VRlog

VRlog.com moving hosts, won't affect you unless you have bookmarked http://radio.weblogs.com/0110138/ instead of VRlog.com

Wed, 31 May 2006 14:06:47 GMT

VRlog is not http://radio.weblogs.com/0110138/ beyond today. The content at http://radio.weblogs.com/0110138/ will remain as it is for a little while longer, but new posts will be appearing at VRlog.com, not radio.weblogs.com.

So those of you who either bookmarked or linked to the Radio-based address, your link or bookmark will reflect the non-live content shortly. In a month or two, the old content will go away.

The best thing to do is bookmark or link to the VRlog.com domain, which is not going away.

erik

Sony Makes AAC the Apple of Its Eye

Thu, 25 May 2006 13:49:42 GMT

The battle for the ears of music lovers is fierce, made more so by the accompanying battle against digital pirates. The current winner seems to be Apple, whose iPod has reinvigorated the business, become a fashion icon, and made legal downloading of music fun. Recently, in an apparent bow to Apple's strength, Sony has decided to make its music management software compatible with Apple's audio file format.

via IT Analysis

More details about the Apple/Nike partnership

Thu, 25 May 2006 13:43:34 GMT

More details about the Apple/Nike partnership: "

Filed under: Accessories, iPod Family

BusinessWeek has the scoop on the Apple/Nike partnership that just resulted in that very cool iPod/shoe sensor item ... It all started 18 months ago when Apple approached Nike to supply the shoe company with branded MP3 players. Nike had been down that road before (with several other companies) and they thought that they could do more. Fast forward a year and a half and BAM! Nike + iPodGlobal.

Both companies plan on working together to bring even more cool products to market (can you say ringtones for your sneakers? Awesome).

(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog.)

Creative Suite 2 Install Crashes Traced To QuickTime 7.1 Update

Thu, 25 May 2006 13:30:51 GMT

Creative Suite 2 Install Crashes Traced To QuickTime Update: "

By Jim Dalrymple, Macworld

(Via myapplemenu.)

Who Needs Aperture, Photoshop for Raw File Conversion?

Thu, 25 May 2006 13:27:50 GMT

Who Needs Aperture, Photoshop for Raw File Conversion?: "

Convert a Raw file to Tiff or Photoshop formats in seconds? Yes! Lighten the picture, add sharpening, and increase saturation? No problem. Maybe you want to take your Raw file, save it to PDF, then encrypt it so it’s protected from prying eyes. You bet.

Do you need a high-end image editor, such as Camera Raw to perform this magic? Hardly. Tiger users have a powerful tool right there in the Applications folder that can execute these tasks in less time than it takes to launch Photoshop. The magic software is the often-overlooked Preview app.

You can discover all of Preview’s image editing power in the post titled The Simplest of All RAW Converters. Preview does a lot more than open PDFs…

(Via MacDevCenter.)

Redbug Updates Mapwing Pro Virtual Reality Tour Tool

Fri, 19 May 2006 14:27:27 GMT

Redbug Updates Mapwing Pro Virtual Reality Tour Tool: "...with the 'virtual reality tours' generated by Mapwing Pro now capable of being delivered via Flash or the OpenGL-based Mapwing Viewer."

(Via Graphics.com.)

What price Macintosh?

Wed, 17 May 2006 13:28:17 GMT

What price Macintosh?: "With the Intel transition nearly complete, it's possible to compare Macintosh hardware directly with its PC equivalent. A new study shows that Apple still commands a price premium, but it's not as much as you think.

(Via Ars Technica.)

A sop to lazy tech journalists

Wed, 17 May 2006 13:21:47 GMT

A sop to lazy tech journalists: "Today’s inert ‘iPod Killer’ article (complete with cheesy graphic) is brought to you by the San Francisco Chronicle, which talks up the MTV/Microsoft ‘Urge’ music service as if it weren’t an obvious demitasse of suck.

(an easy-to-use form for generating the next 500 "iPod Killer" stories follows)

(Via MacDevCenter.)

Whimscial Oil-Paintings Of Mac OS UI Elements

Fri, 12 May 2006 14:43:29 GMT

Whimscial Oil-Paintings Of Mac OS UI Elements: "

By Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing

Guatam Rao has produced some whimsical oil paintings showing magnified, impressionistic elements of MacOS X's GUI

(Via myapplemenu.)

News: Apple releases Security Update, QuickTime 7.1, Front Row

Fri, 12 May 2006 00:33:33 GMT

News: Apple releases Security Update, QuickTime 7.1, Front Row: "Apple released a major security update in addition to updates for QuickTime and Front Row fixing numerous bugs in the applications.

(Via MacCentral.)

Sony to support AAC file format

Wed, 10 May 2006 13:40:33 GMT

Sony to support AAC file format: "Sony this week announced it will begin supporting the AAC audio file format, which used by Apple for audio file compression."

(Via The Macintosh News Network.)

U.S. Mac users receive best support

Tue, 09 May 2006 14:16:56 GMT

U.S. Mac users receive best support: "Users said that most manufacturers provided "dismal" free tech support, with the exception of Apple's support for desktops/laptops and IBM's support for laptops. "Apple's support for desktops and laptops and IBM (Lenovo) for laptops. Apple solved 76 percent of survey respondents' problems, and IBM (Lenovo) solved 64 percent."

(Via The Macintosh News Network.)

The Mask of QuickTime

Tue, 09 May 2006 14:03:11 GMT

The Mask of QuickTime: "What do you do when your QuickTime movie has ugly artifacts around the borders? Use QuickTime Pro’s unlikely Mask feature to slice ’em off. Here’s how."

(Via MacDevCenter.com.)

Expert: McAfee Mac Security Report Is 'Scaremongering'

Tue, 09 May 2006 13:49:58 GMT

Background: recently McAfee issued warnings that Mac-affecting malware attacks may be on the rise.

This has prompted a few responses from people not in the business of selling antivirus software:

The ZDnet editorial: "It may be true, as McAfee says, that from 2003 to 2005 the number of discovered Mac vulnerabilities increased by 228 percent while Windows only saw a 73 percent increase. But that’s like saying that in the last decade, deaths caused by choking on ice cream were up by 200 percent while deaths from smoking only went up by ten. Like the ice cream, shining light on McAfee’s claims makes them melt away — when we asked the company how big the risks actually were, it admitted that there was “no significant risk” at the moment."

Expert: McAfee Mac Security Report Is 'Scaremongering': "

'It is a speculative house of cards resting on a foundation of shaky statistics and questionable assumptions.' By Walaika K. Haskins, NewsFactor Network"

(Via myapplemenu.)

Reminder: update your bookmarks, links away from hardcoded address

Thu, 04 May 2006 16:31:22 GMT

VRlog is not http://radio.weblogs.com/0110138/ for much longer.

So those of you who either bookmarked or linked to the Radio-based address, your link or bookmark will stop working shortly.

The best thing to do is bookmark or link to the VRlog.com domain, which is not going away.

erik

Apple: H.264 Codec Driving QuickTime Adoption

Thu, 30 Mar 2006 01:18:10 GMT

Apple: H.264 Codec Driving QuickTime Adoption: "

More companies are looking to use Apple's QuickTime technology to showcase their products and services and one of the major reasons is the H.264 open-standard video codec. By Jim Dalrymple, Macworld

(Via myapplemenu.)

Microsoft offers more time on Eolas changes

Thu, 30 Mar 2006 01:11:07 GMT

Microsoft offers more time on Eolas changes: "

(InfoWorld) - Corporate developers who are not ready for an upcoming Internet Explorer update are getting a reprieve.

The next security update for Internet Explorer, expected by April 11, is scheduled to include changes to the way ActiveX processes dynamic content. These changes will force developers to make changes to their Web sites and Intranets, but Microsoft said Wednesday that it now plans to also release a second 'compatibility patch,' that will undo the ActiveX changes.

Without the compatibility patch, programmers must make changes to their server software. Otherwise, Internet Explorer will force users to click on a pop-up 'tool tip' dialog box before being able to interact with things like Flash or QuickTime.

The compatibility patch will allow users to avoid the tool tip boxes on sites that have not made the changes, but only for a limited time.

'This patch will function until the June IE security update is released at which time the changes to ActiveX are permanent,' said Microsoft's public relations agency in an e-mail statement. That update is scheduled to be released June 13.

Microsoft is making the ActiveX changes in order to comply with a 2003 ruling against the company that found it had violated a patent held by Eolas Technologies Inc. and the University of California. Though Microsoft is appealing this ruling, and challenging the validity of the patent with the U.S. Patent Office, Microsoft still must make the changes or risk being found in contempt of court.

Though Web site operators and corporate developers are facing headaches, these changes will amount to little more than an annoyance for most IE users. They will not actually prevent Flash or QuickTime from running, but simply add the extra step of clicking on the tool tip.

The compatibility patch will be of more use to corporate IT departments than Web site operators, because corporate shops will be in a position to control whether or not their users install the software.

'While most Internet sites have already prepared for the ActiveX changes, some enterprise customers have given feedback that more time is needed to ensure applications are compatible with the ActiveX changes,' the Microsoft statement said.

This next security update will be an important one, as it will also fix an unpatched vulnerability in Internet Explorer that hackers have been exploiting for a number of days now. This bug, which relates to the way Internet Explorer processes Web pages using the createTextRange() method, is considered critical because it can be exploited by hackers to run unauthorized software on a victim's machine.

(Elizabeth Montalbano contributed to this story)

Curvemeister 2 is Curves on Steroids

Thu, 30 Mar 2006 01:10:31 GMT

Curvemeister 2 is Curves on Steroids: "When I introduced the Earthbound Light Solution for Curves (and other goodies) in Photoshop Elements just over a year ago, I also wrote briefly about a nice plug-in known as Curvemeister that I've been meaning to take a more detailed look at ever since. By now, Curvemeister is up to version 2.1. Mike Russell, the program's author has indeed been busy, and the thoughtful features found throughout the program are the obvious result...."

(Via Earthbound Light Photography Tips.)

Want To See the Northern Lights?

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 14:47:19 GMT

Want To See the Northern Lights?: "

Doug Lansky offers tips on CNN.com: ‘As with rainbow spotting, there are no guarantees. The key ingredients are a cloudless sky, little or no moon and luck. For the best odds, head near or above the Arctic Circle from October through March.’ He also includes this interesting tidbit: ‘Every 11 or so years, the northern lights are known to appear way below the Arctic Circle. In 2000 they were visible in El Paso, Texas. Wherever you are during the winters of 2011 and 2012, be sure to look up at night.’

(Via World Hum.)

More on Factoring In the Crop Factor: Hand Holding

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 14:47:15 GMT

More on Factoring In the Crop Factor: Hand Holding: "The generic rule of thumb is that you can expect to successfully hand hold your camera down to a shutter speed of one over the focal length. For example, if you are shooting with a 200mm lens, hand held shots should generally be sharp if your shutter speed is at least 1/200 second. The rule was devised back in the film days though, so it's worth taking a look at whether digital has changed things especially after spending the past two weeks looking at other effects of the digital crop factor...."

(Via Earthbound Light Photography Tips.)

Realviz ships VTour, Mac version coming

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 14:47:08 GMT

Realviz ships VTour, Mac version coming: "Realviz is now shipping VTour, the latest addition to its software portfolio for content creation. ... A Mac version is due this summer."

(Via The Macintosh News Network.)

Giga Vu PRO evolution: a breakthrough pro product?

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 14:47:01 GMT

Giga Vu PRO evolution: a breakthrough pro product?: "When the doors swung open at the PMA 2006 trade show in Orlando, Florida last month, most of the herd of photo retailers, photographers and technology journalists thundered their way towards the big-name camera makers and software developers. Not us. Our first stop was the German Pavilion to see a photo storage device that has the potential to be a breakthrough product for working shooters. That device is the Jobo Giga Vu PRO evolution. Why are we excited? Read our in-depth preview of what this new photo storage device will be about when it ships in April 2006."

(Via Rob Galbraith DPI.)

Span an Aperture library over multiple volumes

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 14:46:53 GMT

Span an Aperture library over multiple volumes: "Photographer and author Ben Long has posted a utility called the Aperture Library Spanner. The small application, which is free, allows you to span Apple Aperture's internal library over multiple volumes; by default, Aperture's library is limited to a single volume."

(Via Rob Galbraith DPI.)

Prize For Mathematician Who Paved Way For iPod

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 14:46:48 GMT

Prize For Mathematician Who Paved Way For iPod: "

A prize that is considered the 'Nobel' for mathematics has gone to an 80-year-old Swedish academic whose work on the complexities of soundwaves has subsequently been used in the electronic components of iPods. By James Randerson, The Guardian

(Via myapplemenu.)

Photographer trade groups alarmed by "orphan works" U.S. copyright proposals

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 14:46:30 GMT

Photographer trade groups alarmed by "orphan works" U.S. copyright proposals: "A number of trade groups that represent photographers have recently raised the alarm about proposed changes to U.S. copyright law that address so-called orphan works - works whose copyright holders cannot be located. One group, The Stock Artists Alliance, has set up a blog to summarize their efforts and publish running news and commentary on the issue."

(Via Rob Galbraith DPI.)