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For episode 153, Owen Rubin joins Tim on the podcast for an intimate conversation about his history at Apple, Atari, and other technology companies he has worked for. One of the creators of the LC line of Macintosh computers, as well as some Atari Coin-Op games in the early days with that company, Owen has not slowed down at all in his quest to be around cool technology companies, and to work on the cutting edge. Also, Robert Hazelrigg reviews the Audioengine 2 desktop speakers, and we play a promo for the new Tech Wired Australia podcast.
As always, we would love to have some feedback. Send us an email here, or simply call 1-801-938-5559 and leave a message.
Links from the show
The World of Owen Rubin
Owen’s MyMac.com Archive Page
Tech Wired Australia
Audioengine 2 Speakers
Adobe Illustrator 13 (CS3)
Company: Adobe
Price: $599 ($199 upgrade)
www.adobe.com
I have been using Illustrator for almost a decade now, first coming aboard with version 8. I also did a review of the CS2 version, which I really liked using. To get up to speed on what Illustrator CS2 brought to the table, check out my review here:
The first major upgrade for Macintosh users is that, like all of CS3, Illustrator is a universal binary application, meaning it will run natively on both PowerPC and Intel-based Macintosh computers. It was originally released while Mac OS 10.4 Tiger was all the rage in the Mac universe, but it works fine under Mac OS 10.5 Leopard. I found no problems or slowdowns with the application under Leopard. Good news for design firms that use Illustrator extensively and worry about upgrading to Leopard. At the time of this review, however, there are some workflow issues with Adobe Acrobat, so be sure to check out the Adobe website if CS3 is your production suite of choice. (As if you really had many other choices).
After my last review of Adobe Illustrator CS2, I received a few emails about stability problems users of the software were having. While at the time I had no problems prior to that review, I did start to see some stability issues crop up from time to time. Usually they involved the activation of fonts, or third-party plug-ins. As with that review, I’m presently not having any stability issues with Illustrator CS3, although I am using the base program with no plug-ins or odd house fonts.
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Complete Digital Photography, 4th Edition
by Ben Long
Charles River Media
ISBN-13: 978-1-58450-4; ISBN-10: 1-58450-520-6
566 pages plus Mac/Windows CD included
$39.99 US, $50.95 CN
* * * * *
Ben Long’s latest masterpiece is the best single one-volume comprehensive text on digital photography we’ve seen at Book Bytes in a LONG (excuse the pun) time. Learn more about this book and author, in an extensive interview, the first in our new series.
Q. From the perspective of being the author, Ben, and working with your publisher, what are the advantages and drawbacks of including a comprehensive CD containing image files, plus QuickTime and PDF tutorial lessons?
A. As an author, the CD is really liberating in a couple of ways. When I’m revising a book and page counts get tight, it’s a real luxury to have the CD — a place where I can offload older material that’s still got some relevance. As a teaching tool, it’s nice to be able to shore up areas of the book with interactive QuickTime examples, and additional PDF material. Being able to put deeper information on the disk means I don’t have to break up the flow of the book with material that’s a little out of the mainstream, but still important enough that it needs to be covered somewhere. While I personally still prefer books when I want to learn something, there are some situations that are better-covered with an interactive video. It’s great that an inexpensive media exists to deliver this extra content.
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All right, this is the last part of looking at the iWeb interface. We finish off looking at the Inspector.
Metrics Tab
What’s up next is the icon that Apple calls “Metrics”. At first glance it might not seem all that big a deal as it doesn’t have multiple buttons and as compared to the other selections in the Inspector very few options. But Metrics is where you can fine-tune almost every section of each page in iWeb. If something gets lost behind something else, this is where you can start moving things around to find those items and put everything back to where it started. Don’t worry; we’ll get more on that bit when we get into making pages.
The first part of this section is a text box that tells you exactly what the file name is of the object you’re manipulating. Unfortunately you can’t actually change the name of the file (which makes little sense since iWeb saves every graphic in the Domain file kept in its Library), but you can view it.
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One of the upgrades that I looked most forward to for my business was Apple’s new Mail Stationery feature. I’ve always wanted a way to send graphic emails as opposed to simple text-based letters. I’ve tried using various programs – both web-based and 3rd party applications, but all of them were too time consuming for simply creating a few graphic personal or business letters that I wanted to do right within my Mail application.
Image heavy/graphic HTML emails, however, can be a turn off for some computer users who may have low storage email accounts. And recipients of rich text emails may not always get the email has it was originally formatted. But graphic emails are often more appealing for certain types of letters and information. I would say nearly 80% of the emails I receive these days have graphic content. A well done attractive email with graphic content can often get the message across ten times faster than mere words. It’s like the old adage says, a picture speaks a thousand words. One the other hand, a poorly done graphic email can also be a turn off for many readers because it’s weight down with graphic and obscuring the point of the message.
So what do I think of Mail’s Stationery now that I have the ability to finally create graphic emails on the fly? Well, I have mixed reactions.
Like many of you, I get graphic emails from Apple that look like this:
This article is a work in progress, as is my home theater installation. I also intend for this article to spawn several product reviews as I go along. Be warned.
I’ve been playing with HDTV, ever since I got a really nice bonus from work a few years ago. I mean a REALLY NICE BONUS. Being the foot loose and fancy free single guy that I am (and not having a “finance committee” to control my expenditures), I had no intention of doing practical things like paying bills with that money–noooo, it was time to build a home theater with a big screen high definition TV!
Basically defined, a home theater integrates various electronic components to provide an experience not unlike what you might have at a movie theater, but without all the negatives. Please refer to the block diagram below (licensed through Creative Commons, source: teques.com):
U-Suit iPhone
Uniea
http://www.uniea.com
$30.00
zCover iSAglove for Apple iPhone
zCover, Inc.
http://www.zcover.com
$39.99
Speck ToughSkin for iPhone
Speck
http://www.speckproducts.com/products/toughskin/iphone/93
$29.95
The Weeks Division of MyMac.com Labs spent some quality time with three different iPhone cases. Here’s how they fared.
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FA2-54-250-1 External 2.5” Firewire Drive 250 GB Model
Company: Oyen Digital
https://oyendigital.com
Price: $224.99 US
I have several small, 2.5” external drives that I use for moving data between Macs, or bringing data back and forth to my workplace, or to carry with me on business trips packed with movies. They all look like a typical hard drive case, except this one.
The Oyen Digital FA2-54-250-1 looks like it’s made for a MacBook. It’s sleek and black with silver trim in a band around each end. This is a FireWire only drive. USB-only users need not apply.
Truly, I would call this the “sexiest” looking 2.5” drive case I’ve ever seen.
What’s in the box? Continue reading »
This is a buss powered drive. You can purchase an external power adapter for an additional $8.99. There is a small instruction card included in the box.
You get a standard six-pin FireWire cable. Using this cable allows you to transfer data and powers up the unit. You also get a cable that has a four-pin mini Firewire connection on one end, to a six-pin cable connection on the other end. If you use this cable to connect to something that only has the four-pin connector, you’ll need to use the included double USB cable for power.
Download the show here, listen above, or click the iTunes link to subscribe.
This week, we have six people sit down and chat about the weeks Mac and Apple news. Owen, David, Donny, Tim, Guy, and Rich discuss some of the features in Leopard, as well as installation problems. There is a new malware trojan horse on the Mac, and we look at how you can avoid getting it. Apple sells 2 million copies of Leopard. The iPhone is already hacked, and we look at the real reasons behind NBC’s break from iTunes. Also, a special Book Bytes Live with John Nemo features an interview with the great author Joe Cottonwood!
As always, we would love to have some feedback. Send us an email here, or simply call 1-801-938-5559 and leave a message.
Links from the show
Joe Cottonwood
Application Update widget
Owen Rubin’s Website
Rich’s Weather Site
The new TextEdit icon
Macspiration: The First Fifty
Inclinepro Laptop Computer Support System
Industrialized Nation
http://www.inclinepro.com
$75 US
John O’Connor wanted to purchase a support for his 15 inch PowerBook, “but most of the laptop stands were to be used in conjunction with an external keyboard,” as he tells MyMac.com. O’Connor “wasn’t interested in trying to make my PowerBook into a desktop computer. I wanted something that was functional, portable, and stylish. As a designer and a machinist, there was no way I was putting my new $2,000 pride and joy on a $3 piece of plastic.”
He measured and cut and fastened strong, lightweight aerospace-grade aluminum segments until his Inclinepro was created. Its goal is heat transfer, extended battery life, and user comfort. This product succeeds on all three. Bonus: when O’Connor claims that “at just seven ounces, the Inclinepro is virtually weightless and collapses to a thin profile that easily fits in standard laptop computer bags, making it a very low impact travel companion,” he’s accurate on every point.
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VIBE Duo dual-purpose headphone/headset for Apple iPhone
US $99.99
Company: V-MODA
http://www.v-moda.com
Apple’s iPod earbuds have always worked reasonably well for me. They provide a good fit for my ears, and the sound quality is acceptable.
I was surprised to find that the headphone/headset earbuds shipped with the iPhone did not fit my ears well. Without a good fit, the sound quality was noticeably compromised. Bass response was especially weak.
Numerous manufacturers shipped iPhone-ready earbuds early on the iPhone lifecycle, but none included a microphone. Earbuds alone were pointless, as the iPhone is a phone, after all.
Two weeks ago, I was the lucky purchaser of one of the first Vibe Duos to be sold at the Tucson Apple Store. The sales clerk who rang up the sale didn’t yet know that the Vibe Duo was even in stock.
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