Tech News Blog
4.29.05
Install Tiger With Confidence
How am I going to install Tiger? Because experience is the best teacher, I am going to read suggestions from Mac gurus that have already been chasing the Tiger and the first stop will be MacCentral for advice from Ted Landau. Next, I’ll digest what MacFixIt is offering, then I am going to repair disk permissions, backup my hard drive to an external hard drive twice then boot from both partitions to make sure these are ‘good copies’, burn some DVDs as backup, sync my bookmarks using my .Mac account, and repair disk permissions again. After all those steps, then I’ll install it on my Macs, first the laptop and then the iMacs. To read what Mac expert Ted Landau suggests, click on the following link:
Feature: Installing the update
You’ve read about the features, you’ve bought the upgrade but how do you go about installing Tiger? Ted Landau has some tips that will help you avoid installation headaches. MacCentral
MacFixIt advice:
Special Report: Preparing for Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) Installation -- Avoiding issues before and after updating
Today, Apple officially releases Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) -- a major update that will be installed by thousands of early adopters (many users received their copies a week ago) in its first few hours… MacFixIt

Meanwhile, PC World Lassos Longhorn
PC World is looking ahead to the new operating system for the other portion of this Multiple Platforms world and you can read the review on Longhorn by visiting PC World using the following link:
We Take Longhorn for a Test Drive
After examining the alpha version of Microsoft's new OS, we like what we see. PCWorld.com - Latest News Stories

Secunia Issues Another Warning Regarding Netscape
Secunia has released another security bulletin with a ‘highly critical’ grade for Netscape browser users. The security experts at Secunia suggest you, “Use another product.”

Trend Micro Bites Bullet
The customers of Trend Micro in Japan that were affected by the corrupt update released last weekend will receive financial remedy for the damages incurred from the aforementioned issue, however the company has not yet decided if the rest of their customers will gain the same relief. Check out PC World for all the details:
Trend Micro Will Pay for PC Repair Costs
Customers in Japan will be compensated for faulty update, but the fate of overseas users is unclear. PCWorld.com - Latest News Stories

Symantec Users Have Update
Symantec has issued a bulletin to plug a critical flaw that was discovered this week. If you use Symantec for antivirus protection, you should update or read about the same at eWeek:
Symantec Squashes Virus Detection Bypass Bug
The anti-virus vendor issues patches for a security bug in several enterprise and consumer products. eWEEK Technology News

Open Source Updates
Secunia announced the following updates are available for open source users: Red Hat (1, 2, 3, 4), Gentoo, OpenBSD, Debian, and Fedora.

Multiple Platforms.com Tip of the Day: Helpful Web Sites Continued
The Multiple Platforms tip of the day is another helpful link, and if you follow this tip, you can get a free download from the iTunes Music Store. Just click on the iTunes Music Store icon to the left, or click here.

Multiple Platforms Word of the Day: LAN
Wikipedia describes a LAN as, “A local area network (LAN) is a computer network covering a local area, like a home, office or small group of buildings such as a college. The topology of a network dictates its physical structure.

The generally accepted maximum size for a LAN is 1 km_. LANs are different from personal area networks (PANs), metropolitan area networks (MANs) or wide area networks (WANs). LANs are typically faster than WANs.”

Tech News Blog
4.28.05
Google Search Typo Leads To Headaches
If you add the letter ‘k’ between the letters ‘g’ and ‘l’ in Google.com you could end up infecting your PC. The security firm F-Secure has discovered the annoyance and according to a report by CNET, the typo can lead to PC users being hammered by Trojan horse threats. You can read more about the issue by clicking on the following:
Scheme preys on people who mistype 'Google.com'
Be careful entering the search giant's URL into your browser, or you could end up with a mess of Trojans installed on your PC. CNET News.com - Security

Podcaster’s Will Have AM Radio Broadcast
According to CNET, podcasting will hit the airwaves in San Francisco. The format will feature podcast submitted by listeners and the streams will be available to download from via the Internet too. The radio station, 1550 KYCY AM hopes to increase their ability to target specific audiences with their unique programming.
Radio station takes podcasts to public airwaves
Radio broadcaster Infinity is set to debut San Francisco AM station that plays content created wholly by listeners. CNET News.com

Upgrade to G5 Family
Apple has upgraded their line of G5 computers and they released the following press release: Apple Upgrades Power Mac G5 Line – Apple Press Releases

Still Time To Pre-order Tiger
My copies of Tiger are on the way, but there is still time for you to pre-order Tiger and get a rebate from Amzon.com/. Please help support this web site and use the link below. Thanks!
Pre-order Tiger Save $35

Thirty Dollars Off .Mac Account
Now you can get a .Mac account for $69 or try it out free for sixty-days by clicking on the link to the left or here.

Open Source Updates
Secunia released these bulletins for open source systems: Fedora (1, 2), Conectiva (1, 2), and SuSE.

Multiple Platforms.com Tip of the Day: Helpful Web Sites Continued
There are several choices for helping you learn about the weather and I use Google for a quick update of the current conditions and Weather.com for the long-range forecast. Another weather source is Yahoo.

Multiple Platforms Word of the Day: WAN
Wikipedia supplies this definition of WAN, “A wide area network or WAN is a computer network covering a wide geographical area, involving vast array of computers. This is different from personal area networks (PANs), metropolitan area networks (MANs) or local area networks (LANs) that are usually limited to a room, building or campus. The best example of a WAN is the Internet.
WANs are used to connect local area networks together, so that users and computers in one location can communicate with users and computers in other locations. Many WANs are built for one particular organization and are private, others, built by Internet service providers provide connections from an organization's LAN to the Internet. WANs are most often built of leased lines. At each end of the leased line, a router connects to the LAN on one side and a hub within the WAN on the other. A number of network protocols may use the basic physical transport mechanism including TCP/IP. Other protocols including X.25, ATM and Frame relay can also be used for WANs.
Now that the Internet provides a high speed WAN, the need for a private network made up of leased lines owned by the organization which wants to connect the sites has decreased. Virtual private networks are often used instead. These use encryption and other techniques to make it appear that the organization has a dedicated network while making use of the shared infrastructure of the WAN.

Tech News Blog
4.27.05
Critical Flaw Discovered in Netscape
CNET, PC World, and Secunia are reporting on a serious flaw that exists in Netscape’s browser and the latter has graded the bug ‘highly critical’. Secunia recommends Netscape users, “use another product”. I guess that is about as serious as threats can become. Check out Firefox or Mozilla as an alternative available from Mozilla.org/.

New Product Ends I Spy Endeavors
Those computer users worried about electronic data theft via wireless or infrared signals could soon have a new tool in the battle against crackers. According to CNET, the product can be applied as a film to windows to keep snoopers from dropping eaves on your business. The metals contained within the product ‘SpyGuard’ can also be included in paint to provide further protection against war drivers and crackers.

Yahoo Joins the Personal Search Race
Yahoo has also introduced a new personal search service that they have named My Web. Following the lead of Google, Yahoo new service allows you to save web pages and more according to PC World.

All OS X 10.3.9 Annoyances in One Spot
MacFixIt has a compilation of all the recently reported bugs associated with the update from Apple, OS X 10.3.9/. If you are still having issues with the update, visit MacFixIt for a variety of solutions and suggestions.

Open Source Updates
Secunia announced the following open source systems have update or security bulletins available: Debian (1, 2), Red Hat (1, 2), and Gentoo (1, 2, 3)

Multiple Platforms.com Tip of the Day: Helpful Web Sites Continued
Today the tip from Multiple Platforms will assist you in converting currency; Yahoo has an updated and easy to use web page to help convert most currencies.

Multiple Platforms Word of the Day: Disk Cache
According to Wikipedia a disk cache is, “Hard disks have historically often been packaged with embedded computers used for control and interface protocols. Since the late 1980s, nearly all disks sold have these embedded computers and either an ATA, SCSI, or Fibre Channel interface. The embedded computer usually has some small amount of memory which it uses to store the bits going to and coming from the disk platter.
The disk buffer is physically distinct from and is used differently than the page cache typically kept by the operating system in the computer's main memory. The disk buffer is controlled by the embedded computer in the disk drive, and the page cache is controlled by the computer to which that disk is attached. The disk buffer is usually quite small, 2 to 8 MB, and the page cache is generally all unused physical memory, which in a 2004 PC may be between 20 and 2000 MB. And while data in the page cache is reused multiple times, the data in the disk buffer is typically never reused. In this sense, the phrases disk cache and cache buffer are misnomers, and the embedded computer's memory is more appropriately called the disk buffer.”

Tech News Blog
4.26.05

Black Box Will Help Microsoft Battle Crashes

NET reports that Microsoft will include ‘black box’ technology to assist the company in their efforts to improve platform stability. Microsoft wants a better log of what processes are running at the time of a meltdown but some consumers are already upset over what is perceived as un-necessary intrusions into their PCs. You can read more about the subject at CNET:
Microsoft to add 'black box' to Windows
Redmond will add the equivalent of a flight data recorder to PCs. Such detailed information could rankle privacy advocates. [CNET News.com]

Connect Your iPod Shuffle With the Greatest of Ease

MacMinute is featuring a new USB hub from Belkin that allows iPod Shuffle owners to connect their music player to the top of the hub. I use a USB extension to plug the iPod into an existing hub. Check out the details at MacMinute:
Belkin debuts USB 2.0 hub for iPod shuffle
Belkin today announced its new Hi-Speed USB 2.0 4-Port Hub, which features a top-loading port that lets you easily connect your iPod shuffle or other USB device... [MacMinute]

Steps to Ease Transition for Office X Users

If you are using Office X and will be upgrading from Panther to Tiger, you should visit Accelerate Your Mac for tips that can help you avoid being bit by either of these cats. Find out what you need to know by clicking on the following:
Tip for Office X users upgrading to Tiger/10.4 [AccelerateYourMac News Headlines]

Leo and The Boys are Back; Next Up, All Leo All the Time?

Leo Laporte and the old tech gang from the Screen Savers have released their second podcast and you can download the MP3 file at the links below. Listening to these guys talk tech is enjoyable and you almost feel like you’re eavesdropping on a party-line call, a voyeuristic pleasure no longer available and completely unfamiliar to an entire generations in today’s world of technology. I’m hoping Leo and friends take a cue from Martha Stewart and jump on the Sirius bandwagon; we could have all Leo, all the time!
ROTSS via BitTorrent
I’ve installed the BlogTorrent tracker to offer BitTorrent feeds of the ROTSS shows. You can download directly from http://leoville.tv/bt or subscribe to the RSS feed at http://www.leoville.tv/bt/rss.php (this will work with your podcast client). I’ll use that from now on to provide an additional access route to the show. I am also working with Michael Freedman at Coral to figure out what went wrong this morning. If you use do use a BitTorrent client (like Azureus) to download these files, please help your fellow fans out by leaving it open for a while after the download completes. Thanks!The Laporte Report]

Open Source Updates

Secunia announced the following open source systems are the subject of update or security bulletins: Red Hat (1, 2), Gentoo, Trustix, and Sun Solaris.

Multiple Platforms.com Tip of the Day: Helpful Web Sites Continued

The tip of the day is a link for snail mail and will help you calculate postage rates of any item you might ship through the United States Postal Service.

Multiple Platforms Word of the Day: CPU Cache

Wikipedia has the following explanation for CPU cache, “Small memories on or close to the CPU chip can be made faster than the much larger main memory. Most CPUs since the 1980s have used one or more caches, and modern general-purpose CPUs inside personal computers may have as many as half a dozen, each specialized to a different part of the problem of executing programs.”