Flames from a Mac user

I received an email message today from a member of the Prescott Mac User’s Group.

ZoneAlarm’s Ads Steal Web Pages

I use Safari on my my Mac and turn on the Block Pop Up Windows option. Why? Most pop up windows are advertising. It’s not that I don’t like advertising. It’s something of a necessary evil which helps to pay the freight for mostly free information on the internet. What I don’t like is advertising that’s in my face, and that’s what pop up ads do. They get in your face and all over your Mac’s screen. What’s worse than a pop up ad? ZoneAlarm’s annoying web page thief ads.

Surprise! Twitter needs revenue? No. It needs a buyer.

Like it or don’t, worldwide, we live pretty much in an imperfect but dynamic capitalist society. Money, in one form or another, makes the world go around. Buy parts, build parts, sell something, collect money. If what you collect is more than the cost to build and distribute, you make money. So, how do digital entities like YouTube and Twitter make money? Answer: they don’t.

Apple’s big risk with Snowy (is it Apple’s Vista?)

Snow Leopard is a necessary risk for Apple. A very big, calculated risk. Chris Gaylord of The Christian Science Monitor asks if Will Snow Leopard be Apple’s Windows Vista? Mitch Wagner of Information Week pointedly says, Snow Leopard Could Be Apple’s Vista? I won’t use weasel words or question marks. Snowy is not Vista. Here’s why.

The growing Mac clutter problem

Look at your Mac’s screen. What do you see (besides what you’re reading now)? Visual cues, right? The Menubar tells you the time and date. The Airport status indicator tells you signal strength. The Dock’s highlight tells you which applications or utility is open. Unless you’re ultra disciplined or new to Mac, the Mac’s screen starts to become cluttered with those very utilities we install to aid us.

Hello, iStat Menus and Goodbye Menubar Space

One major benefit of being a Mac user is the plethora of handy little utilities that do this or that in some elegant, unobtrusive, totally necessary way, without being a pain. iStat Menus is a worthy utility for the geekier Mac user, and works flawlessly. Except for one nagging issue.

Is your MacBook a notebook or a laptop?

So, you’re a MacBook owner, right? Is Apple’s biggest selling Mac a notebook computer, or a laptop computer? Officially, Apple calls the MacBook line a notebook, not a laptop. Common terminology for most portable PC users is laptop, not notebook. Netbook is different. Which term should be used?

Bad theory: Macs are for left-handed people

Dan Sung on the differences between Mac OS X and Windows, and their respective left-handed, and right-handed users. First, the desktops:

Have you ever taken a good look at something as simple their desktops? There’s the recent addition of the Dock and obvious graphic subtleties but one thing, although noticeable, that barely seems to register is the icons and where they sit on the screen. Sure you can drag and drop them wherever you like but the default auto-arrange on the Mac is to the right side of the screen and, with Windows, it’s to the left.

The case against a Mac ‘netbook’

If we’re to believe PC technopundits, 2009 is the year of the netbook, those small, inexpensive, lightweight notebooks, that run Windows XP or Linux, and sell for $300. Much has been written about Apple’s need to enter the netbook market. If that’s the definition of a netbook, it won’t happen. An Apple netbook will never see the light of day.