Download show 200 here, or subscribe via iTunes
MyMac celebrates our 200th weekly podcast episode this week with a super-sized episode. We kick off the show with this week’s Apple event news, including the new iPod Nano and iTunes 8. Then our focus shifts to the question: What three applications would you want on your Mac on a deserted island? Participating are Tim Robertson, David Cohen, Guy Serle, Sam Levin, Lee Givens, John Nemo, Rich Lefko, and Neale Monks.

This episode is sponsored by MacSales.com.

TurboTune
Company: Macally
Price $29.99
www.macally.com

Macally’s TurboTune speakers pack a big punch in a small package. For $29.99 you get pocket size stereo speakers for you iPod or anything else with an audio jack that has great sound quality.

The speaker runs on a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and comes with a USB charging cable. It is about 3 inches by 1 inch by 1/2 inch. The Macally website says you should get about eight hours of continuous play. I lost count after TWENTY!

As I said earlier the sound quality is great. You would never believe that type of sound could come out of such a small speaker. Is it hi-end quality speaker sound that you would pay hundreds of dollars for? No, but you won’t be disappointed for your money.

My only complaint is the location of the audio jack. It is in the center of the speaker. I would fit better on an iPod if it was off center so that most of the speaker sits over the iPod instead of hanging off of it.

Other than that one design complaint, that’s about all there is to say. A quick review for a great product. If you are in the market for inexpensive speakers for your iPod these should definitely be considered.

Mymac.com rating: 4.5 out of 5

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Harry Hoard Premium Laptop Case
Company: Crumpler Bags
Price: $240, with free shipping from the company’s online store
http://www.crumplerbags.com
Available in black, brown, green, or red

Crumpler Bags from Australia (and New York City) provided three laptop carrying cases from their new Squirrel line for our MyMac evaluation. Donny reviewed one, Owen is working on a second, and here is mine.

Harry Hoard (abbreviated as HH) is a large, overbuilt, heavily padded, colorful, and expensive laptop briefcase or shoulder bag for the strong, stylish, and unlimited budget crowd. HH has an unusual array of permanent and removable storage and portable office compartments within a thick, cushioned, and balanced body. This product is a love-it-or-hate-it flagship addition to Crumpler Bags’ quirky and idiosyncratic collection of stellar computer cases.

Warning: the company’s web site has been updated, but it is still bizarre. The link provided here is low-tech, if you have trouble with Crumpler’s Flash-based pages that include additional info plus a cute video of Harry Hoard unloading itself.

HH’s handle is massive and comfortable. During the last dozen years of reviewing laptop cases and packs, MyMac has often been disappointed with top-dollar items that have inadequate handles. This is a stupid spot for bag manufacturers to save a little money. When you pick up a loaded Harry Hoard by its hefty handle, you know you can run for a bus or hang on to a subway pole with full confidence the handle will remain on the case and not in your confused fingers.

A large, sturdy black strap with insufficient shoulder pad appears to be permanently affixed to HH’s sides. With a little investigation, you can figure out how to remove the strap if you don’t need it. Or you can purchase one of two much larger padded shoulder pads, and replace the dinky original one. MyMac wonders why Crumpler includes the smallest pad on HH’s strap, instead of at least the medium-sized one. For this much money, and when carrying a heavy load, the original pipsqueak pad is a serious disappointment.

Examining Harry Hoard’s storage from the outside in, we find one each of a:

• Zippered, velcro-secured pair of deep large-man’s-hand-sized pockets suitable for food, water, supplies, portable electronics, cameras, cables, and other smallish stuff.

• Velcro-secured single deep pocket for papers, magazines, and similar flat objects.

• Versatile portable office or student supply section that pulls up via an embedded handle to expose pockets and inserts for paper, pens, pencils, business cards, batteries, iPods, phones, adapters, and accessories. I use this sliding sectional all the time. It isn’t removable; instead it remains on two recessed glide straps that should be durable for a few hundred thousand miles of tugs and releases.

• Angled three-zone space for more papers or thin accessories. I keep my folding laptop stand in one. Two are open-top, and one is zippered. Clever magnetized straplets keep this area accessible and safe at the same time, as needed.

• Large and secure interior primary area for portable computer, 15" or smaller. Computer can reside directly within HH, or it can fit into a removable, padded, open-top sleeve that uses velcro for closure and for stability within the case, as appropriate.

Harry Hoard is not an ultralight! The base case is substantial enough that Olympic weightlifters will sense its size even when HH is empty. Fully loaded, HH is a large, rectangular mass that is impossible to ignore, and not especially svelte, if that’s your priority.

I’ve been using this Crumpler case as my primary traveling office ever since I received it months ago. It’s so different from what I was using previously that it took me a few weeks to be fully conversant with its compartments and finer points. MyMac certainly recommends it, but be aware HH’s color, size, and weight are not trivial attributes. If red or green don’t ring your chimes, you can choose boring black or blah brown.

This bag stands tall, literally. HH is very stable in the upright position, open or closed, which we applaud. With its heavily padded exterior and bottom, if you drop the computer case on a colleague’s shoe or a client’s child, no permanent damage will occur. Construction is top quality throughout: "Water resistant 600D polyester shell, 150D Ripstop lining, Brushed polyester lined main compartment."

People’s eyes bulge when they see me coming with my bulging, bright red Harry Hoard. I’m a colorful character, so they get used to me and my jumbo portable office. If you have the cash, and don’t want your computer to suffer a physical crash or an occasional splash, then dash over to CrumplerBags.com for additional information.

Hey! I just found a secret magnetic-closing slot and pocket, between the zippered office supplies section and the main frame. An open pocket can contain an iPod, iPhone, or travel documents, and an arm-wide pass-through is perfect for slipping HH over the handle of a rolling travel suitcase. I’ll use both of these areas next time I’m going out of town.

4 out of 5 MyMac rating

LINKS:

Hi-res video of Bianca Dillon from Crumpler with Owen and Nemo, at Macworld Expo 2008

Review by Donny of Reginald Transfer budget priced laptop case from Crumpler’s Squirrel Line

Review by Ilene Hoffman of Chester Squander for MacNN

—

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Fashioning Technology: A DIY Intro to Smart Crafting
Syuzi Pakhchyan
O’Reilly
http://www.oreilly.com
219 Pages
US $29.99 CAN $29.99
ISBN-10: 0-596-51437-9
ISBN-13: 978-0-596-51437-2

Crafting has been a part of my life since the first "paint by numbers" kit I got for Christmas when I was a kid. There was a time in my mid twenties when I was hooked on assembling Radio Shack kits. I’ve embroidered, knitted, crocheted, beaded, and made doilies and jellies and jams. Naturally I was drawn to this title, wanting to see what the future of crafting is all about.

After the welcome page, the book is laid out in five sections:
Materials, electronics, and tools;
Technical primers;
Wearables;
Home Accents; and
Interactive Toys

The sections are followed by four indexes that list resources, biographies, contributors and a general book index.

Section 1, Materials Electronics and Tools. Parts one and two introduce the reader to the new conductive and smart materials, and electronics available to crafters. These chapters include products such as conductive epoxies and textiles, fiber optics, LED’s, luminescent inks and paints, as well as more common objects such as cotter pins and zip ties. Part three of this section talks about components you will need and how they work. These include resistors, capacitors, switches, diodes, and transistors. Part four, Your Toolbox, lists the tools necessary to complete the projects listed in the book. Each part or material or tool listed in Section 1 is followed by a detailed explanation of the product and its use.

Section 2, Technical Primers takes the reader through sixteen tutorials which contain information on how to use the products listed in Section 1. By far this is the largest section of the book, taking up sixty pages. The reader will learn how to work with LED’s, circuits, power, soldering, screen printing, soft circuits and also how to troubleshoot. These are extremely useful for the crafter who has an interest in going beyond the simple projects listed later in the book.

Sections 3, 4 and 5 are the heart of Fashioning Technology, the Projects themselves. The projects in section 3, wearables, probably appeal to persons who have a more youthful exuberance than I. They include rock star headphones, an LED bracelet, the Space Invaders tote whose LED eyes light up when your cell phone rings, and Aerial the Birdie Brooch that chirps when activated by sunlight.

Home Accents teach how to make photochromic blinds, a luminescent tea table, an LED chandelier and Rock ‘n Roll portable speakers. The photochromic blinds and LED chandelier were the two projects in the book that are of the most interests to me. Photochromic blinds use screen printing processes with photochromic inks to make patterns on window blinds that appear with sunlight then disappear when the UV source is removed.

Section 5, Interactive Toys, include interactive e-puppets, which are finger puppets made from soft circuits that can whistle, squak and vibrate; Glam the Glo Bug, LED powered; the Solar Crawler, a solar powered wooden toy; and Smart Mobile, a kinetic sculpture made of smart wires. While toys are traditionally for children, these four projects will delight those who are young at heart.

The indexes at the end of the book contain a wealth of information on where to purchase the hi tech supplies used in these projects; the biographies of the author and contributors to the book; and an alphabetical index.

To Review:
Pro: Technically this book is well written and well laid out. The tutorials and project instructions are concise an informative. The information as presented can be understood by most people who know how to read and follow instructions.

Con: The startup costs to actually make the projects listed in the book, (or your own projects using the tutorials as a guide) may be more than most crafters want to spend especially if they are unfamiliar with the technology. There is not only the cost of the materials, but the cost of acquiring the tools needed as well. Also, I would want a dedicated craft room, or at least a dedicated craft area if I were going to use the technologies as presented.

Recommendation: A fun and easily challenging way to learn new technologies if the person can afford the tools and materials, and has a dedicated workspace.
MyMac rating 4 out of 5.

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Travel Vest "Technology Enabled Clothing"
Company: SCOTTEVEST
Price: $100
http://www.scottevest.com
Available in Black Lava, Desert Sand, or Red Rock; sizes are S-XXXLT (no tall in Red Rock)

My birthday present arrived a few days early last month, as a review item from Scott Jordan at SCOTTEVEST (or SeV), in Ketchum, Idaho. I loaded the "Red Rock" vest with as much gear as I could fit. I was in San Francisco, where the high temperature in Fogland was 61°F, so the vest was useful for warmth and wind protection, in addition to packing techie toys.

Since that day, I’ve worn this precious vest nearly every waking hour. My family and friends roll their eyes listening to my constant raving about Scott’s sensational vest. I can’t keep my big trap shut about this life-altering garment. It’s the single best article of functional clothing I have ever worn.

Every guy with even a moderate amount of geekiness will immediately bond with this vest, wishing he had two, so when one is in the wash he won’t be vestless. Yes, this vest is a bit of a guy thing, but please take a look through the company’s full catalog, complete with an extensive range of garments for women and men. SeV’s Classic Travel Vest for women "is a much cuter version of the men’s — nipped in waist and hitting below the hips," from company literature.

MyMac first learned about Scott Jordan when Sam Levin and David Cohen praised to the skies SeV’s Essential Jacket during multiple podcasts several months ago. Then Gil Poulsen did a web site review of the jacket. Gil’s evaluation is is one of the most interesting articles ever posted at MyMac.com.

The key features of the SCOTTEVEST Travel Vest are:

• Headphone access from most pockets, via special internal channels, including neckline tabs to keep cables conveniently in place. Scott calls it "PAN," for Personal Area Network, "including new QuickRelease Method."

• Balance and weighting design, so full pockets maintain a lean overall appearance, without obvious bulges. Company names for this are "Weight Management System" and "No Bulge Pockets." The pockets are designed to spread out your devices so they never overlap in the garment. Scott tells MyMac: "This is something that really sets us apart from every other manufacturer of clothing in the world. We’ve put more thought into the design of pockets than anyone has in the past 300 years!"
• Ability to operate an iPod without removing it from an internal pocket, thanks to special fabric that facilitates hands-on controls.

• Amazing placement of external and internal pockets, zippers, snaps, magnets, clips, and velcro so all your digital devices and personal effects can be carried for secure storage and efficient usage. A total of 22 pockets and compartments are in the Travel Vest! I’m not sure I’ve located all of them yet, so I’ve asked Scott to provide a schematic diagram. One should be included with every shipment.

• Small numbered descriptive cards are included in every pocket, suggesting optimum use, such as iPod, camera, or phone. Keep them in place (you have been warned) until you absolutely know what is supposed to go where. It’s tempting to remove them, but don’t. I did, and I wish I hadn’t done so.

• Comprehensive "Get Wired" carrying for iPods, cameras, phones, cables, cases, adapters, hard drives, flash drives, eyeglasses, water bottles, snacks, hankies, and even a laptop computer, all in a single vest. I can’t wait until the next time I stroll through airport security, knowing all my electronic equipment is breezing through the x-ray equipment in one inconspicuous garment that doubles as a bonus carry-on, without airport fees.

• Total customer support by the people who work day and night at this small company with a hands-on approach. They design, wear, and believe strongly in their custom garments. If the zippers snag or your vest is defective, a replacement is on its way the following day. SeV offers a 30 day money back guarantee on every item, but I doubt you’ll be sending your garment back.

• Business, leisure, and outdoors styling and color choices: black, tan, and red, in attractive, soft material. The vest is surprisingly light. Its fabric is 65% cotton and 35% nylon, treated with Teflon, and with a silky interior lining that is strong enough to supports several large and small pockets.

• "Gear Management Clothing" Bonuses: "BudBuckets" to hold earbuds, "Eyeglass Chamois with Versatile Clip," bottle holder and "Water Hydrdation System" pocket for water bottle or larger athletic water bag, "Extendible, removable Key Holder," and several more I’m still investigating. The company has many patents and trademarks for their product range.

Order your vest one size larger than your actual size, to allow for ample fit and minimum equipment bulge. I’m a size small for shirts and jackets, and the medium Travel Vest fits perfectly. What size should Guy Serle order, being B I G and T A L L ? We’ll find out, and get Guy a vest or jacket as soon as possible.

I’m sitting in my office in Tucson, Arizona, wearing the Red Rock vest over a T-shirt. It’s approaching 100°F outdoors, but I’m cool and collected indoors. Digital camera is in left exterior breast pocket, cellular phone is in right exterior breast pocket, iPod is in special touch-friendly interior left breast pocket, glasses case is in dedicated left interior breast pocket that has clip and chamois, earphones and case are in right interior breast pocket, keys and water bottle are in right exterior waist pocket, hankie and extra cash are in left exterior waist pocket (that has a zippered secret pocket for the cash), portable digital recorder is in right interior waist pocket, and hat plus pad of paper plus PostIt notes are in enormous left interior waist pocket.

A small adjacent interior pocket carries my USB flash drive, extra camera storage cards, camera card reader with cable, and pair of AA batteries. I haven’t yet used the gigantic rear pocket, suitable for a laptop computer or three-course lunch. Check back with me next January at Macworld Expo to see how I’m using this rear space. I’ll probably have Ethernet, FireWire, and USB cables galore there.

SCOTTEVEST’s included card states "This pocket is designed to hang freely so it is not obvious from the outside what you have inside. You can use this pocket to hold a Camelbak [athletic drinking pouch], routing the straw tube through the holes at the bottom up to the collar area." As in most of SeV’s zippered or snapped pockets, earphone cables can connect to iPod via special channels and velcro holders that are easier to demonstrate than explain, but they work.

4.5 out of 5 MyMac rating

LINKS:

SCOTTEVEST’s excellent web site

YouTube SeV videos

Gil’s enjoyable review

SeV podcast link

Thanks for asking! Next birthday please send me Scott’s Tactical Jacket, with 35 pockets. This jacket is used by undercover agents "who demand the ultimate in functionality and concealment." It’s waterproof and windproof, with removable sleeves and hood, and an optional fleece interior for Secret Service types who do their mischief in cold climates. Total price? A hot deal at $300 for the concealing combo.

Whoops! Scott just told me that "our Tactical Jacket in your catalog has been discontinued, John. I would suggest that Gil and your readers might also appreciate our new Quantum Jacket, debuting next week. It’s not a direct replacement for the Tactical, but it is taking its place in the line and has been getting some RAVE advance reviews.  Our Fleece 5.0 (presented on our homepage, is also a great product if you’re in ‘spy mode.’ "

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New From Adobe: Photoshop Lightroom 2.0

$299 New, $99 Upgrade, free trial available

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 is a digital image cataloging application for serious amateur and professional photographers. Lightroom is a tool that allows users to import, manage, process, print, and share digital photos.

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/

The thing I noticed when opening Lightroom for the first time is its beautiful interface. When running, Lightroom isolates the user from all other active applications in the background by filling the screen (or screens). Yes — Lightroom works with multiple monitors.

As you would expect, Lightroom 2.0 is a major jump up from iPhoto when it comes to managing your digital images. Lightroom’s color correction tools are far superior to iPhoto’s, and much more robust.

One of Lightroom’s most powerful features is in its importing process. Before images are imported into Lightroom, you are presented with a dialog box that allows you to determine how files are handled.

In this step of the import process you can apply keywords and metadata and even attribute Photoshop-like filters called Develop Settings. Lightroom 2.0 comes with a number of predetermined Develop Settings but you can create your own preset if you need to.

Once your images are in Lightroom’s library, you can rate or flag your images, as well as search your catalog. The mechanism allows you to search via Text, Attributes, and/or Metadata. This makes finding the images you are looking for a breeze. Lightroom 2.0 also allows you to create watermarked slideshows, and prints. Watermarking is a technique used by professional photographers to protect their images prior to being purchased.

Probably my favorite part of Lightroom is its Web interface. Lightroom by far has the simplest and easiest interface when it comes to creating an online portfolio of your work. I plan on using it when I recreate my portfolio. Although layout choices are somewhat limited, you can choose from HTML or Flash Galleries where you can adjust color, fonts, and image sizes.

The last part of Lightroom I choose to comment about in this introduction is the Develop section of the application. Although the tools are very robust for color adjusting and enhancement, I found myself a bit frustrated with the developing tools. Being a professional Photoshop user I expect more precise control over selecting areas of an image. When in the Develop mode users can straighten an image, spot remove (clone or heal) an image, reduce red eye, or add a graduated filter. You can also use the "adjustment brush" to paint you filters over certain areas. But the issue I ran into was there just isn’t anyway to make a precision selection like you can when working with masks in Photoshop.

Granted, Lightroom is not a Photoshop replacement. Lightroom is to be used in conjunction with Photoshop, but I did find myself wishing I had this type of control in Lightroom. So often my workflow demands that I select specific regions (down to the pixel) of an image, and Lightroom doesn’t offer this type of selection precision.

Still, the color control in Lightroom is much better then it is in Photoshop. I found doing my color corrections in Lightroom was much easier and faster. Especially when working in large batches of images at a time.

Overall I like Lightroom and will continue to use it to manage all of my photos.

Pros: Great for cataloging and searching images. Excellent color correcting tools, with easy to use web interface.

Cons: Slow performance on larger images with multiple filters. Lacks precise pixel selection

Initial Impressions – MyMac Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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Marware CEO Flip Vue case for iPhone
Marware, Inc.
http://www.marware.com/
US $29.99

Marware has a recent addition to its well-rounded collection of iPhone cases and accessories: the CEO Flip Vue.

Available for both the original recipe iPhone, as well as the new, extra-crispy iPhone 3G version, the Flip Vue is a stylish leather fold-over slipcase for the iPhone.

The case is made of nice quality black leather on the exterior, and it’s lined with a softer, chamois-like grey leather on the interior. Holes are provided for the camera, headphone jack, speakers, and dock connector. A good quality belt clip attaches to the back of the case.

I used the Flip Vue for a weekend, and found it to be attractive and well-made, but found it somewhat difficult to actually use.

While the iPhone slides into the sleeve with enough friction so it will not likely accidentally escape when the cover flap is open, that same friction makes it awkward to remove the phone from the case to answer a call and talk on the phone. If you don’t want to remove the phone, you’re stuck with having to deal with the front flap waggling around as you talk. I found it difficult to slide the iPhone out of the case, as the case comes far enough up the iPhone so that there is only a small bit of exposed phone to grab with your fingers to lift the phone from the case. Removing the iPhone from the Flip Vue when it was still clipped to my belt was too much work; I ended up unclipping the case from the clip, then removing the phone from the case. This proved to be bothersome.

If you use the iPhone while in the case, there is no access to the volume control when the iPhone is inside.

If you’ve plugged in your earbuds with the case closed, you can’t flip the cover open, as the earbud jack prevents the cover from fully opening.

On my evaluation sample, the dock connector opening was a bit too small, making it hard to seat the connector.

Conclusion.
The Marware CEO Flip Vue is an attractive case that does not work well in day to day use.

MyMac rating 2 out of 5

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IRIScan Executive 2
Company: I.R.I.S.
http://www.irislink.com
Retail: $199.99

The advancement of technology is a wonderful thing, particularly in the field of consumer electronics. Not only do devices get cheaper and more functional as time goes on, but they develop wonderful new capabilities.

Today’s item under the MyMac review microscope is a case in point. Whereas in times gone past, scanners were large, desk-bound devices connected via SCSI to your Mac. With the IRIScan Executive 2, you get a portable scanner and a full optical character recognition (OCR) suite, all capable of slipping into your laptop bag next to your MacBook.

I.R.I.S. provides a pretty comprehensive package. You get the scanner (a thin and light, USB-powered single sheet device), a usb cable, a stand so that it can be mounted vertically on your desk when you are not on the move, and a cloth bag for when you are traveling. You also get a full suite of software – Readiris Pro 11 and Cardiris 4. Readiris Pro can be used to scan pages of documents, and convert those pages to editable documents that are saved out as PDFs or text files. Cardiris is used to scan business cards, allowing them to be archived and stored as contacts on your Mac.

So it all sounds good on paper. The execution, unfortunately, is not so slick. Trouble starts with the software installation – despite a weighty manual providing instructions in a variety of languages, the directions given do not match up to the actual software on the CD. Once you have everything installed, all is still not well. The drivers for the scanner are proprietary, rather than complying with the established TWAIN standard, meaning that you cannot use the scanner with iPhoto, Preview or any other Mac OS X application. The scanner sports buttons for initiating scanning, and this relies on an application running to support it – this application starts up with the OS and runs as a a permanent icon in the dock, rather than up in the menu bar where I prefer background applications to sit.

The scanner itself did not produce good results for me. The problem is that, as a portable scanner, you have to feed sheets through one at a time yourself. This is a much slower process than with a more conventional flatbed scanner, and the scanning process itself is also fairly slow. In addition, the scanner requires calibration using a special sheet, and it seemed to ask for this quite regularly. More seriously, however, the resulting scans were pretty poor. The portable scanner admits ambient light through the paper feed slots, which degrades the quality of the scans quite significantly.

So the hardware is a little suspect. Fortunately, the software is a lot better. Readiris Pro is a fine and powerful piece of OCR software, that can produce very good results. The process for each page is that each group of pixels on a scanned page is identified as text or graphics, and is marked with a bounding box. Once you are happy with these zones, the page is recognized and processed, and can be output as an editable PDF formatted in the same way as the original page, or text can be extracted and saved as an RTF document. Suspect characters that the program is unsure of can be displayed during processing, and corrections made, thereby improving future recognition, and there is full support for correcting, deskewing and despeckling scanned images. Cardiris works in a similar way, but is designed to scan and recognize business cards and save the recognized contacts.

Unfortunately, in my experience the deficiencies of the scanner hardware left Readiris with too much work to do. The poor scans resulted in so many recognition errors that it rapidly became unfeasible to try to OCR documents. It wasn’t the fault of the software – the same documents scanned by a flatbed were recognized much more successfully.

Consequently, as a bundle the IRIScan Executive 2 is a mixed bag – great software but disappointing hardware. At $199, the cost of the bundle is $30 cheaper than the combined cost of Readiris Pro and Cardiris separately, and you get the scanner bundled as well, so if the two software packages appeal to you treat the scanner as a free pack-in and you are getting a good deal. However, as a portable scanner I can’t rate the IRIScan particularly highly – the quality of the Readiris software is the only thing that brings the overall rating up.

MyMac rating: 3 out of 5

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The Ultimate HTML Reference
Ian Lloyd
Sitepoint, distributed by O’Reilly
ISBN 978-0-9802858-8-8
US $44.95, CDN $44.95
544 pages

For over ten years, I have enthusiastically promoted Dave Taylor’s "Creating Cool HTML 4 Web Pages" book as my favorite HTML reference book. Its organization, code examples, and writing style are first-rate. I think I may have found a worthy replacement in Ian Lloyd’s new "The Ultimate HTML Reference", though I say this with the understanding that this book is really intended for the hard-core HTML coder who needs a handy reference for one of those weird commands that didn’t come immediately to mind. This can be a really useful reference for the super-advanced coder, though beginners can get a lot out of this book, too.

Unlike Taylor’s book which was laid out in a format that permitted the user to start with simple tasks and build on them, The Ultimate HTML Reference is organized by HTML elements (Structural Elements, Head Elements, List Elements, Text Formatting Elements, Form Elements, Image and Media Elements, Table Elements, Frame and Window Elements, and Common Attributes) and the attributes within the elements (for example, Chapter 4, List Elements, is divided into the various attributes like dl, dd, dt, dir, li, menu, ol, and ul). It even provides a little instruction for basic Javascript commands like onkeydown, onmousedown, ondblclick, and others.

One of the appendices covers deprecated elements – that is, those elements and attributes that are no longer supported by the newest HTML and XHTML standards (but most browsers still permit their use, just the same). Another covers some of those special (read that annoying) proprietary and nonstandard elements (remember the "blink" command in Netscape–that only worked in Netscape?).

The organization of the book makes it very easy for individuals with at least some HTML coding experience to locate the elements and attributes they need, and describes in just enough detail how to apply them. While there aren’t as many examples as I might like, there seem to be enough for most users. What I do like is the compatibility chart that goes with each attribute. The chart displays compatibility (Full, Partial, and None) of the attribute against several versions of the most currently popular browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Opera.

Within the book’s first 25 pages, readers receive preparation for upcoming changes to the HTML standards, as XHTML (eXtensible HyperText Markup Language, a hybrid of HTML and XML–eXtensible Markup Language–a highly structured, rules-based markup language) begins to take over. XHTML tightens up some of the structuring that was missing in HTML, which makes the code much more readable and easier to modify as needed, and if you need to transition to full XML (for things like content management systems), much of the work has already been done. HTML 4.0 and earlier code, in comparison, can be really sloppy, but it still renders just fine in most browsers. For example, in HTML 4.0, capitalization is optional, and line endings don’t need to be terminated in a formatting attribute, like "</p>".

XHTML also imposes more stringent rules on quoting. Every attribute value must be quoted. For example, quoted attributes like class="gallery" are mandatory in HTML 5.0 and newer. HTML 4.0 code permits code like class=gallery.

The author takes pains to differentiate the older HTML vs the new XHTML, and if you haven’t started coding in XHTML, be prepared to break newer browsers on their way to a computer near you. Not today, but maybe a year or two (or three) from now, the older HTML formats will begin to disappear as XHTML becomes the new standard. If you want to read more about the differences between HTML and XHTML, check this page out. But I digress…

What surprised me were the number of new attributes and elements that I had not used before that are a part of XHTML as well as newer releases of the HTML specification. It turned out to be very useful in a recent office project where we converted one of our product manuals to HTML–a project that had plenty of tricky points to deal with.

What this book only briefly touches is Cascading StyleSheets (CSS), which are used to apply more advanced and creative formatting to web pages. That said, CSS is completely out of scope to this discussion, though it may be good to know that the same publisher, Sitepoint, has a companion volume, "The Ultimate CSS Reference", by Tommy Olsson and Paul O’Brien, also $44.95. I was so impressed, I bought a copy for myself. I’ve already discovered that The Ultimate CSS Reference is equally valuable to a web programmer’s arsenal of reference materials. A Javascript book from Sitepoint is also in the works.

A companion website contains everything in the book, fully hyperlinked and searchable, as an additional valuable resource. It’s free, to boot. The free companion site to the CSS reference book can be accessed at http://reference.sitepoint.com/css.

What can I say? This book replaced Taylor’s book as my primary HTML reference at home and at the office. It’s well worth the 45 dollar price-tag. I can only find fault with the fact that it doesn’t have enough chunks of sample HTML and illustrations of how the HTML will render. Most of my loyal readers (?) know that I’m pretty tough with my ratings, but taking that really small negative into account, I give this book the MyMac Magazine rating of 4.5 out of 5.

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