Briefly: Rugged drive review, iTunes options
updated 02:45 pm EDT, Tue October 9, 2007
Moog Synth Anthology
In brief: We've posted a review of the LaCie Rugged All-Terrain Hard Drive, some iTunes Store Alternatives for Apple TV owners have been reviewed, and the Moog Synth Anthology VI has shipped, a Photoshop CS3 Channels and Masks lesson from lynda.com has debuted, and Iconfactory's new Spooky Stickers Halloween Icon Set has made its debut ... We have posted a review of the LaCie Rugged All-Terrain Hard Drive, which is rugged and tough enough for all your travels in everyday life. Though it is not the fastest, or most advanced mobile external hard drive on the market, it is dependable and worth considering for its durability and build quality. We tested the 80 GB Rugged All-Terrain Hard Drive with an USB 2.0 interface, which is capable of transfer speeds up to 60MB/s.
iTunes Store Alternatives for Apple TV owners
AppleTVSource looks at four web sites that offer movie downloads that can be used in conjunction with the Apple TV. Sites reviewed include BigBanana.TV, MoboVivo, HungryFlix, and Jaman. The first 3 sites offer their movies in DRM-free MPEG4 format, while Jaman offers DRM movies but with the option to rent them. BigBanana.TV, for instance, offers favorite cult classics like Night of the Living Dead, His Girl Friday, Hercules and many others. "The movies are categorized into 18 different categories from Action to Western and everything else in between."
The Moog Synth Anthology VI ships
IK Multimedia has announced that SampleMoog, the Moog Synth Anthology Virtual Instrument, a cooperation between IK Multimedia, Moog Music and Sonic Reality, is now shipping. SampleMoog includes the sounds of all the most sought-after Moog synthesizers spanning the entire Moog history, available as a plug-in for popular DAWs and as a standalone application for the Mac.
Photoshop CS3 Channels and Masks lesson
lynda.com has introduced "Photoshop CS3 Channels and Masks: The Essentials," a new instruction set for Alpha channels, the collections of luminance data that control the transparency of images that influence just about everything in Photoshop. Officials describe the instructional guide: "Coming to terms with alpha channels, also known as masks, is a surefire way to maximize results. Omni Award-winning Photoshop expert Deke McClelland leaves no pixel unturned as he explores Refine Edge, Color Range, the Channels palette, the Quick Mask mode, channel masking, blend modes, and more." Subscriptions to the lynda.com Online Training Library start at $25 a month.
Iconfactory's Spooky Stickers Halloween Icon Set
The Iconfactory's David Lanham has released "Spooky Stickers," a collection of 16 graphic icons that follows the style of David's popular Sticker System for decorating the Mac OS X desktop. The sticker sheet also comes as a handy Pixadex iContainer for quick and easy reference. Pixadex is an application that lets you organize your Mac OS X icons.
