News Archive for 04/05/20

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InDesign Magazine announced by publisher

05/20, 11:45pm

InDesign Magazine

Creativepro and David Blatner have announced InDesign Magazine, the first electronic magazine devoted to Adobe InDesign. Published by Web content provider Creativepro, in association with page-layout authority David Blatner, InDesign Magazine will provide the growing community of InDesign users with "expert advice about this revolutionary product for designers, publishers, graphic artists, and visual communicators." InDesign Magazine will be available by paid subscription. Bi-monthly issues will be delivered electronically in PDF format ($80 annual subscription).

Tech: Linux origins; Napster in Europe; ...

05/20, 4:30pm

Tech: Linux origins...

Afternoon tech news: A new report raises doubts that Linus Torvalds could have launched Linux without using an earlier operating system; digital download service Napster scored a victory over archrival iTunes by launching in Britain today, the first of the high-flying Internet music stores to make a European debut; Sexually explicit Internet spam must now carry a warning label, the U.S. FTC said.

Apple, W Hotels offer iTunes Days, music downloads

05/20, 2:35pm

iTunes Days @ W Hotels

Apple and the upscale W Hotels are launching iTunes Days, a series of monthly special events scheduled for San Francisco, Chicago, and New York that offers an iTunes CD with free iTunes music downloads, "AppleiTini" drink specials while DJs spin music off iPods, and iPod/iMac giveaways at each event. During the summer, W Hotel guests can also download an exclusive iTunes playlist, featuring new tracks each month: The W Hotels' Wonderland Collection is dubbed "the perfect compliment to every mood, emotion, and experience: Sexuality, Fantasy, Intrigue, and Romance." The W Wired Package for guests also bundles 3 free iTunes song downloads with high-speed internet access, a 3-month Wired Magazine subscription, and unlimited local and long distance calling.

Director uses iMovie to create suprise hit at Cannes

05/20, 1:45pm

iMovie film at Cannes

The surprise hit of the Cannes film festival is a movie made by a first-time director using Apple's iMovie video editing package, according to the Guardian Unlimited: "Tarnation was created by 31-year-old jobbing actor Jonathan Caouette, using the Apple Macintosh package iMovie. It is a touching and often disturbing family history pieced together via photographs, home movie images from the 1970s and 80s, and interviews by Caouette with his mother and grandparents. The film, part of the directors' fortnight section of the festival, received a standing ovation." (The same movie was profiled by Wired Magazine earlier this year during the Sundance Film festival).

Apps: OsiriX, Sole Possession, Railmodeler, ...

05/20, 1:35pm

OsiriX, Sole Possession,

OsiriX 1.1 brings many new features for 3D reconstructions, supports more medical file formats and allows the users to download images from a PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) network. It can be used to view and reconstruct in 3D CT scans or MRI exams. [19.6MB]
Sync Entourage-iCal 1.0 synchronizes Entourage 2004 [only] and iCal. It allows you to maintain Entourage as your centralized Personal Information Manager while at the same time taking advantage of the direct access provided to iSync, iChat, iPod, .Mac online, and more by OS X's iCal. [1.7MB]
Sole Possession 2.0 ($15) is a home inventory cataloger, allowing you to track where all your possessions are as well as providing you with estimated worth reports for insurance purposes in case of fire, theft, etc. It can store multiple pictures of all your possessions, print lists of possessions (and their estimated worth), etc. [17MB]
RailModeller 2.1 ($30) is a solution for designing trackplans for model railroads and similar systems; it includes more than 100 libraries which provide tracks and accessories from various vendors and offers a 3D view of the trackplan, the ability to export the plan as a picture in various file-formats and the automatic creation of partlists for the current plan. [3.4MB]
On-Target Reports 4.0 ($200), due next month, is a reporting tool for popular databases that offers rapid visual report building and printing. The Professional version adds new graphics support, watermarks, a new graphing engine, PDF export, support for SQLite and REALbasic Database formats, and Linux support.
DVDManager 2.1 (donationware) adds the ability to retrieve DVD details from the Internet (instead of adding them manually), create box sets easily, and Address Book integration as well as additional localizations (Czech, German, Italian & Spanish). DVDManager helps maintain your DVD library. [684KB]
Sync Entourage-Address Book 2.5 synchronizes Entourage and Apple's Address Book in Mac OS 10.3. It has been upgraded to use the new features of Entourage 2004 (and will continue to work as an update in Entourage X as wel), adding syncing of email labels (home/work/other) in 2004, Instant Message fields, etc. [2.1MB]

Paranoid Android protects againat OS X security flaw

05/20, 11:20am

Paranoid Android

Unsanity's Paranoid Android is the second solution ("GURLFriend!" was released earlier this week) designed to protect users agains the recently indentified security exploit in Mac OS X: "Paranoid Android can protect you from this potential vulnerability until Apple makes an official fix available. It does this by watching the URL schemes that are requested and delaying them until you've had a chance to say whether you'd like to proceed or not... It is designed to shield you from a different exploit approach than described in the recent Wired article and other sources (we do not disclose the details of the exploit method publically, but Apple has been notified of the issue)."

Pop singer Nelly Furtado live at the Apple Store

05/20, 11:00am

Furtado performing live

Nelly Furtado will be performing an acoustic session at Apple's retail location at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, CA, Friday, May 21, at 7:00 p.m. PT. Furtado will be performing songs from both her debut album, "Whoa, Nelly!," and her latest release, "Folklore."

Blizzard posts Diablo II Mac OS X Installer

05/20, 10:30am

Diablo II Mac OS X Install

Blizzard has posted a Diablo II Mac OS X Installer (25.1MB), which allows users to install Diablo II under Mac OS X from the original CD without needing to boot into Classic. Blizzard has also said that a Mac OS X Installer for StarCraft will be available soon, as well. Diablo II sells for $20 direct from Blizzard.

MainConcept releases MPEG Encoder for Mac

05/20, 10:20am

MainConcept MPEG Ecnoder

MainConcept has released its standalone MPEG Encoder for Mac, which converts QuickTime to MPEG-1 or MPEG-2. The encoder supports DVD, Video CD, and Super Video CD formats; features two-pass encoding and batch processing; and supports multiple processors. The encoder requires Mac OS X 10.2 or later running QuickTime 6.5 and sells for $250. A demo is available.

TikiMac taking orders for LavaPad

05/20, 10:00am

TikiMac\'s LavaPad mousepad

TikiMac has started shipping the LavaPad (also known as the FX Game Pad), a mousepad with a USB-powered multi-color LED light system around its border. The LavaPad is available for ordering today for $30 and will begin shipping on June 1.

Apps: Halo, Final Draft, DiscBlaze, WebRev

05/20, 8:15am

Apps: Halo, Final Draft

Halo 1.0.5 (free update) adds reflective surfaces for objects and vehicles with some Nvidia hardware to the game, a model reflections option for ATI Pixel Shader and Nvidia NV shader modes, corrects a bug with eMacs, and some issues with fogging using Vertex Shaders. [3.3MB]

• DiscBlaze 3.2 ($19) features a new interface for burning multiple copies of a new disc, an improved burner info sheet, PDF manual, and now displays burning progress in the dock icon. [2.0MB]


• WebRev 1.0 (free) is a component for iAssist ($250 and up), Maxum's Internet server management system, that allows users to easily make minor Web page updates, edits, and fixes. The software effectively functions as a Web browser but allows users to make changes to pages on servers where they have authorized access. [form]


• Final Draft 7.0.0.40 ($230) adds support for Key Server, an updated Screenplay.fdt template, a new ITV script.fdt template, and corrects several bugs with the popular screenplay writing software. [form]

Napster launches in the UK

05/20, 7:25am

Napster launches in the UK

Napster Thursday launched its music service in the UK, beating Apple to the punch overseas and surprising analysts who had only been told the service would debut by the end of summer. In response, OD2, Europe's leading online music store, announced that it will be cutting prices by up to 50 percent to remain competitive. Napster, meanwhile, boasted that its catalog of 500,000 songs is the largest in Europe, and said it would expand its offerings to 700,000 songs within 30 days. Apple declined to comment on Napster's UK launch, telling Reuters only that it plans to launch its service in Europe by the end of summer.

Harris & Baseview unveils multiple new offerings

05/20, 12:35am

Harris & Baseview news

Harris & Baseview today made several new product announcements, expected to debut at the NEXPO show, which runs June 19-22 in Washington, DC. The company will unveil its IQue Editorial Server designed for the mid- to high-end market. It features an SQL database for multiple publications and multiple platforms within the same newsroom. Paginators, using Macs, can opt for either Quark or Adobe's InDesign CS. IQue Server now also features remote administration capabilities that allow systems staff to access and configure the IQue Server from any TCP/IP computer, Mac or PC. The company also announced a Mac OS X page-design client for Jazbox, its enterprise-class editorial system with support for InDesign, and a new a budgeting and resource system.