KHTML project, Apple struggle over open-source rules

Infoworld's Neil McAllister discusses some of the cultural differences within the open-source community as the KHTML project has offered several gripes with Apple's Safari web browser, which leverages the KHTML open-source code: "The open source community has rules, too, and these rules are laid out in the various licenses under which open source code is published. Although it may not always be the most cooperative company, everything Apple has done with KHTML code has been in compliance with the letter of the GNU LGPL (Lesser General Public License) -- a point no one has even tried to dispute." Earlier this month, one Apple developer proposed resolving compatibility conflicts in Safari by scrapping the KHTML rendering engine in favor of its own WebCore, which received support from Firefox lead engineer Ben Goodger, who said that "Safari's renderer is vastly superior to the KHTML used by Konqueror."

Stone ships PreferenceCommander 1.0 for Mac OS X

Stone Design today announced PreferenceCommander 1.0, a powerful Preference Manager that can be used to view, edit, update, restore, and save sets of preferences for any Mac OS X application. Preferences are user-specific settings that give Mac OS X applications so much flexibility. "PreferentialTreatment is a very useful utility which can add functionality to every Mac OS X application. Just click a button to restore an application to it's original preferences - or save and install custom sets of preferences for the task at hand." A 14-day demo of the $20 application is available online. [Note: Stone updated the application name after initially calling it 'PreferentialTreatment']

Apple offers refurb iMac G4s, PowerBooks

Apple is again offering refurbished flat-panel iMac G4s at the online Apple Store. The 1.25GHz iMac G4 is available for $1,100 with 256MB of RAM, a 80GB drive, and a SuperDrive. Apple is also offering refurbished, current-generation 15-inch PowerBooks for $1,700 (1.5GHz) and $2,000 (1.67GHz) as well as a 12-inch PowerBook for $1,500. Apple is also offering a refurbished previous-generation 20GB iPod ($250), iPod mini in Silver/Blue/Pink/Green ($170), and 40GB iPod ($330) and current-generation flat panel displays for $550 (17-inch), $1,300 (23-inch), and $2,600 (30-inch).

MacPractice 1.5 adds scheduling, e-claims, more...

MacPractice today announced MacPractice 1.5, its medical, dentists, and chiropractic practice management applications designed especially for Mac OS X. Version 1.5 adds scheduling, electronic insurance submission, periodontal charting, image storage, and integrated word processing. MacPractice DDS Scheduling interfaces with iCal, providing doctors the ability to take their schedule of appointments on an iPod, phone, Palm, or PowerBook, or place it on the Internet or Apple's .Mac internet service. MacPractice EClaims provides online eligibility verification and claim tracking, and claims transmission via Internet or modem. MacPractice 1.5 is expected to available next month.

MegaPEG.X Pro HD 3.0 with "videophile" decoder

Digigami today announced that it is now shipping MegaPEG.X Pro HD 3.0, featuring both improved standard definition "SD" and high-definition "HD" MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 encoding. The new encoder features a built-in "videophile" MPEG decoder for transcoding from MPEG-2 (DVD, HDTV, DVB, HDV) sources. The new HD version is available as a QuickTime Exporter for $240 and as a full-featured Batch encoding and analysis tool for $300. Existing Digigami customers can upgrade for just $100. Free upgrades will be offered to customers who take a few moments to write a brief testimonial about how they utilize Digigami MPEG products in their own production environment.