Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity, and Personal Style
By Alain Briot
Rocky Nook Publishers
http://www.rockynook.com
US $44.95, CAN $53.95
ISBN: 978-1-933952-22-2
352 pages
When I first saw the title, Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity, and Personal Style by Alain Briot, I got excited about reviewing this book. It is, to me, what photography is all about.
It seems that everyone these days has a camera. Even the cheaper point and shoot offerings are better cameras than their predecessors were just a few years ago. They’re easy to use and a lot of fun. Most people “play” photographer taking snapshots of their families and friends and anything else they feel like snapping. Memories. That’s what that’s all about. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
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I’m sure by now you’ve probably read countless reviews about the new line of unibody MacBook Pros. Maybe even drooled a little, were you lucky enough to get your hands on one at a nearby Apple store. I won’t bore you now with details of its long list of attributes, not that some or most of them aren’t true.
Instead, I’m going to give you a working account of how the MacBook Pro stands up in the workplace, and the delights and difficulties of switching from a MacBook to a MacBook Pro.
Kanex Mini DisplayPort Adapter To HDMI 1080p Video w/ Digital Audio
Company: Kanex, Inc.
Price: $69.99
http://kanexlive.com
Apple’s incorporation of the Mini DisplayPort in its newer computers has produced big changes for people who wish to send video and audio-out signals from the Macs to drive their HD televisions with an HDMI signal. Currently, the Unibody MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac Mini, and iMac all use Mini DisplayPort.
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Listener Invite this week with Antonio Gomez from Panama! We delve into a ton of topics, with a focus on Satellite Navigation on the iPhone. Recurring jokes abound!
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Pick of the week – Elgato EyeTV from Other World Computing
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Renamer 4.0
Company: Dare to be Creative Ltd.
Price: $26.00
http://creativebe.com/renamer/
Most modern kitchens sport some type of food processor, whether it’s something as basic as the Slap Chop from Vince Offer-he of ShamWOW! fame-or a larger, plug-in appliance replete with various and sundry attachments. Reason being, who’s got the time these days to actually take out a knife to Julienne that bunch of carrots, or slice up those onions by hand?
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Clickfree Transformer Special Edition
Company: Storage Appliance Corporation
Price: $89.99
http://clickfree.com/transformerse
The Clickfree Transformer SE is a Fig Newton-sized USB “dongle” that turns your iPhone, iPod Touch, or USB drive into a backup device, no software required (backup software is built right in to the Transformer). And before you sci-fi movie buffs start asking, the answer is no, it does not morph from a Chevy Volt into the Autobot known as “Jolt” -it’s not that kind of Transformer.
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Super WriteMaster Slim External DVD Writer
Company: Samsung
Price: $74.99
www.samsung.com
The popularity of netbooks seem to be exploding over on the PC side of the computer world, but for Mac users, every laptop Apple ships comes with a DVD Superdrive, which both reads and writes to the optical discs. All, that is, save the MacBook Air. And while I don’t have an Air for use in this review, I believe performance will be the same on that machine.
The first question you have to ask yourself is, if you already own a DVD burner in your Mac (and chances are you do) do you need an external USB model? If so, then the Super WriteMaster Slim External DVD Writer from Samsung is a good choice. It is, as the name implies, very slim. It is also very light-weight, attractive to look at, and works well. It handled both expensive blank DVDs and the el-cheapo media equally well.
It does not sport it’s own power supply, but draws power via the USB plug. So if you are running your laptop via the battery, this external DVD burner will kill your battery life in no time flat.
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Behind the Scenes at O’Reilly Media’s Digital Books – Questions answered by Andrew Savikas, Vice-President, Digital Initiatives
MyMac Interview by John Nemerovski and Roger Born
MyMac: How difficult is it to prepare all aspects of your digital editions?
O’REILLY: Most of our books are produced using an XML-based production process and toolchain. While it wasn’t easy or cheap to build that out, now that it’s in place we are able to use a single source to generate print, PDF, EPUB, Mobipocket, iPhone, and Android editions of the books.
MyMac: What is the price differential compared to conventional print books?
O’REILLY: For ebooks sold directly from oreilly.com, most are priced at 80% of the price of the print book. We are paying close attention to prices on various ebook devices and stores, and are doing some experimentation of our own to try and measure the price elasticity of demand for digital books.
MyMac: How successful have you been at informing, educating, and expanding your readership?
O’REILLY: Digital books outsell print books more than 2:1 on our website. So pretty good, it would seem.
MyMac: Where do iPhone/iTouch, Kindle, BlackBerry, and other small format devices fit into your evolving technology?
O’REILLY: Mobile devices are absolutely the most important digital channel for us right now. There are 40M iPhones around the world, and some estimates are that there will be at least as many Android devices within a year. That’s one or two orders of magnitude more smartphones than ebook devices, so it’s simply going to be a bigger market.
MyMac: Which titles are most popular, and which ones don’t have any traction?
Visual Quickstart Guide – Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
By Maria Langer
Peachpit Press
http://www.peachpit.com
$26.99 / e-book – $21.59
ISBN-10: 0-321-63539-6
Peachpit Press’ latest publication, Visual Quickstart Guide – Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, is an excellent reference that can help anyone enhance their use of Apple’s latest operating system. When I recently spied the book prominently displayed on the shelves of the Syracuse Apple Store, I knew that it was a book that even a seasoned veteran of OS X could appreciate. It has become a reference manual that holds a permanent spot on my bookshelf.
Visual Quickstart Guide – Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard offers explanations and tips for using every single aspect of Snow Leopard a person can imagine. And it does so in a manner that is easy to read with well-thought-out screen captures to demonstrate the information the author wishes to convey.
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Flood-It! by Lab Pixies
Cost: Free
http://labpixies.com/gadget_page.php?id=10
If you’re still looking for an addictive game to play on the iPhone or iPod Touch, look no further. Flood-It! by Lab Pixies, which claims to make the “coolest gadgets on the web”, is my all-time favorite game.
Kensington Nightstand Charging Dock for iPhone
Company: Kensington
Price: $39.99
http://us.kensington.com
Do you use the hotel clock radios when you are traveling? I don’t because I always have problems with them. Either I can’t figure out how to set them, or they just don’t go off for some reason. I’ve also had these go off in the middle of the night, thanks to some wise guy.
I thought I might be able to use my iPod Touch for an alarm, but there wasn’t a way to check the time in the middle of the night. Power up your iPhone or iPod Touch in a pitch black room and you’ll burn your retinas out.
I was intrigued when Kensington introduced the Kensington Nightstand Charging Dock (KNCD) for iPhone (and iPod Touch).
The KNCD is a simple charging dock that holds your iPhone/Touch in landscape mode. To complement this set up, Kensington has released an app named Rise&Shine for free in the app store.
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Are Apple users spoiled? Tim and David look into the Tweetie 2 controversy and the larger implications for Apple hardware users. We also kick off a new contest with iFrogz to give away two pair of the EarPollution DJ Style headphones, so listen in for your chance to win!
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Product of the week: OCW Display Port adapters
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MyMac Podcast #403
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