Introduction to Apple Software Design Guidelines

Apple posts some notes on developing software for Macs. I recommend this not only for other developers but also for anybody who enjoys thinking about software.

Bias ships SoundSoap Pro audio restoration tool

Bias Inc. has started shipping SoundSoap Pro, an audio-restoration plug-in compatible with Mac OS X and Windows XP intended for use by professional audio producers, engineers and others. The software features a four-in-one tabbed interface featuring Hum & Rumble, Click & Crackle, Broadband and Noise Gate capabilities. A real-time spectrogram, 12 level meters, attack, release and tilt controls are included. SoundSoap Pro works with every major plug-in host, according to Bias, including Bias Peak 4, Pro Tools, Avid Express DV, Peak 4, Logic Audio and Digital Performer, and others

Aspyr offers Call of Duty demo

Aspyr Media Inc. on Friday offered a playable demo version of its new World War II-era first person shooter Call of Duty. The game takes you to famous historical battles from D-Day to Stalingrad as you fight in the persona of US, British and Russian soldiers assaulting the Nazi war machine. System requirements for the demo call for a G3/G4/G5/700MHz or faster, 256MB RAM and an ATI Radeon 7500 or Nvidia GeForce2 MX or better 3D graphics card with at least 32MB of VRAM. The demo measures in at 256.4MB, so make sure to download from a fast connection, or be prepared to wait a while. More general information about Call of Duty is available from Aspyr's Web site.

Mac Design Conference kicks off next week

Mac Design magazine is set to kick of its second annual Mac Design Conference next week in Chicago, Ill. The conference will feature some of the most well known names in the graphics industry, who will be teaching attendees during the in-depth three day conference sessions.

First Windows 64-bit virus appears; Macintosh unaffected

"W64.Rugrat.3344 is a direct-action infector (it exits memory after execution) of IA64 Windows Portable Executable (PE) files - this includes most Windows applications - excluding .dlls. It infects files that are in the same folder as the virus and in all subfolders. It is the first known virus for 64-bit Windows, and it uses the Thread Local Storage structures to execute the viral code. This is an unusual method of executing code. It does not infect 32-bit Portable Executable files. Aren't you glad you use a Mac!

Plan B Games Releases Penny Arcade Fan Game Produce Panic

Produce Panic is a free fan game based on the Penny Arcade web comic. This homage is built using the Torque Game Engine. Produce Panic is an episodic game planned to include four different game types.

Cocktail 3.4.9

A general purpose utility for Mac OS X 10.2 or later. The application serves up a scrumptious mix of maintenance tools and interface tweaks, all accessible via a comprehensive graphical interface and toolset. It is a smooth and powerful utility that simplifies the use of advanced UNIX functions.

Kensington MouseWorks 2.5

MouseWorks for Mac OS X is a driver for Kensington input devices running under Mac OS X. It provides enhanced acceleration, scrolling support, and configurability for Kensington’s current USB and ADB mice and trackballs, plus one-touch access to favorite web pages and applications using the DirectLaunch(tm) buttons on Kensington’s Turbo Mouse Pro trackball.

EI launches Electric Image Animation System 5.5

EI Technology Group has launched Electric Image Animation System 5.5, it's an update to the award winning softaware package.

USB Fish Tank

More cubical toys for the office. Instead of watching the monitor of a fake fish tank, now you can have a "real" fake-fish tank sitting next to your monitor. This USB Fish Tank comes with 2 properly buoyant plastic fish and motorized tank complete with cool blue LED. After you fill the tank with appropriate amount of water, drop in the two fish, plug it into an empty USB port on your computer or USB hub than watch the fish go. I hope it's USB 2.0 otherwise the fish might be swimming a little slow...

Roxio launches Napster in Canada

Roxio Inc. announced Wednesday that its Napster online music service has launched in Canada. It's the second major international expansion of the service, which recently debuted in the UK. Napster 2.0 launches in Canada with more than 300,000 tracks from the five major record labels -- BMG, EMI, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Canada and Warner Music Canada, as well as a number of independent labels.

Microsoft plans iPod competitor for as little as $50

Microsoft Corp. Corporate Vice President of MSN Yusuf Mehdi told attendees of Goldman Sachs' fifth annual Internet Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada that the company will produce its own line of portable music players for as little as US$50, according to a brief in the Denver Post. The devices will complement a Microsoft-made music download service expected to go online later this year.

Here we go again! They will launch it, wpend a wholw lot of money trying to make it work, than they will drop it in a year from now a bit like what they did with WiFi and bluetooth! They are called Microsoft because the words Copy Cats was already taken....

Buffalo spammer gets 3.5 to 7 years

A New York man convicted of using the network of Internet service provider EarthLink Inc. to send out hundreds of millions of unsolicited commercial (spam) e-mail was sentenced to between three-and-a-half and seven years in prison Thursday, according to Brad Maione, a spokesman for New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

Rumour: iPod Encoding

Appleinsider sources report that Apple is planning on using a new microchip for the upcoming 4th generation iPods.

The new microchip is said to incorporate various encoding capabilities. While unclear if Apple will take advantage of the new features in an upcoming iPod revision, recording/encoding capabilities have been amongst the list of user-requested features.

Currently, the iPod is capable of audio-in recording only through 3rd party add-on devices.

Microsoft website hacked, defaced by 'Outlaw Group'

"It seems like it has been a while since we were witnessing major hacks on corporate websites, but an entity calling themselves the 'Outlaw Group' has successfully defaced a Microsoft site. The MS Press site for the UK has been pulled for now, but so-called crackers managed to get access to the site and modify text on the page. The changes made were minimal, including three repetitions of 'Owned by Outlaw Group,' and a title of 'Owned Outlaw Group by Pharoeste e WolfBlack.

Microsoft scrambling to catch Apple Mac's searching capabilities

"Microsoft Corp. is developing technology that takes search functions beyond the Internet, allowing users to pore through e-mails, personal computers and even big databases to find information, a top executive said Wednesday," The Associated Press reports. "The system 'will, as far as the consumer is concerned, be an end-to-end system for searching across any data type,' Yusuf Mehdi, head of Microsoft’s MSN division, told analysts at a Goldman Sachs Internet conference

Apple debuts on 'Wired 40' list at No. 3

Apple was given the No. 3 spot on this year's "Wired 40," Wired magazine's annual ranking of the 40 companies driving the global economy.

Apple releases Xcode 1.2

Apple has released Xcode 1.2, an update to its set of powerful developer tools for Mac OSX

SubRosaSoft announces VolumeWorks 1.0

SubRosaSoft today announced the release of VolumeWorks 1.0, a Mac OS X utility that enables users to resize and manage partitions (volumes) on hard drives without destroying the data on the drive. Great stuff from down under!

Mac version of peer-to-peer telephony app planned

Mac version of peer-to-peer telephony app planned

Popular Telephony, a telecommunications middleware company, has announced Peerio444 -- a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) consumer application. Nice!

Book Of The Week: O'Reilly 'Digital Photography Hacks'

O'Reilly has announced the release of "Digital Photography Hacks" Turn your digital camera into a amazing creative photo machine. This is the one stop book to learn to tweak your cam into the ultimate time recording machine. Learn to shoot with
carefree abandon. This book is out to (with full-color photos throughout) shows you the risks that real-world photographers take, sharing their techniques, shenanigans, and secrets for "getting the shot. Nothing else comes close. The techniques described in "Digital Photography Hacks" go beyond the standard fare of most digital photography books--such as camera basics, understanding memory cards, and when to use a flash--to the things that professional photographers have learned through years of experimentation, fiddling, and hacking. "They're inside tips that pros have been using for
years to make their pictures look better than yours.

Just in time for the summer.

Title: Digital Photography Hacks
Author: Derrick Story
Publisher: O'Reilly
ISBN: 0-596-00666-7
Rating: *****

http://www.oreilly.com

Aspyr 'Adrenaline Sports Pack' released

Aspyr 'Adrenaline Sports Pack'

Aspyr Media Inc. on Wednesday announced the Adrenaline Sports Pack, a collection of previously released extreme sports titles for Mac and PC. The value-priced collection includes Wakeboarding Unleashed Featuring Shaun Murray, Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4. Perfect for summer.

Aspyr ships Medal of Honor Breakthrough add-on

Aspyr Media Inc. on Wednesday announced that it's shipping Medal of Honor Allied Assault Breakthrough, the latest expansion pack for its Mac conversion of the popular World War II-era first person shooter action game. Well worth the wait.

Mac OS X 10.3.4 released

Apple Computer Inc. on Wednesday released an update to its Mac OS X Panther operating system, bringing the current version to 10.3.4. Apple also updated Panther Server, bringing it up to version 10.3.4, adding improved Server Admin application among other changes.

Yahoo to release anti-spyware upgrade

Yahoo today is expected to release an upgrade for its downloadable toolbar to help people detect and remove spyware, or malicious files, on their PCs. So glad!

Adobe Video Collection 2.5 and Updated Digital Video Products Now Shipping

Adobe today shipped the Adobe® Video Collection 2.5 - Standard and Professional editions - featuring new versions of its award-winning digital video products. Adobe Video Collection 2.5 includes all-new versions of Adobe Premiere® Pro 1.5, Adobe After Effects® 6.5, Adobe Audition™ 1.5 and Adobe Encore™ DVD 1.5, products that are also available for individual purchase. With extensive cross-product integration and performance enhancements, Adobe's upgraded video line-up introduces more than 200 innovative new features, including advanced support for high-definition (HD) video in Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5.

Enhanced integration and common interface elements make working in Adobe Video Collection 2.5 easier and more productive. For example, Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5, After Effects 6.5 and Adobe Encore DVD 1.5 integrate with the essential Adobe Photoshop® CS capabilities, including nested layer sets and non-square pixel support. Users can easily work between After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5 with new copy and paste functionality and features in Adobe Audition 1.5, such as Frequency Space Editing, allow customers to enhance soundtracks for professional video productions. Adobe Encore DVD users can send Photoshop menus to After Effects to create unique motion menus. Adobe Encore DVD also recognizes timeline markers created in After Effects 6.5 and Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5 AVI and MPEG-2 files, giving users the option to convert markers to DVD chapter points.

The Adobe Video Collection 2.5 is available in two versions, Standard and Professional. Adobe Video Collection Standard includes Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5, After Effects 6.5 Standard, Adobe Audition 1.5, and Adobe Encore DVD 1.5. The Professional edition of Adobe Video Collection upgrades After Effects 6.5 to the Professional edition and adds Photoshop CS.

Rumours: Mac OS X Panther 10.3.4 update early next week

Several sources indicated that the next minor update of Mac OS X Panther would be made available as soon as early next week.

Wayport, McDonald's cook up hot-spot deal

Hot-spot operator Wayport is expected to announce today a four-year exclusive deal with McDonald's to provide wireless Internet service to the restaurant chain's customers. Would you like fries with that...

Must Have Product of the Week: software Cinema Photoshop CS Fundamental & Advanced Techniques

software Cinema offer any Photoshop lover a superb 2 DVD package covering all bases.
Author Julieanne Kost is a great teacher.
This 2 DVD set pack over 15 hours of "to the point" 21 lessons to get you to master Photoshop.
Great interface makes learning really user friendly.
Something also as to be said about the narration of Miss Kost; her calm and warm voice makes for this experience a superb one.
Much cheaper than a class, yet as efficient, this learning package well deserve the 5 stars Rating we give it. A true must for beginners as well as more advanced users, specially the ones that are "allergic" to Books!

Product: Photoshop CS Fundamental & Advanced Techniques
Author: Julieanne Kost
Media: DVD
Publisher: software Cinema
Rating: *****
Availability: Now
Order: On Line
Find it at: www.software-cinema.com

Another 493 US sharers sued

The major labels have launched 493 more cases against US file sharers.
The Recording Industry Association of America has now sued 2,947 file sharers since last September, Reuters said. So far, 486 of those cases have been settled at an average reparation rate of $3,000. The strategy is described as an attempt to discourage people from using peer-to-peer networks.

Oxfam launches music service

Yet another digital distribution service has been announced – this time from UK charity, Oxfam. This service (powered by the OD2 network) will launch tomorrow in Europe. OD2 powers multiple services in this territory, with partners including MyCokeMusic and Tiscali. The UK music market also saw Napster launch here last week, with Sony's Connect service promised to launch next month. Apple has so far remained tight-lipped regarding its own iTunes Music Store Europe plans.

The Oxfam service will offer tracks at between 75-99p per track, out of which 10p will go to fight poverty. The service will launch with 300,000 available songs.

New software service tracks e-mails

New software service tracks e-mails

A new service called DidTheyReadIt from Rampell Software lets you track every e-mail you send and tells you if, when, and how many times your e-mail was read -- even how long the message was read, if it was forwarded, and the reader's physical location. Wow!

Mac OS X thermal printer drivers available

The Peninsula Group today released what it calls the world's first thermal printer drivers for Mac OS X.

Learning Apple LiveType' released

Lynda.com today released "Learning Apple LiveType," a movie-based tutorial developed for beginning users of Apple's new movie title design software.

AudioUnits Manager 1.0 a free download

Granted Software has released version 1.0 of their AudioUnits Manager software, and the beauty of it is that it's free.
Thanks Granted Software.

New service for loading CD collection into iPod launches

New service for loading CD collection into iPod launches

LoadPod has launched as a new service that takes an iPod user's entire CD collection and rips it into their iPod for them...so that they don't have to. LoadPod currently offers local service in several areas including Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Houston, Indianapolis, South Carolina, and Minneapolis, and is bringing local service to new markets daily. No news a bout a Canadian outlet yet.

Troubleshooting Mac® OS X, Second Edition - Now Available

Troubleshooting Mac® OS X, Second Edition - Now Available

The X Lab™ has published Troubleshooting Mac® OS X, Second Edition, a major update to their e-book dedicated to preventing or resolving common problems with Mac OS X.

First dual-layer DVD+R discs to launch this month

The first dual-layer DVD+R recording media are set to go on sale in Japan at the end of this month and overseas in June, disc maker Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Co. Ltd. said Friday. The discs were developed jointly by Mitsubishi Kagaku, which uses the Verbatim brand-name, and Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV and offer 8.5GB of recording space compared to the 4.7GB of space available on a standard DVD+R disk.

Aspyr to publish Shrek 2 game for Mac

Aspyr Media announced on Friday that it will publish Shrek 2 for the Macintosh. Based on the movie of the same name that opened in theaters this week, Shrek 2 for the Macintosh will be released in July. You can pre-order it now from Aspyr's Web site.

Radeon Enabler 1.0 unlocks Displays utility for OEM cards

Developer Bruce Luckcuck released Radeon Enabler 1.0, which allows owners of the OEM versions of ATI's Radeon 9000 Pro, 9600 Pro, 9700 Pro and 9800 Pro video cards to use ATI's Radeon Displays 4.2.5 utility. The utility works with the retail versions of those cards but was not made available in the OEM versions. Radeon Displays provides access to such features as OpenGL override, which allows you to create graphics options that will override the settings found in an application, such as a game. You need Mac OS X v10.2.8 or higher to use Radeon Enabler, which is not supported by ATI or Apple. Very interesting.

Apple patches vulnerability in Safari

Apple Computer Inc. issued an update on Friday to fix a reported security hole in its Safari Web Browser. The vulnerability, which was classified as "Extremely Critical" by security firm Secunia, allowed the execution of malicious code on the users computer.

NEC-Mitsubishi intros 21.3-inch LED backlit LCD monitor

NEC-Mitsubishi Electronics Display of America Inc. on Monday introduced a new 21.3-inch LED backlit LCD monitor aimed at desktop publishing, pre-press and other professional markets looking for high color fidelity in a large-format LCD display. The new monitor features 1600x1200 native resolution, 500:1 contrast ratio and 190cd/m2 brightness; it sports VGA and DVI inputs. The display uses LED backlight technology made by Lumileds Lighting, which NEC-Mitsubishi said helps achieve 109 percent gamut for Adobe RGB color space. Pricing was not announced.

Mac users still not safe from vulnerability, says Secunia

While praising Apple Computer Inc. for releasing a patch so quickly for an OS X vulnerability discovered last week, security firm Secunia on Monday said Mac users are still not safe. I guess it's the old wait and see game...