• Give Blood: Call the American Red Cross at 1-800-GIVE-LIFE (1-800-448-3543) to find the donation center nearest you if you don't know the nearest local Red Cross center. You can also sign up at their web site at http://www.redcross.org/.
  
  
• Volunteer: Depending on where you live, you may be able to volunteer to help in some way.
  
  
• Provide Support: If you know anyone personally affected by this tragedy, do what you can to provide emotional or financial support if possible. If you'd care to donate to a general fund, there are pages at the Red Cross website, PayPal and Amazon (perhaps others).
  
  
• Don't Panic: There are already fears that these events will trigger a flood of exits from the stock market and a global recession. Don't contribute to the panic which will only make matters worse.

TechTV has a Crisis Resources page with a list of agency phone numbers, web sites and contact information for those needing information or wanting to report information on these cowardly and horrible attacks on the United States. That page also links to a World Trade Center Survivor Database, the FBI Tip website and Disaster Area Missing Person Search Form.

" Mike,
Here are the results of my testing. The CD I used to test digital audio extraction speed is the album "No Angel" by Dido. It's 12 tracks for a total time of 51:52 and a total size of 524.5 MB.

All individual track extraction times are an average of 3 consecutive attempts with Toast Audio Extractor, timed by hand with a stopwatch.

Track 1: "Here With Me," time of 4:14, size of 42.8 MB.
Time to extract: 14.49 sec ("overlap" setting ON), 14.58 ("overlap" setting OFF)
Speed: 2.95 MB/sec (overlap on), 2.94 MB/sec (overlap off)

Track 12: "Take My Hand," time of 6:42, size of 67.8 MB.
Time to extract: 14.33 sec (overlap on), 14.39 sec (overlap off)
Speed: 4.73 MB/sec (overlap on), 5.06 MB/sec (overlap off)

For comparison, here are the same tests performed on the stock Apple DVD-ROM drive (Hitachi GD-7000 8x drive):

Track 1:
Time to extract: 28.14 sec (overlap on), 27.92 (overlap off)
Speed: 1.52 MB/sec (overlap on), 1.53 MB/sec (overlap off)

Track 12:
Time to extract: 23.82 sec (overlap on), 24.11 (overlap off)
Speed: 2.85 MB/sec (overlap on), 2.81 MB/sec (overlap off)

So it seems from these tests that the Que drive is roughly twice as fast as the stock DVD-ROM drive at digital audio extraction.

I also performed a couple ripping tests with SoundJam MP 2.5.2 on the same CD.

Rip to 160 KHz MP3
DVD: 5:35
Que: 6:02

Rip to AIFF
DVD: 5:31
Que: 3:05

It appears that SoundJam's two-stage encoding (extract, then encode) on the external Firewire drive (I blame it on the Toast drivers, but I'm not sure) limited the overall performance when ripping to MP3s. I could here the drive spin down when the extraction was complete and the encoding started, then spin back up to extract the next track. The internal drive extracts and encodes in one pass, boosting performance a bit. But when ripping straight to AIFF, the Que whoops up on the DVD-ROM, even though SoundJam is still doing two-stage ripping (extract, save, extract, save, etc...).

I saw pretty much the same behavior with iTunes ripping to 192 KBps MP3s, with similar results. (5:36 time with the DVD drive, 6:36 with the Que drive).
And that's all the tests I feel like performing tonight. :-) ...
Cheers,
Dave Corder"

DVD-R + DVD RAM Drive Reports:
• IDE Panasonic LF-D311 in Dual G4
  (noted Beta version of OS X Toast worked with it)
  
  Expansion Bay Combo DVD/CDRW Reports:
• Matshita UJDA710 in Powerbook G3 2000
  
  Expansion Bay CDRW Reports:
• Matshita UJDA-330 in Powerbook G3 Lombard
  
  IDE CDRW Reports:
• HP cd12ri in Beige G3
• HP 8250i CD-Writer+ 4/4/24 in G4/AGP
• Que 24/10/40 in Dual G4
• Samsung SW-212 12/8/32 in Beige G3
  (problems noted)
• Sony CRX140E (Apple OEM version from OWC) in Beige G3
• Teac CDW516E (16X10X40) in Beige G3
• Yamaha 2200E-VK (20/10/40) in Beige G3 [2 reports]
• Yamaha 2100 (16/10/40) in G4/AGP
  (noted OS 9.2.1 boot problem fix was to use OS 9.1 CD/DVD extension, which another 2100 owner noted wasn't a fix in Monday's news.)
  
  Firewire CDRW Drive Reports:
• Lacie CDBP 121032A (12/10/32) used w/iBook
  
  SCSI CDRW Drive Reports:
• Yamaha CRW6416SX (6/4/16) external w/8600
  
  IDE CDROM Drive Reports:
• Digital Research Drive 52x in Beige G3
  (listed under "other brands")
  
  IDE Hard Drive Reports:
• Hitachi 30GB in PowerBook G3 wallstreet2
• IBM 48GB Travelstar in Powerbook G3 2000
  (used my PB G3 firewire HD upgrade guide)
• Maxtor 40GB in Beige G3
  (used my 1998 Beige G3 HD install guide)
  
  Firewire Hard Drive Reports:
• Maxtor 80GB used with Beige G3 (w/FW PCI card)
  
  Firewire DVD ROM Drive Reports:
• Toshiba SD-M1502 (16x/48x) in ADS Pryo case (used w/G4 Cube)
  
  IDE DVD ROM Drive Reports:
• BTC BDV 212B in G4/AGP 2001
  (filed under "other brands")

You can find full owner reports by searching the database by drive/brand/interface/mac models (the latest reports are shown first in searches).
If you've added a IDE, SCSI, Firewire or USB hard drive, CDRW, tape drive, etc. make sure you add a report to the database. [If you post an updated entry - make sure you use the same name, etc. as you did before so I can find your past entry. Thanks.]

• Sonnet G4/450 in 8600/300 (rated 10)
• Sonnet G3/390 in 6100/60 (rated 10)
• Sonnet G3/300 in 7500/100 (rated 10)
• XLR8 CarrierZIF w/G3 466 ZIF in PowerTower Pro 225 (rated 10)
• XLR8 G3/366 ZIF in Beige G3 (rated 10)
• B&W G3/400 OC report

(Warning - Overclocking may not be reliable and could lead to hardware failure or corrupted data.) You can find the full reports by searching the database selecting the indicated Mac model and upgrade card brand/type. If you've upgraded the CPU on your Mac, please post an entry in the database. Search the database for entries from most every upgradable Mac model *before* you buy. (Searchable by mac model/upgrade brand). For detailed reviews with performance tests and install tips, see the CPU Upgrades page.)

• 1 year ago today
• 2 years ago today [13th, 12th was a Sunday]
• 3 years ago today

Software Updates:
• Hard Disk Speed Tools 3.4
• Mactella 1.3.2

Apple TIL Updates: [not able to determine changes lately]

Mac/PowerPC Related News:
(Note: Rehashing of press releases, repeated news, etc. not listed)

• Akamai Technologies Mourns the Loss of Co-Founder and CTO Daniel Lewin (akamai)
• Thursby Donates Sales to American Red Cross (thursby)
• Poll: 45% reject Apple merger [poll results asking should apple stay independent] (macworld uk)
• Aladdin to donate money to Red Cross [press release link however reverts to main index page as it has a URL error apparently]
• Flash moves to MS browser plug-in format (macoworld uk)
• CrossOver Brings QuickTime Movies to Linux: Part 1 (linux)

Gaming Related:
• Microsoft 'Xbox 2' to use Pentium 4 (the register)
• US terror attack linked with computer games (the register)

Misc. Hardware Related:
• SONICblue Expands RioVolt Product Line with Two New Players
• Portector (fueldesigninc.com)
  [I had thought of the same thing months ago when the 2001 ibook was first released]
• TI Unveils Industry's First 1394b High Performance Serial Bus Devices for Mass Storage, Consumer Electronics and Automotive Applications (TI)

Other Net News:
• Intel Unveils Next Generation 802.11a Products Along With Enhanced 802.11b Family and Innovative Software (businesswire)
• It's Time for Clockless Chips (techreview)
• US record label sued over anti-rip CD technology (the register)
• FBI steps up Net surveillance, following terror attack (the register)
• Proliferation of tiny wireless cameras worries privacy advocates (siliconvalley)
• IPNetSentry stops Code Red worm in its tracks (maccentral)