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Tech News Blog
5.13.05
Eiger Sanctioned?
According to a story published by CNET, Microsoft is developing a new operating system aimed at old PCs that either can’t be upgraded to XP, or have owners that won’t upgrade because of security concerns. While that strategy may help Microsoft sell a few more operating systems, it won’t get around the fact that many applications available today and being developed for tomorrow require an ever increasing share of processing power and memory capacity. Combine that with the end of support for products like Quicken, and you are faced with the inevitable fact that you need to upgrade and or replace your computer every 3-4 years and even more frequently if you are a power-user or a wanna-be power-user like me. Read more about Microsoft’s plan at CNET:
Microsoft tries to breathe life into older PCs
Software maker announces plans for "Eiger," a new version of Windows that would potentially make it more secure. CNET News.com

Firefox Fix Important
The update available from Mozilla for the Firefox browser patches a critical flaw as we noted here yesterday; PC World has more on the issue:
Mozilla Fixes Critical Firefox Bugs
Alternative browser's security upgraded. PCWorld.com - Latest News Stories

Tiger Tales
I have had a few issues with Tiger over the past several days and it looks like my problems are associated with iDisk and the synchronization of the same. After examining my running processes and finding nothing out of the ordinary and eliminating other open programs, it appears to be the cause, but time will tell. If you have had applications unexpectedly quit, Apple’s OS X Top Documents has advice on what steps you can take:
Mac OS X 10.4: Reopening an application after it unexpectedly quits
If a Mac OS X application unexpectedly quits in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, an alert appears that lets you report the issue to Apple or try to reopen the application… Apple Computer Top Mac OS X Documents

Ted Landau Explains the Information Above
MacFixIt has the link for an article by Mac guru Ted Landau that explains the new application crash dialogs for Apple-heads.
mac.column.ted: Tiger's new and improved “application crash” dialogs
Ted Landau May 2005 [Note: This is the first of a few columns where I explore the "smaller" changes in Mac OS X 10.4. These are changes that, while they may not … MacFixIt

Open Source Updates
Secunia has the following bulletins for open source users: Mandriva (1, 2, 3, 4), Ubuntu (1, 2), and FreeBSD.

Multiple Platforms Tip of the Day: Have a good weekend
It is finally finals week in my world of Multiple Platforms and the strain on my brain from grading papers has robbed my creativity for tips for Multiple Platforms users. So the tip for today is have a great weekend, and check out Leo Laporte’s show The Tech Guy On KFI from 11 am to 2pm Saturday and Sunday. Listen live on AM640 in the LA area or via the Internet, just click on the KFI logo found at Leo’s web site.

Catch This Bus
The Multiple Platforms word of the day is ‘bus’ and Wikipedia has this definition: “In computer architecture, a bus is a subsystem that transfers data or power between computer components inside a computer or between computers. Unlike a point-to-point connection, a bus can logically connect several peripherals over the same set of wires.
Early computer buses were literally parallel electrical buses with multiple connections, but the term is now used for any physical arrangement that provides the same logical functionality as a parallel electrical bus. Modern computer buses can use both parallel and bit-serial connections, and can be wired in either a multidrop (electrical parallel) or daisy chain topology, or connected by switched hubs, as in the case of USB.”