We’ve released a new Mac Power Users Episode, all about LaunchBar. There is a discount code through the end of August for 15% off, DT-37F9-D8EB. Get it while it’s hot.
Continue readingMac Power Users 7 – LaunchBar
Comic-Con 2009 Photos
I’ve never read many comics but this year I trekked down to San Diego with some friends and saw the Comic-Con event for the first time. It was a good time. Everyone was very nice and all were proud to show off their costumes. I’ve let my Flickr stream die so here are some pics of interest.
“So Say We All!”
Lou Ferigno would not look at me no matter how much I asked.
I was 8 when Star Wars first came out. You don’t let that stuff go easy.
Beware! Corellians shoot first.
Original Tron Costume.
There is nothing shy about the people who dress up at Comic-Con. They are really in their element.
Not sure who they are but they really liked posing.
Even Trekkies must eat.
Is it just me or does Batman look like he is enjoying this?
I found Waldo!
This is just wrong.
Continue readingPixelmator Review
A lot of Mac photographers remember that Adobe took a long time to get Elements on the Intel platform. In that void several independent competitors appeared. I started using Pixelmator shortly after it came out and it has quietly replaced Elements for me.
Pixelmator is a $59 pixel pushing beast. It uses your graphics card and makes quick work of most common graphics tasks. Pixelmator delivers many (but not all) of the core features of Photoshop in a better, and more Mac friendly, interface. The general layout is very similar to Photoshop. It even recognizes most Photoshop keyboard combinations. It uses a dark grey interface similar to Apple’s Pro applications that is easy on the eyes.
Pixelmator ships with tools, masks, layers, and several useful image filters. I primarily use Pixelmator with photographs and there is the usual assortment of levels, color curves, balancing and other photography tools. I really liked the way it renders gradients in real time. I, frankly, don’t need a lot of tools as Aperture has become so robust. When I do need to roundtrip to an external editor, Pixelmator is usually enough.
Having used Pixelmator for some time, I’m also impressed with the slow march of new features the developers are releasing with each new update. They are not throwing in the kitchen sink but instead spending time on UI design and polish with each new feature.
Once your image is done, you can easily export the usual formats including PSD, TIFF, GIF, JPEG, PNG, and PDF just to name a few.
While Pixelmator most certainly is not Photoshop, it is feature rich and a respectable competitor with Photoshop Elements. In my testing, I found Pixelmator easy to use but with fewer bells and whistles than Elements. At a fraction of the cost of Photoshop, you really can’t go wrong with either application. Regardless, the Mac polish and excellent interface make Pixelmator the winner for me. For $59, it takes care of all of my imaging needs. You can download a free trial from pixelmator.com.
You can listen to this review on Surfbits MacReviewCast #218.
MacBook Scuba: What To Do When Your MacBook Gets Wet
1. Get the Mac Out of the Water.
Continue readingSena Case Winner
The winner is Karen G. Thank you everyone for participating. Also, a big thank you to Sena Cases for being so generous. If you haven’t already, check out their variety of quality leather cases.
Continue readingMac Roundtable #66
The Mac Roundtable #66 posted. I participated in this episode in which we discussed the Palm Pre, netbooks, and upgrading to an SSD drive. It is so fun talking with the Mac Roundtable gang that I often forget we are recording.
Continue readingAT&T Propped up by iPhone
Palm Pre – iTunes Sync Now Broken
The latest iTunes update, released today, had an interesting release note.
“iTunes 8.2.1 … addresses an issue with verification of Apple devices.”
That got me thinking about the Palm Pre and the way it pretends to be an Apple device to sync with iTunes. Turns out, that no longer works.
Steve’s been back 2 weeks and the Pre sync is now dead. Go figure.
Thoughts on the Future of Microsoft Office
There is a lot of news about recent developments on the Microsoft Office front. Microsoft has a beta of Office 2010 in circulation and Fortune Magazine is reporting there will be an online version available for free.
I know a lot of people think Microsoft would be crazy to offer any version of Office free. I think Microsoft would be crazy not to have a free version. While at first glance, Microsoft appears to have a stranglehold on the office productivity suite game, that position may not last forever. There are several reasons why this should change.
1. Cloud Computing and Online Applications.
While Microsoft has been happily filling enterprise orders, Google (and a slew of others) have released free online applications that have all of the functionality most mere mortals require from Microsoft Office. Did I mention it is free and online? That means users can easily access their data from anywhere.
2. Office Has Competition (Sort of).
On the Mac there are a variety of alternatives to Microsoft Office. I think the development of so many alternatives on the Mac is a primal, almost baked into our DNA . Mac users and developers remember the days when Microsoft held the future of the Mac platform in its hand with the decision to keep (or drop) Office support. Microsoft knew it. Apple knew it. Microsoft even flaunted it. Nobody wants to go back there.
This is, of course, an unrealistic fear in this day. Apple has its own iWork suite (superior in my opinion) and the Apple developer community has grown it’s own fantastic alternatives. I’m not familiar with the landscape on the PC side but OpenOffice comes to mind as another multi-platform competitor.
3. The New Workforce.
Kids these days. There is an entirely new generation going through school that is not as sold on Microsoft Office as mine was. Just like my generation displaced WordPerfect with Word, the next generation could very easily displace Word with something like Google Docs.
While I use components of Microsoft Office pretty regularly, it is only when I must. I’ll take Pages over Word any day and when it comes to presentation work, you’ll have to pry Keynote out of my cold, dead hand. Of course, I’m a nerd and think way too much about these things.
For people that have a more balanced set of priorities, they’ll use whatever comes on their machines. That is why it is ultimately Microsoft’s game to lose. There are some very smart people at Microsoft (and some very dedicated Mac geeks in the Mac Business Unit). I’m sure they see the writing on the wall and they will adapt. However, the days of competition crushing dominance are over for Microsoft Office.
Main Menu 2.0 Released
Dare to be Creative today released MainMenu 2.0, an update to its system maintenance utility for Mac OS X. I used to be a regular user of this application in the Tiger days but am interested to see 2.0. MainMenu allows users to clean up their Mac, improve system performance and free up hard disk space from their system menu. The new version offers an enhanced user experience, including an animated system menu icon, and Growl notifications to inform when tasks complete. The new version also now includes a license fee, $20. I may be reporting back on this one.
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