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Sat, 27 Sep 2003

EZPZapps ships Kartolina 2.0

Valletta, Malta - 25 September 2003 - EZPZapps, today announce

the immediate availability of Kartolina 2.0, a major update of the

popular digital photo tool for OS X.

"We are delighted with the feedback we have received from users of Kartolina 2.0 during testing" said

Jim Sims, CEO of EZPZapps. "New customers will be thrilled with the way they can do so much so easily,

and with the immediate access Kartolina provides to iPhoto."



Kartolina 2.0 provides immediate access to iPhoto Albums or any folder of

images, enabling users to create cards, invitations, or business advertising

material effortlessly. Text, photo placement and scaling, color

backgrounds, can be applied to an image with Kartolina's simple, intuitive interface.

Access to images saved in iPhoto is almost immediate, enabling you to choose,

create, print or send email images for personal or business use in seconds.



For examples of use, more information, and a free download of Kartolina 2.0

go to



http://EZPZapps.com/kartolina



http://ezpzapps.com/kartolina/Kart_PhotoX.sit



About EZPZapps



EZPZapps creates cross-platform software that is fun and easy to use. We have

been providing Mac software for home and business since 1995. EZPZapps also provides

custom software development services. Visit EZPZapps.com for an idea of the wide

range of our expertise.



Contact



Jim Sims CEO

EZPZapps

48 Saint Mary Street

Victoria, Gozo

Malta VCT104

email: info@ezpzapps.com

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Griffin Audio Accessories

Griffin iTrip iPod FM Transmitter
A Q-tastic price at only $29.99 -- the best price on the planet, period!
NOTE: Compatible with 1st & 2nd generation iPods only that have the
FireWire port on top, not the 3rd generation iPod with the docking
connector on the bottom. We'll have those 3G iTrips for you shortly!


Griffin PowerWave USB Audio Amplifier
Pump up the volume on any audio coming from your computer and get the
power you need when converting vinyl to MP3!
Regularly $99.99, now just $89.99 with Q-Pon code "PUMP"

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Fri, 26 Sep 2003

New Life for an old Mac

My G4/500 AGP was starting to feel old & slow, so I was faced with the choice of buying a new machine or upgrading this one. Here's what I decided to do.

Since my G4 Minitower already had 768M of RAM, two internal hard drives, and a Radeon 9000 it's still a fairly nice machine. However, it was extremely slow with only a 500 MHz CPU and the DVD-RAM drive wasn't too useful since it wasn't able to burn CDs or regular DVDs. My old 80G drive died a few months ago, so I was using a slower 45G drive.


I decided to buy an OWC Mercury Extreme 1GHz CPU upgrade and a Pioneer DVR-105 Superdrive. For a total of $525 I was able to double my CPU speed and gain CD & DVD burning capability. I also added a 7200 RPM Western Digital 80G drive.


It took about an hour to replace the CPU & drive. When I put the machine back together, I was greeted with a startup chime. System profiler confirmed that my system is now running at 1 GHz, and iDVD recognized the new drive as a SuperDrive.


My system's overall XBench score went from 58.42 to 95.20. The CPU score went from 56.35 to 118.37.


Before:


  • GCD Loop 47.04 1.84 Mops/sec
  • Floating Point Basic 66.41 240.17 Mflop/sec
  • AltiVec Basic 40.83 1.19 Gflop/sec
  • vecLib FFT 57.02 885.13 Mflop/sec
  • Floating Point Library 96.27 3.85 Mops/sec

After:

  • GCD Loop 107.55 4.20 Mops/sec
  • Floating Point Basic 121.02 437.64 Mflop/sec
  • AltiVec Basic 122.54 3.56 Gflop/sec
  • vecLib FFT 122.10 1.90 Gflop/sec
  • Floating Point Library 120.07 4.81 Mops/sec


The only downside of the OWC Mercury Extreme is the noisy CPU fan, which also makes my G4 AGP minitower sound like a new G4.




For more information about OWC upgrades & installation instructions, visit http://eshop.macsales.com/. I've posted a photo gallery of the upgrade here.

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Thu, 25 Sep 2003

Colourfull Creations Releases WebBackdrop for Mac OS X

September 20, 2003; New Baltimore, MI; Colourfull Creations Releases WebBackdrop for Mac OS X. WebBackdrop will let you display your favorite web site on the desktop. Get updates on stock prices, news, weather, animation, music, and anything else that is on the web without opening a web browser. For more information on WebBackdrop and other products go to http://www.colourfull.com

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Macromedia Central

Macromedia has released a preview of Macromedia Central, a Flash-based Sherlock-style environment.

Macromedia Central is a brand new way to develop, sell, and deploy applications using Macromedia Flash MX. More precisely, it is a different and exciting response to the need for “occasionally-connected” desktop and mobile applications.


As individuals and businesses rely more and more on web applications, there is a need to have access to these applications continually online and offline. Thus, a new type of application is starting to emerge, the occasionally-connected application. These applications typically run outside the browser environment, but detect when the user is online and connect directly to a web service or other source of dynamic data. The application can then run offline with the most up-to-date data.


Currently there isn’t a good platform or standard to develop and deploy these types of applications. For this reason, most occasionally-connected applications are either very simple, or very costly and proprietary. To make occasionally-connected applications easy to develop, sell, and deploy, a secure and well-established environment is needed.


Macromedia Central provides this ideal environment for rich, customized, occasionally-connected applications. It runs on both desktops and Macromedia Flash Player enabled mobile devices using the technology of the Macromedia Flash Player 6. Therefore, millions of users with the Macromedia Flash Player are ready to use Macromedia Central.


One feature of Macromedia Central is a system for distributing applications. The Macromedia Central environment is installed on the users machine on first use. Users are immediately able to download applications from developers to run in Macromedia Central. Application can be provided for free; however, developers will also be able to charge for their work.

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Wed, 24 Sep 2003

Big Medium 1.2 adds RSS news feeds, easier page editing and more

Global Moxie released Big Medium 1.2, a major update to the company's web content management system. Big Medium is browser-based software that enables non-technical staff to update websites without learning HTML. New features in Big Medium 1.2 include RSS news feeds, support for non-western languages and a new, streamlined editing interface that makes webpage publishing even easier and more intuitive.

September 24, 2003 -- Global Moxie announced the release of Big Medium 1.2, a major update to the company's web content management system. Big Medium is browser-based software that enables non-technical staff to update websites without learning HTML. New features in Big Medium 1.2 include RSS news feeds, support for non-western languages and a new, streamlined editing interface that makes webpage publishing even easier and more intuitive.


"With its new features and intuitive interface, Big Medium does for commercial sites what blogging software did for personal online journals: provide an easy, effortless way to keep websites fresh," said Global Moxie founder Josh Clark. "Big Medium fills a critical need for small businesses and non-profits. While bloggers enjoy easy and affordable publishing tools, Big Medium is the first tool in its category to bring similar simplicity to the publication of other types of content websites, including online magazines, marketing sites, schools, intranets, newspaper sites and much more."


About.com recently ranked Big Medium as one of the "Top 10 E-Commerce Solutions." Exceptionally easy to use, Big Medium is also powerful enough to manage very large, fast-changing sites. The software empowers writers, editors and business users to update websites directly, freeing web professionals of tedious maintenance tasks so that they can be more productive and creative.


"Big Medium is the single best online tool I have ever used," said Bob Thornton, national program director of Adonai Radio Group, which uses Big Medium to run four radio-station websites. "The software is a huge hit with my users."


NEW FEATURES IN BIG MEDIUM 1.2


  • RSS news feeds allow website visitors to subscribe to website headlines and content.

  • Unicode (UTF-8) support allows publication of content in non-western languages.

  • Streamlined edit page makes adding and editing web pages faster, easier and more intuitive.

  • New text-formatting options allow enhanced control over simple formatting tasks.

  • Big Medium's "tips" (micro-content that appears throughout the site) can now be rotated to display different content on every page.

  • Additional template "widgets" give webmasters more options to customize their sites.

  • Big Medium's content affiliate program offers enhanced control over the appearance and format of links (the content affiliate program allows website visitors to put automatically updated headlines/links from Big Medium-managed sites on their own websites).

  • Performance improvements make Big Medium faster at building pages.

  • A variety of reported issues have been fixed.



The Global Moxie website offers a more detailed list of new features and fixes.


SOPHISTICATED SOFTWARE, AFFORDABLE PRICE


Priced at just $129, Big Medium is carefully designed to fit within the technical resources and budgets of even the smallest businesses and non-profits. A single installation of Big Medium can manage hundreds of websites on a single server, allowing organizations to provide individual departments, products, employees, teachers or students with their own sites. One price does it all: There are no per-seat licenses or hidden costs.


"Like any other company, we're always looking for opportunities to shave costs," said Brad Randlett, CEO of Affordable Translations. "In the past when we needed to update our website, even with small edits, we had to hire a web contractor. By making it incredibly easy for us to maintain and edit our website ourselves, Big Medium has brought our website costs nearly to zero."


Big Medium uses custom design templates to manage any website in its own unique look and feel. The templates are simple to create and change, allowing users to give a website a complete design makeover in a matter of minutes, no matter how large the site. Big Medium also comes with pre-formatted templates, or "skins," allowing users to get up and running with a new site in minutes. Once the sites are set up, administrators can also use Big Medium to backup and duplicate entire sites.


In addition to making it easy to update and maintain website content, Big Medium also gives websites a broad range of interactive features and design elements: easy insertion of pullquotes and images into article pages, content syndication, printer-friendly pages, "e-mail this page" function, animated navigation bars, and more.


Behind the scenes, every contributor has their own account and password. Big Medium offers five levels of editing permissions, giving site administrators precise control over how writers and editors can add, edit and publish web pages.


PRICING AND AVAILABILITY


Big Medium 1.2 is available now from the Global Moxie website at http://www.globalmoxie.com. A free online demo is available at http://demo.globalmoxie.com. Big Medium is licensed for $129, with free updates for one year. The suite of Perl scripts runs on servers operating the Unix operating system, including Linux, Mac OSX, Solaris and FreeBSD.


ABOUT GLOBAL MOXIE


Global Moxie creates innovative and affordable tools to make the Web a simpler publishing medium for businesses, non-profits and individuals. The company's flagship product, Big Medium, allows even the most hardened technophobes to create and edit web pages, effortlessly managing dynamic, fast-moving websites. Global Moxie's multimedia studio is located in Paris.


USEFUL LINKS


Overview of Big Medium's features:

http://www.globalmoxie.com/moxie/bigmedium/features.shtml


Complete product tour, including screen shots:

http://www.globalmoxie.com/moxie/bigmedium/tour/


Free online demo:

http://demo.globalmoxie.com/


Featured sites using Big Medium:

http://www.globalmoxie.com/moxie/bigmedium/featured/


Comments from Big Medium's customers:

http://www.globalmoxie.com/moxie/tips/

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Tue, 23 Sep 2003

Mac OS X 10.2.8 Update pulled

The Mac OS X 10.2.8 update has been pulled from Apple's site and the software update panel. Many users report ethernet products, which are detailed at macfixit.

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Mon, 22 Sep 2003

Watchster debuts

Formerly MacNewz, the new site carries all the latest headlines from over 100 top Mac, PDA, mobile, and tech news sites, arranged in three tabbed sections. The Mac news section includes virtually every major Mac news and information source, and lists the headlines chronologically in several main categories for quick browsing.


www.watchster.com

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Apple Security Announcement 2003-09-22 Mac OS X 10.2.8

The new Mac OS X 10.2.8 update contains fixes for the following vulnerabilities:

OpenSSH: Mac OS X 10.2.8 contains the patches to address CVE
CAN-2003-0693, CAN-2003-0695, and CAN-2003-0682. On Mac OS X
versions prior to 10.2.8, the vulnerability is limited to a denial
of service from the possibility of causing sshd to crash. Each
login session has its own sshd, so established connections are
preserved up to the point where system resources are exhausted by
an attack.


To deliver the update in a rapid and reliable manner, only the
patches for CVE IDs listed above were applied, and not the entire
set of patches for OpenSSH 3.7.1. Thus, the OpenSSH version in
Mac OS X 10.2.8, as obtained via the "ssh -V" command, is:
OpenSSH_3.4p1+CAN-2003-0693, SSH protocols 1.5/2.0, OpenSSL
0x0090609f


Sendmail: Addresses CVE CAN-2003-0694 and CAN-2003-0681 to fix a
buffer overflow in address parsing, as well as a potential buffer
overflow in ruleset parsing.


fb_realpath(): Fixes CAN-2003-0466 which is an off-by-one error in
the fb_realpath() function that may allow attackers to execute
arbitrary code.


arplookup(): Fixes CAN-2003-0804. The arplookup() function caches
ARP requests for routes on a local link. On a local subnet only,
it is possible for an attacker to send a sufficient number of
spoofed ARP requests which will exhaust kernel memory, leading to
a denial of service.


Mac OS X 10.2.8 can be downloaded from the software update preference pane or one of the following locations:


  • Mac OS X Client (updating from 10.2 - 10.2.5):
    http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n120244

    The download file is named: "MacOSXUpdateCombo10.2.8.dmg"

    Its SHA-1 digest is: 47c4e354516d7d577c57389207e4207f2b9b2ea2


  • Mac OS X Client (updating from 10.2.6 - 10.2.7):
    http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n120245

    The download file is named: "MacOSXUpdate10.2.8.dmg"

    Its SHA-1 digest is: 2fd24114274f9a1c59b2eb492301a90234215c73


  • Mac OS X Server (updating from 10.2 - 10.2.5):
    http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n120246

    The download file is named: "MacOSXSrvrUpdCombo10.2.8.dmg"

    Its SHA-1 digest is: d87b3e7bd5668046f22b551ccf9bb75a4139e653


  • Mac OS X Server (updating from 10.2.6 - 10.2.7):
    http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n120247

    The download file is named: "MacOSXServerUpdate10.2.8.dmg"

    Its SHA-1 digest is: 74ce19ab7488a41328bee2ba7156489f997abe7c

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Mac OS X 10.2.8 Update now available

An update to Mac OS X 10.2.8 is now available from the Software Update panel. This update is for G3 & G4 systems only - it's not compatible with G5s.

The 10.2.8 Update delivers enhanced functionality and improved reliability for the following applications, services and technologies: Audio, Bluetooth, Classic compatibility, Finder, Graphics, LDAP, Power Management, Safari, and FireWire and USB device compatibility.


These are some of the enhancements that are a part of the Mac OS X 10.2.8 Update:


  • Windows on external displays connected to some PowerBook computers are drawn better.
  • The Bluetooth menu bar item works better when a Bluetooth USB adapter is disconnected and reconnected.
  • Addresses a situation in which an external FireWire storage device would not become available (mount) and this message would appear: "A disk attempting to mount as 'unknown' has failed. Please use Disk Utility to check the disk."
  • Addresses an issue in which some Bluetooth devices may not be available after the computer wakes from sleep.
  • Addresses an issue in which some Bluetooth keyboards may show a delayed response when you press a key after the computer wakes from sleep.
  • Addresses an issue in which some iBook computers could make a clicking sound when using Mac OS X 10.2.5 or 10.2.6.Reduces a potential delay when removing some devices from the Bluetooth pairing list.
  • Addresses a potential issue in which an audio application can unexpectedly quit when a USB- or FireWire-based audio device is disconnected.
  • Bluetooth preferences correctly displays the Bluetooth menu bar item's status if the item was enabled elsewhere.
  • Includes several enhancements for Safari.
  • Includes support for USB 2.0 devices, including PCI and PC cards for computers that do not include USB 2.0 hardware.

The update also provides updated security services and includes the latest Security Updates.


For detailed information on this Update, please visit http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n25524.


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Rogue Amoeba Releases Audio Hijack 2 - Superb Audio Recording

Rogue Amoeba has just released Audio Hijack 2, offering all the recording functionality of the original Audio Hijack, with an entirely redesigned user interface, and many new features. Audio Hijack 2 is also a free update, and recommended for all registered users.

Audio Hijack is the perfect tool to record any audio on OS X. With Audio Hijack, audio can quickly and easily be saved from almost any application to an AIFF file, playable in any audio player. Audio Hijack's simple interface for hijacking audio also contains many powerful features for more advanced users, including audio effects, and timers for timed recording.

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HyperEngine-AV 1.2.1

HyperEngine-AV (formerly known as “Montage”), is an OS X native multimedia editor that offers an innovative trackless, free-form interface. This makes it not only very powerful yet easy to master at the same time, but it is also the guarantee of a productive -- and fun -- experience to all users regardless of their knowledge of the digital media world.

HyperEngine-AV allows the seamless combination of video, audio and text for the creation of full DV quality multimedia content, ranging from family movies or slide shows to business presentations and feature films.


Real-time, editable transitions are automatically created when video clips are dragged on top of each other, and all QuickTime® as well as QT third party video effects can be applied to any clip. Audio clips can be edited, arranged, stacked and processed using Arboretum professional audio plug-ins to generate stunning soundtracks.



Audio clips can be edited, arranged, stacked, and processed to generate stunning soundtracks. There is no track limit because . . . there are no tracks!



With Arboretum's prestigious history as a music software manufacturer, HyperEngine-AV's audio capabilities are second to none. Audio clips can be edited and processed to generate stunning soundtracks.

The program comes with a wide variety of free studio-quality effects from Arboretum's acclaimed Hyperprism suite of processors, including an excellent Reverb.

More can be added via a flexible plug-in architecture - including the popular Ray Gun and Ray Gun Pro for cleaning up scratchy vinyl, tape hiss, hum, and other problem recordings.

HyperEngine-AV™ also comes with over 70 royalty-free audio clips from celebrated sound designer Frank Serafine (Star Trek, TRON, Poltergeist, Hunt for Red October, Virtuosity).

Users of video programs who want to enhance their final movie with cutting-edge audio will find HyperEngine-AV an ideal complement to their current software.



For more details on this product please go to our website at:

http://www.arboretum.com/products/hyperengine-av/hav_main.html



Download HyperEngine-AV 1.2.1:

ftp://ftp.privatei.com/pub/arboretum/products/HyperEngine-AV_1.2.1.dmg



Download HyperEngine-AV press release.

http://www.arboretum.com/download/pr/HyperEngineAVforOSX.pdf

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Keynote Gallery releases their first environmentally friendly theme

Introducing Ecosystem. A unique, "environmentally friendly" theme with tons of cut-out masters including multiples and bleed versions for use with Keynote's Push and Cube transitions.

With a total of 29 masters, 5 custom bullets, 6 custom chart fills, text background and a leaf graphic, this theme is a great deal at $9.95 US. Check out http://www.keynotegallery.com to view (and purchase) this theme.

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Sun, 21 Sep 2003

Panther 7B74

Panther build 7B74 has been seeded to developers. The release notes don't mention any known issues, but it still recommends doing erase installs over previous Panther builds although upgrades or archive installs work over 10.1.x or 10.2.x.

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Fri, 19 Sep 2003

Deep Links from EFF

Deep Links features noteworthy news items from around the Internet.





For more information or to join the Electronic Frontier Foundation, visit eff.org.

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Apple Expo 2003 keynote teaser found.

Hi folks,



today I found an Apple Expo 2003 keynote teaser onto a german website. Maybe you'd like to inform your other readers. The direct link is as follows:



http://www.in-media.de/subdomains/apfelgeruechte/pages/teaser.shtml



Best regards,

Gill.

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Thu, 18 Sep 2003

GRIFFIN ANNOUNCES BETA RELEASE OF MULTIPLE POWERMATE SOFTWARE

Griffin also offers special price of 39 dollars for additional
PowerMates purchased for a limited time

Direct from Macworld Expo Paris, Griffin Technology Inc, today announced the availability of PowerMate Software Version 2.02 BETA for OS X. This software allows the use of up to six PowerMate USB Multimedia Controllers at once. To complement the release of this free multiple PowerMate software, Griffin is offering a special price of 39 dollars for additional PowerMates purchased in the new Black or original Brushed Aluminum. PowerMate Software Version 2.02b for OS X and the specially priced PowerMates are available immediately at http://www.griffintechnology.com.


The PowerMate USB Multimedia Controller is an entirely new kind of input device. Resembling a giant volume knob from an expensive hi-fi stereo, PowerMate is made of solid die cast aluminum. It comes with presets for many common applications such as iTunes, iMovie, Safari and a dozen more. New settings can be easily added and customized for an unlimited number of other applications. A pulsing blue glow emanates from beneath PowerMate’s rubber non-slip clear base and the unit is powered and connected using USB.


With PowerMate Software Version 2.02b for OS X, multiple PowerMates can now be combined together to form completely new and customized control setups. This feature is the result of many requests from customers using their PowerMate for music applications, games and 3-D/CAD design. For example, designers working in 3-D can set up separate PowerMates to control the X, Z and Y-axis of their model. They then can precisely control and tweak all dimensions at once simply by adjusting their three PowerMates.


Customers will also find it helpful to simply add one additional PowerMate to their setup. They can then assign one PowerMate to exclusively handle their computer's volume level and muting, while a second PowerMate is used for all other application-specific settings like iMovie, Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash. This gives them both a task oriented PowerMate and a simple permanent volume controller.


"The ability to utilize multiple PowerMates is very cool and very powerful. We can’t wait to see what our customers will do with up to SIX PowerMates at once." said Andrew Green, VP of Marketing & Design for Griffin Technology. "Besides the obvious functionality in gaming and design, we anticipate our users surprising us by using multiple PowerMates in ways we've never imagined. Most importantly, the control is now in their hands."

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Tue, 16 Sep 2003

Apple releases another one button mouse

Apple's announcements today also included a Bluetooth keyboard & mouse. However the mouse is yet another one-button model.

It's 2003 and Mac OS X has built-in support for multiple mouse buttons and a scroll wheel. Does anyone really want another one button mouse, especially one that costs $70? AppleCrap has posted a great review of this new $70 mouse.


I use multiple button scroll mice on all of my machines, including a Logitech wireless keyboard/mouse combo & a Kensington Optical Elite. With software such as USB Overdrive it's possible to assign different functions to each mouse button for different applications. I have my side buttons set to page back & forward in web browsers, spacebar & delete for email programs, and step over & step into for ProjectBuilder & CodeWarrior.


A multi-button mouse can save time and add many convenient shortcuts. There are no advantages to single button mice, when the system uses so many right-click functions which require using the control key if you don't have a multi button mouse. The new Action button in Panther's finder is not a good substitute for a second mouse button.

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New Powerbooks

Apple has finally released the long-awaited 15" Aluminum Powerbook along with updated 12" and 17" models.

The new 15" PowerBook is available with a 1GHz or 1.25GHz processor and either a Combo Drive or SuperDrive. The 15" model has a backlit keyboard, which the 12" model still lacks.


The 17" model has been upgraded to 1.33GHz and both 15" and 17" models use an ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 with 64MB of DDR SDRAM.


The 12" has been upgraded to a 1 GHz processor and an NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 with 32MB of DDR SDRAM.


All models now have USB 2.0, and the 15" & 17" models have FireWire 800.

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Mon, 15 Sep 2003

iChat Encryption?

Slava has posted an interesting item at unsanity.org indicating that encryption has already been implemented in iChat but is currently disabled. It uses an encryption module which isn't currently available. Perhaps we'll see it in the final release.

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Sat, 13 Sep 2003

Panther 7B68

Continuing the recent trend of weekly builds, a new Panther seed is available. The known issues in 7B68 involve launching Classic applications & connecting to AFP servers in /Network/Local.

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Fri, 12 Sep 2003

Take a Stand Against the Madness; Stop the RIAA!

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is on a rampage, launching legal attacks against average Americans from coast to coast. Rather than working to create a rational, legal means by which its customers can take advantage of file-sharing technology and pay a fair price for the music they love, it has chosen to sue people like Brianna LaHara, a 12 year-old girl living in New York City public housing.

Brianna, and hundreds of other music fans like her, are being forced to pay thousands of dollars they do not have to settle RIAA-member lawsuits -- supporting a business model that is anything but rational. This crusade is generating thousands of subpoenas and hundreds of lawsuits, but not a single penny for the artists that the RIAA claims to protect.


Copyright law shouldn't make criminals out of 60 million Americans, and it's time for a change. Congress is going to hold hearings; we need your help to make sure that the public's voice is heard. Tell Congress that it's time to stop the madness!


Sign the petition here.

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X-Builder version 1.0: Powerful Interactive Multimedia Authoring

Acrux Software announces X-Builder version 1.0, the company's flagship
authoring tool for OS X

X-Builder is an authoring tool specially designed for creating multimedia
projects and applications for Apple Macintosh computers running OS X.
X-Builder combines a powerful, intuitive multimedia authoring environment
with the ability to save projects as standalone applications. These are
royalty-free, so you can give them to friends and colleagues, or sell them
as shareware or as commercial applications.


X-Builder distinguishes itself from other authoring systems with it's
modern, simple and intuitive project development environment. Much less
intimidating than most other comparable authoring systems. Using a single
menu command or function key shortcut you can instantly switch between run
mode and X-Builder's development environment; no compilation required.


X-Builder projects contain slides, and each slide in a project is
constructed using X-Builder's built-in tools for creating text, banners,
lines, rectangles, buttons, input boxes, controls, choice lists, graphs
etc. You can add objects by "drawing" them, or by dragging ready-made
examples from a Library. Text can by typed directly in the project window.
The appearance and behavior of other types of objects are governed by
properties which can be set via a floating "Inspector" palette; changes are
immediate and there's no need to open and close dialogs for each change.


It's also easy to import graphic elements and movies, for example Photoshop
files, PDF's or QuickTime movies. Simply drag the files on the X-Builder
dock icon and then position the image in the project window.


Creating a standalone application from a project is a simple as saving the
project as an application. You can optionally provide a custom icon, about
box or custom menus.


A context-sensitive online Guide is always at hand to provide explanations
of the program's facilities.


More info: http://www.acruxsoftware.com/xbuilder/index.php


Download: http://www.acruxsoftware.com/xbuilder/X-Builder.dmg (7.4Mb)


X-Builder is shareware and a single-user registration code costs $49.
Registered iBuild users can upgrade for $19. Details on our web side.


Unregistered demo copies of X-Builder are fully functional and can be used
to save projects of up to 30 slides.


More X-Builder features:


  • Constant visual overview of projects provided by thumbnail pictures of
    slides.

  • Library of ready-made objects and example projects.

  • Dynamic slides, with objects appearing and disappearing when users press
    buttons or perform other actions. Visual effects can be applied to both
    object and slide transitions, and sound effects can be added as well. All
    this can be done without any scripting.

  • Slides shows with visual effects.

  • Button and hypertext links to slides, web pages, files and applications.

  • Suitable for tests, quizzes and educational courseware: X-Builder can put
    questions in various forms, check answers, and keep and display scores,
    making it the ideal tool for educational applications and courseware.

  • Spoken text: X-Builder can read out text which it displays, using the
    Mac's synthesized speech facility; no need to record! It can also display
    or highlight individual words as they are read out, and can also spell out
    words. Great as a learning aid.

  • Scripting: You can create substantial projects and applications with
    X-Builder without any scripting at all. (All features listed here are
    implemented without scripting). But for really serious projects X-Builder
    provides built-in support for Apple's AppleScript scripting language. This
    can be used not only to control X-Builder, but also to communicate with any
    other scriptable application or to control the standalone applications
    generated with X-Builder.

  • Multilingual facilities: X-Builder has just about the easiest facilities
    for creating multilingual projects and applications; no separate files to
    worry about, simply switch between each language as you are building your
    project and type or import the translated text. Users can even switch
    languages at run time.

  • Report generation: A number of built-in reports are available as aids to
    the project developer, and you can also generate your own reports via the
    scripting facility. These can contain data from the project's slides, or
    from other sources. Headings and tables are supported.

  • Cascading master slides: these allow commonly used objects to be placed
    on a single slide and then utilized on any number of other slides, avoiding
    the need for duplication of objects, and ensuring visual consistency. And
    of course this makes it easy to change the layout of an entire project.
    Master slides can be cascaded, which means that master slides can use their
    own master slides. This provides a highly structured and easily changed
    construction.

  • Form auto-fill for retaining users' data on a slide.

http://www.acruxsoftware.com

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Thu, 11 Sep 2003

Low-cost dialup for travel or backup

Since most cable modem providers don't give a dialup account, a lot of people need a dialup provider for travel or if the cable modem goes down.


I've been using access-4-free for a few years with excellent results. It works with OS X's standard dialer. They give 10 free hours a month with $1/hour for each additional hour for a maximum of $10/month. If you don't use it, you don't pay.

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Panther public preview Sept. 23

MacCenter of Fort Lauderdale is having a special G5/Panther launch event on Sept. 23 & 24.

The Sixth Annual Fort Lauderdale Computer & Technology Showcase (CTS), taking place September 23-24, 2003, at Fort Lauderdales Broward County Convention Center, will be a gathering of cutting edge technology manufacturers and local resellers for Business and IT Professionals. Apple and MacCenter will be there, previewing the latest business technology innovations and solutions for your business, including the South Florida Launch of the NEW Power Mac G5, and Mac OS X v10.3 Pather- Apple's next release of Mac OS X.


MacCenter will also be hosting a special presentation, The Power of Mac OS X, which previews the new features of Mac OS X v10.3 Panther, at the show on Tuesday, from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM in Tech Theater #1, and G5 Technology presentations running both days in the Apple/MacCenter booth.

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Single User Mode

MacHOME's Tip of the day covers 8 handy startup commands. Here's one more which just might help you recover an otherwise unbootable Mac.

Holding down Command-S while booting will start up in text only single user mode with no GUI.


At this point you can follow the onscreen instructions to run fsck to repair your drive. You can also delete or edit any preference files which may be causing the finder to hang or crash.


After you've made any necessary repairs, type control-D to continue booting into the GUI.

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MySQL Studio 4.2.5 Released

MySQL Studio is a MySQL Database GUI Management Tool for administrating and monitoring MySQL server on Mac OS X platform. The new version supports to configure Foreign Keys and contains many enhancements and refinements to other features.

An evaluation version of PremiumSoft MySQL Studio is available for download at www.mysqlstudio.com/shareware.php3. To use the product, you'll need Mac OS X 10.1 or later.

MySQL Studio is a set of MySQL GUI database management, import/export, backup and monitoring tools for MySQL database systems that offers full control over any MySQL database server as well as displays various administrative information. It includes a full featured graphical manager for users and access privileges and data transfer from one MySQL server to another, backup and restore of databases, local and remote connections, and more. This GUI Admin Tool comes with a well-edited manual and installation guide.




Major features include below:


-Browse your databases

-Create and delete databases, tables, indexes and users

-Modify your data

-Create, Save or Run SQL queries
-Manage user privileges [security configuration]

-Backup/Restore your database

-Data Transfer - you can transfer data from one MySQL server to another MySQL server (1. Local to Remote , 2. Remote to Remote , 3. Remote to Local)

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SQL4X Manager J 2.6 released

SQL4X Manager J 2.6 has been released today. SQL4X Manager J is the first class database management solution for Mac OS X with graphical interfaces and assistants to make handling your database easy. Built for web and database developers, administrators and power users.

What's new in this release:


  • Data Transfer Manager (DTM) to copy (migrate) tables and databases. Supports copy from and to any JDBC enabled database server.



  • Reporting Tool to easily create and print simple reports based on your database queries.



  • GUI enhancements for beginners.



  • SQL Script Editor to modify embedded SQL scripts to retrieve status information from your database server (for usage with Database Navigator/Corner Menu)



  • New PHP and JSP code generator. The JSP code generator supports all major databases and generates JSP code compatible with all major JSP containers (like Tomcat, etc). The generated code can be post-processed with Dreamweaver MX.







Download a free Trial Release


A free trial release of the new SQL4X Manager J 2.6 is available at http://www.macosguru.com/ftp/SQL4XJ26.dmg.gz


Hamburg, September 10, 2003: SQL4X Manager J 2.6 has been released today. SQL4X Manager J is the first class database management solution for Mac OS X with graphical interfaces and assistants to make handling your database easy. Built for web and database developers, administrators and power users.



What's new in this release:


  • Data Transfer Manager (DTM) to copy (migrate) tables and databases. Supports copy from and to any JDBC enabled database server.



  • Reporting Tool to easily create and print simple reports based on your database queries.



  • GUI enhancements for beginners.



  • SQL Script Editor to modify embedded SQL scripts to retrieve status information from your database server (for usage with Database Navigator/Corner Menu)



  • New PHP and JSP code generator. The JSP code generator supports all major databases and generates JSP code compatible with all major JSP containers (like Tomcat, etc). The generated code can be post-processed with Dreamweaver MX.







Download a free Trial Release


A free trial release of the new SQL4X Manager J 2.6 is available at http://www.macosguru.com/ftp/SQL4XJ26.dmg.gz. Commercial licenses start at $59.00 (Home Edition) up to $149.00 (Enterprise Edition).









Product Description: SQL4X Manager J is a comprehensive graphical Interface for web and database developers to access any JDBC compliant database server. You can choose between a terminal-like graphical SQL Console with SQL syntax coloring and table name auto-completion to execute your own SQL commands and a fully graphical schema and table browser.

SQL4X Manager J includes a wide variety of graphical assistants, i.e. to create and modify table definitions, manage SQL views, import and export data and create SQL queries.

SQL4X Manager J automatically recognizes your database server and displays status views, assistants and managers for all common tasks based on your current selection.

SQL4X Manager J fully supports MS SQL Server 2000, MySQL, Oracle 7/8/9i, PostgreSQL, OpenBase and Sybase with special assistants, managers and pre-configured status views. Basic support is available for IBM DB2, MS SQL Server 7, PrimeBase and any other JDBC compliant database server.



SQL4X Manager J features:
  • execute stored procedures (Oracle, MS SQL Server, Sybase)
  • run anonymous PL/SQL blocks (Oracle)
  • easily create MySQL/PHP web pages to list your tables, input, edit and delete data (generated code is Dreamweaver MX compatible)
  • graphically enter and modify stored procedures, functions, triggers and many other objects (Oracle)
  • SQL Console now displays multiple result sets from a query as text
  • SQL Viewer now displays multiple result sets from a stored procedure as tabbed table view
  • SQL Console supports more special SQL*Plus commands (Oracle)


More information on SQL4X Manager J is available at http://www.macosguru.de/products/sql4xmanagerj.html. A complete list of features is available at http://www.macosguru.de/products/compare.html.

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Wed, 10 Sep 2003

Inventive Releases iClip 2.5 Productivity Software for Mac OS X

New Version Improves Accessibility With Hot Keys, Allows Editing and Multiple Copying of Text Clippings, and Adds Full Unicode Support

Inventive, Inc. announces the release of iClip version 2.5 productivity software for Apple Macintosh computers with OS X. iClip is a multiple clipboard/scrapbook application designed to improve user efficiency and productivity for many computing tasks.



iClip works as a small window that floats above all other applications, allowing easy access to multiple bins that store clippings that users place into them. Clippings can be text, pictures, URLS, sounds, etc. iClip helps eliminate redundant typing, especially in tasks like filling out online forms. iClip allows users to arrange clippings into groups to stay organized.



iClip is widely used to assist general purpose tasks such as word processing, web browsing and research. Webmasters, graphic designers, and programmers also find iClip to be useful in their more specialized tasks.



Version 2.5 adds several new features and enhancements including Hot Key access, text clipping editing, full Unicode support, and the ability to copy multiple stored text clippings with a single operation.



For more information, please go to http://inventive.us

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Tue, 09 Sep 2003

Using Screen

If you use the terminal at all, you should be familiar with screen, a very handy utility.

Screen lets you run multiple shells in a single window. More importantly, it lets you reconnect to a disconnect session, even on another machine via ssh.


To start a screen session, simply type screen. Each time you type 'screen' it will start another session. You can switch between sessions by typing control-A followed by a digit.


So far that doesn't seem very interesting, since you can easily open several terminal windows. However, if you accidentally close the window or even quit terminal, when you start it up again type screen -r to reconnect to your previous sessions and resume where you left off.


If you're connected to another machine via ssh and you get disconnected, you can reconnect the same way. This is especially useful for lengthy compiles or downloads.


Note that anything you run in a screen session will continue to run even if you're disconnected.

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PowerMac G3 Beige Systems

PowerMac G3/233 DT 128/4gb/24xCD
Normally $219.99, Q-Tastic Price, just $189.99 with Q-Pon Code "G3P0"


PowerMac G3/266 DT 128/4gb/CD/Zip
Normally $269.99, now only $199.99 with Q-Pon Code "G3D"


PowerMac G3/333 MT 128/9gb/CD
Normally $319.99, now only $249.99 with Q-Pon Code "G3SUM"

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Colourfull Creations releases a new update for Maxi Bidder

Colourfull Creations releases a new update for Maxi Bidder. Colourfull Creations fixed some minor issues with the software and added a few new features to Maxi Bidders strong lineup.

Other great features that are included with Maxi Bidder are the ability to sync prices with eBay, audio alerts, and much more. If you are a current user don't forget to download your update. New customers check out the demo available online at: http://www.colourfull.com, you'll love the product and the world class support.

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Sat, 06 Sep 2003

Panther 7B59

A new Panther build, 7B59, has been seeded to developers. According to the release notes, the only major issues are related to installation. Installing to an external firewire drive may hang or may take many hours. Also, doing an erase install to a UFS volume or erasing and changing the file system format may fail.

I notice that the welcome screen & music has changed in this build. It now shows a silver X on a black background. It also uses the same 'cube' animation from fast user switching between screens in the initial setup.


I couldn't see how to add the eject icon to the menu bar, which was previously in the keyboard preference panel.

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Fri, 05 Sep 2003

New Game emulators for Mac OS X

Richard Bannister has released updated versions of several console and handheld game emulators.

The updated emulators include:


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Aladdin Systems Releases InstallerMaker 8 Preview

Aladdin Systems, Inc., a subsidiary
of Aladdin Systems Holdings, Inc. (OTC BB: ALHI) today announced a preview
release of StuffIt InstallerMaker(tm) 8.0 for Mac OS X. The newest version
of InstallerMaker runs natively on Mac OS 10.2 or higher while still
creating installers for System 8.1 or higher (Classic and OS X
environments).

InstallerMaker, the complete installation and data distribution standard,
provides the best solution for developers to create complex, professional
installers in less time than competing products. Aladdin Systems' products
are the industry standard in compression and archiving utilities on the Mac
OS. StuffIt InstallerMaker is a benchmark installation product used by
developers and network administrators on the Macintosh throughout the world.


"InstallerMaker 8.0 brings developers the features they demand on Mac OS X,
taking advantage of the latest in Mac OS technology with minimal effort,"
said David Polzine, product manager.


New to version 8.0


  • Runs natively under Mac OS X (10.2 or higher).
  • Install to protected locations by requiring an administrator
    password. Simply check the appropriate box at build time.
  • Customize File Permissions in InstallerMaker's GetInfo panel.
  • Run Shell or Apple Scripts from an Installer for easy customization
    without coding.
  • Reuse "Find" results to speed subsequent tasks.
  • "Find" partial paths such as "ApplicationName/Plug-ins" to quickly
    pinpoint the appropriate location for an installation or update.
  • Handle bundles as if they were single files (rather than folders)
    for the purpose of updates and upgrades.
  • Speed development with new prefab Mac OS X-specific Locations.

Special Programs for InstallerMaker Users

    Aladdin Shareware Program-Member benefits include:
  • Free one-year StuffIt InstallerMaker license for proven shareware
    and freeware products
  • Free technical support from Aladdin Systems
  • Opportunity for worldwide distribution on Aladdin's commercial product CDs

To learn more and become a member visit:
http://www.stuffit.com/installermaker/shareware.html


Aladdin Space Program-Member benefits include:


  • The opportunity to have your software distributed on Aladdin product Cds.
  • Future co-marketing opportunities.
  • A link to your Product from the Aladdin web site.

To learn more about the Aladdin Space Program, please visit:
http://www.stuffit.com/installermaker/space.html


Availability and Requirements


Software developers may download a free trial of InstallerMaker from the
Aladdin Web site: http://www.stuffit.com/installermaker/. For pricing
and licenses of InstallerMaker, contact Aladdin developer sales at
dev.sales@aladdinsys.com or (831) 761-6200 x618. Version 8.0 is a free
update to current registered licensees.


InstallerMaker 8.0 requires a Macintosh running Mac OS 10.2 or higher.
InstallerMaker 8.0 can build installers for Mac OS X, Mac OS 8.5 or higher
with or without Carbonlib, and Mac OS 8.1 with Carbonlib 1.0.4. Technical
support is free for licensed developers.


On the Net: http://www.stuffit.com/mac/installermaker/ Contact:
dev.sales@aladdinsys.com for more information.

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Thu, 04 Sep 2003

Camino vs. Firebird

After reading Ars Technica's Mac Browser Smackdown, I decided to take another look at Mozilla Firebird and I liked what I saw.

I found that Firebird is quite a bit faster than Camino, especially on pages with a lot of text. However, Firebird is still quite buggy and lacking in features. Most notably, Firebird still lacks a windows menu or a list of open windows. It also doesn't allow you to set a home page and not have it automatically go to that page whenever you open a window.


Mac OS X browsers keep getting better & faster, and I'm sure both browsers as well as Safari will continue to improve.

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Black Ti Keynote Theme Released

Need a classy Keynote theme? Black Ti should do the trick. Featuring Keynote Theme Park's beautiful brushed metal, but in a deep charcoal tone. Includes lots of little extras to add a touch of class, important if you are going Black Ti.

http://www.keynotethemepark.com/


The same 19 photo cutout designs from Titanium 2 are included along with darker chart fills and black pearl bullets. Extras include oversized white and black pearls, a bow tie and Moon photo objects, one complimentary master slide (inverse), three screw heads, two metal "lines" that can be used as a break or underline and a number of opaque and translucent PowerFills including three that fade to transparent. These are great to construct additional design elements to add that touch of class (see movie).

Individual themes are available for download at $12.95 or in sets of three for $29.95

Keynote Theme Park is dedicated to producing well crafted, high quality professional themes for Apple's Keynote presentation application.

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MBS Plugin Collection v3.3 for REALbasic

Monkeybread Software Releases
the MBS Plugin Collection v3.3, a huge collection of Realbasic plug-ins
to extend Realbasic with more than 6000 features.
(including over 300 classes).

Since version 3.2, over 1200 items were added to the plugin. To list
only a few of the bigger ones:


  • Added CoreGraphics Direct Display classes.
  • Integrated plugins for HASP and Rockey dongles.
  • Added classes for low level and hight level DNS Queries.
  • Added WebKit support (Safari used to render webpages).
  • Added support for Tablets on Mac OS X (CarbonWindowEvents class)
  • Improved Icon classes and functions.
  • Added Stack classes: StackIntegerMBS, StackSingleMBS, StackDoubleMBS,
    StackObjectMBS, StackVariantMBS and StackStringMBS.
  • Added new classes: WeakRefMBS and StrongRefMBS, GWorldMBS,
    CarbonEventsIdleTimerMBS, WinLocalizationMBS, SplitMBS,
    FolderChangedNotificationMBS, FinderSelectionMBS
  • Improved JPEG import and export classes.
  • Added picture functions for changing contrast, brightness, color
    transformation.
  • Added classes to control the IOWarrior device.
  • Added classes for the Eye-One color device.
  • Updated plugin to use pdflib 5.0.1 and LCMS 1.10b.

Read the complete release notes here:
http://www.monkeybreadsoftware.de/realbasic/plugin/MBS-RB-Plugins33/Release%20notes.html


You can download the plugin archive at:
http://www.monkeybreadsoftware.de/realbasic/plugins.html


(The plugin can be downloaded as a complete 12 MB package
(e.g. for magazine CDs) or in smaller parts.)


Help for the plugin is available as HTML files (on the website and in
the download package) and as a seperated PDF file (reference manual).


For questions and announcements you may subscribe to the email list at
http://www.monkeybreadsoftware.de/realbasic/mailinglist.html or visit
the list archive at
http://www.monkeybreadsoftware.de/realbasic/listarchive/index.html.


The plugin is available on a shareware fee which is 80 Euro (currently
around 88 USD) for commercial/comapny use and 40 Euro (currently around
44 USD) for private/education use. You can test the plugins for free
within the REALbasic IDE. Updates are available for users from last
year.


(Support or new versions of the plugin in the next years after
registration are offered for a low update price, but you can continue to
develop for years with the old plugin versions.)

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G3 Pismo & iMac DV Specials

Here are a few new specials from MacResq:


  • PowerBook G3/500 128/10gb/DVD/56k/14.1" Pismo (FireWire)
    Only $879.99! Free shipping with Q-Pon code "PAINT"
  • iMac G3/400 DV 64/10gb/DVD/56k Blueberry w/ Keyboard & Mouse
    Normally $449.99. Use Q-Pon code "COLOR" and the price drops to $399.99!
  • Griffin iTrip iPod FM Transmitter
    Normally $34.99, get on for just $29.99 with Q-Pon code "RESQ"
  • Griffin iCurve Laptop Stand
    Normally $39.99, only $34.99 with Q-Pon code "MOBILE"
  • Griffin PowerMate USB Controller
    Normally $44.99, get one for $39.99 with Q-Pon code "NEED"

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Python programming tools for Mac OS X

Sarwat Khan has today released three
new programming tools for Python programmers: userdefaults, plistservices,
and CFPython.

userdefaults allows Mac OS X Python programs to store and retrieve
persistent user preferences using Mac OS X's CFPreferences API, thereby
allowing Python programs to save their preferences in the user's
~/Library/Preferences folder. userdefaults provides Python programs a
Python mapping object with which they can save CoreFoundation-compatible
property list objects in.


plistservices allows any Python programmer using Python 2.3 or later to
read and write Mac OS X XML property list data. Additionally, plistservices
includes an ISO 8601 date string parser to create Python datetime objects.
plistservices is a pure Python module and is able to run on any operating
system.


CFPython is a C library intended to make programming with the Python C API
and CoreFoundation easier. With CFPython, programmers using the Python C
API can translate Python objects into CoreFoundation Property List objects
and perform the same translations in reverse. With CFPython, Macintosh
programmers can focus on writing their logic using Carbon or Cocoa using
native CoreFoundation objects and just perform the necessary data
translations when required to work with the Python runtime. CFPython was
used to implement the userdefaults module.


AVAILABILITY


plistservices, userdefaults, and CFPython are distributed as open source
software under a BSD-style, OSI-approved license. These products are
available for download through the sarwat.net opensource web site at
http://sarwat.net/opensource/


ABOUT SARWAT KHAN


Sarwat Khan is a long-time developer of software for Macintosh and Unix
platforms, and is well known for the award winning shareware application
Painting, a graphics editor for Mac OS 9 and 68k Macintoshes. Sarwat is
currently working on an advanced successor to Painting for Mac OS X.

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Wed, 03 Sep 2003

Eliminate Emacs auto-backup files

If you use Emacs in the terminal, you may be annoyed by the automatic backup files with names ending in '~' which it creates. Here's how to turn off that feature.

Create a file in your home directory named '.emacs' containing the following line:


(setq make-backup-files nil)

You can set other variables & add other startup commands to that file as well.

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Tue, 02 Sep 2003

Colourfull Creations releases Complete Collector for Macintosh OS X

Colourfull Creations releases Complete Collector for Macintosh OS X. Complete Collector will help people organize their collections with ease. With features like built in search, the capability to put pictures with the items, and the ability to Applescript; Complete Collector will be a helpful tool to organize and keep track of those important collections.

From baseball cards to antiques. From video games to teddy bears. Coins to cars. Anything you collect can be put into Complete Collector. If you can think of it and collect it you can use Complete Collector to help you organize it. The advantage to organizing a collection is so an item is not purchased several times over because you couldn't remember wether or not you owned that piece for your collection. Using Complete Collector that problem will be solved because you can also print your lists to take with you on shopping sprees.



Complete Collector is available for immediate release. A demonstration version can be downloaded from Colourfull Creations at http://www.colourfull.com

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Mon, 01 Sep 2003

Panther 7B53

A new Panther seed, build 7B53 is now available. According to the release notes, it's getting close to final candidate status.


The FileVault image format has been changed to Journaled HFS+ but old FileVault images will still be recognized. This build also still has sleep-related issues with 12" PowerBooks.

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Camino is still alive

I've seen a lot of people saying that Camino is dead recently. Although not much has been heard from the team lately, they're still working. Nightly builds are back and a 0.8 release is being planned.

Camino development slowed when AOL got laid off the Mozilla group, but Camino has always been a volunteer effort and the same people have continued to work on it.


Ars Technica's recent Mac Browser Smackdown compared Camino, Safari, and several other Mac browsers with Camino as the fastest.


There are several other Mozilla browsers, with Mozilla Firebird probably Camino's closest competitor, but Camino is still the only fully native Gecko-based browser. The other Mozilla variants all use the cross-platform XUL user interface instead of native Cocoa controls.


Keep up with Camino news at http://mozilla.org/projects/camino/ or subscribe to their mailing list.

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CS Odessa Releases ConceptDraw V Beta For Public Testing

Odessa, Ukraine - September 1, 2003 - CS Odessa releases the Beta
version of ConceptDraw V - a major upgrade of its cross-platform
flowcharting and diagramming software. ConceptDraw V Beta is
immediately available for public download and testing by Mac OS X and
Windows users. The new version is scheduled for final release in early
October.

ConceptDraw V is a completely redesigned version of award-winning
ConceptDraw application. It offers a number of innovative features
such as a new customizable interface; ability to easily work with
large, complex charts; more powerful drawing tools and connectors;
advanced libraries of task-specific shapes and expanded import/export
capabilities, including the XML for Visio support, which allows
importing MS Visio diagrams. Also, the new version adds the built-in
scripting language - ConceptDraw Basic - empowering developers to
create custom visualization solutions based on ConceptDraw drawing
engine.



ConceptDraw V Public Beta is available for free download from:
http://www.conceptdraw.com/en/products/cd5/beta.php



For more information about ConceptDraw V please visit:
http://www.conceptdraw.com/en/products/cd5/main.php



PRICING AND UPGRADE POLICY

ConceptDraw V comes in Standard and Professional Editions. ConceptDraw
V Standard costs $149; ConceptDraw Professional - $349. The special
upgrade prices are available for current ConceptDraw users. As a time
limited offer - the users, who will buy ConceptDraw 1.85 now will get
ConceptDraw V in October free.





ABOUT CS ODESSA

Founded in 1993, Computer Systems Odessa supplies cross-platform
productivity tools and graphics technologies to professional and
corporate users. With headquarters in Odessa, Ukraine, CS Odessa sells
ConceptDraw tools internationally from reseller offices in 25
countries. The company develops and publishes ConceptDraw Productivity
Line of diagramming, brainstorming and presentation tools. For more
information please visit: http://www.conceptdraw.com/

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