Garry Fong Puffer – Pop-Up Flash Diffuser
Company: Gary Fong
Price: $24.99 US
Everyone buying an entry to mid range DSLR with an integrated pop-up flash rapidly learns they are not so great. Like many flashes on compact cameras, they point directly to your subject and are not adjustable. They also tend to blast the subject directly, making it look overexposed.
The Photographer’s Eye – Interactive edition for iPad
Company: The Ilex Press Ltd.
Author: Michael Freeman
Price: $9.99 US
When Amazon announced the Kindle with its electronic store, then Apple introduce the iBooks Store a few years later, I was feeling happy about the fact that bricks of books would become digital. But I was fast disappointed when I saw that most digital books were simply a copy of the physical books. When something goes digital, I expect a bit of interactivity.
Logitech Tablet Keyboard for iPad $69.99 (about $60.00 from Amazon)
I love my iPad. I truly do and its insanely great form and function blended together in an all around awesomely inspirational touch-based interface makes using it a joy. Just one little quandary. I hate using the onscreen keyboard.
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Did you top tech story of 2011 make this list? David and Tim have what they consider the top ten on this episode of TechFan! Agree or disagree, let us know!
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More about you the listeners this week than about any news from the Mac scene. We talk about buying used Macs (kinda), the state of Radio (not really), and how to waste a perfectly good beer (OK that we did do). QuickTime gets some attention as a fast video editor and a good discussion on what we’ll do on future shows goes on (say what?). All in all, a weird time is had by all but what ELSE did you expect just after Christmas?
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Wicked Helix Headphones
Company: Wicked Audio
MSR Price: $14.99 USD
Headphones are so commonplace today, most people often have several pairs, ranging from the free pair you get for opening a checking account to the noise canceling headphones that cost more than a car payment. With so many laying around the house, why are we always looking for another pair?
While editing an industry newsletter related to Wi-Fi security issues, I recently encountered several news articles that pointed to the same dire message: If you don’t secure your wireless router, very, very bad things could happen.
Solar Walk – 3D Solar System model
App Developer: Vito Technology Inc.
Version 1.9.1
License: US$2.99 Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1.3 or later.
Solar Walk is an astronomy/educational application that has been available for some time and has been updated twice in the past month. Updates include a voice-over, localized language subtitles in the movie section, cosmetic changes to Uranus, Venus, and Mercury, some minor interface tweaks, addition of the Asteroid Belt, solar prominences, and a bug fix. As an amateur astronomer and an educational outreach volunteer, there are many features in this application that I find simply entertaining and some that are educationally useful. However, there are still things that should be updated, and there is room for some additions and improvements.
What I find the most entertaining with this application is the user interface and how you interact with the Solar System simulation. Solar Walk really takes advantage of the touching, pinching, twisting, swiping actions with iOS allowing you to interact and navigate through our Solar System in a very intuitive fashion. Cosmic background music can be switched on to further enhance your solar exploration experience. You can also select the 3-D mode and add another dimension to your viewing by using standard red/blue 3-D glasses. Let me give a brief example to illustrate the entertaining aspect of Solar Walk.
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Customized iCase
Company: Powis
Prices $79.95
In December of 2010 I had the pleasure of review the Powis iCase for the iPad. I loved the case, and still think it is one of the best and nicest iPad cases I have tried. I was recently given the opportunity to try their new customization option for the cases. This allows you to upload your own photo to their site and have it printed on the front of the iPad case itself. What did I think? Read on.
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AkiTio MyCloud Duo Networked Attached Storage Device
AkiTio
Price: $149.99 U.S.
I’m a big cheerleader of the network attached storage concept. In a previous job, back in the mid 1990s, my department server (two 1 GB drives) was running out of space. I was able to obtain a Quantum SnapServer with four 20 GB drives, which, due to RAID overhead, meant about 55 GB of usable space (whee!). It did the job for my department until my employer’s IT department wouldn’t let me administer my department’s data anymore and forced me to move the data to company servers. But I digress. At home, I own a crazy expensive 7.5 terabyte Synology DS-509+ and accompanying 10 terabyte Synology DX5 expansion unit (the DX5 connects to the DS-509+ via a fast eSATA connection). I use the first to back up to the second. There’s plenty of storage for my media (hundreds of backed-up DVDs, my iTunes library, and backups of my other computer). Heck, there’s enough storage for a medium-sized office! I use Plex as the media server application on my 2.5 GHz Core 2 Duo Mac mini. Plex, for the most part, seamlessly accesses my stored media on the Synology NAS and plays it on my HDTV.
SPIDER BLACK WIDOW HOLSTER KIT — $65
SPIDER PRO SYSTEM Single Camera — $135
I’ve seen them advertised in the photography magazines to which I subscribe. From the very first ad I thought it was a great idea. Camera straps can be so conspicuous and cumbersome. I’ve taken to wearing my camera/strap like a sling, around my neck, with my right arm through the strap and the camera hanging down my right side just to keep it out of my way. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always work out for the best. Getting the camera up to eye level when it’s under your arm takes a bit of squiggling and juking to get that pesky arm out of the way.
Welcome, Spider Black Widow Holster Kit made by Shai Gear, LLC. There’s really not a lot to the system, but simple is good. The Spider contains three basic parts: belt, holster, and pad with adjustable loop.
As our portable technology increases in performance and functionality we are forever looking for a power source. This trend is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future so we need to take additional measures to ensure we get a complete working day out of our devices.
Common sense power saving techniques are featured in this article. Some require too much compromise in functionality to be truly useful. The following guide aims to address all viable power saving techniques for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 5.
External cases such as the Mophie Juice Pack or Mobius Solar iPhone Rechargeable Battery Case assist with on-the-run power requirements, albeit with additional size, weight, and cost.
The following information is not collated by level of importance or effectiveness. In many cases a combination of these techniques added together can significantly increase your available battery power.
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The Cult of LEGO
By: John Baichtal and Joe Meno
Publisher: No Starch Press
Format: 304 pages; full colour hardback
Price: $39.95 ($31.95 electronic book)
If it looked as if No Starch Press were intent on cornering the market for coffee table books appealing to geeks with their ‘Cult of Mac’ and ‘Cult of iPod’ books, then their latest offering, on LEGO, will surely cement that impression. Like those earlier books, ‘The Cult of LEGO’ mixes beautiful photography with incisive writing and a distinctly postmodern approach to the many and varied ways adults use LEGO blocks.
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I knew it was only a matter of time. Back when the iPhone was first released the only apps on the device was those created by Apple. It didn’t take the company long to roll out the ability for third party developers to create an ecosystem that would take the platform to new heights. And, obviously to everyone, it was video games that led the charge.
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All relatively quiet on the Mac front so the GMen decide to have a little discussion about bigger or smaller iDevices, how Amazon is doing with the Kindle Fire, and what they got for their loved ones for Christmas…SHHH. Don’t tell.
Some links:
Tech News of the Weird link:
Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 Platinum by Aspyr $26.13 at Amazon
Angry Birds Seasons HD by Rovio Mobile Ltd $1.99
The Music:
MMO- Texual Healing
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All Guy wants for ChristHannaKwanzmas 2011 (A Holiday Rant)
It’s near the end of year which means that yes, it’s time for another Holiday rant from Guy. It’s been a couple of years since I did this and with a family taking up so much of my time, I’m going to re-purpose some of the older content already published. Let’s call it something now and today. How about, “Re-cycled Content”. Yep that sounds nice and green and full of what ChristHannaKwanzmas should be (but isn’t) all about. To begin with, let’s go back a few years and give you the explanation of what ChristHannaKwanzmas is. READ on!
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What is the Services Menu on your Mac? Find out here!
My New Mac
by Wallace Wang
Publisher:
No Starch Press
Price: Paperback $29.95 (ebook $23.95)
ISBN 9781593273903
xxii + 481 pp
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A bit over three years ago I compared two Macintosh books for beginners, David Pogue’s Mac OS X Leopard Edition: The Missing Manual and Wallace Wang’s My New Mac. To cut a long story short, they’re both good books, but aimed at somewhat different audiences. The Missing Manual covers just about every aspect of the Mac operating system, giving power users the information they need to do all sorts of different things. But it doesn’t actually tell a new Mac user what they can do with their computer. To get the most from The Missing Manual, you need to have a fair idea of what you want to do first.
video2brain-Video Learning
Company: video2brain
Price: Various, most between $19.95-$49.95
My Courses:
Adobe Photoshop Elements 10: Learn By Video $49.99
Duration: 5 hours 20 minutes
Getting Started with Photoshop Elements 10 $34.99
Duration: 4 hours 30 minutes
I’m a visual learner. Tell me what to do, and sometimes I get it. Show me what to do and I understand much better. What’s the best way to show someone how to do something? Make a video, of course!
video2brain (v2b) has taken the concept of showing how to master a particular skill and has run with it. Formed in 2002, v2b has courses in English, German, French, and Spanish, with over 515 hours in English-language titles.
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Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.5
Company: Adobe
Price: $299 U.S.
Introduction
I am an amateur photographer, a passion I’ve had since 2000. In 2002 iPhoto became my photo management software, and I used Photoshop Elements for further editing my pictures. I switched to Aperture version 2.0 around 2009, keeping Photoshop Elements as my external editor. Last year, I upgraded to Photoshop CS5, and since then I always wanted to compare Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to Aperture, mainly because Aperture and Photoshop integration is poor.
This review/article about Lightroom 3.5 is the result of that investigation. To compare both applications in depth would take much more than a few pages, as you will read below. But at the end, my hope is that you will find some help when considering jumping to professional image management software.
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