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About this site

For six years, the Internet Nexus served as my technology blog, but I've since started blogging at the SuperSite Blog instead. If you're looking for the blog, please head there. --Paul

Saturday, October 11, 2003

But wait, there's more...
Maybe I should have held off on my posts about Mac OS X software updates, because after I rebooted the iMac, it came back with two more items:

Java 1.4.1 - 39.7 MB
iSync 1.2.1 - 6.4 MB

That brings the grand total to 223.7 MB of software updates. For a machine that was brand-spanking new in March, just 6 months ago. My goodness, Windows is suddenly svelte, ain't it?

There's still more...
Later in the day, I realized that OS X hadn't installed iDVD for some reason, so I installed it manually from the DVD that came with the iMac. Then I had yet another update to install, iDVD Update 3.0.1, which weighed in at 6.5 MB. This brings the grand total of Apple updates released for the iMac since March to a whopping 229.2 MB. Unbelievable.

[ Posted at 12:11 PM | Permalink ]

Let me reiterate
170 MB. 170 MB of software updates. My God. That is inconceivable.

Here's how it breaks down:
Mac OS X Update Combined 10.2.8 - 100 MB
Quicktime 6.3 - 20 MB
Safari 1.0 - 6.9 MB
iCal 1.5.1 - 7.6 MB
iMovie 3.0.3 - 14.7 MB
iPod 2.0.1 - 15.6 (the 1.3 version is also available, but I didn't download it at 5.7 MB)
iTunes 4.0.1 - 7.1 MB
Total: 171.9 MB (or 177.6 MB with iPod 1.3)

[ Posted at 11:56 AM | Permalink ]

And you thought there were too many Windows updates...
In preparation for the release of Panther later this month, I started backing up and reinstalling my two Macs this weekend. The first to go was the 17-inch iMac, which was brand new in March. After backing up all my data, music, pictures, email, Safari bookmarks, and so on, I decided to do a clean install of the OS the machine shipped with, Mac OS X 10.2.6, to see how things had changed since I first got it. Imagine my amusement when, on first boot, I discovered that this base install required a whopping 170 MB of software updates to bring the machine up-to-date. That figures makes the 70-100 MB of software updates a clean Windows XP SP1 install requires seem almost piddly by comparison. In the Windows world, we spend a lot of time complaining about the number of software updates that Microsoft releases, but ... my God. Apple is not only far worse, but consider how new this machine is, and how often Apple releases "major" OS X updates on CD. This is simply unbelievable.

[ Posted at 11:52 AM | Permalink ]

Friday, October 10, 2003

Thunderbird 0.3 RC3
Will it ever hit 0.3? Mozilla.org released Thunderbird 0.3 release candidate 3 today. The new build includes a number of improvements to 0.2, including a fix for a Javascript security hole, a variety of bug fixes which should address problems opening attachments, and a fix for the address book toolbar so the buttons are on top and the text is below the button not to the right of it. It also includes "just icons" and "just text" modes for the customized address book toolbar.

[ Posted at 11:46 PM | Permalink ]

Classic Cinemaware games now available for free!
This is just too excellent: Classic Amiga game makers Cinemaware, now back in business making new versions of their titles for the PC, GameBoy, and various consoles, recently released all of their classic titles for free. There's a catch of course: The games are distributed as disk images for antique systems such as the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Apple IIGS, and PC (EGA or VGA), so you'll probably need an emulator to run them. Definitely try the Amiga versions first: They were the best-looking at the time. I had, and loved, Defender of the Crown, King of Chicago, Rocket Ranger, It Came From the Desert (and the sequel, Antheads), and, of course, their best game ever, Wings, which was Amiga-only (Recently, I've played both Wings and Defender of the Crown on the GameBoy Advance, and they're both still excellent).

[ Posted at 4:31 PM | Permalink ]

New .Mac benefits added
This week, Apple added a few interesting new perks to the .Mac service, including $20 off the $100 Macromedia Contribute 2 Web development application and 13 free .Mac-exclusive Web page designs (a $49 value). Nice.

[ Posted at 4:25 PM | Permalink ]

Panther coming October 24
Apple's latest minor revision to Mac OS X, version 10.3 ("Panther") is coming October 24. Given the fact that this OS is barely usable on a daily basis, I love the tag line ("With over 150 new features, it's like getting a new Mac!") It's like paying for a new Mac, too: Panther will set you back another $129, sadly.

[ Posted at 4:19 PM | Permalink ]

iTunes 5.0 for Windows and Mac next week?
The rumor mill is buzzing about a secretive October 16 Apple announcement that will reportedly include iTunes 5 for both the Mac and Windows. Some of the reported new features include support for the WMA format, "listener loans" from the iTunes music store, a new user interface, and several new track encoding options. Also supposedly happening next week are some new iPod add-ons, including a recording device, an iPod SD and CF card interface allowing photos to be transferred to an iPod for storage, and a video-dock of sorts allowing the viewing of photos and movies (stored on an iPod) on a standard television. We'll have to wait and see, but WMA support would be lovely, especially on the otherwise perfect iPod.

[ Posted at 4:12 PM | Permalink ]

Tuesday, October 07, 2003

Half-Life 2 delayed to 2004
Grr... Now Half-Life 2 has been delayed until early 2004, thanks to that infamous source code leak. The good news? Apparently, the hackers only got about one-third of the source code, which Valve says makes it "almost impossible" for bootleggers to exploit the leak.

[ Posted at 9:52 AM | Permalink ]

Monday, October 06, 2003

Mozilla Backup 1.1 Beta 2 posted
Now this is a neat idea: There's a little app called Mozilla Backup that backs up Mozila profiles, allowing you to backup mail, favorites, contacts, and so on. It works with Windows 98 or higher. Right now the stable version doesn't work with Firebird or Thunderbird, but 1.1 Beta 2 includes that functionality, so I'll check it out. Profiles are one of the more arcane things with which we have to deal with Mozilla products, and maybe this will prevent us from having to navigate around hidden directory structures in Windows.

[ Posted at 9:11 AM | Permalink ]