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Mac OS X Tiger for Unix Geeks: Book Review (72%)
Summary
If your hardcore linix/unix and want to know the Mac – 72%.
Non-unix heads need not apply.
UK List Price £24.95
UK Amazon Price £17.46
US Amazon Price $23.07
Review
This book covers the Mac OS X 10.4 (aka Tiger) for geeks who have come from a Unix/Linux environment and are happiest using the command line, not sexy GUIs (graphical user environments).
If you didn’t know, we’ll let you into a little secret – Mac OS is really Unix underneath. This book exposes the basic programs and utilities that are normally hidden behind shiny Aqua interface that is the Mac OS GUI front-end.
As an example – want to burn a CD? Of course you can do it using the GUI, but it’s also possible to use the “hdiutil”program on the command-line interface (CLI). Truth be told, that’s all that’s really happens when Mac OS is using all along.
One of the advatnages of using CLI approach is that when used in the shell, scripts of commands can be used to chain together a string of them, enabling automation.
Be aware, it’s not a book for the casual Mac user, but if you get excited about the insides of an OS (which some of us at Digital-Lifestyles do admit to), you’ll find plenty of material.
By way of examples of how detailed it can get – please peruse the following –
Setting up printers through CUPS (a modern printer interface for Unix printers, which comes with Mac OS)
How to compile 64bit code using (GNU Compiler Collection) (GCC);
Using Spotlight’s metdata;
Library linking and porting Unix software;
Using the X Windows System on top of Mac OS X;Installing Fink and DarwinPorts to download and install common Unix and X11 software;
Even using PearPC to run Mac OS X on an x86-based PC.
Bits like the section of PearPC might be a bit over the top for even a normal Unix user, but it does work. If you just want to develop Mac OS programs, this could be a way to do it – although it will be slowly as the emulator isn’t very fastest.
Only recommended if you’re an old hand at Unix/Linux and want the same experience on a Mac.
Summary
If your hardcore linix/unix and want to know the Mac – 72%.
Non-unix heads need not apply.
UK List Price £24.95
UK Amazon Price £17.46
US Amazon Price $23.07
ISBN 0-596-00912-7
O’Reilly
Brian Jepson & Ernest E. Rothman
15 December, 2005
Brain Response Altered By Violent Video Games Claim
The New Scientist is reporting that US researchers have discovered a brain mechanism that may link violent computer games with aggression.
Although not conclusive, the study suggests a causal link between virtual and real world aggression.
Previous studies have concluded that violent video game players are “more aggressive, more likely to commit violent crimes, and less likely to help others”, but critics argue that this just shows that violent people gravitate towards violent games, so the games aren’t responsible for turning little Timmy into Ivan the Terrible.
A team led by Psychologist Bruce Bartholow from the University of Missouri-Columbia discovered that fraggers show diminished brain responses to images of real-life violence, such as gun attacks, but not to other emotionally disturbing pictures, such as those of dead animals, or sick children.
Bartholow argues that this reduction in response is correlated with aggressive behaviour.
Employing technology so advanced that mere mortals wouldn’t even know how to plug it in, the team measured a brain activity called the P300 response, which is the characteristic signal seen in an EEG (electroencephalogram) recording of brain waves as we see an image (like us, you already knew that, didn’t you?)
This P300 response whats-it reflects an evaluation of the emotional content of an image, so the bigger the response, the more people are surprised or disturbed by an image. Novel scenes also register a big response.
The team shipped in a crew of 39 gamers, and quizzed them on the amount of violent games they played, before being shown a series of neutral images interspersed with occasional violent or negative (but non-violent) scenes, while sensors recorded their EEGs.
The full-on fraggers with the most experience of violent games were then found to register a smaller and delayed P300 response to the violent images.
“People who play a lot of violent video games didn’t see them as much different from neutral,” says Bartholow, with the research finding that although desensitised to such scenes, their responses were still normal for the non-violent negative scenes.
Although this may not exactly be big news – video games have been used to desensitise soldiers to scenes of war – players with the greatest reduction in P300 brain responses were found to dish out the severest “punishments” against fake opponents in another game.
Throughout the tests, the violent games experience and P300 response were still strongly correlated with aggressiveness.
“As far as I’m aware, this is the first study to show that exposure to violent games has effects on the brain that predict aggressive behaviour,” says Bartholow.
Not everyone is convinced though, with Jonathan Freedman, a psychologist from the University of Toronto commenting, “We habituate to any kind of stimulus. All we are really getting is desensitisation to images. There’s no way to show that this relates to real-life aggression.”
Freeman also added that stopping people playing violent video games would be like banning them from playing sports such as football or hockey.
The work will appear early in 2006 in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
New Scientist
14 December, 2005
ITV News Channel To Close
Sad to report that UK News organisation ITN has decided to end its ITV News Channel. Despite much favourable comment, they feel that there’s no room in ITV’s multi-channel world for a dedicated News Channel and the channel will close in January.
In a move that will rattle confidence at the news providers Gray’s Inn Road headquarters, the rumour mill has been in overdrive despite the announcement having been widely predicted for some time. It’s still likely to leave a hollow feeling in the stomach of staffers there in the run up to Christmas.
With the launch of ITV 4 in November, a scarcity of resources on Freeview forced a cut in the ITV news Channel to 12 hours per day. This immediately called in to question the channel’s long-term survival and with a recent re-launch of Sky News, the ITV news service looked increasingly marginalised.
ITV, under the leadership of Charles Allen, seems set to jettison its remaining Public Service commitments after digital switchover and, unless ITN becomes 100% owned by ITV, there’s a real danger that ITV will make a deal for a budget news service, leaving ITN in a position where it lacks the critical mass of BBC News 24 and Sky News.
Both Mark Wood, current ITN Chief Executive, and his predecessor, Stewart Purvis, have attempted to reinvent ITN with News deals to mobiles and other ‘new media’ but it looks like the 50 year old commercial news provider is facing hard times ahead.
ITN
ITV News Channel
14 December, 2005
Microsoft And MCI Look To Take On Skype
With a fearful eye on Skype’s runaway success, Microsoft has joined the stampede to offer Internet-based telephony services by announcing a cut price, pre-paid PC-to-phone service, the result of a deal with the US telecommunications group, MCI.
The new service, combining MCI’s existing VoIP network service with Microsoft’s software, will regale under the less-than-snappy title of “MCI Web Calling for Windows Live Call” and is expected to launch in the first half of 2006.
The service will work through Windows Live Messenger, the soon-come successor to the MSN Messenger instant messaging service which currently boasts more than 185m active global users. It is thought that VoIP technology from recent Microsoft purchase, Teleo, will be used.
In recent months, Google, Yahoo! and eBay’s Skype unit have all chipped in with their own cheapo PC-to-phone VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services.
By teaming up with a powerful ally (PCI is being acquired Verizon Communications), Microsoft are clearly hoping to shove their hefty size nines into the lucrative VoIP market before it runs away from them.
The calling costs of the Microsoft/MCI service will be comparable to their rivals, with users paying 2.3 cents per minute for calls within the US and between the US and other countries.
Yahoo’s service – bundled in with its IM service – is expected to charge 1 cent per minute to call a phone in the United States from a PC outside the country, with calls to about 30 other countries costing about 2 cents per minute.
Similarly, Skype, the current big boys of the PC-to-PC VoIP market, are offering calls for about 2 cents a minute from a PC to a phone in the US other countries.
Taking a leaf out of Skype’s service, Microsoft/MCI customers will also be able to purchase prepaid calling cards and make calls to ordinary fixed line an mobile phones from entries in their contact list.
The service is currently undergoing limited beta trials in the US, with France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom trials expected shortly.
We’ll have to wait until the product officially launches to get the final details and pricing schemes, although Microsoft and MCI have already stated that users will eventually be able to call more than 220 countries.
MCI
14 December, 2005
BT’s IPTV Content Deals: Too Little Too Late?
In the week that BT and Sky both saw their triple play offerings potentially trumped by a possible NTL/Virgin ‘quadruple play’, BT chose to release details of its upcoming content deals with BBC Worldwide, Paramount and Warner Music Group.
Ian Livingston, chief executive of BT Retail, talked up the deals, “Whether you are a music fan, love films or hooked on drama you will get the best in entertainment when you want it. BT is defining next generation TV.”
Against a backdrop of whispered rumours of delays with Microsoft’s IPTV Edition, the BT service is slated for launch next year.
BT’s TV service will piggyback on-demand programming, delivered by a high speed Internet connection to a Philips terrestrial Freeview receiver, and the PVR component of the box will hold 80 hours of downloaded programming.
The service will not be a monthly subscription like that of NTL and Sky, instead it will follow a ‘pay-as-you-go’ model, where individual downloads and viewing can be charged.
An agreement with BBC Worldwide that covers on-demand rights for BBC programming and charges for viewing, will provoke controversy as the BBC is paid for by a universal levy on TV viewers in the UK.
Problems won’t be confined to BBC programmes if ITV programming is carried, advertisers are bound to be unhappy that time-shifting viewers will skip the paid for messages.
You might be able to tell that we’re not that excited about this deal. At least BT seems to recognise that viewers watch content rather than technology … or well negotiated deals.
With so many digital TV homes in the UK subscribed to Sky or cable, we’re just not sure if BT will be able to muscle into the Digital TV space.
A major question mark hanging over them is whether the content promised so far is enough to encourage current subscribers to switch or, even more difficult, if they can get the so called “digital refuseniks” to join BT’s TV.
13 December, 2005
RealMusic Subscription Service Launched By Real
Real have announced the launch of its new online music service, imaginatively called, err, RealMusic.
Claiming to be the first online subscription service to offer radio, music videos, ringtones, downloads and user-generated content, Real are billing the subscription service as a “one-stop browser-based service”, offering music fans a simple way to “search, discover, buy and sell the music they love.”
Subscribers to RealMusic get access to more than 300 CD-quality, ad-free radio stations, hand-picked by Real’s global team of music editors, as well as artist radio stations.
Naturally, there’s been a lot of flesh-pressing and business card flipping going on behind the scenes, with “exclusive partner stations” like the Ministry of Sound, Carl Cox and GMG Radio (SmoothFM, Real Radio, JazzFM and Hed Kandi) forming synergistic partnerships.
Sadly for Apple Mac users, the service “is currently being optimised for Mac users. Please check back later.” How long you’ll have to hold your breath is unclear.
The service also provides on-demand access to more than 4,000 music videos from major and indie label artists, with related downloads or ringtones available on the site to keep users spending.
RealMusic will be creating a chart of the top ranking tracks and ringtones created, submitted, and rated by users, with an editorial team producing content and commentary on artists, music releases and videos.
“Music lovers are looking for new ways to create, discover and share music anywhere, anytime” insisted Gabriel Levy, Head of Music, RealNetworks Europe.
“RealMusic is the first comprehensive music service to give users access to radio, music videos, downloads and ringtones – plus the ability to play and buy original user-generated music,” he continued.
The site will incorporate advanced search capabilities, letting users shuffle through thousands of radio stations by language, country or genre, with subscribers able to access all of the available radio stations, downloads, videos and ringtones featuring their fave artist.
Approximately 20% of the digital radio audience listens online,” intoned Marco Menato, Vice President EMEA & Latin America, RealNetworks.
“This demonstrates that there is a strong demand for services that mix the way in which consumers access music, from downloading the latest chart hits and ringtones to sharing tracks from unsigned bands. RealMusic gives music enthusiasts all these options as well as the opportunity to effortlessly discover music to suit their mood,” he continued.
A subscription to RealMusic costs £8.50 ($15, €12.6) per month, with downloads expected to be priced at £0.99 ($1.76, €1.48) per track or £7.99 per album.
The RealNetworks’ TonePass ringtone subscription service is available through RealMusic at an additional cost of £4.99 ($8.85, €7.41) per month.
RealMusic
13 December, 2005
Sprint, MSpot Stream Full-Length Movies To Mobile Phones
Sprint and MSpot, have announced the launch of MSpot Movies, a new service which streams mobile-optimised feature films to mobile phones.
Perhaps puffing a little too deeply on their hyperbolic inhaler, MSpot Movies are claiming to “bring the magic of the silver screen to mobile phones” with their new service, which offers Nationwide Sprint PCS Network subscribers on-demand access to seven movie genres.
The streaming movies will be categorised into Comedy, Drama, Horror, Adventure, Westerns, Animated Features, and Movie Shorts genres, with recycled TV shows including “Hearts Afire,” “Conan the Adventurer,” and “Starhunter 2300” (what a mouth-watering selection!)
The streaming content will be cut up into ‘chapters’ (short segments optimised for a mobile audience) and will also include music concerts and stand-up comedy specials.
MSpot will be adding new titles weekly, enabling subscribers to watch all of the individual “chapters” of an entire movie at any time.
It’s the company’s third service offering, joining MSpot Radio and MSpot Music on the Nationwide Sprint PCS Network, with more multimedia entertainment services planned for next year.
Although there’s no denying that mobile video is set to grow – Strategy Analytics reckon they’ll be 150 million viewers by 2008 – we really can’t raise much enthusiasm at the prospect of burning up our bandwidth by watching a selection of crap movies on a tiny screen in 5 minute chunks.
MSpot
13 December, 2005
StealthText: Self Destructing Text Message Service
A UK company is introducing a “StealthText” service which sends self-destructing mobile phone text messages.
Messages sent via StealthText will vanish after 40 seconds onscreen with the company, Staellium UK, hoping that the service will prove popular with business executives dealing in sensitive information. We can think of a host of rather more dodgy applications for the service too – how about the thousands of people having affairs via SMS?
The company is claiming that their ‘Mission Impossible’ style auto-destructing texts have already picked up interest from financial services companies, the Ministry of Defence, celebrity agents.
The Stealth Text service requires both sender and receiver to sign-up by texting STEALTH to 80880. This provides a link to download the StealthText applet via a WAP connection. Ten self-destructing messages will cost £5.
Users signed up to the service will receive a text notification showing the senders name and providing a link to the message.
The recipient must open the link and read the message within 40 seconds (tough luck, slow readers!) before it vanishes into the ether forever, leaving no trace in the phone’s memory.
“The ability to send a self-destruct message has massive benefits for people from all walks of life, from everyday mobile users, through to celebrities and business people, but this is just the start,” said Staellium CEO Carole Barnum, adding that the company intends to extend the service to include self-destructing email, voice and picture messages in spring 2006.
Currently only available around the world for users of UK SIM cards only, the company plans to make the service available across Europe, in the US and Asia next year.
Seeing as they intend to be dealing in highly confidential information, we have to say that their truly awful Website hardly inspires confidence – it looks like something knocked up by a spammer in a hurry.
Ever heard of using style sheets to provide a full Web experience for people on PCs as well as a bare-bones WAP version, guys?
Staellium
12 December, 2005
Huge US Music Downloading Fine Upheld
A US federal appeals court has upheld the mammoth $22,500 (£12,760, €18,930) fine slapped on a 29 year old Chicago mother caught illegally distributing songs over the Internet.
Cecilia Gonzalez’s unsuccessful appeal against a music industry copyright lawsuit will no doubt delight music industry lawyers, who have already filed against thousands of computer users.
The three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago weren’t interested in Ms Gonzalez’ arguments that her Internet activities were permitted under US copyright laws.
After Ms Gonzalez rejected an earlier proposed settlement from music companies of about $3,500 (£1,950 €2,950), a federal judge later filed a summary judgement ordering her to shell out $750 (£425) for each of 30 songs she was accused of illegally distributing over the Internet.
The mother of five contended she had downloaded songs to determine what she liked enough to buy at retail, adding that she and her husband regularly buy music CDs, with over 250 albums in their collection.
The appeal panel weren’t impressed, pointing out that because Ms Gonzalez didn’t delete the songs she hadn’t decided to buy, she could have been liable for the 1000+ songs found on her computer.
“A copy downloaded, played, and retained on one’s hard drive for future use is a direct substitute for a purchased copy,” the judges wrote, adding that her defence that she downloaded fewer songs than many other computer users “is no more relevant than a thief’s contention that he shoplifted only 30 compact discs, planning to listen to them at home and pay later.”
Ms Gonzalez’s case was part of first wave of civil lawsuits filed by record companies and their trade organisation, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), back in September 2003.
“The law here is quite clear,” table-thumped Jonathan Lamy, a senior vice-president for the Washington-based RIAA. “Our goal with all these anti-piracy efforts is to protect the ability of the music industry to invest in the bands of tomorrow and give legal online services a chance to flourish.”
And make lots of money for themselves, of course.
RIAA
12 December, 2005
PetCell: A Teenage Take: Don’t Be Daft
All too often articles about the things teenagers are interested in are written by people old enough to be their parents. Teenage thinking isn’t represented. Lawrence Dudley gives you a point of view that you won’t find in other publications. You see, Lawrence is a teenager.
Woof … I mean, Hello?
There’s loads of relatively serious articles on media and technology all over the Internet nowadays. This isn’t one of them.
Mobile phones are reaching into all sorts of new markets, often, not just reaching but forcing, with operators seemingly desperate to reap more profits. There’s the mobile for kids, the Firefly, and the mobile phone controlled kettle.
Of course, this can’t possibly be enough… and come on, the dog feels left out when you go to Carphone Warehouse and there isn’t a Carphone Kennel to match. The answer to this is, of course, the PetCell.
Come on, admit it: When your dog is late, possibly because it is busy peeing against a tree somewhere, don’t you wish that you could give it a quick ring to check it’s OK? Yeah, didn’t think so. Nevertheless it exists, so I guess some overly-pet-protective marketing drone somewhere decided that it was a viable product.
From what I gathered, the device lets you set a fixed area in which your dog is allowed to be. If your dog goes outside this area, the unit sends you a text message. I personally think that this is kind of like shutting the door after the horse (or dog) has bolted.
I mean, you notice your dog’s missing, and, look at that, how helpful, your mobile phone confirms it! What a useful bit of technology!
Of course, it only does this while the battery isn’t flat or the dog has decided to go for a swim. I’m guessing that it will be marketed as waterproof when it is released in 2006, but as with all “waterproof” devices, I seriously doubt it really is.
I’m guessing that there will be different models too, so that the dogs with the cool phones have something to show off to their mates. The mocked-up image at the top of this piece is what I imagine two cell-phone equipped dogs to act like, shown on an advert for Carphone Kennel.
I’m sorry if I sound a little negative this week, but I am sick of these tacky technologies coming out which serve no particular real-life purpose. And this is coming from someone with a passion for gadgets, don’t forget.
I mean, who’s really going to call up their dog to find out which lamp post he’s peeing on? And I guess those people who would, probably also wouldn’t mind paying an outrageous monthly subscription for the service, which is no doubt how the service will be paid for.
Now if only one of these could be invented that’s small enough to be fitted on valuable items like my laptop, or my wallet. Now that would be useful, and save me looking for either of them when they get stolen. And when they do get stolen, I will know where they are and possibly who stole them.
The problem with that, of course, is that this would constitute genuinely useful technology, something which the gadget industry has an extremely bad grasp of.
Shame really.
9 December, 2005

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