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New resource for GarageBand users announced

[url=http://www.icompositions.com]iCompositions[/url] today announced its new [url=http://www.icompositions.com/tools]GarageBand Tools[/url] section, a resource for GarageBand users in need of ways to enhance their composing experience. Featuring a clean and easy to use interface, the GarageBand Tools section is separated into categories: Enhance GarageBand, Learn GarageBand, and Control GarageBand.

"Enhance GarageBand" showcases free and commercial software-oriented add-ons for GarageBand. Users can download or purchase loops, software, and Audio Units (plugins). "Learn GarageBand" highlights books and tutorials which can help professionals and novices alike become more familiar with GarageBand. "Control GarageBand" consists of hardware a GarageBand user can utilize to spruce up their compositions including keyboards, audio/MIDI interfaces, and microphones.

"From my experience this is the resource for all things GarageBand," said GarageBand enthusiast Casey Cobler, who received a preview of the feature. "It can't be beat."

"There are so many products now that can enhance GarageBand; it's tough to keep track of them, even for me!" says createdigitalmusic.com editor and music technology writer Peter Kirn. "iCompositions has centralized all that information in an intelligent, attractive interface. It'll make a great resource for beginners or pros."

The GarageBand Tools section is available to everyone and free registration on iCompositions is optional. iCompositions hosts more than 5000 GarageBand compositions, the most publicly available anywhere and is currently [url=http://www.icompositions.com/ipod]giving away an iPod [/url] to a randomly selected registered "Artist".

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Basasoft releases BasaOne 1.2.1

Basasoft has updated BasaOne, its Graphical Web Application Development Environment. This minor yet important update improves many features of BasaOne like code generation, windows palette, speed and more. Additionally Firefox browser support has been added.

This update makes BasaOne more user friendly as it improves speed in many areas of the application as well as it improves stability even more and fixes some bugs.

Promo price is 99 Euro. A fully functional 14 day demo can be downloaded for free.

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Navicat 5.3 (Database Application for Mac OS X - MySQL Client) Released!

This new version of Navicat (MySQL Client) supports Character Set of MySQL and includes a new feature - Filter Wizard, allowing user to quickly and easily locate desired data. In addition, XML Import feature is improved and History Log of executed SQL statements is now available.

Navicat, a database management tool from PremiumSoft, is an integrated GUI tool let you perform MySQL administration and database development in a more efficient and easier way. Advanced features allow you to import/export data, backup database, transfer data from server to server, create query and manage local or remote MySQL server. It also includes a full featured graphical manager for setting the users and access privileges and more.

An evaluation version of Navicat for Mac OS X 10.1 or later is avaliable for download at http://www.navicat.com/shareware.php3

Navicat (MySQL Administrator) is also avaliable for Windows and Linux.

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Incognito Networks Introduces Radical New Hosting Solutions

Incognito Networks (http://www.incognitonetworks.com), much known for their industry leading reseller hosting services, announced today the introduction of a new line of low cost dedicated servers and the launch of a new free web hosting service (http://www.IncoHost.com). Largely continuing Incognito Networks’ trend of quality low-cost hosting solutions.

Incognito Networks’ new line of dedicated server solutions underbids current dominant budget dedicated server providers such as ServerMatrix, Burst.NET and GNAX. These new servers have a central United States location in Kansas City, MO and are connected to 100mbit burstable connections feeding from Level 3, WilTel, Cogent and Global Crossing backbones.

Firmly placing themselves above the rest, Incognito Networks has made no sacrifices in the quality of technical support offered to their clients. Instead Incognito Networks has improved their support offered by marching ahead with the implementation of a live emergency pager system. Clients of Incognito Networks’ have access to a 24/7/365 live emergency pager address that instantly notifies every Incognito Networks tech of the issue the client is having. Standard technical support options such as trouble tickets and e-mails are also available to customers of Incognito Networks.

“We have been working hard behind the scenes to set ourselves out from the rest by accompanying our low-cost hosting solutions with astounding technical support,” an Incognito Networks representative stated. “We’ve managed to do this for our clients by streamlining our support efforts and getting everyone on staff involved with assisting our clients. We’ve heard good feedback on our efforts.”

This level of support will not be exclusively available for dedicated server clients, but for shared hosting and reseller hosting clients as well. Every customer of Incognito Networks will benefit from these great steps forward in improved service.

Branching out from providing low cost hosting solutions, Incognito Networks has thrust IncoHost.com into the limelight of the free hosting world by offering more HD space and bandwidth than most free hosts would dream of. Any new subscriber to IncoHost.com may signup and get a website online instantly, receiving 300MB of HD space, 4GB of bandwidth, 1 MySQL database, FTP access, and an online control panel. From the debut of this service, IncoHost.com has experienced an astonishing 3000+ unique signups in less than 3 weeks. Incognito Networks supports this service by on page advertisements and plans for future expansion and improved service for IncoHost.com users.


About Incognito Networks:
Incognito Networks provides low cost, affordable web hosting solutions built for the scalable needs of any client. Focused on fanatical support, Incognito Networks works everyday to improve the hosting experience of their clients.

Contact:
Incognito Networks
http://www.incognitonetworks.com
admin@incognitonetworks.com

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How many hard disks can be attached to a macintosh system?

hi all
I am working on G4 Apple Macintosh system.
I want to know that How many hard disks can i attach to a Macintosh System?
Plz tell me the extreme limit?

Thanks and Regards

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A Free Video Poker Game for Mac OS X: UglyPoker

Mac Games and More has published its first game for Mac OS X. The game is a free, video poker game called, “UglyPoker,” and was made possible by a collaboration of independent developers, http://www.phelios.com, http://www.winterwolves.com, and the designers at http://willbe.planet-d.net/ . UglyPoker was made with the game engine, PTK.

“UglyPoker is an ugly, straightforward video poker game for your Macintosh. Yes, "ugly" is subjective and some will find this game extremely ugly and some will find it not very ugly -- it actually started out extremely ugly and now it's less so (to us). Ugly, not ugly, it's definitely a video poker game for Mac. On the other hand, it's beautiful because it contains NO adware or spyware, and it's free.

The only difference with UglyPoker compared to a standard Video Poker, (to which most people are accustomed), is in the face cards: they are slightly different in UglyPoker because in place of using the typical Ace, King, Queen and Jack, UglyPoker uses the Francophone version 1, R(oi), D(ame), and V(alet) respectively. This may look a bit unusual to some people, however, most players will find that it takes little time to become familiar with it.”

UglyPoker is free and available to download at http://www.macgamesandmore.com

About Mac Games and More

The focus of Macgamesandmore.com is to recognize and publicize the work of independent Mac developers, mainly via a weekly picks page, as well as special reports. Mac Games and More makes every effort to support the work and creative minds of excellent shareware developers, game developers and Mac products, as well as appreciate the work of Apple, its computers and all its hardware, software and peripherals --- and any news surrounding these products and the community of Mac Users, including participants of Mac User Groups (MUGS). The site is for everyone, including PC users that just want to browse or may be interested in switching to Mac.

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Watson released for free

Following the recent release of Audion as a free unsupported product, Dan Wood has set Watson free. Since Sun has purchased it, he can no longer distribute or support it.

Although Dan can't provide Watson downloads, there are several locations where it can still be downloaded. A Yahoo group provides one download link (membership required for download). Alternately, another download is available at http://logan.k12.il.us/ljhs/web%20elements/dserver/utilities/Watson1.7.5.sit

New users and previous user who have lost their registration can register Watson as follows:

Email Address: nobody@karelia.com
Registration: BNVQTTW 4P3SMC7 R7L8S3V 1XGKGG7A

Note that Watson is completely unsupported and some tools may no longer function. In the future other tools may stop working, since Dan is no longer allowed to update it due to his deal with Sun.

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Electronic music artist, Cirrus, teams up with Sony Pictures and ACIDplanet.com for remix contest.

Following the overwhelming response to their last remix contest, electronic music artist Cirrus has teamed up with Sony Pictures and ACIDplanet.com for the latest competition. The new single "Get Loose" is currently on the chopping block at ACIDplanet.com, http://www.acidplanet.com/contests/cirrus2/

Months before the official street release date, fans and music-producer hopefuls are getting a chance to create their own versions of the soon-to-be dancefloor hit. Individual samples of the song are available for download and contestants can use their favorite music editing software to remix the Cirrus song. Remixes can be uploaded to the ACIDplanet.com website for entry into the competition and the winner will recieve over $700 worth of Sony ACID software and sounds. The contest ends Monday, December 13, 2004.

"Get Loose" is set to be released on vinyl in early 2005 by Cirrus' new label, Cirrus Cutz. Fans who want to be among the top international DJs and music industry insiders that have access to all of Cirrus' latest music weeks or months before official release dates should visit http://www.cirruscirrus.com

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Site note: User registration

AOL seems to be bouncing a lot of user registration and password change emails from our server, so many people who register aren't receiving their passwords. Note that you must register with a valid email address to receive a password. The email address will only be used to send your password.

Alternately, if you're registered at any other Drupal site, your username including the site name will work here as well.

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Cmd-R.com Used Macintosh Forum Available

Cmd-R.com is a free forum based web site dedicated to connecting used Mac buyers and sellers. It's inspiration was the usedmac.ca web site for Canadians.

www.cmd-r.com

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Win a 20GB iPod!

iCompositions announced today that it would start celebrating GarageBand's first birthday early by giving away a 20GB iPod to one randomly selected registered "Artist". The drawing will be held on January 6th, 2005, the one year aniversary of GarageBand's announcement.

"On January 6th, 2004, Steve Jobs and John Mayer introduced a magical application called GarageBand. Through GarageBand, everyday computer users have been empowered with tools which let them make thousands of tunes..."

To enter to win the iPod, simply register for a free iCompositions account. "If you're already registered, sit back, relax, make a GarageBand tune; you don't have to do anything."

iCompositions is the premier venue for sharing GarageBand creations and currently hosts more than 5000 songs submitted by users.

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ppnPRO for Mac or Windows

new personal private network for desktop

ACAP Security offers new personal private networks for Windows and Macintosh users with AES 256-bit encryption. It includes secure data exchange, secure chat and secure messaging. Now any Internet user can setup and operate their very own private networks within seconds. No more spam, no phishing, no spying, ppnPC provides totally secure communications. Review and test drive it at http://acapsecurity.com.

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EditiX 2.1 - XML Editor & XSLT Debugger

We are glad to announce the availability of EditiX 2.1. EditiX is a cross-platform and easy to use XML Editor and XSLT Debugger designed to help web authors and application programmers take advantage of the latest XML and XML-related technologies such as XSLT, XSL-FO, DocBook, SVG or various XML schemas.

EditiX has an XSLT debugger and an XML Differencing support. It provides users
with an extensive range of XML functionality within a refined IDE that guides you with intelligent entry helpers. The user can manage remote files from FTP, WebDAV or from an archive file like ZIP or JAR. It includes real time XPath location and syntax error detection. Some content assistants are provided with context syntax popup supporting DTD, XML Schema, and RelaxNG. Multiple templates and project management are bound to editiX. The user can apply XSL, XSL-FO or DocBook Transformation by shortcuts and show the result in a dedicated view. EditiX includes default templates for XML, DocBook, DTD, XHTML, XSLT, XSD, XML RelaxNG, SVG, MathML, and XSL-FO.

New in EditiX 2.1 :

• Powerful content assistant for DTD and Relax NG ( working with cardinality, or dered and non ordered list )


• The error line is shown when validating by Relax NG


• SubstitutionGroup' and 'abstract' element are managed by the W3C Schema content assistant


• The parsing error message is maximized inside the statusbar


• Update for the DocBook XSL stylesheets


• New docking windows for the XSLT Editor


• The XSLT editor, XML data source or the XSLT result can be maximized


• HTML 4 output preview for XSLT usage


• Coloration for XSLT tags inside the XSLT editor


• Regular expression and incremental search


• Assign a Relax NG document is now available inside the DTD/Schema menu


• XML Relax NG generator from an XML document


• Size of each file is shown while browsing by FTP or WebDAV


• A beep is sent for each terminated background task


• Various bugs fixed

Best regards,

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Migrator converts PowerPlant to Interface Builder

Migrator allows you to convert your MacOS classic/carbon layout and string resources to modern Carbon-nib files. Save days of tedious re-work - just drop your file in, click a button, and take your new .nib file!

Features:

• Faithful conversion of MacOS Carbon resources to Carbon-nib
  
• Converts popup menus, control items, tab controls to matching Carbon-nib versions
  
• submenus fully supported
  
• ALL dialog lists converted, not just those with an enclosing 'DLOG' resource
  
• Automatic setting of Carbon control-IDs and signatures
  
• Text Encoding-aware
  

• Converts PowerPlant controls to their equivalent Carbon controls
  
• Understands Text Traits to produce correctly-sized controls
  
• Custom Class support
  
• Sub-menus, menu-commands and popup menu controls all supported.
  
• Preserves PowerPlant Commands; optionally maps standard PP commands to standard Carbon commands
  

• Convert classic MacOS string resources to Unicode .strings files
  

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More Ichat Smileys 2.5.1

The new MoreIchatSmileys 2.5.1 is out.
This package includes more 150 funny smilies for iChat, Proteus, Adium and Fire in more 15 languages.

Download it at iSmileys or at www.lemacenligne.com

Chat different ;D

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School laptop program plagued by thefts

In late October, 2,800 Apple iBooks were given to the students at Miramar High School, one of four to participate in a pilot program run by the Broward County Public School District.

Since then, seven laptops have been stolen from students walking home from school, two by force and five at gunpoint, said Miramar police spokesman Bill Robertson. No students were injured in the robberies.

Another six laptops were stolen from inside the school, Robertson said. On Wednesday, two students were taken into custody.

In response, starting today the students will not be allowed to walk home with their iBooks. Miramar police officers will confiscate any visible laptops, Robertson said.

On Tuesday night, Miramar High School Principal David Gordon met with students and parents to warn them about the robbers.

"They said even parents who walk with their child should not take the chance. These guys have a gun and you have to take them seriously," said John Moore, who has a daughter in ninth-grade. "This is such a wonderful program. We hope this is only a temporary setback."

With the latest theft on Wednesday, "the message we want to get out to the students and parents is the children's safety is first and foremost," Robertson said. "If approached, give the property up and don't put up a fight."

Students whose laptops are stolen will get replacements.

Keith Bromery, a spokesman with the school district, said Miramar High has been the only school affected by the robberies. The other schools participating in the "Digital Learning Environment" program are Monarch High School in Coconut Creek, Broward Estates Elementary School in Fort Lauderdale and Attucks Middle School in Hollywood.

The pilot program was designed to integrate technology into the everyday classroom environment.

Apple Computer will offer a $1,000 reward for anyone who offers information that could lead to the arrest of the laptop robbers. The computers are worth about $1,000.

"They [robbers] can't really use the computers," Bromery said. "They need passwords to access them. It's not an infallible system, but they are pretty hard to get into."

The police department has formed a task force with Miami-Dade County, Broward School Board security, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to stop the thefts.

Software such as Absoloute Software's Computrace, which the school district isn't using, could help locate and return the stolen computers.

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UsedMac.ca

UsedMac.ca is a new Web site that offers a place for Canadian Mac users to buy and sell used Apple and related products. It is a free service, and is categorized by product type, popularity on the site, and ratings. Users can sign up for a free account to post ads.

www.usedmac.ca

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Digital Video Cataloging application FootTrack has reached version 2.0

T-Squared Software has released it's first major update to FootTrack on Monday, November 14, 2004.

The application refers to itself as 'iPhoto for Digital Video'.

Check it out if you are interested in knowing more about it:
http://foottrack.com

Some of the new features:

- big improvements to searching
- burn CD/DVDs of your cataloged tapes
- anamorphic (widescreen) support
- custom compression settings
- keywords are in the main window - and are also much improved from 1.7.1
- new German localization (thanks to Fiver Locker!)
- lots more (check the above link for more details)

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Why open Mac bootware may be more practical

Open Firmware is software that is used after powering a machine to bring the operating system online (most visibly on PowerPC and SPARC systems), all modern Macintosh systems use it. This article looks at the Open Firmware spec, traces its history as a standard, examines how it works and some of its components, and discusses the benefits it offers. The best way to learn more about OF is to practice, to get a Mac, hold down command-option-O-F when you turn it on, and just start typing.

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Optimized Firefox builds

Neil Lee has posted a G5 optimized build of Firefox 1.0 as well as a link to one optimized for a PowerBook or iBook G4 by Kai Rune. Detailed build instructions and a build configuration file are also available.

I built the G4 optimized version on my PowerBook G4 1.5 GHz. It took two hours and is 19.5 MB. The finished product runs noticeably faster than the unoptimized build, especially when opening windows & tabs.

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Voting begins in uDevGames game development contest

iDevGames invites the Macintosh community to take part in a public vote to select the winners for the fourth annual uDevGames Macintosh Game Development Contest. This year's event features over 30 free games in a wide range of genres such as sports, puzzles, and 3D arcade — all under the download size of 10 MB. uDevGames is offering over $34,000 in prizes for the winning developers.

The voting period starts on November 9th and will continue until November 23rd, with games being judged on Gameplay, Graphics, and Audio. The votes will then be tallied, averaged, and the winners announced on December 6th, 2004 on The Gamesome Mac ( http://www.macradio.com ).

Gamers participating in the voting process are encouraged to play games in full, vote thoughtfully and honestly, and vote only on the games which they have played. Random door prizes will be given to gamers who participate in this year's voting process. Participants may view, download, and cast their votes at http://www.udevgames.com

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Firefox 1.0 Released

Mozilla.org has released the final version of Firefox, their popular cross-platform web browser.

Firefox features popup blocking, tabbed browsing, enhanced security, searching from the toolbar, and 'live bookmarks' for RSS feeds. New in 1.0 are several tabbed browsing enhancements and many bug fixes. See the release notes for more details.

When you see an orange RSS icon in the bottom right corner of the window, as you should see on this page, you can use it to subscribe to that site's RSS feed. Subscribed feeds will appear as a bookmark folder, with the items dynamically updated when the feed is updated.

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PC-Mac-Net FileShare v4.0 simplifies network setup and offers multi-language localization

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA -- November 8, 2004 -- Lava Software is now shipping PC-Mac-Net FileShare v4.0, a product which allows users to share files (such as documents, MP3s, family movies and photo collections) easily and securely between all varieties of Windows and Macintosh computers across LANs and across the world.

This major upgrade includes super fast auto-discovery of other LAN users, full compatibility to DHCP and other automatic IP address allocation protocols, easy Internet setup of dispersed LAN workgroups (eg. students at Universities), new workgroup hub function (for easy LAN workgroup segregation), a compact transfer monitor window, Internet firewall detection, TCP/UDP diagnostic functions to assist with network setup, easy localization into any Unicode-based language (eg. German, Japanese, etc.) and monitoring of incoming remote user connections.

The free Lite Edition has a 10mb file size limit, supports workgroups with up to 3 users and can be downloaded now from www.lavasoftware.com. The Standard and Professional Editions have no file size limits and support large workgroups. The Professional Edition can also encrypt file data to keep it secure during LAN and Internet transfers, which is especially useful for wireless and virtual private networks.

Lava Software is currently offering a 2-for-1 special for individual licenses - for each license you order, you get an extra one free. The Standard Edition is priced at USD24.95 and the Professional Edition is priced at USD39.95. Professional Edition site license packs are also available, starting at USD299.00 (20-user).

Versions are available for Windows 98/NT/ME/2000/XP, MacOS X and MacOS Classic (from MacOS 8.6 upwards). A Linux version is coming soon.

About the Company

Lava Software Pty. Ltd., a company incorporated in the State of South Australia in 1997, offer software products across a range of key application areas for all popular computer platforms. More information is available from http://www.lavasoftware.com.

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Python Bootcamp at the Big Nerd Ranch Feb 21-25, 2005

Since its creation in the late 1980s by Guido van Rossum, interest in Python has exploded as more companies and programmers begin to capitalize on it elegance, portability and scalability across a number of platforms. Python has suddenly become ubiquitous, appearing in a variety of applications used by organizations such as Hewlett Packard, NOAA, Google, NASA and Pixar. Always working to provide the most relevant and current technology to its students, The Big Nerd Ranch is pleased to announce the upcoming Python Bootcamp February 21-25, 2005.

Class instructor Mark Lutz is one of the foremost experts in Python programming. In addition to being a full-time trainer, writer and software developer, he is the author of the O'Reilly books "Programming Python" and "Python Pocket Reference" and is the author of "Learning Python." Mark has been involved with Python since 1992 and began teaching Python classes in 1997.

Upon completion of the course, Python Bootcamp students will be able to:

• Develop applications in the Python Programming Language
  
• Utilize Python's built-in toolset
  
• Use OOP in Python
  
• Use common Python applications such as GUIs and databases
  
• Apply Python as a scripting language
  

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Advanced Web Ranking v3.4 Released

Release date: Nov 8, 2004

Manage Your Search Engine Web Rankings

Caphyon LLC is pleased to announce the release of Advanced Web Ranking 3.4, a tool that helps check your web site position on all major search engines. Advanced Web Ranking runs on Mac OS X, Windows 98/2000/XP, Linux and Solaris.

Checking your web site position is a very time consuming task. For example, if you have 10 keywords that you want to monitor, and you want to check the top 20 positions for 10 search engines, you need to perform about 200 (10 keywords * 10 engines * first 2 pages) individual searches to get the results. Then you need to compare the results one by one to find where your site is positioned. It may take you days to complete this task if you do this manually. That's where Advanced Web Ranking comes to help.

Advanced Web Ranking is able to query over 200 search engines and quickly find out if you're moving up or down in the rankings, or if your site is listed at all. It will track the progress of your rankings over time and display that information in an easy to read and understand graphical and tabular reports. It can help you check not just the position of your website but the position of your competitors' web sites as well.

Advanced Web Ranking has the ability to generate and email reports after an update was finished. Couple that with the Scheduled Updates ability, and you will be able to turn on your computer in the morning and find reports on your websites ranks waiting for you in your Inbox. As a SEO, you can have updates being run and sent to your customers every night without even lifting a hand. Various types of reports (Current Rank, Top Sites, Web Site, etc.) can be created in any of the formats Advanced Web Ranking supports (PDF, HTML, Excel, XML or Text). Then they can be emailed to any of the addresses you pick from the Address Book, or saved to a folder where you can access them over the Internet.

What's new in Advanced Web Ranking 3.4
======================================

This version features the ability to get the search results from Google using the Google API, the exporting of the rank evolution data to CSV and the ability to generate multiple reports after each update.

- Use Google API to search on Google
- Export Rank Evolution data to CSV
- Import historical data from Web Position Gold projects
- Import keywords from the META tag of a website
- Generate multiple report templates after each update
- Select which columns to be displayed in Current Rank printable report
- Check for unfinished searches after the update is complete
- Update multiple keywords
- Remove data from database
- Overview report without comparison

Advanced Web Ranking costs USD $149 for the Professional edition. Users who don't need certain advanced features like printable reports can purchase the Standard edition for USD $59.

The application can be downloaded from:
http://www.advancedwebranking.com/download.html

More details about the application can be found at:
http://www.advancedwebranking.com

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Apple Developer Connection RSS Feeds

To help developers stay up-to-date on the latest Apple development information, Apple Developer Connection is now providing RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds for ADC Headlines news items and "New and Updated" additions to the ADC Reference Library.

You can subscribe to the following feeds in your favorite newsreader:

• feed://developer.apple.com/rss/adcheadlines.rss
  
• feed://developer.apple.com/rss/referencelibrary.rss
  

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BasaOne 1.2 promo price

Basasoft has announced a special promo for BasaOne its Web Application Development Environment to celebrate the first anniversary of its launch. Price has been lowered down to € 99 for a limited period of time.

You may also download and test BasaOne free for 14 days.

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Windows vs. Mac setup experience

One of my neighbors got a new PC with Windows XP a few days ago. Setting it up illustrates the difference between the two systems.

The first thing you see when you start up the PC for the first time is a prompt to enter the license key. I watched as he tried to find the certificate with the key, which was pasted on the PC rather than with the CDROM. On the first attempt the key was rejected because we misread one character, which has happened with almost every Windows XP system I've set up. At the end of the process, he was asked to register the system. Since he didn't set up internet access at the time, the system displayed a warning that he has 30 days to register and activate.

With a Mac, on the other hand, there's no serial number to enter and the system won't nag you if you don't register at the time. Newer systems even help you copy data from your old system to make the setup experience even simpler.

A licensing system should not be so intrusive that it can prevent you from setting up a new system. Microsoft once again proves that they make no attempt to make the initial setup experience as simple and pleasant as possible.

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Cluster Resources, Inc. Brings Leading Cluster Workload Management Software to Mac OS X HPC Environments

Mac OS X based HPC sites welcome Moab Cluster SuiteTM to help achieve new levels of control and efficiency

Spanish Fork, UT—November 8, 2004—Cluster Resources, Inc. today announced the release of Moab Cluster Suite 4.2 for Mac OS X. It is the first release of Cluster Resources' cluster management suite to support the Mac OS X platform and includes: Moab Workload Manager™, a policy-based workload management and scheduling engine; Moab Cluster Manager™, a graphical cluster administration interface, monitor, and reporting tool; and Moab Access Portal™, an end-user job submission and management portal. Moab Cluster Suite 4.2 also supports Linux and Unix-based server platforms and Mac OS X, Linux, Unix and Windows clients.

Mac OS X and Apple Computer's Xserve hardware continue to see growing success in the High performance computing market with the much publicized success of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University's (Virginia Tech) supercomputer and other leading deployments. High Performance Computing sites are now able to leverage Apple Computer's renowned ease of use and superior price performance with Cluster Resources' cluster management solutions to achieve new levels of control and efficiency.

“Moab Workload Manager on Mac OS X allows for the management of traditional compute resources, as well as storage, network and licenses. This provides organizations with unparalleled control over how, when and by whom the resources of a cluster are accessed delivering up to 90 to 99 percent utilization.” said David Jackson, Chief Technology Officer of Cluster Resources, Inc. “The Web and desktop GUI interfaces empower administrators with significant management capabilities and enable end-users to submit their own jobs and self-manage their use of the system.”

"With dual G5 processing power and up to 8GB of ECC memory, Xserve G5 is affordable, easy to manage and easy to cluster making it the perfect platform for high performance computing,” said Ron Okamoto, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. “Moab Cluster Suite 4.2 delivers a powerful management suite for complex computational clustering to our customers who benefit from the strong performance of Mac OS X and Xserve G5 servers."

One of the notable sites leading Mac OS X adoption in the cluster and grid space is Virginia Tech. Its System X cluster landed at number three on the Top500 list in November of 2003 and was recently upgraded to an Xserve G5 based cluster.

“We achieved the underlying power required to be near the head of the Top500, and now with the Moab Cluster Suite we have the management and reporting we need to truly harness and control our powerful system,” said Kevin Shinpaugh, Director of Research and Cluster Computing of Virginia Tech. “Accounting for and allocating the millions of CPU hours available per year on System X is much easier now that we have Moab Cluster Suite. The reporting tools of Moab Cluster Manager clearly show us what has been done and Moab Workload Manager lets us express and enforce our rules.”

The Moab suite provides Mac OS X sites with an easy cross-over into the supercomputing arena, as users can engage in high performance computing without wasting time learning to maneuver through a difficult interface.

“Advanced and highly configurable workload management capabilities are essential for our computational science and engineering HPC environment,” said Michael Campbell, HPC Software Administrator at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign). “We have multiple clusters, several hundred users and many research groups that span various departments and universities. This diverse user base ranges from individuals doing thesis work, to class projects, to huge production simulations requiring thousands of processors. The Moab suite provides a means by which these complex needs and changing priorities can be managed relatively easily from a single point of control.”

The Moab Cluster Suite can be used to enforce service level delivery to users, groups, projects or organizational units. Moab's service level enforcement can ensure the right resources are delivered and that response times are optimized. Reports can be generated to accurately monitor usage and can be used for cost sharing or bill-back purposes, using either virtual credits or actual financial charges.

“We wanted to enhance our cluster management as it was quite challenging to coordinate all the different applications, research groups and desired policy settings,” said David Osguthorpe, Director of Computational Biology of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

“Moab Workload Manager lets us set up global, cluster and user based rules and policies and automate them across the entire cluster. Our system is certainly more efficient now and we can give our users a better experience. That means more research gets done, our grant providers will be more pleased and we are better prepared to grow our system and the work that can be accomplished.”

The Moab Cluster Suite 4.2 is available for immediate release. Organizations interested in a free evaluation copy of Moab Cluster Suite or access to Cluster Resources' On-line Demonstration Cluster can visit www.clusterresources.com/products/eval.

About Cluster Resources

Cluster Resources, Inc.TM is a leading provider of workload and resource management software and services for cluster, grid and utility-based computing environments. Drawing upon over a decade of industry experience, Cluster Resources is recognized as a leader in innovation and return on investment, delivering the software products and services that enable an organization to understand, control and fully optimize their computer resources, while minimizing the hardware required to meet objectives. For more information call (801) 873-3400 or (888) 221-2008 or visit http://www.clusterresources.com

Press Contact: Anna Zimmerman
Phone: (801) 873-3400 (888) 221-2808
E-mail: press@clusterresources.com


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Moab Cluster SuiteTM, Moab Workload ManagerTM, Moab Cluster ManagerTM , and Moab Access PortalTM are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cluster Resources Inc.TM. All third party trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Statements concerning Cluster Resources' future development plans and schedules are made for planning purposes only, and are subject to change or withdrawal without notice.

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Apple releases Mac OS X 10.3.6 update

Apple has released a new Mac OS X software update, 10.3.6, which is now available via the software update panel. This update has several networking improvements.

Key enhancements include:

• improved file sharing for Mac (AFP), UNIX (NFS) and PC (SMB/CIFS) networks
  
• more reliable network automounts and launch of network applications
  
• improved OpenGL technology and updated ATI and NVIDIA graphic drivers
  
• additional FireWire audio and USB device compatibility
  
• updated Calculator, DVD Player, Image Capture, and Safari applications
  
• improved compatibility for third party applications
  
• previous standalone security updates
  

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Slated 1.0

Transverse.ComputerCompany has released Slated 1.0, the company's $8.95 iCal utility that automatically imports your Evites into iCal. With AppleScript support, it's easy to create a rule in Mail.app to trigger an import as soon as you get an Evite announcement. See more at transverse.cc.

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Mireth Technology launches the Mac SVCD Software Bundle - everything you need for Super VCD on Mac OS X

Mireth Technology Corp. announces the launch of the Mac SVCD Software Bundle, digital video software that gives you everything you need to convert, burn and play Super VCD (SVCD) on Mac OS X. The bundle includes Mireth’s iVCD, all-in-one MPEG encoder/converter and VCD & SVCD burner, Mireth’s MacVCD X Video Player, and Apple’s Quicktime MPEG-2 Playback component.

iVCD is an all-in-one MPEG encoder, converter and VCD & SVCD burner which will take you from a movie file to VCD or SVCD in just one step. This easy to use software can produce VCD, SVCD or MPEG. It supports both NTSC and PAL output formats and can produce VCDs with menus (playback control).

MacVCD X is the easy to use video player for Mac OS X that plays VCDs with just one step because recognizes the Video CD Format and does the file chaining. It also plays just about everything else - XVCD, AVI, DivX, MPEG, video, Quicktime movies (.mov) and more. (Note: AVI, DivX playback requires additional component - see system requirements).

The addition of the Quicktime MPEG-2 Playback component extends the capabilities of the software, adding MPEG-2 preview capability to iVCD and adding MPEG-2 and SVCD playback to MacVCD X.

Like a VCD, a SVCD is a video format that uses ordinary recordable CD media to store movies (instead of using a DVD or a VHS tape). SVCDs use the MPEG-2 format which delivers near-DVD quality playback and about 45 minutes of video on a CD. SVCD is an ideal format for making home videos and corporate videos because they are easy and inexpensive to produce, inexpensive to distribute and easy to play.

An SVCD can be produced at home or in the office, requiring only VCD authoring software, such as Mireth’s iVCD, a CD burner and a CD-R. SVCDs can be played in almost anything, including most DVD players, both Windows and Macintosh computers, with SVCD Player software (such as Mireth’s MacVCD X Video Player with Apple’s Quicktime MPEG-2 Playback component ), and in many video game machines.

“SVCD is the ideal way to produce inexpensive, high quality video.” said Donna Johnson, President of Mireth Technology Corp. “We made a video of a family 50th Wedding Anniversary Picnic in the summer of 2004 and compared the cost of producing and shipping copies. We found producing on VCD cost 25% less than DVD and cost 60% less than using VHS tape.”


Pricing and Availability
The Mac SVCD Software Bundle for Mac OS X is available for immediate download or on CD-ROM, starting at $54.95. Educational pricing and volume discounts are available. For more information, visit www.mireth.com/pub/mac-svcd-bdl.html

About Mireth Technology Corp.
Founded in 1991, Mireth Technology Corp. (www.mireth.com) produces easy-to-use and cost effective Macintosh software, including ShredIt, NetShred, iVCD, Music Man, and MacVCD, the best selling Macintosh VCD playing software in the world. Mireth is well-known in the industry for providing robust, well-tested products and outstanding customer support. A Vancouver based corporation, Mireth Technology produces “The right software for the job.”(TM)

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Southern California Linux Expo Calls For Papers

The USC, Simi/Conejo, and UCLA Linux User Groups are proud to present the third annual Southern California Linux Expo scheduled for February 12-13th, 2005 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The Southern California Linux Expo will bring together Linux and Open Source Software companies, developers, and users.

The conference is being held by Linux user groups from the local area: the USCLUG, SCLUG, and UCLALUG. Building on the tremendous success of last two years' SCALE, the three LUGs will continue to promote Linux and the Open Source Software community.

We invite you to share your work on Linux and Open Source projects with the rest of the community.

Presentations can be in the form of speeches, tutorials, or demonstrations.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Linux for embedded systems
  
• Iptables
  
• Mysql
  
• Multimedia in Linux
  
• Wireless tools in Linux
  
• Linux Games
  
• New kernel enhancements
  
• Samba
  
• GIMP
  
• Administration techniques for specific distributions
  
• Network monitoring
  
• Custom Configurations
  
• Beginners' topics
  
• Darwin
  
• *BSD
  

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