Brand: MacNews

SonicBlue has posted a 2.10 firmware update for its RioVolt MP3/CD player. The update reduces the gap between tracks, reduces mechanical noise between tracks, reduces disk recognition time, and adds support Japanese Katagana fonts.

In a meeting by a House panel earlier this week that discussed how Congress could improve computer security, Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-Michigan) suggested using a Mac, notes a Wired story. “I own a Macintosh. I got through Y2K — I didn’t even think about it. And I’ve never had any problems with viruses. Maybe there’s a lesson to be learned.”

IBM is set to introduce a new PowerPC processor, code-named Sahara, that could boost the performance and megahertz beyond that of Motorola’s PowerPC G4, according to eWeek. The chip is expected to be introduced at next week’s Microprocessor Forum seminar, and will debut some time in 2002 at speeds from 700MHz to 1GHz.

During the past week, MacDesktops has added 14 new pictures, including: Dinosaur (Miscellaneous), Explicit (Show some skin), Pacific Ocean @ 36,000′ (Sky), Race cars (Cars), and Waterfront (Landscapes – Rural).

In an interview with the Guardian Unlimited, as noted by MacSurfer, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak discusses the history behind the original Apple computer, notes that he currently prefers Mac OS 9 after encountering a couple bad experiences with Mac OS X, offers his opinion of the Internet as a whole, and calls the PowerBook G4, “the best Macintosh Apple has ever made,” while regretting the demise of the G4 Cube and Newton.