BumpTop 3D Desktop with Multi Touch Gestures

BumpTop is an intuitive piece of software that offers a 3D Desktop with Multi Touch Gestures. Currently only available for Windows XP, Vista and 7, you need to show your support, as the company are looking for feedback to see if there is enough demand for a Mac OS X version.

Check out the features at http://bumptop.com/

Roxio Releases Popcorn 4 in Europe

Today Roxio®, a division of Sonic Solutions®, today released Roxio Popcorn® 4, a Mac software application that allows consumers to quickly and easily transfer personal video entertainment from capture devices and DVDs for enjoyment on next-generation consumer electronic devices including game consoles, set-top boxes, and mobile devices.

With the new Popcorn 4 you can import and convert personal video entertainment from virtually anywhere. The application adds to its extensive format compatibility with support for AVCHD and AVCHD-Lite (high-definition camcorder files), as well as the popular Web-based Flash format. Enhanced video preparation tools make it easy to extract favourite video segments or an audio track from a DVD-Video or high-definition file. For lightning-fast file conversion, Popcorn utilises Turbo.264 HD hardware accelerator, and makes the process more convenient by adding the ability to schedule long conversion projects for when your system is idle. The application even allows you to preview how a converted file will look on your favourite device without having to perform a full file conversion.

Popcorn 4 streamlines video transfer with a new list of device “profiles” for next-generation consumer electronics including the latest handheld devices, the Palm® Pre™ and new iPod nano®, as well as game consoles such as the Nintendo® Wii and Sony PSP® go. Simply select your device from the Profile list, and Popcorn will automatically create a file that’s optimised for playback on that device. If you share videos via the Web, then you’ll appreciate a new feature that lets you directly upload your video to YouTube™ or the ability to output to Flash® for publishing to a personal page or site.

“Until now it has been a bit of a science experiment to connect the many sources we have for capturing and storing personal video with the diverse range of devices available for playing them back,” said Matt DiMaria, general manager, Roxio division of Sonic Solutions. “This changes with Popcorn 4. Consumers no longer have to worry about file format types and device compatibility. Regardless of the video source, just point and click to copy, convert and enjoy it on almost any home or mobile screen.”

Popcorn 4 Feature Highlights:
Import and Copy
• Import from virtually any video source – AVHD and AVCHD Lite, MKV, Flash (FLV, F4V), QuickTime®, AVI, VOB, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, TiVo recordings, EyeTV recordings, and more
• Create DVDs directly from the footage stored on AVCHD and AVCHD Lite camcorders
• Quickly extract multiple video clips from any DVD-Video
• Extract music from any DVD-Video and send directly to iTunes® for listening on your Mac® or iPod
• Automatically save Web video from your favourite video sharing sites to view offline
• Copy all non-encrypted DVDs, disc images or VIDEO_TS folders
• Merge multiple DVD-Video folders onto a single compilation DVD with as much as 4 hours of personal videos or EyeTV recordings
• Batch Fit-to-DVD™ lets you queue multiple DVD-Video folders for DVD-9 (dual-layer) to DVD-5 (single-layer) conversion
• Create custom DVD menus and even use a personal photo as the background

Prepare and Convert for Living Room or On-The-Go Viewing
• Copy home video, DVD-Video files, and other video files to DVD disc to enjoy in the living room.
• Publish converted video directly to YouTube
• Convert video into Adobe Flash (FLV and F4V) with web template and player controls for sharing on the web

Save Time
• Schedule video conversions to run when you’re away from the computer
• Pause CPU-intensive video conversions to regain control of your Mac and then resume when convenient
• Gain quick access to Movies folder and EyeTV recordings, and Spotlight search with the improved Media Browser

Pricing and Availability
Fully Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) and Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) compatible, Popcorn 4 is available today at www.roxio.co.uk for £34.99 and will be introduced early next month in retail stores and online stores.

Apple Snow Leopard to land August 28th

My order is in, is yours? Apple have delivered on their promise. Their next operating system, in the form of the greatly optimised Snow Leopard is now available to pre-order. They said September and whilst everyone was expecting the last day of the month, they pulled it out fo the bag. You can pre-order now for £25, shipping on August 28th, it may well be in your hands prior to the beginning of September.

Now, I know it does not offer stacks of new features, but it still excites me. It has some cool enhancements. It is sleeker, faster and smarter. The new OS even promises to save you around 6GB of hard disk space. All the main system applications are now 64-Bit and Grand Central Dispatch promises to take full advantage of multicore processors. Better graphic performance courtesy of OpenCL and a new version of Quicktime. Sound good? Check out Geekanoids for full coverage and installation guides when it lands on my desk.

Intego update Remote Management Console

Austin, TX, April 20, 2009: Intego, the Macintosh security specialist, today announced an update to Remote Management Console, a program that allows administrators to manage and configure Intego security software on Macintosh computers across a local network or via the Internet. With Intego Remote Management Console, an administrator can manage Intego programs on any number of Macs. The administrator can connect to client computers via Bonjour or by entering an IP address, and set configurations and preferences for the following programs:

• Intego VirusBarrier X5: Protects Macs from all known viruses
• Intego ContentBarrier X5: Protects children from the dangers of the Internet
• Intego NetUpdate: Updates Intego programs, and their virus definitions and filters

Intego Remote Management Console allows administrators to create and load settings files, configure individual settings and functions, and make changes to Intego programs on all computers quickly and easily. Settings for these programs can be managed individually or in groups, and administrators can apply the same settings to all users or apply templates with preset configurations to specific users. With Intego Remote Management Console, administrators can connect to Macs anywhere in the world by applying a uniform security policy to all the Macs in a company, school or university.

This update, version 10.4.5, includes new features and enables the management of ContentBarrier X5, the latest version of Intego’s parental control software. In this new version, administrators can add computers to Remote Management Console’s Workstation list by entering a range of IP addresses to be scanned; can import and export presets, to apply them on different administration Macs; and client Macs can be set to notify specific administration servers and download settings from them.

Intego Remote Management Console features:
A clear, easy to use interface—Intego Remote Management Console presents interfaces similar to the Intego products being managed
Provides system and hardware information for client computers
Lets the administrator view the current settings for Intego programs
Lets the administrator update and change settings on client computers
Presets allow the same settings to be used on multiple Macs
Groups allow simple application of security policy across computers
Logs record all activity
Remote Management Console can only be used if the client computer authorizes remote management

System requirements:
Remote Management Console Admin requires Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later.
Remote Management Console Client requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later.

Remote Management Console is available from Intego via the company’s website.

MacLiveExpo 2008 London - onOne Software

Of particular interest at the MacLiveExpo was the onOne Software stand, where they were giving video demonstrations of their superb software collection. They produce a range of plug-ins for Photoshop, Photoshop Elements and iPhoto, as well as products for Adobe Lightroom and Quark Xpress. Their Plug-in Suite 4 is a culimnation of all of the Photoshop plug-ins they produce, that enable you to manipulate your photo images with ease. FocalPoint, which is part of this bundle is of great interest to me. It gives the user the ability to create realistic depth of field in a photo, simply designating a sweet spot and tweaking the kind and intensity of blur. I am hoping to be able to bring you a series of reviews of onOne Software's products in due course.

Yazsoft Sharetool - sharing for the masses

Yazsoft is proud to announces a major new application, ShareTool. Developed for Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later, ShareTool is hands down, the fastest, easiest, and most secure way to access all of your Bonjour services from anywhere in the world. No server or technical skills required. Just a simple mouse click. Also works with VPN connections. For anyone that's been itching to get Bonjour working over VPN, ShareTool is for you!

ShareTool lets you access all of the Bonjour services on your home or office network from anywhere in the world - securely. This includes iTunes Music Sharing, Screen Sharing, File Sharing, printing, and more.

With ShareTool, you can listen to your entire iTunes music library at work, control the screen of any of your home computers, or grab that important file you forgot to bring with you. And this is simply the tip of the iceberg. With ShareTool, it's as if you've never left the comfort of your very own network!

Some Key New Features in ShareTool:
* Simple Setup: ShareTool automatically configures routers supporting NAT-PMP or UPnP.
* Easy Access: Remote services automatically appear in Finder, iTunes, and other applications.
* Compatibility: ShareTool enables remote access for any application or service that advertises itself using Bonjour and runs over TCP/IP.
* Security: All network traffic is strongly encrypted. Access to your services requires your Mac OS X username and password.
* Dynamic domain name support
* On the fly compression: Transfer large files quickly.
* Secure web browsing: surf the internet using your own browser securely.
* and much more!

What's New in version 1.2.2:
* New: Major new interface changes for even more simplified usage.
* New: Updated internal ShareTool protocol to be more versatile.
* New: Added Remote Printing functionality.
* New: Integrated Sparkle support for future updates.
* New: Remote Login detection procedure.
* New: Built-in Help menu added.
* New: Updated ShareTool manual added.
* Other: Many internal tweaks to ensure optimal performance and security.

Supported Languages:
* US English

System Requirements:
* Requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later; Leopard ready.
* 22 MB Hard Drive Space.
* Internet connection.

Pricing and Availability:
* $20: 1 User license.
* $30: 2 User license. (Save $10)
* $75: 5 user license (Save $25)

Free demo is available today from this link.

Apple release OS X Leopard 10.5.4 Update

Fantastic news hit the scene late yesterday. Apple released the 10.5.4 update to OS X Leopard. This comes with some great fixes, and it is certainly nice to see Apple continually strive to improve the speed and reliability of Leopard. For a full rundown of what the 10.5.4 delivers check out the Apple article here. The update is available via 'Software Update' that resides in your Apple menu, or you can download the combo update here. A smaller 'Delta' download, for those of you already on 10.5.3 can be found here.

Some of the main inclusions are as follows;

• Resolves an issue with saving and reopening Adobe Creative Suite 3 files on a remote server.
• Includes additional RAW image support for several cameras.
• Addresses AirPort reliability issues with 5GHz networks.
• Improves overall iCal reliability for meeting requests, cancellation notices, delegation, and syncing with iPhone.
• Resolves an issue that prevents deleting an iCal event without notifying the creator.
• Addresses a potential performance issue when loading secure web pages in Safari.
• Addresses an issue in Spaces, in which switching from a space with a Finder window keeps the Finder as the active application instead of the application residing in the destination space.
• Fixes another Spaces issue in which dragging an application from the list of application assignments in Spaces System Preferences does not assign the application to the desired space.

Jungle Disk & Amazon S3 - first thoughts

Over the past week I have been testing the latest version of Jungle Disk, working alongside Amazon S3. I have never used either before, but the small price-point of Amazon S3 was very attractive to at least see if the service is a viable solution for me.

In simple terms, Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) is a storage solution 'in the cloud'. I am starting to dislike the 'in the cloud' term, but we are all stuck with it. It equates to uploading and storing your files on a server at Amazon HQ, hidden away behind some security wall. The S3 service is pretty complicated and you need to use an application (either built by yourself or pre-made) to give you a GUI and some way of getting your files uploaded. One such solution is Jungle Disk.

The application is available for Mac, Windows and Linux, so everyone is catered for. You can get a 30-day trial download, or pay $20 for all three platform versions, with unlimited free upgrades, plus the ability to install on as many computers that you own. This is fantastic value for money. Setting up the software is really easy. It asks for your Amazon S3 log-in details and hidden key. Once logged in, you can set up your first upload. This again is really straightforward, simply ticking boxes for what you want to include or exclude. You can schedule automatic backups, or click the 'start' button manually. You get a nice progress bar, so you always know how far your backup has progressed.

My only niggle was user error. I had forgotten to uncheck some larger files, such as my email database. So this large file had been included in the backup. Not a massive problem, there is a 'cancel' button that effects just the individual file (rather than the whole backup). The button is very responsive and worked straight away. Subsequent backups check the Amazon server and look for changed files only, so in my first test, only the initial backup was just under 2GB. The great thing is, that I checked my Amazon account today and it cost me 18pence so far. The monthly charge will be slightly less than this, but as you can see, this is fantastic VFM. I will keep you updated and bring you more news about the Jungle Disk application further down the line.

Apple Mail - Search not working? Re-index your messages

I recently moved all of my Mail accounts and messages over to our new iMac, using the Migration Assistant that comes as part of OS X. Everything seemed to work fine, in fact, although it took a long time to transfer the files, Mail was up and running with minimal fuss.
However, when I came to search for an old email, I could not find it. Mail would only give search results on emails that had arrived or been sent after the transfer. A quick search found this Apple document on the issue. I am happy to say that re-indexing the messages solved the problem. In my case though, I only moved the Envelope Index file and not any additional folders.

Apple release Mac OS X 10.5.3 Update

It seems like I have been been waiting ages for the 10.5.3 update. For a long time I have been having wifi problems on my MacBook Pro, along with a few smaller problems. Well, that day is finally here and I am hoping that it solves some, if not all of them.

Apple today released the OS X 10.5.3 update, which is recommended for Mac OS X 10.5, 10.5.1, and 10.5.2 Leopard. It includes general operating system improvements that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac.

General improvements include the following;

• Fixes a font issue that could result in Helvetica Narrow being used in applications instead of Helvetica.
• Addresses an issue with stuttering video and audio playback in certain USB devices.
• Resolves stability issues with Word of the Day, iTunes Artwork, and Slideshow screen savers.
• Fixes an issue in which certain attached hard drives may not show up in the Finder.
• Addresses an issue with .Mac syncing of Dashboard widgets over multiple Macs that use different screen resolutions.
• Includes additional RAW image support for several cameras.
• Improves the accuracy of the Software Update progress bar indicator.
• Addresses an issue in which Finder may not be available if the computer name is blank in Sharing preferences.
• Improves Active Directory binding and login.
• Eliminates a delay when logging in as an Active Directory user in a .local domain.
• Improves Spotlight searches on a AFP file server volumes.
• Clients can now change their password at the login window when bound to a Mac OS X 10.4 Open Directory server.
• Improves Safari reliability when connecting to the Internet through a Microsoft ISA proxy.

For specific application update information point your browser here, for the combo update download click here, and for the smaller general update download click here.

Quark announce QuarkXpress 8

DUSSELDORF, Germany - May 29, 2008 - Today Quark announced QuarkXPress® 8, the next major release of the industry standard page-layout and design software that revolutionised publishing more than 20 years ago. QuarkXPress 8 delivers superior design power through a new, intuitive interface developed purposefully for the creation of high-end page layout; print, Web and Flash® authoring tools; design-driven typography; and global publishing capabilities - all of which enable designers to push creativity to its limits with confidence and control.

Enhanced Design Experience
QuarkXPress 8 offers users an enhanced design experience so they can work faster and smarter by quickly and easily accessing the tools they need. The new, intuitive interface delivers updates that allow for more design with fewer clicks. For example:

- Picture Content Tool: Allows users to grab, rotate, and scale images in real-time without typing in numbers or switching from tool to tool.
- Item Tool and Text Content Tool: Smart behaviour within these tools allows for less switching between tools, even for rotation and managing multiple items.
- New Bézier Pen Tools: Draw illustrations directly in QuarkXPress 8 with the redefined Bézier Pen tool.
- Workspace Enhancements: Include new buttons for instant access to master pages and exporting to PDF, EPS, SWF, and HTML - plus new split-view buttons, enhanced contextual menus, and customisable active pasteboards.
- Measurements Palette: Further enhanced to make even more functions easily accessible, including with new clickable controls for on-the-fly drop-shadow modification.
- Drag-and-Drop: Drag text and pictures from the desktop, Adobe® Bridge, iPhoto®, or any other application that supports drag and drop. Alternatively, drag content from QuarkXPress to Photoshop®, Illustrator®, Microsoft® Word, and other applications for direct editing.

The new interface and design experience QuarkXPress 8 brings is already receiving positive reviews from industry experts. Analyst and consultant Andreas Pfeiffer is the authour of many productivity reports for the design and publishing industry and specialises in benchmarking creative software. He notes, "QuarkXPress 8 manages one of the most difficult tasks in software development: to rethink the user interface to make it more efficient, more productive, and more enjoyable, without alienating the experienced user. The potential productivity gains of the new release should be considerable."

David Carson, world-renowned designer who's first book, The End of Print, is the top-selling graphic design book of all time, said, "In QuarkXPress 8 you can see Quark has really paid attention to how designers work. The new user interface is fluid and uncluttered, which is exactly the environment I like to design in. I love the new picture box features that enable mouse-driven manipulation of the images to scale, rotate and especially the live cropping previews. It means I no longer have to spend time switching tools or typing in numbers and the new drag and drop capabilities should make working between applications and my desktop even easier."

Designer-driven Typography
QuarkXPress has always had a reputation for precise typographic control, and QuarkXPress 8 delivers powerful and advanced text features in a way that puts even more control in the hands of the designer. It is the first page-layout application to offer hanging characters with paragraph-by-paragraph control, multiple and easy-to-use presets, and the freedom for users to create and share their own hanging character settings. QuarkXPress 8 also offers unprecedented control over baseline grid settings, the ability to apply unique grid settings to individual boxes, and a Grid Styles feature that can keep even complex documents consistent.

Design Across Media
QuarkXPress 8 allows for synchronised and simultaneous design across print, Web, and Flash. Users can incorporate sound, video, animation, and interactivity into their layouts through a built-in, designer-friendly interactive layout tool that was previously available as Quark Interactive Designer. Without any programming skills, designers and creative professionals can share print content on the Web and in Flash format without purchasing multiple applications or learning code. This functionality enables QuarkXPress users to create fully integrated print, Web, and Flash campaigns with shared images, text, styles, and more.

Global Publishing
With QuarkXPress 8, one global file format supports advanced eastern and western typography for more than 30 languages. All editions of QuarkXPress 8 share the same dictionaries, include hyphenation functionality, and support the import, formatting, and output of East Asian text. American and European users can switch the language of their user interface to fit their needs and all users can open and print a file created in any edition of QuarkXPress 8 without experiencing reflow.

The QuarkXPress 8 Plus Edition is built for users who require in-depth features for the formatting of East Asian text. The Plus Edition includes access to dozens of enhanced East Asian features, such as more than 20 additional OpenType® font features, a user-friendly character spacing feature, a true ideographic grid with character count, and the ability to apply grid styles that can be applied at the page and box level.

Work Faster and Smarter
QuarkXPress 8 users will work faster and smarter with a range of updates to commonly-used features. This includes native Illustrator file import to complement the existing native Photoshop® support, WYSIWYG font rendering, advanced guide management with Guide Manager Pro, Item Styles to enable simultaneous control of formatting for multiple items, support for importing PDF version 1.7 and earlier, and Ghent PDF Workgroup (GWG) based Output Styles and GWG-based Job Jackets® support.

"QuarkXPress 8 demonstrates our understanding of the way designers work today, and underscores Quark's commitment to continually providing innovative software that pushes the design experience forward," said Tim Banister, General Manager of Desktop Technology for Quark. "We have combined highly intuitive software with the design control elements that are critical in the creative process, and as a result believe QuarkXPress 8 will not only be a seamless upgrade for existing QuarkXPress users, but the most accessible professional page-layout software for new users to learn as well."

Availability and Further Information
QuarkXPress 8 will be available to purchase directly from Quark and through Quark resellers worldwide within the next 60 days. For further information on QuarkXPress 8 and the latest information on availability, please visit 8.quark.com/en/promos.

Purchase QuarkXPress 7 and Get QuarkXPress 8 Free
Users who purchase or upgrade to QuarkXPress 7 at regular price between May 29, 2008, and August 1, 2008, are eligible to upgrade to QuarkXPress 8 for free.* Additionally, any users who purchased upgrades to or full products of QuarkXPress 7 between May 1, 2008, and May 29, 2008, are also be eligible for a free* upgrade to QuarkXPress 8.

* Terms and conditions apply. See 8.quark.com/en/promos for further information.

Spam Sieve updates to 2.7

If you are fed up of getting spam emails, then SpamSieve is a very good option. It has just been updated to version 2.7.
The new version includes the following changes;
* Now requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later.
* Made a variety of accuracy improvements, focused on dealing with obfuscations, image attachments, URLs, and HTML.
* Improved corpus speed and memory use.
* Made various improvements to the column widths and alignment in the rules and corpus windows, and added alternating row colors.
* Fixed a rare problem where Apple Mail on Mac OS X 10.5 might hang if you trained a message as spam while Mail was downloading messages.
* Improved sorting of sound names in the pop-up menu.
* Updated the Dutch localization.

All this plus much more.