Low End Mac's Link Archive

Recent inks are listed below. Archived links are stored by the month they appeared on Low End Mac and are linked on the right.

Low End Mac's weekly news roundups

• Mac News Review
• The 'Book Review
• iNews Review

Recent New Content on Low End Mac

• Apple caves to Hollywood with DRM on iTunes videos, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 11.20. HDCP on the new MacBooks means that you may never really own those videos you buy from the iTunes Store.
• Virtualization shootout: VMWare Fusion 2 vs. Parallels Desktop 4, Kev Kitchens, Kitchens Sync, 11.20. Both programs do the same thing, but one runs Windows XP smoothly alongside Mac apps, while the other bogs down everything but Windows.
• Just right: Papa bear, mama bear, and baby bear MacBooks, Charles Moore, 'Book Value, 11.20. Some people like small and light notebooks, others prefer huge desktop replacements, but the best value tends to be in the middle.
• Every working computer is useful to someone, Allison Payne, The Budget Mac, 11.19. Whether it's a PowerBook 1400, G3 iMac, or Power Mac G4, it could be all the computer someone needs.
• Leopard runs very nicely on PowerPC Macs, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 11.19. Some claim that Mac OS X 10.5 is so optimized for Intel Macs that it runs poorly on PowerPC hardware. That's simply not the case.
• No high definition iTunes video for you, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 11.19. The October 2008 MacBooks are preventing users from viewing some high-def iTunes content from being viewed on their external displays. Poor form!
• 3 WeatherBug options for Apple users, Charles Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.19. Have instant access to current local weather conditions with a Dashboard widget, iPhone app, or Firefox plugin.
• Anticipating Macworld: Nehalem, Snow Leopard, and updated desktops, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 11.18. Intel's Core i7 CPU has to make it way into the next Mac Pro, nVidia GeForce graphics will drive the iMac and Mac mini, and 'Snow Leopard' will unleash the animal within.
• Love my refurb MacBook Pro, Eudora forever, and the lightest AA batteries, Charles Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.18. Also questions about nVidia GeForce 8600 problems in earlier MacBook Pro models and importing Eudora mailboxes into Eudora successors.
• Free alternatives to Microsoft Office, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 11.17. Microsoft Office is powerful and expensive. OpenOffice provides a full alternative, and Bean and AbiWord are excellent options for word processing.
• Cruz browser introduces useful new features, Charles Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.17. Although only a 0.1 release, this new WebKit-based browser has several clever new features that just might hook you.
• DLO Action Jacket for the SanDisk Sansa, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 11.17. Want to protect your SanDisk Sansa MP3 player on the go? The DLO Action Jacket does a great job.
• OS X netbook not from Apple, one-third of notebook buyers leaning to Apple, Spaces made for 'Books, and more, The 'Book Review, 11.14. Also Apple's 'special deals' site, good-bye to a faithful TiBook, bent Unibody MacBook Pro, 10 hour battery for MacBook Pro, 6 GB RAM solutions and benchmarks, bargain 'Books from $480 to $2,399, and more.
• What the next Mac mini needs, FireWire alive and well, Parallels 4.0 for Mac, and more, Mac News Review, 11.14. Also Apple will weather rough economy better than competitors, Logitech diNovo Keyboard for Mac, gift tracking software, Logos Bible Software pre-release offer, and more.
• iPhone more reliable than Blackberry or Treo, when to restore your iPhone, FourTrack recording, and more, iNews Review, 11.14. Also using your iPhone as a trackpad, backup battery for iPhone, new charging solutions, more cases, lots of additional apps, and more.
• Apple rewrites the rules for games, Tim Nash, Taking Back the Market, 11.13. With the iPhone/iPod touch and the online App Store, Apple has created a market for low cost games that has other platforms worried.
• The future of PowerPC Macs and software as 'Snow Leopard' approaches, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 11.13. Apple phased out Classic Mode and G3 support with 'Leopard' last year, and next year's OS X 10.6 won't support any PowerPC Macs. Will other developers abandon PowerPC as well?
• Windows 7 Is Microsoft's opportunity to get Vista right, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 11.13. Microsoft made a lot of mistakes with Vista and earned a black eye. Windows 7 gives it a chance to learn from the past and move ahead.
• Kensington Ci95m Wireless Mouse: Great battery life, smooth performance, Charles Moore, 'Book Value, 11.13. Kensington's slim wireless mouse is well built, works smoothly, has great battery life, and avoids Bluetooth pairing and wake-up issues.

Around the Web

• Rights: Apple Bends to Studios, Adds Copyright Protection to MacBooks, Brian X. Chen, Wired, 11.19. "Apple has secretly included a copy protection scheme called High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) in the external display ports on the latest models of it MacBooks...."
• Rights: Should You Get Paid While Your Computer Boots?, Slashdot, 11.19. "[A] management-side attorney . . . believes that, in most cases, computer booting does not warrant being called work."
• Software: Camino 1.6.5 Web Browser Released, Applelinks, 11.19. If you haven't tried Camino lately, we urge you to give it a try. It's our favorite browser at Low End Mac headquarters.
• Rights: MacBook Owners Enraged As Apple Blocks Some Displays, Ed Sutherland, Cult of Mac, 11.18. "MacBook fans are in an uproar after discovering the new laptops contain hardware-based copyright protection that prevents the viewing of iTunes movies on some external displays...."
• News: Judge dismisses Psystar antitrust lawsuit against Apple, Jim Dalrymple, Macworld, 11.18. "Psystar contends that because the EULA bars users from installing the OS on non-Apple hardware, it's an unlawful restraint of trade."
• Virus: Hackers Update Mac Porn RSPlug Trojan Horse, Ed Sutherland, Cult of Mac, 11.18. 1) Visit malicious porn site. 2) Agree to download file (often named "cleanlive.dmg"). 3) Let it open the disk image, install itself, and launch itself.
• Advocacy: 15 reasons Macs are still better than Windows PCs, Dan Warne, APC, 11.14. If you're a longtime Mac user, you may be surprised at some of the things Windows still doesn't get right that Macs have had for years.
• Review: Comparing Five iPhone File Transfer Apps, David Strom, TidBITS, 11.14. Unlike traditional iPods, Apple doesn't allow the iPhone to function as an external hard drive. These five apps let you store files on your iPhone.
• Advice: How To Prepare a Mac For Sale, Dan Benjamin, 11.14. "Following these steps will let you sleep a bit better at night and has the added benefit of creating a great first-experience for the buyer."
• Opinion: Opinion: Kids Make Perfect Low End Mac Users, Giles Turnbull, Cult of Mac, 11.14. "Round them up, re-install whatever version of whatever operating system they are capable of running, and get those things in use. Give them to kids."
• News: Spam declines after hosting company shut-down, Robert Vamosi, CNET News, 11.12. "Internet hosting site McColo disappeared on Tuesday. Along with it went thousands of pieces of spam, thanks, in part, to investigative work by Washington Post reporter Brian Krebs."
• Review: Nehalem by the numbers: The Ars review, Joel Hruska, ars technica, 11.13. "Nehalem's performance is excellent from any angle, from single-threaded, unoptimized ALU/FPU tests to eight-way threading through Maxwell or Handbrake."
• Benchmarks: Customized MacBook Pro benchmarks, James Galbraith, Macworld, 11.12. Unibody MacBook Pro with 2.8 GHz CPU and 7200 rpm hard drive benchmarked - overall 12% faster than 2.53 GHz version with 5400 rpm drive.
• History: The 5 Best - and 5 Worst - Apple Laptops of All Time, Ever!, Michael Simon, MacLife, 11.11. You're bound to disagree with a few of the author's choices, but it's a fun read.
• News: Gmail Adds Voice and Video Cha, Harry McCracken, Technologizer, 11.12. "When you're in Gmail, your contact list will show a little green camera icon next to any buddy who has a Webcam, is online, and has installed the Gmail Voice and Video Chat plug-in...."
• Opinion: Solving the e-waste dilemma with One Used Mac Per Child, Newton Poetry, 11.12. "...we could initiate a One Used Mac Per Child. It would require rounding up thousands of usable Macs, installing OS 9 or OS X and some basic apps, and making minor upgrades where possible."
• Humor: The Matrix runs on XP, Bill Stiteler, AppleTell, 11.10. Clever parody of The Matrix and Windows XP - complete with Clippy.
• Analysis: Apple Bandai Pippin in retrospective, Allan Yogasingam, EE Times, 11.10. "Apple pioneered the integration of online capabilities into video gaming. Without that bold idea, who knows if popular online gaming platforms like Xbox Live would exist today?"
• News: iPhone Takes Number One Spot, Surpassing the RAZR, David Appleyard, The Apple Blog, 11.10. "According to The NPD Group . . . the iPhone 3G surpassed the Motorola RAZR as the leading handset purchased by US adult consumers in the third quarter of 2008."
• Review: MacBook Air 1.86GHz test results, James Galbraith, Macworld, 11.07. Overall, it beats the previous 1.8 GHz MacBook Air, but on graphics, it completely smokes it.

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