LaunchBar is an absolute must have in my opinion, and at 40% off it's sweeter than ever.

Here is an earlier post where I discuss LaunchBar.

Act now, 1 day only. Click on the link to be taken to the deal at MacUpdate.

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Spring brings colorful flowers, pre-spring brings us iPod Shuffles in color.

Cool.

Now just add a screen.

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Splasm, the developers of Audiobook Builder, saw the video overview on the application which I posted. They really liked it and put a link to it on their website.

This prompted me to re-do the video, it is now a bit nicer looking, and a better size for in-browser viewing. Check out the video now.

GREAT NEWS, Splasm has also offered to give away 5 licensed copies of Audiobook Builder to MacSeven readers!

If you are interested in receiving one of the free copies of Audiobook Builder post a note in the forum here. If we have more than 5 who are interested then we'll randomly select from those that post.

Post a quick note here if you would like a free copy of Audiobook Builder
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I'm an audiobook junkie. I love to listen to audiobooks during my commute and while I'm working around the house. Now that I'd got an iPod RED I am keen to convert audiobooks on cd's and audiobooks in MP3 format that I've had archived into the iTunes and iPod M4B format.

I recently bought Audiobook Builder from Splasm and am really enjoying how incredibly easy it allows you to create iTunes M4B audiobooks.

I put together a video of how I use the software. A video software review if you will.

Watch the video if you have an interest in creating your own audiobooks for your iTunes or iPod.

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Cleardock by Unsanity is a nifty little utility. The Dock on your mac has a translucent border around it that frames the icons in your dock. Cleardock removes the translucent border that that the icons just seem to float above your desktop.

I have my Dock set to auto-hide, but I still really enjoy the clean Dock when I do see it.

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Uninspiring Vista is a short article from from a long time Window user who in testing Vista switched to the Mac.

Inspiration comes from the strangest places, in this case from "Technology Published by MIT Review"

The article is titled: How Microsoft's long-awaited operating system disappointed a stubborn fan.

By Erika Jonietz

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What a fantastic little utility this is, RapidRestore for RapidWeaver.

This elegant and simple utility backs up information for you regarding RapidWeaver, and can then later restore that information.

RapidRestore allows you to easily back up all of your RapidWeaver add-ons like themes, plugins & carousel styles, and the RapidWeaver preferences. This allows you to transfer from one computer to your new one.

All you do is open RapidRestore, press Back up and save the .rrp somewhere, then burn it to a CD or transfer it to your new computer. Then launch RapidRestore on the new computer and press Restore. Your files will be restored immediately, you won't even have to re-enter any serial numbers.

RapidRestore also saves your serial numbers for addins from the following developers: Yourhead, LogHound, RapidCal, RapidScript, RWmultiTool, and RWThemeMiner.

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ClamXav is a freeware Mac Virus Scanner. Now don't go calling me crazy, I'm not big on Mac Virus protection. I love the fact that the Mac is still a very secure Operating System, especially when compared to Windows.

Because i do download files from the internet, I prefer to take some precaution.

I have had ClamXav installed for quite a while, and had it setup so that the Sentry (real time scanner) was set to auto-run when when booting up OS X, and it would scan only my Desktop and the "Web Downloads" folder where I download things from the internet. While this was great in theory, what happened is that the Sentry wouldn't auto-load when I booted up my system. I had to start ClamXav and manually launch the Sentry - this means that it never happened.

The new version of ClamXav has fixed whatever was wrong, and the Sentry now loads up when you boot.

Consider some protection, better safe than sorry I estimate.

Tell us what YOU think.
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Parallels and VMWare are both tackling the virtualization approach to running Windows on your Intel Mac - in this example meaning that you can run Windows while running Mac. CrossOver is more akin to Rosetta for Windows in that it lets you run Windows applications without having to have Windows itself installed. This is a far better approach for my needs if it works as promised.

CrossOver went final the other day, and as a die hard Quicken 2007 for Windows user I was anxious to see how well CrossOver ran Quicken on my iMac. The summary is that Quicken 2007 installed perfectly via CrossOver, and I was a bit surprised to see that it launched without problem. There is one inconvenience to this setup, and one show stopper. The inconvenience is that the screen refreshes for Quicken were dead slow, painfully slow! The show stopper is that none of the online activities seemed to work for me, and it is the online accesses that make Quicken so very helpful.

I was quite impressed that Quicken installed and ran without errors, but it doesn't seem to be quite ready for my needs.

Additionally I did install Internet Explorer 6.0 for Windows through the CrossOver install menu, but I can't seem to find out how to run it now that I've installed it, oh well - that was more of a curiosity while Quicken is a necessity.

For now I'll continue to access Quicken with Remote Desktop to my MCE Windows machine.



Tell us what YOU think.
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When I ran Windows XP I would frequently have odd things happen to my system, after a while it just became a fact of life. However, since running on my iMac since February 2006 I have run almost completely free of odd happenings.


Last night I was struck by some odd behaviour that I can't figure out how it happened. I rebooted my iMac for the first time in about a week, and when I rebooted the Time and Date which is always displayed in my Menu bar had dissapeared. Also missing from my Menu bar was Menu Meters. I only had to go into the System Preferences and click the option buttons to redisplay these items. I can't understand how they mysteriously were no longer being displayed after a reboot.

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The Apple TV is a great add-on device for any computer user who uses iTunes to manage audio and or video content, and they want to bring that content to their home AV system. Lack of support for DivX and XviD is not good, and the frame rates listed in the specs are less than ideal for TV content - but I'll reserve judgement until I see one in operation first hand.

FrontPage on steroids is how the Apple TV interface looks to me. I would like it if Apple updated FrontPage to have the same interface.

I will not be buying an Apple TV though. Why you ask? Simple, I am looking at solutions that replace my home AV system, not for a device which is yet another component to add to my system. Apple TV doesn't even have a DVD player built into it. You may be shocked to hear this as somebody who is a Mac and Apple fan, but my home AV system is powered by Microsoft Media Center 2005, and it's a great setup. Vista MCE a huge step forward making it even better.

As nice as Apple TV looks, it doesn't target the same features and functions as MCE. Our family uses an 'MCE Server' running in the office and we access all the content through an extender. It is our single source for Live TV, Recorded TV (MCE has fantastic DVR functions), photos, music, and more. Single Source, those are key words for me.

I only hope that Apple TV is the first entry into the home entertainment market for Apple and that they decide to take on MCE. Similarly to how Apple only operates music as a pay per song model instead of also offering a subscription service - I see Apple staying the course with their current model in regards to TV and that is to continue offering pay per downloads instead of serving the DVR market. Maybe Apple will see the light, I would certainly be extremely happy with the possibility of running an Apple based MCE'esque system powering my home AV system, as good as MCE is, it still runs on Windows which does cause me some concerns and actual problems from time to time - I have to think an Apple Mac OS X based 'MCE' system would be more stable and secure and hopefully more elegant.

Now take my dream Apple TV DVR unit, and bake it into a 37" or 42" LCD monitor and I'd be in heaven.

-MacSeven


Tell us what YOU think.
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I had expected an announcement at some time for a Video iPod, and a separate announcement for an iPhone which would resemble something more like an iPhone Nano - much more basic in function than the iPhone which Apple introduced at the 2007 MacWorld Expo.

In a few words, the iPhone completely blew me away. It is an amazing unit that in many respects makes the current competing units look pretty barbaric by comparison. But I don't think that the iPhone is the end all either. Outlined below are some of my Pro's and Con's on the upcoming device.

PRO's:

* The iPhone is an amazing unit.
* Fluid design and integration of functions
* Beautiful design and display.
* Very well thought out features.
* Spectacular execution of features.
* Volume slider on the side is a great idea, I wish my Nano had one.
* Answer/disconnect switch built into the headphones is a great idea, I wish my Nano had this for Play/Pause.


CON's

* This unit is aimed at the very high end consumer market which has a limited audience. I think they may come out with an 'iPhone Nano' type device at a later time which would be smaller, with less features at a lower price point which would make it more accessible to a larger market. The iPhone can wow them and then the iPod Nano can close the deal for those of use who cringe at the thought of paying $600 for a phone, even if it is an iPhone.
* The lack of support for Exchange and Notes serves, a la Blackberry, pretty much excludes the iPhone from serious consideration by Corporate America.
* The lack of support for a Word and Excel viewer also pretty much excludes the iPhone from serious consideration by Corporate America.
* No voice recognition! I can't believe nobody else seems to be talking about this. While the implementation of the virtual keyboard looks pretty good to me, I would much rather talk to an iPhone if in a situation where that wouldn't be disruptive. Rather than scrolling down a list of music just say "Stone Temple Pilots", or say "Call John Smith" instead of poking around to find that contact. Similarly, for emails, SMS's, etc. Wouldn't it be much easier and faster to say your message rather than hunt and peck it out on a non-tactile keyboard? Who knows, maybe this will happen and it just wasn't ready for the demo but I would consider it essential for this device if it were to win me as a buyer.
* No user replaceble battery. Boo, this just isn't good.
* No user installed applications, ouch. This slams not only the users, but the Mac Developer community. Bad move and I hope Apple gives serious consideration to opening it up.



It is going to be interesting to see how the iPhone plays out in hands on reviews in the months to come, and whether or not Apple releases other phones to accompany the iPhone.

-MacSeven


Tell us what YOU think.
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I sold my Apple stock a while back at $89, at the time I felt it was a good price - no regrets. But a week or two ago when it came down to $81 I thought about buying 100 shares. On Monday I again thought about it but it was already up to $85, so I thought I'd wait a day or two, then today it pops up over $6 per share to $92. Damn, that would have paid for a new iPhone had I pulled the trigger.

Oh well.

Woulda, shoulda coulda.

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It sure does look nice doesn't it! The new Apple iPhone was announced today.

I'll be very interested to see first hand reports on the new iPhone, especially how well it fares for battery life and durability. Damn this is one sexy phone! I especiallly like how it has rounded edges, I don't like how my RED Nano has sharp edges to it.

Check out all of these fabulous pictures of the iPhone that Engadget is showing.

iPhone combines three products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching — into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone also introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting you control everything with just your fingers. So it ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, completely redefining what you can do on a mobile phone.

Tell us what YOU think.
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I've been a fan of MacAddict Magazine, which has just been transformed into Mac|Life magazine. They have a nice new website that just went live. Hopefully it will prove to be a useful Mac resource.

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This is fantastic news. I haven't checked, but I'm guessing this also means that OpenOffice will have the same support, by the way where has that X11'less version of OpenOffice gone? I swore it was due out by now.

VBA Macro support for NeoOffice is going to be fantastic, that's one major drawback about NeoOffice compared to Office, and it's soon to be gone.

Click on the image below for the full story.

I've been using NeoOffice on my Mac soly as my "Office" program, admittedly it's not Office 2003 but all in all it's pretty damned good.


Tell us what YOU think.
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Toast Titanium is a fantastic program. Of course it makes sense that version 8 just debuted, because I just recently bought v7.12. doh!

Click on the image above for more details, it looks like they put a lot of improvements into an already fantastic program.

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I think this challenge for a .Mac replacement is awesome, check it out.

The goal of the notMac Challenge is to create the incentive for someone to make an alternative dotMac solution available for the general public. Since this is something that could benefit a large number of people in the Mac community, I figure what better way to create that incentive than to invite anyone interested to contribute to the reward.

Tell us what YOU think.
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My wife occasionally uses my Mac and she has her own account/login so when she was logged in under her own account she couldn't access the iPhoto Library setup for use with my account. The iPhoto Library on my account is all our family photos and she wanted quick access to them. I set off to see if it was possible for multiple users on the same Mac to be able to share the same iPhoto Library from both of our accounts. After a little digging I found that it is actually pretty easy to do. This works on OS X 10.4+, if you're on an older system search elsewhere for a solution.

1) Enable ACL:
From a terminal session enter: sudo fsaclctl -p / -e

2) Create a new folder which will contain the shared iPhoto Library, I suggest: /Users/Shared/iPhoto Library
(You must create a new folder and not move or copy an existing folder.)

3) Add an ACL rule for each user who you want to be able to access the iPhoto Library:
From a terminal session enter the command below replacing USERNAME with the User's short name which you can find in the Accounts section of System Preferences.

(The command below is all one line, no spaces after the commas at the end of the first two lines.)

sudo chmod +a "USERNAME allow delete,chown,list,
search,add_file,add_subdirectory,delete_child,file_inherit,
directory_inherit" /Users/Shared/iPhoto\ Library

4) Now the iPhoto Library folder you created is ready to go, you can start using it by creating a new library in that location, or you can bring over an existing iPhoto Library.

NOTE: If you want to use an existing iPhoto Library, you must COPY it into the new shared iPhoto Library which you created, if you MOVE the files, it will not work. Copy and Paste, or Option+Drag/Drop to copy.

NOTE: If you hold down the OPTION key on your keyboard while launching iPhoto it will prompt you to select the iPhoto Library to use. After I copied my old iPhoto Library contents to my new shared iPhoto Library I was able to access the same iPhoto Library from both my account, and my wife's account.

Tell us what YOU think.
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I recently got a new iPod Nano 4GB RED. The Nano is my fourth portable MP3 player, but my first iPod, and as such I didn't notice anything amiss when I was looking at my iPod in iTunes and there was no proper icon for the Nano in the device list - or that the summary page was missing an icon - or that the desktop icon should have been something other than a generic drive icon. I never realized any of this until I plugged my wife's new Nano into my computer and saw that all three places I just referenced showed a nice icon of a silver Nano (which she has.)

My first thought was to reset the Nano, so I took note of what I had loaded to it so I could get it back to it's current state after a reset. Unfortunately nothing changed after a reset.

I thought possibly something with my login was causing issue, so I logged into another user account on my iMac and plugged in RED, still the same thing.

For now I'm not going to worry about it. I have a feeling that it's iTunes that is the issue not the actual RED nano itself. If after the next iTunes update I still don't see an icon then I'll take it to my local Apple store for a look - it otherwise operates great so I can't get too worked up about it. And I also found a really nice icon (see below) to use for my Desktop icon. Take a look at this site, the guy has some really quality icons.

Tell us what YOU think.
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...and may it be another spectacular year for the Mac.

-MacSeven

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Check out Previous posts on MacSeven.com

MacSeven Posts from December 2006

MacSeven Posts from November 2006

MacSeven Posts from October 2006

MacSeven Posts from September 2006

MacSeven Posts from August 2006