Mac News

Teachers Mainely Happy With Tech - Wired
Wired reports from three schools in Maine, where the state's iBook for 7th graders program is apparently a raging success. Good news for Apple. A very good read.

Apple offers interest-free Mac deal - Macworld UK
Macworld UK brings us news of an interest-free financing offer for new Macs in the UK. An interesting read.

Early Desktop Pics Ahead of Time - Wired
Leander Kahney reports on the early uses of desktop images on the Mac. A very interesting, and fun, read.

Mac Columns/Editorials

Mac Skeptic - Wesley Crusher Likes... - MacOPINION
Jeff Lewis relates a tale of protest many years ago against a local tyrannical Amiga user group. He, and some friends, invoked Wesley Crusher's name to disparage the Amiga, and he brings that back to today when Wil Wheaton, the actor who portrayed Ensign Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation, is a big fan of Mac OS X. An entertaining read.

The Art of Using Science and Technology for Evil - OSXFAQ
Our favorite Mac writer, now that he has returned from a sojourn with Apple, has an excellent piece on ethics, rationalizations, and stealing music. A very, very good read.

Five Things You'll see In IE 6... That Aren't New - MacMerc
Jon Gales has a few predictions for what we will see in IE 6 for the Mac, along his thought that Microsoft will try and pass off these features as innovative. An interesting read.

Mac Humor

New PowerBooks And iBooks Recalled. Schiller Missing Contact Lens. - Crazy Apple Rumors
First of all, remember that CAR is a satire site. CAR says that Apple is recalling all of the new iBooks and TiBooks because Phil Schiller lost a contact, and he thinks it may have fallen in a unit when it was being assembled. A very funny read.

Microsoft Articles

Red Hat wins over Windows convert - News.com
Score one for the good guys: Red Hat has won a contract from Microsoft to supply a major manufacturer with Red Hat Linux, replacing Windows in the process. That's good news for all of Microsoft's competitors. A good read.

Security 'impossible' for Win9x, buy XP now, says MS exec - The Register UK
Microsoft serves up a big piece of Stupid Pie for its idiot customers to line up and eat. It seems, according to this excellent report from The Register, that Microsoft has announced that security for earlier versions of Windows is a lost cause, and it's all society's fault. Microsoft, fortunately, has the perfect remedy: Buy Windows XP. ::SPLAT:: Oops, sorry. That was the sound of our vomit hitting the floor. A very good report.

Microsoft Drowns Out Other Options - AP via Yahoo!
Richard Stallman is accusing Microsoft of using free software to get Indians, and other poor countries, addicted to proprietary software. Mr. Stallman is one of the foremost activists in the open source software industry. A very interesting report.

Other Tech Articles

Dell tallies a record third quarter - News.com
Dell knows how to profit from the sale of toasters. The innovation destroyer of the PC world continues its blitzkrieg attack on good taste.

Amazon Starts Web Clothing Store with 400 Brands - Reuters, via Yahoo!
Want a camisole with your copy of Atlas Shrugged? Amazon is ramping up its new online clothing store with 400 brands of clothes. A vaguely interesting read.

MacOS News Around The Web Specials

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We rate our articles using a very informal and highly subjective system. The purpose of Mac OS News Around The Web (MOSN) is to highlight articles that stand above or below the norm. Most of what we highlight is something we simply feel is good or important. We also include the occasional article that is just badly written, or better yet wrong. Sometimes, we even offer a good rootin' tootin' rant.

• Good Read - The article is enjoyable for some reason, but not stellar. It may have a good angle or just be well written.
• Very Good Read - Everything that a Good Read has, and then some.
• Great Read - We give this rating quite rarely, and an article or editorial has to really knock our socks off to get it. This usually requires style in addition to substance.
• Important Read - Some articles are important. They might state an opinion we think vital, or perhaps someone has uncovered some fiendish new plot, but Important Reads should be read. Now.
• Fun Read - An entertaining article, usually comedic in nature. We are fond of satire, subtlety, and witty things that make pointed fun of Microsoft.
• Entertaining Read - Unlike a Fun Read, an Entertaining Read just sort of tickles our fancy. Many Entertaining Reads are clever.
• Interesting Read - This is a close cousin of the Entertaining Read. This article is something that caught our attention, but may not be spectacular, or even outstanding, in terms of writing style. That's usually what keeps an Interesting Read from being a Good Read or a Very Good Read.
• Handy Read - A Handy Read is an article that is helpful in some way. It's almost always a tip piece, or some other kind of help article.
• Frustrating Read - Sometimes spotted as an Annoying Read, this article is usually just a really stupid opinion. Sometimes it will even be a stupid opinion that is poorly written.
• Really Bad Read - Most articles that fit this description are seldom worth our, or your, attention. Sometimes something is so bad, however, that we feel compelled to mention it so that you can avoid it. We're nice like that.
• A Waste Of HTML - We haven't actually given this one out yet, but we are almost looking forward to the day we do so.

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