Continued

Transcription

Continued

June / July ‘04 Edition
Apple NAB’s Video
Pro’s Attention
Articles
Apple NABS Video
Pro’s Attention
Cover Story
by Monte
A
Ferguson
PPLE HAS SPENT A CONSIDERABLE Final Cut Pro
effort to come up with new markets
The first application to be showcased at the
GRAMUG Meeting
to bring their special touch to. Over the
show was Final Cut Pro. Final Cut Pro has
past several years Apple has developed
gained Apple some major credit in the film
Highlights
solutions, both in hardware and software,
industry. As it has evolved it has moved up
Page 2
that are top
from being
notch.
Yet
the sole
Product Review:
cost
much
province
Keynote 1.x
less,
and
are
of videogPage 3
much easier
raphers
to use, than
working
Music to Your Ears:
current offeron com2003
ings in that
mercials or
Page 7
market. A
music vidcase in point
eos, very
Can CAN-SPAM Can
is the professhort films,
Spam?
sional video
to today
Page 9
market.
where it
Apple has
can be used
Product Review:
consistently
in full high
set its sights
definition
iPod the Missing
Shown above is Final Cut Pro HD’s Workspace
on wooing
video work
Manual
this lucrative crowd of professional users
flows. Better yet, the program runs excepPage 14
and its efforts are really beginning to pay
tionally well on even a laptop. So directors
off.
and Producers can see live video as they
MacPAD: The Future of
But, like anything in the creative busishoot it.
Mac Software Updates
ness, you have to keep moving to keep up
Page 18
with the increasing demands of this fast
New Features
paced environment. Apple has consistently
Final Cut Pro now allows you to capSpecials & Deals
brought new features, at a bargain price, to
ture DV, (Digital Video), SD (Standard
Back Cover
the table. This year was no exception. At
Definition), and HD (High Definition)
the recent NAB (National Association of
video formats over FireWire. Final Cut Pro
Broadcasters convention) Apple showcased offers RT Extreme HD, which mean you
Get Info is a publication of
a whole new line up of its professional
can add effects, filters, and transitions in
the Grand Rapids Area
video software, including a brand new
real time and see them preview without
Microcomputer Users
application.
waiting to render the Continued on Page 4
Group.
GRAMUG Meeting Highlights
by Monte
M
Ferguson
any folks think that user group meetings are for
computer wizards and geeks. That the conversation will
be way over their heads. While others have no idea what
such meetings have to offer. I have showcased several
recent gatherings below. As you can tell from these excerpts, a user group has something to offer nearly everyone no matter what their skill level.
March
icons and other customizations.
*To make your dock transparent, you need the APE
Manager and the module ClearDock from UnSanity: http:
//www.unsanity.com/ they are FREE downloads:) and
if you feel adventurous Shape Shifter is amazing! it really
can customize the look of your computer!
*A great place for apple fun goodies like the SightFlex for
the iSight or the iBreeze laptop stand with cooling fans can
be found at MacMice:
http://www.macmice.com
Our March meeting was a different topic than most. It
was a BYOG, Bring
And for great headYour Own Gadget.
phones for your iPod
Ok, so you could call
check out Sennheiser,
it a grown up show
they carry everything
and tell. But it’s more
from entry level to high
than just that. It was a
end audio! <http:/www.
chance to share expesennheiserusa.com/>
riences and answer
questions.
The remainder of the
The majority of
meeting was given over
this section of the
to our own Cynthia
meeting was led
Brant. She wanted to
by our own Terry
share a program that
Johnston. He had
doesn’t fit into the norquite a few things to
mal productivity, games,
share with everyone.
or graphics category.
First he started by
It is a specialized prosharing one of his
gram that is used in
favorite Mac paspracticing an alternative
times, customizing
form of medicine called
the MacOS. He shared
Homeopathy.
some useful sights
for others to explore.
“Homeopathy is a sysHe then moved onto Our March giveaway winner, Mr. Robert Koroknay-Palicz, is
tem that attempts to
some cool hardware
shown with his prize MacOS Killer Tips (Panther Edition.)
stimulate the body to
gadgets. The one
heal itself. I realized that all symptoms, no matter how
that gained the most attention was the SightFlex, an accesuncomfortable they are, represent the body’s attempt to
sory for the iSight. (Basically it’s a flexible stand that you
restore itself to health. So instead of trying to dry up the
can mount your iSight on. But you have to see it to apprerunny nose from a cold with antihistamines, a homeopath
ciate it. ) His other hardware find was a very nice set of
will use a remedy that will stimulate the body to move in
headphones for his iPod, to replace Apple’s ear bud headthe direction it is already going, and, in the process, clear
phones. Also mentioned, but not shown, was the iBreeze,
the runny nose!”
it is a platform that fits under your PowerBook, or iBook,
which has built
in fans. You turn it on and it keeps a constant stream of
Julian Winston, editor of Homeopathy Today
cool air circulating under your laptop. Terry reports that
http://www.homeopathic.org/welcome.htm
his laptop rarely gets hot enough to run the internal fans
when he uses the iBreeze.
Cynthia showcased the program called MacRepetory
Pro (produced byKent Homeopathic Associates) http://
If you’re interested in learning more about the things Terry www.kenthomeopathic.com/p1b.html
discussed here are the links for those items:
*Iconfactory: http://www.iconfactory.com/ (the oldest
site dedicated to customizing your Mac’s appearance and
home to thousands of free icons.) Off their site you can
also download the program CandyBar, discussed at the
meeting, by Panic software.
*X-ICONS: http://www.xicons.com/, another cool site for
GRAMUG meets monthly, throughout the school year,
at CompUSA. Meetings are held on the Thursday of the
fourth full week. Meetings begin at 7pm.
You can also learn more about the group by going to our
web site: http://www.gramug.org/
2
Product Review:
can easily drag graphics files, movie files,
and even sound files to the canvas to add
them to your slideshow. You create a slideshow using a theme , which lets you work
by Monte Ferguson
with a family of master slides to create a
handsome and cohesive look throughout
HE SAYING GOES THAT A PICTURE
your presentation. Different master slides
is worth a thousand words. Nowhere is
within each theme make it easy to add titles
that more true than when giving a presenand bulleted text in effective visual layouts.
tation. A presentation is usually a lecture
As you work on designing your slides, you
or speech that is given before an audience
may want to zoom in or out to get a better
for the purpose of consideration, or educaview at what you are doing.
tion. Most presentations revolve around
You can organize the slides in your preWhat you get:
detailed information and analysis.
sentation using the slide organizer at
Two CD Roms, which includes both the left side of the Keynote window. The
To help make sense of that data, and
the program and multimedia conto keep the audience focused, good
slide organizer allows you to “indent”
tent. You also get a Dictionary, Word your slides so that you can group them
presenters use visual aids like slides
to convey key points. In the old days Processor, and a 3d Atlas. The manual as you work. You can also choose to hide
is included as a PDF document.
that meant an awful lot of manual
slides that you don’t want to appear
labor assembling and creating the
in your slideshow. The slide organizer
materials for the visual aids. As time System Requirements
has two views: navigator view, which
went by, and computers came to the
is most useful for graphics-intensive
PowerPC G3
fore, people turned to them for mak- Minimum 300MHz; Mac OS X; CD
presentations, and outline view, best
ing presentations. These days you can ROM drive
for text-heavy presentations. In navigabuy dedicated presentation programs. Full Version - $59.95
tor view, the slide organizer displays a
These programs make very profesthumbnail image of each slide in your
Upgrade Version - $39.95
sional looking presentations and
presentation, which makes it easy to see
spare you much of the work.
the flow of graphics-rich presentations. To help you orgaKeynote is a presentation program. It is a new comer
nize your presentation as you work, you can group slides
to this field, and only one of two dedicated programs for
by indenting them, creating a “visual outline” of the entire
the Mac. It was also one of Apple’s best kept secrets, yet
slideshow. Disclosure triangles allow you to show or hide
shown to millions. The secret was that no one outside
groups of slides. You can also “skip” slides so that they
of the company was aware that Apple was developing a
will not appear when you present your slideshow.
presentation program. So, when it was announced, almost
The notes field is an area in which you can type or
everyone in the general public
view notes for each
was caught off guard. But we
slide. These notes are
had been viewing the program
not visible in the slidefor a while. You see this proshow presentation but
gram had a beta tester of one,
they can be viewed on
Mr. Steve Jobs himself. For over
an alternate display
a year he had been testing it,
or printed as a talking
and getting up in front of audiaid to use during your
ences using this software. By
slideshow presentathe time it was released it had
tion.
already been field tested.
Although it is not a
separate work area in
The Interface
Keynote, the Toolbar is
Keynote takes many of it’s cues
also a handy tool and
from Apple’s other software.
a prominent feature
It sports a slick and simplistic
in the interface. The
interface that belies it’s true
Keynote toolbar gives
power. Before we move further
into the review let’s examine
Shown above is the main, graphical, view of a presentation you one-click access
to many of the actions
Keynote’s interface.
project.
you’ll use when creatThe Keynote window contains
ing presentations in Keynote. As you work in Keynote and
three sections—the slide canvas, slide organizer, and the
get to know which commands you use most often, you can
notes field—that let you see detailed views of your slides
add or remove buttons in the Keynote toolbar to make the
and slideshow as you work.
most common
The slide canvas is where you design each slide. You
Continued on Page 5
Keynote 1.x
T
3
Cover Story Continued effect. Digital
Cinema
From Page 1
AppleWorks Updates Span
Platforms
Apple has released a trio of minor updates
for AppleWorks, its integrated productivity
software that includes word processor,
spreadsheet, page layout, graphics, database, and presentation capabilities, as well
as compatibility with Microsoft Office
file formats. Three updates are available,
depending on your operating system and
version. AppleWorks 6.2.9 for Mac OS X
adds support for mice with scroll wheels,
improves printing, and enhances the reliability of the presentation environment.
AppleWorks 6.2.8 for Mac OS 8.1 through
9.x and the Mac OS X update resolve
issues with Web-based templates and
clip art on networks using proxy servers.
AppleWorks 6.2.1 for Windows, as well as
both of the Macintosh updates, improve
the spreadsheet module.
All three updates, available for free
to users of AppleWorks 6.0 or later for
Macintosh or 6.1 or later for Windows, are
available online. The Macintosh downloads
are 16 MB, and the Windows download is
6 MB. [MHA]
<http://www.apple.com/appleworks/
update/>
iCal 1.5.2 Released
Apple today updated iCal, its calendar
and personal organizer application, to version 1.5.2. The Info drawer is now optionally detachable, you can assign alarms or
add notes to To-Do items, and alarms
now include an option to display a message 15 minutes before the alarm goes off.
Also new is the capability to publish and
subscribe to calendars on servers located
behind firewalls, as well as more keyboard
shortcuts. iCal supports events in multiple
time zones, and has received other stability
and performance improvements. iCal 1.5.2
is available now via Software Update, or as
a 6.3 MB download. [JLC]
<http://www.apple.com/ical/>
Give Me Death and Give Me
Liberty
Research Software Design’s bibliography
and note-taking program Papyrus was
Continued on Page 5
including online, batch capture, consolidation, clip merge, and timecode
Desktop is
management tools. Compressor batch
the feature where you can use your
encoding tool for output to MPEG-1,
Apple monitor to view your HD,
MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and QuickTime.
SD, or DV (over a DVI connection)
XML interchange format for integravideo. You do not need to spend extra tion with other systems and producmoney on a video monitor. You can
tion workflows. EDL, ALE, audio
add motion graphics, from Apple’s
OMF, and film-list support. AAF
Motion application, seamlessly.
import/export from Automatic Duck
via XML interchange and efficiency. Editing
and trimming
controls. Editors
can now perform asymmetric and dynamic
trims, use
master clips,
gang playback between
windows, and
much more.
Featuring an
improved
Shown above is the new DVD Studio Pro 3 workspace. user interface,
the enhanced
Timeline
supports
variable
track
Other Features
heights,
keyframe
graphs,
Auto
Select
Final Cut Pro HD includes over 150
tools
andTime
remapping.
Using
keyreal-time-capable filters and tranframes,
editors
can
speed
up,
slow
sitions, support for real-time HD
down, reverse, or ramp playback
effects, and up to seven simultaneous
speed over time without rendering.
streams of fully uncompressed SD.
Frame blending is used to generate
Final Cut Pro HD supports 8- and
the highest-quality output possible.
10-bit uncompressed SD and HD
Industry-leading workflow and user
video formats, as well as compressed
interface design allow time-remapbroadcast-quality codecs. With builtping operations to be performed
in support for Panasonic’s DVCPRO
graphically in the Timeline. Advanced
HD and DVCPRO50 formats, Final
Cut Pro has the power to deliver both render engine. The Final Cut Pro HD
render engine is among the indusstandard- and high-definition 4:2:2
try’s most advanced, with support for
YUV broadcast video from the field
10-bit and HDR imaging (32-bit floator edit bay over a single FireWire
ing point). Composites and effects
connection. Audio Mixer with fader
rendered in Final Cut Pro HD are
automation and real-time audio
suitable for SD and HD mastering.
effects. Real-time color correction
Enhanced media management capawith scopes, monitors, and Frame
bilities include intelligent capturing
Viewer for comparing multiple shots.
of video across timecode breaks and
LiveType animated title generator
gaps in tape; project and sequence
for DV, SD, and HD. Soundtrack for
consolidation and transcoding; a
creating high-quality, royalty-free
multi-item properties window with
music that syncs to projects. Time
difference highlighting; the ability to
remapping for smoothly scaling and
ramping speed. Cinema Tools for film create master clips and affiliate clips;
match frame to master clip; match
projects; now supporting change lists
frame with “reveal in Browser”; the
and 16mm, 35mm (3- and 4-perf),
ability to edit nested sequences with
and PAL (25 fps) content editing at
24 fps. Extensive media management,
Continued on Page 6
4
Keynote Contʼd from Page 3
commands easily available.
Features
Continued
reviewed four years ago in “Best Footnote
Forward: Papyrus 8.0.7” in TidBITS-514_; a
couple of years later, development ceased.
(Coincidence? We hope not!) Now the program
has new life: the developer, Dave Goldman, is
giving it away free, and you can download it at
RSD’s new Web site. Papyrus runs under System
7 or higher, including Mac OS X’s Classic environment. [MAN]
<http://www.researchsoftwaredesign.com/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=05781>
Apple Unveils G5 Xserve, new Xserve
RAID
Apple lifted the cover on a significant upgrade
to the Xserve, its line of 1U (one-unit high) rackmount Mac OS X-based servers. The Xserve
G5 features single or dual 2 GHz G5 processors,
a 1 GHz frontside bus for each processor, an 8
GB RAM ceiling, an 80 GB Serial ATA drive with
support for up to 750 GB in three drive
bays, and an optional slot-loading CD-ROM
or DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo drive. In addition, the Xserve G5 offers two built-in Gigabit
Ethernet interfaces, two FireWire 800 ports, one
FireWire 400 port, two USB 2.0 ports, and two
full-length PCI-X expansion slots on independent
buses. (PCI expansion options include video and
SCSI support, additional Ethernet interfaces, an
Apple Fibre Channel card, or third-party RAID
support). Three configurations are available: a
stripped-down Cluster Node version (for
distributed applications such as video rendering)
with dual 2 GHz processors and a 10-client Mac
OS X Server license, as well as more traditional
Single Processor and Dual Processor configurations with unlimited client versions of Mac OS X
Server. Prices start at $3,000.
<http://www.apple.com/xserve/>
Apple also revamped the $6,000 Xserve
RAID, a 3U (three-unit high) rack-mount system
which offers up to 3.5 TB (terabytes) of storage in 14 hot-swappable drive bays. The Xserve
RAID connects to
Xserves using a 2 Gb Fibre Channel interface.
The new Xserve RAID sports throughputs of up
to 210 MB/second, and Apple also unveiled support for using the Xserve RAID with Linux and
Windows
systems. [GD]
<http://www.apple.com/xserve/raid/>
Continued on Page 6
Keynote utilizes many technologies
in MacOS X to make some very
visually appealing presentations.
Keynote gives you smooth text
and crisp graphics. Keynote lets
you add most standard file types
to your presentation—including
PDF, GIF, TIFF, JPEG, PICT, and
QuickTime—with drag-and-drop
ease, and displays crisp graphics,
smoothed text, and different levels
of transparency. Set off your points
with formatted text or image bullets. Add shadows and transparency to your images. Alignment
guides and position and size tags
help you size and position objects
precisely and consistently on the
slide canvas. Animate your slides
nizer, which keeps the entire presentation at your fingertips. You
can rearrange slides on the fly, or
arrange them into groups to help
you organize your thoughts. Or
you can use outline view, which
provides a list of the bulleted text
points in your presentation at a
glance. Resize and manipulate
graphics with sharp results every
time. You can choose from eight
different chart types, including pie
charts, bar charts, and line charts.
Formatting charts, tables, text,
graphics, and more is a snap with
the inspectors. Type or paste your
data into the Chart Data Editor.
Can’t design an attractive presentation to save your life? Apple
thought of that. Keynote comes
with predesigned themes. Keynote
makes it easy to develop compel-
Keynote ships with an assortment of professionally created themes.
You can just select one and jump right into creating a presentation.
with object builds, which draw
your tables or other items onto the
slide as you talk through them.
You can add images with alpha
channel masks, say a multilayered
Photoshop file, to add a unique
visual touch. You can adjust text
and image opacity in one of the
included inspectors. Keynote can
import and save out to Microsoft
Powerpoint.
Organizing your presentation is
also a snap with the slide orga-
ling presentations with a cohesive
look and feel. If you like to do-ityourself it’s easy to create your
own custom themes, too. (Or you
can look up one of the number
of web sites out there offering
Keynote themes for downloading.)
Pros
I’m one of the worst people to be
trying out Keynote. I have never
used a presentation program
Continued on Page 8
5
Cover Story Contʼd automatic
unnesting;
from Page 4
advanced
Continued
Apple Releases Final Cut Express 2
Apple announced Final Cut Express 2 at
Macworld Expo, an updated version of its
mid-range video editing software originally
introduced in January 2003. Final Cut Express
2 enhances its RT Extreme capability of playing back video layers, transitions, and effects
without having to render them first, and is
also optimized for the Power Mac G5
and Mac OS X 10.3 Panther. Audio improvements include real-time volume and filter
adjustment, automated audio keyframe
recording, support for Audio Units (the
Apple audio plug-in format for Mac OS X
applications), and the capability to export
markers for Apple’s Soundtrack application.
You can now also capture footage across
timecode breaks (a common issue encountered with consumer DV camcorders). Since
it’s built from the code base of Final Cut Pro
4, Final Cut Express 2 features a customizable
interface for creating shortcut buttons to
favorite functions and tweaking the appearance of many interface elements. Final Cut
Express 2 is available now for $300; upgrades
from Final Cut Express 1.0 cost $100. [JLC]
<http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress/>
Microsoft Announces Office 2004
for Mac OS X
Microsoft last week announced the upcoming release (sometime in the first half of this
year) of Office 2004 for Macintosh. The first
major revision to Office since the release
of Office X in fall 2001, the new Office
suite offers a new Project Center feature in
Entourage to link related bits of project data
and allow collaboration with shared material
on a file server or an iDisk.
<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/
officex/officex.aspx>
Other Mac-first features demonstrated
at Macworld Expo included section tabs and
a notebook view in Word 2004, and a new
page layout view in Excel 2004. Microsoft’s
Technology Guarantee Program offers a free
upgrade to Office 2004 when it becomes
available, to anyone purchasing Office X
between 06-Jan-04 and
30-Jun-04. Microsoft says this spring’s release
will offer three editions of Office; Office
Continued on Page 7
telecine operations; and support for Panasonic’s 24p DV and
DVCPRO50 devices.
updated. It has taken some cues
from it’s consumer counterpart,
iDVD, and added a graphical way
to view your project and all of its
files. DVD Studio Pro 3 includes
transitions that automatically create
new video to blend between menus
and between slides. A radical new
transition, Alpha Transitions, allow
you to create custom transitions.
With Alpha Transitions, users have
control over graphics that display
LiveType
LiveType Full-featured,professionalquality animated titling LiveType
introduces LiveFonts, the first 32bit, fully animated fonts. LiveFonts
provide color,
motion, and
expressive characteristics, offering
users an innovative approach
to professional
titling. LiveType
comes with
27 LiveFonts,
and with the
FontMaker utility, users can
create their own
animated fonts
with characters
Shown above is the Shake 3.5 workspace.
built from virtuduring the transition based on the
ally any graphical object— from
content in your menus and slides.
3D animations and images to video
You now can use both
clips. There are over 140 customizable effects, including fades, zooms, Dolby Digital and DTS audio
rotations, and other complex motion tracks. Improved integration with
Photoshop means that you can
behaviors; users can also create
control click on a graphic to edit it
their own styles using the powerin Photoshop. When you save the
ful keyframe animation and timing
change and go back to DVD Studio
controls in LiveType. The real-time
Pro, the project updates automatiwireframe preview window procally. Compressor 1.2 (included with
vides instant, accurate previews of
project behaviors and motion, elimi- DVD Studio Pro 3) offers the following benefits: HD scaling and encodnating the need for time-consuming
ing to MPEG-2 for today’s DVD
rendering. And a Canvas RAM preplayers. Using specialized optical
view allows users to see their work
flow technology, the Compressor
before rendering, saving additional
format conversion feature can scale
time.
frame sizes and change frame rates,
producing even better MPEG-2
DVD Studio Pro 3
video for DVD Studio Pro 3. With
The DVD has become a major force
Compressor, Final Cut Pro HD
in the video industry. In fact it’s
users can encode directly from HD
considered a vital component of
to MPEG-2. Jacket pictures are an
any video workflow. DVD’s have
optional part of the DVD-Video
become the hot way to shop around
a demo reel, or mix down a rough of specification; they allow a DVD
a movie for presentations. A DVD is player to display a graphic representing a DVD when the viewer
an awesome way to create sales and
stops playback (as opposed to a
marketing presentations, training,
and wedding videos. DVD’s are also generic graphic generated by the
player much like a computer shows
the final end of many video projects
a screen saver). Now wedding vidthemselves. Apple has updated their
eographers can create a wedding
own professional DVD authoring
DVD that shows a picture of the
solution, DVD Studio Pro.
couple when the DVD is stopped.
DVD Studio Pro 3 adds support for
New Features
The look of the program has been
Continued on Page 16
6
Music to Your Ears: 2003
by Dan
H
Frakes
EADPHONES. EVERYWHERE
you look, people are using
X is currently available in Standard Edition,
them with portable music players Professional Edition (which includes Virtual PC),
including the iPod - but they’re also
and a discounted Student and Teacher Edition.
extremely popular computer acces[MHA]
sories, used for watching DVDs,
<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/default.aspx?pid
playing games, and listening to
=office2004tg>
tunes at work or play. For thepast
two years I’ve been providing recTinderbox 2.1 Enhances HTML Export, ommendations for headphonegifts
Text Display
based on the premise that most
Eastgate Systems has released a minor update to headphones stink (especiallythose
their personal content manager Tinderbox (see
that come with portable audio de“Light Your Fire with Tinderbox” in TidBITS-651_). vices, but even many that you buy
New in Tinderbox 2.1 is a macro feature for
yourself in electronics stores). The
automatic text replacement, improved flexibility
bad news is that this hasn’t changed;
of HTML export, better support for anti-aliased
most still aren’t very good. The
text, and more. Tinderbox 2.1 costs $145 with
good news is that there are more
a year of free updates; a renewal of updates for
quality options available than ever,
another year costs $70. It’s a 4.4 MB download.
and prices seem to be getting better
[ACE]
every year. If someone in your life
<http://www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/>
uses headphones, give them a pair
that do their music/movies/games
Blue World Releases Lasso
justice.
Professional 7
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?
Blue World Communications has released
tbart=07012>
Lasso Professional 7, the latest version of its
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?
powerful Web-and-database serving middletbart=06657>
ware for Mac OS X and Windows. Version 7
features an embedded version of the MySQL
The response to the previous
database (enhancing both performance and
years’ articles was overwhelmingly
security), improved Unicode and extended
positive, so I’m revisiting my recomcharacter set support, significant data source
mendations from last year. A few
caching (which can dramatically improve permodels have been discontinued,
formance of
others have been replaced, and
some database-driven sites), dynamic manipulasome prices have changed. I’ve also
tion and generation of images, performance
added a few items based on feedenhancements specifically for folks serving
back from readers and evaluations
FileMaker Pro databases with Lasso, multi-server I’ve done over the past year. Below,
sessions (so user sessions can be tracked across
listed by type/style, are this year’s
multiple Lasso servers), support for Apache
recommendations. I’ve included
2, improved database transaction support,
approximate street prices in US dolenhanced support for dealing with SOAP, XML,
lars, and URLs for more information.
and WSDL-based Web services, hundreds of
(If an item is difficult to find, I’ve
new tags, and much more. Lasso Professional 7
also included a URL for a reputable
costs $1,000, although Blue World is offering a
vendor.)
$50 discount through
Note that there are definitely
31-Dec-03; upgrade pricing is available for previ- “better” headphones available than
ous versions. Lasso Professional 7 requires Mac
those listed below - especially if you
OS X 10.2 Jaguar with either Apache 1.3, Apache have a dedicated headphone ampli2, or WebSTAR V, and is fully optimized for Mac
fier that can drive them properly.
OS X 10.3 Panther and PowerPC G5 processors. However, the models listed below
A fully functional 30-day trial version is available
will play nice with the headphone
Continued
Continued on Page 8
jack of your iPod, PowerBook,
iBook, iMac, or Power Mac. Also
keep in mind that sound quality
between different models from the
same manufacturer often varies significantly. Just because a model from
a manufacturer is recommended
here doesn’t mean that another
model from that manufacturer is
just as good; there’s a good chance
it isn’t.
Earbuds
These models sit in your outer ear,
like the iPod earbuds.
•Sennheiser MX 400 ($13) or MX 500
($17): Considered by many to be the
best all-around traditional earbuds,
these two models are also among the
least expensive. People with small
ears may find them to be a bit big.
The MX 500 adds an inline volume
control.
<http://www.sennheiser.com/
sennheiser/icm_eng.nsf/root/
products_headphones_portables_
04854>
• Sony MDR-E888 ($65): Sony’s best
earbuds; they’re not quite as balanced as the MX 500, but they’re still
quite good. Unfortunately, they’re
almost four times the price. Sony
claims to have discontinued them,
but they’re still widely available,
especially online.
<http://www.audiocubes.com/
product_info.php?cPath=22_
30&products_id=429>
In-Ear-Canal Headphones
These “seal” in your ear canal to
block out external sound, and
they’re great for traveling. The main
drawback to in-ear-canal headphones is that some people don’t
like sticking things inside their
ears... way inside. Be sure to read the
included instructions on how to get
the right fit. Fortunately, all of the
models listed here include several
different sizes of rubber and/or
foam tips to help you achieve the
7
Keynote Cont’d
from Page 5
Continued
rom the Blue World Web site. [TJE]
<http://www.blueworld.com/>
Security Update 2003-12-05 Protects
Your Cookies
Responding to a security vulnerability where an
attacker could gain unauthorized access to a user’s
cookies in Safari, Apple has released Security
Update 2003-12-05. The update is available via
Software Update, as well as separate downloads for
Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar (a 1.3 MB download) and
Mac OS X 10.3 Panther (a 2.6
MB download). [JLC]
<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=12
0282>
Business Card Composer 2 Offers Online
Ordering
BeLight Software has updated Business Card
Composer, their elegant application for creating
attractive business cards. Most notably, Business
Card Composer 2 lets you order your custom business cards from an online print shop for reasonable
prices; the process works much like ordering photos from within iPhoto. Also new in Business Card
Composer 2 is support for custom card and paper
sizes, integration with Address Book for printing
cards for multiple people at once, and integration
with Google Image Search for finding new graphics
(although, as the software clearly warns, there are
likely copyright restrictions on the use of images
found on the Internet; in an ideal world, it would
let you search only for images distributed under
a Creative Commons license that allowed use).
Business Card Composer 2 is free to registered
users, although you must fill out an update form to
get a new license code; it’s a 7 MB download. [TJE]
<http://www.belightsoft.com/products/composer/
version2.php>
QuicKeys X2 2.0.2 Now PantherCompatible
CE Software has released the completed version
of their macro utility QuicKeys X2 2.0.2. The most
notable change is of course compatibility with
Mac OS X 10.3 Panther, since previous versions
of QuicKeys were expressly incompatible, and CE
made time-limited betas available upon Panther’s
release (see “Default Folder X and QuicKeys
X: Upgrade Before Panther!” in TidBITS-703_).
QuicKeys X2 2.0.2 also improves typing of text
shortcuts, better handles sheets and drawers during
Continued on Page 9
in my life.
Having
said that
Keynote was pretty easy to use.
Getting up and running was
quick and painless. The included
professional themes are a godsend. They made even my initial
attempts look beautiful. The built
in font handling was smooth and
looked great at any resolution. I
loved the transitions. Once you
get the hang of them it was a
piece of cake to add a transition.
In fact it was so easy you might
be tempted to overdo the transitions. I loved the export options.
disappointed with Keynote. I
found myself having to refer to
the documentation to find out
how to perform some of those
snazzy options. (Though this
might be attributed to my lack
of experience with presentation
programs.) Several cool features
are buried in Inspectors or contextual menu’s. Initial performance
of the program was ok, but not
spectacular. Apple released an
update for Keynote which seems
to have taken care of that issue.
Some folks have mentioned, with
the initial release, mixed results
importing their PowerPoint files
Shown above are some examples of slides using themes bundled
with Keynote. You can even import data and create charts.
It’s always hard to tell what
equipment someone else might
have. The ability to save to PDF
or Quicktime alleviate those concerns, and allow you to repurpose
your presentation for the web.
The built in image library was a
very pleasant surprise. They’re
high quality images too. So you
can print out your presentation
without worrying about low quality images marring your print
outs. Subtle touches, like transparency, are fun and addicting.
Cons
I hope you like inspectors. There
are several of them and you need
to consult them to tweak settings or image and text parameters. This can quickly lead to
a messy, or crowded screen. If
you’re someone who thinks all
Mac programs should be so drop
dead easy that you never need
a manual, you might be slightly
into Keynote, or exporting their
Keynote files to PowerPoint.
Conclusion
You have to give it to Apple.
They’ve taken a niche that everyone else had written off, presentation software, and came out with
an impressive offering. Keynote
follows Apple’s philosophy of
simplifying the complicated and
making things accessible for the
rest of us. The program almost
makes it fun to put a presentation
together. It doesn’t have every
feature of PowerPoint but it covers most of the bases. For most
folks Keynote is worth a serious
look.
8
Can CAN-SPAM Can Spam?
by Brady
Continued
macro recording, adds support for the new F16
key on Apple’s latest keyboards, and provides several other minor fixes. The update is free for registered users and is an 11.1 MB download. [ACE]
<http://www.ceso ft.com/products/qkx.html>
Netopia Releases Timbuktu 7
Bored with controlling only the computer in front
of you? Netopia has released Timbuktu 7, the latest
version of its software for managing remote Macs
and PCs. Timbuktu 7 adds support for Mac OS X
10.3 Panther (including Fast User Switching) and
includes a Profile service for getting Apple
System Profiler information from the remote
machine. It’s also now easier to work with computers behind NAT routers, thanks to new capabilities
to configure which port Timbuktu uses for network
traffic and choose which IP address is broadcast.
The program
requires Mac OS X 10.2.8 and higher, but Timbuktu
6.0.3 is also included for connecting to computers
running earlier system versions back to Mac OS
8.6. Timbuktu pricing starts at $95 for a single copy
and goes up to $1,650 for 30 licenses (however,
Netopia is running an end-of-year sale that reduces
those prices through 31-Dec-03). Upgrade pricing
depends on the version you’re currently using; you
must enter your serial number and activation code
online to view the upgrade price for your version.
[JLC]
<http://www.netopia.com/software/products/tb2/
mac/>
Apple Introduces 20-inch iMac
Just in time for the holiday shopping season, Apple
has released a new version of the flatpanel iMac that offers a 20-inch LCD screen with
a resolution of 1680 by 1050 pixels. The screen is
also brighter then the smaller models and offers
a higher contrast ratio. As far as other functional
specs go, the 20-inch iMac is identical to the 17inch iMac, with a 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 processor,
256 MB of RAM, 80 GB hard drive, SuperDrive,
and all the usual ports. The one interesting deviation from the 17-inch iMac is with the weight - the
20-inch iMac weighs 40.1 pounds (18.2 kg), 17.3
pounds (7.8 kg) heavier than the 22.8 pound (10.4
kg) 17-inch iMac. The new 20-inch iMac is available
immediately for $2,200 in the stock configuration, with all the usual build-to-order options. The
15-inch iMac remains priced at $1,300 and the 17inch iMac still costs $1,800. [ACE]
T
Johnson
ALK ABOUT DEJA VU. I
recall having written this
introduction for a TidBITS article
about spam before, each time
changing the unhappy statistics about spam volumes in an
upward direction. I always start
by looking at Brightmail and
other sites that track spam to see
how the efforts have fared so far.
Sad to say, the news has never
been good. Even Congress has
acknowledged this in the opening lines of the CAN-SPAM Act,
enacting this sorry comment into
law: “Unsolicited commercial
electronic mail is currently estimated to account for over half of
all electronic mail traffic, up from
an estimated 7 percent in 2001,
and the volume continues to rise.”
In fact, according to
Brightmail, spam is rising faster
than the mercury on a hot summer day. In 2002, spam accounted
for 40 percent of all email, meaning that if Congress’s 7 percent
number is correct, between 2001
and 2002 there was a nearly 600
percent increase. By the end of
2003 that number had soared to
58 percent. If the trend continues,
65 percent of our email will be
spam by the end of 2004.
<http://www.brightmail.com/
spamstats.html>
To stem this tide, Congress
has enacted the “Controlling
the Assault of Non-Solicited
Pornography and Marketing Act,”
or CAN-SPAM. On 16-Dec-03
President Bush signed the bill into
law and it became effective on 01Jan-04.
<http://www.spamlaws.com/
federal/108s877.html>
CAN-SPAM has generated
much discussion and debate, with
much of the wired community
angrily dismissing it as a deal
with the devil and the marketing
community hailing it as a significant step forward in the battle to
combat spam.
Reading the various commentaries on CAN-SPAM, it
quickly becomes clear that a key
disagreement turns on the defini-
tion of “spam.” To many regular
Internet users, “spam” includes
any unsolicited bulk email from
any source. To these users, CANSPAM addresses only a small subset of spam while legitimizing the
rest of it. The marketing community and others maintain that bulk
email that is not misleading or
deceptive is fair exercise of their
commercial free speech rights
and is no more objectionable than
junk snail mail. Thus, they claim
that it should not be included in
the definition of “spam.” To these
users, CAN-SPAM represents a
major step forward.
What Is “Spam” Anyway?
I feel obligated to point out
that spam is actually a pinkish
processed meat product made
by Hormel. Hormel has belatedly taken issue with using their
product’s name for noxious email
and is attempting to block trademarks that include “spam” such
as SpamArrest.
<http://abcnews.go.com/
sections/scitech/Business/
techtv_spam030801.html>
But to many folks, “spam” simply refers to any unwanted email
from a stranger trying to sell a
product, tout a position, advertise
a commercial Web site, or sway
the reader’s opinion in some way.
As anti-spam legislation has been
enacted in the various states, the
definition has morphed and narrowed to “unwanted commercial
email” or “UCE,” exempting noncommercial email such as political
or charitable solicitations. CANSPAM narrows this definition
even further.
CAN-SPAM uses the term
“spam” only in the title acronym
and in one
of the initial recitations.
(Recitations in a statute have no
legally binding effect and are
merely statements of policy reasons to aid courts in interpreting
it.) CAN-SPAM defines “commercial
electronic mail” as email, “the primary purpose of which is the
9
Music to Your Ears Contʼd
from Page 7
Continued
<http://www.apple.com/imac/>
Apple Releases 1.8 GHz Dual
Processor G5
Apple has released a new model of
the Power Mac G5, its 64-bit minitower computer aimed at professional and high-end Macintosh users.
The new model offers dual 1.8 GHz
PowerPC G5 processors (each with
a 900 MHz frontside bus) with prices
starting at $2,500. The new systems
slip into the middle of Apple’s G5
lineup, replacing a $2,400 configuration with a single 1.8 GHz processor;
otherwise, the specifications for the
Power Mac G5s remain unchanged,
save that they all now ship with Mac
OS X 10.3 Panther. (For details on
the changes in the Power Mac G5
architecture compared to previous
systems, see “Apple Announces 64-Bit
Power Mac G5s” in TidBITS-685_.)
However, Apple has reduced the
starting price of the 1.6 GHz single
processor system by $200 to $1,800.
The new dual-processor model
serves to highlight benefits of Mac OS
X’s multiprocessor capabilities, particularly in computationally intensive
areas like video and media production.
[GD]
<http://www.apple.com/powermac/>
Security Update 2003-11-19
Helps Panther, Jaguar
Apple released a pair of security updates last week via Software
Update, bringing both Mac OS X
10.2.8 Jaguar and Mac OS X 10.3.1
Panther up to the same security
level. Security Update 2003-11-19
improves OpenSSL security and fixes
a potential problem with third-party
applications using a print library. On
Macs running Jaguar, the security
update also fixes issues with Mail,
QuickTime for Java, Personal File
Sharing, and a few other vulnerabilities that were implemented in
the first release of Mac OS X 10.3
Panther (see “Security Update 2003-
most comfortable
fit.
•Etymotic ER-4P ($260): The best earbud/canal headphones on the planet,
in my opinion, and one of the best
headphones, period. The ER-4P actually
provide far more isolation (roughly -28
dB), and better sound, than any noisecanceling headphone on the market,
making them the ultimate travel headphones.
<http://www.etymotic.com/hifi/
micropro.asp>
•Shure E5 ($450-$500): Shure’s top-ofthe-line, the E5 use two drivers in each
earpiece instead of one. I personally
prefer the sound (and comfort) of the
Etymotics, but the E5 have become
quite popular in audio circles, and
some people prefer the way the E5
fit.
<http://www.shure.com/earphones/
eseries_e5c.asp>
•Etymotic ER-6 ($130): The “budget”
version of the ER-4P. These don’t sound
quite as good (most notably in the
bass), and don’t provide as much isolation (-20 dB), but they’re still excellent,
and are half the price.
<http://www.etymotic.com/
musicians/more6.asp>
•Shure E2c ($100): The “budget” version of the Shure E5 (with only a single
driver per earpiece), the E2c headphones are in the same class as the
Etymotic ER-6, but provide a different
tonal balance - more bass, but less
detail. They also fit slightly differently;
I find them a bit less comfortable than
the ER-6, but I’ve heard from more than
a few people who prefer the fit of the
E2c.
<http://www.shure.com/earphones/
eseries_e2c.asp>
•Sony MDR-EX71SL Fontopia ($45):
The successor to the EX70 mentioned
last year, these headphones don’t
impress me any more than the EX70,
especially their emphasis on bass and
lack of detail, but that’s mainly in
comparison to the excellent Etymotic
and Shure models. They’re still a good
value if you don’t want to splurge on
the Etymotics or Shures, and some people find them to be more comfortable.
<http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/
INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en//USD/
SY_DisplayProductInformationStart;sid=mZz_RaGQiw__ZZ5aH5b1Tu
6dbyyAXxxthcM=?
CategoryName=pa_Headphones_Fonto
piaEarbud&ProductSKU=MDREX71SL
&Dept=pa>
Earclips
Instead of using a headband like traditional headphones, the drivers on these
models clip/hang on each ear. They
tend to be quite comfortable, and won’t
mess up your hair. This style has grown
immensely in popularity over the past
few years, but the only ones I’ve heard
that I can recommend from an audio
perspective are the two Koss models
below.
•Koss KSC-35 ($30): The KSC-35 were
officially discontinued last year, but
they were so popular among headphone fans that Koss reintroduced
them “for a limited time.” (I put that
in quotes because it seems like more
of a PR tactic than a reflection of their
availability - Koss has been selling them
on their Web site for months.) Small,
lightweight, and comfortable, they offer
some of the best sound under $100.
They’re one of the best headphones
available for exercise and active use,
and one of the best bargains of any
type.
•Koss KSC-50 ($20): The “successor”
to the KSC-35, they’re available everywhere, but spend the extra $10 and get
the originals, which sound a tad better
and are more comfortable. I recommend the KSC-50 only if you can’t get
the KSC-35, or if you like the looks of
the newer model better. They’re hard to
beat for $20, though, regardless of the
type.
(Koss does not let you link directly
to headphone models at its Web site,
below. Go to Products and click the
Portable link to see the Koss models
included here.)
<http://www.koss.com/>
10
Can Spam Contʼd
from Page 9
Continued
10-28 Released” in TidBITS-704_). The
update
for Jaguar is a 4.6 MB download; the
update for Panther is a 1.3 MB download.
[JLC]
<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?ar
tnum=120278>
Creo Eases File Sharing with
Tokens
Have you found sharing files via email
frustrating? Email, as we’ve been predicting, is becoming increasingly unreliable,
thanks to spam-overloaded servers and
inaccurate filters, and, when we’re talking
about file sharing, encoding format troubles and attachment size limitations. Creo,
makers of the Six Degrees program
for managing email-based workgroups,
has come up with an alternative called
Tokens, which works with both the Mac
and Windows. Rather than attach your
huge Keynote presentation to an email
message to multiple people, you
use the $50 Tokens Creator to create a
several-kilobyte “token” that points back
to a compressed and encrypted version
of the Keynote file on your hard disk.
When your recipients receive the token
you sent, they double-click it to open it
in the free Token
Redeemer, which retrieves the presentation from your computer. Your computer
must be left on and connected to the
Internet to serve the file; if there are
other network obstructions (such as
firewalls) between the recipient and your
computer, Token Redeemer automatically
retrieves the file via Creo’s Tokens relay
service (which allows up to 5 GB per
month of transfer). After a basic installation on both sides, no setup is necessary,
and no one has to worry about user
accounts or passwords. Creo also offers
a $600 Tokens Server, which comes with
10 licenses for Token Creator and handles the file serving duties for all of them.
Tokens is definitely a 1.0 product, but it’s
interesting, and could serve an important
role in simplifying file transfer. [ACE]
<http://www.creo.com/tokens/>
commercial advertisement
or promotion of a commercial product
or service.” Political and charitable
solicitations are still excluded from
this definition, as are “transactional
or relationship messages,” which are
email messages from a party with
whom you have an existing connection of some kind.
CAN-SPAM gives the Federal
Trade Commission (FTC) the authority to change the definition of “transactional or relationship messages... to
the extent that such modification is
necessary to accommodate changes in
electronic mail technology or practices
and accomplish the purposes of this
Act.” However, the FTC does not have
authority to alter the definition of
“commercial electronic mail.”
Key CAN-SPAM Provisions
CAN-SPAM’s most severe prohibitions focus on certain types of deceptive and fraudulent email. These can
subject the spammer to substantial
criminal penalties of three years in
prison for a first offense and five
years for a subsequent offense, or for
deceptive commercial email that is
sent in furtherance of another felony.
This would include, for example, the
many messages claiming to be from
exiled political leaders seeking help
to launder and share their hoards of
untold wealth if only the recipient
would provide a valid bank account
number to them first. Those messages
- already the subject of prosecutions
under existing criminal statutes - are
subject to further criminalization
under CAN-SPAM.
Other criminal acts include using
a computer, server, or domain to send
or relay commercial email without the
lawful owner’s permission, and using
false headers or misleading subject
lines. These activities are also subject
to civil actions and penalties in addition to criminal prosecution.
CAN-SPAM uses an opt-out
model, requiring that all commercial
email include a method of opting out
of future mailings from the sender
and must include the sender’s real
email address and snail mail contact
information. The statute specifies that
spam must contain a mailto, Web link,
or other online mechanism that the
recipient can use to opt out. All commercial email subject to CAN-SPAM is
required to identify itself as an advertisement. The statute does not specify
how spammers should identify their
email, leaving that to the FTC, which
has until April Fools Day (01-Apr04) to publish the identifying marks
that spammers must use. Like other
provisions of CAN-SPAM, this identification requirement does not apply
to mail sent to anyone who has affirmatively consented to receiving the
messages.
CAN-SPAM considers certain
actions to be “aggravated violations”
potentially subject to more severe
penalties. These include the common
practice of harvesting email addresses
from various Internet sources and of
using “dictionary attacks.” Hijacking
someone else’s server is also an aggravated violation.
One heavily criticized component
of the Act is the provision preempting
all state laws addressing spam with
certain very limited exceptions. The
only state laws that survive this evisceration are those that prohibit falsity
or deception in commercial email such
as the Washington state statute and
large parts of the California statute,
and those that only incidentally affect
email. Examples of statutes with incidental effects on email would include
general computer trespass laws, consumer protection statutes, and other
laws that apply generally to conduct
that may sometimes include email.
That means that much existing state
law has fallen by the wayside and that
the California opt-in statute which
was to take effect this year has been
essentially nullified in most material
respects.
As far as enforcement goes, CANSPAM allows no private right of
action, meaning that individual victims of spammers cannot go to court
and sue for violation of the statute.
Authorized enforcers are the FTC and
other federal government agencies,
state Attorneys General, and Internet
service providers. It’s worth noting
that Internet service providers often
have their own acceptable use policies
relating to email and spam. The new
federal statute does not disturb these
private rules, meaning that an ISP
retains authority under those policies
to cancel or suspend a user and often
to claim damages, etc. for violation.
Leaving ISP authority in place provides an independent, if seldom-used,
basis of liability against spammers.
Will CAN-SPAM Work?
I don’t think so. CAN-SPAM is
Cont’d on Page 12
11
Music to Your Ears Contʼd from
Page 10
Lightweight, Over the Head
These are traditional over- the-head
headphones using a metal or plastic
headband. Koss has long been the
king of sound quality in this area, as
they have an entire line of portable
headphones that use a driver that
is much better than almost anything else on the market. However,
Sennheiser released a new line of
lightweight/portable headphones
last year that are excellent and give
the Koss models some competition.
•Koss PortaPro ($40): Variants of
the PortaPro have been around for
decades, and for good reason: it’s
hard to beat their sound for the
money, and they fold up into a small
bundle for travel. The headband
provides adjustable temple grips for
comfort.
•Koss SportaPro ($20): These are similar to the PortaPro (the same drivers)
but with less expensive construction
Can Spam Cont’dfrom Page 11
a decent enough starting point, but in
my opinion it has too many flaws to
make it effective to stop or even slow
spam.
CAN-SPAM’s good points are that
it is a federal statute and thus applies
uniformly throughout the United
States. This eliminates the sometimes
confusing patchwork of different laws
in the states that have enacted antispam statutes. It also goes a long way
toward resolving jurisdictional issues
involving whether a state has authority to control a business operating
outside its boundaries. These jurisdictional disputes were quite common
under state spam enforcement.
It’s also good to see the various
“aggravated violations” called out
and codified, since having them more
clearly made illegal will simplify the
job of prosecutors.
Also, anything that increases the
potential liability for spammers may
sway the economic balance of spam. If
sending spam could result in prison,
spammers will have to determine if
the rewards are worth the potential
risk. While added liability may not
impact the scofflaws who will ignore
any legal mandate or prohibition
and a headband you can wear over
your head or behind your neck. They
also include an inline mute button.
•Koss KTXPRO1 ($20): Similar to the
PortaPro but, like the SportaPro, these
headphones don’t have the same
build quality. They don’t fold up, but
they come in various colors and provide an inline volume control.
•Radio Shack Pro35A ($20-$40):
These are actually rebranded Koss
KTXPRO1 headphones, but in black/
silver instead of color. They vary
widely in price - if you find them
during one of Radio Shack’s frequent
sales, they’re the same price as their
Koss counterparts.
<http://www.radioshack.com/produ
ct.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&categ
ory%5Fname=
CTLG%5F007%5F003%5F004%5F000&
product%5Fid=33%2D1222>
•Sennheiser PX 100 ($40): The new
kid on the block, the PX 100 model is
an impressive alternative to the Koss
unless they are arrested, increasing the risk of prison or significant
monetary penalties will probably
scare off
businesses that might been considering skirting the law before.
But despite those good points,
CAN-SPAM’s flaws abound. Let’s
examine them.
International Problems
Unfortunately, CAN-SPAM applies
only in the United States. True, U.S.
law and international treatie do confer
jurisdiction on U.S. courts to address
issues arising internationally if they
impact the U.S. But while that may
sound nice on paper, it suffers from
two major problems.
First, there is the problem of actual
enforcement. Spammers operating
outside the U.S. are often not subject
to U.S. courts, and even where they
are, any judgment or court order is
worthless unless it can be enforced.
This fact means that the only way
an enforcement agency can compel a
foreign spammer to comply with the
law is via diplomatic pressure from
the U.S. Show of hands: how many
people think that enforcing U.S. spam
headphones listed above. They’re
extremely comfortable, and feature a
clever design that allows them to fold
up like a pair of glasses. (They even
include a hard, eyeglass-size carrying
case.) If you like bass, you’ll also like
their slight emphasis on the low end.
05206>
•Sennheiser PX 200 ($50): These are
the “closed” version of the PX 100,
meaning they seal over each ear to
block out some degree of external
noise. The PX 200 headphones are
more balanced sounding than the PX
100, but are more sensitive to placement - if you don’t get a good seal on
your ears, they can sound a bit thin.
05207>
law is likely to become a high priority
for U.S. diplomatic efforts any time
soon? Now, if we could show that
spammers were actually fronts for terrorist organizations...
Second, CAN-SPAM’s opt-out
approach is directly at odds with the
approach taken by much - perhaps
most of the rest of - the first world.
The European Union has adopted a
Directive (a policy document) that
establishes an opt-in approach. Each
individual member nation must then
enact specific laws implementing the
Directive. (The first URL below goes
to the English language version of the
Directive; the second URL leads to
versions in other languages.)
<http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/pri/
en/oj/dat/2002/l_201/
l_20120020731en00370047.pdf>
<http://europa.eu.int/information_
society/topics/ecomm/useful_information/
library/legislation/text_en.htm#dir_
2002_58_ec>
Australia has also adopted an optin law broadly prohibiting commercial email being sent to Australians.
12
Music to Your Ears Continued from
Page 12
Street Style, Behind the Head
Like earclips, this style has become
quite popular - Sony’s emphasis on
their Street Style line has ended up
naming the entire genre. They clip
over each ear, but include a headband
that goes behind the head/neck for
stability. Unfortunately, there aren’t
too many choices if sound quality is
important to you.
•Koss KSC-55 ($15-$20): These are
basically the Koss KSC-50, mentioned
above under Earclips, but with the
behind-the-headband. Unfortunately,
if you have a large head, they have a
viselike grip.
•Sony Street Style MDR-G72LP ($30):
Although I’m personally not a big
fan of the sound of the G72, they’re
some of the most popular street style
headphones on the market, mainly
because they’re very comfortable
and they fold up for easy storage.
(Search for “G72LP” at Sony’s Web
site below.)
<http://www.sonystyle.com/>
<http://www.millionbuy.com/
snymdrg72lp.html>
Vertical In-Ear
These models have a thin headband
combined with earbud-sized earpieces
that sit vertically (facing forward) in
each ear. They tend to be very comfortable, and are good choices for
exercise. Unfortunately, there aren’t
many good options in terms of sound;
I’ve found only one I can recommend.
•Sony MDR-A44L ($20): These headphones sound quite good, and have
a much wider headband than most
models in this category, making them
even more comfortable than most.
(Search for “A44L” at Sony’s Web site
below.)
<http://www.sonystyle.com/>
snymdra44l.html>
Full-Size Sealed/Closed
These headphones fit over or around
the ears and block out some degree of
external noise; they’re good for travel
or use in noisier environments (the
isolation also saves others from having to listen to your music). On the
other hand, they tend to be quite a bit
bulkier than most of the headphones
mentioned so far.
•Beyerdynamic DT 250-80 ($150):
These are possibly the best traditional
sealed headphone that can be adequately driven by a portable device
or computer; they’re very comfortable
Can Spam Contʼd from Page 12
In short, while it seems likely that
most spam comes from the U.S. or is
touting products and services of U.S.based companies, opt-in appears to
be the model of choice in most of the
technologically developed world, with
the U.S. falling out of step with the
rest of the global community.
These conflicting approaches are
likely to cause problems similar to,
and perhaps worse than, those that
existed within the U.S. before the
federal law was passed, and when
there were various state statutes with
differing mandates and standards.
In the U.S., at least all of those states
were subject to the same federal government and general rules of legal
analysis and interpretation. On the
international scene, the problems
caused by such wildly conflicting antispam models are likely to be worse.
Since the U.S. law is less restrictive,
it appears to me that the E.U. nations
and Australia may continue to be
flooded with spam that is legal in the
U.S., but illegal in their countries.
Opt-Out Problems
The unfortunate choice of an opt-out
model requires that recipients contact
the sender to opt out of future messages. While this may work for legitimate marketers who actually include
a working unsubscribe mailto or Web
link in the message, most spam is not
legitimate, and use such links merely
as unscrupulous means of confirming or harvesting email addresses. By
encouraging people to use these optout links, CAN-SPAM may actually
increase the amount of illegal spam.
It also potentially increases the risk of
identity theft and other crimes targeting the unsophisticated Internet user.
Enforcement Problems
CAN-SPAM puts the entire burden
of enforcement on the shoulders of
already overworked federal and state
enforcement agencies, which show
no signs of rushing to prioritize spam
enforcement. It seems likely that ISPs
will take action, but most ISPs lack the
resources to mount intensive investigations to track down spammers in
other countries, or to support the sort
of litigation that may be required to
bring them down.
To be fair, prior to CAN-SPAM, most
enforcement had to take place at the
individual level, much of it in states
without strong anti-spam statutes.
Most individuals can’t afford the
expense of a full-fledged spam investigation any more than many ISPs
can. But CAN-SPAM does not permit
individual victims to file private suits
for violating its terms. It seems counterproductive not to allow individual
enforcement since it would both aid in
the overall effort to combat spam, and
would result in remedies to the actual
spam victims - the end users - in cases
where the spammer could be found
and held accountable.
Lastly, even once spammers are
dragged into court, CAN-SPAM may
suffer from loopholes. For instance,
the “primary purpose” prong of the
spam definition means that spammers can include personal notes in
their messages that incidentally offer
something for sale, then argue that the
solicitation was not the “primary purpose” of the email. I suspect that most
people reading this have received
spam along the lines of: “Hi there!
How are you doing? I am having a
great time. By the way, I ran across
this item <insert product here> and
thought you might be interested.”
While this ambiguity may not pass
the laugh test in court, it is the sort
of thing that will almost certainly
have to be tested in court before it
has any appreciable impact, thus further delaying any potential benefit
until one of the authorized enforcers
chooses to put the question to a judge.
This is another reason that individual
enforcement would have been a good
thing - it seems more likely that an
individual or consumer group would
take up this issue sooner than I expect
one of the authorized enforcers to do
13
Product Review:
info will be welcome.) The iTunes portion,
as well as the Music Match portion, give
you a complete overview of the software
and how to use it. This section wraps up by
discussing the iTunes Music Store and gives
you a full run down, from setting up an
account to downloading and burning your
by Monte Ferguson
purchased music.
The third section moves beyond the
HE IPOD: THE MISSING MANUAL
music
capabilities of the iPod. Many people
carries on the mission of this series
are
unaware
that the iPod can do much
of books, to be the manual that should
more
than
store
and play music. The iPod
have been in the box. Oh sure Apple does
can
store
the
contents
of your address book,
include a utilitarian manual with it’s iPod’s
your
calendars,
text
and
voice notes (newer
but beyond the basics you’re pretty much
models),
ebooks
can
be
stored
and read on
on your own. The Missing Manual series
the
iPod,
audio
books
can
be
downloaded
fills in the gaps by providing a thorough
and played back, there are even
examination of all of the features and
What you get:
games you can play built into your
capabilities of the iPod. But don’t think
Author: J.D. Biersdorfer
iPod. The iPod can also be used as
of this as just a boring read. Although
Publisher: O’Reilly & Associates
an external FireWire hard drive.
it’s billed as a manual the writing style
July 2003
(You can even use it as a bootable
is less dry details and more discussion.
Series: The Missing Manuals
hard drive, Mac only, useful if you
The author spends as much time sharing
ever need to start off another drive
Length:
344
pages
tips as explaining features. The book can
to fix your computer’s internal hard
Price: $24.95
be used by both Mac and Windows iPod
drive.)
users.
The fourth, and final, section moves
The book is laid out in an easy to
beyond
the
standard
uses
of the iPod. The author calls this
navigate manner. As any good manual should, it doesn’t
extreme
iPodding.
If
you’re
familiar with the iPod this will
assume that you know anything. It guides you from the
be
the
most
interesting
part
of the book. Have you ever
basics and builds from there. But this is not one of those
thought
about
hooking
up
your
iPod to a home or car steDummies books. The tone throughout is like having
reo?
This
section
covers
how
to
do
that. It also talks about
a friend, who has owned an iPod for a bit, giving you
hacking
the
iPod.
It
discusses
Applescript
and shareware
advice, tips, and tricks that they picked up along the way.
iPod
hacks.
Linux
users
will
be
happy
to
know
that they’re
The book itself is laid out in several major sections. You
not
forgotten.
This
section
also
covers
how
to
hook
up an
don’t have to read the book front to back to get the most
iPod
to
a
Linux
machine.
out of it. However, I’d recommend scanning the parts
The very end of the book covers several topics that do
you’re already familiar with. The author sprinkles some
very helpful tips and suggestions throughout each section. not relate to the operation of the iPod, but will enhance
your iPod experience. One portion discusses the wide
I personally found a gem or two, such as a suggestion for
array of add-ons and accessories for the iPod. If you’re
some iPod shareware, that were particularly helpful.
looking to trick out your iPod experience this will give
The first section is devoted to the iPod hardware itself.
you a place to start your search. Another portion points
This section discusses all of the parts of the iPod, and it’s
to web sites devoted to the iPod and iPod owners. Lastly,
controls. You’ll learn how to get the most out of the built
there is a troublehsooting section.
in controls. This section also discusses how to sync music
iPod the
Missing Manual
T
collections, as well as files, between your computer and
your iPod.
The second section dives into the whole issue of audio
formats. Yes, this might seem a bit dry, but I highly recommend reading it anyway. Why? Because it gives you the
basis to understand the whole digital music file format,
and compression rates. Once you’ve mastered those ideas
you can figure out which format, and what compression
rate, works best for you when you want to convert your
music to digital files. The author does a very thorough job
explaining these points. Once you’ve mastered the details
of music formats the author then moves onto the software you need to actually convert your music into digital
audio files; iTunes, and MusicMatch Jukebox. (Yes, the
book came out before iTunes for Windows was released.
However, for those who prefer Music Match Jukebox the
Conclusion
If you’ve had this feeling that you’re not using the full
potential of your iPod. This book is for you. Considering
the wide appeal of the iPod, this book will make a great
gift for any Mac or Windows user. The book has a friendly,
inviting tone throughout but it doesn’t skimp on the
details. This book offers a wealth of information. There is
something in there for readers of any skill level, or familiarity with the iPod. I highly recommend this book.
14
Music to Your Ears Cont’d (with
nice
from Page 13
velour
earcups) and have great sound.
<http://www.beyerdynamic.com/
com/product/sheets/d225.php3>
•Sony MDR-V6 ($70). Quite comfortable, foldable for travel, and built like
a tank, the V6 are studio monitors,
which means you get a more analytical sound (lots of detail, but some
people find the sound fatiguing after
a while). The MDR-V6 are identical
to the “pro” line MDR-7506 that sell
for $40-$50 more, but are very different from the MDR-V600, which are
nowhere near as good.
snymdrv6.html>
•Sennheiser HD 280 Pro ($100): Like
the Sony MDR-V6, these are studio
monitors that fold up for travel.
They don’t have the impressive bass
response of the V6, but the 280 Pro
offer the most isolation of any headphones save the Etymotic and Shure
models mentioned above.
products_headphones_professionals_04974>
•Sennheiser HD 212 Pro ($50): From
Sennheiser’s more affordable 200series line, the HD 212 headphones
aren’t as balanced as the HD 280,
above, but they have more impressive
bass response and are
a bit more comfortable for some
people.
products_headphones_dj_05180>
* Beyerdynamic DT 231 ($90): These
are good, closed headphones that
probably fall between the two
Sennheiser models mentioned above,
both in cost and performance.\
<http://www.beyerdynamic.com/
com/product/sheets/d428.php3>
•Koss UR29 ($30): Although not as
impressive sounding as the other
closed models above, the UR29 headphones still sound good, which is
quite an achievement given their low
price! They have a
bit of emphasis on the bass, which
may be good or bad depending on
your preferences. The UR29 fold up
when not in use and include an inline
volume control.
Full-Size Open
Like the closed models above, these
are
bulkier than most portable headphones. However, unlike the closed
models, they don’t seal out any external noise (or seal in your music), so
they’re best suited for home use.
•Grado SR-60 ($70) or SR-80 ($90):
Some people think these Grado models look “old fashioned,” but that’s
part of their charm. That and the great
sound you get for the money - the SR80 are a major
bargain in high-end headphones, and
the SR-60 aren’t far behind.
<http://www.gradolabs.com/
product_pages/sr80.htm>
<http://www.gradolabs.com/
product_pages/sr60.htm>
•Sennheiser HD 497 ($60): An excellent pair of home headphones that
are also extremely comfortable, the
HD 497 sound great directly out of an
iPod or computer.
products_headphones_homeuse_minihifisystems_05179>
Style over Substance
I prefer good sound in a headphone
to a fault - I’ll wear the ugliest headphones around if they sound good.
But I’m open-minded enough to realize that not everyone has the same
preferences. Some people see their
headphones as an extension of their
appearance, and legitimately care
what they look like. Here are some
of the “chic-est” of headphone chic.
When compared to the sound of the
other headphones I recommend, they
come up a bit short, but they’re still an
upgrade over the stock headphones
that come with most portable players.
•Bang & Olufsen A8 ($150): B&O has
traditionally offered impressively
designed products with better-thanaverage-but-not-as-good-as-the-good-
stuff sound quality, and the A8 are no
exception. They offer an innovative
design that’s a bit
of a cross between earbuds and
earclips. Whatever you call the design,
they’re certainly stylish.
<http://www.bang-olufsen.com/
sw711.asp>
•Audio-Technica ATH-EM7 ($75): If
you think the Koss earclips recommended above are simply too ugly for
your ears, give these a look - you can’t
get much more high-tech-looking.
With brushed
aluminum earpieces and clips that
adjust to fit different ear sizes, these
are both very comfortable and very
cool.
product_info.php?products_id=308>
•Audio-Technica ATH-EW9 Sovereign
($200): For the iPod owner who
has everything, I give you AudioTechnica’s flagship earclip: a version
of the ATH-EM7, above, with earpiece
enclosures made of Hokkaido cherry
wood.
product_info.php?products_id=618>
Noise-Cancelling
These gadgets feature a processor that
“cancels” out external noise in a
limited frequency range. Until last
year I couldn’t recommend any
headphones in this category because
noise-canceling technology is still no
match for good old isolation (see the
Etymotic and Shure models above),
and because almost every model on
the market sacrificed audio quality for
noise-canceling circuitry, leaving you
with fairly poor sound. But there’s
finally a pair of noise-canceling headphones worth mentioning.
•Sennheiser PXC 250 ($130): Virtually
the same headphones as the PX 200
recommended above, but with noisecanceling circuitry. Lightweight, comfortable, and offering excellent sound
in a fold- up design, these are a good
travel solution if you don’t like in-earcanal models. They’re also great computer headphones - the noise-canceling feature is perfect for neutralizing
the droning noise of computer fans.
15
Cover Story Continued
from Page 6
DVDRW,
final product is natural and
seamless. Shake has played a part
in the last seven motion pictures
that have won the Academy
Award for Best Visual Effects—
going back to Titanic. Shake was
the primary compositor for both
last year’s winner, The Lord of
the Rings: The Two Towers, and
this year’s The Lord of the Rings:
DVD+R, and DVD+RW. DVD
Studio Pro 3 can import projects
from iDVD 4. Menu editor-Copy
and paste buttons, drop zones,
and text objects within a menu
BBEdit 7.1 Adds Live HTML Preview and
and from one menu to another.
Subtitle editor-Copy and paste
SFTP
formatBare Bones Software has released BBEdit 7.1, a free
ted text
update to the company’s powerful text and HTML
(font and
editing program that adds a handful of welcome features. Most notable is the Preview in BBEdit command, size) from
one subwhich displays the HTML page you’re working on in
title clip to
a BBEdit window using the WebKit rendering engine
another,
that’s also at the heart of Safari. The truly cool part is or from
that it’s a live preview, with
an outside
updates appearing automatically seconds after you
text edimake a change to the HTML code. Though the page
tor to a
may not look perfect due to missing graphics or serv- subtitle
clip. You
er-side processing, BBEdit’s Preview makes
tweaking Web pages far faster and easier than before can also
copy and
(though you’ll really want a second monitor to hold
Shown above is Apple’s new pro motion graphic
paste butthe extra windows). Also new in BBEdit 7.1 is support
tons from
application called, appropriately, Motion.
for SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol), which provides
one subThe Return of the King.
encrypted FTP sessions when there’s a compatible
title clip to another. Script ediversion of sshd running on port 22, as is true of Mac
tor-Copy and paste command
New Features
OS X machines when Remote Login is selected in
lines, within a script and from
Shake 3.5 provides shapethe Sharing preference pane. Lastly, if you’re working
one script to another, directly in
based morphing and warpthe Script editor. This makes it
with FTP servers on
ing for fantastic shape shifting
your local network, BBEdit’s FTP dialogs now support easy to duplicate common script
or seamless corrective effects.
steps. Slideshow editor-Copy
Rendezvous for discovering FTP and SFTP servers.
Morphing and warping shapes
and paste slides within a slideBBEdit 7.1 is a 15.2 MB download; it’s free for regisuse the standard spline tools,
tered users of BBEdit 7.0. New copies cost $180, with show, and from one slideshow to making it more intuitive to creanother.
a variety of upgrade and cross-upgrade discounts
Most of these changes may not ate and modify an effect than
with mesh-based warping tools.
available. [ACE]
seem sexy to the average person.
Morphing and warping further
<http://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/>
However, they are welcome, and
enhance the visual effects tools in
downright handy, for the profesShake, including layering, trackApple Updates Panther to 10.3.1
sional videographer. Apple has
ing, rotoscoping, painting, and
Late today, Apple released an update to Mac OS X
given video pro’s more options
color correction. Shake 3.5 also
for output, storage, and formats
10.3 Panther, saying version 10.3.1 offers “enhanced
includes built-in keying capabiliof assets that may be included
functionality and improved reliability” with Panther’s
ties: Photron Primatte and CFC
with the project. The addition of
FileVault document encryption feature, printing techKeylight, two industry-leadnology, WebDAV networking, and FireWire 800 drives. a graphical view of a project adds ing professional keyers. Shake
to the ease of use of the program.
Some people have reported that FileVault’s Reclaim
Qmaster manages rendering of
Disk Space feature wipes out personal data and pref- Shake
Shake and Maya scripts across
networked G4- and G5-based
erences; hopefully this update addresses that problem, Of all of Apple’s pro video offersystems, freeing up local combut it’s not clear exactly what has been fixed. Our
ings, Shake is the least likely to
advice is still to avoid FileVault until it has seen more
be known or understood by most puters for other work. Projects
can be rendered at any resolureal- world use without problems.
people. However, we’ve seen
tion and bit depth in a variety
The FireWire 800 fixes supposedly address widely the results of using this impresof image file formats, including
sive compositing program. Many
reported user problems with external FireWire 800
TIFF, Cineon, and IFF.
major motion pictures use this
drives becoming corrupted when
product to help produce some of
computers are restarted after a Panther installation.
Features
the biggest movies. Compositing
Apple says they’ve “identified an issue with external
The intuitive, tree-based composmeans taking several visual eleFireWire hard drives using the Oxford 922 bridge
iting interface of Shake simplifies
ments, say a background and
building and modifying comchip-set with firmware version 1.02 that can result in
separate foreground shot with
plex visual effects. Any image in
the loss of data stored on the disk drive,” and they
live actors, and layering them
together in such a way that the
Continued
16
Music to Your Ears Cont’d (My
office
from Page 15
Continued
still recommend upgrading the firmware of
such hard drives, even though this software
update apparently addresses some of the
problem. In an omission we find concerning, Apple says nothing
about FireWire 400 drives, though reports
of problems running Panther with those
drives continue to appear. Again, we caution restraint with all external FireWire
drives until user reports appear, and if
you must use one under Panther, make
frequent backups and avoid restarting
with the drive plugged into the Mac. The
Mac OS X 10.3.1 Update is available via
Software Update, and
is a 1.3 MB download. [MHA]
WPA Weakness Discovered, but
Easily Solved
Following last week’s article about the
implementation of WPA (Wi-Fi Protected
Access) in AirPort Extreme cards and base
stations (see “AirPort
3.2 Update Adds New Security Options” in
TidBITS-704_), a security expert alerted
me to a weakness in choosing keys for the
WPA system. The weakness applies to the
AirPort 3.2 update as well as to all other
consumer WPA-enabled Wi-Fi systems.
Basically, choosing a key comprised entirely
of real words that are 20 characters or
fewer leaves you open to that key being
broken rather easily. The solution? Choose
a longer key or invent 20 characters of
gibberish. If you’re particularly securityconscious, use the option Apple provides
to enter 256 bits of encryption, which is
32 hexadecimal bytes or 64 hexadecimal
digits! That’s overkill, however. In last week’s
article, it wasn’t clear why Apple even
offers the hexadecimal option when other
devices from Buffalo and Linksys don’t;
now it appears that Apple provides all of
the options for entering WPA keys, where
the other manufacturers don’t. I’ve written more about this issue and posted my
colleague’s paper on the subject at Wi-Fi
Networking News. [GF]
<http://wifinetnews.com/archives/
002453.html>
Cont’d on Page 19
has
two Power Macs, a G4 and G5, and
the PXC 250 headphones “silence”
them impressively, making the
Sennheisers my favorite headphones
for listening to music during work,
or even for just “listening” to silence
when I’m
trying to concentrate.) Even more
impressive, the PXC 250 are less than
half the price of the (overpriced)
Bose offerings
that seems to be advertised in every
magazine in America.
04924>
Wireless
For use at home, wireless systems
let you move around without being
tethered to your audio source by
cables. Like noise-canceling headphones, it used to be difficult to
recommend a wireless headphone
system because they sounded lousy,
even
compared to cheap wired headphones. However, a couple of
impressive systems have surfaced
over the past few years that
make wireless a viable, if not perfect,
option for those who value good
sound.
•Amphony H1000 ($130). One of
the least expensive wireless systems on the market, but also one
of the better sounding options. The
Amphony system uses a technology that combines digital and radio
frequency technology to provide
clearer sound with less interference.
They’re also quite comfortable. One
caveat for wireless network users:
the Amphony system uses a set of
frequencies very close to those of the
2.4 GHz 802.11b (AirPort) wireless
protocol, and the two do not co-exist
well.
<http://www.amphony.com/
products/head.htm>
•Freespan xdream ($200). Another
great sounding, and comfortable,
wireless system, the xdream uses
infrared technology rather than radio
waves. The downside is that you
need to have line of sight between
yourself and the transmitter; the
upside is that there is no radio frequency interference (a major problem in most homes nowadays).
<http://www.xdreamfones.com/>
Headphone Amps?
If you’re serious about sound quality,
you might also consider a dedicated
headphone amplifier. Many people
make the mistake of thinking that a
headphone amplifier is for increased
volume. Although that might be a
benefit (and a danger to your hearing, if you aren’t careful), the main
reasons for
using a headphone amplifier are (1)
the ability to drive harder- to-drive
headphones; and (2) sound quality.
Headphone amplifiers generally provide the necessary power for your
headphones to keep up with the
music, even during complex transients. In addition,
some, like amps from HeadRoom
Corporation, offer a “crossfeed”
processor that makes the extreme
left/right imaging common in headphones sound a bit more natural (i.e.,
closer to the sound of speakers or
even a live performance).
Headphone amplifiers connect
to a line-level output (preferred) or
headphone jack (if necessary) on
your audio source. For portable use,
HeadRoom offers their AirHead
($150) and Total AirHead ($200).
These portable amps are perfect for
using with an iPod or PowerBook (or
even with a desktop Mac). They run
off of AAA batteries and provide two
headphone jacks for music sharing.
The newest models, just released,
also have a slim profile case that
is approximately the same width
and height as the iPod. (In fact,
HeadRoom sells a bag that holds the
iPod and amp as a package.) Other
portable options include numerous
DIY or DBSE (“done by someone
else”) amps, with lots of information
available on the
Web. For non-portable amps, the
selection is surprisingly varied.
HeadRoom probably has the largest
variety, both of their own amps and
Cont’d on Page 18
17
those from other manufacturers, but much more
info is
available online at some of the URLs listed below.
(Disclaimer: I’ve done a bit of editing for HeadRoom.
However,
I was a satisfied customer long before that.)
<http://www.headphone.com/layout.php?topicID=3&sub
TopicID=27>
<http://www.jmtaudio.com/>
<http://www.tangentsoft.net/audio/>
<http://headwize2.powerpill.org/projects/index.htm>
Music to Your Ears Cont’d
from Page 17
Where to Buy?
I’ve listed links to retailers for those
products that aren’t widely available. Most of the other
models can be found in the United States at a good headphone-only retailer like HeadRoom or GoodCans. A few
of the Koss, Sony, and Sennheiser models can be found
at electronics chain stores. Web retailers like Amazon and
Buy.com also carry a number of the products mentioned
here.
<http://www.headphone.com/>
<http://www.goodcans.com/>
<http://www.amazon.com/>
<http://www.buy.com/>
If sound quality isn’t your primary goal, and you’re
instead looking for the latest in headphone chic, Audio
Cubes and MiniDisco both carry a wide variety of styleover-sound models. They both also carry a number of
better sounding headphones, including models I’ve recommended here.
<http://www.audiocubes.com/>
<http://www.minidisco.com/>
Finally, if you’re interested in learning more about,
or just talking about, good headphone audio, check out
Head-Fi and HeadWize.
<http://www.head-fi.org/>
<http://www.headwize.com/>
This article was oiginally published in TidBits
Magazine #710, 12/15/03 and is reprinted with permission of the Author.
MacPAD: The Future of Mac Software Updates
by Adam C. Engst
E
VERY NOW AND THEN I RUN
across a developer doing something so obvious and cool that I think,
“Well, it’s about time!” Through a
total coincidence, that happened
just last week, when Julian Miller of
Script Software called to chat about
his latest products. After we’d talked
about Easy Card Creator and iKey (a
macro utility that used to be called
Youpi Key) and iClock (SuperClock
on steroids), Julian asked if I’d heard
about the MacPAD project. I hadn’t,
and he started telling me about
MacShareware.net, a software update
site along the lines of VersionTracker
and MacUpdate. I commented that
I mostly relied on developer sites
to find updates for products I use,
though I have forever remained disappointed that Apple never opened
Software Update up to outside Mac
developers. As Julian continued
describing MacPAD, I realized it could
at long last provide the
underpinnings of a Software Update
for Everyone Else.
<http://www.scriptsoftware.com/>
Introducing MacPAD
MacPAD is the brainchild of Ricardo
Batista, a Macintosh developer
best known for writing Extensions
Manager, Apple’s utility for managing extensions and control panels in
the classic Mac OS. As a developer,
Ricardo had become frustrated with
the existing software update sites for
a variety of reasons, and being a
developer, he didn’t simply get mad,
he got even by creating his own software update site -MacShareware.net
- with an eye toward addressing
those aspects of the other sites that he
didn’t like. I haven’t particularly used
MacShareware.net, so I can’t say how
successful it is, though I do appreciate the site’s policy of having a person
review all submissions and comments
before posting them. Hopefully that
addresses the complaints I’ve heard
from developers about ill-informed
and misleading comments about their
products on other software update
sites.
<http://macshareware.net/>
One of the areas Ricardo hoped to
improve was the submission process.
Right now, if you’re a developer with
a new product, you must manually
submit your product to multiple sites,
each with their own different system
and requirements. That’s a pain, and
it’s not only unnecessary, it’s a problem that’s been solved in the Windows
world via a technology called PAD
(Portable Application Descriptions)
and developed by the Association
of Shareware Professionals. PAD is
essentially an XML file containing a
full and rigidly formatted description of a product, and most of the
Windows software update sites prefer
to receive submissions in the form of
PAD files, since that makes life easier
for both developers and webmasters.
Ideally, the developer merely puts a
PAD file on her Web site and gives the
software update sites the appropriate
URL for them to check on a regular
basis for new versions. If you’re into
reading your news via RSS feeds, you
can think of a PAD file as an RSS feed
for software updates.
<http://www.asp-shareware.org/
pad/>
As much as the PAD format was
clearly the right direction, Ricardo
felt it was overly complex and not
appropriate to the Macintosh world,
so he created - with input from
other developers - a simplified version called MacPAD. Along with the
XML file format and tools that run
on MacShareware.net to query developer sites for updated MacPAD files,
Ricardo and others have created an
open source software development kit
(SDK) with which developers can add
support for MacPAD to their applications, and that’s what interests me.
Cont’d on Page 21
18
News Contʼd from Page 17
AquaMinds’ NoteTaker share a common
lineage; Matt Neuburg reviewed NoteTaker
in
“Take Note of NoteTaker” in TidBITSNew Snapz Pro X 1.0.9 Works
677_
and I’ve been using NoteBook for
Better with Panther
a while now.) New in NoteBook 1.2 is a
Ambrosia Software has released Snapz
1-Step HTML Export feature that enables
Pro X 1.0.9, improving compatibility with
users to export a single page or an entire
Panther (version 1.0.8 wasn’t working
notebook to HTML, with a range of cusfor me at all), and fixing a couple of bugs.
tomization options. For those keeping
Ambrosia also removed the Internet versensitive data in NoteBook, a new security
sion checking feature for unspecified reaframework lets you password-protect your
entire notebook and optionally encrypt
sons. Snapz Pro X 1.0.9 is a free update
for registered users; it’s a 4.4 MB download. specific pages. Other new features include
enhanced sorting, more powerful searchNote that if you received Snapz Pro X for
free with your Macintosh, the update is not ing, color choices for action items, fully
illustrated online help, numerous bug fixes,
free, presumably since Apple didn’t license
Panther compatibility (though I’m working
future versions of Snapz Pro X. However,
with Circus Ponies to track down a bug
Ambrosia offers a discounted price of $20
that causes NoteBook to crash on only the
(normally $50) for such people;
first launch on my Mac after a restart in
use the second link below. [ACE]
Panther), and more. NoteBook 1.2 is free
<http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/
to registered customers; new copies cost
$50. It’s a 7.6 MB download and a 30-day
snapzprox/>
trial version is available. [ACE]
<http://www.circusponies.com/pages.aspx?p
PhoneValet 1.1 Improves
age=products>
Integration
Parliant today released PhoneValet 1.1, a
Security Update 2003-10-28
software upgrade to the company’s Mac
Released
OS X-based hardware/software telephone
Although Mac OS X 10.3 Panther fixes
management package (see “PhoneValet,
a number of security-related flaws that
Can You Get That?” in TidBITS-699_ for
existed
in previous versions of Mac OS
a full review). PhoneValet 1.1 provides
X,
Apple
has wasted no time in releasing
tighter integration with Apple’s Address
Security
Update
2003-10-28 via Software
Book, enabling you to dial phone numbers
Update last week. Security Update 2003from within Address Book, and automatically setting your status in iChat to “on the 10-28 fixes a problem that could allow
phone” when you’re using the telephone.
unauthorized access to a system through
Unfortunately, the iChat integration
a vulnerability in QuickTime for Java. The
(which you turn on in the Call Actions
update is only for computers running
dialog accessible from the PhoneValet
Mac OS X 10.3 Panther, and is a 782K
menu) works only if your status was set
download.
to available before placing or receiving a
<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artn
call. Other improvements include Panther
um=61798>
compatibility, Apple event support, better
support for AppleScript, and plug-ins and
In another security development, Apple
examples of how to automate dialing
acknowledged last week that Panther fixes
from FileMaker Pro and Microsoft
Entourage. Parliant has made available a
three recently discovered security issues.
free PhoneValetRescue application that
The company is also working on providing
restores all your data after performing an
an update for computers running Mac OS
Archive and Install option to upgrade to
X 10.2.8 and earlier. [JLC]
Panther. The PhoneValet 1.1 updater is a
<http://www.atstake.com/research/
9.1 MB download and is free to registered
advisories/2003/#102803-1>
customers; a PhoneValet package costs
$130. [ACE]
Eudora 6.01 Released
<http://www.parliant.com/phonevalet/
Qualcomm
has updated Eudora to verphonevalet11.html>
sion 6.0.1, fixing a number of minor bugs
and updating the company’s email client
NoteBook 1.2 Adds HTML
for
Mac OS X 10.3 Panther compatibility.
Export and More
Eudora 6.0.1 is available as a free update
Circus Ponies Software has released
NoteBook 1.2, a significant update to their
under Mac OS X (a 5.5 MB download) or
note-taking, outlining, and snippet-keeping
Mac OS 9 (a 5.7 MB download). [JLC]
application for Mac OS X. (NoteBook and <http://www.eudora.com/download/>
Apple Unveils G4 iBooks
Apple Computer announced major revisions to the iBook line last week, upgrading
all models to G4 processors and adding
USB 2.0, Combo CD-R/DVD-ROM drives,
and a minimum of 256 MB of RAM. The
new iBook G4s also offer optional support for AirPort Extreme 802.11g wireless
networking and ship with Mac OS X 10.3
Panther pre-installed. Three iBook G4 configurations are available: at the low end, the
$1,100 model offers a 12.1-inch screen
(1,024 by 768 resolution), an 800 MHz G4
processor, a 30 GB hard drive, and a scant
weight of 4.9 pounds (2.2 kg). The $1,400
model sports a 14.1-inch screen (still 1,024
by 768 pixels), a 933 MHz G4 processor, a
40 GB drive, and a weight of 5.9 pounds
(2.7 kg). Finally, the high-end $1,600 configuration offers the same 14.1-inch screen,
a 1 GHz G4 processor, and 60 GB drive
at the same 5.9 pound weight. All models
offer two USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire 400
port, VGA video output, support for Svideo and composite video out, a 56 Kbps
V.92 modem, 10/100Base-T Ethernet, and
up to six hours of battery life. Optional
capabilities include AirPort Extreme
802.11g wireless networking support; an
internal Bluetooth module for peripherals such as some cell phones, PDAs, and
Apple’s new
wireless keyboard and mouse; and support
for up to 640 MB of RAM. All three models should be available now. [GD]
<http://www.apple.com/ibook/>
Apple Reduces eMac Prices
Apple also reduced the price of the all-inone eMac last week. The entry-level configuration, which includes 128 MB of RAM,
a 40 GB hard drive, and a Combo drive
(DVD-ROM/CD-RW), now costs $200
less, at $800. The higher-end model, which
includes a SuperDrive, 256 MB of RAM,
and an 80 GB drive, has also been reduced
$200, to $1,100. Both models come with a
1 GHz PowerPC processor, an ATI Radeon
7500 graphics card with 32 MB of video
memory, and a 17-inch CRT monitor, and
are capable of including a separate AirPort
Extreme Card. The eMacs also come with
Mac OS X 10.3 preinstalled, and will not
boot into Mac OS 9. [JLC]
<http://www.apple.com/emac/>
19
Cover Story Cont’d from
Page 16
the tree can be modified in context
while viewing the final composite.
The superior quality maintained by
Shake during every operation is the
result of a render engine that allows
composites to contain various resolutions and color bit depths simultaneously without compromising
image quality. Artists can selectively
choose which operations to process
at 8-, 16-, or 32-bit (float) color bit
depth, allowing High Dynamic Range
(HDR) images to be composited with
greater fidelity while still maintaining high performance. Audio tracks
can be interactively and intuitively
synchronized with visual effects. The
audio waveform is displayed in the
animation curve editor for an interactive and intuitive workflow. Because
the audio playback engine is based
on Apple’s Core Audio technology,
the playback and scrubbing portion
of this feature is available only on
Mac OS X. The film grain filter in
Shake accurately simulates a variety
of Kodak film stock grain to achieve
composites with a blended, realistic
look. Artists can either select from
a list of film stock or have the filter
analyze the background to match the
grain. Shake 3.5 also allows importing of Photoshop PSD files, either as
precomposited layers or with each
Photoshop layer as its own node in
Shake. These layers are automatically
fed into a MultiLayer node, with the
proper blend mode specified.
Motion
Apple managed to really pull a rabbit
out if its hat with this program. This
one completely went under the rumor
radar. Talk about a pleasant surprise,
unless you’re from Adobe. Motion is
a real time motion graphics program.
Which means it will compete with
Adobe’s venerable After Effects program. There was a lot of buzz about
this program at the show. It is one of
those programs that Apple does very
well, powerful yet easier to use than
other offerings on the market. And it
comes in at a darn nice price point,
under $300. Of course it also plays
well with the other pro video applications that Apple puts out.
Motion uses a procedural animation approach called behaviors to
create animation. You simply drag
a behavior (such as Spin or Throw)
to your object and let go. Behaviors
automatically create animation without the need for keyframes. No need
to wait to render effects in this pro-
gram. Motion has been designed from
the ground up to take advantage of
the Power Mac G5 and Mac OS X,
including access to large amounts of
RAM and a fast graphics subsystem.
Along with keyframe-based animation, Motion features a cutting-edge,
intuitive approach called behaviors.
You can easily apply natural simulations like gravity, wind, and edge collision, or sophisticated behaviors like
attract and repel that produce interactions between multiple objects—without the slowdown and complexity
involved in creating keyframes.
Features
Design using real-time, interactive
filters and effects. Animate with
behaviors, a procedural alternative
to keyframes. Simulate natural phenomena such as wind and gravity.
Interactively customize sparkles,
smoke and fire. Import Photoshop
layers with blend modes and transparency. Animate precisely with
Bezier-style keyframe tools. Animate
text rapidly and change the path interactively. Customize professional templates to speed your projects along.
Use your favorite third party plug-ins
for After Effects. Apply and tweak 90
Accelerated filters in real-time, including PrimatteRT keying. (PrimatteRT
extracts a single color background
from an image and creates a transparency matte that allows you to put the
extracted foreground onto a different
background.) Filters include familiar
types such as Gaussian blurs, distortion effects and glows, as well as more
exotic filters, such as kaleidoscope
and tunnel. Motion uses system fonts
to create high-quality, vector-based
stretch, skew, rotate and resize effects.
Take advantage of preset type styles
that come with Motion, or use the
Dashboard to quickly set font, opacity, color and blend modes. Use the
Inspector to add advanced effects
such as outline, glow, shadow or to
change layout options. Designed by
professional animators, LiveFonts
are new kinds of animated font. You
type them just as you would using
a system font, but they offer builtin animated effects such as fire and
shiny metal. They’re created in 32-bit
alpha channel so they key right over
video. Motion comes with 10 readyto-use LiveFonts. Motion simplifies
drawing simple or complex shapes by
offering efficient, easy-to-use Bezier
and B-Spline tools. You can fill shapes
with a color or gradient and add an
independent outline and feathering.
For compositing shapes over other
shapes or video, you can use standard
blend modes in tandem with opacity
controls. Using a pen and tablet, you
can control Motion with one hand
tied behind your back. For example, a
rightward swipe moves Motion ahead
10 frames; a greater-than arrow plays
the timeline. Forty unique gestures
will help your sessions sail along.
Motion imports any QuickTime-compatible file format, including movie
files, still image formats such as TIFF
files, layered Adobe Photoshop files
and Acrobat (PDF) files, and Adobe
Illustrator files saved with PDF compatibility. Cuts, layers, blend modes
and motion paths created in Final
Cut Pro HD are editable right in
Motion’s timeline. Likewise, Motion
titles, animation and effects automatically update in the Final Cut Pro HD
timeline. When you’re ready to author
your title on DVD, simply drag and
drop your Motion projects into DVD
Studio Pro 3. DVD Studio Pro 3 automatically detects and encodes your
source media to the DVD standard
MPEG-2 format in the background.
There is one thing to keep in
mind about Motion; It NEEDS a fast
machine. This is the most processor intensive program, at least going
by system requirement specifications, that Apple makes. You HAVE
to have a 867mhz G4 just to run it.
Those who have upgraded to a Dual
2Ghz G5 will find that they own the
Recommended system. Of course that
assumes you have 4GB of RAM, or
more. Oh, and you’ll need a pretty
darn powerful graphics card. It was
only a matter of time before someone
made a program that required all of
the horse power that a G5 can put out.
Conclusion
Apple made a big splash at N.A.B.
this year. They pulled out some
really impressive updates with software. Which, Apple was quick to
point out, really blazes on a fast G5.
They picked a great crowd to show
off to. Videographers are the folks
who drop $10-50k on a video editing
system. In that kind of environment
Apple is a bargain, and I’m including
the hardware when I say that. It’s a
great market to move into with some
definitely positive growth potential.
Apple’s core strengths; quality, tight
hardware/software integration, and
innovative software products really
play well with this crowd. Five years
ago no one would have seriously
looked to Apple to provide their
video/film making needs. Now Apple
is practically synonymous with
Hollywood.
20
MacPad Cont’d from Page
18
<http://macshareware.net/sdk.html>
Updates Done Right
How do you learn about updates
to your software? If you’re like me,
you receive an email announcement
from the developer, read about it in
a news source like TidBITS or a software update site, or if you’re lucky,
are alerted by the application itself.
In most of these cases, you must still
download and install the update
manually. Only a few programs come
with sufficiently clever update code
that they can alert you, download
the update if you agree, and install
it for you, much as Apple’s Software
Update utility does.
The problem is that rolling a custom update utility is too much work
for most developers, and those that
have done so haven’t been able to
create a generalized solution. That’s
where MacPAD could swing the tide,
by providing the standardized XML
foundation on which others can build
tools. Developer Mark Fleming has
already provided the first piece in the
puzzle, a simple application called
MacPAD that creates MacPAD files,
and the code snippets that ship with
the SDK should get other developers
started on adding basic update checking code to their applications. My
hope is that someone will contribute
code to the MacPAD SDK for the more
advanced aspects of updating, such
as automatic downloading and automatic application updating.
And, while I’m filling out my
development wish list in time for the
holiday season, it would be extremely
useful to have a preference pane that
would list all your MacPAD-supported applications, the currently
installed version of each, and the
latest versions with a description
of what’s new. This update utility
would acquire its data by extracting the URL to each MacPAD file
from the associated application and
then querying MacPAD files on the
Internet at a user-specified schedule.
A checkbox next to each item would
allow you to select applications to
update, and clicking an Update button would download and install all
the necessary updates. Creating such
a utility shouldn’t be too hard, given
that it’s essentially the equivalent of
an RSS reader (like NetNewsWire, for
instance) for MacPAD
files. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised
to see the RSS readers add support for
MacPAD files as well, for users who
want to see what’s new with their
software while they’re reading the latest news.
Why provide such a utility on top
of automatic updating inside individual applications? It provides a
centralized location to see what needs
to be updated, lets the user schedule
updating for a
convenient time, and simplifies the
process of updating multiple applications at once. It might also allow the
user to add the URLs to MacPAD
files to check manually, to facilitate
watching changes to a specific pro-
gram that wasn’t installed on that
particular Mac. I could see network
administrators wanting to keep track
of programs that weren’t necessarily
installed on their personal machines,
but which were in common use
among their users.
First Steps
My grand plans can wait for a bit.
For the moment, the most important thing is that developers start
using MacPAD to submit their
software to the software update
sites; on 05-Dec-03, TildeSoft’s
Rendezvous Browser was the first
utility to be updated automatically on
MacShareware.net via MacPAD. Next
we need software update sites other
than MacShareware.net to support
MacPAD and developers to add the
update checking code to their applications. Once all that’s in place, there
will be an audience for this alternative
to Software Update.
But first, Ricardo Batista, Mark
Fleming, Julian Miller, Kevin Ballard,
and all the other developers who have
worked thus far on MacPAD deserve
a big round of applause for kick-starting a system that could help the entire
Macintosh community.
This article orginally appeared
in Tidbits Magazine issue #708,
published 12/08/03. It is reprinted
with the permission of the Author.
Can Spam Cont’d from Page
21
it.
Summing Up
In previous articles, I have concluded that if spam is outlawed, only outlaws will spam. An increasing amount of
spam is already in violation of our current state laws and
has not been eliminated or even reduced as the result
of having been outlawed. Legitimate companies have
attempted to comply, but the less-than-legitimate scum will
freely violate the new law unless and until they are physically caught.
In the final analysis, CAN-SPAM is a good start, but is
far too flawed to be an effective tool against spam. Like the
state laws, it will successfully prevent legitimate companies from resorting to spam (not that most legitimate companies were spamming before), but it will have no impact
on spammers outside of U.S. jurisdiction and thus not
subject to the U.S. law, or on unscrupulous spammers who
will ignore the law unless they are arrested. The inconsis
tency with anti-spam laws used in other parts of the world
may harm those nations’ efforts to control spam by allowing spam from the U.S. to circumvent their laws.
Put bluntly, CAN-SPAM tells spammers that they can
spam, so long as they are careful to drive their truckloads
of spam through the truck-sized loopholes in the statute.
What’s perhaps most disappointing is that we’ve waited
for years for a federal anti-spam law, and the one we
ended up with isn’t nearly as good as it could have been,
or even as good as some of the now-preempted existing
state laws are. That’s a shame, and it’s one we’ll undoubtedly have to live with for some time.
[Brady Johnson is a grouchy attorney in Seattle who
really, really hates spam.]
This article orginally appeared in Tidbits Magazine
issue #714, published 1/26/04. It is reprinted with the
permission of the Author.
21
Grand Rapids Area Microcomputer Users Group
Our meetings are held monthly. We meet on the fourth full week’s
Thursday of each month. We gather at Shawnee Math Science Tech
Academy, in the second floor computer lab. Meetings start at 7pm and
are concluded at 9pm. Meetings are open to the public, and are free.
Membership is only $25 for one year. Membership entitles you to user
group discounts, entry in drawings (must be present to win), our periodic
email list, and our newsletter. Our web page can be found at: http:
//www.gramug.org
For further information you can contact our president at:
[email protected]
$pecial$ & Deal$
We would like to give
special thanks to the following organizations who
contributed to this publication
The following deals or specials are provided as a courtesy to our readers. The specials outlined
below may no longer be available by the time you read this. For more timely information stop by
a GRAMUG meeting.
You Software
User group members can save over 40 percent on the award-winning You Control from
You Software. The original founders of Now Software and Extensis are at it again with
You Control, which has already received several awards including Best of Show at
Macworld Expo and a MacAddict
Editors’ Choice.
You Control is a collection of 15 menu-based utilities that extends the functionality of
Mac OS X, and from now until July 31, 2004, you can purchase it for only $39.95 (US),
$30 (US) off the suggested retail price of $69.95 (US)
Visit You Software to download your copy.
This worldwide offer expires July 31, 2004.
User
www.applemugstore.com
www.iserv.net
4th Dimension
Tired of having your important information scattered around in Excel spreadsheets and
text files? Organize it all in one place with 4th Dimension, the award-winning database
program. 4th Dimension lets you easily store and track all types of data, print labels,
create reports, build charts and more. If you enjoy programming, use 4D’s programming language to build any kind of application you want.
4th Dimension
Regular Price: $349 (US) User Group Price: $99 (US) plus free books:
Jumpstart 4D and Training Guide 4D v6.8: Getting Started.
Get more information and receive your discount.
This offer is available to user group members in U.S. and Canada,
excluding Quebec, and expires July 31, 2004.
*Further information provided to GRAMUG members. Stop by
and join today.

Continued

Transcription

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