TidBITS#805/14-Nov-05
=====================
Glenn Fleishman returns with a pair of articles following up on
his previous coverage of AirPort problems in Tiger, the Apple
USB Modem, and Mac-compatible EVDO PC Cards. Adam runs afoul of
Apple's FairPlay digital rights management while innocently trying
to concatenate five audio book files. We also announce the release
of "Take Control of Digital TV," look briefly at Mellel 2.0,
and call for votes on the many Take Control suggestions we've
received.
Topics:
MailBITS/14-Nov-05
DealBITS Drawing: Sunatori.com Pen
Apple Fixes Panther-to-Tiger AirPort Upgrade Problems
Cell and Dial-Up Modem Updates
Audio File Concatenation: Driven to Distraction by DRM
Take Control News/14-Nov-05
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/14-Nov-05
<http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-805.html>
<ftp://ftp.tidbits.com/issues/2005/TidBITS#805_14-Nov-05.etx>
Copyright 2005 TidBITS: Reuse governed by Creative Commons license
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This issue of TidBITS sponsored in part by:
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MailBITS/14-Nov-05
------------------
**Mellel 2.0 Ships** -- The Israeli company RedleX has released
Mellel 2.0, a significant upgrade to their word processor with
a slew of new features aimed largely at working with long and
complex documents. Mellel 2.0 now supports sections and columns,
includes extensive hyphenation dictionaries, does a better job
of importing and exporting RTF to and from Mellel's proprietary
file format, controls widows and orphans, and offers a Keep with
Next option. It also provides automatic table sizing, background
colors, facing pages, more flexible paragraph controls, and
more, although revision tracking and commenting features aren't
mentioned. Mellel 2.0 costs $50; upgrades for registered users
are free and a free trial version is available as a 13.4 MB
download. [ACE]
<http://www.redlers.com/mellel20.html>
<http://www.redlers.com/releasenotes.html>
DealBITS Drawing: Sunatori.com Pen
----------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
And now for something completely different! Long-time TidBITS
reader Simon Sunatori recently contacted us about doing a DealBITS
drawing for a new pen he'd invented and patented, and while it
wasn't Mac-related (other than coming in colors reminiscent of
the original iPod mini), I was sufficiently intrigued to check
it out. I have to admit, it's neat, in a geeky sort of way.
The pen hangs from a pendant you wear around your neck, and the
unusual part is that the pen and pendant contain relatively strong
magnets. When attached, the magnets retract the pen tip; when
detached, the pen tip drops down instantly and is ready for
writing. The silver pendant contains a simple digital clock and
is sufficiently polished on the other side to act as a mirror,
helpful if you should ever need to focus the sun's rays to burn
yourself out of captivity. Tristan and I do our family's weekly
grocery shopping at the local GreenStar Cooperative Market,
where we have to write down a variety of bulk product and produce
codes to read to the cashier, and Simon's pen is by far the most
convenient writing implement I've found for that task. No caps to
lose, no buttons to click, no strings to tangle - it just works.
<http://sunatori.com/>
In this week's DealBITS drawing, you can enter to win one of two
Sunatori.com Pens, worth $20, in your choice of colors. Entrants
who aren't our lucky winner will receive a significant discount,
so if you're always losing your pens or having them leak in your
pockets, be sure to enter at the DealBITS page linked below.
All information gathered is covered by our comprehensive privacy
policy. Be careful with your spam filters, since you must be able
to receive email from my address to learn if you've won. Remember
too, that if someone you refer to this drawing wins, you'll
receive the same prize to reward you for spreading the word.
<http://www.tidbits.com/dealbits/hyperinfo/>
<http://www.tidbits.com/about/privacy.html>
Apple Fixes Panther-to-Tiger AirPort Upgrade Problems
-----------------------------------------------------
by Glenn Fleishman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
I've been asking Apple for a couple of months to let me talk
to engineers or product managers about the problem I wrote about
recently (see "Adding Tiger's AirPort Preferred Network List"
in TidBITS-794_ and "Tiger Still Resists Showing Preferred
Networks" in TidBITS-795_).
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=08223>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=08233>
In brief, some users who upgraded from Panther to Tiger did not
see the Preferred Networks list in the AirPort tab of the Network
preference pane. Not every upgrader had this problem, and the
fixes I documented in the TidBITS article worked only for some
people.
The reason Apple resisted, I learned after they let me know what
was up this week, is that their engineers apparently finally fixed
the problem in the latest AirPort Update for Tiger, released
02-Nov-05 as AirPort Update 2005-001. This download is not listed
on the AirPort Support page, but only on the overall support
site's download page. (Apple also released a Panther update for
Mac OS X versions 10.3.3 through 10.3.9 that fixes other AirPort
problems on 08-Nov-05 as AirPort Extreme Driver Update 2005-001.)
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/airportupdate2005001.html>
<http://www.apple.com/support/airport/>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/airportextremedriverupdate2005001.html>
I contacted three readers who wrote to me after the first TidBITS
article appeared. Two of the three had installed the AirPort patch
and confirmed that Tiger subsequently worked exactly as it should
with AirPort networks. The third had seen a variety of problems
after upgrading to Tiger, reinstalled Tiger, and no longer had
AirPort problems.
I'm curious to know whether this problem was widespread. If you've
had a problem as described in the two TidBITS articles and this
update fixes it, please email me at <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>.
Cell and Dial-Up Modem Updates
------------------------------
by Glenn Fleishman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
If there's any question that TidBITS readers are
{handsome|beautiful} and read what we write thoroughly, my mailbox
from the latest issue is proof positive! Several folks wrote in to
correct a few errors in my two modem pieces in last week's issue:
one on Apple's dial-up USB modem; the other on the array of PC
Card EVDO (high-speed cellular data) modems (see "Null Modem:
Dial-Up for Macs?" and "Sprint Nextel Data Service Could Help
Traveling Mac Users" in TidBITS-804_).
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=08316>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=08320>
**Apple USB Modem** -- When I first wrote about the Apple USB
Modem, it was available only as a build-to-order option with the
new iMac G5 (iSight). Somewhere in the interval, Apple added the
modem to its regular store as a stand-alone purchase. (There's
no way to link to the item, and Apple's link on the iMac G5 page
simply redirects to the store home page.) Apple now describes the
Apple USB Modem as an option for the Mac mini and Power Mac G5
(both of which list an internal modem as a build-to-order item),
as well as the iMac G5.
Doug Noble wrote in with two bits of wisdom about the utility
of a modem: his cable broadband service went out for two weeks
following Hurricane Katrina and then again ever since Hurricane
Wilma touched down. He owned no dial-up modem, so he resorted
to an old AirPort Base Station that contains a built-in modem.
He also pointed out that faxing requires a dial-up modem; a host
of electronic faxing services exist, but for occasional use, a $50
modem can be more cost-effective than recurring monthly or per
page charges.
**Cellular EVDO** -- On the cellular EVDO front, it's a little
more complicated. I failed to mention the only third-party
application designed to work with an array of cellular and
Wi-Fi devices: Smith Micro's QuickLink Mobile for Mac OS X.
<http://www.smithmicro.com/default.tpl?sku=QLMMAKEE&group=product_full>
A reader who has worked in the field noted that Verizon Wireless
offers direct support for the Kyocera KPC650 PC Card. This fact
confused me, because when I went to Verizon Wireless's site,
that card isn't listed as an option with their best plan, and
they don't make the software or support obvious. With help from
him and Brian Dipert, who provided links, I found out why the
information is so hidden. (Brian has written extensively about
cell data speeds and support at his EDN site, by the way.)
<http://www.edn.com/blog/400000040/post/1410001541.html>
Verizon Wireless no longer promotes this Mac-supported card on
the main page of their BroadbandAccess area, but it is available.
If you navigate to the BroadbandAccess service at Verizon
Wireless's Web site and walk through signing up for a plan,
they offer their branded PC 5740 card for $100 when you sign
up for a two-year contract. The KPC650 is $180 under the same
terms and third on the list. Mac users who want official support
should pay the extra money. Consult Smith Micro's support list
for other options, too.
<http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controller?item=phoneFirst&;
action=preZip&featureGroup=BroadbandAccess>
Now where can you find the software? Nowhere so obvious as
searching on "Macintosh" or "Mac OS X." Even Google didn't
find it. But if you follow the links to download software on the
Verizon Wireless page, as Brian suggested, you find a list of PC
Cards with two columns: one with a Windows logo, the other with
an old Mac OS logo.
<http://vzw.smithmicro.com/download/default2.tpl>
Amazingly, the software isn't even on Verizon's site, which
makes the entire process even more confusing. I'm reminded of
the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy bit at the beginning where
Arthur Dent complains that the planning documents were in a locked
file cabinet in an unlit basement in a disused lavatory labeled
"Beware of the Tiger." (Beware Tiger, indeed!)
Finally, my industry-connected reader emphasized the fact that
Verizon Wireless disables Bluetooth dial-up networking (DUN)
support in its phones. I noted this in my article in passing, but
it's worth repeating that you can't work around a lack of PC Card
driver support by using a Verizon Wireless phone in tethered mode
with EVDO. (I was able to get one of Verizon Wireless's advanced
phones to make 1xRTT or about-dial-up-modem-speed calls over
Bluetooth, however.)
**Terms of Servitude** -- And post-penultimately, let me note that
some hilarious reading may be found in Verizon Wireless's terms
of service for using BroadbandAccess, its EVDO service.
<http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/promotion/controller?promotionType=
miniPac&action=miniStart>
After stating what the service may be used for - "Internet," not
"Web," browsing, email, and intranet applications - they go on
to state:
"Unlimited NationalAccess/BroadbandAccess services cannot be used
(1) for uploading, downloading or streaming of movies, music or
games, (2) with server devices or with host computer applications,
including, but not limited to, Web camera posts or broadcasts,
automatic data feeds, Voice over IP (VoIP), automated machine-to-
machine connections, or peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, or (3) as
a substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data
connections. "
Why do I find this amusing? Because so many folks have been
telling me for the last year that EVDO will replace Wi-Fi even
though it's a bit slower because each user gets a dedicated
data stream at a given speed. Two fallacies there.
First, Wi-Fi is a choice: Once you have Wi-Fi, you can use
hundreds or thousands of different networks. If you find one
network has policies you don't like or not enough speed, you
switch. This could mean moving from one coffeeshop to another,
or switching from T-Mobile HotSpot to SBC FreedomLink for
national access. The terms of service for Wi-Fi hotspots can
be restrictive, but I haven't seen any that disallow video,
streaming, VoIP, and other common applications.
Second, the cellular modems have to backhaul data from central
points: the cellular towers on which the EVDO or HSDPA equipment
lives. I have been told by several folks in the industry in the
last couple of months that the backhaul from even many of the
urban cell towers isn't enough to handle lots of 3G cell users.
Part of the billions of dollars being put into 3G is upgrading
that infrastructure, not just putting up new base stations to
handle customers. That's one reason Verizon Wireless and others
have to restrict what kinds of services are used.
Audio File Concatenation: Driven to Distraction by DRM
------------------------------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
As I wrote in "iPods Defeating Insomnia" in TidBITS-768_, Tonya
and I like to listen to audio books on our iPod to help us fall
asleep at night. After about seven months, we moved on from
Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything" to his
"In a Sunburned Country" (all about Australia, one of our favorite
countries), which we purchased from Audible.com via the iTunes
Music Store. Whereas I was able to download the first audio book
in three 6-hour chunks, this one came in five 2.5-hour files, and
figuring out which file you're in can be a bit annoying, even if
you give them shorter names that display the part number up front.
If I was dealing with cassette tapes or even CDs, I'd just grin
and bear it, but these files are pure bits - surely I should
be able to join them together into a single big file? It wasn't
quite that easy, as it turned out.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=08004>
**All Together Now** -- iTunes has a Join CD Tracks command, but
when I selected the five tracks in iTunes and looked in the
Advanced menu, Join CD Tracks was grayed out. Apparently, its
name is quite accurate; it works only on tracks on an actual CD,
not those that already exist in your iTunes Library or even as
AIFF files on disk. I briefly considered burning audio CDs of
the book files, but since each file was about 150 minutes,
it didn't seem worth the effort to figure out how to burn
70-minute CDs, and even if I did, I couldn't see how I'd be
able to join tracks from multiple CDs. Drat!
Next, I turned to the wonderful Doug's AppleScripts for iTunes
site, which seemingly has a script for every problem in iTunes.
It didn't disappoint, turning up Join Together, which promises to
concatenate AAC files. It needs QuickTime Pro 7.0.1, but I could
get that if necessary. Unfortunately, disappointment reappeared
quickly when I read the release notes, which commented that the
script wouldn't work with protected AAC files. Curses!
<http://www.dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/scripts07.php?page=1#jointogether>
Perplexed, I asked some friends about the problem. One of them had
just stumbled across a beta of iTunesJoin, which sounded as though
it would do exactly what I needed. My glee was short-lived though,
as I read through the program's description. Although iTunesJoin
(which is actually a collection of AppleScript scripts) can join
AAC files for use on the iPod, and it can even join protected
AAC files (by merging them into a QuickTime movie), the two
capabilities are mutually exclusive and a file of joined
protected AAC files can't be played on the iPod. Strike three!
<http://www.3am.pair.com/iTunesJoin.html>
Now I was annoyed, and it was all the fault of Apple's FairPlay
digital rights management (DRM) code, which wasn't seeming at
all fair, and it certainly wasn't playing nice. So I decided that
if Apple was going to treat me like a criminal, I'd do my best
to live up to it by employing JHymn, a tool that is undoubtedly
in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act because it
enables you to remove the FairPlay DRM restrictions with no loss
of quality. Since my goal is purely to turn five files into one
for my own private use, I wasn't particularly concerned with
JHymn's legality, but as it turned out, iTunes 6.0 made some
changes to FairPlay that prevent JHymn from working, so it
wasn't an option for me anyway. Foiled again!
<http://www.hymn-project.org/>
<http://hymn-project.org/jhymndoc/>
The entire situation was starting to get personal. I don't want
to concatenate all that many files, but once I'd hit upon joined
tracks as a way to make the iPod easier to use at night when
I'm tired and nearsightedly trying to navigate the iPod's
interface, I felt certain that it had to be possible. That's
when I remembered Rogue Amoeba's excellent Audio Hijack Pro,
which can record anything you can hear to a new file. There might
be a loss of quality, but since my original files contained merely
Bill Bryson's voice, dynamic range wasn't an issue.
<http://www.rogueamoeba.com/audiohijackpro/>
First, I created a temporary playlist of the five audiobook
tracks, sorted by name so they were in order. Next, I made sure
that iTunes wouldn't be shuffling the tracks, or repeating them
after it finished the first play-through, and I verified that each
track would start playing at the beginning. In Audio Hijack Pro,
I selected iTunes, set the format to AAC at 32 Kbps mono, and
clicked the Record button before switching back to iTunes and
starting it playing. And then, because it was 7 PM at night,
I hit the Mute button on my keyboard so we didn't have to listen
to Bill Bryson's voice from my office all night long, and left
Audio Hijack Pro to listen to, and record, 11 hours and 54 minutes
of audio to a completely new file. By the time I sat down at my
Mac the next morning, I had the single file I wanted.
This solution was by no means elegant, but it worked, and for
the limited number of times I expect to use it, playing an entire
audio book in real time overnight isn't particularly onerous.
Thanks to the Rogue Amoeba folks for making this possible!
**Drat that DRM!** Situations like this show why DRM solutions are
inherently problematic. If the end result of a set of digital
steps is something that you can see or hear, there's always a
point at which it can be copied with sufficient application of
desire and equipment. But what's most annoying is that I didn't
want to do anything that any normal person would consider illegal
or even unethical. Creating a copy for personal use wouldn't
likely run afoul of copyright law, and the Audio Home Recording
Act of 1992 nominally allows "noncommercial use by a consumer
of such a device or medium for making digital musical recordings
or analog musical recordings." But all of this is trumped by
the DMCA, which makes it illegal to circumvent DRM restrictions,
whether or not the proposed use would be considered fair use
under copyright law. (See "Why DRM Offends the Sensibilities"
in TidBITS-769_ and "The Evil That Is the DMCA" in TidBITS-656_
for more.)
<http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap10.html#1008>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=08013>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=06997>
And so, once again, a perfectly reasonable and legal activity,
and one that should have been a matter of a few moments' work,
is rendered clumsy and obtuse by DRM. Thanks, Apple! FairPlay
didn't stop me from making my iPod easier to use with content
I purchased from the iTunes Music Store, but it sure wasted a
lot of my time, and I'm annoyed enough to post the result of
my concatenation efforts to the peer-to-peer file sharing
networks. I would never do such a thing, of course, since that
would violate the intent of copyright law, and very few people -
myself included - have any beef with the intent of copyright.
But until sanity prevails and DRM doesn't involve vast collateral
damage to pre-existing rights and common sense, I'm going to be
buying more from venues that don't employ DRM, which, I fear,
will mean fewer purchases from the iTunes Music Store.
Take Control News/14-Nov-05
---------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
**"Take Control of Digital TV" Released** -- Although many of us
know a fair amount about Macintosh hardware, delving into the
world of digital television is a humbling experience - it involves
a baffling array of buzzwords and acronyms, and that's before
you get into deciding between direct view and projection TVs and
trying to tease out the relevant differences between LCD, plasma,
DLP, and CRT-based sets. If, like us, you're considering
purchasing a digital TV this holiday season, or if you already
own a digital TV but worry that it might not be positioned or
adjusted properly for optimal viewing, you can find friendly
guidance in our latest ebook, "Take Control of Digital TV."
In this ebook, Seattle journalist and TV maven Clark Humphrey
explains the jargon, compares all the different display
technologies, and helps you find the right digital TV for your
budget, living space, and media viewing habits. You'll also learn
how to position a large-screen TV for optimal viewing, arrange
and connect external speakers, adjust the display for the best
possible image quality, and add extras such as a digital video
recorder or video game console. Clark rounds out his advice with
suggestions of where to find digital programming, a hand-picked
list of Web resources, and an extensive glossary you can use
to decipher otherwise-impenetrable spec sheets.
Tonya and I are due to buy a new TV sometime soon - we're still
watching a 20-inch set that we bought when we got married in 1991.
Armed with the knowledge we've picked up from reading this ebook,
I'm sure we'll be able to buy the right TV more quickly and for
less money. Do note that this ebook covers digital TV from the
North American perspective; standards and formats differ in other
parts of the world.
You can read more about Clark's ebook, download a free 23-page
excerpt, and place an order at:
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/digital-tv.html?14!pt=TRK-0027-TB805-TCNEWS>
**Oodles of Suggestions Open for Voting** -- Frankly, I'm
overwhelmed. I never expected our readers to suggest so many
interesting topics for us to consider covering in Take Control
ebooks, and the suggestions continue to roll in. We received
so many, in fact, that I had to break up the main suggestions
page so voters weren't faced with a huge list all at once. My
categories are intentionally imprecise - they're designed merely
to slice the initial list into four roughly equivalent chunks.
Now that we're past the early rush, please come and vote on the
titles you would buy today if they existed so we can make sure to
work on the topics that garner the most interest. Don't worry if
you voted when the list was much smaller and can't remember your
votes; our system automatically ignores duplicates. That said,
if there are titles you'd particularly like to see, feel free to
lobby discussion groups and mailing lists to vote as well; as long
as the votes are sincere, there's nothing wrong with stuffing the
ballot box.
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/suggest.html>
**A Slew of Reviews** -- Reviews of Take Control ebooks have been
rolling in hot and heavy of late, so here's a quick roundup.
I apologize in advance if I'm tooting our own horn a bit here,
but it's so nice to see others understand what we're trying to
achieve with Take Control. Thanks for all the kind words, folks,
and if anyone is interested in reviewing a Take Control ebook,
let us know which book you'd like to review and for what site
or publication.
My favorite review of late comes from Barry Campbell, posted
on Blogcritics.org and enrevanche. I can't help but feel kindly
toward someone who describes me and Glenn as "two guys with
enormous geek credibility," and compliments our writing with
quotes like, "The book is a marvel of excellent technical writing
for a general audience, and I say this as a technical writer
of some 20 years experience".
<http://enrevanche.blogspot.com/2005/10/review-take-control-of-your-wi-fi.html>
<http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/10/15/212036.php>
Barry isn't alone in saying nice things, though, and Seth at
MacMove published another morale-boosting article that does
a wonderful job of articulating our goals with Take Control.
<http://www.macmove.com/mm/archives/macmove-recommends/mm-recs-take-control>
Kudos to Steve Sande for the positive review his "Take Control of
Your iPod: Beyond the Music" received from MacNN's Ilene Hoffman,
who calls it "an amazing buy." We were particularly happy to hear
her comment that she's not normally a fan of reading books on
screen, "but this one was definitely painless and didn't tire out
my eyes." That's what 14 point Georgia will do for you, and since
it's a PDF, you can increase the effective font size even more
if you like.
<http://reviews.macnn.com/review.php?id=139>
Another good review - again of "Take Control of Your Wi-Fi
Security" - came from David Weeks of MyMac.com, who notes that
if you use a Wi-Fi equipped laptop or run a Wi-Fi network at home,
"you absolutely need to read this book," and if you run a business
Wi-Fi network, "you absolutely POSITIVELY need to read this book."
(He used the caps, not us.) We also appreciated comments like
"the TidBITS folks have evolved a near-perfect format for their
publications... the user interface adheres to Take Control
guidelines, the layout is always logical, and you can navigate
easily from section to section."
<http://www.mymac.com/showarticle.php?id=2124>
Back in September, David published an even-more-glowing review of
Kirk McElhearn's "Take Control of Customizing Microsoft Office,"
which he rated a 5 out of 5. Accurately calling it a "tightly
focused explanation of one of Microsoft Office's most powerful,
yet most obscure features: how to customize your work
environment," David goes on to say that Kirk's ebook is
"the best coverage I've seen on this narrow subject, period."
He also appreciates how we released a 1.0.1 update within
10 days of initial publication - free updates are a boon for
everyone, since we all benefit from ebooks having the most
accurate information.
<http://www.mymac.com/showarticle.php?id=2086>
Last, but by no means least, Mark Sealey included our "Take
Control of Tiger" collection and "Take Control of Mac OS X
Backups" in his "Tiger By the Book: A Mac OS X Book Review"
for Think Secret. About Joe Kissell's "Take Control of Mac OS X
Backups" (which has a significant update coming soon, by the way),
Mark writes, "This is an inexpensive, attractive, and exhaustive
resource, kept up-to-date by virtue of its electronic format and
made accessible to everyone. And everyone should buy it and act
on it, unless their data is entirely dispensable. Highly
recommended." We couldn't have said it better ourselves.
<http://www.thinksecret.com/reviews/tigerbooks.html>
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/14-Nov-05
------------------------------------
by TidBITS Staff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The first link for each thread description points to the
traditional TidBITS Talk interface; the second link points to
the same discussion on our Web Crossing server, which provides
a different look and which may be faster.
**Course Scheduling Software** -- A reader looking for software
suggestions finds lots of possible solutions. (2 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2772>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/619/>
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output voodoo, a reader asks for help in determining if his
new iBook battery is up to par. (1 message)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2773>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/620/>
**Should Macs have modems?** The latest iMac G5 does not include
an internal modem, but is that simply a cost-cutting measure or
a crippling aspect? And does Apple's USB Modem (sold separately)
adequately replace the functionality of an internal? (2 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2774>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/621/>
**EVDO-compatible phones** -- A reader asks about EVDO phones
compatible with Sprint, and ends up with advice on the phones'
Bluetooth compatibility. (2 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2775>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/622/>
**OpenOffice as an alternative** -- The promise of an open-source
alternative to Microsoft Office is appealing, but what's the
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<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2776>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/623/>
$$
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