Meeting Notes - Jun 19, 2002

By: Mikio Moriyasu - Revised: 2006-10-05 devin


What's New by James Reynolds

New Software
Mac OS X 10.1.5 - improved applications, networking, iDisk speed boost, supports non standard http WebDAV port, sendmail updated, security (includes the Security Update April 2002), support for PC Card serial communication devices, and expanded peripheral device support. Problems: wake from sleep problems like DHCP lease dropped or 3rd party video card or mouse ceases to function; keyboard remapper utilities cause kernel panics.

New Hardware
Updated iBooks: processor speed and cache memory increased, a new ATI Mobility Radeon graphics controller with 16MB RAM and AGP 2X, VGA and S-video out capability (for mirroring only) and larger hard drives.

$1,799, G3/700, 512K L2, 14.1, 256MB, 30GB, Combo drive
$1,499, G3/700, 512K L2, 12.1, 128MB, 20GB, Combo drive
$1,199, G3/600, 512K L2, 12.1, 128MB, 20GB, CD-ROM drive

Hardware Notes
Apple offers eMac to Consumers: $1,099.

Refurbished hardware: store.apple.com at the bottom left hand column has a red sales tag with the word "sale" on it. Go to education store and click on same tag for a different list of hardware.

Problems
When FireWire devices are connected at the same time as a Canon ZR-40, ZR-45, or ZR-50, computer may crash or devices may drop. Workarounds: 1) connect only the camera; 2) try a different cable; 3) change the device chain order. Read more.

Adobe Online Manager causes crashes with auto web update in Illustrator 10 and possible other Adobe apps.

Nikon View 5.0.1 installer deletes Preferences folder [OS X].

Fix loss of network services after sleep by deleting the file 'com.apple.PowerManagement.plist' in the folder /Library/Preferences/ [OS X].

Griffin iMate X 1.5 installer causes startup failure by changing the permissions and owners for "/", "/Library","/System" and "/System/Library". [OS X]. View the fix.

Moving Toast 5 from its default install folder breaks the aliases inside of the package.

General News
Apple Solution Experts program gets a new name: Apple Consultants Network. consultants.apple.com

Mac OS X Server guide "Mac OS X Server configuration - The additional guide for some of the UNIX stuff", published as shareware, tries to describe what Apple has left out in their documentation. The first three chapters are free. Read more

Upcoming Events
  • MacHack Conference, June 20-22 in Dearborn, MI http://www.machack.com/
  • Macworld Expo NY, July 15-19 in New York, NY http://www.macworldexpo.com/
  • Streamline Your Production Workflow for Business Audiences (After Effects, Deck, Maya, and Commotion), July 11, 9:30-12:00, Salt Lake City www.seminars.apple.com
  • Apple Expo Europe September 10-14 in Paris www.apple-expo.com
James' entire presentation including a complete list of new Apple and third-party software since March, new Apple hardware releases, Apple retail news, and other Apple related topics can be found on the main Mac Managers web site at: http://www.macos.utah.edu or you can click here.

Foreign Language Translation Aids By Mikio Moriyasu

Foreign language translation aids have become increasingly important in today's world economy where accurate, cross-cultural communications is a necessity. While most assume that this need largely applies to the finance and business communities, it is also true of the rapidly expanding worlds of science, education, and technology.

Individuals working in highly specialized fields must be able to communicate complex or unique concepts to their colleagues. This is a relatively straight forward task if they have a working comprehension of the grammar, sentence structure, and colloquialisms characteristic of the desired language. If they do not have these skills, however, these individuals will require the use of translation aids that have a high degree of language proficiency built into them.

Mikio's presentation was based on a research project that examined the kinds of foreign language translation aids and services available to Mac users. The results have been documented in a series of web pages that can be found on the main Mac Managers Web site at: http://www.macos.utah.edu or please click here.

Mac OS X Security By James Reynolds

Security should be the number one concern when deploying a Mac OS X lab. Because Universities are commonly targeted and because of Unix's power, it is paramount that a lab of Unix computers do not get compromised. While out-of-the-box Mac OS X is a very secure compared to other UNIX operating systems, Mac OS X is not secure against a user sitting at the computer. In the case of a lab where most users are not trusted. This means that extra measures need to be taken to make Mac OS X more secure.

James' presentation is based on information that is part of a larger, more detailed evaluation of Mac OS X security issues that is being conducted as part of the Higher Education Mac OS X Lab Deployment Initiative. James' notes from his presentation are now available to managers on this site for download as a PDF file. Please click here to download the file.

When completed, the full evaluation will be available for viewing at http://www.macosxlabs.org in the "Documentation" section under the heading "Security of Lab Machines".

Radmind Overview By Richard Glaser

Currently in production at the University of Michigan, Radmind is a free, open source application that is similar in operation to Mac OS 9.x utilities such as Assimilator and RevRdist. It is essentially a client/server suite of tools for file system management that has been compiled and run successfully on Solaris, FreeBSD, Sun, Linux, and Mac OS X. It is designed to examine the integrity of the local file system and, should it find any problems or modifications, restore the file system to the master version on the server based on transcripts for that client.

Richard's presentation part of a larger, more detailed evaluation of Radmind that is being conducted as part of the Higher Education Mac OS X Lab Deployment Initiative. When completed, the full evaluation will be available for viewing at http://www.macosxlabs.org in the "Documentation" section. For more information, on Radmind itself, please click here to visit the U of Michigan's Radmind home page.

Other Issues

A few additional issues were brought up during the course of the meeting:
  • Scott's presentation on QTVR Stitching Software has been postponed and will be rescheduled for a future Mac Managers Meeting.
  • If there is a topic you would like to see discussed at a future Mac Managers Meeting, please contact us here.