Thursday, February 26

• After a miserable performance on a midterm yesterday, I'm pleased to say I'm healthy and back in business again! A couple of items for today...
  
  
• DecisionOne.. ahh, yes.. we're going to try something different this time, to help our readers get the service they should be getting. Simple send Jeff a message which states the ONE area in which D-1 needs to improve the most. We'll make kind of a Top 10 list, and will send it along to the appropriate parties.
  
  
• Can you host the DCRP and PW Filemaker Pro 4.0 databases? For free? We'll talk about free ads on either site, too. Drop me a line.
  
  
• PowerWatch chat-- yes, it's back! We'll try in in the next two weeks.

Tuesday, February 24

• I'm under the weather at the moment, so no updates are being made. One thing I would like to get from you, the reader: People (especially companies) seem to be complaining about trouble with DecisionOne again. I'd like to hear what's going on, so we can let them know.
  
  

Friday, February 20

• Apparently the Swedish Power Computing reseller, who is also responsible for service of machines sold in Sweden, has gone out of business. We're (once again) working with DecisionOne (responsible for service in the U.S.) to find a solution for our friends overseas.
  
  
• Speaking of which, our friend Nathan (who we mentioned last week) still has some used PowerCC machines for sale. If you missed it before, these were used by PCC employees (Nathan was an employee there as well).

Tuesday, February 17

• Sorry for the silence lately.. I'll get back into the swing of things in the next day or so. I just got back from Vegas (brief trip report here), a little poorer unfortunately. The Star Trek Experience was excellent -- don't miss it. Oh, and speaking of entertainment, be sure to pick up The Journeyman Project 3 (Legacy of Time), which was designed on Macintosh! I got it on Saturday and am loving it!

Tuesday, February 10

• Latest word from Newer Technologies on G3 upgrades for Power 100/120 is not good. Apparently PowerCC made quite a few changes to the motherboard design, and Newer doesn't expect their G3 cards to work. This could change, but for now, it's bad news.

Monday, February 9

• In the next 2 days, I expect to see our 1,000,000 visitor to the home page come through! While I don't have any prizes (sorry) for the winner, it certainly shows that we're still going, five months after Power's unfortunate demise.
  
  
• Newer Technologies announced last week the MAXpowr G3 220/512/110 Pbase model.. which is for Powerbases if you haven't guessed already. I think they already annoucned a faster model, but I'm not sure what happened to that one. They will ship in March.
  • MAXpowr G3 Pbase 220/512K/110
    Earning a MacBench processor score of 700, The MAXpowr G3 Pbase 220/512K/110 uses a 220Mhz G3 PowerPC 750 processor and 512K of backside cache running on a cache bus of 110Mhz. It is compatible with all Power Computing Power Base systems and has an estimated street price of $699

Friday, February 6

• Those daughtercards ended up going for over $150! Geez....
  
  
• The weather here in San Diego has gone from bad to worse. I had to wade through 2 feet of water just to get back to my apartment, and our famous library has flooded. Start building the Ark quickly!

Thursday, February 5

• A reader found 200MHz 604e daughtercards that work in all upgradeable PowerCC machines except Powerbase at Onsale for only $20 (it's an auction, so it may go up a little). AUCTION OVER.
  
• I managed to squash the bug on PowerTech which would return a FileMaker Pro error when you hit return instead of clicking submit. Finally!
  
  
• A CD-ROM Toolkit 3.0.1 update returns support for the Philips PCA80SC CD-ROM drive, which Power used in many machines.
  
  
• A lot of people often ask me where they can find mounting brackets for their Power machines. It looks like DecisionOne may be the place to get them. Here's a few part numbers (they should have other useful parts, too):
  • P/N 7300-1001-00 Zip/Jaz mounting kit
  • P/N 81523 Plastic Drive rail for PTP/ATX chassis
  • (Thanks, Chris Heatherly)
    
    
• In case you missed them, we have some good deals on Power equipment still available!
  
  
• The DCRP (my other project) will be mentioned on The Wild Wild Web, a CBS syndicated television program. It will air sometime next week, so keep your eyes open! (You can check to find its air time and station on their web site).

Monday, February 2

• I have put up a good-sized report in regards to the PowerCC Auction last Friday. It's worth a look.
  
  
• If you haven't seen it yet, the New York Times wrote somewhat of an obituary for PowerCC last week.
  
  
• I have numerous deals to mention, so here goes:
  • Nathan, a former PowerCC Sales Manager, has a bunch of machines (used, not refurbs) formerly used by PowerCC employees. Those interested should contact him.
    • Power Center 150 $749
    • Power Wave 120 $699
    • Power Wave 132 $749
    • Power Wave 150 $849
    • Power Base 180 $799
    • Power Base 200 $899
    • Power Base 240 $949
    • Power Center Pro 180e $1199
    • Power Tower (not the PT Pro)180e $1099
    • I also have NEW 4gb Ultra SCSI drives (50 pin connectors) for $275 and a few new 2gb Seagate Barracuda's for $169. And... I have the power 15" monitors - straight off of employee desktops for $195, and I have several 1mb vram video cards (artista) to run a second monitor with for $40.
      
      
  • Simon picked up a bunch of L2 caches at the auction: (note: email him, NOT Jeff if you're interested!)
    • "I attended the Power Auction and came away with a lot of L2 cache: 30 One-Megs and 100+ 256k caches. The 256k caches are the special kind for Alchemy-based motherboards, such as PowerCC's Powerbase line (and Apple's 5400/6360/6400/6500 machines.) I really only wanted the Megs for some friends and myself, and the Alchemy caches were thrown in as part of the lot. (the 1Mb modules are not for Powerbase)
      
      So if any Powerbase-users need some, I can sell them for $30/each, and I'll cover the S&H. While I'm not a dealer, since I have enough, I'll warranty against DOA and replace those (so long as I have replacements!)
      
      I'm still trying to decide what price to ask for the excess One-Meggers -- I'm thinking $100 would be fair. I have one installed in my PowerWave (processor upped to 250Mhz) and it speeds the machine beautifully."
      
      
  • Mike Keenly sends along this helpful tip:
    • Yesterday, I went to a store in San Jose call Mac Power which has tons of used (pick a model) Power Computing machines. It appears that they can also get parts for these machines.
      I don't have any financial interest in this, I was just amazed at the quantity of stuff they have. You may want to forward this on to your readers.
      Mac Power
      1080-E Blossom Hill Road
      San Jose, CA 95123
      408-448-0474 FAX
      408-448-6132
      888-275-POWER
      
      
  • Finally, the fine folks at Bottom Line Distribution picked up a bunch of stuff at the auction, including video cards, hard drives, and the famed PowerCC keyboards.
    
    
• PowerLogix (makers of the PowerForce G3 card and longtime supporter of PW) has obtained a Temporary Restraining Order against Total Impact, restricting the sale of PowerLogix' proprietary G3 processor card design. The cards affected are the MacTell PowerJolt G3 (MacTell is a PW sponsor) and the Total Impact PowerUP750. This restraining order was issued due to Total Impact's failure to honor its end of a mutual "technology exchange" license agreement. Other violations listed in the court order include: sublicensing the PowerLogix G3 product to other third parties, modifying, duplicating, and distributing PowerLogix proprietary software (G3 Cache Control) without authorization, and many other violations.
  
  
• Things are not going well with the DCRP; Attendance is falling, and if things don't pick up soon, it may get scrapped. Any suggestions are welcome.