Macworld articles from August 2003

Macworld archives from August 2003

Mac makeovers: you don't have to be bob vila to improve your Mac. (From the Editor's Desk).(Editorial)
August 1, 2003... WHEN THE 128K MAC MADE ITS DEBUT IN 1984, ONE OF THE knocks against it was that it was a closed system, impossible to modify or upgrade. That was largely an unfair characterization--upgrades and enhancements were also few and far between for...

Feedback.(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2003... Blue-Mouse Special With more than 500 reviews packed in its pages, our May 2003 issue was the magazine equivalent of one of those warehouse superstores where bargain-hungry customers buy canned soup by the pallet and paper towels by the...

Corrections.(Correction Notice)
August 1, 2003... Our review of USB Instant DVD (June 2003) listed the wrong price for Apple's DVD Studio Pro. The DVD-authoring software costs $499. We listed the wrong price for the Griffin PowerMate (Mac Gems, June 2003). It costs $45. Our review of...

The mad iPod scientist. (Mac Beat).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... You're probably not about to drop $399 on a brand-new 15GB iPod and then pry it open to see what it looks like inside. But then again, you're probably not A. J. Fouladpour, who "dissects" iPods and then displays his work online at iPoding.com....

So much music, so many accessories. (Mac Beat).
August 1, 2003... The iPod you bought for Christmas is so last year--at least when it comes to accessories. With the iPods Apple released in the spring, the company did away with the FireWire port on top of its MP3 player and instead went with a proprietary...

The right angle. (Mac Beat).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Apple's engineers had many things in mind when they assembled the new iPod's distinctive design. But your posture wasn't one of them, contends MacMice (615/822-9270, www.macmice.com). When the iPod is placed in its new dock, seeing the display...

Batteries included. (Mac Beat).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The iPod boasts 8 hours of battery life--not great if you plan on spending most of the day away from a power source. So take along a $59 Belkin Backup Battery Pack (800/223-5546, www.belkin.com). The Pack's four AA batteries provide 15 to 20...

New designs in the bag. (Mac Beat).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... A new look for the iPod deserves a new look for the cases that carry and protect it--particularly if you want easy access to the dock port on the bottom of the new iPod. Several makers of iPod cases have already rolled out new looks for their...

Hardware beat.
August 1, 2003... Hardware Power Supply Two uninterruptible power-supply units from APC (877/272-2722, www.apc.com): The Back-UPS RS 1000VA ($250) and Back-UPS RS 1500VA ($300) offer more outlets and enough power protection for more than one computer....

Share and share alike? (Mac Beat).
August 1, 2003... iTUNES UPDATE NIXES INTERNET PLAYLIST SHARING--BUT MANY SITES PLAY ON I'm listening to "Goin' Berzerk," Buckner & Garcia's toe-tapping musical tribute to the robot-shooting arcade game from the 1980s. Only I don't have the song--or,...

Creative beat. (Mac Beat).
August 1, 2003... Hardware Four color-calibration tools from GretagMacbeth (800/622-2384, www.gretagmacbeth.com): The Eye-One Display ($249) calibrates and profiles LCD and CRT monitors with a device that attaches to the screen and with the accompanying...

Game play in the pipeline: Mac developers on top of their game at annual trade show. (Mac Beat).
August 1, 2003... An online multiplayer game, a U.S. Army training simulator, and games featuring everyone from Batman to SpongeBob SquarePants are headed to a Mac near you, according to announcements made by top game developers during May's Electronic...

Making a clean sweep: cleaners can help keep iPods and books polished and gleaming. (Mac World).(including Kear Screen's iKlear Apple Polish and Memorex's OptiFix)(and related article)
August 1, 2003... There are people who can take life's bumps and scrapes with nothing more than a shrug and maybe a few words about how scratches build character. But when it comes to my iBook and iPod, I am not one of them. Apples slick white aesthetic brooks...

Storage beat. (Mac World).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Hardware Optical Drives A DVD-recording device from Pioneer (www.pioneerelectronics.com): The DVR-A06 ($329), like the DVR-A05 mechanism featured in many never Apple computers, can burn to DVD-R media at 4x speeds and to DVD-RW at 2x,...

Productivity beat. (Mac World).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Software Contact Management DayLite 1.4, from Marketcircle (888/287-9186, www.marketcircle.com): The contact and customer relationship-management app is now integrated with Blacksmith's Chartsmith charting app and has an exporter for...

Utilities beat. (Mac Beat).
August 1, 2003... Software Data Management Rocketinfo Desktop 2.0, from Rocketinfo (8771402-4636, www.rocketinfo.com): The utility gathers a wide array of Web-based information, including current general and business news, and lets you easily share it...

Rock 'n' roll Mac school. (Macs at Work).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Winning Drexel Idols--a student--band competition at Drexel University--may not have the same cachet as winning American Idol. But unlike Idol winners Ruben Studdard and Kelly Clarkson, Drexel's rising stars get a lot of help from a Macpowered...

Macs get a read on the red planet. (Macs at Work).
August 1, 2003... This August, there will be roughly 35 million miles between Mars and the closest Mac. But that hasn't stopped two Southern California scientists from using OS X to develop a technique that might aid in the search for ancient life on our...

Take your CDs for a spin: Colorful gadget stores and retrieves CDs and DVDs. (Mac Beat).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... iTunes provides an easy way to quickly access all the music you've stored on your Mac. But what about finding the CDs that contain all those songs? BesTradeUSA (877/294-2979, www.bestradeusa.com) thinks its $169 CD Library Manager could be the...

Input-device beat. (Mac Beat).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Hardware Mice A wireless mouse-keyboard bundle from Logitech (800/231-7717, www.logitech.com): The Cordless MX Duo ($100) combines the MX 700 rechargeable wireless optical mouse and the Cordless Elite Keyboard. The mouse uses RF...

iTunes from cover to cover: utlity lets Music fans see what they're hearing. (Mac Beat).
August 1, 2003... Rendezvous-enabled playlist sharing and compatibility with the iTunes Music Store may be the highlights of iTunes 4. But for anyone who appreciates a striking album cover, the ability to display album cover art ranks among the cleverer...

Mac OS X Internet clients: MSN or aol? Both offer mail filters, parental controls in bid for subscribers. (Reviews).
August 1, 2003... For Mac users who want the Internet to be as easy to use and as unintimidating as possible, America Online (AOL) has long been the dominant Internet service provider. But the recent arrival of Microsoft's MSN for Mac OS X gives Mac users...

900MHZ iBook: the last of the G3s gets a small update. (Reviews).(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2003... If your next new Mac must be an inexpensive portable, the recently updated 12.1-inch iBook is a great little machine to consider. Weighing just less than 5 pounds and priced at $1,299, the midlevel model, which we tested, now runs at 900MHz (up...

1GHZ eMAC: Apple's best desktop for education gets more appealing. (Reviews).(Hardware Review)(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2003... A little can go a long way. So it is with Apple's eMac, the least-expensive Mac and an excellent computer for educational environments or anyone on a tight budget. With this revision, all eMacs get faster G4 processors -- 800MHz and 1GHz, up...

Painter 8: unparalleled natural-media painting tool gets a much-needed interface redesign and new brushes. (Reviews).(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2003... Corel Painter has been around for a long time. Though it doesn't have the household-name status of Adobe Photoshop, Painter is a must-have package for digital painters, special-effects artists, and multimedia creators who need a wide variety of...

Sorenson Squeeze 3 Compression Suite: utility for Quicktime, Flash, and MPEG-4 is easy to use but doesn't completely ease editing workflow. (Reviews).(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2003... Competently compressing video is an exercise m compromise-- you must balance image and audio quality with available bandwidth (see "Squeeze Play," page 80). But making the right choices can be difficult even for video mavens. Like Discreet's...

Formz 4.0: retooled 3-D modeler throws users some new curves. (Reviews).(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2003... The program formZ, from autodessys, is a reliable, accurate solids and surface modeler and renderer used in architectural design (where it has its most dedicated following), visualization, illustration, and dynamic media. But formZ's fourth...

Lift NN/g: guidelines by design gurus add value to Web-site accessibility tool. (Reviews).(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2003... Ensuring that a Web site is accessible to people with physical disabilities is a longtime concern for Web designers and programmers. The rise of more-complex Web pages, a proliferation of Web browsers, and the federal government's Section 508...

Markztools 5: anticorruption and first-aid package for XPress files helps avert disaster. (Reviews).(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2003... In a perfect world, QuarkXPress files would never become corrupted; nothing would ever go wrong while saving a document; and everyone would have the most recent version of XPress. But our world is not so perfect. That's why Markzware created...

Soundscap 1.0: noise-reduction app helps eliminate hiss and hum. (Reviews).(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2003... Although some people may claim that vinyl records bring a warmer quality to music, few contest the notion that dragging a needle repeatedly through a groove introduces unwelcome pops and crackles. Thankfully, many new tools have arrived that...

Epson Stylus Photo 900: printer provides inexpensive photo printing and CD, DVD labeling. (Reviews).(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2003... Epson's latest six-color photo printer, the Stylus Photo 900, gives you a lot of bang for your buck, with the same excellent photo-quality printing and semiarchival inks as the rest of the Epson Stylus Photo line, as well as the ability to...

Mask pro 3: photoshop plug-in makes simple work of tough masks. (Reviews).(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2003... If you've ever tried to use Adobe Photoshop to select or mask a complex subject--a person with frizzy hair, say, or a leafy plant--you know that doing so can be very tricky. Mask Pro 3 is the latest upgrade to Extensis's excellent masking...

Shuttlexpress: customizable device enhances your control over video and audio applications. (Reviews).(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2003... When Apple introduced the 12-inch PowerBook G4, it essentially packed a good thing into a smaller container. Contour Design takes a similar approach with the ShuttleXpress, a miniature version of its successful ShuttlePro media controller...

Eazydraw: drawing application straddles hobby-pro line. (Reviews).(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2003... Dekorra Optics' EazyDraw is a vector-based drawing application that doesn't know what it wants to be when it grows up. Its name implies that it's an uncomplicated, easy-to-understand tool, but few of its features are obvious or clear in...

F10 Launch Studio 1.2. X. (Reviews).(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2003... ###; Chronos, www.chronosnet.com; $29 F10 Launch Studio is a little utility that tries to make your Mac life easier by putting all your applications, folders, and documents on a single launch pad. The beauty of F10 Launch Studio is that...

Read, Write & Type 9x. (Reviews).(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2003... ###1/2; Taking Fingers, 800/674-9126, www.readwritetype.com; $80 Read, Write & Type aims to teach six- to nine-year-olds proper keyboarding skills as they learn how to read and write. It's a complete kit that includes an activity guide, two...

Hot products.
August 1, 2003... Macworld's TOP 5 1 #### 1GHz PowerBook G4, 17-inch ($3,299), from Apple Computer (www.apple.com): It pushes the limits of portability, but the 17-inch model has the best combination of features and performance of any PowerBook. It's an...

Get into the action. (The Game Room).(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2003... THE MEASURE OF A GAME'S ACTION IS SOMETIMES REFERRED to as its twitch factor, the frantic movement of your digits on a controller. Whether you're trying to stay alive or just attempting to beat the clock, twitch is what gets your heart pounding...

Install a superdrive.
August 1, 2003... What You'll Need: #2 Phillips screwdriver Grounding strap (optional) Pliers (optional) Thanks to DVD-burning optical drives and Apple's iDVD, today's Macs can put everything from your best friend's wedding to large corporate...

Put USB printers on a network.
August 1, 2003... You can use OS X's Printer Sharing feature (System Preferences: Sharing) to give networked Macs access to a USB printer, but this requires that the Mac hosting the printer be running whenever someone needs to print. A better option is to turn...

Extend your Airport's range.
August 1, 2003... What You'll Need: #8 Torx screwdriver Needle-nose pliers (optional) Thanks to Apple's AirPort technology; wireless networking has become affordable and easy to use. And under ideal conditions, Apple's AirPort Base Station can...

Build a Mac clone.
August 1, 2003... If you want a new desktop Mac but already have a nice monitor, you'll have to spend $1,499 or more on a new G4 tower. But you can save a lot of cash by building a Mac instead--it's not as difficult as it sounds. And since you'll be deciding...

Get better video-editing feedback.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... It takes a lot of storage and processing power to handle full-motion, full-frame video. Your DV camera takes care of that problem by compressing video so that your computer doesn't choke on too much data. But you pay a price for this...

Configure a wireless bridge.
August 1, 2003... Networking devices are often (more often than any other computer-related product) made for Windows PCs and boxed with Windows installation software that doesn't even acknowledge the Mac's existence. But many companies' growing tendency to...

Upgrade the 15-inch flat-panel iMAC.
August 1, 2003... What You'll Need: # 0 Phillips screwdriver #15 Torx screwdriver #10 Torx screwdriver Books (optional) Thermal paste Towel (optional) The flat-panel iMac's friendly form masks a computer that can be devilishly...

Improve your Digital-camera photos. (Derrick Story).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Digital-camera manuals might be excellent tools for learning foreign languages such as French and Spanish, but they don't tell you everything you need to know about taking good pictures. Here are two surefire techniques that the technical...

Get the skinny: big flat-panel monitors are more affordable than ever. should you buy one?(and related article)
August 1, 2003... AS THE PRICES OF LCD MONITORS CONTINUE TO DROP, these sleek flat-panel displays are replacing bulky CRT monitors. And while a stylish design, smaller size, and lower weight are sound reasons to buy an LCD, they're not the only benefits. For...

Mac OS X hints. (Secrets).
August 1, 2003... Mac OS X is a complex and powerful operating system, and even those of us who have been using it since its initial release have to admit that we don't know all its secrets yet. Here are some tips and tricks you probably haven't encountered in...

Squeeze play. (Secrets).
August 1, 2003... After spending several days editing footage for your nonprofit organization's outreach video, you're ready to distribute the finished movie. You'll need to burn a few copies to CDs (for both Macs and PCs) that you can hand out at a meeting, and...

Inside the iPod. (Secrets).
August 1, 2003... When you look at the four buttons, single scroll wheel, and intuitive interface of Apple's iPod, you might believe that there's nothing more to it than plug, play, and rock out. Not so. The iPod has hidden depths. To master all its...

Speak your mind. (Secrets).
August 1, 2003... Your Mac may be your central workstation, but that doesn't mean you want to sit at its keyboard all the time. With a digital voice recorder and MacSpeech's iListen 1.5.2--the only speech-recognition software that can transcribe audio files onto...

Lamentable limitations. (Secrets).
August 1, 2003... As the parent of a two-year-old, I've learned that to remain sane, aperson has to set limits. Yet as a Mac user, I understand my toddler's tantrums--when my Mac and its applications present seemingly arbitrary limitations, I sometimes react...

Speed kills: when it comes to Macs, power is more important than speed.
August 1, 2003... THIS NEW POWERBOOK OF MINE IS NO DAMN GOOD. I'VE got several laptops here in the office, fulfilling several different functions--by no means the least of which is to impress waitresses at my neighborhood coffee shop, specifically the one with...

Care for your Mac. (Mac Gems).
August 1, 2003... THERE ARE LOADS OF VERY COOL FREE OR LOW-COST system-enhancement utilities out there, and every month brings a few more tools that perform a variety of functions, such as adjusting the Dock, fixing and assigning permissions, and running...

Speaking at the future.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... People wondering how Apple might enhance tomorrow's iPod need only examine the Pod of today--specifically, the music player's hidden Diagnostic screen (which you access by pressing the Menu and play/pause buttons simultaneously and then--when...