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August 20, 2008
Noise Ninja To The Rescue
by Tim (Surfbits) @ 4:30 am.
 By David Sparks:I hate using my flash. Nothing destroys a picture more then the shiny foreheads, reflective eyeglasses, and the nuclear glow that show up in my pictures every time I pop open the built in flash. Now I know there’s a way to intelligently use the flash in your photographs. My friend, Robert Lachman, is a wizard at it. Unfortunately, I am not. I would like to say this is a result of the fact I’m too cheap to buy a separate flash for my camera but, most likely, it boils down to fundamental incompetence on my part.So my way to get around this problem is to simply not use the flash. And my number one tool for this strategy is my very favorite lens, a 50 mm 1.4 aperture lens I affectionately call the “nifty fifty.” This lens opens so wide, that I can use it to take dark pictures indoors and usually get away with it. My secret, in addition to the nifty fifty, is my complete lack of respect for the ISO setting on my camera. I often crank up the ISO setting to 400, 800, and even 1600 in effort to avoid using the dreaded flash. The result of these high settings, however, is that the pictures come out noisy artifacts, grain, and otherwise don’t seem to cut the mustard.Newer cameras address this problem with better software and sensors that take much less grainy photographs at very high ISO settings. While I’m not in the market for a new camera, I sure would like to get rid of that noise. There just happens to be a software package made specifically for this problem. I’m talking, of course, about Noise Ninja.Noise Ninja is a well regarded stand alone application and Photoshop plug-in that allows you to remove noise from high ISO pictures. Recently, a new version was released that includes an Aperture plug-in. So now, as an Aperture user, I can round trip my photographs through Noise Ninja without exiting the program. Let me just say that this plug-in delivers. It allows you to send and multiple selections of photographs and applying Noise Ninja’s secret sauce that does a very good job of taking noise out of my photographs. It is painless to apply and provides noticeable results.When you first activate Noise Ninja, it gives you a variety of sliders to customize the noise reduction. These include luminance, color, after sharpening. After playing with these for some time, I found the default automatic setting to work better than most of my alleged “improvements.”There really isn’t a lot to say about this application except that it works and is easy. My attempts to repair noise with the built in Aperture filters often noticeably blurred the picture. Noise Ninja does a much better job at retaining the image integrity.If you are adventurous with the ISO button on your camera, using Noise Ninja, you will be able to recover otherwise unusable photographs and you will find yourself becoming even more liberal with your ISO settings knowing you can remove a lot of the noise back on your Mac. Any pictures I now shoot with 400 ISO or greater now automatically get Ninja’d.Noise Ninja can be purchased at picturecode.com. There is a free trial and I highly recommend giving this one a try. The Noise Ninja stand alone application can run on OS X, Linux or Windows. They have plug-ins for Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, and Aperture. They also have a variety of licenses ranging from $35 to $80.ARTICLEURLBookmark this article to:                Hide Sites
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August 18, 2008
MobileMe Gives Me 60 Days Free
by Tim (Surfbits) @ 8:51 pm.
I’ve been complaining of late that the trouble with MobileMe should have deserved a 30 day free extension to MobileMe, but I never received that email from Apple. My bad. Apple just sent me this email,“We have already made many improvements to MobileMe, but we still have many more to make. To recognize our users’ patience, we are giving every MobileMe subscriber as of today a free 60 day extension. This is in addition to the one month extension most subscribers have already received. We are working very hard to make MobileMe a great service we can all be proud of. We know that MobileMe’s launch has not been our finest hour, and we truly appreciate your patience as we turn this around. Read this article for more details.The MobileMe Team”Very nice, thank you Apple.PS.. I just updated my Internet Cable service with Charter Cable, 10 megs upgrade for $5 a month. Here’s the latest readings.. Bookmark this article to:Hide Sites
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Exposure 2 from Alien Skin
by Tim (Surfbits) @ 4:48 am.
 By Robert LachmanThis week I am going to review Alien Skin’s software, Exposure 2, the Photoshop and Photoshop Elements’ plug-in to give your photographs the look of film. It’s a one-click way to give photographs that edgy, arty, cross-processed film look. It also can be used to add a soft focus glamour look, change your color photographs to black-and-white.Why would anyone pay money to make their photos more grainy, or maybe have a color shift with cross-processing or have the highlights blown out in the high contrast mode? It’s the million dollar question or should I say, it’s more like the $249 question because this software ain’t cheap. Only one answer I can think of: ART.Now these are things you could do on your own if you had the time to figure them out, but it would be difficult for most especially with such a quick-click and choose method. This definitely makes your new school photographs look old school.The Exposure 2 software will work on both Photoshop Elements version 4 or newer and Photoshop CS2 or later.First I tried the Exposure 2 software plug-in on a portrait of my daughter and of course, I used TRI-400 setting. Wow, I mean I’m using Tri-X 400 again. It seems like old times. My photos have grain instead of digital noise. That’s very cool. But now I’m getting confused. Back in the olden days, we tried our best to get rid of grain and worked to make it as fine as possible. There were special developers like Accufine which was designed to make the grain small. Now I have really digressed. The interface is easy to use. Once you have the photo up on the screen, just pick filter from the menu, then Alien Skin Exposure 2 which will give you the choice menu color or black and white.It’s very easy to use and has a very nice split screen preview feature. The software plug-in gives you a choice of the split going horizontal, diagonal, or vertical. You can decide which side of the screen is the affected side. Also, in the preview window there’s an option to enlarge and move the image for a close look at the detail. This is one of the best preview windows I have used.There are so many settings: saturation increased warm, overcast, golden-hour-orange, faded sun, saturated-slide-film, high and low contrast and cross-process featuring every imaginable film that was once available.The choices of film styles are endless: Tri-X, Kodachome, Polaroid, Fuji’s Velvia and Reala. That’s just a start, how about GAF or Agfa Scala.Other effects include: softening, push-processing, contrast and curves, toning, infrared, dynamic rage, color temperature, saturation, softness, grain and sharpness with slider controls.The only downside to this Alien Skin software is the $249 price tag, making it more of a professional photographer’s product who have a specific need for a quick one-click-arty look to make their photos look different and to speed up their work flow. It’s just too expensive for the average consumer to add to their repertoire. They do offer a 30-day trial to check it out.I would give it four out of five stars, with the high price as the only detraction.Be sure to check out the new items on my web site including my new Lomo 8 photos, new portraits using window and strobe-light and some very cool food photographs. You can find it all at www.PhotographyAndTheMac.comBookmark this article to:Hide Sites
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August 16, 2008
The MacReviewcast #173: Exposure 2, Noise Ninja, Freeware
by Tim (Surfbits) @ 11:35 am.
 This week we look at Exposure 2, Noise Ninja, Freeware for the Mac plus much more. I want to thank you for downloading and listening to the podcast. We have the best in Mac hardware, software and websites reviews. We have a lot of great folks on today’s episode with their reviews and comments on software, hardware and websites that make using the Mac special. Plus I’ll have the top freeware Mac apps of the week and much more.You can email me at surfbits at Gmail dot Com. I love to hear from you.Sponsor: Try GotoMeetingfor Free for 30 days at gotomeetings.com/techpodcasts, no credit card needed.Receive 25% off of all Devon-Technologies software by going to http://www.devon-technologies.com/podcastsHere is the freeware and shareware I look at during the podcast:KeyWack: http://homepage.mac.com/holymackerelVentrilo: http://ventrilo.comKatsura Software: http://www.katsurashareware.comDriveGauge: http://www.infinitenexus.comMacCam: http://webcam-osx.sourceforge.netTime Tracker: http://code.google.com/p/time-tracker-maciMedia Browser: http://karelia.com/imediaAllison Sheridan from the NosillaCast Podcast cannot join us this week.David Sparks from MacSparky joins us this week. He looks at:Noise Ninja: http://www.picturecode.comChris Marshall from ChrisMarshall.ws joins us and we talk about:DEVONtechnologies DEVONthink Pro 2.0 Coming Soon!FoneLink: http://www.novamediaThen Lola Wong is off this week this week.Developer, Danny Greg cannot join us today.Jeff Powell cannot join us today.Darren Rolfe from MacWingNut.com cannot join us today.Robert Lachman, L.A.Times Staff Photographer joins us. His Web site is PhotographyandtheMac.com This week he reviews:Exposure 2: http://www.alienskin.com/exposureWe have Don McAllister from ScreenCastsOnline joining us every other week to talk about his new free screencast: MobileMEA full membership of ScreenCastsOnline Extra! for 6 months which includes:The next 26 weekly shows via iTunes or direct download,Immediate access to a catalogue of over 140 DRM free tutorials,The tutorials are in HD, Apple TV, iPod and iPhone format,Access to a special members only site.The usual cost for the full 6 month membership is only $49 but they can get a 15% discount by using the coupon code MRC2008 bringing it down to $41.65 for the full six months.Try the new ENHANCED version of the MacReviewCast:And now we have the Podcast in Bit-Torrent Feeds!  …  You can either click on the podcast link on the left and listen to it via QT from the browser, or you can right click on the podcast link and choose to “download linked file”. That will download the mp3 and you can play it from you hard drive with iTunes.The right link below is the URL for the podcast RSS feed. Just right click it and choose to copy the address and then paste it in your podcast reader, or ipodder, or newsreader that will download enclosures automatically.Please Click Here to vote for us on the PodcastAlley Website. Thank you!  Bookmark this article to:Hide Sites
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August 14, 2008
Mac Freeware for the Kids
by Tim (Surfbits) @ 4:38 am.
 One of the most requested topics that I receive for the MacReviewCast.com podcast is for family friendly freeware. One of the strengths of the Mac has always been in the field of education and home usability. Many young people were trained on a Mac in school, and as they grew up they kept a Mac in their home. This all led to a strong software base for educational freeware on the Mac, so let’s look at a few of these apps for a variety of different ages.Let’s start with the youngest. My grandson is 7 months old and he loves nothing better then to sit on my lap while I’m at the Mac Pro and bang on the keys and the mouse. As you may have already guessed, my grandson can get away with anything he wants when he’s around Papa, but I’m not about to let him loose on my keyboard and mouse without some type of protection for my files. The answer is Baby Banger.Baby Banger: http://www.goodeast.comWith a simple keystroke, all the keys will show colorful shapes and images when pressed and some even give you sounds. The more they bang away on the keyboard, the more shapes and colors appear. You can add your own pictures and images if you want, or just use what the application gives you. This little app has given my grandson hours of joy and me, hours of peace.As your children grow older, you’ll find that many of the same games that we’ve enjoyed in our youth have timeless appeal. Games like The Match game or a jigsaw puzzle will be hits with children forever. That’s why you should visit this website for two great freeware games,FishDog Jigsaw and FishDog Match: http://fishdog.netJust like their name suggests, FishDog software has taken two classics and turned them into Mac freeeware. They are true to the originals and just as much fun. In FishDog Match you match letters, numbers and pictures. This allows for several years of enjoyment. In FishDog Jigsaw, they use pictures of animals which all children enjoy. Thank you FishDog.Another great Mac software developer is Koingo Software. They make some wonderful shareware utilities but still have time for some fun Mac freeware. These holiday favorites can be downloaded at:Christmas Super Frog: http://www.koingosw.com/products/christmassuperfrog.phpChristmas Crisis: http://www.koingosw.com/products/christmascrisis.phpBoth of these games are for a little older age group and the games can be best described by their developer. In Christmas Crisis, Santa has fallen sick this winter holiday. Ms. Claus has been cooking some of her most powerful chicken soup, but even that’s not powerful enough to cure Santa from his perilous cold. He won’t be able to make his first deliveries until much later than usual — but that is too late to deliver all of the presents. You and other elves have been chosen to help make up for Santa’s missed time! Fly over cities and drop presents down chimneys. Maintain a 70% success rate to save Christmas! Watch out for planes - you don’t want to crash!In Christmas Super Frog, Santa’s sleigh has broken down, scattering his gifts all around the town! Now it is up to you to recover all the missing presents before Christmas arrives. As the name sounds, the game resembles the original Frogger in many ways.While we’re talking about frogs, here’s another fun game by the name of BullFrog from Outer Level Software.BullFrog: http://outerlevel.com/bullfrogIn this game you play a BullFrog who’s house has been invaded by bugs. Buzzing, flapping, and biting. Bugs now plague every corner of your world and irritate you at every turn. Eat all those pesky bugs to return peace and quiet to your lovely home. But, you must eat all those bugs before time runs out or your home will be forever theirs.Let’s keep looking at freeware games for the kids. Here’s one that may appeal to the older children in the house, it’s from RAMDream games, and it’s called The Gnome Hearder.The Gnome Hearder: http://www.ramdreams.com/gnome/GnomeHerderMain.htmlYou can either play this 3D game online from the website, or download the Mac OSX stand-alone version for your computer. Now if that’s not enough, RAMDream games have two more 3D adventure games that you’re welcome to download or play via the website. They’re called The Snowmen and the Crown, and The Bows of Shoga-La. They all have smooth 3D graphics and are fun for kids of all ages. What more can you ask for free?Now that we’ve covered some freeware games, I’d be a bad parent and grandparent if I didn’t include a few apps that were more learning based. The one thing we all fear about having our child on the computer is when they actually go online. Besides the obvious predator situations we hear about everyday, we also have MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and other websites to worry about. Why not replace the Firefox, or Safari browser that adults use and give your child a browser that you know is safe?Scavenger: http://whimsplucky.com/Scavenger/About.htmlScavenger features a fun user interface free of the OS X look, It uses Apple’s built in Safari engine to render pages. Any plug-ins you have installed in Safari, Scavenger can take advantage of them. Scavenger also contains bookmarks to kid-friendly sites like Noggin, Nickelodeon and others.Part of the reason Scavenger can keep your kids safe is that it restricts itself from going to any other site except those you have on the home page. Scavenger does not allow for downloading files. Any files on the internet will need to be installed by you using another browser. Scavenger is a great app to help you control your kids browsing experience. But, remember, no piece of technology can take the place of good parenting, ultimately it’s your responsibility.What about the child that has an artist inside just waiting to burst out? There is a wonderful drawing program for children in the elementary level. It’s called Tux Paint.Tux Paint: http://www.tuxpaint.orgTux Paint is a colorful drawing application that combines an easy-to-use interface, fun sound effects, and an encouraging cartoon mascot who guides children as they use the program. Kids are presented with a blank canvas and a variety of drawing tools to help them be creative.These drawing tools include brushes, stamps, lines, shapes, text, magic tools, erasers and undo. Tux Paint has been around the Mac community for years and has developed into a full featured, solid application that could easily become shareware if desired.Mac developers have not forgotten about the educators along with the pupils. Moodle is an open source course management system.Moodle: http://moodle.orgMoodle can help educators create effective online learning communities. From one pupil to thousands, Moodle handles it all. Moodle is a software package for producing internet-based courses and web sites. The feature list is pages long and the capabilities are endless. Use as much of the program as you need or as little as you need. Do yourself a favor and visit the Moodle website yourself and you’ll be as impressed as I am with the possibilities.Let’s finish this list with an app that your High School student might just crack a smile and thank you for finding it for them. It’s called Trigonometry and it’s from VoJou Software.Trigonometry: http://www.vojousoftware.comThe name says it all. The app is a small and simple to understand program to learn or teach Trigonometry. If I remember my High School days, anything that can help with Trig is worth it’s weight in gold. Especially if it’s free.That should do it for this article. We’ve only scratched the surface. The Mac had it’s roots in the educational system and for many years it was the king of the family computers. Those were great developers and now a new wave have taken the reins and given us some fantastic freeware to help our children grow and learn.Bookmark this article to:Hide Sites
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August 13, 2008
Flickr Downloaders
by Tim (Surfbits) @ 4:37 am.
 By Lola Wong:After spending a week in Montreal, I wanted to get back into uploading some of my photos onto flickr, I discovered I had a few sets on a rogue account and after doing a bit of research, I discovered a few things about flickr:There isn’t a way to merge accounts together.There’s no way to transfer Pro account status from one account to another.Flickr sucks when it comes to alerting you that your account is expiring.In any case, I needed to do some emergency “merging” and the only thing the forums and FAQ suggested was to download the photos from one account and re-upload them to the other.Now, I’m not about to sit and download every photo individually, and all the Flickr apps I had on my computer were uploaders not downloaders… so back to the flickr forums I went and lo and behold I discovered several suggested batch downloaders.The first that was suggested was Sniper (previously known as Mugshot) from “http://blakeseely.com“. Before you go downloading it I’m going to warn you that this app is really old and it doesn’t actually work but I still want to point out some of it’s features.After it’s launch screen (which has a giant BETA stamped over it,) Sniper prompts you to allow it to access your flickr account (just like flickr uploadr and other flickr apps). Then you’re presented with Sniper’s unique and nicely designed interface, displaying your photostream in thumbnails and allowing you to view by group, contacts, sets, and favorites.The main window is pretty to look at: it’s colourful, intuitive, uses the Futura font (which I love) and sports two giant self-explanatory buttons “download” and “send to iPhoto”. Photo thumbnails (with a nice drop shadow!) load up quickly and a third panel shows the title comments, dates and tags. (View only, unfortunately)So far, everything is seemed to be going smoothly until I realize I didn’t log into the account I wanted to download from. So I automatically went to access the preferences menu to switch flickr accounts only to discover it was greyed out. There was no way to switch users, and upon further exploration it turns out “Help” isn’t available for Sniper.The ultimate nail in the coffin? I attempted to download the photos in a batch, but the image files were corrupted and couldn’t be opened by any other app. (I didn’t even bother with “send to iPhoto.” I did click it , nothing happened, I didn’t bother to find out why.) The last update was back in 2006, and it looks like nothing has been developed since the beta version 0.5.7. – but I still wish that the developer would pick up this app again and start working it, as it has such great potential.The second app suggested on the flickr forums was Java Desktop application FlickrBackup, now known as FlickrEdit. “http://sunkencity.org/ The interface is plain, but straightforward – the main window allows you to view in various categories; you can display your flickr photos and sets, display your recent, favorites, contacts and group photos and photos not in a set. You need to click refresh initially for most of these categories, so it’s a pain switching from one view to another and being forced to click refresh each time.You can also edit photo info, set info or upload from the app, but first you have to grant FlickrEdit WRITE access to your photos. The user account you setup is READ only by default, so you need to go into the user panel and authenticate READ WRITE or DELETE access and then switch between user profiles (FlickrEdit will allow only certain actions based on current permission.) The good thing is it stores multiple users so you can switch between your account permissions or different accounts easily. The wonky thing is that you have to go back and forth to authenticate for different permissions.Now for the true test, downloading a batch of photos… FlickrEdit’s “Backup Wizard” allows you to download photos to your hard drive, or even zip them up for you. (There’s an option to backup to CD/DVD but it looks like they’re still working on it.) Photos came down the pipe beautifully with the title, no corruption, and ready to be uploaded to my other Flickr account!I’m not thrilled with the upload and editing features on Flickr Edit as I kept trying to apply certain properties to a photo and then a batch of photos, and I couldn’t get them to take or had poor indication of it. I also discovered Flickr info other than the title doesn’t download with the photos so there still is some input to be done.I will say this app also has great potential, with a good foundation and nice options like viewing a slideshow of selected photos. Bottom line? This app has the functionality I’m looking for: ability to download the photos in batches.Both apps are available free for download, but FlickEdit is currently the one I would recommend in a downloading pinch. Kudos to both developers – hopefully they continue to work on these as I bet they’ll come in handy for many a flickr user! Additional app info:http://blakeseely.com/downloads.htmlSniper is an iPhoto-like desktop application for managing your Flickr photos. Looking for a replacement for Flickr’s web interface? Want to drag, drop and copy instead of clicking on links? Want to see thousands of photos in a single, scrollable view?http://sunkencity.org/productsFlickrEdit is a Java Desktop application that allows you to:Display your Flickr Photos and SetsDisplay your Not in Set, Recent, Favorites, Contacts and Group photosSearch photos based on date and tagBackup your Flickr Photos and SetsBackup Title, Description, Tags, and Copyright and store them into the IPTC header of the images.Upload new photos to Flickr (including asynchronous upload)Edit Photo and Set info, add comments to Photos and SetsRotate photosDelete photos or SetsView a photo or selected photos slideshowSwitch between multiple Flickr usersBookmark this article to:Hide Sites
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August 12, 2008
Using Hydra for HDR
by Tim (Surfbits) @ 4:28 am.
 By David Sparks:The latest rage with digital photography is high dynamic range imaging. The problem faced by anyone holding a camera is that the dynamic range of their camera sensor is a fraction of that available to the human eye. Put simply, that gorgeous sunset and dark foreground you’re looking at simply cannot be captured with a single exposure from your camera.This is where your Mac comes to the rescue with high dynamic range imaging, often referred to as HDR. Using HDR, you can take three shots of the same thing, one that is over exposed, one that is underexposed, and one that is just right. If you are really tricky and there is enough data in your image files, you can even make three copies of a single shot with different exposure levels. HDR software can then take these three images and combine them on your computer. This allows you to combine a gorgeous sunset with a foreground image. The results of this process vary from spectacular too surreal.This week I’m taking a look at a software application designed specifically for the Mac to make HDR photography available to the masses. I’m talking about Hydra 1.6 from Creaceed Software.Hydra is unique in that the $60 license gives you both a standalone application and an Aperture plug-in. Interestingly, the two iterations of this application are not identical. While I generally prefer to use the Aperture plug-in for its ease of use, there are a few additional tools in the stand-alone version of Hydra that I really like. Fortunately, the developer informs me that with the next major release of Hydra, the stand-alone tools will catch up with the Aperture plug-in. One of the first steps of HDR image processing is to make sure the three pictures are aligned. In this regard, the Hydra developers did a very good job. The software or the user can pick specific alignment points and get everything straight. While generally you’re supposed to take HDR bracketed shots on a tripod, this feature allows Hyrda users to process images without assistance of a tripod. The software aligns the images for you. This could be quite handy when sun begins to rise and you realize you left the tripod in your car. My tests with this feature showed that it did actually worked and, generally, the automatic alignment did much better than my manual attempts.Regardless, once your images are aligned, Hydra combines them into one image with all of the dynamic range data. This is where the fun really begins. The Hydra standalone application has a convenient histogram that allows you to blend the influence of your various images. While it’s not that easy to describe, it is very intuitive when you start doing it. The histogram is not in the Aperture plug-in yet but this is one of the tools the developer assures me will be in the next major update around the new year. Once your images are tweaked just right, you can export it to 8-Bit TIFF, JPEG, or 32-bit OpenEXR.While the Aperture plug-in does not have the convenient histogram yet, it does have a variety of sliders and checkboxes to customize your HDR image. Because it is part of the plug-in architecture, all of this is done from within Aperture making the process of exporting images out for HDR and then dropping the finished product package back into your library quick and painless.Creating an HDR images is much more an art than a science. Every picture is different and the tone map balance is never the same. For this reason, the real-time preview is a blessing. Also, like so many up-and-coming image applications on the Mac, Hydra takes advantage of your graphics card. The wait time to combine three RAW images on my MacBook Pro into an HDR image with Hydra’s Aperture plug-in was less than one minute. Obviously, your mileage may vary.One problem I had was that Hydra stripped some of my metadata from its finished image. My lens information was gone and Hydra appended its name to my camera type. I understand the exposure information is probably no longer relevant but the lens information is very helpful and should remain. Again, the developers are already aware of this and a fix is in the works.I think some comparison with the other popular HDR applicaiton, Photmatix, is appropriate. I own a license for Photomatix and have used it for some time. At $99, a Photomatix Pro license costs $40 more than Hydra. Having used them both I would say that Photomatix has Hydra beat with respect to the number of controls and adjustments. You can get very specific with the modifications to your image in Photomatix. With respect to the final product however, I couldn’t really tell much of a difference. This may be more a function of my lack of skill with Photomatix’s multiple controls but it also makes a point. If you are not looking for the most complex program but still want to make nice HDR images, Hydra may be in your sweet spot. Another point in Hydra’s favor is that it was created by a Mac developer and looks like it. It has a nice interface and doesn’t feel clunky like so many multiplatform applications. Fortunately, both Hydra and Photomatix have trial versions so you can give both a try and see which works best for you.Hydra requires MacOS X running leopard 10.5.4 or later. While the developer says it can run on a Power Mac, they “highly recommend” you run it on an Intel Mac. Head over to their website and give it a try.Bookmark this article to:Hide Sites
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August 11, 2008
Just When You Thought Running Vista Was Safe
by Tim (Surfbits) @ 6:41 am.
We kept getting the “new improved Vista” shoved down our throats over the last few months. Microsoft was sick of Apple commercials and podcasting pundits trashing Vista. Vista was suppose to be safer to run and it did look better then any other Windows version. Well according to hackinthebox.org, the “safer” part is out the window.Expect that chairs to be flying over at Microsoft HQ about this…Search Security reports during a charged presentation at the Black Hat hacking conference last week Mark Dowd of IBM Internet Security Systems (ISS) and Alexander Sotirov of VMware Inc revealed a fatal flaw in Windows Vista which potentially blows the OS wide open and in such a way that it cannot be fixed.Their method involves using scripting systems such as Java and elements of the .NET framework to run malicious code. This code attacks Vista’s Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) and Data Execution Prevention (DEP) technologies and allows the hackers to load any content they desire to any location on a user’s machine. Bookmark this article to:Hide Sites
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August 9, 2008
The MacReviewcast #172: Hydra, Flickr Downloaders, Freeware
by Tim (Surfbits) @ 10:47 am.
This week we look at Hydra, Flickr Downloaders, Freeware for the Mac plus much more. I want to thank you for downloading and listening to the podcast. We have the best in Mac hardware, software and websites reviews. We have a lot of great folks on today’s episode with their reviews and comments on software, hardware and websites that make using the Mac special. Plus I’ll have the top freeware Mac apps of the week and much more.You can email me at surfbits at Gmail dot Com. I love to hear from you.Sponsor: Try GotoMeetingfor Free for 30 days at gotomeetings.com/techpodcasts, no credit card needed.Receive 25% off of all Devon-Technologies software by going to http://www.devon-technologies.com/podcastsHere is the freeware and shareware I look at during the podcast:DockDrop: http://dockdropx.com/index.phpebaytoical: http://www.kortenkamps.netRSSMenu: http://www.edot-studios.comGarageBuy: http://www.iwascoding.com/GarageBuyPastor: http://www.mehlau.net/pastoriCHM: http://www.robinlu.com/blog/ichmTimeMachineEditor: http://timesoftware.free.fr/timemachineeditorQuickApps: http://www.giantrobotsoftware.com/quickapps.phpHookUp: http://www.dottunes.netAllison Sheridan from the NosillaCast Podcast cannot join us this week.David Sparks from MacSparky joins us this week. He looks at:Hydra: http://www.creaceed.com/hydraChris Marshall from ChrisMarshall.ws joins us and we talk about:DEVONtechnologies DEVONthink Pro 2.0 Coming Soon! With the President of DEVONtechnologies Eric Böhnisch-Volkmann.Then Lola Wong is back with a review this week. She looks at:Flickr Downloading Alternatives:Sniper: http://blakeseely.comFlickrBackup: http://sunkencity.orgDeveloper, Danny Greg cannot join us today.Jeff Powell cannot join us today.Darren Rolfe from MacWingNut.com cannot join us today.Robert Lachman, L.A.Times Staff Photographer cannot join us. His Web site is PhotographyandtheMac.comWe have Don McAllister from ScreenCastsOnline joining us every other week to talk about his new free screencast: MobileMEA full membership of ScreenCastsOnline Extra! for 6 months which includes:The next 26 weekly shows via iTunes or direct download,Immediate access to a catalogue of over 140 DRM free tutorials,The tutorials are in HD, Apple TV, iPod and iPhone format,Access to a special members only site.The usual cost for the full 6 month membership is only $49 but they can get a 15% discount by using the coupon code MRC2008 bringing it down to $41.65 for the full six months.Try the new ENHANCED version of the MacReviewCast:And now we have the Podcast in Bit-Torrent Feeds! … You can either click on the podcast link on the left and listen to it via QT from the browser, or you can right click on the podcast link and choose to “download linked file”. That will download the mp3 and you can play it from you hard drive with iTunes.The right link below is the URL for the podcast RSS feed. Just right click it and choose to copy the address and then paste it in your podcast reader, or ipodder, or newsreader that will download enclosures automatically.Please Click Here to vote for us on the PodcastAlley Website. Thank you!Technorati Tags:software, review, mac, apple, iTunes, Mac mini, podcast, Macreviewcast, podcasting, maccompanion, OSX, iPhoto, flickrBookmark this article to:Hide Sites
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July 31, 2008
Memopal: International Online Backup
by Tim (Surfbits) @ 4:54 am.
 By Chris Marshall:I have recently been looking at using online services to see if they would ‘enhance’ my workflow, back up strategy etc. I have written already about MobileMe and the total mess that Apple have made of it (and still are doing by the way!) but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of adding value. Having recently upgraded, jailbroken, and handed over my iPhone to Sands I am starting to figure out how we will benefit from it. As an aside I was talking to a Estate Agent friend here in Almerimar this week about his business and some stuff we are thinking of doing together, and the more he talked the more I could see a genuine benefit of MobileMe for him ….. so much so that he is ordering an iMac, MBA and probably a MBP for the business as well as a iPhone, and I am going to set it all up for him.So moving away from a desktop driven data solution to a online driven solution (which it sort of is) can make sense. By way of example, Sands and I have been using Evernote a lot more recently, and the iPhone application is proving to be really useful.So what has all this got to do with Online Storage then, which is what Memopal offers? Well in many ways nothing, but writing about online storage isn’t exactly going to fill a post is it? I mean:Q. What does on line storage do?A. It stores your data online!Q. How does it work?A. You say which files you want to backup and sit back and wait ………… for a (very) long time!Actually it is the very long time part that makes Memopal as attractive an online backup solution as you are likely to come across. They offer a lot of space:You can select either 150GB or 250GB of storageYou can select a one year, two year (25% discount) or three year (50% discount) contractYou can select a Individual or Business (10 users) licensePrices for one year Personal are 49€ (150GB) and 69€ (250GB). The 150GB option for Business is 600€.Memopal is online backup and online storage software that archives your files in real-time to a remote server. It doesn’t matter how many times you change computers: You will always know where your data is. You can browse all your files from any internet location or internet-ready cell phone. You can share with friends and co-workers files that are too big to send through email.Tempting as it may be, think long and hard about how much data you want to store on line though - transferring 250GB is no joke, in fact much of your data will be out of date and not in need of backing up by the time you have backed it all up.Memopal gives you three options regarding what you back up; a) My Documents (which is what it recommends, b) One Folder (which you can set), or c) My Mac (i.e. everything)Once you have uploaded your files you can Search for them from any computer, Share them by dragging a file into the Dock icon to activate secure file sharing, or Browse the files online.I must admit that while on the surface some of the features seem neat, I am pretty much in the camp that thinks that backups exist for an emergency. Once I have backed something up I don’t even touch it unless disaster (or incompetence) strikes. A lot naturally depends on your personal back up strategy but as I have a combination of Time Machine, Super Duper and off site hard copies (DVD’s) in place, for me the equation is basically - would I be better off with an online storage option than an off site DVD option, and specifically would I use 69€ of DVD’s during a year? No way!!Now of course I do use MobileMe as well and that gives a paltry 20GB of storage but for storing and accessing my current files on line that is proving to be enough.Memopal go to great lengths to provide confidence in the security of your data but to be perfectly frank I wouldn’t trust anybody but myself with my important data. Now that is my preference, and would be the same of any online service, so it isn’t a negative against Memopal, which does a great job. I am a little confused about their comment that the cost is no more than a external drive though. Sure it is, if you intend to buy a external drive every year! If I was you I would buy 2 external drives, run two back ups and keep one of site - more work for sure but way cheaper over the next 5 years or so.Memopal is easier that that though with its automated scheduling, and the 448 bit encryption will keep your data secure, and once you have run your initial back up incremental back ups are quick, primarily because they are saved as soon as they are modified, or created if new.If you are in the online back up camp Memopal is well worth a look, as the price to GB ratio is impressive, but as for me I don’t think I would be comfortable with an online solution for my data.Bookmark this article to:Hide Sites
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July 30, 2008
The MacReviewCast Lounge: Recycling Your Gadgets
by Tim (Surfbits) @ 4:52 am.
 By Lola Wong:I was all set to have Tim send me a recorded segment, but he claims that the interview we did a few weeks ago was his segment. In comparison, Tim simply carries his Blackberry. (I’m hoping he carries his charger cable, too.)It’s interesting to see these extremes – Allison brought up a good point in her commentary (also a few weeks ago) about the purse thing… I think it definitely has something to do with the need to fill up space. Some people feel very compelled to pack in everything they can, be it out of necessity or not, and some people like to be minimal. This not only goes for what you carry, but also what you collect.I have terrible pack-rat tendencies. But over the years, I also realize that keeping all my gadgets as “legacy” items (“oh yeah I’ll use that again someday”) really just end up cluttering up my space or go unused, making it a waste of space. For instance, I finally got the iPhone. After 1 year, 6 months, 2 days (the last 24 hours of which actually involved waiting to get it activated and in my hands) I did, indeed end up with the 16 GB white iPhone.But what happens to my beloved treo 650 which since receiving the iPhone, has been brushed to the side, sitting uncharged, unsynced, and untouched for days. (My wonderful and very entertaining mother calls my treo “the concubine.”) This leads me to an interesting topic for today: What to do with your gadgets when you no longer need or use them.Have you ever considered that you can actually fund your hankering for new gadgets by selling your old ones? And not just on eBay – I mean that’s a great place to start if you’re up to selling and monitoring and listing fees. But I’m talking even more grass roots.Obviously, we can’t hold garage sales year round, but there are other avenues. For instance, I’m a big fan of usedeverywhere.com – In Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. you can find your specific city (or the closest one) and sell your item online – like a big online classified ads. It’s free and very easy to sell things. I’ve sold old cell phones, old computers, old scanners, printers, orphaned charger cables, a couple of lamps, a disco ball. It’s amazing! If you’re willing to be patient, reasonable, and polite, you can actually sell items to people who need and will use them, rather than letting it sit in your storage closet collecting dust, or dumping it in the trash.Another site I like to use is kijiji.ca or kijiji.com – again a place to post your ad for the gadget/product you’re willing to sell and most importantly let it go. It acts the same way as usedeverywhere.com sites. You basically post your ad, and wait for someone to email or call, depending on your preference. I highly recommend taking photos of the product and being creative with your descriptions offering good information about what your selling, links to product descriptions, being upfront with the product (is there a scuff, low battery life?) and finally suggesting good uses for it (i.e. use this for the spare parts, or for an extra battery/charger.)I have yet to use the craigslist list sites, but only because I’ve had incredible success with both my local usedeverywhere.com and kijiji.ca sites. I ‘m fairly certain that its very similar, and it does increase your chances by advertising on different sites.What about stuff that no-one seems want to buy, but you know it’s worth something and really doesn’t deserve to go in the trash? Try using www.freecycle.org, a place where you can simply offer your items and perhaps even find some treasures for yourself. It’s not a barter system but a give-and-take system. The freecycle network also works locally just like bulletin board: you offer something as your initial post, and once the moderators approve, you can actually put up “Wanted” requests for something you might need or want.The best part about all three of the places I’ve mentioned is that it’s free to post and generally it’s local so you don’t have to worry about shipping, dealing in paypal or even currencies. It does involve patience, and some savvy pricing comes into play. If you price it high – it may take a while for something to go. People always are looking for a bargain. My selling features are always about the quality and condition of my gadgets (MINT!). But if you’re willing to budge then make a deal. Also, it pays to be polite and upfront in your communication. If there’s a scuff or something that YOU’d want to know about what you’re buying, then let the buyer know before making them come to pick it up. Now, for some of you who feel sketchy about this, I will testify that the people I’ve sold to and bought from have been fine. At first I was fairly conservative, and would arrange to meet people at a halfway point, and only communicate by email… but eventually, I became fairly comfortable with interacting with buyers and learned to suss out who I’d be wiling to meet in front of my building and who I’d give my cell number to, sometimes it’s about convenience, and sometimes it’s just a gut feeling. The bottom line is, if you feel uncomfortable at any point, there’s no obligation to sell or buy, use your discretion. To this day, I have had no problems, and I’m happy to say it’s funded many a new purchase for me.It’s all about recycling and re-using. Especially with Apple products. I don’t know about you, but remember how I mentioned about the whole pack-rat thing? Well I’m particularly hard core about keeping boxes and original packaging, manuals, etc. I’m fairly certain many mac users also do this as well – they never throw away the box the laptop came in, and down the line gadgets look great sitting in a box, and with all the original manuals & discs. It speaks to the care the owner has taken with it.For me, selling items not only fund and make room for the next big buy, but also it makes me feel better that the gadget is going to a good home and not to a landfill somewhere, especially when you know they work just fine and someone else could use them but say couldn’t afford it or need to replace something. Do it people – recycle your gadgets!Bookmark this article to:Hide Sites
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