Blog R.I.P., Mac Support Site Lives On

I have decided, after much deliberation and thought, to discontinue this Mac Support Site Blog, and only continue my actual Mac Support Website. This is due to time constraints, etc.

I will leave all the information that's currently on this blog on the Internet for some amount of time, and I will update my Mac Support Website from time to time, but I will no longer be maintaining this blog. It was good while it lasted, but nothing lasts forever! Farewell!

P.S. You can also check out some other cool sites I will continue to maintain at LifeisaPrayer.com.

Pixar's 'Incredibles' DVD a Smash-Hit Success

Today, I noticed on MacMinute that The Incredibles DVD has already sold 5 million copies—In its first day on the market. I am happy to say that I am one of those 5 million purchasers - at Wal-Mart, you could pick a copy of the 2-disc Collector's Edition DVD for $11.99!

I personally attest that not only was the movie incredible, but Pixar also did an incredible job on the DVD. 'Jack-Jack Attack' was very entertaining, and so was another short made to look like an old 'Incredibles' cartoon. You'll have to see them for yourself - I can't adequately describe them in words. The other bonus footage is pretty fun, as well, and the menu structure, design and transitions are simply icing on the cake.

More Windows Woes: New Worm Attacks Vulnerable Windows PCs

"Malicious hackers have launched a zero-day bot attack against default Windows installations of the MySQL database engine, infecting vulnerable systems at the rate of 100 per minute, security experts warned on Thursday. ADVERTISEMENT The bot takes advantage of the publicly released "MySQL UDF Dynamic Library Exploit" to break into the open-source MySQL package. Once a database is hijacked, infected systems will connect to an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) server and retrieve propagation instructions."

Of course, you might say, more people use Windows, so, once more people start using Macs (if that ever happens), more Mac worms and viruses will come out (there are currently 0, nada, none, zilch Mac OS X viruses). Right?

Wrong. Macs are built more secure from the ground up. True, no computer system is perfect, but the Mac is leaps and bounds ahead of the Windows PC. So, what are you waiting for?

For more info on why I like Macs more than PCs, be sure to check out this page.

Windows 'Genuinely Disadvantaged' - Crazy 'Activation Schemes'

[UPDATE: Another good news headline (from eWeek): A 'Genuine' Pain in the Neck]

After reading a blog entry about Microsoft's Product Activation strategies, written by Ed Foster of InfoWorld, I was led to thinking about what implications Microsoft's new product developments could have on the computer industry.

I have followed Microsoft's anti-piracy efforts on-and-off for some time now, and I have decided to provied a few observations. I notice that many people (especially individual consumers) who use Windows, (a) don't like giving out any information to companies like Microsoft, (b) are confused when registration things pop up on their screens that don't go away by pressing 'cancel', and (c) hate having their computers constantly watched in some way by a large company such as Microsoft.

Every time someone updates their Microsoft-OS-based PC, he will soon have to let Microsoft check whether or not he owns a 'non-pirated' 'legal' copy of the Microsoft OS. Not only could their be potential problems with this scheme, but also many people will become frustrated by the details of the program -- especially large corporations who will have to implement new updating procedures for their hundreds (sometimes thousands) of Windows PCs.

So, what implications does this have for Apple? Apple currently has no required registration, and they are quite lax with licensing. This makes everything easier for the end user, and prevents much of the frustration present in the Microsoft scheme. Apple can continue with its whole 'user-friendly' experience and begin taking back marketshare. They now have the hardware; they simply need to keep making easy-to-use and install software.

iPod shuffle - Review (Yes, I used one!)

Yesterday a friend received his iPod shuffle from Apple (he ordered on the first day they were available, from the Apple Online Store). I must say, I am truly impressed!

Jeff's Deck-O-Players

My first foray into the MP3 player market was the Rio PMP300 32MB MP3 player, with a 2-line display (no text, though) and a flash expansion slot. It only worked with serial-port equipped PCs, and was a fiesty little gadget to get running and not break (I had to open it up and rewire the hair-thin power wires to the main board in it -- twice). I am glad to announce things are much nicer today.

I've now owned a 20GB Click-Wheel iPod for over four months, including a rechargable 12-hour battery, a spacious LCD display, 20 GB of storage, a simple design with only 5 buttons, and Apple's intuitive software. (I bought it for only $80 using the 'Cram and Jam' deal Apple had last year!). Things are much better!

Shuffle the Cards!

The iPod shuffle incorporates a gumstick-size case, USB 2.0, 512 MB or 1 GB of memory, and Apple's 'cool' design into a slick MP3 player package. Oh, I forgot to mention: I'll probably never buy one. That's right: I won't buy one. BUT, I still love the thing and think it is awesome -- for people looking only for an MP3 player.

For my purposes (music isn't the main attraction for me), I need a lot of storage, the ability to view contact and calendar info, and, therefore, a spacious display. But, for people who want to listen to music (and have a fairly large amount of USB 2.0 flash storage to boot!), the shuffle is quite a deal.

How do the Characteristics Stack Up?

I picked up the shuffle, held it in my hand, and was amazed at how good it felt in my hand. Instead of feeling 'cheap' and lightweight like many USB flash drives, it was *just* heavy enough to provide tactile feedback when pressing it's wonderfully gelatin-like buttons. It wasn't too heavy-either; I'd feel comfortable sticking the thing on my keychain and tossing it in my pocket--without protection! It is all-around a solidly-built device.

The status indicator lights are pretty neat, as well. They provide visual feedback that is adequate for operation. I especially like the itty-bitty light on the back that indicates the battery status.

I could not tell a difference in audio quality between the same files on it and on my iPod - the quality (through the same white iPod headphones, of course) is top-notch -- even surprising -- coming out of such a small device.

So far, my friend has not had to charge it's battery since the initial 4-hour charge; he's been using it for near 10 hours, and the battery is still 'green'. In fact, it seems that others are receiving a hearty amount of battery life as well! No problems in this department.

The Conclusion

This is by no means a definitive review (especially compared to this), but I would venture to say that this is a great music player for anyone who doesn't need the more advanced features of the iPod. Since I always leave my iPod in 'shuffle' mode and 'let 'er rip', I assume that many, if not most people, are of the same mindset, or will be, once they purchase one of these little gadgets (or ten, or twenty).

iMac mini - Media Center? Microsoft 'Digital Living Room' Killer?

I read a recent eWeek online article about the new Mac mini, and thought about it. Could the Mac mini be the media center computer that all those wacky Windows Media Center people have been envisioning?

Think about it: In two to four years, many people will be getting HDTVs with high resolution displays, and probably 26" or larger. Plug it in to your Mac mini, and what do you have? A media center.

I could imagine some company coming out with a 'media center hookup' for the Mac, including:

• Infrared USB adaptor, for remote control.
• DVI-to-whatever input your TV uses adaptor.
• Audio cable to go from your Mac mini to your stereo (or a 5.1 FireWire device for surround sound).
• Some really nice software for PVR functionality (to record/playback cable, TV, etc.).

The product wouldn't need to include anything else, because Apple has already included a music management and playback program (iTunes), a movie editing and DVD burning program (iMovie and iDVD), a photo organization and playback program (iPhoto), and a host of other creative apps. Could you imagine having this little Mac be on your home network and simply playing back shared photos, tunes, video, etc. from any other computer to your home TV and surround sound system? This computer can replace your DVD player, CD player, radio, tuner, cassette player, record player, etc. very easily. And it takes up less space, too!

If something like this comes out for a reasonable price (I'd say less than $300), I'm sure I could convince my parents to buy one (if they are purcasing a new HDTV, which they will be doing in a year or two). Here's to the media-center Mac mini! (And Apple doesn't even have to design new software/hardware for it!).

Apple's New Products - Macworld Expo 2005 Keynote!

Well, folks, it was a great one (even if we couldn't view it live...). Here's a wrap-up of what happened (pretty close, actually, to the original predictions!):

1. 
   
   iLife '05: Many, many new features in all the apps. Price:$79
   I have looked through all the new features now, and it seems that iLife is finally coming into its own, with many amazing new features that will definitely increase the value of the suite tenfold! I especially like iPhoto's RAW file compatibility, iMovie's HD video support, iDVD's new themes, and ALL of GarageBand's new features (iTunes didn't get updated... pity).
   
   I am not sure what is happening with iDVD and external drives... I wonder if the easter egg will still be operational - if anyone can test this, please let me know ;-).
   
   
2. 
   
   Mac mini: Awesome itty bitty inexpensive Mac! Price: $499 or $599
   It looks like this is a definite winner for PC switchers who are only looking for a Mac for light gaming, email, Internet, perhaps a little iMovie editing and iPhoto sharing. Perhaps a dorm student, family, or someone else. I sure would like one for home! Specs: 6.5"x6.5"x2" case, 1.2/1.4 GHz G4 processor, Combo (CD-R/DVD-ROM) slot-load drive, 40/80 GB hard drive, 256 MB DDR RAM (upgradeable to 1 GB!), ATI Radeon 9200 32MB Video, 10/100 Ethernet, 56k Modem, FireWire, USB 2.0, DVI/VGA ports.
   
   
3. 
   
   iPod shuffle: Small as pack of gum, really inexpensive! Price: $99 or $149
   An awesome foray into the flash MP3-player market for Apple - it has either 512 MB or 1 GB of flash memory, and is so simple that it requires no LCD display. Instead, you click play, and it will randomly select tunes for you to listen to (you can also pick your playlist, if you so choose). It has 12 hours of battery life, so it will last quite a while. The price is right - Apple will takeover the market (no doubt in my mind). It even looks pretty interesting. You could stick it almost anywhere, even in your jeans! Dock and belt clips are available, along with some other carrying straps, but I imagine many more products will follow. And, as with some other MP3 player/flash drives, you can use it as a mobile storage 'stick'.
   
   
4. 
   
   iWork: Create, present and publish your work with style. Price $79
   This office productivity suite is not meant, I would say, to compete head-to-head with MS Office (yet...). Rather, it seems like it's aimed more towards home/small business users who would like to do InDesign page-layout type work for creative brochures, flyers, letters, newsletters, etc. but can't fork over the cash - plus, with Keynote 2.0, you can easily present your stuff (the apps are integrated). Keynote and Pages are included in iWork, and Keynote includes some jazzy new features such as cinema-quality slide transitions and flash export. Pages looks to be a very elegant page-layout app, and might turn out to be adequate to replace the old PageMaker-type programs some people still use.
   
   
5. 
   
   Final Cut Express HD: More value in an already stunning video editing app. Price: $299 new, $99 upgrade
   Final Cut Express HD is now set to be my favorite Mac app ever (so far), as it incorporates HD editing and rendering, the awesome audio-editing app Soundtrack, and a cool titling program called Livetype (both formerly found exclusively in the Final Cut Pro bundle). Other than some little tweaks, HD support, and the integrated apps, there's not many new features, but it sure is a lot better!

More updates may come if I find the time...

Microsoft Software "Plagued by 'Extremely Critical' Flaws"

Is it any surprise, really?

IE Plagued by 'Extremely Critical' Flaws (Tech News World)

"Secunia recommends users drop IE and use an alternative browser. "Although hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on securing SP2, perfection is impossible," the security firm said in a statement."

Millions of Internet Explorer 6 users are at risk from thre "extremely critical" security holes that give hackers open access to PCs running the browser -- even if Windows XP Service Pack Two has been installed.

The first issue centers on the browser's drag-and-drop capability, which does not validate new files correctly. This means that, potentially, a document downloaded from a Web page using drag and drop may contain malicious code.

The other problems affect all Windows systems, including those protected by Local Computer zone lockdown, which comes with SP2.

The first allows specially designed (.hhk) files to be used to include malicious code on systems, and the second stems from a zone restriction error that could allow code to be downloaded from Web sites involuntarily.

At least one of the flaws was reported to Microsoft last year, but no patches have so far been made available.

...And PC users ask "Why are Macs better?" Hmm... I can think of a few reasons!

Meanwhile, us Mac users have no worries about viruses or any of the other 'plagues' of pestilence found on Windows PCs; we have, instead, "High Hopes for Macworld".

Blog Reading Explodes in America (and a bonus!)

After reading an article on ZDNet News, I felt obligated to post part of it here and comment on it.

From the article:

"The number of blogs and the use of blog readers rose rapidly last year--but a majority of Americans still do not know what a blog is.

A report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, called the "State of Blogging," discovered that readership of Web blogs--essentially, Web-based diaries--spiked 58 percent last year, with 27 percent of Internet users, or 32 million people, saying that they read blogs. Twelve percent of people who read blogs also chose to post comments on them.

Blog creation is also growing. By the end of 2004, seven percent of U.S. adults, or more than 8 million people, had written a blog, according to the study.

...Blog creators tend to be young men who have broadband and are Internet veterans. Fifty-seven percent of bloggers are male.

Hmm... who does that sound like?

Interestingly, I had never heard of a 'blog' until early this year! I set up a preliminary blog at the beginning of my school year with a free service called 'Xanga', but have since set up my own blog on my own webspace (I like having the control) using an open-source blogging app called 'Thingamablog'.

The most amazing aspect of this 'blog revolution' is the fact that almost every Google search I now perform brings up as many blog entries in the results as 'old-fashined websites'; and a lot of times that's a good thing. Blogs are 'new' and 'current', while many older pages are 'static' and 'outdated'. There is still a place for the traditional, static website (check out all of mine in the links column here) — but the blog is here to stay. For some, it's their livelihood, for others, it's a fun diversion. But for all, it can help to disseminate important information at a more rapid rate than traditional media (as was evidenced by 'Rathergate' and many other 'blogosphere exposés').

This entry includes a bonus! To those of you who hope to set up a well-read and awesome blog, here are some tips:

1. Keep entries somewhat short (i.e. no books on pages!).
2. Use proper grammar (this is NOT a chat room!).
3. Find a service (or set up your own blog, like me) that is indexed by Google and other web search sites, and try to get people to link to your blog - this way people will find you blog when doing web searches. Xanga did not do this.
4. Link to sources of information, and try to include other's information, pictures or links from time to time (it adds some variety).
5. Try to use a service (or set up your own blog) with RSS or Atom news feeds.
6. Read other's blogs to find out what looks nice, and what doesn't. The design of a blog is very important!
7. Keep a sense of humor. Blogs aren't news sites—they ought to be somewhat personal.

Myst IV: Revelation - First Impressions

Tonight I began playing Myst IV: Revelation (for the Mac), and I thought I'd post my review/comments here for all to see.

I've been an avid fan of the whole Myst series - from the early days with the original Myst CD-ROM (when it was made exclusively by Cyan on a bunch of Macs) to today (now it's made by Ubisoft). My whole family would gather around our old Performa 637CD to solve all the original Myst puzzles, in full 256-color glory. For Riven, my mom purchased a new Performa 6360 to handle its more complex graphics (not to mention the 5 CDs!). Finally, after purchasing Myst III: Exile, my family no longer gathered to play the game - I had to resort to many hints and tricks while solving puzzles on my own. My mom received Myst IV for Christmas, and she's letting me 'check it out' while I'm on vacation (woohoo!).

I'll go through this in the stages of how I setup and played the game:

1. Setup

The setup of this game was definitely not as intuitive as it could've been; Ubisoft cheaped out by making a sort-of clunky Java installer that required a few too many steps to install the game (for my liking), and didn't look like a 'Mac' installer. Plus, you had to drag the install application to your hard drive before you could even open it to install the program! Otherwise installation was very routine, with no errors (there is a patch, 1.01, available as of this writing, that is worth downloading from support.ubi.com).

A Note to those with little hard drive space: The minimum installation of this program requires over 3 GB of free space! Make sure you still have plenty of drive space left. (The full install requires over 8 GB!).

2. First Impressions

The intro videos for the game were very nice, and the music that plays behind the main menu has a new-age yet 'antique' feel to it. Unfortunately, the music stopped and the game crashed after I tried to change options in the options part of the menu. I tried following Ubisoft's online suggestion of moving the game folder to the desktop to solve this problem, but it didn't help. So I decided to forgo any options-changing and dive right in.

The game starts off with you in a cable-type car with Atrus' daughter driving you to his lab amidst a rocky terrain with water below. Everything looks very nicely rendered, and the integrated video clips (you can move around while videos are playing, and the sound has a 'surround' effect) are even better than in Myst III. If you turn on all the environmental effects (somehow I was able to do it once), things look a little odd, with many tree branches swaying in the wind like some organism... but my lowly iBook couldn't handle it very well. The environments are very detailed and beautiful, and the soundtrack is quite nice.

But (there's always a but...), when I tried to save the game, it locked up. So I started the game again, played it, then tried to save, only to have it lock up again. And again. Needless to say, I won't be playing the game until this issue is resolved, because saving the game is a must - I'm not going to leave it up and running for days on my iBook! I've contacted Ubisoft support, and am waiting for an answer now.

What Do "Syndicate this Site" and "RSS" Mean?

I'm not sure if many blog readers have noticed, but there is a link on the sidebar of this blog, and many other blogs throughout the blogosphere, that says 'Feed (RSS)', 'Syndicate this site (XML)' or something similar. What exactly does this mean?

RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication" - for allowing people to view, via a 'newsreader' updates of information (usually news or updated blog information, for our purposes). For more history and information concerning RSS, read XML.com's article, "What is RSS?"

So, what does this mean for you and I? This means you don't have to visit a blog or news website to find out if it has updated news or a new blog entry; you can simply open up your newsreader program (list of a few at end of this entry), and it will tell you if there are new blog entries! Some websites even give you some or all of the blog entry or news article, so you can see if you're interested in reading the whole entry by going to the site.

NewsFire Logo

Here are some RSS newsreaders:

For Windows PCs:
Feedreader - Free
RssReader - Free

For Macintosh:
NewsFire - Free (What I use)
NetNewsWire Lite - Free

Microsoft's Passport a No-Go; More Viruses for XP

Well, here are some nice end-of-the year stories to cheer up the loyal Mac fan:

No-go zone for Passport (CNET):

"Microsoft's Passport authentication technology lost a prominent partner this week when eBay announced that it would stop supporting customer logins through Microsoft's Passport and .Net services.

The online auctioneer decided to stop supporting the service after Microsoft made an "architectural change" to its online authentication service, an eBay representative told CNET News.com on Thursday."

So it would seem Microsoft's 'awe-inspiring' Passport system that would 'change the way people store personal information online' is now going the way of the horse carriage. Too bad.

Trojan Slips through XP's Back Door (Tom's Hardware Guide):

"Online miscreants have released a Trojan horse that can infect computers running Microsoft's Windows XP, installing programs to remotely control a victim's system. Symantec warned in an advisory this week that the program - dubbed "Phel", an anagram of "Help" - infects visitors to a maliciously created website through Internet Explorer's Help controls. A bug in the malicious program may prevent it from infecting some computers, the security company said."

Hmm... XP seems to have more than one back door, with all these viruses, worms, and trojan horses going around. Even after SP2! Well, I can rest well tonight, considering I have OSX on my computer; the worlds most secure operating system.

Panic Audion Story; A Good Read

Last night I read a story written by Cabel Sasser, Panic Software's co-creator. Panic makes a few Mac shareware apps, and they make them well (i.e. Transmit for FTP and Unison for usenet services). Here's the story: The True Story of Audion

Panic used to make an MP3-player product for the Mac (one of the two best contenders) called Audion (now a free download). I never purchased Audion (I used Casady & Greene's SoundJam instead), but I know some people who did, and considered using Panic's Transmit FTP client before subscribing to .Mac. Panic is a quality Mac-only software company with a lot of 'spunk'.

I found out about this interesting article via MacAddict magazine. The article explores the quirky and interesting development of Audion; why, by whom, where, when, how, etc., and explains a lot of details surrounding product development and reasons why the software is now 'retired'. I especially liked the parts talking about Steve Jobs' dialog with Mr. Sasser! If you're any kind of Apple fan, as I am, you'll get a kick out of reading this.

Why Friends Don't Let Friends Use Windows

Ugh.

That's all I can say after having spent two hours of my life installing a simple game on a client's Windows PC yesterday.

First of all, I must say that Windows and Microsoft are not all bad; no, quite the contrary, I receive around 30% of my income because of Microsoft ;-) . Other than that, though, I can't find a reason why anyone would want to put himself through the torture of owning anything with Windows on it.

Here's the story:

I received a phone call just before dinner, informing me that the client's son received Backyard Baseball 2005, a game designed in part by Microsoft Game Studios, but the son could not install the game due to difficulties with his video card. Thus I was called over.

Before going any further, I'd like to say that if you are also having problems with Windows Logo Certified software installations, please visit Microsoft's Support site to view this document: "You cannot install some updates or programs" - one of the various solutions should help you.

Being no stranger to working on PCs (I make much of my living off of working on them), I dove right in and found a plethora of problems. First of all, as often happens to unknowing, innocent PC buyers, the Dell PC the son was using had no real video card. It was one of those 'economy PCs' with 'integrated' (i.e. nonexistent) video. So, first of all, a trip to the computer store was necessitated.

After installing a new ATI Radeon 9200 128DDR video card, I found that DirectX 9.0b, the latest DirectX version, could not be installed from the game CD, the ATI Radeon Install CD, Windows Update, or the Microsoft Support download. Why did Microsoft's own product fail on Microsoft's own operating system? Because it wasn't 'Windows Logo Certified'.

Hmm... let me get this straight: Microsoft's own brand-new product won't run on Microsoft's own newest operating system, Windows XP. Well, ain't that nice?

So it was off to Microsoft's shoddy support site for help. Only, I couldn't find anything either there, or on Atari's website (the game's other developer). Well, I said, Google's done it before, let's do it again! I searched for "Can't Install Windows Logo Certified" on Google, and within two pages of results found a little nugget on an online forum. It referred me to a vaguely-named topic on Microsoft's support website titled "I can't install certain software because it is not Windows Logo Certified Even though It Is" (something along those lines...).

I find that, in order to get a proper install, I will have to go through about a 30-step process involving some vague commands in the Windows command line, typing in things like "msblahblah32 /u rrislis.dll" over ten times (substitute some odd gibberish inside the quotes, and that's what I did...).

Finally, after about four restarts and more steps, DirectX would properly install, but in an unorthodox way; 'InstallShield Wizard' (who comes up with these names?) wouldn't run, so I had to find a semi-manual DirectX installer (without the 'Wizard') on the ATI Radeon CD, and install from there.

Lo and behold! After two hours of idiotic procedures and such, Backyard Baseball 2005, a game designed in part by Microsoft, would finally run on Microsoft Windows XP Home (an outrageously expensive OS for the features), using a piece-of-junk Microsoft screen-drawing environment, DirectX.

As I said before: ugh.