Meeting Notes - Jan 15, 2003

What's New by Mikio Moriyasu

New Apple Software
Apple iCal 1.0.2 fixing several bugs previously noted on MacFixIt. Among the standouts a problem where time zones west of California displayed incorrect appointment times has been resolved. The new release has also allows the current date in the dock after closing the application.

Apple iSync 1.0 offers the following improvements -- palm synching now much faster, improved Palm configuration, menu bar icon to sync anytime, automatic syncing to .Mac, Sync with .Mac Address Book, and enhanced performance/stability

Apple Keynote 1.0 makes it a snap to create compelling presentations with professional-caliber themes, razor-sharp text and beautiful charts and tables.

Apple Mac OS X 10.2.3 delivers enhanced functionality and improved reliability for the following applications, utilities, and technologies: AppleScript, Classic compatibility, Disk Copy, Disk Utility, Image Capture, Mail, OpenGL, Print Center, and Rendezvous. The update also provides updated security services and includes the latest Security Updates.

Apple Safari 0.8.1 offers you a superior Web experience with outstanding performance. Even the most complex of pages load at breakneck speed. In fact, Safari loads pages more quickly than any other Mac Web browser.

Apple QuickTime 6.1 features the following enhancements: MPEG-4 video provides more accurate rate control and improved visual quality, AAC includes new encoder controls and new bit rate options, DV includes significant encode and decode performance improvements. Released via Software Update.

Software Notes
Alsoft's DiskWarrior 3.0 for Mac OS X is scheduled for release in February. It is much faster checking a drive with 600,000 files in about 8 minutes. Read more.

Micromat's TechTool Pro 4 for Mac OS X is scheduled for release in April. The new version combines Drive 10 (Micromat's existing OS X drive-checking utility) with a new OS X version of TechTool. Read more.

Hardware Notes
Eric Wilson at Initio told MacFixIt that they will be delivering FireWire 800 PCI cards soon.

In February, Dr. Bott will release two new range extenders for AirPort Extreme Base Station (Read more):

• ExtendAIR Omni ($99.95) extends the range in all directions to a 250 foot radius.
• ExtendAIR Direct ($149.95)extends the range in a single direction to 500 feet.
  

Problems
Drive 10 1.1.3 on all versions of Mac OS X and on a broad range of both new and old Macs that have "unusual configurations of the volume structures." may indicate a "volume reads zero bytes" content size when attempting to repair the volume. Do not attempt to repair your drive if you are presented with this message in Drive 10. Doing so can result in data loss, and other serious problems.

IBM's Travelstar and Deskstar hard drives are the subject of numerous failure reports. Most users state that the drives fail with a "clicking" noise, generally when applying an incremental update to Mac OS X (including the recent 10.2.3 release). Apparently, some TravelStar/DeskStar drives are not getting enough power through the Mac they are connected to, stop spinning, and stick.

Some users are reporting difficulties in using Mac OS X 10.2.3 with PowerBook G3 Wall Street models that have been upgraded with PowerLogix's BlueChip processor card. Having 256 MB of RAM or less installed, however, seems to alleviate the problems for some users.

10.2 in Brief
For those with subscriptions, MacFixit Has started to compile lists of issues that users have encountered while using the latest software updates from Apple including: Mac OS X 10.2.3, iSync 1.0, iCal 1.0.1, Safari 1.0 Beta, Keynote 1.0, and QuickTime 6.1.

Ted Landau has released an updated version of his book, Mac OS X Disaster Relief. Owners of the previous edition can download the Jaguar Supplement. Read more.

QuarkXpress will not allow non-administrator, multiple-user access in under the Classic environment in Mac OS X. Quark's Glen Turpin suggests the administrator simply do a "Get Info" on the QuarkXPress folder and change the access for others to "Read/Write".

General News
News.com talks about the emergence and legitimization of the "desknote," portable computers that are powerful enough to effectively compete with their desktop counterparts. Read more.

IBM and AMD will work in tandem to develop future chip technologies in "an alliance that will better insulate AMD from the growing risks of making processors" according to a ZDNN report. Read more.

Wired News reports on the odd exhibition of a glass window sales company at this year's Macworld Expo in San Francisco. Read more.

Upcoming Events
Video's Third Revolution: The Next Wave in Video Editing Productivity

Dr. Rawstock, 6150 Santa Monica Blvd, Hollywood, CA 900384

Date Jan 17, 2003

Time: 10:00AM to 12:00PM (PST)

Fee: Click here for fee and registration information.

Description: Click here for a description of this seminar.

MacWorld January 2003 Update

Micro Center, Mercado Center, 3255 Mission College Blvd.
Santa Clara, CA 95054

Date: Jan 19, 2003

Time: 1:00PM to 4:00PM (PST)

Fee: Click here for fee and registration information.

Description: Click here for a description of this seminar.

Mikio's entire presentation including a complete list of new Apple and third-party software since December, 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 select from the options listed below:

Mac OS X Virus Protection by Robert White

In the past, virus protection for the Mac has generally focused on preventing viral propagation rather than infection or corruption. Thanks to its proprietary nature, the Mac OS, while still a potential carrier, was largely infection proof. Mac OS X with its UNIX core and its Open Source architecture, however, the Mac OS is no longer immune from viral attack. As a result, good, reliable, stable, and effective comprehensive anti-virus protection is a critical concern for any Mac system administrator.

Robert's presentation is based on an evaluation he did for his department. His complete report is available for viewing on the main Mac Managers web site at: http://www.macos.utah.edu or select from the options listed below:

iHook Overview by James Reynolds

iHook is a graphical frontend for any commandline executable. With iHook, your scripts or UNIX tools can provide user feedback in an aqua window. It is much easier than writing a Cocoa NSTask wrapper or an AppleScript Studio application.

James' presentation is based on work being conducted as part of the Higher Education Mac OS X Lab Deployment Initiative. His complete presentation including scripts is available for viewing on the main Mac Managers web site at: http://www.macos.utah.edu or select from the options listed below:


Additional documentation on the use of iHook, will be made available for viewing in the near future on the main Mac Managers web site at: http://www.macos.utah.edu. It will be located in the "Documentation" section so please check back.

MacWorld San Francisco Overview by Richard Glaser

The Apple Computer event of the year kicks off 2003 with Steve Jobs' keynote address, new product introductions, and the company's overall vision for the new year. Richard attended MacWorld San Francisco this year and was able to see first-hand the new hardware and software that was introduced at the week-long event. In addition, he had an opportunity to talk to corporate representatives and attend seminars to get the low-down on what is coming up.

Richard's presentation complete presentation available for viewing on the main Mac Managers web site at: http://www.macos.utah.edu or select from the options listed below:

Other Issues

New Mac Mgr Meeting Content
Student Computing Labs Mac Support is making available additional meeting related content for Campus Mac Managers.

In addition to our existing web documentation featuring product evaluations, administrative processes, and general research, Mangers can view QuickTime movies of each presentation as well as download any accompanying slideshows given at the meeting.

We hope that this new content will be a valuable resource for the Mangers.

If there is a topic you would like to see discussed at a future Mac Managers Meeting, please let us know here.