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To Be Used Only For Good (12/6/01)
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Those of you who obsess about keeping your software up to date are doubtless already aware of the fact that Mac OS 9.2.2 is now available via the "Software Update" control panel and direct download via VersionTracker. According to Apple, this update "improves Classic application compatibility in Mac OS X and delivers updated support for Macintosh systems that are based on the PowerPC G3 or G4 processor." Sounds nifty. Seeing as our only 9.2.1 system is used pretty much exclusively for Classic (and MacFixIt has yet to report any fun stories along the lines of "this update erased two of my disk partitions and set fire to my dog"), we went ahead and did the 9.2.2 thing last night. We're happy to report that we emerged unscathed-- although we did experience a nasty crash while running a Classic app earlier today. Coincidence?
Maybe not. We've just found out that 9.2.2 apparently packs some dangerous stuff under the hood; faithful viewer FishMan tipped us off to the 9.2.2 Export Compliance Agreement, and there are definitely some noteworthy clauses in there that you might miss if you're the type who always clicks "I Agree" without reading through all the legalese. Did you know that you're agreeing not to export 9.2.2 to "Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Serbia, Sudan, Syria, or Taliban-controlled Afghanistan," and that you're not a "national or resident" of those countries? Furthermore, were you aware that you were also agreeing not to use 9.2.2 for "the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear missiles or chemical or biological weapons"? Bummer for bin Laden and whoever's cranking out that weaponized anthrax.
Sane individuals will surely realize that clauses such as these probably exist in most "click-through" download agreements in this country; still, we can't help wondering whether there's something about Apple software that makes it somehow better-suited for use in the creation of massively destructive technologies. (What about the bomb icon in the "System Error" dialog box? Or the use of the radiation symbol as the "Burn Disc" button in iTunes?) The connection between this intriguing possibility and Steve Jobs's megalomaniacal plans for world domination is left as an exercise for the viewer.
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SceneLink (3437)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 12/6/01 episode: December 6, 2001: Apple plans to file a supplemental brief protesting Microsoft's "free software for schools" settlement proposal. Meanwhile, the Woz aligns himself with Danger, Inc. and their wireless "hiptop" hardware, and statements in Apple's download agreement for Mac OS 9.2.2 hint at the potential for massive destruction...
Other scenes from that episode: 3435: Lobbying For Smackdown (12/6/01) Remember how Microsoft recently offered to settle a couple hundred private antitrust suits potentially worth some $12.5 billion by donating $1.6 billion in refurbished computers, software, and services to the nation's "poorest schools"?... 3436: "Danger, Steve Wozniak!" (12/6/01) Still waiting for Apple to ship a new handheld device? Well, we can't say we're all that surprised... after all, there are still people waiting for "The Powers of Matthew Star" to get put back on the air...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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