Odds & Ends
Odds & Ends
Anti-spam law passed AOL's home state of Virginia has passed an anti-spamming law. Check out this Washington Post article for details. (Thanks, Monty Solomon.)
MacFixIt Download Library and Expander: policy reversal Based on the email we received, at least a significant non-silent minority of MacFixIt readers are not ready to accept Expander 5.1 as the new standard. Okay, we listened. Files in the MacFixIt Download Library will continue to use the StuffIt 4.5 compression engine - until further notice. This reverses the policy statement made last time.
Creating 4.5 archives with 5.x installed Which brings me to question: Is it possible to compress files in the StuffIt 4.5 format using a startup drive in which StuffIt 5.1 engine has been installed? Or must you trash 5.1 and reinstall 4.5? [Making self-extracting archives is another possibility; but I would like to avoid that.]Update: Jon Mircea writes that the StuffIt Deluxe 4.5 application has its StuffIt Engine built-in. So, assuming you own this, you can use this application to create v. 4.5 .sit files. For the binhex (.hqx) encoding, it appears to be irrelevant which version you use. I tried this and it worked.
Aladdin's Peter Thomas graciously replied to my request on this matter. He writes: "We still offer StuffIt Lite 3.6 (which does not use the StuffIt Engine extension). It allows users to create archives in the older 3.0-4.5 .sit format." The other alternative he suggested is to have both versions of StuffIt Engine and PowerPlug on your drive and swap them in and out of the Extensions folder as needed. Personally, I prefer the StuffIt Lite approach!
Finally, Jeff Hirsch notes that StuffCM 2.1 (shareware not associated with Aladdin), allows you to "choose between StuffIt 4 and 5 when Stuffing files (provided you have both versions of the StuffIt Engine)."
Other MacFixIt policy matters Speaking of MacFixIt policy, here's a reminder: After MacFixIt's initial posting of the day (most often between 10:00-11:00 am ET), new items may be added throughout the next several hours. If new items are added anywhere other than at the top of the page, it is indicated by a note just below the date bar. Existing items may also be updated at any point. These updates are indicated by adding the word "update" in the green box to the left of the text [one exception: items may be added to the Utilities Updates section without special notice]. Items added very late in the day, if any, will include the words "Late Addition" in the green box. Rarely, a minor correction or update to an item may be made at a later point, such as shortly after it has moved to the Archives.
MacFixIt recognition The Internet Scout Project selected MacFixIt for inclusion in the Scout Report (December 18, 1998).