Adobe Photoshop Elements 10
Company: Adobe
Requires: multicore Intel processor, Mac OSX 10.5.8 or higher, QuickTime 7
Price: $99.99, upgrade $79.99
When Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 was released a number of years ago, I decided to buy it, even though I had no graphics experience whatsoever. I even bought a book to teach me how to use it. Sadly, I used PSE6 mainly to create coupons for my husband’s business, slightly edit screen shots I take for MyMac.com articles, and superimpose faces on other people’s bodies (Don’t ask. It’s silly.) So when the opportunity arose for me to review Adobe Photoshop Elements 10, I jumped at the chance to really sit down and learn about some of the fun and powerful techniques I could use with this software.
Keep in mind that this review is coming from a novice’s perspective. Even though I have used PSE6 in the past, my experience is so limited that I’m still considered a newbie. For a more in-depth review of PSE10 from a user who has an extensive Photoshop background, check out MyMac.com writer Donny Yankellow’s article.
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Turbo.264 HD
Company: Elgato
Version: 1.2
Requires: 512 MB of RAM, Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later, QuickTime 7.6 or later
Price: $49.99
Mac App Store link
Turbo.264 HD Software Edition is a simple application that can convert almost any type of video on your Mac to a high quality H.264 file in standard or HD format. The resulting video can be played on iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, Sony PSP, or sent to YouTube.
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Jetsetter
Company: Gilt Travel, Inc
Version: 1.1.1 for iPad
Requires: iOS 3.2 or later
Price: Free
Version 2.0 for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
Requires: iOS 4.0 or later
Price: Free
Do you like to travel? Do you find it difficult to navigate through web sites, looking for honest and unbiased reviews of hotels and destinations? Do you want to travel somewhere interesting, somewhere that you may not have thought of? If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, you might want to take a look at Jetsetter.
Jetsetter is a travel app for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch that’s more than just a simple app that shows vacation spots. Jetsetter uses photos, reviews, insider tips, and intuitive site navigation to make searching for a new adventure, well, an adventure! I used the iPad version of Jetsetter for this review.
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Using Preview to take a screen shot, annotating screen shots.
Desktopr
Version 1.0.1
Company: Sandwichlab
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Price: $3.99
Mac App Store link
Desktopr is a small app that sets your Mac’s desktop image, or wallpaper, to whatever you want: photo, movie, even a web site like Facebook or Twitter. The app lives in the menu bar, and is easily customized.
Wallpapers are set through the Preference pane of Desktopr. Under the “Add” tab are some pre-chosen web sites covering news, social, lifestyle, and toys that can be added as wallpapers. The custom section is where users add their own web sites or files from their Macs. Use the “Settings” tab to enable or disable Java and JavaScript or Flash, change transparency and Quartz frame rate, and tweak a few other options.
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Orbit Wireless Mobile Trackball
Company: Kensington
Price: $59.99 or lower online
Requires: Mac OSX 10.5.6 or higher
I’ve owned and used a laptop computer since late 2001. In that time I’ve always used the trackpad; I was happy with it. Recently I decided that I needed a little more control than I was getting with the trackpad, so I bought a wireless mouse. I love it, though I primarily use it when editing video. When the opportunity arose for me to review a wireless trackball, I jumped at the chance.
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Take Control of Upgrading to Lion, version 1.1
Author: Joe Kissell
Publisher: TidBITS Publishing, Inc.
Price: $15.00
150 pages, ebook-PDF format
ISBN: 978-1-61542-138-1
On July 20, 2011, Apple released the much-anticipated OS X 10.7 Lion. As with all previous OS upgrades, it’s important to get your Mac ready for a new operating system. And also, as with previous upgrades, TidBITS Publishing is there to help, with Joe Kissell’s new ebook, Take Control of Upgrading to Lion (TCUL).
This book is NOT about how to use Lion; Kissell refers the reader to another Take Control book on that subject. Rather, TCUL is a primer on preparing for Lion’s installation.
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FileMaker Go
Company: FileMaker
$39.99 for iPad
Version 1.2.1
$19.99 for iPhone and iPod touch
Version 1.2.1
Both apps require iOS 4.2 or later
If you use a database for your job, chances are it’s a FileMaker database. And, chances are, you access the information from your desk. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the pertinent databases with you when you’re conducting business outside the office? FileMaker thought so too, and created FileMaker Go.
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Web Design with HTML and CSS Digital Classroom
Authors: Jeremy Osborn, Jennifer Smith, and the AGI Creative Team
Company: Wiley Publishing
Price: $39.99 US, $47.99 CAN
284 pages
ISBN: 978-0-470-58360-9
If you’re in a hurry, and don’t have time to read this entire review, let me summarize it for you in four words:
I love this book!
However, if you have the time, continue reading to find out why this book is a must-have for anyone with even a passing interest in web design.
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The Book of Audacity
Author: Carla Schroder
Company: No Starch Press
Price: $34.95 US, $40.95 CDN
360 pages
Audacity is an extremely popular, open source audio editor used by musicians, podcasters, and anyone who needs to record and edit audio files. Just because it’s free doesn’t mean it’s a flimsy application. On the contrary, Audacity is immensely powerful, with a bit of a learning curve. Author Carla Schroder does a fabulous job of explaining how and why to use Audacity in her book, The Book of Audacity, published by No Starch Press.
One caveat before reading: while Audacity is a multi-platform application, Schroder’s focus is on Windows and Linux. All of her examples and illustrations show Windows and Linux screens; not a Mac in sight. This could be a problem for readers who are very new to Macs and/or computers. Stay with it. It will take a little more effort, but it will be worth it.
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iHome iA63 App-Enhanced Alarm Clock FM Radio Stereo Speaker System
Company: iHome
Price: $99 US
Compatible with all versions of iPod touch, iPhone 3, 3GS, 4
iHome has a history of creating functional, multi-purpose products. The iHome iA63 is the latest in the series. Combining an alarm clock, iPod/iPhone dock, FM radio, and speakers into one sleek unit is no easy task, but iHome found a way to do it, and do it well, with a few exceptions.
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Day Four
Remember The Milk
iTunes link
Developer Web Site
Version 1.5.0
Free; Upgrade to Pro $24.99/year or $2.99/month
Works with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later
Remember The Milk (RTM) is a popular note and to-do app for iPhone that, surprisingly, doesn’t have a dedicated iPad app. An online account is needed to use the app.
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Mousepose 3
Boinx Software
Mac App Store link
Price: $16.99
Day Three
Wunderlist
iTunes link iPhone
Version 1.2.1
Requires iOS 3.1 or later. Works with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
iTunes link iPad
Version 1.01
Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Developer Web Site
Free
Wunderlist is a list/task manager available for Mac, iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. It’s clean and streamlined user interface makes it easy to learn and easy to keep your life in order.
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Day Two
Infinote Free
iTunes link
Developers web site
Version 1.6.5
Free
Works with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
All of us have used sticky notes at one time or another. They’re simple to use, and come in some great colors. If you’d like a note app that has the familiarity of sticky notes, take a look at Infinote Free.
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The iTunes app store is loaded with note apps, almost as many as fart apps. But unlike fart apps, note apps serve a real purpose: they help keep us organized. Yet how do you know which note app is worth your time and money? Over the next four days I’ll be reviewing four different note apps that offer different features that appeal to different users.
This is by no means an exhaustive or “best-of” list; it’s just four apps I’ve recently been using. If you’ve been using a note app that you just can’t live without, please share it by leaving a comment below.
And now, without any further ado…
Day One
RainbowNote Lite
iTunes link
Developer Web Site
Version 2.3
Free
Works with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later
RainbowNote Lite is a great note app if you need a lot of customization in your note organization. With each note created you can change the background, font size, style and color, and text size.
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Snowball
Blue Microphones
Price: $99.99 on Blue Microphones web site, less on Amazon
Comments. Be heard!
MyMac Podcast #403
Review
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