• Product Spotlight Mce Optibay For Mac

Phase Phase is used to describe the two main types of alternating current (AC) electric power produced by a utility, generator or UPS system. Single-phase power includes a single AC waveform, making single-phase equipment ideal for lower power density applications with per-rack power consumption levels up to approximately 2.8kVA (120V), 5kVA (208V) or 7.4kVA (230V). Three-phase power includes 3 AC waveforms, making 3-phase equipment better suited for intermediate and high-capacity applications with per-rack power consumption levels that surpass the practical energy limits of single-phase equipment. PDU Type Basic PDUs All PDUs including Basic PDUs provide reliable rack-mount power distribution for data centers, server rooms, and network wiring closets. Metered PDUs Metered PDUs monitor load levels to avoid potential overloads via a LCD display.

Monitored PDUs Monitored PDUs remotely monitor voltage, frequency, and load levels via a built-in network connection. Switched PDUs Switched PDUs can securely control individual outlets remotely to enable the rebooting of unresponsive equipment to minimize downtime. Auto Transfer Switch (ATS) PDUs ATS PDUs provide redundant power to connected equipment with separate primary and secondary power sources.

Hot-Swap PDUs Hot-Swap PDUs have dual input power cables to enable live-replacement of select UPS systems with no power interruption to connected equipment.

Full text of ' ATFM 14.06 / June 2008 Volume 14, Number 6 About This Particular Macintosh: About the personal computing experience.™ ATPM 14.06 1 Cover Cover Art Copyright © 2008 Simon Griffce 1. Created with DAZ/Studio 2. We need new cover art each month. Write 3 to us! The ATPM Staff Publisher/Editor Michael Tsai 4 Managing Editor Christopher Turner 5 Reviews Editor Paul Fatula 6 Web Editor Lee Bennett 7 Copy Editors Chris Lawson 8 Linus Ly 9 Ellyn Ritterskamp 10 Brooke Smith Vacant Webmaster Michael Tsai 11 Beta Testers The Staff 12 Contributing Editors Eric Blair 13 Mike Chamberlain 14 Chris Dudar 15 Ed Eubanks, Jr. 16 Matthew Glidden 17 Ted Goranson 18 Andrew Kator 19 Robert Paul Leitao 20 Wes Meltzer 21 Sylvester Roque 22 Charles Ross 23 1 mailto: cdudarOatpm.

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Com ATPM 14.06 2 Cover Mark Tennent 24 Evan Trent 25 Vacant Artwork & Design Layout and Design Web Design Cartoonist Blue Apple Icons Other Art Graphics Director Michael Tsai 26 Simon Griffcc 27 Matt Johnson 28 Mark Robinson RD Novo Vacant Emeritus RD Novo, Robert Madill, Belinda Wagner, Ja- mal Ghandour, Edward Goss, Tom Iovino, Daniel Chvatik, Grant Osborne, Gregory Tetrault, Raena Armitage, Johann Campbell, David Ozab. Contributors Eric Blair, Tom Bridge, Rob Colonna, Ed Eubanks, Jr., Matthew Glidden, Matt Johnson, Chris Law- son, Robert Paul Leitao, Linus Ly, Sylvester Roque, Charles Ross, Mark Tennent, Frank H. Wu, Macin- tosh users like you. Subscriptions Sign up for free subscriptions using the Web form 29. Where to Find ATPM Online and downloadable issues are available at the ATPM Web Site 30. ATPM is a product of ATPM, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. ISSN: 1093-2909. Production Tools Acorn, Apache, AppleScript, BBEdit, Cocoa, Do- cutils, DropDMG, FileMaker Pro, Git, Graphic- Converter, DTp^X, make, Mailman, Mojo Mail, MySQL, optipng, Perl, Photoshop Elements, PyMesh, PyObjC, Python, rsync, Snapz Pro X, ssh. 24 http: //www. Tennent.co.uk 25 http: //www. Symphony sound.

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Com Reprints Articles, original art, and desktop pictures may not be reproduced without the express permission of the author or artist, unless otherwise noted. You may, however, print or distribute copies of this issue of ATPM as a whole, provided that it is not modified in any way. Authors may be contacted through ATPM ’s editorial staff, or at their e-mail addresses, when pro- vided. Legal Stuff About This Particular Macintosh may be uploaded to any online area or included on a CD-ROM com- pilation, so long as the file remains intact and unal- tered, but all other rights are reserved. All informa- tion contained in this issue is correct to the best of our knowledge. The opinions expressed in ATPM are not necessarily those of the entire ATPM staff. Prod- uct and company names and logos may be registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Thank you for reading this far, and we hope that the rest of the magazine is more interesting than this. Thanks for reading ATPM. ATPM 14.06 3 Cover ATPM 14.06 4 Cover Sponsors About This Particular Macintosh has been free since 1995, and we intend to keep it that way.

Our editors and staff are volunteers with real jobs who believe in the Macintosh way of computing. We don’t make a profit, nor do we plan to.

Our aim is to produce a fiercely independent magazine, with multiple formats designed for easy reading rather than showing ads. The views expressed in these pages have always been our own, and to help prove it we do not accept direct sponsorships or advertising. We do, however, need to pay for our Web site and other expenses, so we rely on minimal advertising, sold indirectly via Google and Yahoo, as well as the support of ATPM readers who shop using our links 1. Shtml ATPM 14.06 5 Sponsors Welcome by Robert Paul Leitao, rleitao@atpm.com Welcome to the June issue of About This Particular Macintosh!

June is an interesting space in time. It marks the end of spring and the beginning of summer. It marks the end of school and the beginning of long and lazy days. It’s a calendar space trapped in time and seasonal transition. In this June issue, we take a special look at time in a decidedly Apple kind of way.

WWDC For the first time in the event’s history, Apple’s an- nual conference for developers is sold out. For the Apple faithful anxiously awaiting the opening of this year’s event, time has almost come to a stop. The release of iPhone 2.0 may be only days away, and each tick of the clock and every new announcement about the pending release of the 3G iPhone has mil- lions of the world’s citizens waiting impatiently for the conference’s keynote address. The Worldwide Developers Conference convenes about a week after ATPM ’s press time. By the end of June, the cell phone industry may be changed for- ever. Until the opening of the WWDC and its fateful keynote address, many of us will watch the clock one long tick at a time.

Time Machine If there’s one feature of Leopard that beguiles and intrigues avid Mac users, it’s Time Machine. This backup solution both frustrates and interests those of us who are organizationally challenged and knowingly in need of a means to store our digital stuff. It’s brought the term “sparsebundle” into conversation and brought a form of digital file management rather reluctantly into our lives. Storage space “below the cloud” has its physical limits. Although digital triage has its benefits (How many different versions of our latest home movie epic do we really need to store?) hard choices await those of us who wish to bring order to a digital space with physical storage constraints.

Western Digital, a previously lesser-known maker of hard drives, has become the prestige brand of choice for an emerging class of storage space connoisseurs. Time Capsule If you read Tom Bridge’s review of Time Capsule in this month’s issue, you might wonder if Apple’s wire- less backup solution is really two unrelated products melded into one. As a wireless base station it “shines the Apple,” but as a digital storage solution it may leave some wondering what the company has done. The author of this column is successfully using Time Capsule to backup a home full of Macs, but outcomes apparently vary wildly by user and circumstance.

Time Travel Apple’s latest iteration of its iApps suite comes bun- dled in an attractively priced iLife ’08 package. It al- lows users to present past events and future hopes on screen, on the Web, and in print. It’s a potent port- folio of products that should be heralded for both its simplicity and its power to promote self-expression. It’s also a key selling feature in the Mac’s consumer resurgence. Messing with time is an ages-old human desire, and Apple’s consumer products are delight- ing the hearts and inspiring the minds of millions of new users. It’s no wonder Apple is close to regaining the PC sales crown in the K-12 market and makes the laptop of choice for millions of college students.

Time waits for no one. But helping users capture the past and inspiring hope for the future have made the company the most potent force in the design and delivery of personal computing products. Timetable By most accounts Windows Vista is a bust. It’s helped create demand for Macs at a level unseen in Apple’s history.

The much anticipated 3G iPhone is scheduled for a global rollout including release in territories that before now that had not seen an Ap- ple product other than the popular iPod, and even then in numbers that evidenced scarcity more than ubiquity. It won’t be long before Apple competitors such as RIM, Nokia, HP, and even Microsoft seek to take back lost ground.

There are timetables for tides and time windows for opportunity. Microsoft is already hyping its Vista replacement, and cell phones that mimic the iPhone will soon be in release.

Will Apple make the most of its technology advantages or will time prove to be a foe rather than a friend? ATPM will cover this story in the months ahead. ATPM 14.06 6 Welcome The Time Has Come Thank you for being with us this month. The time has come to explore our June issue. Each month ATPM chronicles the “personal computing experience” in a unique, informative, and entertaining way.

Enjoy the June issue. We’ll see you again in July. Our June issue includes: MacMuser: Mac to My Back Sweet escape — Back to My Mac and.Mac facilitate out of office experiences. MacMuser: 10.5.3 and Time Machine Time goes by so slowly, sometimes. Though the latest Mac OS X update might kink the space-time contin- uum, nothing is seriously warped. Next Actions: Master List Ed Eubanks Jr. Returns with the second installment of applications for Getting Things Done.

Segments: Apple Versus Dell Breaking the molds — in the combination of business and technology, one size does not fit all. How To: Find the Right NAS Drive A Network Attached Storage device could be of im- mense benefit to multiple-computer households, or even just one computer that operates untethered on Wi-Fi most of the time. Sylvester Roque discusses the “it factors” for choosing a NAS device.

How To: How a Programmer Works With a Non-Programming Project Charles Ross offers glimpses into the secret life of programmers and demonstrates the benefits of pro- gramming for novices. Desktop Pictures: Boston Reader Rob Colonna provides this month’s photos taken in Boston, Massachusetts.

Cartoon: Cortland “Wieser Graphics is history” as Lisa launches her final assault. Could this spell the end for Cortland and friends? Review: Aluminum V 2 The perfect hard case for your U2 Special Edition iPod, four years too late. Review: Escape the Museum The combination of adventure and hidden object lev- els provide hours of entertainment.

Some objects are unfairly hidden, but help is freely available. Review: OptiBay Hard Drive Nice, but not super, Frank Wu reveals the reality behind the OptiBay drive’s marketing. Review: TapeDeck 1.0 TapeDeck rekindles the joy of cassette recording to simplify the process of getting your audio to iTunes or compressed for e-mail. Whatever you choose to record, it’ll be really, really easy to do. Review: Time Capsule (1 TB) Good NAS, good Base Station, crappy Time Ma- chine. ATPM 14.06 7 Welcome E-Mail Drive Genius 2.

1 1 had a drive fail recently. It was still operating fine, but SMARTreporter popped up and said the SMART status reported imminent failure. I was able to copy all my files off of it (that’s the advantage of an early warning utility), but Disk Utility would not let me zero out the data (in fact Disk Utility wouldn’t touch it at all). But using the Shred option in Drive Genius 2 I could overwrite the entire disk before sending it back to Apple.

It did this even though it knew the SMART status was “failed” (it had changed from fail- ing to failed over the course of a day) so that’s a very big plug for this program. — Rowan CD-ripping Rip-off 2 I make it a point to own a legit CD or legally down- load a copy of every song in my iTunes library. I want the artist who created it to benefit from the fact that I own a copy of his or her music. Once I buy it, it’s mine. If I want to use the disc for a $15 Frisbee, that’s my choice.

All of my CDs are ripped for my three iPods. If you want to save a buck or two, music lovers, buy a recycled or discounted CD from Amazon or you favorite local used CD store. If the artists don’t get paid, they may quit mak- ing music and get a job at the local Wal-Mart sell- ing other artist’s music. What a waste of talent that would be. — Grover Watson Another Ripping Rip-off 3 You’ve precisely illustrated the reason why I have chosen to never patronize a digital music download service (free or paid). The former goes against the very spirit of the copyright laws (supposedly) de- signed to protect the music artists; while the latter is enabling and encouraging ripping off the consumer, whom (if they go along with it) are effectively just “renting” the rights to play the music.

It appears there is no middle ground. Eaton 1 http: //www. Shtml “http: //www.

Shtm 1,5 http: //www. Shtml Photoshop For the Curious 4 Thanks for the great ideas, Lee. What a simple workaround to create a non- destructive dodge/burn layer. I’ve been experiment- ing with layer masks to get the same effect but haven’t come up with anything near this simple or elegant. — Michael McKee Exporting From FreeHand 5 I am not a designer and usually use FreeHand 10 only to make changes to images created by others, who have the same problem: When exporting, FreeHand always defaults to. Swf, so all of us have to pull down and change how we want the exported file saved. We always want to export as Macintosh.eps.

Is there a way to change this permanently? Thanks for your help! — CMWyckoff This may not be the answer you are looking for, but it might serve you better. Instead of exporting to EPS, try a Save As and select Editable EPS as the format. I started using this instead of saving native FreeHand 10 files.

It created an EPS that I was fully able to use in my various other DTP apps, and I could still double-click to open them into Free- Hand 10. From then on, I didn’t have to select anything. I only needed to hit the regular Save button and it remained an EPS. I concede there may be some FreeHand ef- fects that aren't properly retained when saving to an Editable EPS instead of FreeHand 10 for- mat. But I also remind that I, personally, never encountered such trouble since I never really used advanced effects in FreeHand. — Lee Bennett Apple Keyboard 6 Agreed. This is probably the best keyboard Apple has made so far (though there are the die-hard “clack lovers” who swear by (the American-made models of) the Extended Keyboard II).

— Chris Ryland. 4 http: //www. Shtml ’http: //www. Shtml “http: //www. Shtml ATPM 14.06 8 E-Mail My aluminum keyboard (wired) was probably the best keyboard I have ever used when I first got it. Much better than the MacBook keyboard I was so fond of. It was never as sturdy as this one is.

I say when I first got it because I had an incident with it where I spilt a sticky drink over it. Now a few of the keys stick, but it still works pretty beautifully. I have never been a connoisseur of keyboards, but I can say from my very limited experience of the pre- vious Apple keyboard and a few Windows keyboards that this is my favourite. — Nick Savage.

Good news as I am in the market for a new key- board. I have the Bluetooth white keyboard that came with my Mac Pro, and I’m not very happy with it. The keys stick (more correctly, the plastic grabs when pressing a key at an angle as I often do with the Command key), and they move around too much. I’d much rather have a cheap ADB keyboard and get a USB converter than use this even though I very much like the wireless aspect. — Christian Gwizdala. After months of a Apple Extended Keyboard (white with numeric keypad and the clear, dirt-revealing plastic), then a brief stint with a Dell USB keyboard (ugly, but at least those keys didn’t randomly not depress), I borrowed an aluminum keyboard from a friend who just got a new iMac.

It took me 10 minutes to go from, “Hm, weird. Don’t know if I like this.” to looking online for a cheap price and quick shipping on one for myself. — Christopher Bowns.

I absolutely love this keyboard; I love it so much every other keyboard feels like a monkey-spunked finger- waster straight from Dell. I now find it difficult to use other keyboards, due to the awareness of having to push those keys a pointlessly far distance.

I didn’t “get used” to the aluminum keyboard; I instead immediately found it to be the purest form of keyboard yet devised. — Jeremy Roush. This iteration of the Apple Keyboard does not have rubber dome keyswitches (the previous, plastic- bodied one did). It has scissor keyswitches similar to the ones on modern laptop keyboards. This ac- counts for the better feel compared to other desktop keyboards that do use rubber dome switches. — Andrew Witte.

Finally, Apple have released a decent keyboard. Those late-90s iMac-era keyboards were junk in terms of both feel and build quality. In my opinion, they couldn’t even compete with those cheap $10 PC keyboards. Clearly they were trying for something different, but it just didn’t work. The aluminum keyboard isn’t just decent; it’s rock solid, and it definitely benefits from its thin form factor.

I think it’s now the most compelling keyboard from any of the big-name computer man- ufacturers. (and all this without messing with the keyboard layout, which is something both Logitech and Microsoft can’t seem to help themselves from doing.

Grr.) I was worried that the (brilliant) Caps-Lock delay would impact those who (smartly) remap Caps Lock to another key. Thankfully, that isn’t the case. When the Caps Lock key is remapped the delay doesn’t take effect. Next up for Apple, a new mouse?

(I actually like the feel of the Mighty Mouse, but the build quality is poor. Our school has a few general-purpose computer labs stocked with new iMacs, and the scroll ball on every single Mighty Mouse died within a few months of use.) — Darren. I’m a die hard “clack lover” who still has a couple of old Apple Extended ADB keyboards, and I really like the new Apple aluminum keyboard. It feels identical to the new MacBook Air keyboard; both have very solid frames that contribute substantially to the feel.

The keys are easy to press down with no hesitation and are not mushy or stiff at all. I can type very fast on this keyboard.

The MacBook keyboard is somewhat similar but does not feel nearly as good. ATPM 14.06 9 E-Mail The other advantage is that this keyboard is silent, nice for typing in the bedroom, etc. (that’s why I bought it). — Steve Lang. I grew up with a Selectric typewriter in the house, and I took it to college with me, saying goodbye to it only after buying my first computer. Every keyboard I’ve owned has been judged by its standard. Apple’s old style Pro came very very close, as did the first IBM computer keyboards.

I’ve thrown away a lot of keyboards over the years and hated more than a cou- ple notebooks because the keys were shaped wrong, they felt mushy, or the throw was too short, too long, too soft, or too hard. When the ADB port was killed off, I tried a few USB-to-ADB adaptors and eventually accepted keyboard mediocrity. Then Matias brought out a keyboard 7 that very nearly replicated my beloved Selectric. I bought three of them and just recently gave the first its burial. Two days prior to that, a new iMac had been delivered to my desk, so with a groan I grabbed that tiny thin aluminum keyboard and plugged it in. Of all the notebooks I’ve owned, my MacBook has the least lousy keyboard, and this new Apple key- board is its twin. Once I stopped moving between the low-profile keyboard on the MacBook and the clacky long throw of the Matias board, I realized that it wasn’t just a not bad keyboard, it was a quite good keyboard.

I wound up not pulling out a new Matias board — I quite like this thin little keyboard. — David Benson. All I can say is, test it out first. I absolutely hated this keyboard and ended up, on the advice of MacInTouch readers, getting a USB MacAlly iKey instead.

I had to get it used, but it had the feel I was looking for. I like a lot of laptop keyboards — the classic Vaios and the G4 iBooks, for example — but not this aluminum thing, as lovely as it was. — David Zatz. ' http: //www. Shtml I find that these new laptop-ish “short travel” keys feel fine for regular typing, but they’re a real short- coming when it comes to chording two keys, for in- stance Command-Option.

With the classic “deep” keys, it was enough to slap the thumb over the gap between the keys and you could be reasonably certain that you’re holding both of them down together. With the aluminum keyboard it’s a bit more of a balancing act to get both keys down correctly, and it gets especially awkward when adding Shift into the mix (pinky on Shift, thumb on Command-Option), since this contorted hand position makes it very hard to hold both keys with the side of the thumb.

I think that’s my only annoyance with the alu- minum keyboard. Has anyone else found this to be a problem? — Andrew Vit I found that to be a big problem at first, but I got used to it within a week.

— Michael Tsai Coping With Mac OS X’s Font Rendering 8 This may help Lex with his font issue. I have the usual post-middle age eyesight problems. My moni- tor is a Hewlett-Packard 23' LCD with a 0.258 mm dot pitch (98 dots per inch) and a 1900x1200 res- olution. Here’s how I set up my Mac to minimize eyestrain: In the Appearance preference pane I chose the Medium font smoothing style and turned off smooth- ing for fonts 8 point or less. In the Finder preferences for window text, I chose the 12 point size, but that can be bumped up to 13 or 14 points for those with poorer eyesight.

In my Firefox browser I chose as default fonts 16 point New York (serif), 16 point Arial (sans serif), and 15 point Courier New (monospaced). I set the minimum font size to 14 points and unchecked the “Allow pages to choose their own fonts.” option. For e-mail (Entourage), I chose 14 point Verdana for lists and 12 point Monaco for e-mail text. Again, those point sizes can be bumped up. For applications like Word and Excel, I set up the default templates to display new documents at a zoom level of 125% or 150%.

I do the same with most other text-heavy applications. With this combination of choices, I am quite happy with OS X font rendering.

If my eyes are s http: //www. Shtml#coping-wit h-mac-os-x-s ATPM 14.06 10 E-Mail tired, I increase the zoom level or use keystroke combinations to bump up font size. — Gregory Tetrault Increasing the sizes can certainly make the fonts more readable. Still, I believe that with bet- ter font rendering options they could be more readable at smaller sizes, thus allowing more efficient use of the available screen real estate. — Michael Tsai We’d love to hear your thoughts about our publication.

We always welcome your comments, criticisms, suggestions, and praise. Or, if you have an opinion or announcement about the Macintosh platform in general, that's OK too. Send your e-mail to editor@atpm.com. All mail becomes the property of ATPM and may be edited for publication. ATPM 14.06 11 E-Mail MacMuser by Mark Tennent, Mac to My Back When the temperature outside starts with a 3 you know you have problems.

A single digit, Fahrenheit, or preceded by a minus means it is what is technically known as bloody freezing. A single digit after the 3, as in the southern half of the UK this weekend, the correct term is bloody hot. Unless you are measuring in the R0mer scale in which case you will be dead. With that in mind, after finding the coolest part of the garden and settling in to watch Lewis Hamilton beat the cheating Spaniard, a problem arose needing a quick and effortless solution since any exertion pro- duced buckets of perspiration. The Mac transmitting the TV signal to the receiver laptop was having a lit- tle hissy fit every few minutes and needed a good seeing to. Stuck in the Office It was, after all, compressing video, uploading a gi- gabyte of data, and signing on to get e-mail every five minutes or so. As well as capturing live TV and transmitting to us in the garden.

Being an original G5, it too was complaining about the heat, huffing and puffing its fans to keep cool. This seemed an ideal time to try Apple’s Back to My Mac 1 because it meant staying in the garden while solving the hissy fit. 1 http: // www. Com/ dotmac/backtomymac. Html If you have never used Back to My Mac, it ar- rived in Mac OS X 10.5, and with it you can edit and transfer files between Macs as well as control one Mac from the other. Neither are new or unique services, but as usual, Apple has made it a no-brainer. Simply turn on Screen Sharing using the Sharing and.Mac Preference panes, and turn on UPNP or NAT-PMP in your router.

They probably are already on.Mac Upgrade on the Way The.Mac account is the only other requirement be- cause, as Wikipedia states 2: Back to My Mac uses wide-area Bonjour to discover services across the Internet and automatically configure ad hoc, on-demand, point to point encrypted connections between computers using IPSec. It requires users to have a.Mac subscription for the Dynamic DNS service portion of Wide-Area Bonjour.

Rumour has it that in June Apple will announce a big upgrade to the.Mac service — which already isn’t to be sneezed at. Back to My Mac is just one further feature that makes the annual fee even more reason- able. Back to My Bacchus Getting back to our Macs, all we did was turn it on and immediately we could control one Mac from the other. Meaning we could retire to the coolest part of the garden, wipe the condensation from the glasses of chilled Bacchus wine, and watch Lewis. At the same time keeping an eye on the other Mac which was still busily working away in the office. Just to add to its woes, we fired up QuarkXPress and made a series of PDFs, which were uploaded via Transmit. All controlled with our backs to the Mac, from the garden via a laptop.

Copyright © 2008 Mark Tennent L 2 http: // en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BackToMyMac 2 http: / /www. Tennent.co.uk ATPM 14.06 12 MacMuser: Mac to My Back ATPM 14.06 13 MacMuser: Mac to My Back MacMuser by Mark Tennent, 10.5.3 and Time Machine The latest Mac OS X update 1 is available at a Soft- ware Update near you.

Apart from fixing loads of glitches, it also messes with Time Machine; and some people, including me, have had mixed results after the update. For more details go to the discussions 2 on Apple’s support pages. In most cases, the drive used by Time Machine for storage refuses to mount. Various solutions are offered: a low-level reformat, turning Time Machine to a new drive and back again, and trashing Time Machine’s and other preferences.

See the discussions for greater detail. Once.Twice.Three Times Went Crazy We updated three Macs. The first, last night, went without a hitch and has been rock-solid.

The second spent a long time, perhaps three hours, being busy saving things into Time Machine. The third Mac seemed happy enough after upgrading, Time Machine worked, everything else seemed unaffected. Then it had a kernel crash. This is a pretty rare event for Mac users, the equivalent of a Windows Blue Screen of Death so ably demonstrated by his Biliousness, here 3 on Win- dows 98, here 4 (twice) on Windows 2000, and here 5 in 2005 while demonstrating the Xbox. Mac users, on the other hand, think of kernel crashes as traffic accidents involving a Jeep. Getting a Good Thrashing On restarting the Mac, the Time Machine drive would not mount yet it was obviously thrashing away at something, its little LED blinking Morse code at a terrific rate.

The Mac was shut down and the Time Machine drive connected to a laptop. It refused to mount, and again the drive thrashed away at some- thing. ^ttp: //support. Com/kb/HT1141 2 http: //discussions. J spa?f orumID=12 27 3 http: //www. Com/watch?v=RgriT08UHvs 4 http: //www.

Com/vnunet/news/2126451/blue-scr een-death-crashes-gates-ces 5 http: //gizmodo. Com/gadgets/notag/bill-gates-keynot e-gets-the-blue-screen-of -death-29002. Php Checking in Activity Monitor 6 showed fsckhfs was consuming a lot of processor time and had been started by root.

This usually happens automatically at restart on the drive containing the system, but this is the first time we’ve seen it run automatically on another drive. The system log in Console stated there was Runtime Corruption and fsck would be forced on next mount. The drive was returned to the original Mac and left for an hour or so for fsck to do its thing. Eventually the thrashing stopped, the drive mounted, and all is well. As far as the rest of the 10.5.3 update: no other problems have been experienced and running Repair Permissions after the update showed nothing needed (, http: //www.

Shtml ' http: / /www. Tennent.co.uk ATPM 14.06 14 MacMuser: 10.5.3 and Time Machine Next Actions by Ed Eubanks, Jr. Master List Here’s the second installment of the new-and- improved “Master List.” The list now covers all applications that are rele- vant to GTD (that I know of), divided into the cat- egories I’ve been using from the start. Next Actions readers will hopefully recognize the distinctions be- tween GTD applications and more general task man- agers.

You’ll also likely be familiar with advantages and disadvantages of locally-installed applications vs. Web-based tools. I believe these are helpful distinc- tions, although the lines blur considerably. I’ve provided a sort of tiered coverage of these apps. My primary focus, naturally, is on the locally- installed, full-on GTD application.

Second priority goes to the more general-purpose task management applications, also locally-installed. Finally, Web- based (and browser-based) tools and applications get bottom priority — and you’ll notice that coverage of these is quite sparse. This is out of a sense of necessity on my part: I want to actually get back to writing about using these tools, not just the tools themselves, and I’m limited in how much time I can give to the various aspects of maintaining this column.

I’ve also come to the conclusion that the Web application landscape is such a vast and ever- expanding world that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to accurately represent what these tools actually offer. Thus, I’ll limit my coverage to merely listing these. I strive every time I edit to be comprehensive in this list; I’m sure that I have missed one or two, per- haps even your favorite. I welcome feedback on the list, and invite you to alert me to those apps that deserve a spot on it. Locally Installed GTD Applications Action Tracker 1 Developer: Mac Productive Current Version: 1.3.1 Price: Free Development Status: Release iCal Sync: Yes Quicksilver Plug-in: No Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes Required Applications: FileMaker Pro (free Run- time version available) Distinguishing Features: Also organizes notes, contacts, and other information related to projects. News: None ActionTastic 2 Developer: Jon Crosby Current Version: 0.9.3 Price: Free, open-source Development Status: Beta iCal Sync: Yes Quicksilver Plug-in: Yes Web-app Sync: Yes J http: //macproductive. Com/act iontracker.

Html “http: //www. Com/blog/ category/actiontas tic/ ATPM 14.06 15 Next Actions: Master List Print Lists: Yes Required Applications: None Distinguishing Features: Processing engine; iPod sync; Mail and MailTags compatibility.

News: None Easy Task Manage / 3 Developer: Orionbelt.com Current Version: 1.9.3 Price: $20 Development Status: Release iCal Sync: Yes Quicksilver Plug-in: Yes Web-app Sync: Yes Print Lists: Yes Required Applications: None Distinguishing Features: Windows version avail- able; automatic advance of uncompleted due tasks to “today.” News: Recent update improved online features, in- cluding iPhone support. Frictionless 4 Developer: Twin Forces Current Version: 2.0dl5 Price: Free, open-source Development Status: Release iCal Sync: No Quicksilver Plug-in: Yes Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes Required Applications: None J http: //www. Com/ 4 http: //www. Com/f rictionless/ Distinguishing Features: Quick-entry box; fuzzy repeated actions. News: None Ghost Action 5 Developer: Ghost Park Software Current Version: 1.1 Price: $20 Development Status: Release iCal Sync: Yes Quicksilver Plug-in: No Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes Required Applications: None Distinguishing Features:.Mac syncing (without iCal running); PD A/iPod syncing.

News: None iGTD 6 Developer: Bartek Current Version: 1.4. 6 Price: Free Development Status: Release iCal Sync: Yes Quicksilver Plug-in: Yes Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes Required Applications: None Distinguishing Features: Compatible with Ad- dress Book, Mail, iSync, and MailTags, as well as Web browser support, Path Finder, Yojimbo, MacJournal, and others; quick-entry feature; simple yet powerful interface. 'http: // ghostparksof twar e. Com/ 6 http: / /igtd. Pl/iGTD/ ATPM 14.06 16 Next Actions: Master List News: Version 2 is in development (public alpha re- mGTD 9 lease available for download), as is iGTD Pro. ICog 7 HensPace Developer: HensPace Current Version: 1.88 Price: Free Development Status: Release iCal Sync: No Quicksilver Plug-in: No Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes Required Applications: Python 2.4 or higher Distinguishing Features: Compatible with any OS running Python (including Windows); very simple, text-only utility.

News: None Kinkless GTD 8 Developer: Ethan Schoonover Current Version: 0.83 Price: Free Development Status: Beta iCal Sync: Yes Quicksilver Plug-in: Yes Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes Required Applications: OmniOutliner Pro 3.6 or higher Distinguishing Features: Nothing fancy, but a simple list management tool. News: Schoonover has effectively abandoned devel- opment of kGTD since joining the staff of the Omni Group and working on the OmniFocus development team. W Developer: Apokalypse Software Corp Current Version: 1.2 Price: Free Development Status: “Pre-final” iCal Sync: No Quicksilver Plug-in: No Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes Required Applications: Mori 1.4 Distinguishing Features: Expands Mori (digital notebook) functions to include GTD principles. News: None Midnight Inbox 10 Developer: Midnight Beep Softworks Current Version: 1.3.1 Price: $35 Development Status: Release iCal Sync: Yes Quicksilver Plug-in: No Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes Required Applications: None Distinguishing Features: Action timer; quick- note and quick-action hot keys; Mail compati- ble; “automatic” data collection. News: Version 2 was recently discussed in great de- tail on the Web site.

9 http: // apokalypsesoftware. Com/products/node/1385 ll) http: //www.midnightbeep. Com/ ‘ http: //www.henspace. Uk/ ikog/ index.html 8 http: //www. Com/ ATPM 14.06 17 Next Actions: Master List OmniFocus 11 Developer: Omni Group Current Version: 1.0.2 Price: $80 Development Status: Release iCal Sync: Yes Quicksilver Plug-in: Yes Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes Required Applications: None Distinguishing Features: Mail- and Spotlight- compatible; simple interface with powerful view features. News: Version 1.1 has been announced/discussed, said to include a true iPhone application that will be released around the time of the iPhone firmware 2.0 update. PyGTD 12 Developer: Thiamin Trek Current Version: n/a Price: Free Development Status: Release iCal Sync: No Quicksilver Plug-in: No Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes Required Applications: Python Distinguishing Features: Cross-platform compat- ibility; incorporates Covey-style prioritization with GTD; a simple text-based list.

News: Web site is no longer on the server; if the problem persists, I’ll remove this application from the list. 11 http: //www.

Com/applications/ omnif ocus/ 12 http: //96db. Com/pyGTD/ Ready, Set, Do! 13 Developer: Todd Vasquez Current Version: 1.2k Price: $20 Development Status: Release iCal Sync: Yes Quicksilver Plug-in: Yes Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes Required Applications: None Distinguishing Features: A very different ap- proach using a set of AppleScript routines to impose organization and communication across a computer’s entire filesystem; multiple language support. News: Latest version includes a script for sending an e-mail to RSD from the inbox. TaskPaper 1 4 Developer: Hog Bay Software Current Version: 1.0.3 (26) Price: $19 Development Status: Release iCal Sync: No 13 http: //homepage.mac.

/ Per sonal93. Html 14 http: //hogbay software.

Com/projects/taskpaper ATPM 14.06 18 Next Actions: Master List Quicksilver Plug-in: No Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes Required Applications: None Distinguishing Features: Simple, text-based sys- tem; no- frills, intentionally designed as an al- ternative to more full-featured systems. News: None Things 15 iCal Sync: No Quicksilver Plug-in: No Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes Required Applications: None Distinguishing Features: Cross-platform compat- ibility through Java; interactive collection and processing. News: Web site now promises that the final version of 2.0 is coming soon (as of April 10, 2008).

Developer: Cultured Code Current Version: 0.9.1 Price: $50 (pre-release price of $40 with signup for newsletter) Development Status: Alpha iCal Sync: Yes Quicksilver Plug-in: No Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes Required Applications: None Distinguishing Features: Features will include: iCal sync; repeating tasks; Mail compatibility; network and multi-computer operation; and import/export options. News: Those who want to serve as alpha testers may request access. Final release version will cost between $40 and $50. Thinking Rock 16 Vortex 17 if Developer: AirBlade Software Current Version: 1.0.13 (r22) Price: £15 (approx.

$30) Development Status: Release iCal Sync: No Quicksilver Plug-in: No Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes Required Applications: None Distinguishing Features: Two-panel view; single- click creation of new tasks and projects; contingent and dependent actions; time and energy requirement indices; Windows version available. News: No longer for sale! The service and support available on their Web site is for those who al- ready own a license. (This application will be removed for the next issue.) Developer: Avente Pty Ltd.

Current Version: 1.2.3 (2.0e also available) Price: Free, open-source Development Status: Release 15 http: //culturedcode. Com/things/ 1(, http: //www. Com.au/ What To Do 18 Developer: Objective Satisfaction 1 ' http: // airbladesof tware. Com/ 18 http: //www. Object ivesatisf action. Com/ whattodo/ ATPM 14.06 19 Next Actions: Master List Current Version: 1.3.2 Price: $29 Development Status: Release iCal Sync: No Quicksilver Plug-in: Yes Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes Required Applications: None Distinguishing Features: Drag-and-drop inten- sive for easy reorganization;.Mac syncing for multiple computers; XML export.

News: None Locally Installed General Task Managers Check Off 19 Developer: Second Gear Current Version: 3.8 Price: Free/Donationware Development Status: Release iCal Sync: No Quicksilver Plug-in: No Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes Distinguishing Features: A menu-bar utility that manages basic task lists; syncs with iPods; a.Mac Backup QuickPick is provided. News: None Docket 20 Developer: Surprise Software Current Version: 1.3 Price: $20 Development Status: Release iCal Sync: No Quicksilver Plug-in: No Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes Distinguishing Features: A neat, basic list man- agement application. A Windows version is also available. News: None Dolt 21 1!, http: //www.

Checkoff app. Com/ “ (, http: //www. Surprisesof tware. Com/docket/ 21 http: //www.

J immcgowan.net/Site/DoIt.html Developer: Jim McGowan Current Version: 2.6 Price: Donationware Development Status: Release iCal Sync: Yes Quicksilver Plug-in: Yes Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: No Distinguishing Features:.Mac support, and Ap- pleScript ability. Also supports file attachments and categories for lists. News: None High Priority 22 Developer: Aram Kudurshian Current Version: 1.11 Price: $6-personal; $12-family; $60-business Development Status: Release iCal Sync: Yes Quicksilver Plug-in: No Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes (through iCal) Distinguishing Features: A system preference pane, creates a menu in the menu bar that lets you create and update your iCal tasks. News: Not compatible with Leopard; no plans are made for a Leopard-compatible upgrade as of now. Hot Plan 23 Developer: Intuiware Current Version: 1.4.1 Price: $20 Development Status: Release iCal Sync: No Quicksilver Plug-in: No Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: No Distinguishing Features: Tracks a substantial amount of information about a given task, including completion status, priority, time remaining; supports tagging, color-coding, and locking of tasks. Also allows collection of URLs and files.

News: None -http: //www. Net/highpr ior ity/ 2i http: //www. Com/Product s/MacOSX/HotPlan/ ATPM 14.06 20 Next Actions: Master List iCIock 24 Developer: Script Software Current Version: 3.0.5 Price: $20 Development Status: Release iCal Sync: Yes Quicksilver Plug-in: No Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: No Distinguishing Features: Offers a menu bar- based method of managing task lists; includes.Mac syncing.

News: None Life Balance 25 Developer: Llamagraphics Current Version: 4.0.5 Price: $65 ($80 when bundled with Palm version) Development Status: Release iCal Sync: Yes Quicksilver Plug-in: No Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes (through iCal) Distinguishing Features: Gives “meta-feedback” about tasks: how much time are you spending in different areas of your life (i.e. Work, family, hobbies, etc.), and are you keeping it balanced? Palm and Windows versions available. News: None MultitaskingAssistant 26 Developer: Green Cog Software Current Version: 1.0 Price: Donationware Development Status: Release iCal Sync: No Quicksilver Plug-in: No Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: No Distinguishing Features: Perhaps especially help- ful for repetitive and redundant tasks.

News: None 24 http: //www. Scriptsof tware. Com/ iclock/iclockmac.php 25 http: //www.

Com/LB/index.php 2(, http: //www. Greencogsof tware. Com/ Stapler 27 Developer: The Blue Technologies Group Current Version: 1.1 Price: €7.50 (about $10) Development Status: Release iCal Sync: No Quicksilver Plug-in: No Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes Distinguishing Features: Is a combination notepad and to-do list manager, with creation date, notes, and a check-box for completed items. Tasks can be color-coded based on a low-level preference setup.

News: None ToDo X 28 Developer: Omicron Software Systems, Inc. Current Version: 2.2 Price: $15 Development Status: Release iCal Sync: Import from iCal only Quicksilver Plug-in: No Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: No Distinguishing Features: Offers categories, prior- ities, and attached notes. News: None ZooDo 29 Developer: InterfaceThis Current Version: 1.0 Price: Free Development Status: Release iCal Sync: Yes Quicksilver Plug-in: No Web-app Sync: No Print Lists: Yes (through iCal) Distinguishing Features: A basic task-creator for iCal, serving as a “collection bucket.” News: None 2 1 http: //www. Com/ stapler/ 2s http: //www.

Com/Product s/ToDo/ 29 http: // interf acethis. Com/zoodo/ ATPM 14.06 21 Next Actions: Master List Browser and Web-Based GTD Apps 30 Boxes? 0 Price: Free Description: Lean and fast, including a calendar, task list, and limited Gmail interaction. Also RSS and iCal feeds, SMS, and sharing. Nice interface, too. GTDGMaiP 1 Price: Free Description: A Firefox extension for GTD integra- tion with Gmail.

Pre-packaged labels, a Re- view process, specialized searches within Gmail, quick-entry for tasks, and printable. Current version, 1.31, is open-source; requires Firefox. GTD-PHP 32 Price: Free Description: A PHP solution designed to be locally installed.

A simple tabbed interface, capture and process stages, weekly review. Neptune 33 Price: $10/year Description: Includes a collection “inbox” and con- text or project task viewing panes, as well as inactive projects and tasks.

Daily e-mail re- minders of tasks, new tasks can be added by e-mail, and data export. Next Action 34 Price: free Description: Uses Google Gears and Firefox; has a lean, basic interface with multiple-list man- agement capability. Works with or without a network connection. 30 http: //www. Com/welcome.php 31 http: //gtdgmail.

Com/ '-http: //www. Com/Main/HomePage 33 http: //www. Com/ i4 http: //code.

Com/p/trimpath/wiki/NextAction Nexty 35 Price: free Description: PHP-based, so installs locally and runs in your browser; supports contexts and reminders. Nozbe 36 Price: Free Description: Has markers for which action will be next and a time estimation for tasks. Contexts are visible and identifiable, and it is easy to collect and process quickly. SimpleGTD 37 Price: Free Description: Tabs for next actions, contexts, projects, and done actions; drag-and-drop organization and easy “un-doing” of tasks Toodledo 38 Price: Free Description: Has a Firefox plugin and a Google gadget for easy collection; also supports e-mail, voicemail, and traditional entry for collec- tion. Includes a good overview of GTD in cooperation with their tools, as well. Tracks 39 Price: Free Description: A Web server that runs locally, or hosted through tracks. Fast, lean, and pretty, it offers calendaring and a multi-user component.

Vitalist 40 35 http: //nexty. Sourcef orge.net/ 36 http: //www. Com/page/index 37 http: //www. Com/ 38 http: / / www. Com/ inf o/gtd.

Php 39 http: / / www. Uk/pro j ect s/ 40 http: //www. Com/ ATPM 14.06 22 Next Actions: Master List Price: $5/month (premium) Description: Is a wide-scale GTD system: collec- tion, project management, recurring actions, and tickler files. Includes a mobile edition, iCal and RSS feeds, and e-mail and SMS reminders. A “premium” (paid) version also includes secu- rity encryption, collaboration, file attachments, and calendaring. GTDTiddlyWiki 57.

Product Spotlight Mce Optibay For Mac

Monkey GTD 58. Pimki 59 Copyright © 2008 Ed Eubanks, Jr. Other Browser/Web- Based Task Man- agers. Backpack 41. Basecamp 42. HiTask 43. Hiveminder 44.

Joe’s Goals 45. Mojonote 46. Remember the Milk 47.

Scrybe 48. Sproutliner 49. Task Freak! 50.

Tasks 51. Tasktoy 52. Todoist 53. Twecto 54. Zenlists 55 GTD and Task Management Wikis 41 http: / /www. Com/ 42 http: / /www.

Com/ 43 http: / /hitask. Com/ 44 http: / /hiveminder. Com/splash/ 45 http: / /www.

Com/ 46 http: / /mo j onote. Com/ 47 http: / / www. Com/ 48 http: // iscrybe.

Php 49 http: / /sproutliner. Com/ 50 http: / /www. Com/ 51 http: / /www.

Net/tasks/ 52 http: / /www. Com/ 53 http: / /todoist. Com/ 54 http: / /www. Com/ 55 http: / /zenlists. Com/ 56 ca/ 5 7 http: / /nathanbowers. Com/ gtdtw/ index. Html 58 http: //monkeygtd.

Com/#MonkeyGTD 59 http: / / pimki. Org/ ATPM 14.06 23 Next Actions: Master List Segments: Slices from the Macintosh Life by Eric Blair, eblair@atpm.com Apple Versus Dell, or Why Technology Isn't Just About the Technology The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs 1: As for the question, “So who knows?” the answer to that last question is, I do. Let me explain. What people over- look is that the advantages that allowed Dell to prosper for about a decade were all fleeting advantages. Dell was for a while an innovative company, but its in- novations did not involve product design. They involved manufacturing and distri- bution efficiencies. This quote comes from another great post from Daniel Lyons in his Fake Steve Jobs persona.

When people try to analyze Apple or compare it to other computer companies, they typically make at least one of two mistakes. One, they think every company that makes computers has the same business model. And two, they assume that technology is the only thing that matters. When you try to compare Dell and Apple as busi- nesses, all you can really compare are their relative financial positions. The manner in which the compa- nies go about their business are so disparate that you can no more say “Dell should be more like Apple” than you could say “Apple should be more like Dell” ten years ago.

(That’s not to say that the companies haven’t em- ployed similar strategies over the years. Apple’s push toward online sales and reducing on-hancl inventory 2 both come to mind. While the latter was most likely influenced by Dell’s success with low inventories and the costs incurred by Apple’s larger on-hand invento- ries, the former was pretty much inevitable, as many companies were moving toward the Internet for direct sales efforts.) The Apple and Dell business models are com- pletely different; while Apple has been innovating in 1 http: //f akesteve.blogspot. Com/2008/05/why-dell-wil 1-not -bounce-back. Html 2 http: //www.macobserver. Com/ columns/appletrader/OO/ 000731.

Shtml a user-facing manner, Dell has been squeezing every last bit of efficiency out of its business and manu- facturing processes. The problem for Dell is that there’s only so much fat to trim from business and manufacturing — eventually, you start cutting away the muscle. When you innovate in a user- facing man- ner, there are far more opportunities for improve- ment. The downside of attempting user-facing innova- tions is that they can be more difficult to achieve.

Every attempt will not be successful. It’s also harder to quantify the value of user- facing innovations.