Popcorn Hour also makes it easy to download and stream content directly from popular. Traffic Alerts, Yahoo! PowerFile C200 MediumChanger conductor. Shop for Laptops from our Electricals range at John Lewis. Download our Human Rights report 2015/16; Our other websites. John Lewis Insurance; Partnership Card.

NIMUG - Northern Ireland Macintosh User Group. (if you don't want to receive this, just reply and let me know) Welcome....... Welcome to Week 01 of 1999 MacWorld SF Keynote was a bit of a no-show for hardware. I'm sure if you were there it was exciting and even though we crowded around a Power Mac G4 with a 17' screen attached - we got a real appreciation of what was going on. It is less than 24 hours after the keynote and I've already rationalised that I DO actually LIKE the changes that have been made to the Mac OS in Mac OS X. Okay, I don't like all of them but I'm sure I could get used to most of them.

See how quickly I've changed my story. Under examination there are things that provide benefits. The new Finder is a change of paradigm for most people.

It will, however, act like a simple 'Windows Explorer' for the average user but also provide access to shared disks, external disk and even UNIX NFS mounts. Who knows where it will go from here.

Hint'o'the Week...... Not so much a hint: has some new features. IReview - is your personal guide to the internet. With in-depth reviews and recommendations of sites ranging from news to travel to music to sports, iReview featurs the very best of the best for Mac users.

ITools - There are some things you can only do on a Mac. ITools is one of them. ITools offers a wealth of ways to make the Internet more rewarding, al for free. It's one more reason to consider buying a Mac (As if there weren't enough already). So get a Mac, and get iTools at your service. ITools provides email (), KidSafe internet content control, iDisk (20 Mb of online storage space) and HomePage (webpage builder). ICards - iCards is your place to send free, customised electronic postcards to everyone on your list.

Choose from classic works of art and great photographs or use your very own photos from your iDisk. Intel's new mobile Pentium III processors feature an 'innovative' new feature designed to prolong battery use in laptops. The processor will reduce its speed when running off of battery power; a 600 MHz Pentium III, for example, will run at 450 MHz when the laptop is running off the battery. Meanwhile, Mac users have had the ability to reduce processor speed in laptops via the Energy Saver control panel for a number of years. Local News....... The MacWorld Webcast occurred last night starting at 5 pm. CompuB supplied a dual 64kbit ISDN line for the task which deprived them of their own internet connection but gave us a nice 128Kbit line to watch the keynote.

We still had some starts and stops and stutters but the sound was generally good. Very nice of them to supply the connection for us!!!! Despite the lack of hardware announcements there is a lot of new stuff which we continued to talk about for a while and then continued to email each other about for a further while.

Special thanks to Compub who took our Jaffa cakes and added nice sandwiches and soft drinks to make it almost like a real party. We then spent a little time after the keynote to hum and haa over the G4 hardware, fixed a problem or two that some people had brought with them and departed sometime after 7 pm.

Again, special thanks to Colin, Steven, Steven and David. A great time was had by all.

Mac Network Security...... Apple last night released Open Transport Update 2.6 to fix DHCP and security problems. An OT 2.6 description notes the changes from OT 2.5.x.

Wilbur Sims confirmed for us that OT 2.6 closes a Mac Dumper security hole (logged in Apple's bug database), and it more explicitly addresses the Mac Attack issue. It also resolves problems created by Apple's OT Tuner 1.0, according to readers. Open Transport 2.6 is designed for for Mac OS 9 users and for G4, iBook and new-iMac owners running Mac OS 8.6. Apple's new Open Transport Tuner 1.0 addresses the Mac attack network security problem discovered by John Copland. (See also: Mac attack FAQ) Readers are reporting problems with Apple's update, however: disabling connections for AirPort users and some other Mac configurations.

CERT Advisory CA-99-17 talks about denial-of-service attacks using various operating systems, including the Mac Attack ('Asymmetric traffic from MacOS 9'), 'Tribe FloodNet' (TFN), and 'smurf.' A letter from Peter Sichel links the 'Mac attack' to Open Transport changes involving packet-size determination. An Apple TIL article describes a packet-size switch in a TCP/IP Options control panel, and an August Apple patent is also in this area. The Ping of Death also works by abusing echo packets, but in a different way. Open Transport 1.2, part of Mac OS 8, addressed this problem. Internet News....... There is a lot more news out there but this edition is getting a little too large already.

MicroNet's new SANcube is a FireWire-based 'server-less' storage network supporting up to four users, claimed to deliver 30-MByte/sec. Pricing starts at $1499 for a 70GB single-user system and rises to $3899 for the 220GB four-user version. XLR8 is introducing InterView 2.0, a USB video-capture and play package, at Macworld. The update offers additional Internet capabilities, professional WSIWYG color and smaller QuickTime files.

Expected to ship later this month, the package is $100 and free to users of 1.0 if it was purchased after Dec. Connectix has introduced Virtual PC with Windows 2000 for $330 and Virtual PC with Linux for $100 at Macworld and shipping at the end of March. Virtual PC 3.0, the latest version, gives USB support, faster network access, shared Internet connection between Mac and PC, AppleScript support and seamless PC compatibility. REAL Software is releasing REALBasic 2.1, a visual, object-oriented BASIC development environment for the Mac, today at Macworld. The free update offers improved Windows compilation support, faster code executions and more than 20 other new features. New users can purchase the Standard Edition for $150, while the Professional Edition is $250.

PuppetTime Producer 1.0, aimed at educators, is billed as an 'easy-to-use 3D character animation program that implements the concept of digital actors' within QuickTime. The software is priced at $89 with a limited demo available for downloading. PowerLogix today plans to introduce the PowerForce Dual G4, a series of dual-processor G4 upgrades for PCI Power Macs and clones up through the discontinued 'Yikes' G4 model. (A future version is planned to support the current 'Sawtooth' G4 Power Mac.) Due in February, the Dual G4 350 will be $1199 with a Dual G4 400 at $1599. Internet Explorer 5 for Macintosh was announced yesterday and will begin shipping in a month.

CorelDraw 8 LE is a free, functional version of Corel's graphics application, available for downloading through March 10. Algebra I: Equation Solving Tutor 1.0 is 'an Intelligent Tutoring System for students entering a high-school algebra curriculum' that teaches the basic skills involved in solving linear equations.' ReallyEasy.com today announced Mac support for its Internet phone/chat system, ReallyEasyVoice 2.0. Bungie will launch BungieTV (bTV), a webcast running exclusive Bungie programming, during Macworld. New footage of the company's highly-anticipated games Oni and Halo will be featured, as well as interviews with developers at Macworld.

The webcast will be streamed using QuickTime 4. Power On Software's DiskLock 4.6.1 (previously Symantec Norton DiskLock) is a new version of the Mac security utility, adding support for Mac OS 9, G4 Power Macs, iMacs and iBooks. Retail pricing is $99.95 with a downloadable version at $79.95 and a $49.95 upgrade for owners of pre-4.5 releases. DiskLock supports multiple users, SCSI devices, IDE drives, and, of course, it is Power PC ready. In addition, it allows multiple users to work on the same machine with total security for each user's sensitive data.

Unlimited numbers of users, each with different levels of access, provides even greater flexibility. An administrator package that includes unique tools for centralized configuration of Norton DiskLock on workstations connected to a network is also available at special multi-pack pricing.' Sienna Software will begin shipping Starry Night Backyard, which makes 'astronomy easy for the whole family' tomorrow at Macworld.

The detailed application allows you to learn how to identify planets, stars and constellations, print detailed stars charts, and watch the phases of the moon. Starry Night Backyard also sports numerous other features, including the ability to download the latest charts from the internet. ZephIR, due in February, is 'an ADB accessory for your macintosh that controls your tv, cd, and other stereo equipment.' (Griffin's iMate adapter reportedly allows it to work with iMac USB ports.) Keyspan's $79 Digital Media Remote performs the opposite function - controlling the Mac over USB from an IR controller. Apple is offering a free plug-ins for iMovie which include new title and transition effects.

SuSE plans to show a 'beta quality' version of its SuSE Linux 6.3 operating system for Power Mac at Macworld this week. The popular arcade game emulator, MacMAME 0.36b13, now includes an ATI video plugin and RAVE video plugin for the newly implemented video archicture.

Dantz today released Retrospect 4.2 Driver v1.9 and Retrospect 4.1 Driver v1.8 OnStream will bundle Dantz's Retrospect Desktop Backup software with a new version of its $700 Echo 30GB external SCSI tape drive, which is due in February. AVerMedia Microsystems will release AVerMedia DVPresenter (FireWire) and USBPresenter, which mirror computer screen images to TVs and projectors, at Macworld. FOCUS Enhancements has begun shipping its iTView-DV, a custom PC-to-TV video converter designed for the new iMac DV, to Apple. Individually, the converter is $140. Canon will be introducing four new peripherals for the Macintosh * BJC-85 Color Bubble Jet portable printer for iBook and PowerBook users, priced at $300.

* BJC-3000 Color Bubble Jet printer with both USB and parallel ports and priced at $100 after rebate. * CanoSCAN FB 630Ui color scanner with optional colored lids (standard is blueberry) for $150. * MultiPASS C545 multifunction printer, which ships in March for $300. Contour Design has introduced the USB Perfit Mouse in graphite and frost and available in five right-hand and three left-hand sizes. It ships with Overdrive software for customizing the mouse control panel.

Special show pricing is $60, regularly $100. Rated People Clone Rapidshare Movies. Bookends Plus 5.1 adds drag-and-drop features and Nisus integration to the $99 bibliographic utility. UserLand has released source code for MacBird, a 'draw program with grouping and alignment that's used to design and run graphic user interfaces.'

T-Minus Ten is a $20 utility for scheduling Mac tasks, such as opening applications and running AppleScripts. Greg Landweber's Power Windows 2.1 makes several minor improvements in the Mac user interface enhancement utility. OpenBase International has released RADstudio, a rapid application development environment for building Java-enabled database applications. During January, runtime licenses start at $180. Relativistic Quantum Fields Bjorken Pdf Writer on this page. Ludwig II MPEG-4 Player 1.0 is a new QuickTime-based utility that can play 'hundreds of formats including MP3, QuickTime movies, Windows media (AVIs and WAVs), live QuickTime streams and even Flash!' The program offers playlists and a unique interface and is available for $1 for a limited time Voncheesebiscuit Software's Audio CD Labeller is a freeware utility designed to replace the Finder's generic names for audio CDs with more meaningful titles.

Pluggo 2.0 is an extensive set of audio-processing modules from Cycling '74 that plug into VST- and MAS-compatible applications to provide filtering, reverb and delay effects, distortion, granular synthesis, spectral modification, sampling and more. A demo version is freely downloadable, and a $74 key removes its limitation. The company also supports Opcode's Max and sells 'M', a highly innovative, interactive composition and performance system. ('M' also is distributed in a free demo version, and a $74 key enables Save.) Qilan is an upcoming web database development system for Mac OS X, featuring a graphical user interface and the ability to link to SQL database 'back-ends' (the initial release supports OpenBase). [No pricing was specified.] HandyMan 2.0.6 is a new version of the shareware 'application dock and launcher' control strip module from Bert Wynants.

McAfee has posted the Beta 1 release of the Virex 6 Engine. The betas of Virex 6 are designed to improve performance and functionality under Mac OS 9. Escient's $1499 PowerFile C200 features dual DVD/CD-ROM drives, 200-disc storage, a FireWire connection and support for the Mac OS, plus the ability to chain as many as 63 of the changers together. An optional bundle adds Canto's Cumulus 5 'asset management' software.

Mark of the Unicorn will introduce Digital Performer 2.7, a new version of its 'flagship audio sequencer' for the Mac, priced at $795. NewTek plans to release a Mac version of its LightWave [6] 3D animation system sometime this quarter at $2495 (see NewTek press release). NOT QUITE RUMOURS...... Due to the lack of hardware announcements at MacWorld we can expect an Apple Media Event (similar to the first one two years ago that anounced iMac where) Steve will announce Pismo (new Powerbook) and Mystic (multiprocessor G4 PowerMacs). Maybe we might also see the P7A (17' iMac)........ NIMUG is brought to you by the letters S and J and by the number 9.0. Please visit the web site!.......

-- Matt Johnston - - NORTEL NETWORKS Northern Ireland Telecommunications Engineering Centre (NITEC).