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Macworld Team

>> Postings for August 2006

The dangers of Wi-Fi

Thu, 17 Aug 2006

Apple was recently forced to pull its AirPort Extreme Base Station from sale because it used components that violated European environmental laws. Now the whole future of Wi-Fi is threatened by the latest in a long history of radio-wave scares.

First kids living near power lines were believed to be at risk for leukaemia. Then mobile phones were going to fry our brains, and even change our DNA. Now, scaremongers are suggesting that Wi-Fi hotzones will give us all cancer. Following a Canadian university’s decision to ban Wi-Fi hotspots from its campus, Toronto’s Board of Health is conducting a study of the potential health risks posed by plans to blanket the city’s downtown area with Wi-Fi access points.

Simon Jary | Read more...


We want Vista keyboard

Wed, 16 Aug 2006

Microsoft doesn’t just make buggy, vulnerable software, it creates some very nice keyboards and mice, as well. I stuck (sometimes literally) with the Mighty Mouse, but only so I can reduce the possibilities of RSI by frequently having to pick it up and blow/lick it to get the all-round scrolling going again. Microsoft keyboards are great, but I can’t stand the Windows logo being where the Apple sign should be. It’s just plain wrong.

Now Microsoft’s hardware division is creating the “Ultimate Keyboard” that will allow users of Vista and Windows Live services to access key features more easily. It will be ergonomic, backlit and wireless, and comes with a laser mouse.

Simon Jary | Read more...


Disk space odyssey

Tue, 15 Aug 2006

From just £749 the MacBook is top value, especially when you consider its dual-core processor, built-in wireless technologies, integrated webcam, and raft of top-quality software applications (iLife, Front Row, etc). But its 60GB hard disk isn’t as capacious as it sounds. 60GB is the capacity of an iPod, for heaven’s sake. If you have a decent-sized music collection, that 60GB is going to be dominated by your iTunes library. And soon you won’t have space for your digital snaps, email database or games installations.

You can up the hard-disk space to 120GB, for an extra £180, but even that isn’t enough for gigabyte spendthrifts. It’s not all our fault: just look at the size of some common applications. iLife requires at least 10GB of available disk space; OS X and iWork, 3GB each; Final Cut Studio, up to 46GB; Adobe Creative Suite, 4GB; Office, 630MB…

Simon Jary | Read more...


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