Macworld articles from January 2002

Macworld archives from January 2002

Forums and Feedback. (Opinion).(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2002... The People's Court The OS X doctor may be in, as we wrote in our October cover story, "Mac OS X First Aid." But in the minds of many of our readers, the jury is still out, as far as Apple's new operating system is concerned. Some of you...

Breakthrough Artist? ipod Packs 5GB of Music into a Tiny Package. But Can it stand out from the crowd? (Mac Beat).(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... The iPod, Apple's new hard-drive-based MP3 player, is a handheld device not much bigger than a deck of playing cards, and it can store as many as 1,000 songs. But in addition to hauling around all that music, the iPod also carries some weighty...

eBook 'em. (Mac Beat).
January 1, 2002... In the wake of 2001's dot-combustion. technologies such as push media and free MP3 distribution via Napster seem destined for the digital dustbin. And e-books might appear to belong with other products of a bygone era--the hardware devices that...

Mac Stuff: Just Encase. (Mac Beat).
January 1, 2002... Your hard drive has become more crowded than a department-store exchange counter on December 26. But after swapping it out for a more spacious model, you're left wondering what to do with the old internal ATA hard drive, short of turning it...

Insecurity Blanket. (Mac Beat).(Tutorial)
January 1, 2002... It's old news that the security mechanisms built into 802.11b--the formal name for the wireless networking technology used in Apple's AirPort--are not up to the job. Independent analyses have found that WEP, the so-called Wired Equivalent...

Geek Stuff: Treo Calling. (Mac Beat).
January 1, 2002... Pity all those poor geeks-on-the-go. To stay connected when they venture out from the cocoon of their desktop, they need to lug around a laptop, cell phone, PDA, and pager--not to mention a utility belt that most superheroes would consider too...

True-Blue Mac Users: Q&A with Blue Man Group. (Pro File).(Interview)
January 1, 2002... At first glance, Blue Mon Group--the bold, blue-faced trio formed in 1987 by longtime friends Chris Wink, Phil Stonton, and Mott Goldmon--doesn't seem to hove much of on association with the Mac. After all, Blue Man received possibly its widest...

Don't Know Much about History? (Click Here).(News Briefs)
January 1, 2002... If you've ever searched in vain for the tech specs of a Performa 6360 or forgotten the code name for the Mac IIvx, Glen Sanford feels your pain. In 1996, Sanford was a sophomore at Brown University, working on a computer-science final project...

Script Supervisor. (Product Watch).(AppleScript Studio)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... For years, AppleScript has been a popular way to control the Mac and its applications. And recently, Mac OS X has introduced Mac users to Interface Builder, an extremely easy way to create applications by using simple drag-and-drop tools. ...

Hardware: Digital Cameras. (Mac Beat).(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... * A 3.2-megapixel camera from Olympus America (800/622-6372. www.olympusamerica.com): The C-3020 Zoom ($499) offers a 3x optical and 2.5x digital zoom. It also features new Scene program options that provide settings for portrait, sports,...

Cool Stuff: Handful of Air. (Mac Beat).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... The freedom and mobility that hand-held devices promise don't mean much if you have to search out a phone jack for your modem connectivity kit every time you want to surf the Web. But with the Wireless LAN Module, from Xircom (800/ 438-4526,...

Software: Business Software. (Mac Beat).(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... * A business-management application from Appgen (800/231-0062, www.appgen.com): MyBooks 5.1 debuts on the Mac platform with modules that let users manage sales, customers, and accounting for a small business. The Java-based application runs on...

Maya for Mac OS X 3.5: Long-Awaited 3-D Suite Hampered by OS-Compatibility Issues. (Product Reviews).(Software Review)(Evaluation)
January 1, 2002... ALIAS\WAVEFRONT'S MAYA FOR Mac OS X 3.5, one of the most anticipated and hyped applications ever to hit the Mac, is finally shipping. Apple and Alias\Wavefront have been demonstrating Maya for over a year, touting it as "the premier 3-D...

Portable 20GB FireWire Drives: Stable, Diminutive Drives Prove Valuable for Many Uses. (Reviews).(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
January 1, 2002... Portable Fire Wire hard drives spark the imagination. Holding one in the palm of your hand, you think of all the ways you could use it: to back up or transport files, as a Mac OS X boot drive, for desktop storage, or as a digital-video scratch...

Apple iPod: Compact MP3 Player Provides Good Mix of Features and Performance. (Reviews).(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
January 1, 2002... Apple's iPod, a 6.5-ounce MP3 player the size of a deck of cards, is one of the most exciting products to come from Apple in years. Powered by FireWire, the iPod can hold up to 5GB of data, providing a compelling balance of size and capacity....

Cintiq: Combo Graphics Tablet and LCD Makes for Ease-of-Use and Value. (Reviews).(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
January 1, 2002... Wacom's pressure-sensitive graphics tablets have become ubiquitous, indispensable tools for Mac-based graphic artists. But if coordinating movements across a tablet with on-screen actions is awkward for you, then you should consider Wacom's...

DesignJet 10ps: Large-Format Ink-Jet Printer for Designers on a Budget. (Reviews).(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
January 1, 2002... Moving into a marker dominated by Epson, Hewlett-Packard recently released a line of large-format ink-jet printers for graphic designers. The three printers, the DesignJet 10ps, 20ps, and 50ps, are all based on the same print engine but offer...

Commotion Pro 4.0: Effects Tool Offers Solid Improvements. (Reviews).(Software Review)(Evaluation)
January 1, 2002... Pinnacle Systems' Commotion Pro is a complete effects and retouching tool aimed at all professionals who work with moving images. Version 4.0 adds some solid new features, but more interesting is the product's steady migration into digital...

Digital Performer 3.0: Sequencer Gets Face-lift and Multiprocessor Support. (Reviews).(Software Review)(Evaluation)
January 1, 2002... With sequencer software, you can turn your Mac into a professional-quality desktop recording studio. Connect electronic instruments via MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), and you can record, overdub, and edit digital tracks to build...

StuffIt Deluxe 6.5: Compression Utility Adds Magic Menu Support for Mac OS X. (Reviews).(Software Review)(Evaluation)
January 1, 2002... HISTORICALLY, versions of Aladdin Systems' StuffIt Deluxe that end in .5 have been great products, and StuffIt Deluxe 6.5 is no exception. StuffIt Deluxe 6.0 had the features we expected from the Mac's premier compression utility--Magic...

FileGuard 4.0: Security Manager Locks Down Your Mac. (Reviews).
January 1, 2002... WHILE USERS IN BUSINESS AND residential environments are busy shielding their desktops from network-based hacker invasion, they might be overlooking another potential danger: the hands-on attack. Intego's FileGuard 4.0 stops this sort of...

Messaging Utilities: MacPopUp, SnapTalk Spark Instant Messages. (Reviews).(Software Review)(Evaluation)
January 1, 2002... USING A BROWSER-BASED messaging program such as America Online's Instant Messenger is convenient, but you need a dedicated Internet connection to reach the central messaging server. Many small workgroups either lack such a connection or have...

Snapz Pro X 1.0: Must-Have OS X Screen-Capture Utility Can Also Record Motion. (Reviews).(Software Review)(Evaluation)
January 1, 2002... MAC OS X's SCREEN-CAPTURE application, Grab, is serviceable but hardly elegant, and the keyboard shortcuts in OS X 10.1 provide little control over an initial shot. OS X users who need a more capable tool should look to Ambrosia Software's...

Echo Fire 2.0: FireWire NTSC Preview Utility Is Red-Hot. (Reviews).(Software Review)(Evaluation)
January 1, 2002... ECHO FIRE 2.0, FROM SYNTHETIC Aperture, adds FireWire-based, NTSC (National Television System Committee) previewing to Adobe Photoshop and After Effects, and to any program that can play QuickTime movies. Version 2.0's greatest improvement...

EndNote 5: Impressive Upgrade Limited by Missing OS X Compatibility. (Reviews).(Software Review)(Evaluation)
January 1, 2002... OVER THE YEARS, ENDNOTE, the bibliography-management software from ISI ResearchSoft, has earned a special place in the hearts of harried academic writers. EndNote 5 has several welcome new features, including tighter integration with Microsoft...

FutureBASIC3 Release 5: Fast and Powerful Programming Tool Built for the Masses. (Reviews).(Software Review)(Evaluation)
January 1, 2002... STAZ SOFTWARE'S FutureBASIC3, a healthy suite of programs for developing Macintosh applications, combines the power and versatility of modern programming languages with the simplicity of the time-honored BASIC language. Beginners can use a...

The Game Room. (Opinion).(Software Review)(Evaluation)
January 1, 2002... Polishing the brass and marble of the great Game Hall of Fame, in scenic Pittsfield, Massachusetts, requires plenty of elbow grease and countless hours. But it's all worth it when we see the joyous faces of the numerous schoolkids, grad...

Time to Desert your Desktop?: Apple's Powerful New Portables may make your Power Mac Obsolete.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
January 1, 2002... IF YOU OWN A DESK BOUND MAC, chances are you've cast an envious glance at someone using a laptop--perhaps a strange reading e-mail on his Power Book while drinking a cappuccino at Starbucks, or a coworker typing furiously away on her iBook...

PowerBook G4/667 and iBook 600: Apple Fine-tunes Portable Line with Speed, Bus improvements. (Time to Desert Your Desktop?).(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
January 1, 2002... With the 2001 release of the powerful, wide-screen Titanium PowerBook G4 and the lightweight, redesigned iBook, Apple reclaimed its position as the leader in laptop innovation. Those impressive designs are still relatively fresh, and Apple has...

Indesign Takes Flight: Our Sneak Peek at Version 2 Reveals a New Maturity.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
January 1, 2002... for professional desktop publishers thinking of upgrading their page-layout software, choosing the best tools for the job just got more interesting: Adobe InDesign 2 is coming. With improved performance and impressive new features such as...

Low-Res Editing in Final Cut Pro 2: Hands-on Tips and Expert Advice for Savvy Mac Users. (How-To).(Tutorial)
January 1, 2002... If you work with hours of digital-video footage--editing documentaries, feature films, or even home movies--you probably find yourself in a constant battle for hard-drive space. Editing at a low resolution would use less memory--until now,...

Print Publishing Secrets.(Tutorial)
January 1, 2002... Urban legends: They range from alligators in the sewer to stolen kidneys to the image format that always prints correctly. Well, maybe you don't hear that last one too often, but there is a lot of misinformation about when to use TIFF and when...

Web Publishing Secrets.(Tutorial)
January 1, 2002... Web designers face a difficult choice. Conforming to standards set by the World Wide Web Consortium is often easier with an HTML-only page. But for large Web sites, it's typically faster to produce your page design with a combination of HTML...

Mac OS X Secrets.(Tutorial)
January 1, 2002... Networking has been a Mac specialty since the very beginning. The first Mac had built-in networking and its own set of networking protocols. Thanks to Mac OS X 10.1, the Mac is now more network-savvy than ever--though some of its networking...

Mac 911.(Questions and Answers)(Column)
January 1, 2002... We all need to recover from time to time, whether from a long workweek, a night of hearty celebration, or a bout of the Peruvian llama flu. With this in mind, I look at ways to recover an erased hard drive, a lost password, and an overly dark...

Getting With the Program: With RealBasic, You Can Go from User to Developer in a Flash. (Ihnatko).(Software Review)(Evaluation)
January 1, 2002... When they add a load of new features to my favorite software, I'm absolutely insufferable. I'm insufferable to editors and employers who foolishly expect me to do the jobs they're paying me to do. I'm insufferable to friends and family, who are...