on Tuesday that they have posted the beta of drivers to support multiple monitors, via USB, on any Intel Mac. The DisplayLink technology is used to support, for example, multiple displays with the DisplayLink USB port built-in or standard monitors that have a DVI to USB adapter added. The key benefits of the Mac beta…
John Martellaro
John Martellaro was born at an early age and began writing about computers soon after that. With degrees in astrophysics (B.S.) and physics (M.S.), he has worked for NASA, White Sands Missile Range, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Apple. At Apple he worked as a Senior Marketing Manager, a Federal Account Executive and a High Performance Computing manager. His interests include chess, science fiction and astronomy. John is the host of the TMO podcast Background Mode.
Articles by John Martellaro
Understanding Hard Disk Failure Rates
Hard Disk vendors publish a number for some hard disks called mean Time Between Failures (MTBF), and that number has generally risen over the years to be more that a million hours in some cases. User experience, however, seems to differ from expectations, the term can be deceptive, and failure rates can often reach several…
Intel Working on Notebook Anti-Theft Technology
Intel announced on Wednesday that that theyire working on an anti-theft technology that would render a stolen notebook computer useless, according to The Register. The operation of the CPU would be tied to the login authentication. Details remain sparse, and Intelis Mobility Group chief, Dadi Perlmutter, provided few specifics. Basically, however, the notebook computer would…
Mac Gains Internet Browsing Market Share at Expense of Microsoft
Over the last year, the percentage of people using a Mac to access the Internet has risen from about 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent while the Windows market share has dropped by the same amount, according to Net Applications on Wednesday. The iPhone has passed all other OSes except Linux and has gained fourth place…
MacBook Air Parody Ad Strikes on Several Levels
A parody of the MacBook Air ad was recently created and posted by The Bureau. However, the real target isn’t Apple… Made on a Mac, of course.
Vista Falls in CanSecWest Security Challenge
Last week, the MacBook Air was the first to fall in the CanSecWest Hacker Challenge. On Friday, Vista suffered the same fate, but thanks to Adobeis Flash, according to Channel Web. Vista was running on a Fujitsu U810. A researcher, Shane Macaulay, won a US$5,000 cash prize when he exploited an unidentified Adobe Flash player…
Dell Beats Apple to Blu-Ray Punch With Inspiron 1525 Notebook
On Friday, Dell announced that they will be offering the Inspiron 1525 notebook computer with a Blu-ray drive starting at US$879, beating Apple — an early Blu-ray supporter, to market with a Blu-ray equipped laptop. The drive is a Blu-ray player, but can burn DVDs and CDs. “The Inspiron 1525 laptop is the one that…
PC Spending Down, Macs in Best Position
Overall PC Spending is trending down, but Apple so far is least unaffected, according to a ChangeWave report released on Wednesday. Only eight percent of the 4,427 consumers surveyed say theyill be buying a laptop in the next 90 days, 6 percent for desktops. For those who do plan to buy a notebook or desktop,…
Apple Updates Security Update 2008-002 to version 1.1 for Aperture
On Wednesday, Apple posted Security Update 2008-002, version 1.1. This update “addresses reliability issues with the ‘Printer Settings…’ button in Aperture 2.0 on systems running Mac OS X v10.5.2. No applications other than Aperture 2.0 are affected,” according to Apple. The update will appear only for users who have Aperture installed. A stand alone updater…
Apple's Tussle with Mozilla Explored
Apple’s decision to offer the Safari Web browser to Windows users, via the iTunes Updater, could hit Mozilla’s Firefox hard, according to one solution provider. Apple’s controversial decision to offer Safari within the iTunes updater has a lot of people talking, including the Mozilla Group. Mozilla CEO John Lilly recently said in his blog that…
After the MacBook Air - Drop Dead Gorgeous
Artists concepts for the notebook computer we might be using in the year 2015 were published at Computerworld on Wednesday. Some of the ideas seem remarkably PC centric, but do provide food for thought in the era of the MacBook Air. The first of five pages shows what might be the best design, a widescreen…
Parallels Offers Rebate on Desktop 3.0 Premium
Parallels is offering a US$15 rebate on its Desktop 3.0 Premium Edition until March 31st. The full premium package includes Parallels Desktop 3.0 plus the Kaspersky Internet Security for Windows, Acronis Disk Director Suite, and Acronis Image Home. Parallels Desktop 3.0, for US$79.99, already includes the Coherence, SmartSelect, Parallels Explorer and Snapshot Manager. The Premium…
Microsoft SP3 for Windows XP Imminent [UPDATED]
Microsoft has posted an overview of what to expect in Windows XP, Service Pack 3 (SP3). The last scheduled update of the Windows XP system includes only a small number of new functionalities. The update can be applied directly to SP2 or SP1 systems. “Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes all previously released updates…
CW: Making Leopard Servers Simple
Appleis big brother to the Leopard desktop OS is Leopard Server. Itis designed to run on server hardware, like the Xserve, and make life simpler and better for small to medium workgroups. Apple has succeeded in that goal, according to Ryan Fass at Computeworld on Monday. Setting up a server and all its related services,…
CW: Multitouch Makes All the Difference on New MacBook Pro
“Apple is understandably proud of this new feature, which mimics the finger gestures used to navigate around its popular iPhone,” Ken Mingis wrote. “It was introduced with the MacBook Air, but itis not included in the new MacBook models also unveiled last month. I expect this feature to work its way down the food chain,…
Wired: Steve Jobs' Management Style Bucks Trends
Over the last 100 years, management philosophy has gone from enslavement to empowerment, according to Leander Kahney at Wired Magazine . Steve Jobs has bucked that trend with what seems like tactics from the Industrial Revolution, and it has worked. The results have allowed Apple to leap ahead of the competition. “In the 1940s, Bill…
Adobe Removes Lightroom 1.4, DNG 4.4 Converter Updates
Citing recently discovered problems with Lightroom 1.4 and Camera Raw 4.4 Updates, Adobe has removed the updates from their site and suggested that customers revert to Lightroom 1.3.1 and Camera Raw 4.3.1. Instructions for backgrading were supplied at the Lightroom Journal site. “For those not in immediate need of the updated camera support available in…
Microsoft Posts Security Patches for Mac Office 2008
Microsoft posted the first update v12.0.1, for Office 2008 on Tuesday. The update addresses issues related to security, stability and performance. The update also fixes a problem created by the original installer that set a UID incorrectly and affects computers with more than one user. The knowledge base article covers the security bulletin MS08-014, security…
Mozilla Releases Firefox 3 Beta 4
The Mozilla Project announced on Monday the release of Firefox 3 Beta 4. The new version has over 900 big fixes over Beta 3 and adds several improvements. “The fourth beta of the next major Firefox version offers over 900 bug fixes over Beta 3, including improvements in download manager, full page zoom, better integration…
iPhone 2.0 FAQ Fills in Between the Lines
Apple’s iPhone 2.0 announcement last week embraces many elements, the enterprise, security, developers and a new way of downloading iPhone apps. Computerworld’s iPhone 2.0 FAQ on Sunday filled in between the lines with some interesting tidbits from the presentation. The FAQ explained the various levels of the SDK program for developers. “There is no charge…
Microsoft Acknowledges Yahoo! Merger Issues
Noting that Microsoft and Yahoo! have two very different cultures and internal technologies, Microsoftis Ray Ozzie said that Microsoft would not rush the consolidation process, according to the Financial Times on Monday. “Technology companies, if they dive in and just smash things together for smashing them togetheris sake, itis reckless, itis just simply reckless,” said…
Apple Posts Radeon HD 2600 XT Update for Mac Pros
Apple posted an update for Mac Pros with 10.5.2 and the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics card on Tuesday. The firmware update improves the system stability, according to Apple. “This update is for Mac Pro computers with one or more ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics cards installed, running Mac OS X 10.5.2 or…
Detailed Changes to Penryn MacBook Pros Posted
EveryMac has posted the exact details of the changes from the “Mid-2007/Santa Rosa” MacBok Pro models to the “Early 2008/Penryn” models. The story notes the new way Apple measures battery life and that the 17-inch models still use CCFL backlighting. In addition, there are changes to the keyboard in the new models. “Itis also worth…
Building a Custom PC
My w ife uses Linux, Java, Perl, and C++ at work. Recently, she wanted to get a new PC with Fedora 8 so that she could do work and research at home on a fast system. Her old custom built PC was aging and is really only suitable for interface testing. The local shop that…