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February 2006 News Archive
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Copyright 2006 by Bill Fox All rights reserved.
Last Updated:
Feb. 10, 2006
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[2/8] Brief Hands-On Report Redux--Universal Workaround for
Keynote 3.0 Text-Wrap Bug: A reader put their finger on the
problem we cited yesterday of Keynote 3.0 having difficulties with
text-wrapping bulleted text in some slide presentations created in Keynote
1.x. They suggested a workaround that will work for those who do not have
Keynote 2.0.2.
But first,
what caused the problem? In Keynote 3.0 there is a field that allows the
user to specify the number of pixels that bulleted text is indented. That
field did not exist in either Keynote 1.x or 2.x. When importing some of
our slides created in Keynote 1.x, Keynote 3.0 assigns the value "NaN"
(for Not a Number?) to the Text Indent field (red circle in image at
right) which creates the problem. Presentations saved in Keynote 2.0.2
have a blank Text Indent field when opened in Keynote 3.0 and the slide
does not exhibit a text-wrap problem.
The
workaround is to delete the "NaN" and to assign a number of pixels, like
"10 px", in place of "NaN" in the Text Indent field.
Still, if one
has a copy of Keynote 2.0.2, the easiest workaround is to open a Keynote
1.x presentation in Keynote 2.0.2 and save it before opening and saving it
in Keynote 3.0 because one does not have to fiddle with each affected
slide. However, one is risking a blank field causing problems at some
time. [Bill Fox]
[2/8] Review--Online Income Tax Preparation Services:
CNet compared the three main online tax preparation services: TurboTax
Premier Online, TaxCut Premium Online and TaxAct Online Ultimate Bundle.
TaxAct is free to everyone for filing an IRS return, TurboTax Premier is
free if you make less than $28,000 or $50,000 if you are on active
military duty and TaxCut Premium is free if you are over 50. All charge
something for the state return. Phone support is expensive for TurboTax
($10 per incident) and TaxCut ($20 per incident). CNet's choice is
TurboTax Premier since it is as flexible and complete as the boxed
version. More...
[Dana Baggett]
[2/8] Apple Released 1GB iPod nano for $149 and Reduced iPod
shuffle Prices by $30: Apple released a 1GB version of the iPod nano that holds 240 songs
or 15,000 photos. The 1GB iPod nano is identical to the 2Gb and 4GB iPod
nanos in colors (white or black) and features. The 1GB iPod shuffle was
reduced to $99 and the 512MB iPod shuffle was reduced to $69. More...
[Bill Fox]
[2/8] Apple Adds CBS' SHOWTIME Video Programs to iTunes Music
Store--Video Downloads Over 12 Million: With the addition of
SHOWTIME hit programming, iTunes now offers more than 50 popular TV shows
available for just $1.99 per episode for viewing on a computer or iPod.
The iTunes Music Store is the world's most popular video download store
with more than 12 million videos purchased and downloaded.
"iTunes
allows fans of these hit Showtime programs to purchase and watch them in
an innovative way," said Matthew C. Blank, chairman of Showtime
Networks. "It is also a tremendous opportunity for non-subscribers to
sample Showtime's programming."
"We’re
thrilled to expand the iTunes video catalog with premium content
programming from Showtime," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of
iTunes. "With over 12 million videos sold, iTunes provides the best way
for consumers to discover, purchase and download video
online."
SHOWTIME
programming on the iTunes Music Store covers a variety of current and
previous-season content. Programs include the first full season of the
critically acclaimed Golden Globe nominee, "Sleeper Cell," the complete
first season of the groundbreaking "Weeds," starring Golden Globe
award-winning actress Mary Louise Parker; and the complete first season of
"Fat Actress," starring Kirstie Alley. [Bill Fox]
[2/7] Brief Hands-On Report--Fix for Keynote 3.0 Text-Wrap
Bug: While using Apple's new Keynote 3.0, we discovered
a fairly serious bug. Keynote 3.0 is one of two applications included in
Apple's iWork 6 suite released
last month. We have used Keynote to prepare slide presentations since it
first came out so we have presentations that were prepared and saved using
either Keynote 1.x or Keynote 2.x.
When opened
by Keynote 3.0 many, but not all, slide presentations with bulleted text
prepared in Keynote 1.x exhibit a severe text-wrap problem. Instead of
wrapping to the next line when text reaches the right margin of the text
box, the text turns vertically downward, running along the right margin.
The bug remains if the presentation is then saved to PowerPoint. If one
manually inserts a hard return, then a new bullet is created and the
spacing is thrown off, requiring manually deleting the bullet icon and
fixing the spacing. This is a tedious job for long
presentations.
So far,
however, we have not found a slide presentation prepared or saved in
Keynote 2.x that has the same issue when opened in Keynote 3.0.
Accordingly, the fix is first to open and save Keynote 1.x
presentations in Keynote 2.x (ours is at v2.0.2). Then open them in
Keynote 3.0 and save again. Of course, this issue would still present a
problem for those who skipped updating to version 2.x. Hopefully, Apple
will fix this bug permanently in the next update to Keynote 3.0. [Bill
Fox]
[2/7] Hard Drive News from Other World Computing--Price
Drops: Other World
Computing, a reputable firm that we have done business with for a long
time, sent us a couple of notes regarding discounts on their cool-looking
hard drive offerings:
[Bill
Fox]
[2/6] Share Picture and Video Clips on Macs through
DropShots.com: DropShots is a leading personal video
sharing service. It hosts online over 150,000 video clips and over 2
million photos with a growth rate of over 35 percent each month.
DropShots
users are typically sharing the sights and sounds of their newborn baby,
their child’s first steps, graduations, weddings or family vacations.
These personal experiences are then shared with a private circle of
friends and family.
"For the
budding filmmaker or musician looking for public Internet fame there are
other services that serve that purpose. For families and friends
looking to keep in touch and privately share the intimate experiences of
their lives, DropShots is what they are looking for," says DropShots CEO
Darren Hardy.
One can set
up a DropShot account for free that allows sharing of up to 500 photos and
10 video clips or opt for a fully featured account for $4.95 per month. A
demo account is located on this DropShots Web
page. DropShots is Web-based so it works with any platform including
Mac OS X and Safari. [Bill Fox]
[2/6] Mac/PC SystemsShootouts Updated for New Macs:
Charles Gaba announced eight brand-new (or updated) Shootouts on SystemShootouts.org.
The
latest updates include:
--£500 Mini
Desktop Shootout (Apple Mac mini vs. AOpen MiniPC)
Note: MiniPC was
only available in the UK as of December, so it's matched up a £500 Mac
mini against it off of Apple’s UK store.
--$2,000
Midsize Laptops (Apple 15” MacBook Pro vs. Acer TravelMate
8200)
Note: Some of the final specs & pricing on the Acer model
remain uncertain, so this is a tentative shootout.
--$1,300
Slimline Desktops (Apple 17” iMac Core Duo vs. Dell XPS 200 w/17”
LCD)
--$1,700 Slimline Desktops (Apple 20” iMac Core Duo vs. Dell XPS
200 w/20” LCD)
--Updated
Apple Laptop Lineup (Books & PowerBooks)
--Updated Apple Desktop
Lineup (Mac minis, iMacs & PowerMacs)
--Apple vs.
Apple: $1,300 17” iMac G5 vs. 17” iMac Core Duo
--Apple vs. Apple:
$2,000 15” PowerBook G4 vs. 15” MacBook Pro
You can also
listen to a 1/26/06 interview with Charles Gaba on
The Tech Night Owl LIVE's streaming broadcast or podcast. The interview
covers why Charles set up the Web site and the ways that he tries to level
the playing field in his comparison of Macs to PCs. [Bill
Fox]
[2/4] Consumer Reports Again Rated Apple BEST in
Reliability and Support: The March 2006 Consumer Reports
(CR) tree edition just landed in our mail box. It includes a report on
using computers as a living room media center. In its list of criteria to
consider, CR reports on reliability and support based on its reader survey
covering more than 134,000 desktop and laptop computers.
Once again,
Apple leads the pack. In its brand repair desktop history survey, Apple at
11% (lower is better) leads seven PC brands by 4% or more, a difference
that CR calls "meaningful." In a survey of laptop repairs, Apple is
clustered with six other brands in a group that is statistically
equal.
For tech
support, Apple is the runaway leader for desktops; its readers scored
Apple 22 points higher (higher is better) than the closest PC brand. The
reader survey of laptop tech support puts Apple again at the top, 12
points higher than the runner up and a whopping 24 or more points better
than other PC brands.
CR summarizes
by noting under the heading of Quick Picks "As our surveys indicate,
Apple's reliability and tech support have been top-notch. The Mac Mini is
more user-friendly than comparable budget Windows PCs and includes a
FireWire port and a DVD writer."
Elsewhere, CR
notes that Macs are less vulnerable to computer viruses and spyware. [Dana
Baggett]
[2/4] Apple Revised the Offerings from Five Hot Deals
Retailers:
audioMIDI has
great deals on a wide variety of products for your Mac, including the
Abelton's Live 5 with free M-Audio Triger Finger bundle for $399; Tascam
US2400 the plug and play DAW controller with 25 moving faders for $799 -
a $699 savings!; UF5-49 metal body 49-key controller with free Yamaha
stand for $199; Frontier Tranzport wireless DAW controller with free
Tranzport Gig Bag from Frontier Design Group for $195.00; and much
more.
B&H Photo
Video has great deals on a wide variety of products for your Mac,
including; Microtek 211SD 21" LCD Display with VGA and DVI inputs for
$349.95; Canon EOS 5D SLR digital camera - body only - for $2969.95;
Nikon Super CoolScan 500ED film scanner for $979.95; Canon Optura 400
MiniDV Camcorder for $489.95; Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 for $85.95;
Hewlett Packard DesignJet 90r photo-quality tabloid size inkjet printer
for $1349.95; and more.
CompUSA has great
deals on on a wide variety of products for your Mac, including: $50
mail-in rebate on the Konica-Minolta Maxxum 5D Digital SLR kit with zoom
lens for $749.99 after rebate; $100 mail-in rebate on the Hewlett
Packard LaserJet 1320 laser printer for $399.99 after rebate; Epson
Stylus CX3810 All-in-one photo printer $59.99 after $30 mail-in rebate;
and more.
J&R
Computerworld has great deals on on a wide variety of products for
your Mac, including the Revolution 7.1 Surround Sound PCI card fro
M-Audio for $89.99; Epson's Perfection 3490 Flat bed photo scanner for
$99.99; Miglia Tech's HA02 HarmonyAudio Firewire interface lets you
record from any source straight into GarageBand, LogicAudio or any other
Core Audio application for $239.99; MacJournal from Mariner Software.
Chronicle your life with this journaling software for $28.99; X2: The
Threat video game from Freeverse for $38.99; and more.
Ramjet has great
deals on on a wide variety of RAM upgrades for your Mac, including 1GB
DDR kit for PowerMac G4 (Mirror Drive Door) for $96.00; 512MB DDR DIMM
for iMac G5 for $48.00.00; 1GB RAM Module for the iBook G4 for $185.00;
1GB DDR RAM Kit for the eMac 1.25GHz+ for $95.00; and more.
[Bill
Fox]
[2/3]
February's List of Free Apple Online Seminars--One Dropped from
January: No new online seminars are listed for February and one,
Computational Clusters for Bioinformatics by Apple's Dr.
Elizabeth Kerr, is no longer listed as an active seminar. This
link to Dr. Kerr's seminar still works, however.
Apple's online
seminars are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from any computer
with internet access. They are designed to be no more than 30 minutes in
length and offer a wide variety of resources and information. Topics cover
solutions using Apple and partner products and technologies. Here is
February's complete list:
3D
Modeling on the Mac with modo--Watch Brad Peebler, President of
Luxology, as he provides a tour of modo and find out how you can turn
your inspiration and creativity into amazing 3D models.
A
Blueprint for Tiered Storage--Steve Duplessie, recognized
independent expert on storage technology, discusses the practicalities
of tiered storage & set-up of a solution that works.
Apple
in Science: Diversifying the IT Infrastructure--By incorporating Mac
OS X into the infrastructure and supporting desktop Macs, IT
organizations have increased the productivity of their research
organizations.
Architecture
By Design--Join Jacques Sedille as he demonstrates and discusses the
Mac and key 3rd party design tools that enable architects to imagine,
design and communicate.
Asset
Management for Creative Workgroups: With Xserve G5 and Extensis
Portfolio Server--Learn how you can better manage your photographs
and creative assets with the winning combination of Apple Xserve and
Extensis Portfolio Server.
Biotech
is in our DNA--Michael Athanas, Ph.D., of The BioTeam will show how
to install a fully provisioned informatics cluster on one or more Xserve
servers using iNquiry. Topic: Servers/Networks
Build
High Performance Tiered Storage Strategies With Xserve RAID--Join
Alex Grossman, Senior Director of Server and Storage Hardware, and learn
how you can implement a tiered storage strategy using Xserve RAID.
Capture,
Create and Share Digital Media with QuickTime 7 Pro--Join Apple?s
team of QuickTime experts in this free online seminar to learn how
QuickTime 7 can take your digital media to the next level.
Change
Your Infrastructure Legacy: Lower Costs and Simplify Server and Storage
Management--Join Alex Grossman, Apple Sr Director, and learn how
adding Xserve G5 and Xserve RAID to your IT infrastructure can help you
meet today's business demands.
Color
Management: From Input to Edit and Print with Mac OS X Panther &
ColorSync--Join Steve Upton, industry consultant on color, as he
gives you an overview of color management from displays to applications
and output.
Computational
Clustering in the Sciences--A number of Apple technologies simplify
cluster computing, and for clusters of up to 64 processors, Apple
provides pre-qualified solutions to meet your needs.
Cost-effective
Storage Deployments for Research Computing--Learn how to achieve
better data accessibility and faster storage retrieval in a more
cost-effective way with industry-leading solutions.
Deliver
Simplified Workgroup Services--Join Douglas Brooks, Server Product
Mgr, to learn how to deliver robust workgroup & internet services
without straining your budget or stretching your IT staff.
Desktop
Management Made Easy with Apple Remote Desktop 2--Join Apple Product
Mgr Nader Nafissi to learn why Apple's new, easy to use desktop
management software is the essential tool for any Mac system
administrator.
Developers
win with Mac OS X, Reap the rewards--Built on a rock-solid UNIX core
and standards-based technologies, Mac OS X is hailed as the world's most
advanced operating system.
DWG
on the Mac--See how ArchiCAD, eDrawings and VectorWorks allow you to
view, edit and manipulate DWG files on the Mac.
Font
Management for Creative Professionals--Join Brent Haley, Apple
marketing mgr, for an overview of font management capabilities in Mac OS
X and to see solutions from Extensis and Insider Software.
Getting
Started with High Performance Computing--On-demand rebroadcast of
the Dec 16, 2004 webcast discussion of the high-level concepts of high
performance computing, issues & obstacles, and more.
Grid
Computing in the Life Sciences--Learn how Xgrid, built into Mac OS X
and Mac OS X Server, makes it feasible to deploy large computational
grids without the addition of software.
Guitarists
and the Mac: A Conversation with Pat Metheny--Join Pat Metheny in
this free online seminar and learn how the Mac can help you take your
music to the next level.
Improve
Your Presentation Skills--Watch this free online seminar and find
out how to improve your presentation skills.
Increasing
Workgroup Productivity with Xsan--Join Doug Cunningham as he demos
how to set up Xsan, reviews powerful admin and reporting tools, and
demos real-time collaboration in a video environment.
Information
Lifecycle Management--Steve Kenniston, an Enterprise Storage Group
analyst will offer insights as to how to manage vast amounts of data
while keeping your overhead low.
Mac
OS X and Mac OS X Server for High Performance Computing--Learn about
the technical underpinnings of Apple's latest OS, and how new features
and updates will benefit users of Mac OS X-based clusters and
grids.
Mac
OS X v10.4 "Tiger" for Scientific and Technical Computing--Join
Apple in this densely-packed on-demand webcast rebroadcast on how each
new feature in Tiger applies to Apple's scientific customers.
Making
Music on the Mac with GarageBand--Join John Danty, Apple Product
Marketing Manager for GarageBand and GarageBand Jam Packs and Eric
Thomas, Apple Audio Marketing Manager, in this free online seminar and
learn how to transform your Mac into a musical instrument and record new
and inspiring masterpieces.
Managing
Your Creative Assets--Join Brent Haley, Apple marketing manager, for
an overview of the latest storage solutions from Apple and an intro to
asset management solutions.
Maximizing
Mac OS X Application Performance--Re-broadcast of the webcast
discussion of the basics of optimization, how and why developers should
turn a critical eye to the code they've just written.
Mobile
Creative Studio, Portable Workstation, Office-on-the-Go--Join Gail
Nishimura, PowerBook product manager, to learn about the latest
advancements in the PowerBook G4 line and discover which model is right
for you.
Mobile
Field Editing with Journalist Dr. Bob Arnot--Join Dr. Bob Arnot to
learn how the Mac can help you become a more successful storyteller and
videographer by editing video on-the-go using tools from
Apple.
Optimize
Your Creative Workgroup with Apple's UNIX-Based Server
Technology--Join Brent Haley as he demonstrates how to deploy,
manage, and scale technologies for creative workgroups using the latest
services included in Mac OS X Server.
OsiriX:
Multi-dimensional Image Navigation Software--Dr. Osman Ratib's
presentation at Children's Hospital Boston, Department of Radiology, on
OsiriX, an open source, medical imaging application built on Mac OS
X.
Perfect
Color Starts Here, With Apple Cinema Displays--Join the Apple Cinema
Displays product manager to learn how adding an Apple display to your
creative system can boost your color-viewing experience.
Powerful
tools for 2D and 3D post production--Watch Daryl Obert of Alias and
Charles Meyer of Apple as they explore ways you can bring new levels of
integration to your post production workflow.
Powering
Creative Desktops with Mac OS X Tiger--Join Brent Haley, marketing
manager for design and print market, as he goes under the hood and shows
you the creative features of Mac OS X Tiger.
Pre-Visualizing
and Presenting Your Ideas with StoryBoard Artist--Watch Jeff Walsh
of PowerProduction demo StoryBoard Artist and find out how to convey
your ideas with more depth, flair and accuracy than you thought
possible.
Russell
Brown presents Mac OS X and Photoshop CS2--Join Photoshop expert
Russell Brown for a look at the ultimate digital studio: Adobe Photoshop
CS2, a Power Mac G5, and the 30" Apple Cinema HD Display.
Standards-based
Web Electronic Filing Systems--Apple invites you to view a free
webcast that discusses technical best practices around web-based
electronic filing solutions.
The
Production Value of HD---Don't miss Don Peebles of Apple, as he
provides an overview of Final Cut Studio, the suite of pro applications
for video content creation, editing and output.
The
Ultimate Creative Workstation. Discovering the Apple Power Mac
G5--Todd Benjamin provides a tour of the Power Mac G5, describing
what makes them so innovative and how they will benefit your creative
endeavors.
Third-party
HPC Solutions for Mac OS X--Apple will be joined by representatives
from companies who develop their software or hardware for the platform
to talk about their products.
Why
Hire a Member of the Apple Consultants Network-NEW--Learn about the
services provided by and advantages of hiring members of the Apple
Consultants Network.
Apple's online
seminars are excellent in our experience. [Bill Fox]
[2/3]
The eBook Serious Editing in iPhoto 6 is Out:
Serious Editing in iPhoto 6 by Kevin Wolfe has been updated for both
iPhoto 6 and Tiger. The eBook is packed with 25 fixes for common photo
problems and 33 effects. These can easily be created with iPhoto 6 and
what's already on your Mac.
Fixes include: how
to correct lighting temperature (including fluorescent lighting), using
iPhoto's Retouch tool to remove dirt from scans/eliminate wrinkles/etc,
filtering images for better tone and less noise in black and white
conversions, correcting serious exposure problems, minimizing the harsh
look of on-camera flash, removing stubborn redeye, reducing color
artifacts, restoring old color prints, improving phone cam photos.
Effects include:
solarization, posterization, thermograms, negatives, silhouettes, toning
black and white, monotoning, extreme sepia, newsphotos, selective blur,
double exposures, image masks, soft focus, warping, mirror images,
collages, and 8 vignette/ matte/border effects that use iPhoto 6's new
Effects dashboard.
Serious
Editing in iPhoto 6 is a true eBook and not just a paper book in PDF
form. It's hyper-indexed with 450 links for quick navigation and
up-to-the-minute Web updates. It's $24.95 and includes lifetime upgrades
as more is added, as iPhoto improves and as the Mac OS is upgraded.
Serious Editing in iPhoto 5 purchasers are already enjoying their free
upgrades. Serious Editing in iPhoto 6 can be purchased from this
Web
page. [Bill Fox]
[2/3]
Divine Fiat Released Classical for Keynote: Divine
Fiat announced the immediate availability of Classical, it's latest theme
for Apple's Keynote presentation software. A theme of elegance and style,
Classical features a piano keyboard across the top of each slide and
reflective photo cutouts in four different shapes: rectangular, oval, pill
and circular.
While ideal
for a wide variety of presentations, Classical was designed with more
formal occasions such as banquets, concerts and weddings in mind.
Obviously, Classical is also ideal for musicians and music instructors.
Classical is perfect for presenting your wedding or recital photos or
introducing students to the great composers.
In addition
to the fifty-four master slides of text and photo layouts, many of which
are aligned for seamless dynamic transitions, Classical includes nine
slides of extras. Classical will function properly on both Keynote 2 and 3
and may be purchased from Divine
Fiat for $19.95. [Bill Fox]
[2/2]
The Game Developers Conference 2006---Five New
Sessions: GDC:06 is the
official event "by game developers for developers" of computer, console,
mobile, arcade, online games, and location based entertainment, the GDC
attracts over 12,000 attendees and provides educational, networking, and
business opportunities for game development professionals driving the $11
billion video game industry. It will be held in San Jose, CA, on March
22-24, 2006.
Here are the
latest new sessions:
"Is That a
Franchise in Your Pocket? An Animal Crossing: Wild World Case Study" by
Katsuya Eguchi (Nintendo) - Game Design
Track--Thursday, March 23, 5:30-6:30pm
"The Zen of
Wi-Fi: A Postmortem of the Wireless Features of Nintendo DS" by Takao
Ohara (Nintendo) - Programming
Track--Friday, March 24, 4-5pm
"Physical
Gameplay in Half-Life 2" by Jay Stelly (Valve) - Programming
Track--Friday, March 24, 9-10am
"Successful
Outsourcing on Triple 'A' Games - A Case Study of Forza Motorsport" by
Rajesh Rao (Dhruva Interactive), John Wendl and Nick Dimitrov (Microsoft
Game Studios) - Business & Management Track--Friday, March 24,
9-10am
"What's
Next in Digital Distribution & Mainstream Games" by Greg
Zeschuk
(BioWare Corp.), Ray Muzyka
(BioWare Corp.), Gabe
Newell
(Valve Software), Greg Canessa (Xbox Live Arcade, Microsoft
Corporation), Lars Brubaker (Reflexive Entertainment) - Business &
Management Track--Friday, March 24, 12-1pm
[Bill
Fox]
[2/2]
Keyspan Adds Support for Apple's New
MacIntels: Keyspan's software
updates support Keyspan's serial adpaters, USB Server, IR remote controls
(including support for Apple's Front Row), and the recently released Easy
Presenter (RF) and its USB PS/2 Adapter. See this Keyspan Web
page. [Bill Fox]
[2/2]
Tonight on The Tech Night Owl LIVE--Ihnatko, Microsoft,
TidBITS and Gruman: Tonight Gene Steinberg and his irreverent son
and co-host Grayson will feature cutting-edge conversation on a wide range
of subjects. Noted author and commentator Andy Ihnatko will weigh in on
the state of Apple Computer and provide predictions on potential Oscar
winners. You'll also hear from Microsoft's Amanda Lefebvre, who will talk
about plans for new Mac products. Adam Engst, publisher of TidBITS, will
be on hand to discuss such provocative issues as computer recycling, and
noted desktop publishing guru Galen Gruman will give his assessment of the
forthcoming QuarkXPress 7.0. Tune in the Internet radio
broadcast tonight from 6:00 to 8:00 PM Pacific, 9:00 to 11:00 PM Eastern.
[Bill Fox]
[2/2]
Mozilla FirefoX 1.5.0.1 Update Released: The
update to this popular Web browser is available for download from this
Mozilla Web page. It
provides security and stability enhancements. Here are the release
notes. [Dana Baggett]
[2/2]
AppleCare Now Available in Florida: According to
reader Bob Patterson,
Floridians
are now finally allowed to buy AppleCare, after years of restriction to
education and business.... I'm not sure exactly when this came about,
but sometime since Thanksgiving I believe. I've always had it on my
portables for business use, but in general Florida residents were not
allowed to be covered by it.
[Bill
Fox]
[2/1]
Apple Reduced Price on 20" iMac G5 to $1499--Amazon.com's
is $1349: In order to clear out remaining 20" iMac G5's running
at 2.1GHz, Apple reduced the
price from $1,699 to $1,499. Amazon.com
is offering a $150 rebate bringing the cost down further to just $1,349.
Apple's price for the 17" 1.9GHZ iMac G5 remains at $1,299 but it is also
discounted at Amazon.com with a $125 rebate. [Bill Fox]
[2/1]
Mozilla Released SeaMonkey 1.0, Its New Internet
Application Suite: Mozilla replaced its Mozilla Suite 1.7 with
SeaMonkey 1.0 and it is available for download from this Mozilla Web site.
SeaMonkey 1.0 is essentially Mozilla 1.8, an integrated internet suite
consisting of a Web browser, email client, web composer and IRC chat
client. Here are the release
notes.
We downloaded
a copy and it appeared to work fine during several hours use. For those
who prefer an integrated internet application suite rather than a series
of stand-alone applications, SeaMonkey is well worth exploring. [Dana
Baggett]
[2/1]
Aspyr Media Game Report--Call of Duty 2 and Quake 4 plus a
Doom3 Patch for MacIntels Coming Soon: In the past three months,
Aspyr has shipped Stubbs the Zombie, Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, SpongeBob
SquarePants the Movie, Call of Duty Deluxe, The Sims 2 University and
Civilization III: Complete, all for the Mac.
Aspyr is
expecting to make two early 2006 releases for the Mac: Quake 4, and Call
of Duty 2. Aspyr is also working earnestly on Civilization IV. They have
a slew of games for 2006 yet to be announced.
We especially
welcome Call of Duty 2, which so far has been released only for Xbox,
since we are a heavy online player of Call of Duty.
On the
MacIntel front, Aspyr been working on an Intel version of Doom 3 for a
while, and early testing on the Intel iMac shows some great performance.
Look for a free downloadable patch for Doom 3 to
provide native Intel support soon.
Other games
that Aspyr has been working on internally for OS X Intel include Sims 2,
Quake 4, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. [Bill Fox]
[2/1]
Spiderweb Software Released Avernum 2 for Mac OS
X: Spiderweb Software, the maker of fantasy role-playing
adventures for the Macintosh, has just upgraded Avernum 2 to v2.0. Like
the recent upgrade of Avernum, this update enables the game to run
natively on Mac OS X.
Avernum 2 is a
classic fantasy role-playing game that features 3-D, 16-bit graphics
(including drawings by well-known fantasy illustrator Phil Foglio), a
massive storyline with three different game-winning quests (complete one
or two of them, or even all three), and addicting gameplay. It is the
second game in the Avernum series. [Bill Fox]
[2/1]
Nova Media Released Free Plugins for Mac OS X iSync Support
of many Cell Phones: Nova media introduced its free nova media
phone plugins software featuring iSync support for the latest mobile
phones. Nova media phone plugins for iSync do not modify the iSync
application itself but instead place new mobile phone definitions in the
appropriate folder in the Mac OS X system.
The list of
new devices has more than 25 mobile phones from Motorola, Nokia, Siemens
and Sony Ericsson, allowing seamless synchronization of calendar and
contact data with a Mac OS X computer according to nova media. [Bill
Fox]
[2/1]
Apple Seeking Assistance on Aperture from Professional
Digital Photographers: Aperture is Apple's application dedicated
to digital photography post-production workflow, According to Photo
District News Online, Apple is seeking examples of RAW images that
Aperture does not handle in an acceptable manner. We are glad to see that
Apple is reaching out to the digital photography community for help in
improving its new and ground-breaking application. More...
[Bill Fox & Dana Baggett]
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