http://osxguide.com/ OSXGuide.com Backend en-us http://osxguide.com/images/logo.gif http://osxguide.com/ miguel@osxguide.com http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=216 Max 0.7.1 is a powerful audio conversion utility that goes above and beyond the audio ripping capabilities of iTunes. For those who want a littany of options in their audio ripping, or prefer the use of a small utility rather than the very large iTunes application, Max 0.7.1 is a great and free alternative. http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=215 Most people have used one Internet mapping service or another to find directions online. But a whole new level of navigational and explorative wonder awaits those who use the Google Earth software client to access Google's database of geographic data. Only fairly recently has an OS X client been available for Google Earth, which started out as a Windows only program. In today's FOTD, we take a closer look at Google Earth, which is available for free download directly from Google. http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=214 If you have ever wanted to have a photographic record of a particular web page, you probably know that getting a good, complete image of an entire web page is not an easy task. Sure, you can print the web page to paper or PDF, but that is not a representation of how the web page is actually displayed within a web browser. You could take a screen capture of the web page, but that will only show you the portion of the page that is visible in your browser window -- most web pages are longer than a single browser window. And so, you are stuck -- that is, until you have Netfixer. http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=213 For many months now, I have been captivated by the mystery and lore of the soon to be released Nintendo Wii -- Nintendo's latest gaming system, which is to be launched this Sunday, November 19th. As should be obvious by my involvement with this site, I am also a long time Mac fanatic, having founded a Mac User Group when I was in colleage and otherwise having been a believer in the Jobsian fantasy since the early 1990s. Other than my recent fascination with the Nintendo Wii, I have not ever been an avid video game player, other than a rather common fascination with arcade systems and some of the earlier Nintendo iterations when I was of the "typical" gaming age (i.e., 12 to 17 or so). So I recently wondered why it is I am craving a Nintendo Wii like I have only before craved the latest hot product from Apple. In this article I attempt to analyze this question and explore whether there is a nexus between Mac users and Wii fanatics that might be larger than anyone might think. http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=212 From hard core code jockeys to the average home user wanting to keep shopping lists, everyone needs a solid text editors that's reliable, has good editing and searching features, and (of course) is free. For this reason, we are always excited to learn about OS X programs fitting the bill and our freeware pick of the day, Smultron, certain fits in this category. For code warriors, Smultron offers all the common programmer-friendly features you'd expect, such as syntax highlighting for dozens of different languages, advanced search-and-replace (including multiple document searching), snippet storage, HTML preview, and the like. And, for the casual user, Smultron has an easy to use and intuitive interface that will have you working through text files in no time. http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=211 Fans of the popular Internet phone application Skype will be pleased to know that the latest iteration of their client application, Version 2.5, has been released in beta form for Mac OS X. The latest version allows sending of SMS messages and conference calls for up to ten people, among other features.. If you've never heard or used Skype before, it's the defacto program for communicating with others via a telephone-like system that allows users of the program to talk to each other for free. As a separate, fee-based service, users can also use the program to call anyone with a telephone. The program is very popular on the Windows platform and if someone is doing Internet-based telephony, odds are that they're using Skype. http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=210 The early release of Microsoft's supposed iPod competitor has reviews showing up all over the web. Not surprisingly to anyone who has ever heard of either Microsoft or Apple, the Zune is simply not cutting the mustard. Indeed, it is entirely unclear why anyone thinks (or thought) that an MP3 player for Microsoft of all companies was ever going to get close to the coolness factor of Apple and their iPod. The Zune, like so many other iPod competitors, is nothing more than a clunky black box that plays MP3s. Oh, it has a radio and wireless. Woopdy do. I haven't looked yet, but I'd be surprised if Creative or some other company didn't make the exact same thing. The Zune is apparently also heavier than the iPod an it looks like, well, crap. In the video below, CNN gives a hilarious review of the Zune and ends up completely trashing it. Then one of the anchors of the show whips out her new iPod Shuffle, which wasn't even supposed to be part of the segment (she actually had just bought one and happened to have it with her), and everyone seems to think that's where it's at. Priceless. http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=209 Today's OS X freeware of the day harkens back to the days of Nintendo and the original Gameboy system, in front of which many of us spent hours upon hours destroying lines of blocks in a game called Tetrist. Since that time, many versions of Tetrist for many different computer and gaming systems have come and gone. Now, we look at a free version of Tetris for Mac OS X users, namely: Quinn. Quinn is a completely free OS X version of Tetrist that includes multiplayer and network playing options. Although it is not yet Intel-native, the game does not present much of a demand for most users' systems. Read on for some screen shots and additional info about the game. http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=208 Reports are now coming in on the latest system update to Mac OS X, and they indicate that speed improvement for non-Intel native binaries is significant. These improvements stem from Apple's changes to the Rosetta sofware that allows PPC binaries to run on Intel Macs. Lab tests from Macworld show that improvements to certain application like Photoshop are as high as 35% faster versus prior versions of Mac OS X. This news will come as a very welcome surprise for the many Adobe users who have complained of Photoshop's dogged performance on Intel Macs. The performance of these machines with Adobe applications has many creative users plugging away on their G5s until Adobe releases Intel-native versions later this year. Analysts are predicting a surge of Apple hardware purchasing to follow Adobe's release of Creative Suite CS for Intel Macs. http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=207 Today's Daily Dose is an open source roll playing game called Battle for Wesnoth. This game is a turn-based RPG akin to many other popular action-based RPGs like Warcraft. As an open source project, the game has been developed for multiple platforms including Mac OS X, Windoze, and Linux. Fortunately, the game has advanced multi-player options, including network play, so all of these platform choices mean you can play against any of your friends, regardless of what platform they have. Read on for a look under the hood at Battle for Wesnoth. http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=206 Visitors to Microsoft's Windows Media website for Mac have recently discovered that the company is apparently no longer making a version of their Windows Media Player for the Mac platform. Instead of providing access to a download of the latest version, Microsoft now provides for download a free third-party plugin that works with QuickTime so users can open Windows Media files directly through QuickTime Player or QuickTime aware applications such as web browsers. The free program, called "Flip4Mac WMV" allows users to open most WMV and WMA format audio and video files at or before version 9 of Windows Media. No supports is provided for Windows Media 10 or any of the DRM systems employed by Microsoft. The plugin requires OS X 10.3.9 or later and QuickTime 6.5 or later. The Flip4Mac program does not allow users to convert Windows Media content to other QuickTime formats unless an upgraded version is purchased. http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=205 Software for Starving Students (SSS) is a software development project that provides a free collection of open source and freeware software for users of OS X (and Windows XP, if you're so inclined). The software is intended to be a complete collection of useful applications and utilities for students or others who want great free programs in an easy-to-use installer. The programs in the OS X collection, which is available as a .dmg file through Bit Torrent or a direct link download, include an audio editor, a backup program, a virus scanner, a web browser, an office suite, graphics utilities, games, and more. a complete list of software follows. http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=204 Popular Mac software tracking site has announced that users who sign up in January will be given a one-year subscription free of charge for the entirey of 2006. The membership includes the ability to customize certain settings and layouts at the site, and normally costs $20/year. The free year of membership is only available to new users and registration requires only a valid e-mail address. Click to here to sign up for the free one-year membership. MacUpdate is the leading catalog of software updates for users of the Mac platform and each day adds dozens of new titles or upgrades to its database. http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=203 If you're thinking of buying an iTunes gift certificate for someone this holiday season, then consider taking advantage of this deal. If you pay through PayPal, you get 25 free songs for yourself with a $50 gift certificate purchase, or 10 free songs if you purchase a $20 gift certificate. Here is a link to the deal information page. This is a pretty good deal considering you get 50% of your purchase price in free songs with and deals on iTunes Music Store purchase are few and far between, other than the occasional soda pop bottle top free song offer. Enjoy! http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=202 Apple has once again got Apple fans and computer rumor mills buzzing with news that it will make a major announcement on October 12, 2005. Apple has recently sent to media outlets an invitation to media event. The invitation features a red curtain and the words "One More Thing..." which is Steve Jobs' famous line from MacWorld presentations, just prior to the announcement of a major product or service offering. An image of the announcement is shown below. http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=201 SuperTux is an open source video game for multiple platforms including a native OS X version. SuperTux is intended to be similar in gameplay to the classic Super Mario games. The play of the game is very familiar if you are an aficianado of the Mario games. Blocks and boxes with question marks, a 2D scrolling layout and a loveable little penguing to run around the icy landscape with. http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=200 It's not secret the poker is all the rage with a large section of the population these days. For those wanting a more laid back version of poker than that found on ESPN or the average high schooler's basement on Saturday night. If so, Poker Solitarus might be your bag. http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=199 Looking to find some friendly Mac users to chat it up with using your iChat accounts? Miss the old days of AOL chat rooms where you could have flame wars until 3 in the morning? Then you might enjoy Masq, which is a new program that allows you to utilize your iChat account to participate in group chats with other Mac users. Masq requires you to register a separate Masq account, but the chatting is actually done through your iChat account, so people will know you by that identity. http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=198 DTV is an open source program for easily watching and subscribing to video programs that can be downloaded freely over the Internet. The program uses RSS enclosure technology, which most people know as "podcasts," but focuses only on those podcasts that provide video. The program provides a very intuitive interface for viewing the videos available from a particular source, and manages the videos once they are downloaded. http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=197 New users of Adobe's Creative Suite 2, which includes the latest versions of popular graphics and design programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and In Design, may find themselves overwhelmed by the significant number of features (many of them new to these latest versions) in these programs. With such a daunting set of tools and accompanying complexity, it may seem an insurmountable task to jump into these programs and start working. Never fear, though, as a helping hand from Adobe's own book series (Classroom in a Book) is here to help. Below, we review the title "Adobe Creative Suite 2 Classroom in a Book." http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=196 ToThePoint Software has announced released of the latest version of its TaskTime3 software. From the official company announcement: "TaskTime3 provides a straightforward method of tracking time spent on jobs you do for your clients. It can generate personalized invoices which can be emailed, printed, and saved to disk. Other important features include: project status tracking, Address Book integration for adding clients, linking of related resources to projects for easy reference, project expenses tracking, ability to bill for flat rate items, scheduled and manual data backup, minimizing of project windows to small floating time controllers, and much more." http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=195 Los Angeles, CA - September 9, 2005 - iThemez™ (www.ithemez.com) has released its first volume of themes, only four weeks after the company launched. iThemez Volume 1 is family oriented and contains 20 themes for iDVD, 18 of which are matched pairs. Theme categories include Baseball, Classroom, Cruise, Fractal, Old Glory, Home, ‘Mitzvah, Slideshow, and Wedding. Also included are matching submenus for the free themes that are still available on the website, Independence Day and Slot Machine. Eight themes also include first play movies, clips which automatically play before the main menu when a disc is inserted into the player, and animated backgrounds with multiple drop zones. Enhancing the value of Volume 1 are custom designed buttons included with all submenus. iThemez Volume 1 has been optimized to work with iDVD 5 and Tiger. Pricing for Volume 1 is $29.95 and may be ordered through the iThemez website. http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=194 Mozilla.org, developers of the open source Firefox web browser, which is still gaining serious momentum as a competitor both to Internet Explorer on the Windows platform and Safari on the Mac platform, have announced the release of version 1.5b of the program. The first beta version of the next release of Firefox includes numerous improvements such as automatic updating, faster browser caching, drag and drop re-ordering of browser tabs, user interface improvements and better support for Mac OS X, including profile migration from Safari and Mac Internet Explorer. As with all versions of Firefox, the beta version of 1.5 is freely available for download. The OS X version requires version OS X 10.2 or greater. Click here for more information from Mozilla and download links. http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=193 Apple's press event announcing several new music products is ongoing, and we'll provide updated coverage as it happens. So far, Apple has announced a new iPod phone in conjunction with Motorola, version 5 of iTunes, and a new iPod Mini replacement called iPod nano. iPod Phone "ROKKR" -Holds 100 songs. -Available through Cingular. -$249 plus contract. iTunes 5 -"Smart" shuffle feature -FOLDERS! -Improved iTunes music store searching iPod Nano -Super small. 1/3 size of Motorola Razor phone. 62% smaller than Mini. -2 or 4 Gig models at $199 and $249 -High-res color screen -Headphone jack on bottom -Scroll wheel -White and black colors http://osxguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=192 The Fontz is a versatile font utility that allows you to browse installed and uninstalled fonts, see what they look like at different type sizes, styles and colors, and even group them in like categories using a "wysiwyg" group editor. For fast and easy browsing run either a manual or an automatic font slide show where you can change size, color, style, and even the display text while the slide show is still in progress. You can view or print out individual fonts, any of your font groups, all installed fonts, and even folders of uninstalled fonts. The Fontz offers a combination of focused feature set and low price. A great deal for anyone who wants to find fonts quickly or organize their fonts easily. This version is a FREE upgrade for registered users.