Stan's List

This Power Mac G5 System Firmware Update is only for the 1.8 GHz, (600 MHz bus), single-processor Power Mac G5 (Late 2004) computer. This update improves the reliability of your Power Mac G5, especially after it has been inactive for two hours.

Product Requirements:

* Mac OS X 10.4.3 or higher
* Power Mac 1.8 GHz, (600 MHz bus), single-processor Power Mac G5 (Late 2004) model

Small Tree today announced its latest 10Gb Ethernet solution for Apple’s Xserve G5 running Mac OS X Server 10.4 “Tiger.” Using its highly optimized drivers and Mac OS X Tiger technology, Small Tree claims to deliver a 60 percent performance improvement for its 10GbE solution. The company says that CX-4, a copper interconnect standard for 10Gb class signal, is a lower cost switch interface ideal for high bandwidth network connections in high-performance computing clusters and for short distances within wiring closets. CX-4 minimizes design, installation and maintenance costs by preserving 802.3 network architecture, management and software features. A 10GbE CX-4 card, switch and support software are available for $2,400 per port.

PC Magazine details a columnist’s experience building and booting a Mac OS X, Intel system. “The race between Apple and the TPM crackers is ongoing. Just as we went to press, Apple released the OS X 10.4.2 upgrade, which breaks the cracked copies currently out on the Internet.

Reuters reports on commentary from Dell’s CFO said that his company is far behind rival Apple Computer Inc. in digital music, saying iPod’s phenomenal success has reinvigorated the maker of Mac PCs. “We’re obviously not competing very well,” with the iPod, Dell Chief Financial Officer Jim Schneider said.

OpenSourceMac.org (OSM), a simple list of the best free and open source software for OS X, doesn’t claim to be comprehensive source of “free” applications for the Mac, but it’s a beautiful place to start your search. In fact, the site actually claims to be not just an advocate, but a partisan one at that when it says the apps “showcase the best, most important, and easiest to use” of those on the market.

An example of OSM’s choosiness, can be found in the IRC clients listed—just one, Colloquy. There are many, many “free” and / or open source clients out there, but the only one OSM recommends is Colloquy.

Java 2 Platform Standard Edition (J2SE) 5.0 Release 3 includes version 1.5.0_05 and improves functionality of J2SE 5.0 on Mac OS X v 10.4 Tiger 10.4.2 and later. This release does not replace the existing installation of J2SE 1.4.2. The install does not require a re-boot.

For more details on this Update, please visit this website.

Washington Post is reporting a sublimely interesting detail of the video iPod’s growing success:

Apple Computer Inc took 20 days to reach 1-million downloads of video files from its online store; the Web site SuicideGirls, offering free videos of unclothed models, hit the mark in about a week

AppleInsider reports, “although it has denied that the iPod nano is more susceptible to scratches than any other iPod model, Apple’s latest shipments of the ultra-thin digital music player include a new protective sleeve.

Not yet shown in Apple Store’s “What’s Included”.