[WelMac] Welmac News & Update 21 May 06
Graeme Moffatt
gmoffatt at paradise.net.nz
Sun May 21 18:22:10 CDT 2006
CONTENTS:
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1. MEETING UPDATE
2. MOVIEFEST SHORT MOVIE COMPETITION UNDERWAY
3. IPHOTO 6 - THE MISSING MANUAL
4. APPLE CONVERTS THE IBOOK TO INTEL
5. APPLE RELEASES FINAL CUT EXPRESS HD 3.5
6. SMART MAILBOX IDEA: MAIL OLDER THAN ONE YEAR
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1. MEETING UPDATES
The next main meeting of the society will be held on Monday 29 May
2006. This meeting will be held in the Ante Room on the Ground Level
of Turnbull House, 11 Bowen Street, Wellington from 7.10pm until
9.30pm. (parking should be available on The Terrace and further up
Bowen Street, past The Terrace intersection)
The first part of the May meeting will take a look at the increasing
use of computers for entertainment and specifically what Apple is
doing to enhance this Home Media Centre concept. Following this we
will have a break for supper then our usual Mac Help Desk session.
For those members living at or near the Paraparaumu area, our next
Kapiti meeting will be held one week later on Monday 12 June 2006
owing to Queens Birthday. It will be at the Rita King Cottage at St
Marks Church in Rosetta Road, Raumati. The topic for this meeting
will be about the Home Media Centre as in the Wellington meeting at
the end of May.
The next Speciality Group meetings are as below and each meeting is
held from 7.10pm to 9.30pm.
Mac Help Desk Monday 29 May 2006 at Turnbull House (see above)
New Media Group Check <http://nmug.welmac.org.nz/>
Digital Video Users Group Monday 19 June 2006 at Turnbull House (see
above)
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2. MOVIEFEST SHORT MOVIE COMPETITION UNDERWAY
The MovieFest Charitable Trust announced recently that they are
holding another nationwide MovieFest competition this year and are
now accepting registrations.
MovieFest is a short movie competition designed to increase awareness
and interest in digital and computer arts and sciences. We also
publicly screen the entrants’ work in an effort to encourage and
inspire amateur movie-makers. In addition, we provide a channel for
feedback from the competitions judges and the public at large.
The competition is directed at Primary Schools, Secondary Schools and
Hobbyists as we seek to encourage this developing sector by providing
resources and facilitating help and advice from professionals
experienced in their field.
The national winner of each of the categories will receive a prize
package valued at $1000 courtesy of Panavision New Zealand Ltd and
the runners up will also receive prizes. Each category winner in the
Regional Finals will receive a prize and have their movie entered
into the National Final at the end of September.
For the National Final this year, we have five judges who are all
experienced in the film and video industry, two can boast five
academy awards between them. They are; Miranda Harcourt, a well known
New Zealand actress, Rosemary MacLeod, a well known script writer and
columnist, Hugh Macdonald, a director who learned his craft at the
New Zealand National Film Unit, Alex Funke, a cinemotographer who is
currently head of the Miniatures Unit for Peter Jackson and Mike
Hedges, a sound re-recording mixer at Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post.
The last two judges worked on both the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and
King Kong movie winning academy awards for both projects. Full
details of each of the judges can be found at <http://
www.moviefest.org.nz/06/judges>.
You can register your details at <register at moviefest.org.nz> and we
will post a registration form to you or you can download a
registration form from <http://www.moviefest.org.nz/register>. Please
print off and complete the form and post with your payment to
MovieFest Charitable Trust, PO Box 40-732, Upper Hutt, Wellington.
We will announce the topic for this years competition on Monday 26
June and entrants will have until 5pm on Friday 11 August to complete
their movie and have it delivered to us. We will be having three
regional finals, in Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch and these
will be followed by the National Screenings and Awards Ceremony in
Wellington on Saturday 30 September.
Full details of this years competition are available on our web site
at <http://www.moviefest.org.nz>
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3. IPHOTO 6 - THE MISSING MANUAL
by Maria O. Arguello
Everybody knows that I am a big fan of David Pogue and The Missing
Manuals from Pogue Press/O'Reilly. I have many Missing Manual books
in my personal library and consult them frequently when I have
questions during the course of my work. Both David Pogue and Derrick
Story are experts on this topic and they offer their best writing and
expertise in this book. The writing is witty, clear, engaging, and
enjoyable.
Among the things that make The Missing Manual series so practical,
besides the content, is the Index. David says that he makes an extra
effort and spends the most time making sure it is accurate. He also
demands perfection in the Index.
All the illustrations are in COLOR. Wow, what a concept. This was one
of my pet peeves with books that only offer black-and-white
illustrations. How is a reader supposed to see the difference when
color correcting a photo if the “before and after” is shown in black-
and-white? Duh?
Part One of iPhoto 6 The Missing Manual covers the essentials about
digital cameras, how to use them to compose brilliant photos, tips
for composing simple snapshots, and beyond. Part Two deals with
iPhoto Basics. Part Three is all about sharing your photos with the
public. In Part Four you learn about iPhoto Stunts like setting
screen savers, AppleScript and Automator, and iPhoto File Management.
The 382 pages will have the reader mastering iPhoto 6 and looking
like a pro, with many hidden tips, tricks, and explanations of why
things act the way they do. For example, the transparent display that
appears when dragging the vertical scroll bar gives you information
you have selected from the View menu. I didn't know that! Before you
know it you'll be making stunning calendars for friends and family,
making blogs, photocasting your priceless photos over the Internet,
sharing iPhoto Libraries, playing DVD slideshows, backing up your
photos on CD or DVD for future generations, ordering Kodak prints,
and so on.
As much as I love The Missing Manual series, no single book can give
you everything. In the MacAddict April, 2006 magazine, I discovered a
way to control the size of the 'brush' for the Red Eye and Retouch
tool. Set Caps Lock>control 9>tab> and use the left and right bracket
to control the size. Neat trick and a total secret. Knowing this has
made my editing with the Red Eye and Retouch tools much better, and
more precise. It would have been great to find it in this book too.
Also this book has no training CD or DVD. So, I am waiting for Jim
Heid's The Macintosh iLife '06 for the training DVD that comes with
it. It is a component missing from The Missing Manuals.
This book is a must-have for every user of iPhoto 6. It's the missing
manual that should have come with iLife '06.
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4. APPLE CONVERTS THE IBOOK TO INTEL
By Bill Davies
On May 16, Apple refreshed the iBook product line and replaced it
with the MacBook product line, tracking the name change that was also
seen in the demise of the Powerbook product line. So now we have
MacBooks and MacBook Pros, and we do not have iBooks or Powerbooks. I
have to say Apple is executing extremely well with their product
refresh, and they now have converted every Mac to the Intel processor
except for the slow-selling desktop tower units, all in the first 5
months of 2006. If that is not good execution, I don’t know what is.
Also of note, the 12” Powerbook is retired, and Apple figures you
will get the high-end MacBook if all you want is a small, designer
laptop. As predicted in my previous article about the Mac mini, the
iBook is pretty much a Mac mini with a 13-inch widescreen attached.
In a refreshing move on Apple’s part, all versions of the MacBook
contain Intel’s CoreDuo processor, which adds to the cost, but makes
for a much better experience. (Not to mention, the more of these
Apple buys, the cheaper the unit price per chip!) The machines start
at $1099 with the ability to play a DVD and a 60gb hard drive, a
1.83Ghz processor, a 13” glossy screen like Sony uses, and 1280x800
resolution. If you’re willing to pay $1299 you get a SuperDrive (the
ability to burn a DVD) and a 2.0Ghz processor. If you’re willing to
pay $1499, you get an 80gb hard drive and your MacBook is black
instead of white. All the machines ship with 512mb of RAM (when you
order, upgrade to at least 1gb please!), built-in wireless
networking, Bluetooth, Apple Remote, MagSafe power adapter, iLife
’06, and a built-in iSight camera in the lid of the laptop. Tiger is
pre-installed. You also get 10/100/1000 ethernet, one Firewire 400
port, 2 USB 2.0 ports, and optical digital and analog audio in/out.
So how do you decide between a MacBook and a MacBook Pro? The key
differences are that the MacBook does not have a dedicated graphics
card, and instead uses the Intel Graphics Media Adapter 950, which
takes part of your computer’s RAM and uses it for driving the
display. Anecdotal reports on this arrangement suggest it is fine for
word processing and web surfing, but probably not ideal if you plan
to play a lot of games. The MacBook Pro has its own dedicated
graphics card and RAM, and while not a high-end graphics card, it
offers better graphics performance than a MacBook will. The MacBook
Pro also offers screen resolution of 1440 x 900, and has a backlit
keyboard so you can see the keys while you sit on the couch by the
fire and use your laptop. MacBook Pros can optionally be purchased
with a 7200rpm hard drive for performance closer to a desktop system.
And the MacBook Pro offers an ExpressCard expansion slot for things
like an adding EVDO wireless card or a Firewire 800 card. The MacBook
is 5.2 lbs, and the MacBook Pro is 5.6 lbs. Both families of machine
feature DVI output to an external display, video mirroring, and
extended desktop mode. Neither family of machine includes a modem.
You need to buy that from Apple as an extra. In short, the
differences are few, but the differences are significant enough that
people should have little trouble identifying which machine “family”
will suit their needs best.
One area that will be considered an advantage for the MacBook over
the MacBook Pro is that the RAM and the hard drive are both user-
serviceable. (Typically RAM is always user serviceable, but being
able to swap a hard drive is a giant plus for the MacBook family.)
One thing that always bothered me about laptops was that it was just
too hard to move to a bigger hard drive a year from now. But with the
new internal layout of the MacBook, you should be able to swap your
own hard drive if you run out of space.
So how do I rate the MacBook product family? I think it is a positive
move for Apple. They delayed announcing it for several weeks to allow
manufacturing to ramp up, and I actually know a person who went to
the Apple Store on Arden Way on May 16 and came home with a new
MacBook on the day of announcement. So kudos to Apple for that. But
we need to talk about price and positioning.
In my January article about the MacBook Pro, I asked “where’s the
$699 laptop to compete with Dell?” Apple still hasn’t answered that
question, but rumor on the street is that they may still keep the
iBook name alive and release a very stripped-down laptop with a
CoreSolo processor and no iSight camera in the $799 range. I think
doing this probably goes against Apple’s DNA, since you can’t really
take advantage of many of the “media” features of MacOS X without the
iSight camera and the better processor. But time will tell. If
MacBooks are flying off the shelf at $1299 and school districts are
buying them, I suspect Apple will just rake in the cash, and not go
after the student-on-a-budget customer with only $799 to spend. And
how far does your dollar go for that $1299? As is typical for Apple,
they are competing on style and features, not price. For example, ten
days ago I ordered a Dell laptop for my nephew who is going off to
college and wanted to be like all his Mac-less friends. Granted, I
purchased that unit during a one-day fire sale that Dell was having
because their earnings were down and their sales were down, and by
typing in a certain offer code, I got an instant $300 discount valid
one-day only. But in any event, I got him a Dell laptop with 15.4”
screen, 1.66GHz CoreDuo processor, a 60gb hard disk, Windows XP Media
Center Edition, 512mb of RAM, and an 8x DVD± drive, built-in wireless
networking, and coffee / soda spill insurance for $954.53. This
machine is closer to a MacBook Pro than to a MacBook because it has a
larger screen. The Intel processor is the slowest of the CoreDuo
lineup, slower even than the one on the MacBook. The Dell has an 8x
DVD drive, while the MacBook and MacBook Pro have a 4x drive. I
suspect the Dell has a built-in modem that doesn’t cost extra. It is
difficult to put together an Apple system that matches the Dell
specifications, because the low-end MacBook doesn’t include a DVD
burner, and the low-end MacBook Pro is a substantially better machine
than the Dell Inspiron, except that they both have a 15.4” screen.
So to make my comparison, I took the middle MacBook and added the
Apple USB modem, which brought the MacBook to $1348 with no Applecare
coverage. If you assume that not everyone will get the $300 Dell
discount that I found (and you probably should not assume that), the
equalized price of the Dell comes to $1254 with its slower CoreDuo
processor, larger screen, and faster DVD drive. If you can forgive
the MacBook’s 13-inch screen versus the 15.4” screen on the Dell, and
if you assume that Tiger and iLife are something you want (and
prefer) to Windows XP, then the two laptops come out pretty close.
But if you are like many people who don’t care if they use Windows,
and who probably won’t notice the difference between 1.67Ghz and
2.0Ghz, the Dell still offers a better value. (Last time I checked,
viruses and spyware were not deterring people from buying a Windows
computer.) Is the price close enough to encourage people to switch? I
think that all depends on how Apple’s advertisements do in the
marketplace. Do Windows users need iPhoto and iDVD and GarageBand
enough that they should consider a Mac? My personal answer is “no,”
but I’ll wait to see what Apple’s market share is this coming December.
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5. APPLE RELEASES FINAL CUT EXPRESS HD 3.5
Apple has announced a significant upgrade to the award-winning
software solution for video enthusiasts, Final Cut Express HD 3.5
runs natively on both Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs. New features
include Dynamic RT for real-time playback of multi-stream effects,
Soundtrack 1.5 with a complete suite of professional level audio
production tools, and LiveType 2.1 with even more exciting animated
text and titles.
Also upgraded is the way FCE handles key frames. Final Cut Express HD
delivers with fully adjustable keyframe control over all effects,
transitions, and motion parameters. You can, for example, easily set
keyframe markers to begin and end a transitional effect from color to
black and white or Sepia. And once you take advantage of keyframing
to modify a special effect, you can now save that modification as a
“Favorite” for use in other movie projects.
Full details on the updated application can be found at <http://
www.apple.com/finalcutexpress/>.
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6. SMART MAILBOX IDEA: MAIL OLDER THAN ONE YEAR
If you’ve got email that’s more than a year old just clogging up your
Inbox (and taking up valuable space), you can use a Smart Mailbox to
help you do some fast email house cleaning. Just Control-click on the
email account (or your Inbox if you don’t have multiple accounts)
that you want to clean up, and then choose New Smart Mailbox from the
contextual menu. When the Smart Mailbox dialog appears, from the
first criteria pop-up menu on the left, choose Date Received. From
the next pop-up menu over, choose “is before the date,” and in the
final field, type a date that is approximately one year before today.
Click OK and all your email that is one year old (or older) will
appear in that Smart Mailbox. To delete that old email, just click on
the Smart Mailbox, press Command-A to select all the email, then
press the Delete key on your keyboard. Now, the nice thing is that
tomorrow more one-year-old email will appear in that Smart Mailbox
(thanks to its live updating), and the next day, and the next day,
and so on, so your mailbox never has more than one year of archived
messages. So, about once a month, click on that Smart Mailbox and
easily delete all the old email.
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Some articles above have been reprinted with permission from TidBITS.
TidBITS has offered more than ten years of thoughtful commentary on
Macintosh and Internet topics. For free email subscriptions and
access to the entire TidBITS archive, visit www.tidbits.com.
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