale policy, and there it is in the very first paragraph:
< http://www.info.apple.com/usen/musicstore/policies.html >

So, shame on me for not reading the fine print. But if you're spending
money with Apple and plan a departure from the States any time soon, your
money would be better spent on little round platters.

Alsoft Releases MasterJuggler 3.0

MasterJuggler 3.0 To Help Take Control of Mac OS X Fonts

Alsoft, Inc. announces the release of MasterJuggler 3.0, allowing users to take control of their fonts in Mac OS X. This new version has been rewritten in Cocoa, allowing MasterJuggler to take full advantage of the Mac OS X environment.The new version still allows fonts to be stored wherever a user wishes and be activated when needed. MasterJuggler continues to gather screen and printer fonts to send to a
service bureau. And Font Guardian now has the ability to examine any Mac OS X compatible font format. MasterJuggler has a long history of allowing a wide range of users to manage their creative output.
Orders can be placed at Alsoft's web site (www.Alsoft.com)

Realmac Software release MacMaid 2.0

Sometimes keeping your computer tidy just isn't good enough. Introducing MacMaid 2 from Realmac Software, the new cleaning utility for Mac OS X.

Keeping your desktop clean has never been so easy!
Not all of us clean up after ourselves, sometimes we leave downloaded files and documents cluttering up our desktop for weeks and never get around to moving them. Now you don't need to worry about it, MacMaid will do the cleaning for you.

Visit the Realmac Software website today to find out more and download your free trial copy:

Microsoft Ends IE Development

Roz Ho, general manager of Microsoft's Mac Unit , has confirmed that no future versions of Internet Explorer will be released for the Mac . Ho said the decision was made to make way for Apple's Safari Web browser. "Some of the key customer requests for Web browsing on the Mac require close development between the browser and the OS, something to which only Apple has access," she said. In May, Microsoft said that it was phasing out standalone versions of IE for Windows. "As part of the OS (operating system), IE will continue to evolve, but there will be no future standalone installations. IE6 SP1 is the final standalone installation," said IE program manager Brian Countryman.

SPAMFIRE UPDATE

SPAMFIRE UPDATE

Spamfire version 1.3.9 was recently released. This free update provides
improved spam filtering by recognizing text that spammers try to disguise
with HTML code. You should see a dramatic rise in the spam scores of
certain disguised spam messages. This update also fixes a bug that was
causing crashes for some Spamfire users after checking accounts with zero
messages. You can expect better all-around stability and performance from
version 1.3.9. As usual, point your browser to: www.versiontracker.com

OSX Printing Problem; No More with The Gimp.

"I think that I have a freeware solution to many of your printer problems. There is a wonderful utility called gimp print that will activate most CUPS enabled printers in OS X. This utility only works with 10.2 but it has solved many of my printer problems. I work in a physics lab and recently had to connect to an HP 682C over a network. Gimp print provided all the necessary drivers and the printer now works better from my 12" PB than from the local machine.

"You can download gimp print from and a list of compatible printers can be found at .

Roxio readies Toast 6

Roxio is applying the finishing touches to Toast 6 Titanium, its soon-to-ship upgrade for the industry standard CD and DVD burning application.

RadioSHARK

The radio airwaves will never be safe again.The RadioSHARK adds a software controlled AM-FM radio to any Mac computer - but thats just the beginning.

The RadioSHARK can also record any AM, FM or even Internet radio broadcast. You can program the RadioSHARK to record a scheduled show or as a way of ‘pausing’ live radio, giving you the ability to return to right where you left off moments or even hours later. It can also record audio Internet streams, either scheduled or real-time, from any streaming audio application available.
Man Griffin Tech. never seems to stop innovating!

What the Hell is 3GPP?

Apple has just released a new component to it's Quicktime architecture, calling it 3GPP, enhancing mulitmedia delivery over 'wireless' networks. They are announcing it as a worldwide standard and touting it's ability to take advantage of the MPEG4 codec.

The 3rd Generation Project Partnership [3GPP] have adopted the MPEG4 ISO standard. This gives Quicktime [Apple] an insertion point on small handheld devices. PDA's have long had the ability to play Windows Media, Real Media and SWF files. Mobile phones have been pre-emptively touting JAVA capable handsets as the next 'big' thing.

How Much Do You Love Your iPod: Let Me Count The Ways!

A iPod fan as released on it's web site a Fun Movie about his infatuation with the thing. Well worth watching.
http://homepage.mac.com/ipodlove/iMovieTheater1.html

Nikon unveils high-speed digital camera

Nikon today introduced the new D2H professional digital SLR camera , designed for photojournalists and sports/action photographers. Featuring the "fastest full system performance" in a digital SLR camera, the D2H offers high speed and accuracy while achieving "exceptional" image quality. The D2H is capable of continuously shooting 8 frames per second and buffers up to 40 JPEG images. The D2H will be available in the 4th quarter of 2003.

Dell Target Mac Users in Recent Promo

Dell is offering Mac users at the Whitehead Institute (Cambridge MA) incentives to switch to from a Mac to a Dell system: "Dell is offering nearly $250 for blue and white G3 computers and over $400 for graphite G4s when you purchase a new Dell Precision workstation. To make the deal more interesting, they will also give you a $250 rebate in addition to the trade-in value if you participate in this program."

The Future oF HD; Perpendicular Recording

New serial technologies are set to replace standard SCSI and ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) interfaces over the next two years, even as hard-disk drive manufacturers prepare for an entirely new form of bit storage. Perpendicular recording will replace longitudinal recording in storage devices, placing bits on end instead of lying them parallel on the disc surface, thus dramatically increasing the possible storage density."

The Future oF HD; Perpendicular Recording

New serial technologies are set to replace standard SCSI and ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) interfaces over the next two years, even as hard-disk drive manufacturers prepare for an entirely new form of bit storage. Perpendicular recording will replace longitudinal recording in storage devices, placing bits on end instead of lying them parallel on the disc surface, thus dramatically increasing the possible storage density."

Will You Be Selling Your Music on iTunes Music Store?

CD Baby is now accepting music to be sold via digital distibution through iTunes Music Store, Listen.com and others. Their cut is 9 percent. The artists get 91 percent of the sale and retain all the rights to their music. There is a $40 fee for each album submitted. It will be interesting to see how much indie music gets on and how it does. Imagine being a touring indie band and be able to tell people to go to iTunes and buy your songs

Apple fix screensaver flaw

Apple Computer released a patch for Mac OS X 10.2.6 on Monday. The patch fixes a flaw in the screensaver that could have been used to access password-protected computers.

The vulnerability, found in early July by a security researcher, occurs when too many characters are entered into the dialog box that prompts a user for a password. By exploiting the flaw, an attacker could gain direct access to a user's account.