Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A SB E T T E R M A C H I N E . A B E T T E R M A ¬ A Z I N E .
IDE AM
FR O
THE
S
PR O
CREATIVE
PROJECTS!
EYE-POPPING
HOW-TOS
Craft a
Multiphoto
Portrait
PLUS:
HOW TO…
B Create Your
Own Ringtones
B Fix Mac OS X’s
Make a Stylized Finder Foibles
Illustration B Run Windows
Safely (Really!)
Right
04 AUGUST2006
NO.120•VOLUME11•ISSUE8
a better machine. a better magazine.
features
18 Free Your
Inner Artist
We’ve got nine easy-to-do creative projects that show
you how to enhance your digital photos, create and
manage fonts, and use your scanner to capture artistic
images worthy of a gallery wall. by Mark Rosenthal
34 Entertaining Intelligence
This month’s Field Guide on home-entertainment terms will help you
tell SED from SXRD, know the difference between EDTV and SDTV, and
distinguish 1080i from 1080p. by Logan Kugler
how to
60 Ask Us
Did you know that every Mac comes standard
64 Create Your
Own Ringtones
with the ultimate troubleshooter? It’s also got Plain-Jane celly ringtones
built-in disk-maintenance utilities, a RAW- are this year’s déclassé
image processor, the most versatile jukebox “You’ve got mail.” You can
on the planet, and a completely configurable create and use your own
Ethernet port (or two). Now you know. ’tones on many phones.
by Cathy Lu
62 Fix Your Finder
If you think the Mac OS Finder is flawless, 70 Run Windows Safely
you’re one of a vanishing few. Exercise A little common sense
your options for file finding, browsing, and can keep your Windows-
carousing. by Niko Coucouvanis rocking Mac surprisingly
safe and secure.
by Niko Coucouvanis
04 August 2006
06 CONTENTS
a better machine. a better magazine.
09 Editors’ Page 42
Do Macs make us more creative, or do we use Macs because
we’re creative already? Hmmm...
10 Get Info 46
Apple unveils the MacBook, its new Intel-based iBook
replacement, plus a sparkling new store in the city that
never sleeps. Also: Apple and Nike get together, what to do
when your Mac stalls during startup, and a close look at the
performance issues with the Universal version of Apple’s
Final Cut Studio.
37 Reviews
38 13-inch 1.83GHz MacBook notebook Mac
42 17-inch MacBook Pro notebook Mac
42 Cordless Desktop S 530 Laser for Mac
keyboard and mouse
53 CyberTablet 8600 tablet
40 Evolt E-330 SLR camera
41 Final Draft AV screenwriting software
49 LX Desk Mount Notebook Arm notebook stand
43 MemoryMiner photo organizer
50 Mercury On-The-Go FireWire 800+USB 2.0
portable hard drive
49 Micro Mini Hard Drive 8GB portable hard drive 38
47 miniStack V2 external hard drive
44 MojoWorld 3 3D-world generator
40 48 44
47 mTune-N iPod nano headphones
48 Photosmart 475 photo printer
46 PowerShot S80 point-and-shoot camera
50 SyncMaster 940BF LCD display
52 ThunderDock iPod speaker stand
55 Games
57 Bullet Candy 1.0.2 shoot-em-up game review 78 Log Out 79 Contest
56 Platypus shooter game review Conquer cable clutter by winning a
56 RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Soaked! tips and tricks 78 Letters BookEndz docking station.
55 The Sims 2: Nightlife expansion pack review Apple’s designers face a 12-year-
56 The Sims 2: Open for Business coming soon old challenger, Steve Jobs—or is 80 Shut Down
55 World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade coming soon it Jennifer Aniston?—has a donut- Apple’s latest legal battle strikes
57 The Xbox 360 and Mac Collide game news obsessed nephew, and 59 percent close to home: the tragic results of a
of our readers pooh-pooh Windows. Ramones-fueled workout.
QUICK TIPS
FROM THIS MONTH’S ISSUE
06 August 2006
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PRODUCTION
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CIRCULATION
CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Peter Kelly
AUDIO & MUSIC FUN & GAMES TechRestore demo video NEWSSTAND MARKETING MANAGER Bill Shewey
Audacity 1.3.0b freeware Atomic Cannon 1.0 demo BILLING AND RENEWAL MANAGER Betsy Wong
PRODUCTIVITY NEWSSTAND COORDINATOR Alex Guzman
SFX Machine Pro demo Avalanche Extreme 1.1 trial
CDFinder 4.6 shareware FULFILLMENT MANAGER Peggy Mores
iFill 1.0 demo Kickin’ Soccer 1.0 shareware DIRECT-MAIL MANAGER Stephanie Blake
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Augustus Loop 1.6.1 freeware Equilibrium Action Packed trial TimeCache 6.1.1 trial VICE PRESIDENT/CIRCULATION Holly Klingel
Automat 4.1 freeware Image Tricks 2.1 freeware TinyBooks 3.0.7 trial GENERAL COUNSEL Charles Schug
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INTERFACE shareware PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Richie Lesovoy
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08 August 2006
EDITORS’ PAGE
09
comingsoon:september2006
Here’s what our editors are preparing for the next issue of MacAddict.
Now that the MacBook has been released and Apple’s entire notebook line has been Intel-icized, we’ve assembled a
comprehensive Mobile-Mac SuperGuide—tips, accessories, cases, speakers, portable storage, and more. Next month
being MacAddict’s 10th birthday, we’ll relive the bumpy ride that’s been the past 10 years of Macdom. Our Field Guide will
uncover Automator resources, and we’ll toss in a tutorial on how to use Automator to simplify your life. We’ll also create a
Universal disaster disk, explore GarageBand’s movie-scoring chops, and put words into Steve Jobs’s mouth—virtually,
that is. Plus, we’ll have in-depth reviews of Canon’s EOS 30D SLR camera, QuarkXPress 7 page-layout software, Palm’s
700p PDA, Motorola’s SLVR iTunes-enabled mobile phone, Aspyr’s Call of Duty 2 first-person shooter, and more.
August 2006 09
10
the news of the month in bite-size chunks
Perfect
harmony.
BOFFO ’BOOK With the introduction of the new MacBook, Apple’s Intel transition
is nearly complete.
T
here are times when an Apple here’s the conclusion: The MacBook Ethernet plus built-in AirPort Extreme
product announcement provides as much, or more, bang for the and Bluetooth. As with the MacBook
comes as a complete surprise. buck than any slab of portable goodness Pro and the Mac mini, what’s not built in
The May 16 unveiling of the to ever emerge from Cupertino. is a modem—that’s a $49 option.
MacBook was not one of Guts and glory. The MacBook comes You don’t get a whole heck of a lot
those times. in three flavors: low-end, midrange, and more if you decide to pop for either
When the MacBook Pro was black. The $1,099 entry-level model is the $1,299 midrange or the $1,499
introduced on January 10, the demise of powered by a 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo top-end black MacBook. They both
the G4-powered iBook was only a matter linked to a 667MHz frontside bus; ships have 2.0GHz Core Duos and replace the
of time; even guessing its replacement’s with 512MB of DDR2 SDRAM on two Combo drive with a 4x SuperDrive, and
name was a no-brainer. When the Mac 256MB SO DIMMs (more on the RAM in the black beauty ups its hard drive size
mini was Intel-icized on February 28, a a moment); includes a 5,400 rpm, 60GB to 80GB—but you can order a midrange
glance at its components gave you a hint hard drive and a slot-loading Combo model with an 80GB drive for just 50
as to what to expect inside the upcoming drive; peeks at you through a 640-by- bucks more.
MacBook—after all, the original Mac 480-pixel iSight camera above its bright, Style costs. The quick thinkers
mini G4 was essentially an iBook G4 in a 13.3-inch, 1,280-by-800-pixel, glossy among you will notice that if you
cute li’l case. widescreen display; listens and plays upgrade the hard drive on the midrange
This lack of surprise is not to say that through analog/optical audio-in and whitey, it’ll be identical to the black
the MacBook is a disappointment. Not -out ports; ships with an Apple Remote
by a long shot. You can read our review for the bundled Front Row media-center Four MacBooks are powered by an Intel
on page 38, but to save you the trouble software; and communicates with the Core Duo—but that might change soon.
of jumping to that page this instant, world over 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit
PHOTOS COURTESY OF APPLE
10 August 2006
GET INFO
11
August 2006 11
v
12 GET INFO
the news of the month in bite-size chunks
DROOLWORTHY
Sexy Stuff We Can’t Wait to Get Our Mitts On
Industrial
StrengthB
The Power Box Dock ($49.99, www
.boschtools.com) is an iPod dock
accessory for Bosch’s muy macho
Power Box power center and radio/
CD player ($179.99). The Dock both
plays and charges your 3G, 4G, and
5G iPods, as well as iPod minis,
photos, and nanos.
12 August 2006
We have solutions to improve
any creative process.
(Imagine what we can do for yours.)
Call your CDW account manager about available $110 mail-in manufacturer rebate; offer ends 7/31/06. Offer subject to CDW’s standard
1
14 August 2006
16 GET INFO
the news of the month in bite-size chunks
What’sNew
• Stellar Phoenix
>>>>>>>>
Macintosh ($199,
RCDefaultApp 2.0 www.rubicode.com Free www.stellarinfo
.com) recovers
W hile Mac OS X might be the best operating system in the world, it has its quirks,
such as setting default applications for files. For example, if you want to have
Microsoft Entourage and Mozilla Firefox be your default applications when launching
data from erased,
damaged, or
corrupted hard
email links or URLs, you need to set the preferences in Apple’s Mail and Safari, drive volumes.
respectively. RCDefaultApp lets you make these systemwide changes in a single It supports IDE,
preference pane.—Andrew Tokuda EIDE and SCSI
drives.
SECURIT Y
• Intego’s Personal
Antispam X4
($49.95, www
.intego.com) filters
spam in Apple
After you download the software, Mail and Microsoft
double-click the disk image, then Entourage and
double-click the RCDefaultApp-2.0.X protects you
icon on your desktop, and finally double- against email
click RCDefaultApp.prefPane. System 2 After you install the software, Internet phishing scams
Preferences will launch, and you’ll be is the first tab available to you. Choose and viruses.
offered the choice to install the app for all your apps of choice for Web browsing, • SubRosaSoft’s
user accounts or just your own. Pick your email, and others. CopyCatX 3.5
account only if you don’t want others to be ($59.95, www
able to use RCDefaultApp. .subrosasoft
.com) can make
3 Click the Extensions tab and you’ll MacForensicsLab: exact duplicates
see a long list of file extensions. Here you Everybody wants of your hard
can set which app you want to launch files to be a crime scene drive or iPod. The
with each extension. For true geeks who investigator. new version is
want everything their way, you can even a Universal app
set defaults for specific UTIs (uniform and has a bootable CD option for Intel
type identifiers) and MIME (multipurpose Macs. SubRosaSoft’s MacForensicsLab
Internet mail extension) types. 1.0 ($995.95), a suite of forensics and
analysis tools for law enforcement pros,
can recover data from recently initialized
SHOEDA THUNK IT? drives, corrupt media, and more.
• Mark Allan’s ClamXav 1.0.3 (free, www
16 August 2006
Free Your I
Love your Mac but never escape from the (Microsoft) office?
Play hooky and try these creative projects—we won’t tell.
by Mark Rosenthal
Y
ou’ve mastered creating grant proposals with your the tools—a zillion cool apps are in your arsenal. Maybe you just
word processor. Wielding your mighty spreadsheet, don’t know what to do. Well, we can help.
you’ve calculated the rate of inflation in Azerbaijan to Here are nine creative projects, each tailored to steal you away from
the nearest .001 percent. Your PowerPointing skills are your wordsmithing, number crunching, and idea presenting. Go ahead
legendary. But can you make something that just plain looks nice? and try a few—you may end up with something to hang on your wall.
Well, unless you’re talking about printing pictures of your kitty, And don’t worry, the grunt work will still be there when you’re
the answer could possibly be “No.” It’s not that you don’t have finished.
PROJECT 1:
18 August 2006
Inner Artist
PROJECT 2:
August 2006 19
Free Your
Inner Artist
PROJECT 3:
First find a photo with an expressive subject. His or her the magic wand from the toolbox. From the settings bar,
head should contrast the background (dark hair on a above, uncheck the box labeled Contiguous. Any number in
light background or light hair on a dark background). the Tolerance box will work for what we’re doing. Click the
In our example we cut out the background using Photoshop’s magic wand on one of the colors and you’ll see that all areas
lasso tool, since the value of the subject’s hair—its darkness or of that color are
lightness—was too close to that of the background. now selected.
Select Image > Next, choose Make
Adjustments > Work Path from the
Posterize. In the drop-down menu
Levels box, enter of the Paths palette
2; this will convert (Window > Paths).
the image into Enter 10 in the
two distinct colors Tolerance field. Click
plus black. How OK, and Photoshop
Photoshop chooses will draw a path
these colors is a (or multiple paths)
mystery, but if they’re around the area
ugly, don’t worry; we of selected color.
change them in a bit. Here’s a fellow in an excited state—then Choosing 1 for
Click OK. again after his background has been tolerance makes a Our subject is now in three colors. Why
Next, choose cut away. tight, highly detailed these particular three? Who knows…
PROJECT 4:
Create a Different Kind of Panorama
Love panoramic shots? Try this twist on the old pan-and-shoot technique.
Imagine you’re in Egypt. You see a stunning wall of Along the wall is a mural-like assortment of graffiti about 50
hieroglyphics. The wall is quite long, and you want yards long. We set our lens to a zoom magnification that gave us
to capture its breadth with your camera. You decide a normal, undistorted view of our subject (that would be 35mm
to make a panorama and take several shots by panning your on our digital SLR or 50mm on a film SLR). Starting on one
camera from a fixed point. But later, while stitching together
your panorama, you discover that as the wall got farther
from the camera the detail becomes hard to see and the
perspective is severely distorted. You’ve completely lost the
feeling of being there. Well, here’s a way to get everything
you want: the vista, the detail, and nonbending perspective.
Since MacAddict’s budget couldn’t handle a trip to Egypt, we
went down to the railroad tracks to find a modern version of
hieroglyphics: graffiti.
Our site was a long warehouse that runs along the tracks.
20 August 2006
path, while
choosing 10
simplifies the
path, giving
it an abstract
look. Finally,
from the Paths
submenu,
choose Save
Path and give it
a name. Repeat
this procedure
for the other
color plus black.
Now press
Command-A,
When you’re done, you should have three paths then Delete
on your Paths palette. to delete the
entire image—
but not the paths—leaving a white background; we’ll just be using
the paths from this point on. Click on the first path and turn it into
a selection by clicking on the dotted-line circle icon at the bottom
of the Paths palette—that’s the Load Path As A Selection button. Notice that the areas made from the paths have a geometric,
Select Edit > Fill to fill the selection with a color you choose from graphic feel to them.
the Color Picker. Repeat this procedure with the remaining two
paths, choosing a different color each time. The choice is entirely A great thing is that if you’d like to get playful and make
up to you, but we recommend picking colors from the same color color changes, there’s no need to go back to loading the
family, using the lightest color for what would be the lightest part paths. With the magic wand, just click on a color and fill it
of the face and darker colors for the darker parts. with a new one.
The resulting panorama displays all the graffiti evenly and clearly, yet we can also view
the entire setting in a single panoramic image.
end, we took our first picture standing exactly at a right angle shot, we moved sideways to the next section making sure to
to the wall. As with shooting a normal panning panorama, we keep the same distance between our camera and subject. Later,
made sure to overlap the edge of each frame so that we’d have we stitched the pictures together in Photoshop using good ol’
enough extra image material come stitching time. After each fashioned cut and paste.
August 2006 21
Free Your
Inner Artist
PROJECT 5:
PROJECT 5
Texturize Your Photos
Got a picture with great texture and you don’t know what to do with
it? Here’s how to merge it with another photo.
PROJECT 6:
Fonts are a mystery to all of us. Part of the mystery is chills down our spines, beginning the learning process by trying
how they operate within the Mac’s system. But there’s to draw an entire font might be overwhelming. Fortunately,
also the question of how they’re actually made. Many TypeTool provides basic serif and sans serif fonts to use as a
of us would love to have our own signature fonts, but the truth starting point. In this example we’ll take the basic font and
is that making an original font from scratch is a daunting task. make a rather modest adjustment to it. But modest or radical,
Luckily, a relatively straightforward font-creation tool from you’ll still be able to call it your own font when you’re finished.
FontLab called TypeTool ($99, demo available at www.fontlab TypeTool’s main window shows a grid of glyphs that represent
.com) makes this task a little easier. an entire font. Click on a box, and a new window opens showing
When creating an original font, each glyph (that’s fontspeak a set of guides representing baseline, x-height, and left and right
for character) must be drawn individually using the traditional spacing. Had we been working from scratch, these glyph windows
tools for drawing PostScript shapes: Bezier curves. Knowing would be empty, waiting to be drawn in, but because we’ve
that even the sound of the words “Bezier curves” can send opened the basic serif font, every box will have a glyph in it.
As mentioned earlier, these outlines can be
manipulated by moving their points and handles as well
as by using other techniques. Since we’re beginners,
we’ll work on top of this existing font and make some
simple changes to construct a new font.
Remember, any change that you apply to one glyph
you’ll have to do to all the others, so to minimize the
work we’ll just play with the capital letters. Decorating
our character with dots
or stripes would be a
fairly simple direction
to take; TypeTool’s tools
for doing this are pretty
straightforward. But
distorting the glyphs would
be cooler, so that’s what
…just click on a box to see we’ll do here.
TypeTool’s main window shows you the entire font… the glyph’s outline. Choose the Transform
22 August 2006
Find a nice texture, not
too fine, not too clunky.
Sure, the kids
Some contrast helps,
are cute—but
too.
let’s turn this
straightforward
snapshot into art.
August 2006 23
Free Your
Inner Artist
PROJECT 7:
PROJECT 8:
Fun with Filters
Add some of these great filters to your image-editing arsenal.
Alien Skin’s Eye Candy 5
We can remember when it was a source of pride
to spend an entire day crafting a wisp of smoke in
Photoshop. The good news is, that time is gone.
Long gone. The better news is that third-party filters
have been getting better and better. The Impact,
Nature, and Textures filters from Alien Skin’s Eye
Candy 5 series ($99 each, $199 for all three, www
.alienskin.com) are truly amazing. The filters range
from the obscure (one coats your image in ice) to
the extremely useful (one crumples paper). A nice shot—but let’s add some oddness. Drip filter
24 August 2006
Ah, that’s better! PROJECT 9:
Frame Images
channels. At the same time, these adjustments pull many of
the other areas of your photo into line. Finally, to use the gray on the Cheap
dropper you’ll need to find something in your photograph that Custom frames are expensive, but
should be a neutral gray. This might be a piece of metal, the dark cheap, ready-made frames never seem
side of a cloud, or a shadow on something white. If you think
your photo doesn’t have a color cast, you’ll know for sure after
to fit right. Here’s what to do.
clicking on a gray area with the gray dropper. Often the results You’ve spent all day working on the perfect print of the
will look wrong, but that’s because our eyes have already told striped bass you caught last spring. You’ve slipped a
our brain that the gray we’ve been looking at is gray. But it isn’t. fine, expensive sheet of 13-by-19-inch glossy photo-
To prove it to yourself, hold any tool over your gray spot and quality media into your printer, chose Scale To Fit in the print
notice that the Info palette will identical numerical readouts for dialog, and made your print. Later you go to IKEA to pick out a
the R, G, and B values—an even gray. frame and a mat. But what’s this? The store has frames that will
Before closing the Levels window, click off the Preview box accommodate your large print, but the mats that accompany them
to see how the photo that had appeared balanced actually had are not the dimensions you need. What do you do?
a color cast lurking in its Of course, there’s always the option of cutting your own
depths. When you do mat, but that’s about as fun as cleaning gutters—and it’s much
close Levels, Photoshop harder than it looks. Unfortunately, you’ll find that having a
will give you the option of framing store cut you one is expensive, and you’ll have to pick it
saving the target values up a couple of days later.
you just set as defaults. Set your target values and save The answer is to plan your project backward. Make choosing
Choose Yes. them for good. your frame/mat combo the first thing you do. Choose a frame
at IKEA, Pottery Barn, or wherever you go for reasonably
priced frames. The size of the mat that comes with the frame
will determine the size of your print. Note the size of the mat
opening (it’s usually printed on the frame packaging), and
scale your image to that size plus one quarter-inch in each
dimension. This extra margin will provide a small overlap (1/8
inch on all four sides) so that you can be sure the white of the
photo media won’t peek out.
After you make your print, put it on a flat surface, face up,
and then place your mat over it, making sure none of the white
of the paper is showing. In three or four places, use Post-Its to
stick the mat onto the printout—Post-Its can be removed later
without marring the image or the mat. Now carefully pick up the
printout-mat assembly and turn it upside down, with the image
now facing downward. Using archival tape, secure the printout
to the mat along all four edges. Stay on the lookout for small
wrinkles on your print that uneven taping might cause; these
will prevent your print from staying flat in its mat. Remove the
Fire Water Drops Post-Its and insert this assembly in the frame. You’re done!
Resources
Discover more creative projects on the web.
HowDesign.com Bookstore Dover Publications
https://www.howdesign.com/store/booksintro.asp http://doverpublications.com
This is one of the best resources for An incredible source for quality clip art,
instructional design, photography, and these collections of both decorative elements
typography techniques. The books offered and spot art from many hundreds of eras
are 20 percent off list price. and cultures come in book form, ready to
Canon scan. In addition, many of Dover’s books
http://cp.c-ij.com/english/digitalphotostyle come with CDs, so you can download the
Canon’s creative site for inkjet printing has files directly. A great site to explore and get
projects, clip art, scrapbook ideas, and even ideas—remember the old designers’ mantra:
free digital photos to download. But the real Steal from the best, ignore the rest.
treasure is the 3D Paper Craft section, which
provides files for you to print and fold into
amazing cutout paper sculptures.
EtchTone Cutline
MacAddict Art Director Mark Rosenthal has shot photographs all over the world. August 2006 25
Well, mostly in his neighborhood—which, for all intents and purposes, is his world.
Left
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Right
ON THE
DISC
This month’s Disc features
a whopping 32 of our
favorite GarageBand effects
plug-ins. See p8 for the
entire list!
28 August 2006
Take
Out
GARAGEBAND
Garage
of the
I
n the good old days of rock and roll, the family garage was not where you’d find the family car; guitars, amps, and a
cheap drum kit dominated the musty confines of that ersatz car-partment. Nowadays, however, the garage’s mildew
and mold have been replaced by the dust bunnies inside your Mac, and software has taken the place of Hammond
organs, Pearl drum sets, and Marshall amps.
GarageBand is the go-to software for cooking up the next great rock anthem or dance sensation—and there’s a wide
world of Audio Units plug-ins that can expand the capabilities of GarageBand in ways you may have never imagined.
While many of these plug-ins cost more than the price of the whole iLife package, fear not—great bargains can be
found, and even some outstanding tools cost no more than the download time needed to nab ’em.
Let’s clean out that garage and get you right to the goodies.
Y
ou can make great music with INSTRUMENTS ins such as Green Oak’s Crystal (free,
GarageBand right out of the box, The two primary categories of AU www.greenoak.com/crystal), hardware
but its expandability makes it oh- plug-ins are instruments and effects. synths re-created in software such as
ILLUSTRATION BY MELINDA BECK
so appealing for tailoring your own sonic Instruments are software-based minimoog V from Arturia ($249,
signature. Apple’s Audio Units—a plug-in generators of sounds, and they come www.arturia.com), and many others.
technology that allows third-party in essentially two types. The first type There are also hybrids of these two
developers to extend GarageBand’s is based on sampled sounds and approaches: synths that use sampled
capabilities—are the key to giving includes such greats as such as Native sound as a building block, adding all
GarageBand a much bigger repertoire. Instruments’ Kompakt and Kontakt sorts of synthesis goodies to sampled
August 2006 29
waveforms. Native Instruments’ recorded plain-Jane piano track with a effects, there’s a galaxy of loops—
awesome Absynth 3 ($339), for third-party plug-in—just select the new prefabricated pieces of songs that you
example, can use sampled sounds instrument, and voilà! can string together as audio building
as oscillators, allowing you to impart blocks. GarageBand ships with an
a realistic touch to otherwise fully EFFECTS extensive loop library, and Apple’s
synthetic noodlings. Drum-machine The other major AU plug-in category, five different Jam Packs ($99 each,
plug-ins often combine sampled drum effects modify sound coming out of www.apple.com) include fresh loops
sounds with different types of rhythmic an instrument or change the aural in various categories in addition to
intelligence—a suitable replacement characteristics of loops or recorded sampled sounds, such as the rich
for the stereotypically flaky human audio. Effects range from basics such orchestral instruments found in the
can-beater of rock-and-roll lore. as equalization and compression, to Symphony Orchestra Jam Pack. While
Many of the instrument plug-ins specialized reverbs, delays, filters, and there are loads of third-party loops
mentioned in this article are available the like, to outrageous pitch shifters, (check out the bargain-priced, luscious
as standalone applications, but it’s their multitap delays, and more. Effects loop libraries at http://bandmateloops
AU versions that we’re interested in here. can be applied to specific tracks or .com), we’re gonna concentrate on
They work like any other GarageBand instruments or to an entire mix. plug-ins—after all, six pages are…well…
instrument, so it’s easy to replace a In addition to instruments and six pages.
Exploit Plug-in Power want to muck with, you can loop that
section while tweaking its sound.
Once you’ve got a decent musical
Plug-ins may sound like mere plumbing, but they can
groove happening with your selected
make your creativity soar.
instrument, it’s time to kick in some
J
ump ahead to “Inside Audio Units” effects. With an instrument track
(p33) to learn how to install Audio selected, access the Details area of the
Unit plug-ins, then install the ones Track Info window just like you did for
you’ve selected—you’ll find more than instruments, above. You’ll see some
a few freebies on this month’s Disc that hardwired GarageBand effects with
you might want to choose for starters, checkboxes, including Compressor,
such as the Crystal synthesizer. Once Equalizer, Echo, and Reverb. But what
your chosen Audio Units plug-ins are about those extra two pull-down menus
installed, launch GarageBand and get a labeled None? That’s where you’ll find
new music project up and running. Once your extra AU effects plug-ins. Click on
the main GarageBand window appears, the pull-down menu of either one and
double-click its default single Piano Double-click a track, swing open the you’ll see the stock GarageBand effects
track (or select that track and press Details panel, and you’ll be presented with at the top and all your extra AU goodies
Command-I on the keyboard); the Track the Generator and Effects options. below. Select one of the new guys on
Info pane appears, listing the currently the block, and the sound of that track
available Apple software instruments. of hardware synths, for example, come changes instantly. Like instruments,
The key to using AU plug-ins is simple, with loads of presets, but they don’t many effects also have built-in preset
but a tad elusive: Click the disclosure show up in the Presets pull-down menu; libraries. If you’ve selected the
arrow labeled Details at the bottom- to get to them, you have to go into the SupaPhaser, click the Presets pull-
left of the Track Info window; a pane editing mode of the plug-in. down menu on the right and behold the
will open in which you’re given the many ways you can change the effect.
opportunity to access AU instruments PROGRAMMABILITY The pencil button takes you into the
(called Generators) and effects (called, Presets are find and dandy, but SupaPhaser programmability interface,
oddly enough, Effects). All of your the real test of any soft synth is its where you can edit away until dawn.
installed AU instruments should appear programmability. Click on the pencil
below, and clicking any one makes it the button to the right of the Presets pull- PRESETS
currently selected instrument. down menu and you’ll be taken directly GarageBand allows you to make and
The pull-down menu to the right into the programmability interface for save presets even if an AU plug-in
includes the installed presets for the the current instrument. It’s here that you itself doesn’t have this ability. When
selected instrument. If you’ve installed can mod to your heart’s desire. Take note using AU effects without presets,
the lovely Crystal freeware synth, that this editing window is live while GarageBand’s floating editing window
clicking this pull-down menu brings up a song is playing, so if you turn on the has a preset list located above the
a lengthy list of presets. This feature Loop button in GarageBand’s transport main effect interface that allows you to
doesn’t necessarily work for all third- controls and adjust the loop duration to save any state of the plug-in settings
party instruments—Arturia’s re-creations a segment of your composition that you as a preset. Unfortunately, you can
30 August 2006
only use two external AU effects on a
GarageBand track at any time—one of
the reasons that pro musicians turn There Is Free Lunch!
to higher-end software such as Logic Artists are generous. Benefit from their generosity.
and Digital Performer. Another major
drawback to the way AU effects sit in the The selection of freeware and shareware slider’s C3 Multi Band Compressor
audio chain is that you can’t mix the dry AU plug-ins is truly outstanding—you and Linear Phase Graphical Equalizer
(original) signal of a track with the wet could easily assemble an awesome (both free, downloadable from www
(processed) portion of the sound, unless sound-sweetening system for little or no .apulsoft.ch) also provide pro-quality
the AU effect has that ability natively. money. The freeware synth Crystal (free, goodness.
See the sliders for GarageBand’s Echo on the Disc or www.greenoak.com/ Ambience Reverb (donationware,
and Reverb effects? They work by mixing crystal) has the controls you’d expect on the Disc or http://magnus
the dry signal with the wet—critical in from a commercial synth, with extensive .smartelectronix.com) might have a
creating a convincing “space” or “air” sound-shaping options and the ability to Spartan interface, but under its hood
around a sound that has added reverb morph between two completely different lie tons of great presets and some
or echo. The left-most slider setting, 0, preset sounds. Automat (free, on the extreme echo madness. Also, prepare
removes the effect from the mix, while Disc or www.alphakanal.de/snipsnap/ to be warmed and wowed by Expert
100 is nothing but the processed signal; space/Automat) is a terrifying synth, Sleepers’ fearsome Augustus Loop
you’ll usually want settings in the lower especially when you discover the RND (on the Disc or www.collective
half of the scale. .co.uk/expertsleepers), which lets
In addition to adding effects to you be Robert Fripp for a mere 29
individual tracks, it’s easy to add them to bucks. Expert Sleepers also offers the
an entire song. In the main GarageBand marvelous freeware apps Multitap
window, toggle the Master Track on Delay and Meringue backward delay,
and off by pressing Command-B or as well as some great, inexpensive
selecting Track > Show/Hide Master synths. Bram @ Smartelectronix.com
Track—it’ll appear at the bottom of the is the mad genius behind SupaPhaser
main interface. Click it, and the Track (donationware, on the Disc or http://
Info pane’s Details panel will display
the effects available for the entire mix. It’s hard to believe that the amazingly
There is only one pull-down menu for an deep and rich Crystal synth is free.
extra AU effect—use it for equalization or
dynamic compression of your entire mix. (randomize) button, which can instantly
conjure up menacing digital beasts.
DaHornet (free, http://liqihsynth.com/
catalogue.htm)—formerly a commercial
product from DashSignature and now
a freebie from NUSofting—is a tasty
emulation of the classic WASP analog
synthesizer. Big Tick Audio’s Cheeze
Machine and Ticky Clav (both free,
http://bigtick.pastnotecut.org) are
delightful spins on the classic quiller- We adore the Blockfish compressor’s
queso ARP and Hohner Clavinet, and are extensive options and wonderful sound.
perfect for early pop puff.
When it comes to audio effects, the bram.smartelectronix.com), the ultimate
possibilities are endless and the flavors AU phase shifter, and Crazy Ivan
extreme. Blockfish, Spitfish, and (donationware, on the Disc), which
Floorfish from digitalfishphones (all can turn your voice inter-dimensionally
free, www.digitalfishphones.com) are insane. Koen Tanghe’s KT Granulator
a tasty trio of a compressor, de-esser (donationware, on the Disc or http://
(essential for softening spoken voice), koen.smartelectronix.com) is a wild,
and expander/noise gate, and should be granular delay capable of mayhem.
considered essential GarageBand side And don’t even get us started on Super
dishes. The Luxonix LFX-1310 (free, on Destroy FX’s collection (donationware,
GarageBand is so smart, it allows you to the Disc or www.luxonix.com) is a sonic on the Disc or http://destroyfx
create custom presets for plug-ins that Swiss Army knife that performs effects .smartelectronix.com) and bipolar
don’t usually offer them, such as this free, at once and with ease, and slim slow music plug-in pack. Yowza!
groovy fuzz box from Audio Damage.
August 2006 31
The samples behind M-Audio’s M-Tron are
from the actual master tapes of a classic
Mellotron—this plug-in even has period-
perfect coffee stains on its top.
S
o many outrageously excellent www.m-audio.com) are delightful for mood, plug into Reaktor 5 ($449)—you
AU plug-ins are available for creating Mediterranean or Latin grooves. won’t make it back to Earth soon.
GarageBand that it’s hard to make a They both meld sampled instruments n Steinberg has a wide range of
bad choice—it all depends on the flavors and prerecorded beats with playability sampled instruments, and we’re huge
you like in your compositional stew. Here via a MIDI controller keyboard. The fans of Groove Agent 2 ($299.99,
are some of our favorites. G-Force M-Tron ($129.95) is a re-creation www.steinberg.net). It’s the best
n Arturia’s re-creations of classic of a ’60s Mellotron—heard as what you sample-based virtual drummer in the AU
synths are outstanding, and build nicely thought were strings in the Beatles’ universe, containing an aural history of
upon the aural strengths of the originals. “Strawberry Fields Forever.” the last 50 years of drumming styles and
The aforementioned minimoog V is the
source of deep electronic bass bliss, and
the pads and leads are as luscious as
silk. For more adventurous souls, the
CS-80V ($249) is Vangelis in a plug-
in, and is perfectly suited to moody
soundtrack work of the Blade Runner
realm. The ARP2600 V ($249) takes you
right into the bubbling synth sounds
of “Who Are You” and will put you into
programming-nerd heaven (or hell).
These plug-ins are processor-intensive,
so only fast Macs need apply. The suave beats of Latigo, M-Audio’s Latin The awesome Albino 2 synth from LinPlug
n iZotope iDrum ($69.99, www.izotope groovebox, are as slick as its interface. is perfect for dance music and electronica.
.com) is a great, simple beatbox, well
suited to dance and electronic music. A n MOTU’s MX4 ($295) has some of riffs. And Steinberg has the rest of the
slick interface, easy programmability, the most extensive cross-modulation band covered as well, with The Grand
lots of drum kits and grooves, and a low programmability we’ve ever seen. The 2.0 (acoustic piano), Virtual Guitarist,
price make this one of the most popular sound is nothing short of stellar: thick and Virtual Bassist ($299.99 each). The
Mac drum machines. and dynamic. The MachFive sampler is Virtual Instruments bundle ($149.99) is
n LinPlug is a cool German developer an industrial-strength workhorse, with a great value, with scaled-down versions
that makes awesome synths, including integrated waveform editing and effects. of the main offerings that sound just
the stunner Albino 2 ($199, www.linplug n Native Instruments makes some dandy in your GarageBand noodlings.
.com)—one of our desert-island picks—
and the crazy CronoX3 ($139 download,
$149 CD), both of which are perfect for Hardware Helpers
dance and electronica. Also check out Software isn’t the only thing in GarageBand’s toy box. Hardcore GarageBanders
will appreciate M-Audio’s iControl ($179, www.m-audio.com), a mixer and control
LinPlug’s potent percussion synth, RM
surface tailored specifically for GarageBand that delivers hands-on control of software
IV ($149). And if you don’t want to shell
commands. The company’s Trigger Finger ($249.95) is a tabletop drummer’s best
out the big bucks for Native Instruments’
friend, with 16 velocity-sensitive pads that are great for triggering drum samples and
B4 II ($229), LinPlug’s $49 wonder,
musical passages (in conjunction with a sampler). M-Audio offers loads of great
daOrgan, is a delicious Hammond B3
keyboard controllers, too, but also check out Korg’s Legacy Collection ($625, www
clone that might lack all the options of .korg.com), which includes a unique USB 3/4-scale version of a classic MS-20 patch
the B4 II, but still has all of its vibe. cord synth and excellent digital re-creations of three classic Korg hardware synths: the
n M-Audio’s percussion instruments Wavestation wavetable synth, the Polysix , and the MS-20.
Darbuka and Latigo ($299.95 each,
32 August 2006
Effects mind—and your Mac. Its interface is
extremely slick and intuitive, and its
To paraphrase Gertrude Stein, a sound is a sound is a range of presets truly impressive.
sound—until you sculpt it with effects. n Camel Audio’s CamelSpace ($85,
www.camelaudio.com) is a weird and
L
ike their visual cousins, makes it a great deal. wacky stereo delay, panner (the sound
Photoshop filters, AU effects are n PSP Audioware’s PSP MixPack moves right and left in the stereo field)
capable of everything from subtle ($149, www.pspaudioware.com) is an and flanger, all controlled with a 128-
enhancements to massive paradigm outstanding collection of plug-ins for step gate sequencer. It creates highly
shifts. Like any seasoning, they should juicing up treble, bass, compression, complex—and seductive—wonders
be used with care and grace. Or not—it and saturation. You know that deep, out of drum loops, guitar licks, and
all depends on your sense of taste. subharmonic oomph that permeates hip- anything else you feed it.
hop? That’s PSP MixBass, part of PSP
EQUALIZATION &
DYNAMICS
These are the bread and butter of sound Inside Audio Units
sweetening. Equalizers deliver precise In the earlier days of Mac-based audio, there were a number of competing flavors
control over frequency characteristics of audio plug-ins. In the Mac OS X era, however, Apple delivered a standard format:
and often have an integrated Audio Units. AU is supported by any sequencing or recording package you’re ever
compressor—a critical tool for making likely to use, whether in the realm of GarageBand or in professional recording
instruments or vocals sound smooth studios. While proud owners of Digidesign’s Pro Tools rigs have their own dedicated
and consistent by insuring that quieter plug-in format (TDM), it requires Pro Tools hardware, while AU plug-ins work just fine
with or without Pro Tools.
passages are carefully balanced with
To get Audio Units into GarageBand, copy them into the /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/
more-intense audio. Limiting ensures
Components folder. (That’s the root-level Library, by the way.) Make sure to include
that signals don’t overload and turn to
support files such as presets—place them in /Library/Audio/Presets. You’ll be able
digital mush, and noise gating keeps
to see your new plug-ins in any app that supports AU plug-ins, such as Apple Logic.
down the bad noise while letting the
Also, any time you install a new plug-in, you’ll need to relaunch GarageBand.
good noise (music) rise to the surface.
n While GarageBand includes a basic
equalizer, it’s easily trumped by either MixPack. And then there’s the unbeliev- n PSP Audioware’s Nitro ($149)
ChannelStrip GarageBand ($89, www able PSP VintageWarmer, which takes is another odd jack-of-all-delays.
.mhlabs.com) or Wave Arts’ TrackPlug digital brittleness and turns it into warm
4 ($89.95, www.wavearts.com). Both analog velvetness. It’s the best $149 you
can invest in your overall sound.
n Once your mix is done, you can add
the previously mentioned equalizers to
GarageBand’s Master track to fine-tune
the overall tonal quality, or you can turn
to Wave Arts’ outstanding FinalPlug 5
($199.95) and MultiDynamic 5 ($199.95)
plug-ins to add extra presence and
sheen, something to consider if you plan iZotope’s Spectron has a vast range of
on cutting CDs of your final opus. dynamic effects, and its interface is one of
the slickest in the known universe.
REVERB, DELAY, & FILTERS
A touch of reverb goes a long way to This plug-in is capable of turning
PSP VintageWarmer is the perfect plug- making vocals and instruments come normal sounds into otherworldly
in to add analog warmth and punch to alive. Delay places your sounds in a excursions with extensive controls and
virtual canyon with echoes galore. Filters customization options and a boatload
2600 while growing up in Venezuela.
David Biedny cut his teeth on an ARP
August 2006 33
Field Guide to HOME ENTERTAINMENT TERMS
Entertaining
Intelligence
by Logan Kugler
T hirty years ago, when shopping for a TV in your local consumer-electronics store, you had two options:
black and white or color. Today you’re faced with a pile of decisions. And it’s not just TVs that have become
complicated—the same is true for virtually every home entertainment component. Here’s a quick look at some
of the language you should know before dropping several thousand simoleons on a new home theater system.
Resolutions COMPOSITE
A type of analog video information that is transmitted over
480i (SDTV) & 480p (EDTV) a single signal. Because of the restrictions of using just one
The i in 480i stands for interlaced, which means the video signal to transmit video, the highest resolution a composite
image is drawn in alternating horizontal scan lines—the first cable can transmit is 480i.
pass draws all the odd-numbered lines, and the second, all the
even-numbered lines. Progressive video, indicated by the p, DVI
draws a whole image in one pass, resulting in less image flicker. Digital Visual Interface is a technology designed to maximize
The number before the letter describes the total number of the visual quality of a digital display device such as an LCD
horizontal lines; 480i has been the standard resolution for over display. DVI works by transmitting the desired brightness of
20 years, and it’s what you’re watching on a good ol’ fashioned each pixel as digital data; the display reads each number and
boob tube. applies that brightness to the appropriate pixel.
S-VIDEO
Connections A type of analog video information that is transmitted or stored
as two separate signals, unlike composite video, which carries
COAXIAL the entire set of signals in one package—and the more signals
If you have cable TV in your home, chances are you’ve seen a you have, the better the picture is going to be.
coaxial cable—it’s the cable that all modern cable companies
use to transfer a television signal from the broadcasting station
to the TVs inside your house. Displays
COMPONENT CRT
A type of analog video information that is transmitted or stored Cathode ray tubes were used in all television sets until late
as three separate signals, versus composite’s one (see next last century and the advent of plasma screens, LCD TVs, DLP
entry), resulting in high-quality video images. (see next entry), and other technologies. As a result of CRT
34 August 2006
technology, television (even non-CRT sets) continues to be disc. Now its proponents claim it’s not an acronym at all—DVD
referred to as “the tube” well into the 21st century. simply stands for, well, DVD. This optical media can be used for
data storage and is best known for storing movies with video and
DLP sound quality that are higher than that of VHS.
Digital Light Processing is used in projectors and projection TVs.
The brainchild of Texas Instruments, this technology is based on HD-DVD
an optical semiconductor that allows light to be modulated HD-DVD, Blu-ray’s main competitor, is another successor to DVD
digitally via millions of tiny movable mirrors on silicon chips. that’s designed for storage of high-definition video and sound.
HD-DVD discs can store up to 30GB.
LCD
A liquid crystal display is a thin, flat-panel device that can
produce picture quality equal or superior to a plasma display
(see below), but without some of a plasma TV’s pitfalls. An LCD
TVs
TV consumes very small amounts of power, typically lasts longer, EDTV
and is thinner than a plasma TV, but costs more per square inch. Enhanced-definition television is not as clear as HDTV, yet
provides quality that’s better than that of SDTV. EDTV resolutions
OLED include 480p and 576p.
An emerging technology, organic light-emitting diode displays
require no backlight to function and, as a result, can run off HDTV
power supplies as feeble as AA batteries. High-definition television has a higher resolution than traditional
formats (NTSC and PAL) allow. HDTV is broadcast digitally and can
PLASMA support multiple resolutions (480, 720, and 1080).
A plasma display is widely favored by many because of the
quality and size you can get for less money than you’d pay for NTSC
any other large flat-panel display technology. The analog television system in use in Korea, Japan, Canada, and
the United States.
PROJECTION
Similar to CRTs in impending obsolescence, projection TVs are PAL
increasingly hard to find due to the fact that the newer DLP TVs An acronym for phase-alternating line, PAL is the system used for
outperform standard projection TVs while maintaining the same broadcast television in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.
projection-based technology.
SDTV
SED Standard-definition television refers to television systems that
Still in prototype form as of May 2006, Surface-conduction Electron- can only televise resolutions that are lower than 720p (HDTV).
emitter Displays combine the slim form factor of LCDs with the high This includes 480i, 288p, and 240p.
contrast ratios, refresh rates, and picture quality of CRTs.
SXRD
Used in home theater projectors, Sony’s Silicon X-tal Reflective
Audio
Display technology provides crisp 1080i HD resolutions for DOLBY DIGITAL (EX)
those looking for a picture that’s bigger than any TV on the This audio compression technology, developed by Dolby Laborato-
market today. X-tal, by the way, is Sony-speak for crystal. ries, started the whole surround-sound phenomenon. Dolby Digital
EX is an extension of the standard Dolby Digital sound compression
and is used for audio receivers supporting 6.1 or 7.1 channels.
Discs DTS (ES)
BLU-RAY Digital Theatre System Extended Surround, a multichannel
One competitor for the next generation of optical media. Blu-ray, surround-sound format used for both commercial and consumer
backed by Sony, is a an optical format designed for storage of applications, is typically a feature on audio receivers that support
high-definition video and sound. Unlike its predecessor, DVD, 6.1 or more channels.
Blu-ray can store up to 50GB per disc and has a lot of Hollywood
studio support resting atop its wide shoulders. THX
The trade name of a high-fidelity sound reproduction system seen
DVD in movie theaters, screening rooms, home theaters, computer
Originally, DVD stood for digital video disc, then digital versatile speakers, gaming consoles, and car audio systems.
Logan Kugler has a home entertainment system that does all of the above and more. It
even makes him breakfast in the morning and does his laundry. Actually, that’s a lie. August 2006 35
You’ll be
blown away.
RATIN¬S
You’ll be
impressed.
You’ll be
satisfied.
You’ll be
disappointed.
You’ll be
pissed off.
REVIEWS
better living through smarter shopping
37
Games
57 Bullet Candy 1.0.2 shoot-em-up game review
56 Platypus shooter game review
56 RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Soaked! tips and tricks
55 The Sims 2: Nightlife expansion pack review
56 The Sims 2: Open for Business coming soon
55 World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade coming soon
57 The Xbox 360 and the Mac Collide game news
PHOTOGRAPH BY SAMANTHA BERG
August 2006 37
38 REVIEWS
better living through smarter shopping
using non-Universal applications showed 2MB of shared on-chip L2 cache and 667MHz External video 1,920 by 1,200 2,560 by 1,600
Mini-DVI to optional ($19) included
similar results but uncovered one frontside buses. So what do you get—besides VGA
Expansion none ExpressCard/34
enormous caveat: Since Rosetta, Apple’s an aluminum body, a SuperDrive, and the
Size (inches) 1.08 x 12.78 x 8.92 1.0 x 14.1 x 9.6
PowerPC-to-Intel translator, stores some word “Pro” stenciled on the display—for your Weight 5.2 5.6
of its translated code in RAM, and since extra $900? Quite a bit, actually. (pounds)
COMPANY: Apple SPECIFICATIONS: GOOD NEWS: Good price. Great performance on Universal apps.
CONTACT: 408-996-1010, www.apple.com See “Pro or No?” above Easy serviceability. Front Row and Apple Remote.
PRICE: $1,099 (1.83GHz Intel Core Duo, tested), BAD NEWS: Runs hot. Graphics subsystem uses system RAM.
$1,299 (2.0GHz white), $1,499 (2.0GHz black) Performance hit when using non-Universal apps with Rosetta.
38 August 2006
adsbygoogle.com
40 REVIEWS
better living through smarter shopping
Evolt E-330
UNCONVENTIONAL SLR CAMERA
ups with the camera on a tripod, moving
a little green target box on the screen to
perform a 10x magnification of sections
of the image. We were then able to
critically focus on those areas without
moving the camera or zooming in, both
of which would have required us to
reframe the image. If macro or tabletop
photography is your thing, this feature is
priceless.
The E-330 delivered beautifully
sharp pictures with virtually no noise
up to and including ISO 400.
And although ISO 800 is
a bit noisy, it’s tolerable.
However, we found that the
camera’s noise-reduction
feature (which can’t be turned
The E-330 is the first off) softened images a little too
much for our liking at ISO 1600. Aside
T
digital SLR camera to
he Evolt E-330 is the offer live image previews on from that, exposures are right on, and
first interchangeable-lens its tilting LCD. color is near perfect.
digital SLR camera that allows live The camera also has an excellent
previewing of images on its 2.5-inch LCD. and locked in place so photos can be range of image-adjustment settings for
For most photographers it’s probably previewed exactly as the camera’s color, tone, and sharpness, as well as
not a big deal, since SLR cameras let you 7.5-megapixel NMOS sensor, called Live lightning-fast writing to memory cards.
see an accurate, through-the-lens image MOS, will record them. Both methods Buttons and dials are in the right places,
of your shot in the optical viewfinder. work well when used appropriately, but and the grip is extremely comfortable.
But live LCD framing can be handy when each has its own nuances. We liked the option of being able to
holding the camera up high to shoot over Different views.
a crowd or down low for dramatic angles. We used Live
And it can be invaluable for shooting View A for general
small objects and ultra close-ups with photography, but
the camera on a tripod—you don’t have when we held
to straddle the tripod or use a step stool the camera away
to look through the viewfinder. from us, we had to
An image viewed in the optical finder remember to flip
of a digital SLR first passes through the a lever to prevent
lens upside-down and is then reflected light from backing With the E-330’s Live View B mode, you can target any part of the image
(hence the reflex) by a series of mirrors into the viewfinder, for 10x critical focusing without shifting the camera or zooming the lens.
so you can see it correctly. However, the which can cause
position of one of the mirrors prevents underexposed images. In Live View A, manually control the flash intensity,
the transmission of a live image preview you can use autofocus—but remember, especially useful for close-ups. Menus
to the LCD. In the E-330, Olympus you only see about 95 percent of the could use a bit of work, though; that’s
positions a small, second sensor in the actual image you are shooting. always been Olympus’ Achilles heel.
reflex viewing path that allows the image Live View B mode lets you see the The bottom line. The E-330’s live-
to be displayed at about 95 percent of actual size of the image the E-330’s Live view capability is a technological
its size on the LCD—this mode is called MOS sensor will capture. But in this breakthrough that you’ll find quite
Live View A. In Live View B mode, the mode, you have to manually focus the useful, especially when you’re shooting
mirror that’s in the way is moved aside camera. We used this mode for close- at odd angles.—Arthur Bleich
COMPANY: Olympus REQUIREMENTS: USB, GOOD NEWS: Excellent image quality. Live image previews
CONTACT: 800-622-6372, www.olympus.com Mac OS 10.1 or later on bright, 2.5-inch, tilting LCD. The 14-45mm lens is a gem.
PRICE: $999 (body only), $1,099 (with 14- BAD NEWS: Sluggish manual focus. Menus can be
45mm lens) confusing. Images somewhat soft at ISO 1600.
40 August 2006
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42 REVIEWS
better living through smarter shopping
42 August 2006
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of SoftRAID
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Mac Mac
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logologo
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are trademarks
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Apple
Apple
Computer,
Computer,Inc., Inc.,
registered
registered
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inU.S.
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countries.
44 REVIEWS
better living through smarter shopping
MojoWorld 3
number of ways, such as
presets and a Planet Wizard to select
general planet attributes.
Another prominent feature is the
FRUSTRATING 3D WORLD GENERATOR Layout mode. While it’s not a wizard,
this mode removes most of the complex
COMPANY: Pandromeda REQUIREMENTS: 1GHz G4, 256MB GOOD NEWS: Infinite views. Fun to play with once you
CONTACT: 304-788-7894, RAM, Mac OS 9 or later, 350MB disk grasp it. Includes a simplifier wizard.
www.pandromeda.com space BAD NEWS: Sluggish and infuriating interface. No
PRICE: $199, $149 (upgrade) Undo function.
44 August 2006
46 REVIEWS
better living through smarter shopping
PowerShot S80
AMBITIOUS POINT-AND-SHOOT CAMERA
COMPANY: Canon REQUIREMENTS: USB, Mac OS GOOD NEWS: Easy to use. Large and good-looking
CONTACT: 800-385-2155, 10.2 or later LCD. Good color accuracy.
www.canon.com BAD NEWS: Noisy images.
PRICE: $549
46 August 2006
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Photosmart 475
ROAD-WORTHY PHOTO PRINTER
Large image files took some time to
appear on the printer’s LCD; for example,
Small printer. five-megapixel images took a lengthy
Big image quality. seven seconds each to come up on the
LCD. Smaller images files didn’t take as
long; 1MB photos, for example, took
about three seconds to appear.
It took about two minutes to print a
4-by-6-inch photo at the printer’s Best
setting, and 85 seconds at Normal. We
didn’t find a noticeable difference in
quality between the two settings, but
the Photosmart 475 defaults to Best
and had to be tediously reset to Normal
by diving through menus each time—a
real pain. It took two minutes and 33
seconds to print a 5-by-7-inch photo
at Best and one minute, 43 seconds
at Normal.
The Photosmart 475 uses a tricolor
ink cartridge; HP claims images will last
82 years under glass before beginning
to fade. There’s no black ink cartridge—
COMPANY: HP REQUIREMENTS: USB, GOOD NEWS: Excellent image quality. Prints 5-by-7-inch photos. Internal image
CONTACT: 888-999-4747, Mac OS 10.1.5 or later storage. TV interface. Prints direct from popular memory cards, cameras, iPods.
www.hp.com BAD NEWS: Premium prints not water resistant. Slow image-to-image viewing.
PRICE: $249 Printing sluggish at Best setting. Images hard to see on LCD when viewed nine-up.
48 August 2006
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00137_GR20GI20_MacAddict_ADS.qxd 5/24/06 9:06 AM Page 1
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ʻPoof! Three months of work gone because I hit the wrong key.ʼ
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GAMES because you play as hard as you work
55
The Crusade’s
COMING SOON
A-Comin’
Can’t we all
get along?
You may already know about some of the features coming in Draenei. Players already at level 60 will love the new tier 3
The Burning Crusade, the expansion pack for World of Warcraft: dungeon sets that now include rings. In the new jewelcrafting
new lands, high-level dungeons, a maximum character level profession you can create gems that add bonuses to the new
of 70, and a new playable Horde race, the magic-thirsty Blood multisocket items. If you’ve got the gold, trek to Outland and
Elves. Well, Blizzard has released more info about The Burning buy one of the new winged, controllable mounts so you can find
Crusade. The new Alliance race is the noble, horned, and hoofed the special areas that can only be explored by air.—Matt Osborn
August 2006 55
56 GAMES
because you play as hard as you work
SATISFYING
Be Your Own Boss
For years, your Sim left for work, disappeared
SIDE-SCROLLING for a while, and came back home with the
SHOOTER bacon. Now it’s time to cast off the shackles,
Ah, the side-scrolling shooter. It plays stick it to the man, and go into business for
just as it sounds: The game landscape yourself in The Sims 2: Open for Business. In
automatically moves to the right as flying this expansion pack you can create your very
enemies appear. All you have to do is own Sim business—anything from a fast-food
shoot ’em while avoiding enemy fire and chain to a toy shop to a clothing boutique to
ships. Such a simple concept, yet it yields an electronics superstore (selling Mac games,
such a high amount of satisfaction—and of course) and more. Design and test your
Platypus 1.15 doesn’t disappoint. products on other Sims, design retail and
The story doesn’t really play a factor; workshop space, hire and fire employees,
this game is simply about ’splodin’ pitch big deals, and otherwise develop your
stuff. Your ship, the Platypus, is the sole Sim’s occupational skills.—MO
defender of Mungola, which is under
Taking the virtual stairs is
attack from the neighboring country of
just too tiring for a Sim.
Collosatropolis. Besides the well-paced
action, Playtpus has a nifty look, sort
of a cross between cartoon graphics
and claymation. Luckily, you can press THE SIMS 2: DEV/PUB: Aspyr, www.aspyr.com
OPEN FOR BUSINESS AVAILABLE: TBD ■ PRICE: TBD
Escape to pause the game and admire the
graphics—often you can’t stop and take
a good look around while playing since
enemy fire is everywhere.
Two players can play at the same
time—a fun option. However, it can
T I P S A N D T R I C KS
be awkward for two people to sit side ■ Building thrill rides will attract guests
by side at a 17-inch display, one using
the keyboard and the other using the RollerCoaster and increase your park rating, but make
sure your maintenance teams keep them
mouse. Be sure to shower first.
The bottom line. Fire this up for a Tycoon 3: running smoothly. Broken rides are no
good for anyone.
dose of shoot-em-up action. You brain
may not be fully engaged, but your smile Soaked! Tips ■ Improve the wait for your guests by training
muscles will be.—Roman Loyola Use these tips to keep the hordes your staff to the third level ASAP and then
coming back to your park’s putting them on your most profitable rides.
attractions—and contributing to
your slushie fund.—MO ■ If your goal is to gain a high park rating,
avoid having too many wet activities and
rides. Soggy guests are unhappy guests,
and that will lower your rating.
COMPANY: Idigicon
CONTACT: www.idigicon.com
PRICE: $19.99
REQUIREMENTS: Mac OS 10.1 or later
56 August 2006
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Right
60
because inquiring minds have the right to be inspired
other settings after capturing the shot. selected items to the Source window’s title
iPhoto will display RAW-format images bar (where it says Source) until a little plus
without altering the original RAW file; if sign appears under the cursor—when you
you edit the image, iPhoto will create a release the files, iTunes will automatically
new JPEG version, leaving the original put them in a new playlist.
RAW file untouched.
Once you see the
plus sign, release
the mouse button
for an instant
playlist.
TOOLS RULE
HEAD(SET)LESS What are my options for making a
Is there a Mac-compatible headset with bootable diagnostic and repair tool
headphones and a microphone that I for my Mac?
can use with iChat or Skype? These days, the prime repair tool is
Your Mac plus iChat AV equals a viable your Mac OS X system-install disc,
alternative to your telephone, but which contains a bootable Mac OS X
conversing via your Mac’s built-in mic iPhoto processes a JPEG but preserves the system and Disk Utility for repairing
and speakers gets old fast—and will original RAW file. problems in your drive directory and
drive your conversation buddies nuts. A disk permissions. The install disc
headset will keep your discussions more iTUNES TRAUMA also provides the napalm bomb of
private and provide better sound quality My wrist is burning from dragging troubleshooting: a clean reinstall of OS
to boot. Any model that uses standard songs into iTunes playlists all day X. Another option is to install Mac OS X
1/8-inch audio jacks will work with most long—there’s got to be a better way. and your favorite disk utilities onto an
Macs, and plenty of newer USB models Actually, there are four better ways to external hard drive that you can start
provide Mac-compatible driver software. create playlists in iTunes. Select a gang up from in an emergency—tune in next
Plantronics (www.plantronics.com) sells of songs from your iTunes Library—Shift- month for the Ultimate DIY Disaster Disk
both varieties, starting at $19.95. click to select multiple songs in a row or How To.
Command-click to select multiple songs
iPHOTO ME RAW that aren’t listed together (for your ABBA CRACK MOUSE
Can I use RAW digital photos with and ZZ Top mix). With multiple songs I bought a fancy new optical mouse,
iPhoto? selected, press Command-N or select File but now my cursor bounces around the
As of version 5, iPhoto does indeed > New Playlist From Selection from the screen like Whitney Houston on a binge.
support RAW-format photos. If you didn’t menu bar to create a new playlist with all Welcome to the future, friend! Optical
know, RAW is the digital equivalent of of the selected songs; to add selected mice free us from the annoyance of
an undeveloped film negative, in that songs to an existing playlist, Control-click scraping crud off the balls and rollers
you need to develop (or process) a print any selected song and pick Add To Playlist that drove the computer mice of
to view it—the benefit being that you > playlist name from the pop-up menu. yesteryear. Optical mice do have an
can fine-tune exposure, brightness, and And our favorite: Simply drag the group of Achilles heel, though—if your mousing
QUIET, MAC!
How can I turn off the annoying
crunching paper sound that happens
whenever I empty the trash?
Open System Preference > Sound
and click the Sound Effects tab. Now
uncheck the box labeled Play User
Interface Sound Effects to mute the
WTF, CNN? trash sound, as well as other trivial
What’s up with CNN.com? Its stupid interface sounds.
news clips won’t play on my Mac.
Sure they will, in a couple of different ways. But you’re really not missing much.
You can install the Flip4Mac WMV component
(free, www.flip4mac.com) to your discontinued, Windows Media Player
QuickTime player, or pick up the free, but for OS X (free, www.mactopia.com). Trash the trash sound.
52
60 August 2006
2005
DIFFICULTY No whining—
anyone
It’ll take some
effort, but you
This stuff’s
for the pros.
HOW TO
61
RATINGS can do this! can do it.
This puts your name (or icon) in the menu bar. known as Universal apps. The mighty KEYBOARD MENUS
VersionTracker has spawned a When navigating fields on a Web page
SOFT WHERE? Universal Application Resource Center using the Tab key, how can I access drop-
I just got my Intel-inside iMac—where’s (www.versiontracker.com/macintel) down menus without using the mouse?
a master list of compatible software? listing all Universal Binary releases Use the Tab key to
Applications that have been retuned along with links to Intel-Mac-related select the menu
to run on both PowerPC Macs and troubleshooting and news. Check out and then use the Up
new-age Intel-powered Macs are www.macintouch.com as well. and Down arrows to
navigate the menu
items. When you
EJECT ME NOT NETWORK GEEKOUT reach the item that
The kids in my school’s computer lab Can I adjust the speed of my Mac’s you want, press
are getting smart and devious. How do I Ethernet port? Return or Enter.
disable the keyboard Eject key? We’re still trying to figure out why you’d
Believe it or not, you can’t disable the need to do that, but it’s possible. Open Look Ma, no mouse!
Eject key—you can, however, gouge it System Preferences > Network and select
Buz Zoller is a graphic designer living
out with a fork (the fate of many Built-In Ethernet from
in Florida. He has been a devoted Mac
a Help key). Henceforth, good old the Show menu, then user for over 10 years and has worked for
Command-E will eject your discs, select the Ethernet both Apple and Power Computing.
but to open the disc tray when tab. Choose Manually
Submit
there’s no disc in it, you’ll have to (Advanced) from the technical questions
launch Terminal (/Applications/ Configure menu and or helpful tips directly
Utilities) and type drutil tray knock yourself out. via email (askus@macaddict.com) or c/o
eject and press Return to open MacAddict, 4000 Shoreline Ct., Ste. 400,
South San Francisco, CA 94080.
the tray. Duplex, Speed, what?
August 2006 61
62 HOW TO
fix your finder
W
hen we start mocking Apple’s flagship OS
technologies—such as Stoplight—it’s time for a
change. Rather than wait for Apple to (hopefully)
1 2
Spot Selectively Sayonara Spotlight
At its core, Spotlight uses the Unix mdutil command—aka Spotlight’s default modus operandi is to automatically
the metadata utility—so Unix-savvy users can simply fire index all of your Mac’s drives and volumes, including
off some mdutil commands in the Terminal to bend Spotlight to external devices. Spotlight immediately checks each drive
their will, but what of us mere mortals? Open System Preferences that you mount on the Mac, and if it doesn’t find a content
> Spotlight, click the Privacy tab, and click the plus-sign icon to index, it creates one for you, like it or not. We don’t like it. To
navigate to a drive or directory that you want Spotlight to ignore neuter Spotlight’s indexing for good, fire up Spotless ($9.95,
when it searches—or simply drag items into the window. The on the Disc or www.fixamac.com) and either use the Master
downside here is that the privacy settings don’t always stick— Indexing Control to neuter Spotlight outright, or highlight a
especially, in our experience, to external drives. Plus, Spotlight volume in the list and use the center row of buttons to enable
remains active in the background, so its drive-indexing mojo or disable indexing à la carte—just remember to disable
might still get in your way. indexing before you click the Delete Entire Index Directory
button, or
Spotlight will
automatically
start reindexing
the volume
If this fix seems too easy, that’s because it is. Say goodnight, Spotlight. again.
3
Exit to EasyFind
Remember the good old
days of OS 9 when finding
things via Command-F just worked? 2 3
1
EasyFind is your ticket back. Install [spotlight3.tif MINI 2-STEP FRANKENSTEIN]
the app (free, on the Disc or So what if it’s not in the menu bar? EasyFind
www.devon-technologies.com) and completely shames Spotlight. 4
use it like this.
62 August 2006
HOW TO
63
4
Gaze upon Ginormous Contextual Menus
We’re content putting our Applications folder in the Dock
for easy access, but you can take that nested-menu
convenience to the extreme with Filegazer ($19.95, on the Disc
or www.donelleschi.com). Install Filegazer and launch it to set
up your menus. Filegazer creates up to seven hot spots on your
screen; when you hover your cursor over a hot spot, the Filegazer
menu pops up. The left-side and lower-left-corner spots are
preconfigured to show your Home directory and startup drive,
respectively, and you can set the remaining hot spots to show any
volume or directory on your Mac. You can tweak the hot spots,
menu formatting, and other settings via Filegazer > Preferences.
If your Exposé or Dashboard hot corners interfere with Filegazer,
change them in System Preferences > Dashboard & Exposé—you
can assign modifier keys (Control, Command, and so on) to Exposé Filegazer is like a cascading contextual menu, with previews as big
or to Filegazer. as you like.
P
style navigation.
ath Finder ($34.95, on the Active applications
Disc or www.cocoatech are one click away.
Tabbed windows, Web
.com) might be overkill if browser style! (Apple, Where you’ve
you’re only slightly peeved with Drop files on the please take note.) been.
the Finder, rather than royally Drop Stack for
cheesed off at it. Although it looks temporary holding Proper previews:
generally similar to the Mac OS when you get lost Path Finder knows
FInder, Path Finder is surprisingly mid drag-and-drop. that you want to see
complex and full of features—we’ll the page, not its
show you the important stuff and As with Apple’s underlying HTML.
then let you explore on your own. Finder Sidebar, you
decide what gets Plenty of file info
listed here. up front; click More
Info to tweak file
Toggle display of the Terminal permissions, visibility,
window, sidebar, and the Info/ Geek out in the integrated and creation/
Preview pane, respectively. Terminal—or turn it off. modification dates.
1 2
Musical Sidebars Pick Yer Preview
Customize Path Finder’s window layout Maybe you’d rather preview
by clicking on the separators and the source code of an HTML
selecting what to display in the respective document than see how it’d look
sidebar: Volumes, the Shelf, rendered in a Web browser. ¡No
Folder History, Selection Path, Belly up and problema, amigo! Open Path Finder
File Info—whatever you like. pick your > Preferences, click Preview, check
poison for Ignore HTML Commands, and make You get to decide if what you
any sidebar. any other preview tweaks you want. see is what you get.
3
Cut Short
Much as we dig interacting with the Mac via Path Finder, we don’t advise nuking Give Path Finder dibs
your Mac OS Finder outright—if that’s even possible. But you can push it out of the on the desktop—and
way. Select Path Finder > Show Path Finder Desktop, and the app will quickly rearrange while you’re at it, get
your desktop icons. But more importantly, until you select Path Finder > Hide Path Finder a proper Trash can
Desktop, clicking the desktop background will bring the Path Finder app forward. as well.
by Cathy Lu
A
re you tired of reaching for your cell phone every time
someone else’s rings? Avoid the in-vain pocket reach
by creating a custom ringtone out of your favorite song.
Today’s sophisticated phones support real-music
ringtones in common formats such as MP3 and WAV. Since most of
us have a few hundred (thousand?) MP3s on our Macs, the choices
are nearly endless (just remember: personal use only). Here we
1 2
Trim the Tune Tweak the Settings
Go to your iTunes Library and pick the song that you Once you’ve chosen the part of the song you want,
want to play every time your phone rings. Listen to the compress it into a phone-friendly size. Go to iTunes >
song and pick out a 10- to 15-second snippet that you want to Preferences and click Advanced. Under Importing, select MP3
set as your ringtone. When you find the section you want, note Encoder from the Import Using menu, then select Custom
the time at which the snippet starts and ends. Go to File > Get from the Setting menu. In the resulting dialog, set the Stereo
Info, and under the Options pane, check the Start Time and Bit Rate to 64kbps, Sample Rate to 22.050kHz, and Channels
Stop Time boxes, then enter the exact minutes and seconds to Mono, or whatever you prefer, but keep in mind that you’ll
for both. Don’t see the song’s playhead and running time in be playing this back through a low-fi phone speaker and that
iTunes’ display you need to keep the file size small since the phone has just a
area? Click the few megabytes of memory. When you’re done tweaking these
circled arrow settings, click OK to return to the iTunes browser; right-click (or
to switch to Control-click) the song and select Convert Selection To MP3.
playhead view.
We chose a section
from the beginning
of a song, so our
start time was
0:00.
64 August 2006
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3 4
Find Your Tune Send It On Over
Once you convert your clip, locate it in the main iTunes Now it’s time to transfer the ringtone to your phone
Library. It’ll have the same name as the original song, so using Bluetooth. First make sure that your phone’s
to find the correct file, look in the Time column, and locate the Bluetooth is enabled. On the RAZR, go to the Settings menu,
shorter one. Go to File > Show Song File; this will open the folder select Connection > Bluetooth Link > Setup and make sure that
containing your file. Note where it is: You’ll need that info for the Power is set to On, then select Find Me. On your Mac, go to the
next step so you can send your new ringtone to your phone. Now Bluetooth menu bar and select Send File (if you don’t have a
before you forget, go back to the original version of your song, Bluetooth icon in your menu bar, go to System Preferences >
open its Get Info window by selecting the song and pressing Bluetooth > Settings and enable Show Bluetooth Status In The
Command-I, and uncheck the Start and Stop times. Also revert Menu Bar). Navigate to the ringtone file that you located in
your encoding settings to the options you usually use. Doing this step 3 and click Send; hit the Search button to find your phone.
now will prevent you from having a “D’oh!” moment the next When your Mac locates the RAZR, click Send. Accept the file on
time you rip a CD. your RAZR, then wait for it to transfer. When it’s done, click the
Store softkey on your phone, then select Apply As Ring Tone.
Call yourself to
revel in your new
ringtone.
■ Palm’s popular Treo 650 smartphone features an MP3 player, Audacity 1.2.4b (free, http://audacity.sourceforge.net)
yet it can’t play MP3 ringtones. But it can play WAV-formatted
Palm Treo 650 or other WAV-supporting phone
ringtones, so all you have to do is convert your music to a WAV file,
and presto! You’ve got your own Treo ringtone. Although iTunes Bluetooth-equipped Mac
is capable of converting files to WAV, we’re going to use the free A tune that doesn’t scream, “I’m annoying!”
audio editor Audacity, which provides a little more control.
1 2
Crop Your Tune Add a Fade
Using Audacity, open the song that you want to have as your ringtone (File Using Audacity, you can add fades as
> Open). Unfortunately, Audacity can’t handle AAC files, so you may have to well as other effects such as echoes and
use iTunes to convert your song to MP3 first. Next you’ll need to pick the snippet of tempo changes; here’s how to add a fade-out.
song that you want to turn into your ringtone. To do that, zoom in on the waveform Highlight the part at the end of your ringtone
(click the magnifying glass), then click the Play button to listen to your song; note the that you want to fade out and select Effect >
approximate time your snippet starts and ends. To clip the piece, highlight the area Fade Out.
of the song you want to keep and click Play to hear just that section. To tweak the You’ll see your
start or end point, hover your cursor over the edge of the selection until it becomes a waveform thin
hand; use the hand to nudge the selection in or out. Click Play again to listen to the out at the end.
snippet, and keep nudging till you’re satisfied. Select Edit > Trim to seal the deal. Press Play to
make sure that
the fade is to
your liking. If
not, go to Edit
> Undo Fade
Out and try
again.
Add a fade to
your selection.
Highlight the part of the song you want to signal an incoming call.
66 August 2006
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68 HOW TO
create your own ringtones
3 4
Make a WAV Transfer Your Tone
Now it’s time to adjust the settings. The WAV format Now it’s time to transfer your ringtone. We’re going to use
supports uncompressed audio, but here you’ll want Bluetooth, although you could also transfer it via USB. First make
to ratchet down the settings in order to keep the file size sure that your Treo’s Bluetooth is enabled. On the main screen of your Treo,
phone-friendly. Go to Audacity > Preferences; under the File go to Bluetooth and make sure that Bluetooth is set to On and Discoverable
Formats tab, change the Uncompressed Export Format pop- is set to Yes. On your Mac, go to the Bluetooth menu bar item (as in step
up menu to WAV (Microsoft 4 Bit IMA ADPCM). You can go 4, above), and select Send File. When the ringtone is fully downloaded
for higher quality, but we found that this yielded a good- to your phone, go to your Treo’s main screen and select Sounds. Under
sized file that didn’t hog too much space on our phone Tones, you can set your
(612KB for a 14- ringtone to be the song
second snippet). you just transferred. Now
When you’re head to Starbucks and
done, select File > watch everyone stare at you
Export As WAV. jealously (or disgustedly) the
next time your phone rings.
Choose a lower-
quality setting Locate the audio clip you
for your resulting want to send using the
WAV file. Bluetooth Send File function.
Cathy Lu is a former MacAddict editor and current freelancer who spends more time
with Microsoft Word than she does with her husband, friends, and cat combined.
PLAN B:
Xingtone Ringtone Maker
If you don’t have a Treo 650, RAZR, or any
sort of phone that supports MP3 ringtones,
you still have a chance. Xingtone Ringtone
Maker ($19.95, http://xingtone.com) will
let you edit any audio file; it can then
format it and upload it to any phone that
the program supports. Check http://
xingtone.com/support/phones.php? to see if Xingtone Here’s how it works: Crop your ringtone using the Xingtone
supports your phone. The free trial version lets you create and editor (it works similarly to Audacity, which we discussed
upload one ringtone. above), then click Send to upload it. Xingtone sends your phone
a text message containing a link; you can then use your phone’s
WHAT ABOUT MY PHONE?
Web browser to download your ringtone. Xingtone’s Web site
provides instructions on how to download and set a ringtone for
TIP
If you’re not sure what type of ringtones your phone supports (if any)
or whether transferring via Bluetooth is an option, the best way to find
each phone it supports. We tested it out using a fairly generic
out is to check the manufacturer’s Web site. To avoid the frustration Cingular phone, the Samsung SGH-E317. We were able to upload
of finding info on last month’s phone on today’s Web site, don’t go in and set our ringtone fairly easily, although the program did crash
the front way—sneak around the back by searching, say, RAZR V3 and on us quite a few times during the editing process—Xingtone
Motorola and ringtone at www.google.com. reps told us that this is a known bug that will be quashed in the
next release.
68 August 2006
70 HOW TO
run Windows safely
W
hether you use Apple’s Boot Camp or Parallels
Desktop (www.parallels.com), you’ll quickly find
that securing Windows isn’t that tough—you just
have to be smarter than the average Windows user.
Luckily, that’s not difficult. Follow these tips
ON THE
to keep your Windows experience as smooth,
safe, and secure as possible.
DISC If you load Windows on your MacIntel, battening down the
Parallels Desktop hatches is the first order of business.
1 2
Lay Down a Safety Blanket Avoid the Three P’s
System Restore is that rare Windows feature that doesn’t Windows is the number-one target for malicious
just seem like a bug incognito. At regular intervals, or hackers, but it takes two to tango. The easiest way
whenever you opt to create a Restore Point, Windows XP saves to dodge malware and protect yourself online is to avoid the
a snapshot of your system’s configuration. That way, when Internet’s three evil P’s: porn, pirated software, and peer-to-
your printer driver eats your scanner driver, you can easily peer file-sharing networks. But clean living alone can’t protect
restore your system back to a time before the drivers clashed. Windows—see the next step to purge the inevitable malware
To use System Restore, go to Start > All Programs > Accessories from your system. Speaking of malware, don’t use Windows’
> System Tools > System Restore, and follow the directions to built-in Internet Explorer
create a Restore Point browser—download the latest
or to restore your driver version of Firefox instead (free,
settings to an earlier www.mozilla.com).
time when things still
worked. User error is still one of Windows’ biggest bugs—right up there
with Internet Explorer.
System Restore is one
4
Security Demystified
3
Eradicate Adware and Spyware friendly settings managers for your Internet apps, Automatic
Adware and spyware are sneaky little apps that creep Updates, and the Windows Firewall. Click Internet Options and
into your system via email attachments, Web cookies, select the Security tab. Then click the Internet icon and push the
and other means, looking to annoy you with random pop-up Security level slider to the top setting (High). As long as you’re
advertisements—or to steal your passwords and other personal in the Security Center, you should enable Automatic Updates,
information. Protect yourself by installing Ad-Aware Personal which updates the Windows OS and its components—no skanky
(free, www.lavasoft.de) or Spybot Search & Destroy (free, third-party apps. The Windows Firewall is another keeper—but
www.spybot.info) and remembering to run it at least once you’ll probably also want to explore the wild and woolly world of
a week. Also remember to update it every time you use it; Windows antivirus
malware propagates and evolves even faster than knowledge of software.
the Windows security holes it exploits.
More is better,
Spybot only found especially when
some harmless setting Windows’
cookies—this time. security.
70 August 2006
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78
tell us how you really feel
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Duo chips that will show up we work ours off to help I have a less-frightening
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in the soon-to-be-released save yours.—Max suggestion: Turn to page
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pro Macs and next-gen 9 in this issue and meet
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HER NOOBNESS
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MacBook Pros—formerly our new managing editor,
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code-named Conroe for the I’ve noticed that over time Susie Ochs.—Max
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desktop jobbie and Merom You’d need 228.94 30-inch the MacAddict crew has
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are, indeed, fully 64-bit a quarter-million images in lineup. Is there a shortage ���������
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thingamadoodles.—Max iPhoto. of girl geeks? Some female ��������������������
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Survey Says
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WIN!
Perhaps the reviewer Recently, I was browsing
just didn’t “get it” in the Wikipedia, and when I went
recent Freeway Pro and to Steve Jobs’s wiki page I
Express reviews? He missed noticed that Steve has a sister
important facts, including named Mona Simpson—which
Pro’s ability to automatically is also the name of Homer Win a BookEndz ’Book Dock!
generate validating Strict Simpson’s estranged mother. If you own a ’Book—Power, i, or Mac—you know what a hassle
(X)HTML and compliant CSS, Therefore, Steve Jobs must be it is to reconnect each and every cable each and every time
its full Unicode support, and Homer’s uncle.—Chris Liepold you place it on your desk. The solution? A quick-attach, quick-
its Universal status. And Steve related to Homer? As release BookEndz docking station ($159.95 to $299.95,
the “new Markup dialog” H.S. once said, “Mmmm… www.bookendzdocks.com). Just write the best caption to the
came with Freeway 2! With sacrelicious!”—Max photo below, and BookEndz will award you with a docking
native Photoshop-file station that fits your particular ’Book.
support, automatic image CLASSY, INDEED Only one entry per contestant.
slicing and combining, and In your “Class of ’76” parody
complete freedom of layout, (Shut Down, Jun/06, p80), Entry Form
open-minded pros (veterans you clearly mislabeled two
or otherwise) don’t find pictures. The picture labeled
Freeway at all confusing. Steve Jobs was obviously
Also, Freeway Express is not an early picture of Jennifer Write a caption
supposed to be template- Aniston, and the picture for this picture.
driven; it is a real design tool labeled Niko Coucouvanis is
with master pages, high-end clearly an early Tom Hanks.
CONTESTANT INFORMATION
layout features, editable —dRStone
Full Name:
graphic text, transparency,
Address:
and more. Web design is not
City: State:
“templates or programming.”
Zip:
Freeway offers a better way—
Email or telephone:
try it for yourself.—Richard
Logan, managing director of Send email entries to contest@macaddict.com with the subject: Dock Contest
(Don’t forget to include your address information!)
Softpress Might opposites attract? Send snail-mail entries to: Dock Contest, MacAddict magazine,
4000 Shoreline Court, Suite 400; South San Francisco, CA 94080.
Deadline for entry: August 31, 2006.
SEAFOOD DELIGHT NOW HEAR THIS! Contest results will appear in our Dec/06 issue.
Your “surprise and delight” Here’s a pic of my current Contest Rules The judges will be MacAddict editors and will base their decision on 33 percent humor, 33 percent
originality, and 33 percent creativity. All entries must be received no later than August 31, 2006, with the winner
strikes again! “SeaMonkey: iPod project. The sound announced around December 2006. By entering this contest, you agree that Future US, Inc. may use your name,
likeness, and Web site for promotional purposes without further payment. All prizes will be awarded, and no
better than brine shrimp.” quality is not as good as minimum number of entries is required. If two or more people enter identical winning captions, the entry received
(What’s New, May/06, that of the new iPod speaker fi rst will be awarded the contest prize. Prizes won by minors will be awarded to their parents or legal guardians.
Future US, Inc. is not responsible for damages or expenses the winners might incur as a result of this contest
p12) Kudos to whomever systems—but hey, the new or the receipt of a prize, and winners are responsible for income taxes based on the value of the prize received.
A list of winners may also be obtained by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Future US, Inc. c/o
came up with that one. Not ones really suck as air-raid MacAddict Contest, 4000 Shoreline Court, Suite 400; South San Francisco, CA 94080. This contest is limited to
residents of the United States. No purchase necessary. Void in Arizona, Maryland, Vermont, Puerto Rico, and
many people know that sea sirens.—Martin Horejsi where prohibited by law.
August 2006 79
80 SHUT DOWN
don’t let the back page hit you on the way out
More Legal
Trouble for Apple
The estate of former MacAddict Reviews Editor Roman
Loyola has filed a wrongful-death suit against Apple. Court
documents reveal that Roman’s new Nike + iPod Sport Kit
(see “Shoeda Thunk It?”, p16) tragically locked into an
infinite loop of Ramones tunes, forcing the portly product
pundit to run at a blistering pace until his quesadilla-clogged
coronary artery burst under the strain. Tommy Ramone was
unavailable for comment—as, sadly, were Joey, Dee Dee,
and Johnny.
80 August 2006
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