NEW iPODS, iMACS & MAC MINIS—RUTHLESSLY TESTED 124 DEC

2006

GET REA
DY FOR

A B E T T E R M A C H I N E . A B E T T E R
Mac|Life
M A G A Z I N E .
THE PAGE 10
ULTIMATE

MAC
BUYER’S
GUIDE
How to Shop Smart
for All of Your
MAC GEAR!
■ Digital Cameras ■ Multifunction
■ Digital Camcorders Printers
■ Photo Printers ■ Desktop Hard
Drives
■ Snapshot Printers ■ Portable Hard
■ SOHO Printers Drives

+Plus
9 Things You REVIEWED: HOW TO:
SpeckTone Retro C ■ Film Stop-Motion Video
Didn’t Know iPod Speaker
■ Create Custom T-shirts
■ Nike + iPod Sport Kit
Your Mac ■ Quicken Mac 2007 ■ Trick Out iTunes 7
Could Do …and 17 more!
04 DECEMBER2006
NO.124•VOLUME11•ISSUE12
a better machine. a better magazine.

features
22 Shop Like a Pro
Shop smart! We tell you which specs to
scrutinize, which features to ignore, and
what to ask the salesperson when you’re
buying cameras, printers, hard drives,
and more. Plus, we recommend the best
products based on quality, value, and
style. by Roman Loyola, Rik Myslewski,
Rick Oldano, and Andrew Tokuda

31 Surprise!
How well do you really know your best digital pal? Here are nine things you may not know your
Mac can do. by Niko Coucouvanis, Logan Kugler, and Rik Myslewski

38 Command Key
Key Commands
Mouse, schmouse—use our handy list of 108 Microsoft
Word–wrangling key commands to let your keyboard do
the clicking. by Rik Myslewski

how to
68 Ask Us 74 Tee Up Your Photos
We show you how to rip audiobook CDs for Blank T-shirts are for people with blank minds,
listening on your iPod, how to FTP securely, so spice up your shirt with your favorite
how to use movies as screen savers, and more. photo, logo, graphic, or dirty word.
Why? Because we love you. by Niko Coucouvanis

70 Make a Stop-Motion Video 78 Trick Out iTunes 7

Remember the Albums and podcasts
California Raisins? and movies, oh my!
You can do better We help you keep your
than that. We show head above the ever-
you how to make your growing ocean of your
own animations with iTunes library.
iStopMotion. by Brian Moore by Niko Coucouvanis

04 December 2006 COVER PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARK MADEO

You don’t put limits on your creativity.
(Why should your technology?)

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06 CONTENTS
a better machine. a better magazine.

10 Editors’ Page 61
How can Steve Jobs change the world (again)? Our
editor-in-chief has one suggestion.

13 Get Info
Check out the winners of Apple’s Design Awards (many of
which are featured on the Disc!), get the scoop on Microsoft’s
latest Mac products, and drool over a gold-plated, diamond-
studded camera (just not on the lens, please).

43 Reviews 50
44 1.66GHz Core Duo Mac mini desktop Mac
44 1.83GHz Core Duo Mac mini desktop Mac
44 17-inch 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo iMac desktop Mac
44 17-inch 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo iMac desktop Mac
44 24-inch 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo iMac desktop Mac
56 Alpha DSLR-A100K SLR camera
61 Banshee speaker
53 DSM-G600 Network Storage Enclosure network
storage and router
54 FireLite XPress portable hard drive
57 iListen 1.7 speech-recognition software
51 iPod portable media player
50 iPod nano portable media player
60 Mindstorms NXT LEGO robot set
52 Nike + iPod Sport Kit personal trainer 44
52 Nike+ Sport Armband iPod nano armband
58 Parallels Desktop for Mac Windows-virtualization software 60
56 47 66
54 PDF Shrink 4.0 PDF utility
62 Point & Shoot Video Camcorder camcorder
49 Quicken Mac 2007 personal-finance software
55 SpeckTone Retro iPod speaker stand
52 Sportsuit Sensor+ Nike + iPod Sport Kit case

65 Games
66 Bejeweled iPod game review 66 Mahjong iPod game review 86 Log Out
67 Championship Manager 2006 coming soon 66 Mini Golf iPod game review 86 Letters
65 Colin McRae Rally Mac game tips 66 Pac-Man iPod game review A frozen drive and a $23 MacBook? Yep.
66 Cubis 2 iPod game review 66 Tetris iPod game review 87 Contest
65 Hearts of Iron II: Doomsday coming soon 66 Texas Hold ’Em iPod game review We’re giving you one more chance to win
67 Heretic Kingdoms: The 66 Vortex iPod game review Shure’s $499 E500PTH Sound Isolating
Inquisition coming soon 66 Zuma iPod game review Earphones. We’re awesome like that.
88 Shut Down

QUICK TIPS
FROM THIS MONTH’S ISSUE
Behold the future of musical fashion.

STEP OUTSIDE WEASELLY WI-FI TURN THAT CRUD OFF! ZOOM-A-ZOOM-ZOOM

The LCD displays on cameras If your AirPort signal is weak Don’t forget that you can When shopping for a new
and camcorders can be hard or wayward, check these disable plug-ins such as digital camera, look at the
to see in bright sunlight, so usual suspects: cordless QuickTime and Flash, as well optical zoom rating and ignore
ask the salespeople if you phones, microwave ovens, as JavaScript and pop-up the digital zoom. Using digital
can take the camera outside, router placement, and other windows, to streamline your zoom degrades the photo’s
especially if the camera wireless networks. Removing Web-browsing experience. quality—it’s better to just crop
doesn’t have a traditional such devices or changing your Open Safari > Preferences > and enlarge your picture later
viewfinder alongside the LCD. router’s channel can reduce Security, or Firefox > in an image-editing app.
From “Shop Like a Pro,” p22. conflicts. From Ask Us, p68. Preferences > Web Features. From “Shop Like a Pro,” p22.
From Ask Us, p68.

06 December 2006
SHR-P13 Holiday ad_MA 10/12/06 4:43 PM Page 1

43 INDUSTRY AWARDS.
828 GLOWING REVIEWS.
2 VERY HAPPY EARS.

With dozens of awards and a mountain of accolades, Shure Sound Isolating TM Earphones have ironically
created quite a bit of noise in the industry. Fortunately, you won’t hear any of it. All you will hear is your
favorite music - deeper, richer, and in more detail than you’ve ever heard it before - or ever thought possible.
Visit Shure.com for more information and let the next pair of happy ears be yours.

“These are the Mercedes of headphones...” - Forbes.com

“Exquisite sound over a full range of frequencies...” - PC World
“They’re pure audio nirvana...”- CNET.com

The Innovations Design and Engineering Award is based upon descriptive materials submitted to the judges. CEA did not verify the accuracy of any submission or of any claims made and did not test the item to which the award was given.

© 2006 Shure, Inc.

Holiday ad
4C | 8”x10.5” | 43 industry awards.
08 CONTENTS
a better machine. a better magazine.

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WEB MONKEY Nick Muerdter

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Ones like last month’s, which packed a full December

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103 apps onto its shiny silver surface, and

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ones like this month’s, which features one

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ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Peter Marshutz
other valuable items. This month’s 450MB GROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR Dan Fitzpatrick
PHOTOGRAPHER Mark Madeo
behemoth is Sid Meier’s Civilization IV, the CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Samantha Berg

UIBU
BMM
latest version of the world’s most popular BUSINESS
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Stacey Levy, 650-238-2319
strategy game. Not into games? Fear

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EASTERN ADVERTISING MANAGER

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Larry Presser, 646-723-5459

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not—there’s plenty more on the Disc to

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WESTERN ADVERTISING MANAGER David White, 650-238-2502

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keep you busy. REWRITE HISTORY IN HISTORY’S GROUP DIRECTOR, NON-ENDEMIC SALES

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Jim Schiekofer, 646-723-5410

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MARKETING DIRECTOR Cassandra Magzamen
GREATEST STRATEGY GAME.

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MARKETING COORDINATOR Michael Basilio

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Civilization IV Mac Pilot iStopMotion ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Jose Urrutia, 650-238-2498

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PLUS: TWO DOZEN MORE GREAT APPS!

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CIRCULATION
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CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Peter Kelly
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from the install this tinker-tool and motion animation; on NEWSSTAND COORDINATOR Alex Guzman
FULFILLMENT MANAGER Peggy Mores
dawn of man to the you’ll get a the Disc we DIRECT-MAIL MANAGER Stephanie Blake
DIRECT MARKETING SPECIALIST Janet Amistoso
space age and beyond free copy; give you the FUTURE US, INC.
in this astonishingly rich details are on software you 4000 Shoreline Court, Suite 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080
www.futureus-inc.com
strategy game. the Disc. need. PRESIDENT Jonathan Simpson-Bint
VICE PRESIDENT/CFO Tom Valentino
VICE PRESIDENT/CIRCULATION Holly Klingel
GENERAL COUNSEL Charles Schug
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR/GAMES Simon Whitcombe
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR/MUSIC & TECH Steve Aaron
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR/BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Dave Barrow
AUDIO & MUSIC OmniGraffle 4.1.2 trial Proxi 1.2 demo
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR/TECHNOLOGY Jon Phillips
Edirol R-09 demo video OmniOutliner 3.6.1 demo TechRestore mini EDITORIAL DIRECTOR/MUSIC Brad Tolinski
TextMate 1.5.3 trial Madness video DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL SERVICES Nancy Durlester
Fission 1.0.0 demo
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Richie Lesovoy
iFill 1.1.0 demo
UTILITIES SPONSORS
DEVELOPMENT AppZapper 1.7.0 demo Edirol R-09 demo video
F-Script 1.3.4 freeware DataGuardian 1.0.3 trial iFill 1.1.0 demo Future US, Inc. is part of Future plc.
DiskTracker 2.3.3 LineForm 1.2.1 demo Future produces carefully targeted special-
FUN & GAMES (Classic) shareware OmniGraffle 4.1.2 trial interest magazines, Web sites, and events
for people who share a passion. We aim to
Civilization IV demo DiskTracker 2.3.3 (Mac OmniOutliner 3.6.1
satisfy that passion by creating titles offering
OS X) shareware demo value for money, reliable information, smart
GRAPHICS & MULTIMEDIA Lab Tick 0.6.3 freeware OmniWeb 5.5 trial buying advice, and which are a pleasure
Maintidget 1.1 freeware Proxi 1.2 demo to read. Today we publish more than 150
iStopMotion 1.10.1 demo
magazines, 65 Web sites, and a growing
LineForm 1.2.2 demo Parallels Desktop for TechRestore mini number of events in the US, UK, France, and Italy. Over 100 international
PhotoPresenter 2.5.6 Mac RC 2 trial Madness video editions of our magazines are also published in 30 other countries across
demo the world. Future plc is a public company quoted on the London Stock
Exchange (symbol: FUTR).
Ultimate Productivity
Action Pack 1.0 trial FUTURE PLC
30 Monmouth St., Bath, Avon, BA1 2BW, England
www.futureplc.com
INTERFACE Tel +44 1225 442244
Mac Pilot 2.1.6 shareware NON-EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN Roger Parry
CHIEF EXECUTIVE Stevie Spring
GROUP FINANCE DIRECTOR John Bowman
INTERNET & COMMUNICATION Tel +44 1225 442244 www.futureplc.com
OmniWeb 5.5 trial REPRINTS: For reprints, contact Ryan Derfler, Reprint Operations
Specialist, 717-399-1900 ext. 167
or email: futurenetworkusa@reprintbuyer.com
MEDIA SUBSCRIPTION QUERIES: Please email mcdcustserv@cdsfulfillment
Edirol R-09 demo video .com or call customer service toll-free at 888-771-6222.
TechRestore mini
MacAddict Statement of Ownership. Post Office Notice: Statement of Ownership,
Madness video Management and Circulation for Periodicals class privileges as required by 39 USC3685:
1. Publication Title: MacAddict 2. Publication No. 1088-548X 3. Filing Date: 9/29/06
4. Issue Frequency: Monthly 5. Number of issues published annually: 12 6. Annual
subscription price: $39.90 7. Complete mailing address of known office of publication:
PRODUCTIVITY 4000 Shoreline Court, Ste. 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080 8/9. Complete address of
the headquarters of general business offices of the publisher, editor and managing editor:
EnzymeX 3.1 freeware Publisher: Stacey Levy - same address, Editor: Rik Myslewski - same address, Managing
iClip lite 2 freeware Editor: Susie Ochs - same address 10. Owner: Future US, Inc, 4000 Shoreline Court, Ste. 400,
South San Francisco, CA 94080 11. Shareholder: The Future Network plc, Beauford Court, 30
Monmouth Street, Bath BA12BW U.K. 11/12. N/A 13. Publication title: MacAddict 14. Issue
date for Circulation Data below: November 2006. 15. Extent and nature of circulation given
in this order, number of average copies each issue during preceding 12 months followed by
actual number of copies published nearest filing date: a. Total number of copies 179,722
169,895 b. Paid and/or Requested Circulation (1) Mail subscriptions Outside-County 92,192
UPGRADE 87,963. (2) Paid In-County Subscriptions 0,0. (3) Sales through dealers and carriers, street
vendors, counter sales, and Other Non-USPS Paid Distribution: 21,771 21,000. (4) Other
If you don’t receive the Disc with your copy of MacAddict, you might want to consider upgrading. Each monthly Disc contains cool Classes Mailed Through USPS 0,0. c. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation 113,963
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value-packed Disc with your subscription (prorated if necessary) for just $1 more per issue, call 888-771-6222—the operator will Classes Mailed Through the USPS 1,766 1,178 e. Free Distribution Outside the Mail 833,
take care of everything. 0. f. Total Free Distribution 3,347 1,975. g. Total Distribution 117,310 110,938. h. Copies
not Distributed 62,412 58,957. i. Total 179,722 169,895. j. Percent Paid and/or Requested
Circulation 97%, 98%. 16. Publication of Statement of Ownership is required and is printed
in this issue of this publication December 2006. 17. I certify that the statements made by me
08 December 2006 above are correct and complete: Peter Kelly, Circulation Director.
10 EDITORS’ PAGE
a note from the kernel

Change It Again, Steve STAFF RANTS

It’s an article of the Mac faith that when
Steve Jobs recruited John Scully to join Q. How should Steve change the world (again)?
Apple as its CEO, he asked the then– Niko Coucouvanis BIGGEST A-TEAM FAN EVER
PepsiCo marketer, “Do you want to sell How should Steve change the world (again)?
He should change his name to Mister Steve and get
sugar water for the rest of your life or do you a reality show. Sorry, but the studios won’t let me
want to change the world?” It turned out, elaborate on the world-changing part.
however, that it was Steve, not John, who
succeeded in changing the world. Susie Ochs TREE-HUGGIN’ TECHNOPHILE
And now he has the opportunity to do it How should Steve change the world (again)?
How about an incentive program for recycling old
again—but first, a bit of background. hardware to schools or nonprofits? You donate your old
At the recent gathering of gigageeks Mac, and Apple gives you credit toward a new one, plus
known as the Intel Developer Forum, the company’s president and CEO, upgrades the donated machine with more memory and
current software. Everybody wins.
Paul Otellini, discussed Intel’s World Ahead program, which provides
computing technology to underserved populations in developing Roman Loyola SQUINTER
How should Steve change the world (again)?
countries. Launched back in May, this $1 billion, five-year effort aims
How ’bout releasing the widescreen iPod and iPhone-
“to enhance lives by accelerating access to uncompromised technology thing that all the analysts, editor types, and so-called
for everyone, anywhere in the world.” experts continue to speculate about? Then we can stop
talking about them—that’s something in my li’l world I’d
The World Ahead program is now active in 30 countries and has definitely like to change.
trained over a half-million teachers. One centerpiece of this effort is
Intel’s Classmate PC, now in field tests but scheduled for full release Mark Rosenthal MR. CROCK POT
How should Steve change the world (again)?
in the first quarter of 2007. This no-frills, ruggedized laptop, along It’s clear—to me at least—that Steve needs to push
with Intel’s commitment to installing wireless Internet access in needy Apple into the arena of cookware. You know: pots, pans,
classrooms, will help lessen the isolation of the impoverished. maybe even a spatula or two. How about an iWhisk?
Comes in two speeds, 1.5 or 2.5 EggaHertz. Or, in a
Now here’s where Steve comes in. At a press Q&A, one journalist rebellious twist, Steve could introduce a line of slow-cookers, turning
asked Otellini how much the Classmate PC will cost. He answered $250, his back on Apple’s pursuit of speed after all these years.
or maybe $200 when production ramps up, but then added, “But of Peter Marshutz WINDOWS CHOPPER
course, that’s with Windows.” Do you see where I’m going with this? How should Steve change the world (again)?
Mr. Jobs, sir, I have a suggestion: Take Mac OS X, distill it down to its Good idea, Rik. I agree 100 percent that Steve Jobs
should give a version of Mac OS X to third-world users
basics, and provide an operating system—a free operating system—for for free. It may not change the world, but it’s a start.
the Classmate PC. You have the core technology, you have the engineers,
you have the finances. You can do it. With the help of Intel, you can
Max IMPIOUS IMP
change the world. Again. How should Steve change the world (again)?
In other news: We have some exciting news to share. In two months, C’mon, Rik, hasn’t he done enough for us already? Not
to sound sacrilegious, but he’s Apple’s Holy Trinity: the
MacAddict will evolve into Mac|Life, a bigger, thicker, better-looking creator, savior, and continuing source of inspiration.
magazine that will expand upon MacAddict’s mission to help you Sure, it’d be great if he donated a couple of his billions
get the most from your Mac. Mac|Life will be gorgeous. Mac|Life will to some Worthy Cause™, but, if not that, I have one two-syllable
suggestion: iPhone.
be entertaining. Mac|Life will be authoritative. Mac|Life will take
MacAddict’s best elements and make them even better.
Look for a preview of Mac|Life in next month’s MacAddict.

Enjoy,

comingsoon:January2007
Here’s what our editors are preparing for the next issue of MacAddict.
If you’re like us, you spent a bit too much on holiday gifts ’n’ grog this year—so we’re going to show you a ho-ho-whole lot
of great free stuff for your Mac. We’re also going to give you a sneak peek at MacAddict’s next incarnation, Mac|Life,
plus we’ll show you how best to manage, troubleshoot, and extend your Wi-Fi connection. Then we’ll show you how
to do most of what .Mac does by using Firefox and free Google tools, how to soup up Safari, how to rock Ubuntu
Linux on your new Mac, and how to manage the ins and outs of iLife’s printing services. Finally, we’ll put the itsy-bitsy,
teeny-weeny iPod shuffle through its paces, and review Pentax’s K100D SLR camera, stinkbot’s TubeSock YouTube utility
software, Aspyr’s The Sims 2: Open for Business expansion pack, and a lot more.

10 December 2006
 GET INFO
13
the news of the month in bite-size chunks

Left: Apple says that modo “stood

head and shoulders” above other
graphics applications.
Above: The Sims 2 won the award
for Best Mac OS X Game.

Awards Honor click, upload it to your .Mac account

and share it.”
Ben Waldie at Automated Workflows

Mac OS X
thinks that fulfilling the needs of his
publishing clients with AppleScript and
Automator apps helped him win the Best

Innovation
Mac OS X Automator Workflow award
for Build Real Estate Catalog/Ultimate
Productivity Action Pack 1.0 ($39.99, on
the Disc or www.automatedworkflows
.com). “The workflow that Apple gave
Apple recognizes developers whose software me the award for was cataloging
demonstrates why the Mac leads the pack. automation, and while it was for real

W
estate, that’s just one example. I
hether it was the optimal technologies.” So whether the developer guess the actions and workflows I’ve
use of Open GL for real-time was inventing a way to save time in a created are based on requests and my
shaders, taking the best complex publishing operation or a way knowledge of the publishing industry,”
advantage of the Cocoa to play a game and use email at the said Waldie, an AppleScipt consultant
application framework, or seamlessly same time, something unique had to who used to work for TV Guide.
integrating iPhoto or Dashboard, the be born. Other criteria included user “Unique” and “cool” were two
variety and depth of Apple technology experience, performance optimization, other qualities Okamoto looked for.
was clearly showcased by the 2006 and the use of Open Source. Luxology’s modo ($895, www.luxology
Apple Design Award winners. According to Glenda Adams, director .com) exhibited “optimal use of open
According to Ron Okamoto, vice of development at Aspyr, one of the GL…and stood head and shoulders
president of Apple’s Worldwide new features of The Sims 2 ($49.99, [above the others],” he said. “And the
Developer Relations, innovation tops www.aspyr.com) that helped it win the scientific app [EnzymeX 3.1], using
the list of what the company is looking Best Mac OS X Game award was the iPod synchronization, was Mac-unique
for. “Innovation is so important to us. integration of .Mac so that “you [can] as well.”
We want to see what you can do on create a new Sim character and, with one When describing “cool,” Okamoto
the Mac that you can’t do elsewhere.” discussed one of last year’s winners,
Contest rules stated that entries had Comic Life ($24.95, http://plasq.com),
to be Universal apps, run on Mac OS which creates comic strips from an
10.4 and later, and “be built primarily iPhoto library. What’s cool this year
with AppleScript, Carbon, Cocoa, is the benefit Plasq, the developer of
Java, WebObjects, or any combination iClip lite 2.0 is great for anyone yearning Comic Life, has reaped. “There are all
of these application-development for the days of the Scrapbook. kinds of hidden benefits beyond just the

December 2006 13
v

14 GET INFO
the news of the month in bite-size chunks

tangible prizes,” said Robert Grant, lead modo, the 3D modeling program that
developer. Indeed. Comic Life is now won for Best Use of Mac OS X Graphics, NEW Stuff
bundled with all Intel Macs sold. credits attention to users as key to the
“Polish” was a quality several app’s success. “[modo] can outperform 4video visor
developers said put them over the top. most [other] applications in terms of myvu personal
Lineform ($79.95, on the Disc or raw display, but it’s [got] that level of media viewer
www.freeverse.com/lineform), a polish—and who would appreciate it $399
drawing program, won the award for more than graphic artists? One of the www.myvu.com
Best Mac OS X Student Product, and a things we can do is touch a key, and Available: Now Perfect for
blurb on Lineform’s Web site sums up certain tools will come up under your When you’re watching Star
what Will Thimbleby, a Ph.D. student at mouse and will fade in and fade out as watching iPod Trek: The Next
Swansea University, thinks got him his you move to something else. It makes videos with the Generation.
award: “Bloated? Not a chance. Lineform the experience smooth.” myvu’s pair of LCDs,
would fit on a floppy—if anyone still had Some developers are already seeing it’s like you’re in front of a 27-inch
one.” Said Thimbleby, “I think Lineform spikes in sales due to the awards. Said TV. The case has a battery that
excels by providing the full power of John Casasanta, president of Inventive, provides up to six hours of viewing
Quartz and Core Image integrated in an which created iClip lite 2.0 (free, on the time, or increases the audio time to
easy-to-use interface.” Disc or www.inventive.us), the winner for 20 hours.
Attention to user interface was Best Mac OS X Dashboard Widget, “Even
primary for another graphics-application though iClip lite is a free Dashboard 4The Write Stuff
winner. Brad Peebler, cofounder and widget, sales of the full version of iClip Books by You
president of Luxology, which produced have gone up.”—Anita Malnig $19.99
www.knowledgeadventure

And the winners are...

.com
Available: Now
Actor John Lithgow
helps kids create their
Best Mac OS X Developer Tool Best Mac OS X User Experience own books with this
Winner: Macromates’ TextMate 1.5.2 Winner: Equinux’s iSale 3.1 application, which
(39 Euros, or $49.54 at press time, ($39.95, www.equinux.com) includes artwork, For the budding
www.macromates.com) Runner-up: Boinx’s FotoMagico 1.7 writing guides and Dickens or Dr.
Runner-up: Philippe Mougin’s F-Script ($79, www.fotomagico.com) tips, and more. The Seuss.
1.3.3 (free, www.fscript.org) books can be printed
Best Mac OS X Game at home, sent via email, or ordered
Best Use of Mac OS X Graphics Winner: Aspyr’s The Sims 2, 1.0 Rev E and shipped to your home.
Winner: Luxology’s modo 201 ($49.99, www.aspyr.com)
($895, www.luxology.com) Runner-up: Freeverse’s WingNuts 2: 4electrical Tentacles
Runner-up: OverTheEdge’s Unity 1.5 Raina’s Revenge 1.0 ($29.95, PowerSquid Surge3000 Calamari
($249 Unity Indie, $1,499 Unity Pro, www.freeverse.com) $79.95
www.unity3d.com) www.powersquid.net
Best Mac OS X Scientific Available: Now
Best Mac OS X Dashboard Widget Computing Solution This six-outlet surge protector has
Winner: Inventive’s iClip lite 2.0 Winner: Mekentosj’s EnzymeX 3.1 a 3,240-Joule rating; a flat-profile,
(free, www.inventive.us) (free, www.mekentosj.com) 360-degree-rotating swivel plug;
Runner-up: WeatherBug Local Weather Runner-up: SMUG’s FuzzMeasure two glowing neon outlets; and an
Widget 1.1.0.9 (free, Pro 2.0.2 ($125, audible alarm. The PowerSquid
www.weatherbug.com) www.supermegaultragroovy.com) also provides
a $500,000
Best Mac OS X Automator Best Mac OS X Student Product limited connected-
Workflow Winner: Freeverse’s Lineform 1.1 equipment warranty.
Winner: Automated Workflows’ ($79, www.freeverse.com/lineform)
Build Real Estate Catalog/Ultimate Runner-up: Arizona Software’s
Prevent your
Productivity Action Pack 1.0 ($39.99, PhotoPresenter 2.5.5 ($8,
Mac from
www.automatedworkflows.com) www.arizona-software.ch)
getting fried.
Runner-up: Lecture Recording Workflow

ON THE
1.2 (free, www.dent.umich.edu/itunes)
DISC
EnzymeX 3.1, F-Script 1.3.4, Lineform 1.1, iClip lite 2,
PhotoPresenter 2.5.6, TextMate 1.5.3, Ultimate
Productivity Action Pack 1.0

14 December 2006
 DROOLWORTHY
Sexy Stuff We Can’t Wait to Get Our Mitts On
IMAGE COURTESY OF MINOX

Gold Standard$
Minox’s DC 1011 Carat (pricing to be determined, www
.minox.com) is a point-and-shoot camera with a 24-carat
gold-plated case and ten 2-millimeter diamonds at .03 carat
each surrounding the lens. Almost incidentally, it has a 10.1-
megapixel image sensor, a 2.5-inch LCD, and electronic image
stabilization.

USBling #
ATP Electronics’ Petito
($34.99 to $89.99,
www.atpinc.com)
is a USB 2.0 flash
drive that measures
1.65 by 0.8 inches. It
comes in capacities
ranging from 256MB
to 1GB; is available
in dark blue, gold,
silver, and titanium;
and has a loop for
wearing it on a chain
around your neck.
IMAGE COURTESY OF ATP ELECTRONICS
16 GET INFO
the news of the month in bite-size chunks

What’sNew
>>>>>>>>
• Cerventis’s
MICROSOFT GOES (A BIT) UNIVERSAL MusicJam ($229,
Intel-icized Messenger now a free download; new Office for Mac coming www.musicjammixer
soon…or soon-ish. .com) is a mixer that

W hile you’re waiting for Office 12, the

code name for the Universal version
of Office for Mac, Sheridan Jones, the group
lets you add voice
and guitar to the
music played from
marketing manager for the Mac Business your iPod. It has
Unit (Mac BU), suggests that you download electric guitar and

iPOD ACCESSORIES
Messenger for free and get a taste of what’s microphone inputs,
to come. “We always develop based on and RCA audio
feedback that we hear from users,” she said. output jacks.
Jones stressed that any software • The DLO Care Kit
developed in the Mac BU is “never just Why use Messenger instead of iChat? for iPod ($29.99,
ported over.” One feature of Messenger that Because some people work in a Windows www.dlo.com) is
Jones touted as newsworthy is its ability to world. a three-solution
spell-check messages, doing so by tapping cleaning kit for your
into the Apple dictionary. iPod. The kit includes
What about Office 12? Jones said that it will take from six to eight months after a solution for gentle
the release of 2007 Microsoft Office System for Windows for Mac BU to release the cleaning, a solution
Mac version “to ensure compatibility.” Jones asserted that “Mac users will be happy for blemish removal,
to know that the next version of Office will continue to be very Mac-like.” Jones did and a solution for
confirm that Office 12 will move to Open-XML file format, and that when WinOffice removing heavy
launches, Microsoft will provide open-XML converters to Mac users.—Anita Malnig iBlaster Orb: scratches.
saucer of sound. • Dual Electronics’
XDVD8182 ($699,
www.dualav.com) is an in-dash mobile
SHAREWARE PICK OF THE MONTH ON THE video receiver for cars. It has an iPod
DISC interface cable that lets you play your
Fission www.rogueamoeba.com $32 Fission 1.0.0 iPod’s music, videos, and pictures
through the XDVD8182.

E diting MP3 audio usually means converting it to AIFF and then recompressing it
back to MP3. Unfortunately, this process creates a generational loss in fidelity. To
the rescue comes Rogue Amoeba’s Fission, which lets you slice and dice MP3s (and
• Excalibur Electronics’ iBlaster Orb
($79.95, www.excaliburelectronics.net)
is a speaker stand that charges your iPod
AAC, Apple Lossless, and AIFF files) and save them without taking the audio-quality while it’s docked; it’s available in black,
hit.—Andrew Tokuda blue, green, orange, red, and white.
• Griffin Technology’s iKaraoke (price
TBD, www.griffintechnology.com) is a
microphone that plugs into your iPod
so you can sing along with your songs.
It can fade the existing vocals of your
music into the background, and it has an
FM radio transmitter so you can play the
audio over your stereo.
Let’s say there’s a 2 Using the Select tool, 3 Before you save this bit of • JVC’s RA-P10 ($129.95, www.jvc.com)
memorable quotation on an click and drag over the audio, go into the Preferences is a portable radio alarm clock with an
MP3 podcast that you want portion of audio you want dialog (under Fission in the iPod dock. It measures a foot long and
to crop and save. Launch to crop. Fission lets you menubar) and make sure the less than three inches tall, and also has
Fission and click the Open scrub the audio so you Fade Around Cuts value is set a room thermometer.
Audio File icon to open can hear it as you drag the to 0.0; otherwise, the resulting • Sonnet’s Volta ($69.95, www
the podcast. selection crosshairs. Click audio will have a fade at the .sonnettech.com) is a battery adapter
the Crop button to delete beginning and end. You’ll only for video-capable iPods that, combined
the unselected audio. need to do this once. with a charged iPod, increases the total
video playtime up to 16 hours, or up to
4 Finally, click the Save Audio button to save the 80 hours of music listening.
audio clip. In addition to podcasts, Fission is great • V-Moda’s Bass Fréq ($50, http://shop
for concert recordings, vinyl LP rips, and any audio .v-moda.com) and Remix Metal Class
you might want to trim or split into smaller clips. ($50) earbuds are available in several
different colors.—Michelle Victoria

16 December 2006
 I’m an APC. I protect Macs.

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MacAddict_120106.indd 1 10/10/2006 4:29:20 PM

18 GET INFO
the news of the month in bite-size chunks

It’s not
iPOD CASE
Bug of the Month IMAX, but
it’s cuter. OF THE MONTH
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
FIX EMBEDDED MEDIA IN
SAFARI

D on’t you just hate it when you

can’t get a QuickTime or Flash
file on a Web site to work? You have
the proper plug-ins installed, so
what’s the deal?
QUICKTIME To fix a QuickTime-
FLIP MOVIES It’s a case
related problem with Safari, quit
Safari and look in the /Library/
INTO BOOKS and a
battery.
Internet Plug-Ins folder (this is the
Library folder at the root level of
your hard drive, not the one inside
F lipClips (www.flipclips.com) is a
service that can take those short
videos you shoot with your digital
your Users/user name folder). Try camera and convert them into flip iLuv’s i603 and i604 (both $64.95,
removing the VLC Plugin.plugin books. Flip through the pages quickly www.i-luv.com) are silicone cases
(if you have it) and QuickTime and you can see the motion of with supplemental rechargeable
Plugin.plugin files from this folder, your movie. batteries. The i603 is for the 30GB
and then relaunch Safari. If the You can use movies formatted in 5G iPod and provides up to 42
problem isn’t fixed, a different plug- QuickTime, AVI, DV, MPEG-4, and a few additional hours of power. The i604
in may be to blame. Keep removing other formats. You upload the movie fits the 60GB 5G iPod and gives you
files from this folder (start with any (the maximum file size is 25MB) and 55 more hours.—Michelle Victoria
third-party plug-ins that are present) choose one of three different formats: a
SUBMIT YOUR CASE Whether your iPod case is a
until the problem disappears. 3.5-by-2-inch Flip Book ($8.99), a 4.25- custom-made one-off or mass produced, you can submit
Replace the plug-ins that don’t by-3.25-inch Greeting Card ($10.99), it for Case of the Month consideration—just send it to
iPod Case of the Month, MacAddict, 4000 Shoreline Ct.,
cause any problems. or a 4.5-by-3-inch Story Book ($18.99). Ste. 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080. Please note
FLASH The most common Flash FlipClips also offers bulk pricing if you that we cannot return cases.

problem is that the audio doesn’t want multiple copies.—Roman Loyola

work, usually caused by an
erroneous Audio Output setting.
Here’s the fix.
1. Launch Audio MIDI Setup APERTURE, PHOTOSHOP
(/Applications/Utilities).
2. Click the Audio Devices tab at the
LIGHTROOM GET UPDATES
top of the window.
3. In the Properties For pull-down
menu, select Built-in Audio.
A pple recently released Aperture
1.5 ($299, www.apple.com), a free
upgrade for current Aperture owners.
include onscreen controls for
Aperture’s Loupe, Edge Sharpen
controls, and more.
4. Change the Audio Output > Format And at the same time, Adobe announced Photoshop Lightroom (née
setting to 44100.0Hz. a new free beta 4 release of Photoshop Lightroom) features several interface
5. Quit Audio MIDI Setup. Lightroom (http://labs.adobe.com/ enhancements, including a redesigned
6. Quit and relaunch Safari. technologies/lightroom). toolbar and filmstrip additions. Many of
ROSETTA If you have an Intel-based In version 1.5, Aperture now has the new features are a result of Adobe’s
Mac, running Safari in Rosetta can flexible library management, which lets acquisition of Pixmantec’s RawShooter
also resolve some plug-in issues. you store your photos wherever you software, which specialized in handling
First quit the app if it’s open, and want—including on external drives—and photos in RAW format. The Photoshop
then, in your Applications folder, not just in the Lightroom beta
select Safari and press Command- unified database 4 is scheduled to
I. In the General area of the Safari that pervious expire February
Info dialog that appears (click the versions of 28, 2007.
disclosure triangle if this area is not Aperture used. —Roman Loyola
already expanded), select Open Color controls
Using Rosetta, and then close the have been Aperture 1.5
Safari Info dialog. Relaunch Safari. expanded. Other is a Universal
new features application.

18 December 2006
Left

Left
Right

Right
Shop
Like a Pro
Can’t-Fail Strategies for
Successful Shopping
by Roman Loyola, Rik Myslewski, Rick Oldano, and Andrew Tokuda
Photography by Mark Madeo

M
acs are easy. Shopping for one, however, can be hard. Whether you’re in the
market for a digital camera or camcorder, a printer, or even a humble hard
drive, you have to wade through a welter of specs—and sometimes it’s hard to
figure out which information you should care about and which you should ignore.
Luckily, we’re here to help. We’ll arm you with all the info you need to make an
informed purchase, including the specs you need to know about, what to do when
shopping, and which questions to ask those carnivorous salesfolk.
We’ve also rounded up a slew of our favorite products, and divided them up into
three categories:
QUALITY These items are among the best available; you can’t go wrong.
VALUE Want to save a few bucks and still get a great product? Here y’go.
STYLE Sometimes elegant design trumps quality and value.
So before you take the plunge and drop a few hundred bucks or more on your next
techno-toy, read on. Buyer’s remorse will soon be a thing of the past.

22 December 2006
Point-and-Shoot Cameras
You could spend a thousand dollars or more on a digital SLR camera, but do you really need that much photo power and
flexibility? You can take great pictures and make 8-by-10-inch prints from the image files created by a simple, easy-to-use
point-and-shoot camera. Even better, you’ll only need to shell out a fraction of the cash.—Rick Oldano

Important Specs Ask the Salesperson

VIEWFINDER Does the camera have an optical viewfinder, or do HOW MANY SHOTS WILL THE MEMORY CARD HOLD? The
you have to frame the picture on the LCD display before you shoot? number of pictures you can store on the included flash memory
While some of the newer point-and-shoot cameras have only an card will often be quite small. Ask how much additional cards cost.
LCD display, using it exclusively can drain the batteries faster, and
the screen can be difficult to see in strong sunlight.
ZOOM Check the camera’s optical zoom rating—the larger that Our Recommendations
number, the greater you can magnify the image. Ignore digital
QUALITY
zoom ratings; using a digital zoom degrades image quality, so PowerShot S3 IS
enlarge your picture, if need be, in an image-editing app. $399.99 Canon www.canon.com
ISO RATING Look for a camera with an adjustable ISO setting that 800-652-2666
One capability to get thrilled over
ranges up to 800 or more. Increasing the camera’s light sensitivity in this feature-filled bargain is
will enable you to shoot in dark situations, though image quality may image stabilization, which allows
degrade due to increased image noise. you to pay less attention to
camera jiggle and more attention
CONNECTION You’ll want to get to your pictures quickly, either to getting the perfect shot.
on your Mac via a USB 2.0 connection or directly to any PictBridge-
compatible printer—if, of course, the camera is PictBridge-
compatible. Don’t forget, however, that a card reader attached to VALUE
your Mac will likely be the fastest form of image output. Exilim EX-Z60
$249.99 Casio www.casio.com
800-836-8580
When You’re Shopping This little beauty fits in your shirt
HOLD THE CAMERA Be sure that the camera you’re considering pocket without sacrificing too
many features or image quality.
fits comfortably in your hands and that all its controls are easy to On a price-per-feature basis, it’s
reach. A camera may win a design competition, but if it’s clumsy, a great bargain—just be sure your
shirt pocket has a button on it.
bulky, or too tiny, or if it’s difficult to reach the shutter release
button, you stand a good chance of missing the shot.
CHECK WAKE-UP TIME Just about every digital camera will go STYLE
to sleep on you if you don’t take a picture soon after the last one. D-LUX 3
Find out how quickly a camera will be ready for the next picture $599 Leica www.leica-camera
.com 800-222-0118
you want to take after it comes out of sleep. Throw a switch and this beauty
CHECK SHUTTER LAG You see the picture of a lifetime as records in one of three aspect
your pet poodle crosses the finish line at a Flyball competition. ratios. Also, its 2.8-inch TFT LCD
monitor will ensure that you can
Will the camera you’re considering take that memorable picture see what your image will look
immediately? That is, how long will it take to snap the shot after like without needing to squint.
you press the shutter release?

Digital SLR Cameras

Flexibility is the key word when considering a digital SLR (single lens reflex, meaning you view the image to be shot
directly through the lens, not through a separate viewfinder or on an LCD). You have numerous options when it comes to
interchangeable lenses, which range from ultra–wide angle to super-zoom telephoto. Many SLRs have large, high-quality
image-capturing chips plus sophisticated image-processing electronics—these advantages generate superior images than
those shot by point-and-shoot cameras.—RO

Important Specs better your control over light and focus.

FOCUS AND METERING POINTS Most digital SLRs have several IMAGE-CAPTURING CHIP SIZE Digital SLRs generally contain
focus and light-metering points, selectable on a shot-by-shot larger CCD or CMOS imagers than point-and-shoot cameras, with
basis. You can focus or meter on objects in the foreground or the larger per-pixel areas. These larger pixels generate images that suffer
background and still keep everything in the frame. In general, the less from excessive noise. The larger pixels are also more sensitive
more focus and metering points and the easier they are to select, the to light, thus providing the camera with an expanded ISO range.

December 2006 23
Shop Like a Pro

burst mode Digital SLRs have an image-capture burst mode how many pixels are actually used? Ask the salesperson
that mimics a film camera’s motor drive. You should be able to what the effective pixel count is. There are generally several
capture anywhere from three to five frames per second at high thousand pixels on the imager that are not used to capture an
resolution and have up to dozens of images stored in buffer image. For example, if a salesperson says the camera has 6 million
memory before the camera has to write images to the storage card. pixels, it may only have 5.5 million pixels that are actually used to
custom lenses Digital SLR manufacturers have begun to capture your image. Generally speaking, the more active pixels,
introduce new lenses that are specifically designed for digital the merrier.
cameras, which have an imaging area smaller than the size of how do I get this sucker fixed? Since many digital
a frame of 35mm film. These provide you with additional—and cameras are now being sold in stores other than camera shops,
generally less expensive—options for lens purchases. ask the salesperson that if your camera requires repair under
warranty, can you return it to that store or are you required to ship
When You’re Shopping it off to a repair facility yourself? Then ask who pays for shipping
don’t assume the camera comes with a lens while the camera is under warranty.
Remember, one of the greatest advantages that a digital SLR has
over a point-and-shoot is its use of interchangeable lenses. As Our Recommendations
with 35mm film SLR camera bodies, you will need to ask whether
the camera you are considering is sold as a “body only” or as a kit Quality
with one or more lenses. EOS Digital Rebel XTi
check the file formats Check to see in which file formats the $799.99 body only; $899.99
with 18mm-55mm, ƒ3.5-5.6 lens
camera will capture images. All cameras will generate JPEG-format Canon www.canon.com
files, but will the camera you’re interested in generate a TIFF or a 800-652-2666
This camera has features that
RAW file? How about both TIFF and RAW? Will it create a JPEG and were, until recently, only available
a RAW at the same time? That last combination ensures that you’ll on more expensive models.
get the highest-quality image (RAW) but still have the convenience
of a quick preview (JPEG).
invest in a decent flash While most cameras have a built-in Value
flash, a digital SLR will likely have an external hot shoe on top of EVOLT E-500
the viewfinder to let you mount an optional flash unit that’s vastly $699.99 body only; $799.99
with 14mm-45mm, ƒ3.5-5.6 lens
superior to the camera’s built-in flash. Find out what flash units are Olympus www.olympus.com
available, their prices, and their effective ranges, and then invest 888-553-4448
This is a great camera at a great
in one that meets your needs. price, with a selection of high-
ask about accessories Inquire as to what other optional quality lenses that produce equally
equipment or accessories will work with the camera you select. high-quality images.
These could range from several macrophotography options to
remote-control actuators. Style
D80
Ask the Salesperson $999.95 body only; $1,199.95
with 18mm-55mm, ƒ3.5-5.6 lens
what lenses are available? Ask the salesperson to show
Nikon www.nikonusa.com
you how many lenses are available for your camera body. The 800-645-6687
salesperson should at least be able to show you a catalog or This camera’s image-processing
engine is similar to the ones in
brochure that shows the full ranges of lenses and whether they all Nikon’s pro-level—and much
fit this camera body. If you already own some pricey lenses, make more expensive—D200 and D2X.
sure they work with the SLR you’re considering (duh...).

Photo-Quality Printers
If all you ever plan to print are snapshots, skip on ahead to our “Snapshot Printers” section (p26). But to display your
photographic skills in all their radiant glory, nothing beats a good photo-quality printer. If you want to frame your work, we
recommend shopping for a printer that can output at least tabloid-sized photos; trust us, the extra cash will be worth it when
you contentedly admire your artistry from across the room.—Roman Loyola

Important Specs shot you want to hang on the wall, go with pigment inks. Dye-
dye or Pigment Ink isn’t just ink; there are two basic kinds. based inks are fine for more-casual use, however. For best results,
Dye-based inks are more affordable than pigment-based ink, but use paper types recommended by the printer’s manufacturer—the
dye-based inks fade faster. For photo archives or that gorgeous ink and paper work together to give you the best results.

24 December 2006
Digital Video Cameras
When it comes to digital video, there are two types of users: Vacation videographers want a camera that’s portable and
easy to use, while digital filmmakers use their cameras to make the next blockbuster movie. Consumer-level cameras are
available for members of both camps, but it’s important to know which features are important for whom.—Andrew Tokuda

Important Specs
MiniDV or HDV with FireWire Say no to DVD and hard-disk- the salesperson will probably steer you toward a camcorder that’s
based camcorders—they don’t use a video format that’s friendly going to give him a better commission, or claim that a camera is
with iMovie or Final Cut. Choose a camera that uses MiniDV or Mac friendly, not knowing any better.
HDV. Also, say no to USB; Apple apps require FireWire. Can I try out some accessories? Ask to try out
3CCD A three-CCD camcorder uses three separate charge-coupled accessories that are tailored for the specific camera you’re
devices, or CCDs, to capture the red, green, and blue colors of investigating; you can see firsthand what a wide-angle adapter
an image, which provides better-quality images than that of a does or how an external microphone sounds.
single-CCD camcorder. If you have a discerning eye for good picture
quality, pay the extra bucks for a 3CCD camera. You won’t regret it. Our Recommendations
Microphone Jack Budding pros soon discover that the sound
is just as important as the image. A camera with a microphone jack Quality
will allow you to connect an external mike for better sound control Panasonic AG-DVC20
and less camera noise infecting your shot. $1,595 Panasonic www
.panasonic.com 800-405-0652
Built-In Light Built-in lights are good for shooters who only use This camera has a bigger lens
their cameras for fun, but are of little use when it comes to digital than most consumer camcorders,
three CCDs that give it great
filmmaking—unless your goal is that Blair Witch Project look. color, and a shoulder mount to
Manual CONTROLS If you have a creative eye, you’ll want provide stability and comfort.
control of focus, exposure, and white balance. A camera with
these manual-control options provides creative control, while its
automatic setting will keep things easy for vacation videos. Value
Panasonic PV-GS300
When You’re Shopping $599.95 Panasonic www
.panasonic.com 800-405-0652
caress the camcorder Hold each camera, feel its weight, Panasonic lets you dip your toes
and see how easy it is for your fingers to reach all the controls. into pro-quality waters by offering
this relatively low-cost three-CCD
Some cameras let you use larger batteries, which provide more camera. It also has optical image
recording time but add weight. stabilization, a technology that’s
Look at the LCD Anticipate how the camcorder’s LCD monitor superior to digital interpolation.
will look in broad daylight. Some stores might let you take the
cameras outside—it’s worth asking, at least. Style
try both touchscreen and button controls Some Sony HDR-HC3
cameras have touch-screen controls on the LCD, while others are $1,399.99 Sony www
.sonystyle.com 877-865-7669
controlled by buttons and dials. LCD-based controls may offer This camera records in both
more features, but hardware controls are quicker to access. 1080i HDV and Standard
Definition DV using standard
MiniDV tape. Along with its
Ask the Salesperson versatility, it’s got that inimitable
Are you a Mac user? It’s best to rely on your own at-home Sony sleekness.
research, especially as a Mac user, because when you go shopping

Media handling Most photo-quality printers can handle involves just the physical print time; it doesn’t include any image
sizes ranging from 4 by 6 inches to 8 by 10 inches. Some can processing your Mac needs to perform.
handle roll-fed media, handy for printing mass quantities or Connectivity Your Mac connects to most printers via USB,
landscapes. Epson inkjets are the only printers in this category though some printers offer a FireWire option. Many photo
that can print directly on printable CDs and DVDs. Think outside printers also have a PictBridge connector; if your camera
the paper box, as well: Want to print on canvas? See if your supports PictBridge, you can connect it directly to the printer.
printer has a pass-through slot. Also, some printers have card slots, so you can take your
Speed Printers are rated at pages per minute (ppm)—the higher camera’s memory card, insert it into the printer, and print a
the ppm, the faster the printer. Look at this number carefully, picture. Cheaper printers won’t have these features—and serious
however, because vendors often state speed at draft mode hobbyists and pros would never print a photo without some
to convey better performance. Also, the rated speed usually preliminary Photoshop work.

December 2006 25
Shop Like a Pro

Print Quality We’re talkin’ photo printers, so they already Our Recommendations
have the resolution needed to print photos. Don’t get bogged
down by resolution banter. However, high-priced printers do Quality
tend to create better-looking pictures—they either have higher Stylus Photo R2400
resolutions, use more than the basic cyan-yellow-magenta-black $849.99 Epson www.epson.com
800-463-7766
inkset, or both. Epson’s killer Stylus Photo R2400, for example, This surprisingly compact printer
uses nine different ink cartridges. produces gorgeous color photos
and jaw-dropping black-and-
white photos with a maximum
When You’re Shopping print size of 13 by 44 inches.
Print your picture Don’t settle for store-supplied print
samples—they’re tricked out to the max. Print what’s familiar;
bring your own picture with you on a CD, flash drive, or on your Value
camera, and print it at the store. Call first to find out if they’ll let Stylus Photo R260
you; if not, go someplace else. $129.99 Epson www.epson.com
800-463-7766
Get experience Play with the printer’s controls. Investigate A nice combination of speed, image
the available options in the driver software. Listen to the quality, features, and price, this
little guy has built-in automatic
printer while it’s at work. Watch the paper feed to make sure color correction, tools for fixing
it’s running smoothly. If something feels—or sounds—not right, red eye, PictBridge, support for
look elsewhere. CD/DVD printing, and more.

Ask the Salesperson Style

Where are the print heads? They’re either built into the Pixma iP1700
printer, built into the ink cartridge, or they’re a separate unit from $49.99 Canon www.canon.com
800-652-2666
the ink. You may need to replace the print head if you print high While it’s missing several
volumes, so it helps to know what you need to replace: the ink features (hey, whaddaya expect
cartridge, the print head itself, or the entire printer. for 50 bucks?), this looker has
an 8.5-by-11-inch print area and
Do I need a cable? Some printers don’t include a USB cable, uses a combined color cartridge
so prepare to add an extra $10 to the price. You’ll most likely need and a black ink cartridge.
an A-plug-to-B-plug USB cable.

Snapshot Printers
Unless you’re planning to frame your prints, a snapshot
Our Recommendations
Quality
printer may be all you need. Most of these li’l gems can Photosmart A716
crank out standard-size 4-by-6-inch or 5-by-7-inch prints $249.99 HP www.hp.com
800-752-0900
quickly, easily, and affordably—and they’ll save you a trip to This little box prints gorgeous
your local Walgreens.—RL 4-by-6s and 5-by-7s, lets you do
minor image edits, has 4GB of
storage, and supports Bluetooth
Important Specs printing from phones and PDAs.
Ink or dye sub? Most snapshot printers use inkjet technology,
but some use dye sublimation. Dye subs produce a better range
of colors and continuous tones, but the per-image media and dye- Value
ribbon costs of using a dye sub is usually higher than that of an PictureMate Pal - PM 200
inkjet printer. $149.99 Epson www.epson.com
800-463-7766
Portability These printers are made for toting, so look for This printer with an LCD display
carrying handles or cases, portable power supplies and batteries, can print 4-by-6-inch photos
from your memory card or via a
and light weight. PictBridge connection. For no-
Connectivity If you’re printing on the go, you’ll be connecting nonsense picture printing, the
your camera directly to your snapshot printer, so look for PictureMate Pal is a great deal.
PictBridge connectivity with your digital camera. Also, look for
card slots, so you can take your camera’s memory card, insert it
into the printer, and print a picture. Style
LCD Many snapshot printers have full-color LCDs that let you HiTi Photo Printer S400
preview the image you’re about to print, and built-in software that $249 Hi-Touch
www.hitouchimaging.com
allows you to make minor image edits. Lower-priced snapshot 909-974-0099
printers won’t have an LCD. This gorgeous dye-sub printer
keeps dust out of its insides
so that you don’t get annoying
26 December 2006 specks in your prints.
When You’re Shopping Ask the Salesperson
Bring your camera Make sure it’s full of pics—remove the What’s the price per page? Extrapolate the cost of
risqué ones first, unless Aunt Eloise is an exhibitionist. Connect consumables per printed page and compare it to the cost of
your camera to the printer and print a few samples. You’ll not only using a professional photo processor. The typical cost per page
see the printer’s image quality, but also get hands-on experience for a snapshot printer is about $.25 per print. You can get prices
on how easy—or difficult—the printer is to use. as low as $.16 per print at a service bureau, but that doesn’t
Carry it If you plan to travel with the printer, close it up and consider the value of time and convenience—which only you
carry it. Also, check to see if a protective case is available. The can put a price on.
printer shouldn’t be unwieldy, too heavy, or have important parts Are print packs available? Many snapshot-printer
unprotected. Don’t forget to consider the power adapter, paper, manufacturers sell packs, which include paper and ink, that
ink, and other accessories you’ll want to pack. make it easier to refill your printer.

SOHO Printers
For your small office (SO) or home office (HO), you want a printer that can output a large number of prints per month (a
spec called its duty cycle). You also want crisp text—laser printers excel at this—and don’t care as much about stunning
photographic output. After all, a fine photo-quality printer is overkill for a simple Excel chart.—RL

Important Specs
Inkjet or laser? Laser printers continue to drop in price; Where’s the pass-through slot? A pass-through slot on
monochrome laser printers are now exceptional bargains. Inkjet a printer allows envelopes, labels, and other media to go straight
printers are affordable but unsuitable for high-volume printing through the printer, instead of curling through the standard path
and generally not as good at plain-text printing as lasers are. used for plain paper. No pass-through path? That printer will
Speed Stated in pages per minute (ppm). Make sure you’re have trouble printing envelopes and labels, let alone that poster
comparing numbers tracked at similar print qualities—the you want to print on card stock.
optimal speeds stated by many inkjet vendors are often based
on printing in low-resolution draft mode. Laser printers are faster Our Recommendations
than inkjet printers but are usually more expensive.
Resolutions Usually stated in dots per inch (dpi). The higher Quality
the resolution, the better the image quality. Basic laser printers magicolor 2530 DL
have a standard resolution of 600 by 600 dpi, which works fine $399 Konica Minolta
http://printer.konicaminolta.net
for text and business graphics. 800-523-2696
Connectivity If it’s just you, your Mac, and your printer, This affordable color laser has
USB, Ethernet, and PictBridge,
you’re fine with USB. But if you have multiple Macs, look for and is rated at 5 ppm for color
Ethernet or wireless connectivity. and 20 ppm for monochrome.
Media handling Save yourself from irritating “printer out of
paper” messages by making sure the printer has a large enough
paper capacity to suit your needs. Value
HL-2070N
When You’re Shopping $149.99 Brother www.brother-
usa.com 800-284-4329
Print it Copy a text file, a slide presentation, and a This li’l monochrome laser printer
spreadsheet to a CD or flash drive, and print them at the store. produces crisp text and excellent
grayscale graphics. Rated at 20
Don’t rely on in-store print samples—they be cheatin’. Use ppm, it has a 250-sheet paper
documents you’re familiar with—if you created a doc, you know tray, Ethernet, USB, and 16MB of
how it should look. memory—all for 150 bucks. Damn.
Touch and listen Try opening the printer and replacing the
toner or ink cartridges to see how difficult it is to do so. Also, Style
listen to the printer as it prints—you don’t want to wake your Pixma iP90
housemates during your late-night print sessions. $249.99 Canon www.canon.com
800-652-2666
The portable inkjet iP90 is rated
Ask the Salesperson at 16 ppm for monochrome
Is there a Mac driver? Some vendors don’t include their prints and 12 ppm for color—just
make sure to bring some extra
Mac-compatible driver software in the box; you’ll have to ink along with you, since its
download it from the Web. Other vendors don’t even have Mac cartridges are on the small side.
drivers. Stay away from them.

December 2006 27
Shop Like a Pro

Multifunction Printers
Desk space is a valuable commodity; wouldn’t it be nice to have a single device act as your scanner, copier, printer, and fax
machine? That’s the job of a multifunction printer, aka MFP or all-in-one. Once derided as jacks-of-all-trades but masters of
none, these versatile space-savers have improved greatly in recent years. If you’re strapped for space, give them a look.—RL

Important Specs scanner specs, ignore interpolated resolution numbers—they’re

multifunction Speed Stated in pages per minute (ppm). total digital BS.
Make sure you’re comparing numbers tracked at similar print Memory MFPs use memory to store pages, whether you’re
qualities—many MFP vendors state their printers’ speeds faxing, copying, or printing them. The more memory in the MFP,
based on printing in low-resolution draft mode. Also, remember the faster it will perform.
that although laser printers are faster than inkjet printers, Media handling If you have multipage documents, look for
they’re more expensive. Finally, note that although one MFP automatic feeders for the scanner and copier. If your office is small
may be fast at printing, it can be dog-slow at faxing, scanning, but busy, you might need additional paper bins. You also need to
and copying. consider duplex handling (automatic printing on both sides of the
Resolutions Usually stated in dots per inch (dpi). The higher same sheet of paper).
the resolution, the better the image quality. Most low-cost laser
printers have a standard resolution of 600 by 600 dpi, which When You’re Shopping
works fine for text and business graphics. Look for scanner print samples Take a typical file that you use, put it on a CD
resolutions of at least 1,200 by 2,400 dpi. When looking at or flash drive, and print it at the store. While you’re at it, make a

External Hard Drives

Sooner or later, you’re going to run out of space on your Mac’s internal drive. Sooner or later, you’re going to begin a
conscientious daily backup regimen. Sooner or later, that is, you’re going to find yourself shopping for an external hard drive.
Luckily, the hard-drive industry is a mature one, with nearly uniformly fast drive mechanisms, constantly improving reliability,
and perpetually sinking costs. There are, however, a few things you need to keep in mind while shopping.—Rik Myslewski

Important Specs blazingly fast, but you’ll need to equip your Mac with an eSATA
capacity Buy the largest-capacity drive you can afford, but it’s card to connect one, because no Macs have built-in eSATA ports.
best to avoid the absolute largest-capacity drives available. Top-
capacity drives use the latest technology—drives of lesser capacity When You’re Shopping
have had more time for their engineers to tweak their reliability. check for a fan Most desktop drives put the power supply
seek time How fast a drive’s read/write head can get to the outside the case so that they don’t require a noisy cooling fan.
data you need is called its seek time. While this was once an Some higher-capacity drives—such as those that contain more
important factor in drive performance, most drives now have such than one drive mechanism—need an internal fan to cool things
speedy access times that you won’t notice the difference in minor down. Make sure that the fan’s noise won’t bother you.
variations of this spec. check for durability Your external desktop drive will simply
cache size Modern drives include memory caches that allow sit safely on your desk, but make sure the portable drive you
them to store data that they think you may search for next, and to select is properly ruggedized, preferably with shock-absorbing
give data from your Mac a place to wait while the drive writes it materials either on its case or inside, protecting the drive
to disk. While a large cache can help the performance of a drive mechanism. Portable or desktop, metal cases can also help to
as it reads or writes small bits of information—database access, keep a drive mechanism cool.
for example—it’s of lesser importance if your work streams large
amounts of data from the same file, such as in video, audio, or Ask the Salesperson
large-image work. What’s your restocking fee? As with any purchase other
rotational speed This one’s easy: The faster a drive’s platters than a Coke from your office vending machine, always ask about a
spin, the faster the read/write head can get to the information you vendor’s return policies. Some drive vendors charge a hefty fee if
need, and the faster it can provide that data to your Mac. you need to return a drive. While this is a perfectly reasonable way
connection type Most of today’s external drives connect to for them to keep their costs—and, therefore, their prices—low, it
your Mac in one of four ways. In ascending order of performance, can be a stone drag if the drive you receive is a lemon.
these are USB 2.0, FireWire 400, FireWire 800, and eSATA. If your Is the bundled software Mac-compatible? Many drive
Mac has a FireWire 800 port, buy a FireWire 800 drive, but don’t manufacturers include a software bundle to sweeten the deal.
expect it to perform twice as fast as a FireWire 400 drive; think 30 Unfortunately, however, some of the software may not be Mac-
or 40 percent faster, at best. Drives with eSATA connections are compatible—security software, for example, is often PC-only.

28 December 2006
 Our Recommendations
Quality
AcuLaser CX11NF
$799.99 Epson www.epson.com
800-463-7766
This color laser MFP is fast,
feature-rich, and produces
nice-looking output. It has a 180-
sheet paper tray and a 50-sheet
copy of your print, scan it, and print the scan. Determine image auto-feeder for copies and scans.
quality using your own documents, not the ones provided at
the store.
Poke and prod Try as many of the MFP’s features as you
can. It would really be a bummer to take home a MFP with a slow Value
copying feature that you didn’t expect, or one for which it’s a MFC-240C
bear to replace the consumables. $99.99 Brother www.brother-
usa.com 800-284-4329
This way-inexpensive four-color
Ask the Salesperson inkjet MFP has memory-card slots
for printing photos from your
What’s the return policy? This may sound obvious,
digital camera, a 100-sheet paper
but considering that your MFP does many things, your chances tray, and a 10-sheet auto-feeder.
are higher that something will break. Most resellers will charge
a restocking fee, even if you return your MFP under a generous
warranty. Style
Does it fax? In this emailed world, fax is quickly becoming Pixma MP960
an afterthought, and it’s often excluded in order to cut costs. If $399.99 Canon www.canon.com
800-652-2666
you need fax, be sure the MFP you’re considering has it—don’t This sleek six-color inkjet has
assume fax capabilities. PictBridge and 35mm-slide-
scanning support. Although the
MP960 is designed for photo
printing, it also has the speed
you need for your business docs.

Our Recommendations
DESKTOP DRIVES PORTABLE DRIVES
Quality Quality
Big Disk Extreme with Triple ToughTech mini
Interface $343.95 (100GB) WiebeTech www
$619.99 (1TB) LaCie www.lacie .wiebetech.com 866-744-8722
.com 503-844-4500 The ToughTech mini has FireWire
This solidly built two-mechanism 800, FireWire 400, and USB 2.0
drive has a rugged case, FireWire ports and comes with your choice
400, FireWire 800, and USB 2.0 of a variety of fast SATA drives; we
ports. Although it has an internal recommend getting yours with a
fan, it’s a quiet, intelligent one. 100GB, 7,200 rpm mechanism.

Value
Value
Neptune FireWire Drive Mercury On-The-Go
Enclosure $164.99 (120GB) Other World
$44.95 Other World Computing Computing www.macsales.com
www.macsales.com 800-275-4576 800-275-4576
You read that price right—but Many configurations are available
realize that you’re paying only for for this drive; we like the price/
the FireWire 400–equipped case; performance balance of the 120GB,
you’ll need to supply and install FireWire 400, 5,400 rpm model.
your own drive (an easy task).

Style Style
My Book Pro Edition SimpleDrive Portable Storage
$349.99 (500GB) Western Digital $99.99 (40GB) SimpleTech www
www.wdc.com 949-672-7000 .simpletech.com 800-367-7330
This 7,200 rpm, 500GB drive Yes, it is possible for a hard drive
includes FireWire 800, FireWire to be sexy, as this Pininfarina-
400, and USB 2.0 ports; a hyper- designed cutie proves—but it’s
sturdy case; and a ring of blue not perfect: It has a poky USB
LEDs that indicate the amount of 2.0 connection and its bundled
drive space you’ve used. StorageSync software is PC-only.

Rick Oldano has been a pro photographer longer than he cares to admit, Andrew Tokuda’s video-production business is going December 2006 29
gangbusters, Roman Loyola has reviewed printers since the early ’90s, and Rik Myslewski is fascinated by spinning storage thingies.
SUR
PR
Nine things
you may not
know about
your Mac

ISE!
by Niko Coucouvanis,
Logan Kugler, and
Rik Myslewski

Everyone has
secrets—even your
Mac. Well, “secrets”
may be too strong a
word; how does “little-
known talents” work
for you? Did you know
that your Mac can
help you create new
keyboard shortcuts in
most apps? That it can
proofread—out loud?
Are you familiar with
its security tricks? Its
self-repair skills? Come
along with us as we not all be new to you, but a couple of times—and that ON THE
uncover some of your we’re willing to wager that by the next time you approach DISC
Mac’s more exotic page 36 you’ll have said “I your beloved Mac, it will be AppZapper 1.7.0
Maintidget 1.1

capabilities. They may didn’t know that!” more than with even more respect.

December 2006 31
SURS
SURPRISE!
You Can Create Your Own Keyboard Shortcuts

Y
our Mac’s mouse is great and all Keyboard shortcuts are great productivity
that, but reaching and clicking can
be a time sink. Luckily, your Mac has
boosters—especially when you create your own.
a riot of keyboard shortcuts just waiting to
enhance your productivity. For example, did you know that pull-down menu, choose the application that you want
you can instantly access any application’s Preferences by to create a keyboard shortcut for and then type the exact

R
pressing Command-, (comma), or open a selected folder and name of the menu command that you want shortcutted.
all its subfolders in List view by pressing Option-Command- For example, if you want to create a shortcut for Save As in

P US
Right Arrow? Now you do—and you can discover many more Word, you need to add the ellipsis after As (i.e., Save As…).
such time savers in Apple’s tech note number 75459; check Then click your cursor in the Shortcut field and enter the
it out at the euphoniously named http://docs.info.apple key-combination you want to use. Click the Add button and
.com/article.html?artnum=75459. you’ve just programmed a keyboard shortcut; the next time
Even better, if you you open that app, it’ll have your new shortcut. (Disclaimer:
don’t find a shortcut In our experience, this technique works with most apps, but
for the action you want not all, and sometimes we had to first open and close the
shortcutted, you can create menu that the command was in before the new keyboard
your own. Launch System command would activate.)
Preferences > Keyboard & To remove a keyboard shortcut, scroll to the bottom of the
Mouse. Click the Keyboard list in System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Keyboard
Shortcuts tab and then Shortcuts, where you’ll find a section entitled Application
Click Add, and Microsoft Word click the plus-sign icon at Keyboard Shortcuts. Select the shortcut you want to cut
will display the Save As pane the bottom left. A pane will short and click the minus-sign icon; the next time you open
when you press Control-S. drop; in its Application the app it’s related to, the shortcut will have vanished.

YouR MAC CAN repair itself

L
ike you, any computer benefits from Third-party disk utilities can be a godsend, but first

RISE!R
good hygiene practices, but your
Mac brings its own toothbrush—it’s
let your Mac try to heal itself.
called Disk Utility (/Applications). Simply
using it to repair disk permissions fixes a surprising number select your recalcitrant startup volume, click the First Aid
of problems. To do so, Launch Disk Utility, select your startup tab if need be, and then click Repair Disk. Don’t mess with
volume in the list on the left, click the First Aid tab if it doesn’t permissions this way—that install disc doesn’t know what
auto-select, then click Repair Disk Permissions, and wait until files have permissions for what. Run Repair Disk twice, first
the process is completed. (Skip the Verify Disk Permissions on the volume and then on the drive it’s on.
button—why bother if you want to repair them anyway?) You’ll You can repair a volume without your Mac OS X install
notice that you can’t repair permissions on volumes that don’t disc, but it requires a trip to your Mac’s pure-Unix
have Mac OS X installed on them. So, who said life is fair? command-line interface: a dark, scary place where there’s
You also have help for more-serious problems, such as no Command-Z undo and you have to use your fingers for
your Mac refusing to start up at all, and that help is again typing, not pointing the mouse. Ready? Shut down your Mac,
Disk Utility—but we’re then start it back up. As soon as you hear the startup chime,
talking about the copy press Command-S to enter Single-User mode. A Unix prompt
on the Mac OS X install will eventually appear—if you get stuck in a cascading loop
disc that came with of repetitive text, press Return once or thrice, and the prompt
your Mac. Put that disc should appear. You’re now deep in the unprotected bowels
in your Mac’s optical of Unix—don’t get fancy, because one false move could bring
drive, and then start disaster. Instead, just type /sbin/fsck -fy and press
up while pressing the Return (fsck stands for file system check). Your Mac will run
C key—and be patient, a rather lengthy checkup on itself, and then, if anything’s
since starting up from wrong, it will let you know and take a whack at fixing things.
the optical drive takes When it informs you that all’s well, it never hurts to type
time. Select Utilities > /sbin/fsck -fy and press Return again, just to make sure.
Disk Utility reports that this drive Disk Utility; when When both you and your Mac are happy, type Reboot, press
was only mildly unhealthy. Disk Utility launches, Return, and you’ll return to the good ol’ Mac OS X interface.

32 December 2006
RSPU
M
Mac OS X Has a Solid Built-in Word Processor

ac OS X includes a surprisingly
capable word-processing app:
TextEdit (/Applications). Here are
just a few of our favorite TextEdit tricks;
Once merely a replacement for the venerable
SimpleText, TextEdit is now all grown up.
more can be discovered in its Help system—and yes, TextEdit
can save in Word’s .doc file format.
Styles In the Styles drop-down menu in TextEdit’s Ruler,
you can choose from five predefined styles. Or create your
want, choose both horizontal and vertical alignment, merge
and split cells, nest tables in tables, and choose both
background and border color, plus border thickness.
Lists Creating bulleted and numbered lists is easy, too.

US !P
own and add it to the list by selecting text in that style, Type your list, select it, and then choose the type of list you
selecting Other in the Styles drop-down menu, and clicking want from the List menu in the Ruler. You can also add text or
Add To Favorites. You can also select text with all instances symbols as prefixes and suffixes to your numbers or bullets
of any style, change multiple instances, and more. by choosing Other in the List pull-down menu. Your creativity
Tables Making tables in TextEdit is as easy as pie. Choose will be limited to this document—your customized bullets or
Format > Text > Table, and numbers won’t appear in a new document’s Lists menu.
a table will appear; in its Properties You can identify and search for your TextEdit
first cell will be any text in documents using properties. Select File > Show Properties
the paragraph your cursor (or Command-Option-P). In the Document Properties dialog
is in, so if you want an that appears, you can add any and all the info you want
empty table, make sure to Spotlight to be able to search for. A few caveats: Keywords
press Return first. When must be separated by commas; properties don’t apply to
your table appears, so will plain-text files; and if you want to avoid the hassle of typing
It’s easy to customize your the Table palette, in which the Author, Company, and Copyright properties for each
bullet points in TextEdit’s Lists you can enter the number file, you can add them globally to each new document in
pull-down menu. of rows and columns you TextEdit > Preferences > New Document.

Your Mac Can Help You Proofread

S
Y
Your Mac can read you a story—which can be

!RU
ou may already know that your
Mac can talk to you; what you
may not know is how helpful its
mighty helpful if it’s one you wrote yourself.
text-to-speech powers can be when you
need to proofread a document. The reason this is so helpful Text To Speech tab. Click the Play button, and your Mac will
is simple: Studies have shown that when we read something begin to talk—what it says depends on the voice chosen in
over that we recently wrote ourselves, we often skip over a the System Voice drop-down menu. If the speech is close to
double word or an incorrectly placed word because we read unintelligible, choose a more realistic voice—we’re partial to
it the way we remember that we wanted it to be read. There Victoria and Bruce, but to each his or her own. You can also
are three solutions to this mind game: First, you could come choose how fast the voice speaks. Now check the box labeled
back to the document a couple of days later, after you forget Speak Selected Text When The Key Is Pressed, click the Set
what most of it says. Second, you could ask a friend or a Key button to set the key command you want to use to tell
coworker to proofread it for you. The third solution is the your Mac to start talking, and then close System Preferences.
quickest and easiest Now, if you want to listen to your Mac read a Word
of them all: Have document, simply select the text you want your Mac to read,
your Mac read your then press your chosen key command, and the recitation
document to you. will begin. If you’ve written your document in TextEdit, you
Before you turn your can either use the same method as you would in Word, or
Mac into an automated simply Control-click and choose Speech > Start Speaking in
proofreader, first the contextual menu that appears. Other apps sometimes
make sure that you’ll put their access to the Start/Stop Speaking commands in
be able to understand application name > Services > Speech. Experiment—most
it and that it’ll know text-employing apps can be made to speak up.
when you want it to By the way, text-to-speech is scheduled for a vast
start talking. Launch improvement in the next version of Mac OS X, Leopard,
Trust us—you do not want Hysterical System Preferences > which is scheduled for release in the spring of 2007. We
to proofread your documents! Speech and select the sentimentalists hope that Zarvox won’t be out of a job.

December 2006 33
SURS
SURPRISE!
EVEN YOUR MAC’S EYE CANDY IS USEFUL

D
ashboard. For many it’s a love or hate, Apple’s Dashboard widgets are a good start, but
or even a love/hate, relationship.
But it can make you a multifaceted
the true gems can be found on the Web.
Macster—for example, a weatherman, IT whiz,
mathematician, cartographer, and designer. With Dashboard can easily recite your current IP address, memory usage,
you can be all of that and more—but only if you know your uptime, CPU load, and more. (free, www.islayer.com)

R
widgets. Here’s a baker’s dozen of the best. 9. Mirror It’s just what you need to check your teeth after a
1. AirCompare Track down the best airfare prices. (free, spinach-salad lunch. (free, www.balooba.se)

P US
www.widgetizer.com) 10. PCalc Use this when your calculations just have to use
2. AirPort Radar Scan the ether for Wi-Fi signals—a must for Reverse Polish Notation—and for a whole lot more. ($19,
mobile ’Bookers. (free, www.macwireless.com) www.tla-systems.co.uk)
3. Blood Alcohol Content Calculator Admitting that this 11. Sunlit Earth It’s 11:00 p.m.—do you know where your sun is?
might be helpful to you is your first step toward recovery. (free, http://astronomy.physics.tamu.edu/Widget/SunlitEarth/)
(free, www.alexjacque.com/bac) 12. WeatherBug Local Weather We don’t need no steenkeen’
4. CNN News Widget All the news, all the time. (free, Weather Channel! (free, www.weatherbug.com)
www.ejectmedia.net) 13. YouTube Widget Get instant access to all the content
5. ColorBurn Get a new professionally designed four-color on the greatest thing since sliced bread. (free, www.sport-
palette each day, complete with hexadecimal values. (free, monkey.com)
www.firewheeldesign.com)
6. GMaps This unofficial interface for Google Maps may MAKE YOUR OWN WIDGET
inspire you to get out from behind your Mac once in a while. When Dashboard first appeared in April of 2005, making your
own widget wasn’t exactly easy. Today, with applications
(free, www.lokkju.com/blog/index such as Widget Maker X ($16.50, www.lajdesign.com) and
.php/category/projects/google-maps) Wcode ($15, www.widgetfactor.com), the task is much easier.
7. iCal Events And Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5) will include two technologies
The Blood Here’s one fewer to further improve the lives of widgeteers: Dashcode and
Web Clip. Dashcode is a widget-building tool that includes a
Alcohol excuse for missing
collection of widget templates into which you can drag RSS
Calculator says those important feeds, links, and the like to create your own custom, fully
it’s OK for our meetings. (free, functional widgets—it even includes a debugger. Web Clip is
editor-in-chief www.benkazez.com) even easier, but it doesn’t create custom widgets. Instead, you

RISE!R
to drive, but 8. iStat Pro Next set a Safari page to open in Dashboard, and then clip that page
to show only the content you want. Bonus: The clip remains live,
he’s taking a time somebody calls, refreshed, and interactive. May a thousand widgets bloom!
cab anyway. “Status, Gladys?” you

YOU CAN REINSTALL MAC OS X AT WARP SPEED

Y
ou’ve tried every trick in “Your Your Mac is only human—sometimes it needs a kick in
Mac Can Repair Itself,” p32,
and you’re still staring blankly
the pants. Here’s how to do that quickly and efficiently.
at the spinning beach ball of doom,
the dreaded international “No!” icon (which replaced the reregistering your software and resetting most preferences.
equally dreaded broken-folder icon in Mac OS 10.2), or the Pop your installer disc into your Mac’s optical drive and
kernel-panic Curtain of Death. It’s time to admit it: You need restart while holding down the C key. The installer will
to reinstall your system. automatically launch after your Mac restarts; choose your
But that takes forever, right? preferred language, click the arrow button, pick the volume
Not so, Joe—here are the Mac OS X you want to install your new system on, agree to the various
Installer’s hidden options that can legal mumbo jumbo, and then click the Options button in
both speed up the process of getting the dialog that (finally) appears. In the pane that appears,
your Mac back on its feet and save select Archive And Install and check the Preserve Users And
space on your hard drive. Network Settings check box. Now, when you install, your user
ARCHIVE AND INSTALL By using files will remain untouched and a good chunk of your system
If all you see when Mac OS X’s Archive And Install settings will be rolled into a folder called Previous Systems.
you start your Mac is option, you can get the benefits of You can’t start up from this system folder, but it will
this, it may be time to a fresh system and still save the contain all the old system’s preference files and other
reinstall your system. time and hassle of reinstalling and important stuff you might need, and it will save you the time

34 December 2006
RSPU
and hassle of reinstalling many, if not all, of your current
applications. Note that if you checked the Preserve Users
And Network Settings check box, you might infect your new
system with whatever was plaguing your old system, but the
time and aggravation saved by doing so makes it worth the
risk. If you reinfect your system, just install it again with this
box unchecked.
Trim your installation A full installation of Mac OS
X contains all of the system’s text items in 15 different
languages—and odds are you don’t speak all of them. So to
speed up your installation and save space (the languages
Brazilian Portuguese, anyone?
Also click the disclose triangle next to Printer Drivers and
uncheck any printer drivers you’ll never use. If, for example,
you know you’ll never have an Epson (652MB), Canon
(345MB), or Lexmark (299MB) printer, you can save nearly
1.3GB of disk space and speed your installation process.
To continue, just click Install, then sit back and enjoy a
snappy installation.

QUIT THE SETUP ASSISTANT

After a few system reinstalls during which you didn’t check the
Preserve Users And Network Settings check box, you’ll grow to

US !P
other than English take up 1.1GB total), disable the ones hate the Mac OS Setup Assistant. Well, you don’t have to suffer
you don’t need. After you get past the Install Options page through it—you only have to sit through the opening song and
and click the Continue button, you’ll see a Customize button dance; once the assistant gets to the first data-input screen,
simply press Command-Q to quit the assistant. Only do this if
in the next dialog; click it, click the disclosure triangle next
you’re a power-user type who knows how set up your Mac to
to Language Translations in the pane that appears, and use available printers, networks, and the like.
then uncheck any and all languages that you’ll never use.

Your Mac Has CIA-Level Technology

W
hether you’re an undercover op If you’ve got something to hide—be honest, now—
seeking the ultimate in security
for an upcoming project, or just
your Mac can help you hide it. Permanently.
a normal civilian looking to impress your
friends by sending them password-protected files, your Mac password, odds are that your files are totally, completely,
can help. Here’s how to step up the security for your next and irrevocably hosed.
top-secret enterprise. Delete Securely Simply trash-and-delete something
Encrypt Files If you have an important file that you’re in today’s day and age, and nine times out of 10 it can

S
looking to spice up with a little bit of security, encrypting be recovered. It doesn’t take a crypto-wizard to find it,
the file with a password is quick and easy. Simply open the either—your teenager’s nosy friend could probably do it.

!RU
file that you want to encrypt, select File > Print, then click the So to increase the odds that something you delete doesn’t
PDF button at the bottom-left corner of the Print window, come back to haunt you, there are a couple of things you
and select Encrypt PDF. Supply a password and you’ve just can do. First off and most simply, if there’s a single item or
created a locked copy of the document—the original remains even many things on the hard drive that you want to delete,
unlocked on your Mac. just place it in the Trash, go up to Finder in the menubar, and
Use File Vault Initiating a full system lockdown is easy- scroll down to Secure Empty Trash.
cheesy with File Vault—maybe a little too easy, considering If you’re selling your Mac, you’ll want to erase the entire
that there’s no easy way to bust back in if you forget your hard drive, and if there’s something on the drive that you
password. Located in System Preferences > Security, really, really, really don’t want anyone to find—ever—open
File Vault can encrypt all of Disk Utility (/Applications/
the files in your home (user Utilities) and select the Erase tab.
name) folder and make them Click on the volume you’re looking
accessible only if you type to nuke in the left-hand list and
in a master password that then click Security Options. Now,
you’ve set. It also allows you will a seven-times overwrite
to set up a number of other suffice, or do you need the full 35-
security features including pass hyper-obliterator? And yes,
automatic logout after a the seven and 35 passes mean
specified number of minutes of that the process will take seven or
inactivity, disabling automatic 35 times as long as a simple zero-
login, requiring a password out, respectively—and that can
to wake from sleep or your be a long, long time, depending
screen saver, and requiring upon the size of your drive. Have
a password to unlock each a terabyte drive and want to do
secure system preference. Use the full 35-pass erase? Take a
File Vault with care, however— Click the question-mark icon, and File Vault will suggest a vacation to Tierra del Fuego while
if you forget that master password ranging from simple to diabolical. your Mac churns away.

December 2006 35
SUR
SURPRISE!
There’s More Than One Way to Eject a Disc

Y
ou have a CD or DVD in your Mac’s Got a disc stuck in your optical drive? Don’t panic—
optical drive that you want out of your
Mac’s optical drive—simple, right? All
just follow these escalating eviction procedures.
you need to do is select the disc’s icon and
drag it to the Trash—but sometimes the disc is stubborn and until the disc pops out. If you can’t use this method ’cause
won’t eject. If that’s your problem, try the steps below. your drive is slot-loading or is missing that helpful hole…

R
1. Select the icon and press Command-E. If it’s still a no-go… 5. …it’s time for your last resort, short of taking your Mac to
2. …launch Disk Utility (/Applications/Utilities), select the an Apple Authorized Service Provider: ejecting the disc using

P U
recalcitrant disc in the volume list on the left, and then either an Open Firmware command. But before you try this, know
click the Eject button, press Command-E, or choose File > that this trick doesn’t work on all Macs; in fact, it doesn’t
Eject Disk. If the disc is still being stubborn… work on any Intel-based Macs. To access the mighty—and
3. …restart while holding down the mouse button. No? Then… mighty bland—Open Firmware interface, restart your Mac; as
4. …if you have a tray-loading optical drive, shut down your soon as you hear the startup chime, hold down Command-
Mac or put it to sleep, pry or slide open the drive’s protective Option-O-F. A white text-based screen will appear that’ll
door, find the emergency-eject hole on the front of the drive either prompt you to release the keys or simply display an
(its location varies ok prompt. At this prompt, type eject cd (even if it’s a DVD
CD stuck in your from drive to drive, and that’s stuck in your drive). Press Return, and in a second
optical drive? some drives don’t have or two your disc will—should?—pop out of the drive and
Sometimes Disk one at all), and poke a another ok prompt will appear; type mac-boot, press
Utility’s Eject straightened paper clip Return, and your Mac will resume its startup sequence until
button can help. into the hole—firmly— you’re greeted by a normal desktop.

Your Mac Runs Better on Empty

T
here comes a time when you Well, not “empty,” per se, but your Mac will definitely
need to invest a bit of it—time,
run snappier if your hard drive’s not stuffed.

RISE!
that is. If you can put aside a
good portion of a day or maybe even
a weekend to delete unnecessary files and apps from your gets rid of most apps’ preference files, caches, and other
hard drive, there’s a good chance that it’ll make your Mac associated files.
run snappier, plus save you a few bucks that you’d otherwise GET THE PICTURE AND FLICK THE FLICK Next weed out your
spend on a larger drive. It’s not a particularly pleasant Pictures and Movies folders in the same way. If you’re like
chore, so schedule it for when there’s a good game on the us, you have thousands of pictures you’ve pulled from the
radio; and no, we don’t mean the Raiders versus the Bengals Web during the past decade, plus cute QuickTime flicks you
(unless, of course, you live in Cincinnati). just had to watch—once. Admit it, that kitty-attack WMV file
ZAP YOUR APPS We recommend starting with your was fun last year, but now it’s just eating up space.
Applications folder; you can often get rid of some hefty trash carefully Remember that there are some folders
apps that you never use. Open that folder in list view and you don’t want to mess with because their contents are
press Command-J; in the dialog that appears, click the This required to keep Mac OS X running smoothly. Do-not-touch
Window Only radio button and the Calculate All Sizes check folders include those named Library and System. You can,
box. Wait for a bit until your file and folder sizes have all of course, delete unwanted fonts from /Library/Fonts and
been calculated, preference (plist) files and application-support files for apps
then click the Size you no longer have from /Library/Preferences and /Library/
column to sort your Application Support, but tread lightly. One simple rule: If you
apps from fattest to don’t know exactly what you’re trashing, don’t trash it.
most anorexic. Now
all you need to do is YOUR MAC CAN AUTO-TRASH
drag any chubby app Late at night, your Mac automatically runs a series of important
maintenance scripts that, among other things, get rid of space-
you don’t need to the
hogging log files and caches. However, if you turn your Mac
Trash. Better yet, get off at night—or even put it to sleep—it won’t run ’em. The good
a copy of AppZapper news is that there’s a Dashboard widget named Maintidget
Sorting your apps from chubby to ($12.95, on the Disc (free, on the Disc or www.giantmike.com) that allows you to run
trim makes it easier to weed out the or www.appzapper the daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance scripts any time
your little heart desires.
unwanted plus-sizers. .com), which also

36 December 2006 MacAddict’s how-to editor, Niko Coucouvanis; MacAddict’s editor-in-chief, Rik Myslewski; and just
plain Mac addict Logan Kugler are all chagrined that their Macs are so much smarter than they are.
Field Guide to Word keyboard commands

Command Key
Key Commands
by Rik Myslewski

U sing your mouse to select text, style paragraphs, insert breaks, and otherwise process words is all
well and good, but Microsoft Word also provides plenty of ways to live a mouse-free existence. Here
are a cool 108 of our favorite time-saving key commands—and we didn’t even bother with Command-S,
Command-C, Command-P, and all the rest of the basics that every Mac addict already knows. Learn even a
fraction of these power pecks, and your productivity will soar.

STYLING  
Date Control-Shift-D
1.5-Line-Spaced Paragraph Command-5
Hanging Indent Command-T
All Caps1 Command-Shift-A
Indent Control-Shift-M
Apply List Bullet Command-Shift-L
Page Break Shift-Enter
Change Case1 Shift-F3
Section Break Command-Enter
Command-Option-C
Time Control-Shift-T
Display Style Toolbar Command-Shift-S
Double Underline 1
Command-Shift-D

Double-Spaced Paragraph Command-2 JUMP TO...  
Grow Font 2
Command-Shift-. (period) Bottom of Window Command-Option-Page Down
Grow Font One Point2 Command-] End of Column Control-Page Down
Shrink Font2 Command-Shift-, (comma) End of Document Command-End
Shrink Font One Point 2
Command-[ Option-End
Single-Spaced Paragraph Command-1 End of Line End
Small Caps1 Command-Shift-K Command-Right Arrow
Subscript1 Command-= Control-Down Arrow
Superscript 1
Command-Shift-= Next Misspelled Word Option-F7
Underline Entire Word1 Command-Shift-W Next Open Document Command-F6
Option-F6
INSERT...   One Paragraph Down Command-Down Arrow
Comment Command-Option-A Other Pane in Split Document Shift-F6

38 December 2006
JUMP TO... (continued)
Previous Open Document Command-Shift-F6 One Line Up Shift-Up Arrow
Option-Shift-F6 One Paragraph Down Command-Shift-Down Arrow
Start of Document Command-Home Option-Shift-Down Arrow
Option-Home One Paragraph Up Command-Shift-Up Arrow
Start of Line Home Option-Shift-Up Arrow
Command-Left Arrow One Word Left Option-Shift-Left Arrow
Control-Up Arrow One Word Right Option-Shift-Right Arrow
To Bottom of Window Command-Option-Shift-
MOVE CURSOR...   Page Down
One Line Down Down Arrow To End of Document Command-Shift-End
One Line Up Up Arrow To End of Line Shift-End
One Paragraph Down Option-Down Arrow Command-Shift-Right Arrow
One Paragraph Up Command-Up Arrow To Start of Document Command-Shift-Home
Option-Up Arrow To Start of Line Shift-Home
One Word Left Option-Left Arrow Command-Shift-Left Arrow
One Word Right Option-Right Arrow
TABLES  
OPEN...   Delete Row Command-Control-X
Find Dialog Command-F
Extend Selection to End of Row Option-Shift-End
Font Dialog Command-D
Insert Row Command-Control-V
Command-Shift-F
Jump to End of Row Control-End
Go-To Dialog Command-G
Select Entire Column Option-Shift-Page Down
Help Command-/
Select Entire Table Option-Clear
Hyperlink Dialog Command-K
Command-Option-T
Macro Dialog Option-F8
Notebook-Layout Dialog Command-Option-B ET CETERA  
Paragraph Dialog Command-Option-M Copy to Scrapbook 3 Command-Shift-C
Preferences Dialog Command-, (comma) Create a Footnote Command-Option-F
Print-Preview Window Command-F2 Create an Endnote Command-Option-E
Command-Option-I Hide Text1 Control-Shift-H
Project-Gallery Dialog Command-Shift-P Look Up in Reference Tools 2
Option-Shift-F7
Minimize Document Command-M
ALIGN PARAGRAPH...   Paste Selected Scrapbook Item3 Command-Shift-V
Center Command-E Repeat Find Shift-F4
Justified Command-J Command-Shift-F4
Left Command-L Command-Option-Y
Right Command-R Show Thesaurus Entry4 Shift-F7
Command-Option-R
DELETE...   Split Document 1
Command-Option-S
Next Word Command-Option-G
Previous Word Command-Delete 1 Toggle
2 Selection or word cursor is in
Option-Delete 3 Only when Scrapbook is open
4 Selection or adjacent word

EXTEND SELECTION...
Rik Myslewski, MacAddict’s editor-in-chief, secretly pines for
One Character Left Shift-Right Arrow the days of MicroPro’s WordStar, when all commands were
One Character Right Shift-Left Arrow key commands.
One Line Down Shift-Down Arrow

December 2006 39
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REVIEWS
better living through smarter shopping

3DX Technologies’ Banshee (pictured) uses five speakers to create a virtual surround-
43

sound experience. How surroundy is its sound? Turn to page 61 to find out. Next month,
we’ll take a close look at Avid’s Xpress Pro 5.5 video-production software, Pentax’s
K100D SLR camera, Digital Foci’s Picture Porter Elite photo viewer, the TubeSock video
utility, and a lot more.

Reviews
44 1.66GHz Core Duo Mac mini desktop Mac
44 1.83GHz Core Duo Mac mini desktop Mac
44 17-inch 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo iMac desktop Mac
44 17-inch 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo iMac desktop Mac
44 24-inch 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo iMac desktop Mac
56 Alpha DSLR-A100K SLR camera
61 Banshee speaker
53 DSM-G600 Network Storage Enclosure network storage and router
54 FireLite XPress portable hard drive
57 iListen 1.7 speech - recognition software
51 iPod portable media player
50 iPod nano portable media player
60 Mindstorms NXT LEGO robot set
52 Nike + iPod Sport Kit personal trainer
52 Nike+ Sport Armband iPod nano armband
58 Parallels Desktop for Mac Windows-virtualization software
54 PDF Shrink 4.0 PDF utility
62 Point & Shoot Video Camcorder camcorder
49 Quicken Mac 2007 personal - finance software
55 SpeckTone Retro iPod speaker stand
52 Sportsuit Sensor+ Nike + iPod Sport Kit case

Games
66 Bejeweled iPod game review
67 Championship Manager 2006 coming soon
65 Colin McRae Rally Mac game tips
66 Cubis 2 iPod game review
65 Hearts of Iron II: Doomsday coming soon
67 Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition coming soon
66 Mahjong iPod game review
66 Mini Golf iPod game review
66 Pac-Man iPod game review
66 Tetris iPod game review
66 Texas Hold ’Em iPod game review
66 Vortex iPod game review
66 Zuma iPod game review

We’d spend our

own hard-earned
PHOTOGRAPH BY SAMANTHA BERG

money on this
product.

Universal application
that runs natively on
both PowerPC and
Intel Macs.

December 2006 43
44 REVIEWS
better living through smarter shopping

Core 2 Duo iMacs, just in

time for the holidays.

iMacs and Mac minis

FASTER DESKTOP MACS

N ot long after the release of the Mac

Pro ( Nov/06, p38), which
completed the whole Intel-ization of the
But is it too big? We found that after a
few weeks of use, 24 inches hits the
display-size sweet spot for serious Mac
Cinema Display; you can easily have
your thought processes distracted as
you shift in your seat and squint in
Mac family, we’re now into the second users. Compare it to Apple’s 30-inch search of your cursor while you use that
generation of Intel-based Macs. The humongous display. When we’re not
newest iMacs and Mac minis are sure to editing a video or manipulating a large
bring smiles to the faces of your family 24-inch iMac (2.33GHz) color photo, the 30-inch Cinema Display
and friends during the holiday shopping can prove unwieldy. Our experience with
season. For this review, we took a close PRICE: $1,999 base model the 24-inch iMac, however, was more
look at the 17-inch 1.83GHz Intel Core (2.16GHz), $2,574 as tested comforting, more natural—and we had
2 Duo iMac, the 17-inch 2.16GHz Intel SPECIFICATIONS: (as all that desktop space to use. Compared
Core 2 Duo iMac, the 24-inch 2.33GHz tested) 2.33GHz Intel Core to a 20-inch display, the extra four
Intel Core 2 Duo iMac, the 1.66GHz Intel 2 Duo processor, 4MB shared L2 inches can make a world of difference,
cache, 667MHz frontside bus, 1GB RAM,
Core Duo Mac mini, and the 1.83GHz especially if you have multiple windows
500GB Serial ATA hard drive, 8x double-
Intel Core Duo Mac mini. Note that for open at the same time, or work in two
layer SuperDrive, 24-inch LCD (1,920 by
this review, Apple provided us with Macs 1,200 native pixel resolution), 256MB nVidia
or more apps at once. Sitting next to
that were upgraded with either more GeForce 7600 GT graphics card, AirPort the 24-inch iMac, the 17-inch iMac is
RAM or faster processors than their base Extreme, Bluetooth 2.0, Apple Remote downright cute—and for most people,
configurations, but to avoid confusion an appropriate size.
we’ll refer to them by their base-model GOOD NEWS: Gloriously large screen. At the heart of the new iMacs
prices when we discuss them below. Good performance with native Intel are Intel’s Core 2 Duo processors,
iMacs. The previous iMac line had software. the successors to Intel’s Core Duo
a 20-inch iMac as the top model; 24 BAD NEWS: 3GB memory ceiling. processors. Like the Core Duo, the Core
inches seems so gloriously indulgent. Rosetta speed 2 Duo has two processor cores—think of
We tend to associate the word “iMac” still slower than the Core 2 Duo as having two processors
with compactness, efficiency, and native PowerPC on a single chip. Having two cores
performance.
tidiness, so when the 24-inch iMac on one chip is an advantage if your
arrived, seeing “iMac” on such a large software is multithreaded; you’ll get
box was almost comical. COMPANY: Apple faster performance as two processor
Measuring 20.6 by 22.6 by 8.1 inches CONTACT: 800-692-7753 or cores work to complete your single
404-996-1010, www.apple.com
and weighing 24.7 pounds, the 24-inch task. Mac OS X, iLife ’06, and Adobe
iMac fits on most standard-size desks. Photoshop CS2 are just a few examples

44 December 2006
46 REVIEWS
better living through smarter shopping

of multithreaded software. pair of 2GB SO-DIMMs for 4GB of total memory later, you’ll have one or two
One major difference between memory—but that’s not true with the spare SO-DIMMs to stash in your drawer
the new iMacs’ 64-bit Core 2 Duo iMacs. On the $999 17-inch iMac, the or sell on eBay.
processor and the old iMacs’ 32-bit maximum memory amount is 2GB, Mac minis. Both Mac mini models
Core Duo processor is that the Core 2 while the other three iMacs have a 3GB come with Intel Core Duo processors.
Duo is based on an entirely different maximum memory amount. According The erstwhile Intel Core Solo model at
processor architecture. The upgrades to Apple, the memory restrictions are the low end of the Mac mini line is now
are many, including the ability to process caused by the new iMac hardware. Apple gone, which has some significance: All
a full 33 percent more instructions fills both SO-DIMM slots regardless of Apple’s Macs now have multicore
per clock cycle, improved power of what memory you specify during processors. Why no Core 2 Duos in the
management, a more intelligent on- your order, so if you want to add more Mac minis? Cost. The Mac mini is Apple’s
chip cache, better management of the affordable Mac, and a Core 2 Duo
data scooting back and forth from the processor pushes the price out of the
processor to the iMacs’ RAM, and a new 17-inch iMac (1.83GHz) range where Apple would like it.
and faster way of processing media- From the outside, both Mac minis
rich data such as video files. Here’s the PRICE: $999 base model (512MB RAM), haven’t changed at all. On the back
important takeaway: The Core 2 Duo is $1,074 as tested are a FireWire 400 port, four USB 2.0
one fast puppy. SPECIFICATIONS: (as tested) 1.83GHz ports, DVI output for your display (if your
With all of the iMacs except the Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2MB shared L2 display has a VGA connector, you’ll be
$999 17-inch iMac, you can boost the cache, 667MHz frontside bus, 1GB RAM, happy to know that Apple includes a
160GB Serial ATA hard drive, 24x Combo
processor speed a bit for an additional DVI-to-VGA adapter), Gigabit Ethernet, a
drive, 17-inch widescreen LCD (1,440
fee. For example, instead of a 2GHz Core combined optical digital audio input/
by 900 native pixel resolution), 64MB
2 Duo processor in the $1,199 17-inch (shared memory) Intel GMA 950 graphics
audio line-in port, and a combined
iMac, you can pay an extra $100 and get subsystem, AirPort Extreme optical digital audio output/headphone-
a 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo processor. On the out jack.
20- and 24-inch iMacs, you can boost GOOD NEWS: Affordable. Rosetta speed The standard Mac mini configurations
the processor speed from 2.16GHz to has improved over the previous generation come with 512MB of memory, and like
2.33GHz for $250. of Intel-based iMacs. the iMacs, the Mac minis use 667MHz
The 24-inch iMac has one FireWire BAD NEWS: Lackluster video DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300) SO-DIMMs,
400 and one FireWire 800 port; the 17- performance. No Apple Remote. 2GB not full-length standard DIMMs. If you
inch iMacs have a pair of FireWire 400 memory ceiling. Rosetta speed still slower think you might want to upgrade the
ports and no FireWire 800 connectors. than native Mac mini’s memory later, be prepared
PowerPC
All of the iMacs have three USB 2.0 for some handiwork. The Mac mini
performance.
ports, Gigabit Ethernet, an optical digital doesn’t use any screws to keep itself
audio output/headphone-out jack, closed; the case has internal latches
an optical digital audio input/audio that snap into place to keep it fitted
line-in jack, and a mini-DVI output port. together snugly. To open the Mac mini,
The iSight Webcam is also standard you need to slide a putty knife between
17-inch iMac (2.16GHz)
equipment, and all iMac models except the seams of the case and gently pry it
the $999 17-inch iMac come with an PRICE: $1,199 base model (2GHz), $1,299
open. With an easy but firm touch, you
Apple Remote (the Remote is a $29 as tested can get it open. After that, you need to
option for the $999 17-inch iMac). SPECIFICATIONS: (as tested) 2.16GHz disconnect a few cable connectors and
At the standard configuration, the Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4MB shared L2 then remove four screws that attach the
iMacs come with 1GB of memory, cache, 667MHz frontside bus, 1GB RAM, drive-bay structure to the Mac mini’s
except for the $999 iMac, which has 160GB Serial ATA hard drive, 8x double- base—the memory slots are underneath
512MB of memory. The iMacs use layer SuperDrive, 17-inch LCD (1,440 by this assembly. If any of what we just
667MHz DDR2 (PC2-5300) SO-DIMMs, 900 native pixel resolution), 128MB ATI described sounds even a bit daunting,
Radeon X1600 graphics card, AirPort
which are smaller than your standard then spend the extra money and get as
Extreme, Bluetooth 2.0, Apple Remote
DIMMs, and they fit into slots located much RAM as you can afford installed
at the bottom of the iMac (you have to at the point of purchase.
GOOD NEWS: Good bang for the buck.
unscrew and remove a cover to access To gauge the speed of the new Macs,
Rosetta speed has improved over the
the slots). However, there’s a catch when previous generation of Intel iMacs.
we performed a suite of benchmark
it comes to the memory: The iMacs have BAD NEWS: 3GB memory ceiling. tests. All of the new Macs were tested
maximum RAM configuration limits that Rosetta speed with 1GB of RAM. For the specifications
don’t jibe with the number of slots and still slower than of the Macs we tested, read the gray
the maximum amount of RAM you can native PowerPC specification boxes.
get on a SO-DIMM (which is currently performance. iMac testing. The new top-of-the-
2GB). Theoretically, you should be able line 24-inch iMac beat the now-defunct
to fill the two slots in the iMac with a 20-inch 2GHz Core Duo iMac in all of our

46 December 2006
06fip277_SS_MAC Ad_1PG_Mac Addic1 1 10/2/06 3:00:23 PM
06fip277_SS_MAC Ad_1PG_Mac Addic1 1 10/2/06 3:00:23 PM
48 REVIEWS
better living through smarter shopping

tests. The 24-inch iMac was 46 percent the iMac provides a built-in display, a two features not found on the $999
faster when exporting a movie in iMovie Core 2 Duo processor, and a bigger hard iMac: a double-layer SuperDrive and
HD; 30 percent faster when importing drive. The Mac mini, on the other hand, Bluetooth. If you’re an aspiring home
196 JPEGs into iPhoto; 40 percent faster has a less powerful Core Duo processor videographer on a tight budget, you can
when converting 11 WAV music files to and a smaller hard drive, but also has save some money with the $799 Mac
AAC; 17 percent faster when sending a mini (the DVD-burning SuperDrive is
song from GarageBand to iTunes; and 12 key), though you’ll have to provide your
percent faster when creating a OneStep own display, keyboard, and mouse,
DVD in iDVD. Quite impressive. and sacrifice some speed.
The new $999 iMac offers a good The $999 iMac, on the other
speed boost over its predecessor, hand, is not only a great first
the 17-inch 1.83GHz Core Duo computer, but could also play a
iMac. The $999 iMac was faster supporting role as a second Mac
in our iMovie HD Sepia Tone Video in your kitchen or living room.
FX test by 6 percent, and 1 percent Rosetta. The good news:
faster when sending a song from Thanks to the new iMacs’ Core 2
GarageBand to iTunes, but it Duo processors, non-Intel-native
was a full 44 percent faster when applications using Apple’s Rosetta
exporting a movie in iMovie HD, and translator get a speed boost. For
21 percent faster in our iPhoto JPEG- Still a li’l example, in our Photoshop Actions test,
import test. Mac, but just a the $999 iMac was 9 percent faster than
But Apple offers two 17-inch iMacs li’l faster. the older 17-inch 1.83GHz Core Duo
with Core 2 Duo processors. Which one iMac. In our Photoshop Elements Auto
to get? For an extra couple of hundred Smart Fix test, the same $999 iMac was
dollars, the speed gains are slight, in Mac mini (1.66GHz) an impressive 16 percent faster than the
some cases. The $1,199 iMac bumped older 17-inch 1.83GHz Core Duo iMac.
up to a 2.16GHz processor for a hundred PRICE: $599 base model, $674 as tested The bad news: Non-Intel-native software
more bucks was 7 percent faster than SPECIFICATIONS: (as tested) 1.66GHz using Rosetta still runs slower on these
Intel Core Duo processor, 2MB L2 cache,
the $999 iMac in our iMovie HD Sepia Intel-based Macs than on their PowerPC-
667MHz frontside bus, 1GB RAM, 60GB
Tone Video FX test, 4 percent faster based counterparts. We ran the same
Serial ATA hard drive, 24x Combo drive,
when exporting a movie in iMovie HD, AirPort Extreme, Bluetooth 2.0, Apple
tests on a 17-inch 1.9GHz PowerPC iMac
14 percent faster when sending a song Remote G5; in our Photoshop Actions test, the
from GarageBand to iTunes, and 10 iMac G5 was 20 percent faster than
percent faster in our iTunes WAV-to-AAC GOOD NEWS: Affordable. the $1,199 iMac and 16 percent faster
file-conversion test. But it’s not all about BAD NEWS: Difficult to upgrade memory. than the $1,999 iMac. In our Photoshop
speed—you get a lot more for the extra Rosetta speed Elements test, the iMac G5 was 6
cash, such as a faster processor, a larger still slower than percent faster than the $1,199 iMac,
L2 cache, more memory, a double-layer native PowerPC and it tied the $1,999 iMac.
SuperDrive, a dedicated 128MB ATI performance. You’ll be hurtin’ for certain if you use
Radeon X1600 graphics card, built-in a non-Intel-native application on a Mac
Bluetooth, and an Apple Remote. mini on a regular basis. The old 1.42GHz
Mac mini testing. The new $599 Mac Mac mini G4 was 20 percent faster
mini used to reside on top of the Mac than the $799 Mac mini and 43 percent
mini line. It’s now the lower-end mini, Mac mini (1.83GHz) faster than the $599 Mac mini when
with a sibling $799 mini that offers a performing the Photoshop Action test.
PRICE: $799 base model, $874 as tested
slight speed improvement. The $799 SPECIFICATIONS: (as tested) 1.83GHz
The bottom line. Our favorite new
mini was 7 percent faster than the $599 Intel Core Duo processor, 2MB L2 cache, Mac is the 24-inch iMac. For serious
mini when creating a disc image in iDVD, 667MHz frontside bus, 1GB RAM, 80GB hobbyists, or professionals on a budget,
6 percent faster in our iMovie HD Sepia Serial ATA hard drive, 8x double-layer the 24-inch iMac is an ideal Mac—and
Tone Video FX test, 4 percent faster SuperDrive, AirPort Extreme, Bluetooth 2.0, while you’ll still take a performance
when importing JPEGs into iPhoto, and Apple Remote hit when using non-Intel-native
5 percent faster in our iTunes WAV-to- applications, the new processors do a
AAC conversion test. In our GarageBand GOOD NEWS: Nice speed boost over the lot to improve Rosetta’s performance. If
Send-to-iTunes test and our iMovie HD previous generation. you’re looking for a Mac mini, get
video-export test, the two Mac minis BAD NEWS: as much RAM as you can afford since
Difficult to
had similar speeds. both Mac minis share their memory
upgrade memory.
You face an interesting choice if you’re between the video subsystem and the
deciding between the $799 Mac mini main processor. The more memory,
and the $999 iMac. For the extra $200, the better.—Roman Loyola

48 December 2006
Quicken
Quicken
Mac
Mac
2007
2007
SOLID PERSONAL-FINANCE
SOLID PERSONAL-FINANCE
SOFTWARE
SOFTWARE

Q Q uicken Macuicken

business fibusiness
2007 is
version of Intuit’s
versionhome
nancial software.
Macthe2007
newest
of Intuit’s
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is the newest Another new
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Another
to enter paycheck
home and small-
not a It’s not Paycheck
software. a
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single screen
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a great It’s
is a single screen
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waya great way
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major enhancement
major enhancement
over the previous
over the previous to enter andtotrack
entervacation
and trackspending,
vacation spending,
version, butversion,
the newbut features
the new are
features pretax deductions
useful.are useful. pretax deductions
such as 401(k) such as 401(k)
Quicken now Quicken now has a QuickEntry contributions,
has a QuickEntry contributions,
and taxes typically
and taxesshown typically shown
on most payroll on most checks.
payroll checks.
Paycheck Detailing
Paycheck Detailing
is a nice way is atonice
keep way to keep
track of information
track of information
without holding without onholding
to old on to old
paycheck stubs, paycheck andstubs,
it’s and it’s
definitely useful
definitely duringuseful during
tax season.tax season.
Many people Many don’tpeople
trackdon’t track
401(k) investments,
401(k) investments,
but but
with Quicken’s with new Quicken’s
abilitynew ability
to download to and
download
displayand display
current 401(k) current investment
401(k) investment
information, information,
your excuses your excuses
are runningare out.running
You out. You
can use this can feature
use this to feature to
help make help investment
make investment
decisions—thoughdecisions—though
you you
still may need still the
mayhelpneed ofthe help of
a financial aadvisor.
financial advisor.
The new Paycheck
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means
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you to
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with Quicken with MacQuicken
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Hubbartt Hubbartt
QuickEntry QuickEntry
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widget. widget.

;GEH9FQ2 Intuit ;GEH9FQ2 Intuit HJA;=2 $69.99HJA;=2 $69.99

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50 REVIEWS
better living through smarter shopping

iPod nano The nano’s Search

function, found under the
Music menu, is easy to use
THINNER, BETTER DIGITAL- and includes helpful icons
MUSIC PLAYER to distinguish songs from
artists, albums, podcasts,

W ith its brightly colored aluminum

casing, the second-generation
iPod nano looks like a mini iPod mini,
and audiobooks, so you’ll
be able to tell “Graceland”
the song from Graceland
available in silver (2GB or 4GB); pink, the album in the search
green, and blue (4GB); and black (8GB). results. It searches for
The new case is a vast improvement the string you entered
over the first-gen nano’s ( anywhere in the title,
Nov/05, p40) easily scratched veneer. not just at the beginning;
We carried it around in a bag for a entering bla brought up
week—crashing up against keys, coins, Blackalicious as well as
a camera, and other potential finish- Fear of a Black Planet. The
wreckers—and it didn’t pick up a Quickscroll function, which
single mark. Svelte at 3.5 by 1.6 superimposes the first letter
by 0.26 inches and 1.41 ounces, of items in a list over that
it’s even slimmer and lighter than list as you scroll through it
the first iPod nano, and sturdy quickly, isn’t as useful as on
enough to survive being sat on by the big iPod (p51) because
a 280-pound reviews editor when the nano’s smaller capacity
it was in his back pocket. lends itself to shorter lists.
The 1.5-inch LCD is 40 percent We found it helpful only
brighter, according to Apple, and when scrolling through the
photos look sharp and clear on Songs list, which tends to be
it—although the four-by-three grid the longest, and even then,
of tiny thumbnails is still hard to the letters most frequently
see, and you still can’t connect popping up were B and Y,
the nano to a TV. The battery life toward the opposite ends of
has also been improved. On the the alphabet. You can now also
4GB model, we got 20.9 hours set a maximum volume so you
of music playback (at 50 percent don’t reach into your pocket,
volume with the backlight and
Sound Check turned off), and the
8GB model rocked out for a full 24
hours. The redesigned earbuds
sounded much better than the iTunes 7 is required, so if you don’t want to
chintzier old ones, especially on upgrade, this isn’t the nano for you.
the low end, although they still
hurt our ears after half an hour and accidentally brush the clickwheel, and
wouldn’t stay put while jogging. blast out your eardrums. One minor
The other changes are to the iPod quibble: All the first-generation nano
nano’s software, including gapless cases we had lying around either fit
playback, which removes the space As inspiration for the new iPod nano, poorly or not at all, but new cases will
between tracks when it shouldn’t have Apple looked to an iPod of the past—the be out by the time you read this; plus,
been there in the first place—especially iPod mini. the nano’s aluminum body doesn’t really
nice when listening to concept albums, need a case to prevent most scratches.
live concert recordings, and classical Phish or Wilco concerts as being gapless, The bottom line. The new iPod nano is
music. iTunes 7 will analyze your music for example), you can select the album’s smaller, brighter, tougher, plays longer,
looking for gapless albums, but if it tracks, press Command-I, and select Yes and has double the capacity per dollar.
guesses wrong (it didn’t tag any of our in the Gapless Album drop-down menu. What’s not to love?—Susie Ochs

COMPANY: Apple PRICE: $149 (2GB), $199 (4GB), $249 (8GB) GOOD NEWS: Aluminum body. Gapless playback.
CONTACT: 800-692-7753 or REQUIREMENTS: USB-equipped Mac, Mac Longer battery life. Even slimmer design.
408-996-1010, www.apple.com OS 10.3.9 or later, iTunes 7 or later BAD NEWS: No FireWire syncing.

50 December 2006
 G:K>:LH
*&
G:K>:LH
*&

iPod iPod Both its software Both

and its
its software and its
IMPROVED IMPROVED
DIGITAL MUSIC
DIGITAL
PLAYER
MUSIC PLAYER screen are brighter.
screen are brighter.

A
(p50), the flagship
A
lthough it wasn’tlthough
remastered,” as was
(p50),
“completely
remastered,”
5G iPod
it wasn’t “completely
the iPod nano
the flreceived
as was the iPod
agship 5G
third is a screen third is a screen
brightness
a iPod received
nano
that’s noticeably
a
brightness
that’s noticeably
pixel output is noticeable.
One welcome nonchange
the sizes of the two
pixel output is noticeable.
One welcome
theoffered
is nonchange is
sizes of the two offered
sprucing up in itssprucing
latest incarnation. improved over improved over
up in its latest incarnation. models; your older models;
cases your older cases
It shares the sameIt shares
software theupgrades
same software upgradesthat of the earlierthat of the earlier and accessories will andstillaccessories
fit. will still fit.
as the iPod nano,asand theits
iPod
larger
nano,screen
and its larger 5Gscreen
’Pod. If you 5G ’Pod. If you Unfortunately, the Unfortunately,
new 5G the new 5G
and larger capacity
andmakelarger the
capacity
interface’s crank up Settingscrank up Settings
make the interface’s iPod also shares iPod somealso of shares some of
search improvements
search more
improvements
welcome more welcome > Brightness, the> Brightness, the the limitations ofthe thelimitations
model of the model
than on the nano.thanAlsoon onthethenano. Also on the difference
software software is so difference is so it replaces: Its clickwheel
it replaces: is Its clickwheel is
side is the addition
side ofisgames
the addition
(reviewed apparent that apparent that
of games (reviewed still too touchy, especially
still too touchy, especially
on p66), which canon run
p66),onwhich
older can
5G run on older the5Golder model the older model for those with large for fithose
ngers,with large fingers,
video-capable iPods,
video-capable
too. iPods, too. looks positively looks positively and its display isand still its display is still
The new iPod hasThe three
new impressive tawdry in comparison.
iPod has three impressive tawdryOfincourse,
comparison. the Of course,too the
small to comfortably
too small view
to comfortably
photo view photo
enhancements: First
enhancements:
are its new earbuds
First are its newbrighter
earbudsyou set the
brighter
screenyouto set
watch thumbnails or movies.
the screen to watch thumbnails or movies.
(the same as provided
(the same withas theprovided
iPod with thevideo,
iPod the shortervideo,
your battery
the shorter The bottom line. The
life. your battery life. The bottom
new iPod line.
hasThe new iPod has
nano); second is nano);
its improved
secondbattery Another welcomeAnother
is its improved battery is that thechange is some
change welcome welcome improvements,
that the some welcomebut improvements, but
life—our 80GB testlife—our
model80GB played test
ourmodel played newouriPod can output
newvideo
iPod can
to aoutput video to aifTV
TV at 640 Apple wants usiftoApple
at 640 carrywants
our digital
us to carry our digital
6,000-song playlist
6,000-song
containing trackscontainingbytracks
playlist 480 pixels (even
by 480
though
pixels (even though itsentertainment
its display display center
entertainment
in our pockets,
center in our pockets,
with a wide variety
withof aencodings
wide variety for aof encodingsremains
for a at 480 byremains
320 pixels);
at 480the by 320 pixels);itthe
needs to provide it needs
us with toaprovide
bigger us with a bigger
full 19.5 hours before
full 19.5
pooping
hoursout; andpoopingdifference
before out; and from the difference
previousfrom320-by-240- window on our world.—Rik
the previous 320-by-240- window onMyslewski
our world.—Rik Myslewski

;GEH9FQ2 Apple ;GEH9FQ2 J=IMAJ=E=FLK2

Apple J=IMAJ=E=FLK2?GG<F=OK2
USB-equipped USB-equipped Brighter?GG<F=OK2
screen. LongerBrighter
battery life.
screen.
Improved
Longer battery life. Improved
;GFL9;L2800-692-7753
;GFL9;L2800-692-7753
or or or Mac,
Mac, Mac OS 10.3.9 later, Mac OS 10.3.9 earbuds.
iTunes Games. Lowerearbuds.
or later, iTunes price perGames.
gigabyte.
Lower
80GBprice
is biggest
per gigabyte.
ever. 80GB is biggest ever.
408-996-1010, www.apple.com
408-996-1010,
7 orwww.apple.com
later 7 or later :9<F=OK2 Display is:9<F=OK2
too small for watching
Display ismovies.
too small for watching movies.
HJA;=2 $249 (30GB), $349
HJA;=2
(80GB)
$249 (30GB), $349 (80GB) Clickwheel can be touchy.
Clickwheel can be touchy.
52 REVIEWS
better living through smarter shopping

Nike + iPod Sport Kit

MOTIVATING PERSONAL TRAINER

N ike and Apple have teamed up to

provide a powerful motivational
tool for both seasoned athletes and
kilometers; you then choose one of three
ways of tracking your run: distance,
time, or calories. Choose kilometers, a
casual runners: the Nike + iPod Sport distance run, and a five-kilometer goal,
Kit. Along with its companion Web site, for example, and during that run your
www.nike.com/nikeplus, the Sport Kit iPod will announce to you when you’ve
tracks your runs, helps you set and meet reached each kilometer; count down to Small, light, and highly encouraging.
goals, and even partners you with others the end of the run when your remaining
in group challenges. distance is 400m, 300m, 200m, and data from your nano to the Nike+ Web
The Sport Kit’s hardware includes two 100m; and then let you know when site (after first creating an account).
small modules: a sensor that’s designed you’ve reached your goal—though you Although at times painfully slow, the
to fit into one of the Nike+ line of running can keep running past your goal, if you’d site provides a wealth of ways of setting
shoes ($85 to $110, www.nike.com/ like, and that distance will be added to goals and tracking your progress. You
nikeplus) and a receiver that plugs into your run data. If all this goal-oriented can, for example, set goals based on
the bottom of your iPod nano (no other running sounds too stressful, you can monthly distance, average time, and
iPods need apply). You can also attach pace. When you meet a goal, you’re
the sensor to your shoe in other ways, rewarded with a virtual medal or trophy
such as with Marware’s nifty Sportsuit in the My Records section of your
Sensor+ (below), and the Sport Kit will account. You can also get info on all
work just fine. If you do choose a Nike+ your runs as a whole, inspect individual
shoe, however, installing the sensor is a runs in detail, and challenge any other
simple matter of lifting the shoe’s insole Nike+ Web member to a race—you run in
and placing the sensor in an indentation your area, your opponent in theirs, and
in the sole; after you replace the insole, then you both log back on, sync up your
you won’t feel the sensor while running. The Nike+ Web site tracks your runs nanos, and see who won.
Calibrating the Sport Kit is equally thoroughly—in this case, a flat run, then The bottom line. Even after only 20
simple. Merely use the nano’s Sport up a steep hill, followed by a walk down. miles, we were hooked on the Nike +
Kit interface to enter your calibration iPod Sport Kit. It has some minor
distance—a 400-meter track is ideal— just run free, and your nano will simply shortcomings—your chosen music
and then run that distance; next do the track your distance and time; you can always ends when your run ends, and
same with a distance you walk. You’re also pause the data-tracking during holding down the selection button to
done—now you’re ready for a workout. any type of run—great for red lights at kick in your selected hyper-inspiring
Again using the nano’s interface, you intersections—and choose to have your PowerSong is no easy feat while
tell the Sport Kit whether you want nano not announce your progress. running—but all in all, we welcome our
it to track your distance in miles or Back at your Mac, you upload the run new personal trainer.—Carey Myslewski

SPORTSUIT SENSOR+ NIKE+ SPORT ARMBAND

Don’t want to buy new shoes to use the This armband has one fatal flaw. Since the
Nike + iPod Sport Kit? Try Marware’s Sportsuit armband covers your nano’s screen, you must
Sensor+, a pocket for the Sport Kit’s sensor New shoes take your nano out of the armband’s pocket
unit. Pop the sensor into the Sensor+, slip the not needed. to navigate through the nano’s menu to both
Velcro closure through your laces, fasten it, initiate and finish up a running session—not
and hit the road. When we inserted the sensor as Marware’s only is this annoying, but it increases the In this armband,
illustrated instructions indicated, it tracked about half of our possibility of accidentally inducing run-data your ’Pod is
strides; flipping the sensor over fixed the problem.—CM errors.—CM running blind.
COMPANY: Marware COMPANY: Nike
CONTACT: 954-927-6031, www.marware.com CONTACT: 800-379-6453, www.nike.com/nikeplus
PRICE: $9.95 PRICE: $29

COMPANY: Apple REQUIREMENTS: iPod nano, Nike+ GOOD NEWS: Works great. Highly motivating. Rich
CONTACT: 800-692-7753 or running shoe or another method of Web site. Multiple goal and reporting options.
408-996-1010, www.apple.com attaching the sensor to your shoe BAD NEWS: PowerSong not easy to activate while
PRICE: $29 running. Music ends when run ends.

52 December 2006
 G:K>:LH
*(
DSM-G600 Network
Storage Enclosure
UTILITARIAN NETWORK STORAGE AND ROUTER

T he DSM-G600 is an all-in-one
networking device that combines a
Gigabit Ethernet router, wireless router,
.com/webb.html#mie), since
D-Link’s Web interface doesn’t
work with Safari or Firefox. It’s a
and network attached storage (NAS) bummer because the configuration is
device in a single compact enclosure. fairly straightforward if you’re familiar The PC-orientated design is a little ugly,
D-Link doesn’t include a hard drive, with wireless settings, and formatting but network performance is good.
but any standard 3.5-inch IDE drive the internal drive as a Windows-based
can easily be installed inside; you can file system (usable by your Mac, of a network, the rate of data transmission
also use the two USB ports to attach course) is completed by pressing one varies depending on how you connect to
extra USB hard drives. The device works button. The unit needs to be plugged the DSM-G600—but if you’re on a fast
by sharing its storage with any attached into a network where it can pick up a Gigabit Ethernet connection, throughput
Mac or PC, either via Ethernet or over DHCP address, so, assuming you have should be more than satisfactory.
wireless 802.11g. an Ethernet-based DSL or cable modem, The bottom line. If you have multiple
The initial setup of the D-Link the unit will pick up an IP address, such Macs or a mixture of Macs and PCs, the
enclosure isn’t as straightforward as it as http://192.168.0.2. DSM-G600 can be a good, always-on,
could be—you need to use Microsoft’s The wireless performance, range, and available-to-everyone repository for your
Internet Explorer for Mac Web browser signal strength are good compared to music, video, and pictures, despite its
to set up the DSM-G600 (you can other Wi-Fi access points. As for access restrictive setup requirements.
download IE for Mac at www.pure-mac to the DSM-G600’s attached storage over —Ed Haynes

;GEH9FQ2 D-Link J=IMAJ=E=FLK2 Microsoft ?GG<F=OK2 A central server for music, movies, etc. Good
;GFL9;L2800-326-1688, Internet Explorer for Mac, broadband network performance and wireless range.
www.dlink.com Internet connection, hard drive :9<F=OK2 Poor Web-based configuration. Boxy design and
HJA;=2 $199.99 styling. Lack of Mac-mindedness.
The always-on
LCD has a 158-
by-120-pixel
PDF Shrink 4.0
area for text. QUICK-AND-EASY PDF UTILITY

A pago’s PDF Shrink 4.0 is a handy

utility that reduces PDF file sizes.
PDF Shrink took an eight-page, full-
color PDF created in Adobe InDesign CS2
(using Press Quality settings) and gave
us a 39 percent savings (we used PDF

FireLite Shrink’s default settings for print PDFs).

But we noticed that when we printed the

XPress PDF Shrink file, some of our graphics

were blurry. We then adjusted PDF
Shrink to reduce the file but maintain the
MAC-UNFRIENDLY original quality—we got a mere 7 percent
PORTABLE HARD DRIVE savings, but the printed PDF Shrink file

T he FireLite XPress portable hard

drive has an LCD that displays
text you’ve entered into the FireLite
did maintain the quality of the original.
We love PDF Shrink’s Droplets, which
are applets with fixed settings. You
XPress Notepad application—it doesn’t select the settings and click on Save
automatically display a list of files. To Droplet, and an applet is made. To
preserve your privacy, you probably process your files, you can simply drag
don’t want the drive to automatically and drop the PDFs onto the Droplet. You
display a file list, but it would be nice to do need the original PDF Shrink software
have a choice. You can type in any text on the Mac you’re using, however.
you want (maybe a generic name for your
files, like My Photos), and you can even
draw simple sticklike drawings.
The LCD also displays helpful
information on available capacity—if the
drive is formatted in Windows’ FAT32
(which your Mac can read and write).
When formatted using Mac OS Extended
(Journaled) format, the capacity and free
space on the LCD read 0GB, even when PDF Shrink can help quickly process
we had 8GB of files on the drive. dozens of PDFs.
Since the FireLite XPress is USB only,
we weren’t expecting a speedy drive. The bottom line. PDF Shrink is a
Using Xbench (free, www.xbench helpful utility for mass production of
.com) to gauge the drive’s speed, we PDFs. If you regularly use the Print
got results of 11MB per second on dialog to create PDFs, PDF Shrink is
the Sequential Uncached Write and an affordable way to make your PDF
Sequential Uncached Read tests, file sizes smaller. If PDF creation and
which is about what we expected. Not management isn’t part of your daily
bad—but not great, either. routine, or if you use PDFs for press
The bottom line. The FireLite XPress runs, learn the optimal settings in your
is likable, if you can live with its quirks. page-layout or PDF-creation software
—Roman Loyola instead.—Roman Loyola

;GEH9FQ2 HJA;=2 $179.99 (60GB, ;GEH9FQ2 Apago HJA;=2 $35

SmartDisk tested), $299.99 (120GB) ;GFL9;L2 J=IMAJ=E=FLK2
;GFL9;L2 J=IMAJ=E=FLK2 Mac 770-619-1884, Mac OS 10.4 or later
239-425-4000, OS 10.2 or later, USB www.apagoinc.com
www.smartdisk.com
?GG<F=OK2 Helpful LCD display. Bus powered. ?GG<F=OK2 Easy to use. Batch processing.
:9<F=OK2 LCD text needs :9<F=OK2 You’ll need
manual updates. Status not to rely on Adobe Acrobat or
Mac-format compatible. InDesign for fine-tuning.
 G:K>:LHG:K>:LH
** **

SpeckTone
SpeckTone
Retro
Retro
PASSABLE
PASSABLE
iPOD SPEAKER
iPOD SPEAKER
STAND STAND

W W ith its Happy

and feel, the
definitely stands
ithDays–inspired
and
definitely
its Happy Days–inspired
SpeckTone
look
feel, the SpeckTone
out stands
Retro
center of the
look

out in the crowdedcan fill a room,

in the crowded
center of the
Retrounit. The sound
unit. The sound
can fill a room,
iPod-speaker-stand
iPod-speaker-stand
space. We instantly but if you crank
space. We instantly but if you crank
liked the glossy
liked green—avocado?—wood
the glossy green—avocado?—wood it up, you enter
it up,ayou enter a
case and brown
case and
grill brown
on the grill
unit onwethe unit we world of distortion.
world of distortion.
tested, but tested,
black/black
but black/black
and white/gray and white/gray The power switch
The poweris switch is
are availablearefor
available
anyone for whoanyone
preferswho a prefers inconveniently
a inconveniently
placed at placed at For the iPod For
swingster.
the iPod swingster.
more subtlemorelook.subtle look. the rear—reach
the rear—reach
around, andaround, and
However, aside
However,
from aside
its appearance,
from its appearance,you’ll eventually
you’ll fieventually
nd it underfind
theitpower
under the power
nothing else nothing
about else
the SpeckTone
about the SpeckTone
Retro adapter. Next
Retro adapter.
to the Next
power toswitch
the power
is the
switch is the
makes it stand
makesout.it Itstand
sounds out.decent,
It sounds decent, audio-in jack,
audio-in
whichjack,
lets you
which lets you connect The bottomThe
connect line.
bottom
If yourline.
iPodIfisyour
filled
iPod is filled
with good overall
with goodtoneoverall
that hastonea full- other audioother
that has a full- devices.
audio devices. with Big Bad with
Voodoo
Big BadDaddy,
Voodoo
RoyalDaddy, Royal
sounding midrange
soundingand midrange
subdued andbutsubdued but Speck Products SpeckisProducts
nice enough to enough toCrown Revue,
is nice Crown
andRevue,
Big Sandyandand
Big Sandy
His and His
noticeable noticeable
bass response, bassalthough
response,the althoughinclude
the matching
includesilicone
matching iPod
silicone Fly-Rite Boys,
cases,iPod cases, Fly-Rite
the SpeckTone
Boys, the SpeckTone
Retro will Retro will
high end ishigh
a bit end
weak. is aThe
bit SpeckTone
weak. The SpeckTone but the cases
butare
thefor
cases
the 5G
areiPod
for the
and certain lookcertain
5G iPod and the part.
lookButthe
you
part.
should
But you should
Retro has aRetro
subwoofer but lacks but lacks the iPod nano
has a subwoofer the (the
iPodfinano (the first generation)opt for sometime
rst generation) opt forasometime
little morea modern
little more modern
separate controls
separate to controls
adjust it.toTheadjust only. One last
onlyit. The only only.annoyance:
One last annoyance:
There’s no There’s no if you’re picky
if you’re
aboutpicky
sound about
quality.
sound quality.
control is acontrol
silver volume
is a silver
knobvolume
at theknob at the remote control.
remote control. —Roman Loyola—Roman Loyola

;GEH9FQ2 Speck
;GEH9FQ2 J=IMAJ=E=FLK2
ProductsSpeck Products J=IMAJ=E=FLK2
iPod iPod HJGK2 Stylish.HJGK2
PowerfulStylish.
volumePowerful
from a small
volume
unit.
from a small unit.
;GFL9;L2 650-463-8918,
;GFL9;L2 650-463-8918, Decent sound. Decent sound.
www.speckproducts.com
www.speckproducts.com ;GFK2 Power switch
;GFK2located
Poweron switch
rear panel.
locatedNo
onremote
rear panel.
control.
No remote control.
HJA;=2 $149.95
HJA;=2 $149.95

BookEndz G

®
56 REVIEWS
better living through smarter shopping

saturation, and big images

Sony’s hoping to
printed on Epson’s Stylus
get a piece of the
Photo 2200 inkjet printer
growing SLR pie
showed excellent detail.
with the new
The A100K’s sexiest
Alpha A100K.
feature is its antishake
capability, called Super SteadyShot.
It works with any lens, and when
turned on, it shifts the sensor to
cancel out camera movement at slow
shutter speeds. We tried it under three
conditions most likely to produce blurry
images. First, we shot at a very slow
shutter speed in low light. Then, we
racked the telephoto lens out to its
maximum focal length (the shaky, high-
powered binocular analogy). Finally, we
shot some extreme close-ups. In each
case we got sharp images at slower-
than-normal shutter speeds that let us
use smaller apertures to better keep

Alpha DSLR-A100K
both near and far objects in focus. When
we shot under the same conditions with
the antishake off, most of our images
were unusable. Sony also uses this
BUDDING SLR CAMERA
feature to shake dust off the sensor

T he Alpha DSLR-A100K is the first

of a new line of Sony digital SLR
cameras, and this 10.2-megapixel
We got a big kick out of the A100K’s
autofocusing system, which uses an
IR sensor under the viewfinder that
when the camera is powered down.
Sony offers an inexpensive starter
lens that we used to shoot most of our
powerhouse is an in-your-face challenge triggers the focusing when you bring the images—a Sony 18mm-to-70mm (27mm-
to the SLR old boys’ club. It’s the first camera to your eye. As for the flash, you to-105mm in 35mm terms), f/3.5-5.6 lens
SLR released by the Sony and Konica- have to lift it up with your fingertip— (with an included sunshade) that has a
Minolta collaboration. how quaint! On the other hand, you can silky-smooth zoom and is extraordinarily
Compact and well balanced, be sure it will never flash when you sharp. We also had an opportunity to
the A100K reduces menu diving don’t want it to. try Sony’s lightweight 11mm-to-
considerably, thanks to its innovative We slid in the 18mm (16.5mm-to-27mm
Function Dial. By turning the dial and camera’s 750-shot in 35mm terms), f/4.5-
pressing its center button, you can rechargeable 5.6 super wide-angle
access metering modes, flash options, battery, inserted lens, which gave us
focus, ISO, contrast, saturation, a 2GB SanDisk visually dramatic
sharpness, white balance, and control Extreme IV pictures with great
over the dynamic range of the image. CompactFlash card depth of field. Most
Each function’s options are displayed on (you can also use Minolta lenses will
a 2.5-inch LCD, ready for fine-tuning with Sony’s Memory work, and a line of
the camera’s rocker switch. Stick Duo cards with Zeiss-made digital
The A100K has a separate mode an included adapter), No, that’s not a Maxxum 5D control panel. glass lenses is on
dial with six preset scene selections in and set off to shoot the way.
addition to the advanced settings. With local flora and fauna. The camera turned The bottom line. When Konica-Minolta
a top shutter speed of 1/4,000 second, on in about a second, focus was quick, decided to ditch its camera business,
continuous shooting of up to three shutter lag was a nonissue, and shot-to- you could just hear its Maxxum 5D
frames per second, and a flash reach shot time was as fast as we could click echoing a Brando-esque, “I coulda been
of more than 40 feet (at ISO 1,600), ’em, even when using the 3-frames- a contenda!” With Sony now at ringside,
there isn’t much that you won’t be able per-second continuous burst mode. the rejuvenated A100K definitely has a
to shoot. Colors reproduced accurately with good shot at the title.—Arthur Bleich

COMPANY: Sony PRICE: $999.95 with 18-70mm (27-105mm GOOD NEWS: Great ergonomics. Easy to learn. Fine
CONTACT: 877-865-7669, 35mm equivalent) f/3.5-5.6 lens, $899.95 images. Built-in antishake helps preserve image sharpness.
www.sonystyle.com body only BAD NEWS: Flash must be raised manually. Mechanically
REQUIREMENTS: Mac OS 10.1 or later, USB noisier than others in its class.

56 December 2006
 v

G:K>:LH
*, G:K>:LH *,

isten 1.7iListen
with Pro
1.7 Xpress
with Pro Xpress iListen works with most word-
processing and email apps,processing
iListen works with most word-
and even and email apps, and even

SB Headset/Microphone
USB Headset/Microphone
Excel. We spoke naturally and Excel.
in complete
We spoke naturally and in complete
sentences so iListen could pick sentences
up wordsso iListen could pick up words
in context with other wordsin and
context
phrases.with other words and phrases.
OR-MISS SPEECH-RECOGNITION
HIT-OR-MISS SPEECH-RECOGNITION SOFTWARE SOFTWARE You’ll have to say period, new You’ll
paragraph,
have to say period, new paragraph,

T
mantra for speech-recognition
he mantra for speech-recognition
pps is “Garbled in, garbledapps
peech’s iListen 1.7 is no
out,”isand
MacSpeech’s
“Garbled in, garbled out,” and
exception. iListen 1.7 is no exception.
and other simple commands.

the ambient noise is different,

and
dictate in multiple locationsdictate
If you
other simple commands. If you
where in multiple locations where
the you
ambient noise is different, you
s sentences in example ofThis something
sentences in example of something can create a new profile under canthose
create a new profile under those
k iListen to convert to written
we ask iListen
text. Asto convert to written text. As conditions to further reduceconditions
errors. to further reduce errors.
an see, iListen made someyou canerrors.
see,ItiListen made some errors. It You can fix mistakes either You by voice
can fix mistakes either by voice
d read, This sentence is should
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read, This sentence is an example or with a keyboard, but correcting
or with a keyboard, but correcting
mething we asked iListen of something
to convert we asked iListen to convert words by voice is a real bear. words
Whenby voice is a real bear. When
ten text. We’re partially
to written
to blame, text. We’re partially to blame, iListen wrote where Apple insteadiListen wrote where Apple instead
se we slurred the words because
sentencewe slurred the words sentence of wearable, 14 voice commands of wearable, 14 voice commands
together, which resulted
and inis together,
the which resulted
When usinginvarious
the microphonesWhen orusing
dictating
various
under were required
microphones to correct
or dictating underit, and
weretherequired to correct it, and the
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different an clearly, noise conditions, iListen noiseInternational
different background Phonetic Alphabet
conditions, iListen International Phonetic Alphabet
became in, and somehow whichthe became
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you to
les. (Alpha,
set up multiple voiceBravo, and so on through
profiles. (Alpha, Bravo, and so on through
ropped from asked. was dropped from asked. Yankee and Zulu) had to be Yankee used. and Zulu) had to be used.
tried again, this time withWebetter
tried again, thisidiosyncratic
time with better
speech patterns,
idiosyncratic The bottom
it gets speech patterns, line. It’s not time
it gets Thetobottom
ditch line. It’s not time to ditch
nciation, and only hadpronunciation,
a single and only
better.
hadOna single
some documentsbetter.
we attained your keyboard
On some documents just yet, butyour
we attained iListen
keyboard
brings just yet, but iListen brings
As iListen begins to learn
error.your
As iListen beginsalmost
to learn
perfect
youraccuracy. almost perfect accuracy. that day closer.—Arthur Bleich that day closer.—Arthur Bleich

H9FQ2 MacSpeech ;GEH9FQ2 MacSpeech

J=IMAJ=E=FLK2 ?GG<F=OK2 Decent
Mac OS 10.2.8 J=IMAJ=E=FLK2 10.2.8 rate.?GG<F=OK2
Mac OSaccuracy Enables dictation
Decent
directly
accuracy
into rate. Enables dictation directly into
L9;L2603-471-3585, ;GFL9;L2603-471-3585,
or later, USB many
or later, Mac OS X applications. Powerful
USB many
yet easy
Mac to
OSset
X applications.
up and use. Powerful yet easy to set up and use.
macspeech.com www.macspeech.com :9<F=OK2 Accuracy can be affected :9<F=OK2
by user fatigue.
Accuracy
Error can be affected by user fatigue. Error
=2 $179 HJA;=2 $179 correction by voice is tedious. Microphone
correction
placement
by voice
critical.
is tedious. Microphone placement critical.

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*-*-G:K>:LH
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better living
betterthrough
living through
smartersmarter
shopping
shopping

Parallels
ParallelsDesktop
Desktopforfor
Mac
Mac ON THE
ON THE
DISCDISC
Parallels Desktop
Parallels
forDesktop for
EFFECTIVE
EFFECTIVE
WINDOWS-VIRTUALIZATION
WINDOWS-VIRTUALIZATION
SOFTWARE
SOFTWARE Mac RC 2 Mac RC 2

I I
t’s almost
t’s almost
still rule,
butt-ugly,
2007. The
stilland
rule,
butt-ugly,
bloatedbloated
2007.
Microsoft
Mac

versions
Theand
and Microsoft
Mac

versions
OSand
still cranks
X OS X Desktop Desktop
out outinstallation;
still cranks
of Windows,including
of Windows,
provides
installation;
including
provides
similarly
our Parallels
Windows,
similarly
easy easy
our Parallels
Windows,
took alltook
of 10
Intel-based
installation, developed
installation,
all of 10
Intel-based
Macs and
developed
Build 1898
Macs
by Microsoft.
Build(the
1898
is no
andlonger
by Microsoft.
version
is no longer

(the version
being being

of Parallels
of Parallels
years late
years
and late
fulland
of bugs.
full ofIt’s
bugs. It’s a regular minutes—a
a regular minutes—afraction fraction
of the typical
of the typical we tested)
we tested)
brings brings
support support
for Apple’s
for Apple’s
laugh-riot
laugh-riot for Macfor purists—but
Mac purists—butnot so not so Windows Windows
installation.
installation. Unfortunately, recently
Unfortunately, recently
released released
Mac Pro—almost.
Mac Pro—almost.
funny iffunny
you need
if youtoneed
use some some cspecific however,
to usespecifi however,
ParallelsParallels
also has also has VPC-like At press
VPC-like Attime,
pressParallels
time, Parallels
uses software
uses software
Windows-only
Windows-onlysoftware software
for work shortcomings
whator whatshortcomings
fororwork in the video-emulation virtualization
in the video-emulation virtualization
because because
the Mac the Mac
have you.haveIf you
you.really
If youneed
reallytoneed to run any arena; arena;
run any hardware hardware
3D acceleration
3D acceleration Pro’s hardware
Pro’s hardware
virtualization
virtualization
(VT) is (VT) is
flavor offlavor
Windows
of Windows
from 3.1 from 3.1 to XP—with isn’t yet
to XP—with isn’t
supported,
yet supported,
so yourso high-
your high- disableddisabled
in the fiinrmware.
the firmware.
ParallelsParallels
experimental
experimental supportsupport
for the for the terminally test games
terminally test games
and CAD and apps
CADwill
apps will suffer reps say
suffer reps
they’re
say they’re
waitingwaiting
for Applefor to
Apple to
tardy Vista
tardy(see
Vista “Virtual
(see “Virtual Vista?”)—from under Parallels.
Vista?”)—from under Parallels.
But make Butno
make no mistake: fi x the fi
mistake: problem.
x the problem.
the comfort of yourof
the comfort Intel-based Mac, Mac, Parallels
your Intel-based Parallels
is a continual
is a continual
work inwork in progress, Parallels
progress, Parallels
itself isn’t
itself
multithreaded,
isn’t multithreaded,
so so
settingsetting
withoutwithout up the uppartitioned,
the partitioned, unlike Virtual
unlike Virtual
PC, which PC, doesn’t multithreaded
run on run on multithreaded
which doesn’t apps suchappsassuch
Photoshop
as Photoshop
u u
dual-bootdual-boot
systemsystemrequired required
to run Apple’s
to run Apple’s
alternative,
alternative,
Boot Camp Boot(free
www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp),
Campbeta,
www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp),
(free beta,
VIRTUAL
VIRTUAL
VISTA?
VISTA?
ParallelsParallels
Desktop Desktop
for Macfor is Mac
the right-
is the right- As of build
As of1898,build Parallels
1898, Parallels
Desktop Desktop
for Macfor
doesn’t
Mac doesn’t
support support
ActiveX, ActiveX,
Windows’ Windows’
now choice,
now choice,
especially especially
if you don’t
if youneed
don’t need technology technology
for sharing
for sharing
information
information
between between
applications.
applications.
ParallelsParallels
reps say reps
thesay the
snappysnappy
multithreaded
multithreaded
processor processor
supportsupport company company
is working
is working
on ActiveX
on ActiveX
support, support,
but savvy
but developers
savvy developerssay it’llsay
be it’ll
an uphill
be an uphill
or hardware-accelerated
or hardware-accelerated 3D graphics
3D graphics
for for battle that
battle Parallels
that Parallels
might never
mightwin.
neverMeanwhile,
win. Meanwhile,
the next theversion
next version
of Windows,
of Windows,
games games
or CAD.or CAD. called Vista,
called usesVista,a uses
new programming
a new programminginterface
interface
called WinFX.
called WinFX.
Word on Word
the on
street
the is
street is
If you’veIf you’ve
used Virtual
used Virtual
PC ( PC ( that it’llthat
be it’ll
a tough
be a nuttough
to crack,
nut to virtualization-wise.—NC
crack, virtualization-wise.—NC
Feb/05,Feb/05,
p37), you’ll
p37),fiyou’ll
nd that find
Parallels
that Parallels
 vastly different: Parallels runs as an
application on your Mac (you’re running
Windows within Parallels, which is
running on your Mac), while Boot Camp
requires you to restart the Mac in pure
Windows mode—you can’t switch back
and forth between Mac and Windows on
the same desktop. Advantage, Parallels.
Boot Camp comes out ahead of Parallels
in the performance department, but
we live in Mac OS, where Parallels’
convenience trumps Boot Camp’s
performance—your mileage will vary
according to your needs.
The bottom line. In a few months,
Boot Camp support will come
preinstalled with Mac OS 10.5, but
nobody outside Cupertino knows quite
Not that we want to inflict a Windows OS on our Macs, but Parallels makes it painless. how that’ll pan out. In the meantime,
if you need to use Windows software
u are actually threading through only And what of Apple’s Windows- occasionally and you don’t expect
one of the Core 2 Duo’s cores, not running Boot Camp beta? The end blistering-fast performance, Parallels
both. As we said, Parallels isn’t about result (a Windows OS running on your Desktop for Mac is an excellent
performance—it’s about convenience. Mac) is similar, but the procedure is compromise.—Niko Coucouvanis

;GEH9FQ2 Parallels J=IMAJ=E=FLK2 Intel-based Mac, Mac ?GG<F=OK2Use Windows without buying a Piece of Crap
;GFL9;L2 425-282-6400, OS 10.4.6 or later, Windows 3.1 or later, (PC). No disk partitioning or rebooting necessary.
www.parallels.com 512MB RAM (1GB recommended), 30MB :9<F=OK2It’s still Windows. No hardware 3D acceleration.
HJA;=2 $79.99 disk space (15GB recommended) Assorted growing pains.

December 2006 59
Mindstorms NXT
ENJOYABLE LEGO ROBOT SET

L EGO’s Mindstorms NXT is 577 pieces

of the LEGO goodness that you
grew up with, but it’s now designed for
digitally influenced imaginations.
Mindstorms NXT is a
robot-building kit. You can
build robots with arms, claws,
wheels, and more, but the
core of the Mindstorms NXT
kit is the Intelligent Brick that
holds programs used to make
your robot perform. The Brick
has connectors so you can
attach robot parts to it,
four sensors (light, sound,
touch, and ultrasonic) to
help your robot react, and
three servomotors for
movement.
The kit says it’s
for kids 10 years
old and older,
but what makes
Mindstorms
NXT feel like a
toy for grown-ups
is its software, which
you use to program the
robot actions. It’s not
kids’ software, so don’t
expect cartoony icons—your kid
will be helpless if you just plop him or
her in from of the app. It takes time to Currently patrolling our editorial offices,
learn the software, but it does come pestering late editors.
with preprogrammed actions so you
can get some satisfaction while you’re your creation take shape. You can
learning. You upload the robot actions improvise, plan your own, or go to http://
by connecting the Brick to your Mac mindstorms.lego.com and use one of
via USB. Running the actions on the LEGO’s sets of building instructions.
robot simply takes a few pushes of the LEGO even offers hardware and software
Brick’s buttons. development kits on its Web site.
We found the greatest pleasure in The bottom line. Mindstorms NXT
constructing our robot—it’s so satisfying is the bridge between our newfound
to figure out which pieces to use, snap adolescent glee and our current tech
the LEGO pieces together, and watch lifestyle. Fun, fun, fun.—Roman Loyola

;GEH9FQ2 LEGO HJA;=2 $249.99

;GFL9;L2800-453-4652, J=IMAJ=E=FLK2 Mac OS 10.3.9 or later, USB,
http://mindstorms.lego.com 300MB hard disk space

?GG<F=OK2 LEGO goodness combined with simple robotics—what

we always wanted as kids.
:9<F=OK2 Pricey. Software has steep learning curve.
 +&
G:K>:LH G:K>:LH
+&

Banshee
Banshee
SURROUND-SOUND
SURROUND-SOUND
SPEAKERSPEAKER

T T
he Banshee ishea Banshee
speaker set that
to create an effect
to create
surround-sound
speaker
uses set
thatan audio
is a surround-sound
fivethat
effect
speakers
uses five speakers
is coming
that audio is coming
Why settle forWhy settle for
a measly pair aofmeasly pair of
speakers when speakers
you when you
from 180 degrees
from in180front
degrees
of you. in front of you. can have five?can have five?
The Banshee Theconnects
Banshee to your
connects
audioto your audio
device via a single
deviceaudio-in
via a single
jack.audio-in
iPods jack. iPods
don’t connectdon’t
usingconnect
a dock;using
you use a dock;
an you use an sound as loudsound
as they as should
loud ashave.
they should have.
audio cable that
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theplugs
iPod’s into the iPod’s The Banshee ThehadBanshee
an auditorium
had aneffect
auditorium effect
headphone jack headphone
on one end jackandon toone the
end and to the when we sat about
when we six sat
feetabout
in front
sixoffeet in front of
Banshee’s audio-in
Banshee’sjack audio-in
on the other on the Banshee’s
jack on the other on the volume
Banshee’s
controlvolume
without it—a feeling we
control without it—amight
feeling
haveweif might
we were have
at if we were at
end. You can end.
use theYouincluded
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hearing any but there’s nobut there’sano
distortion, live performance.
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the the
separate) iPod separate)
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effect wasn’t effect
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wasn’t as evident
recharge yourrecharge
iPod. your iPod. maximum volume, maximum nor isvolume,
there a nor
visual when watching
is there a visual when
a movie.
watching a movie.
Turn your audioTurn
device’s
your audio
volume downvolumecue
device’s to tell youcue
down if the
to tell
Banshee
you if is or off. is on orThe
theonBanshee off.bottom line.
The The
bottom line. The
Banshee is noBanshee is no
to about its midpoint
to aboutbefore
its midpoint
you connect Music from the
before you connect Music
Banshee
from sounded
the Banshee sounded replacement for
replacement
a true multichannel
for a true multichannel
it to the Banshee—when
it to the Banshee—when
we connectedwe connected clear and crisp clear
overall,
and crisp
but bass
overall,
and but bass andsurround-soundsurround-sound
speaker system, speaker
but itsystem, but it
our PowerBook ourG4PowerBook G4 at full volume, low-end sounds
at full volume, low-end
lackedsounds
warmth. lacked
One warmth. One sounds as goodsounds
as—and,
as good
in some
as—and,cases,
in some cases,
the distortionthefrom
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the Bansheefrom was the Banshee was peculiar effect peculiar
the Banshee
effect had
the Banshee
was that had wasbetter
thatthan—abetter
lot ofthan—a
similarlylotpriced
of similarly priced
unbearable. Youunbearable.
can turn theYouvolume
can turnupthe volume on some
up songs, on some
the vocals
songs, stereo speakers.—Roman
the vocals didn’t stereo speakers.—Roman
didn’t Loyola Loyola

;GEH9FQ2 3DX ;GEH9FQ2

Technologies 3DX J=IMAJ=E=FLK2
Technologies Any device with Any ?GG<F=OK2
J=IMAJ=E=FLK2 device with ?GG<F=OK2
Small. Good audioSmall.
clarity.Good audio clarity.
;GFL9;L2312-474-6108,
;GFL9;L2312-474-6108,
an audio-out or headphone
an audio-out :9<F=OK2
jackor headphone jack :9<F=OK2
No true iPod dock.No
Varied
true audio
iPod dock.
results.
Varied
Distortion
audio results. Distortion
www.bansheeaudio.com
www.bansheeaudio.com at high volume levels.
at high volume levels.
HJA;=2 $129 HJA;=2 $129
62 REVIEWS
better living through smarter shopping

Point & Shoot Video Camcorder

SURPRISING PORTABLE DIGITAL VIDEO RECORDER

T he Point & Shoot Video Camcorder

is only four inches tall, weighs four
ounces, and comes with a four-page
combined shooting and playback, both
of which are viewed on a small but bright
1.5-inch color display.
connected to your Mac. You can bypass
the software and transfer the video files
directly to your hard drive (the camera
manual. You could say our expectations Copying the video files to your Mac appears as a storage device on your
were small, as well—we weren’t is as easy as popping out the built-in Desktop), but the movies are recorded in
expecting the Point & Shoot Video USB 2.0 plug and connecting it to an AVI format, which will choke QuickTime
Camcorder to replace a traditional available USB port on your Mac. The Player—Pure Digital’s QuickTime AVI
camcorder. But in about four seconds we Point & Shoot has 512MB of internal plug-in worked sporadically. We did have
were pointing and shooting, the good memory capable of storing 30 minutes success with RealPlayer 10 for Mac OS
times rolled on and on, and the Point & of video, and unfortunately, there’s no X (free, www.realplayer.com) and DivX
Shoot left a big impression. memory-card slot so you can store more Player 1.0.3 (free, www.divx.com). If you
The Point & Shoot looks more like a videos. What we first thought was a intend to email AVI files to other Mac
still camera than a video camera, though slot for a memory card turned out to be users, they may have to download one
it has basic camcorder controls: record, a port that allows connection to a DVD of these players to view the movie. If you
play, and delete buttons, and a four- burner—Pure Digital encourages you want to use the AVI files in iMovie HD,
way rocker button that both sets the to drop the camera off at an authorized you need to convert them using software
recording volume and zooms the 35mm- retailer, where a DVD of your movies is such as Flip4Mac’s WMV Player Pro ($29,
to-70mm (35mm camera equivalent), burned in an hour for about $10 to $13. www.flip4mac.com) to a format iMovie
fixed-focus, f-2.4 lens. In playback A list of nearby retailers is available at HD can read.
mode, the rocker button controls the www.puredigitalinc.com/retailers.html. We weren’t expecting to record stellar-
volume and navigates through recorded The Point & Shoot comes with Mac quality video, but when we connected
video segments. Two AA batteries are software that you can use to view the the camcorder to a large TV (cables are
needed to power about two hours of camcorder’s movies while the device is included) and viewed our clips, we were

iPod Showcase
Banshee Listening Station PodSwap iPod Mounting Solutions

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a single listening station.
Shatter the perceived limitations of Owning an iPod can be more
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50 watts of peak output power. The Purchase new or “PodSwap is even easier with ProClip!
Banshee’s patented technology Certified” used iPods. ProClip mounting solutions are
produces ultracrisp midranges with Get cash or instant credit for your the best way to mount your iPod in
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 REVIEWS
63
camcorder for that. The camcorder’s
minuscule internal speaker produces
tinny sound, but the TV reproduced the
audio nicely. The only disappointment
Easier to was that the focus softens if objects are
carry than closer than three feet.
your typical During recording, a counter blinks
camcorder. away in the upper-left corner of the LCD
Connects to to show elapsed time in minutes and
your Mac’s USB seconds. Unfortunately, it also appears
port. when videos are played back on a TV,
obscuring the picture. There’s also no
way to pause or to go back to a section of
the clip without going to the beginning.
However, when we played our movie files
on a Mac, the time counter disappeared.
The bottom line. Aside from everyday
moviemaking, the Point & Shoot is
perfect for hidden-camera shenanigans,
impressed. The Point & Shoot records at (with millions of colors) was more than kite-tethered aerial filming, mounting
30 frames per second, so we got good- adequate for TV viewing. If you have an on dirt bikes or skateboards, and
looking motion, and the Point & Shoot’s HDTV, you won’t see an improvement spontaneous video recording.
640-by-480-pixel video resolution in quality; you’d need a true HD video —Arthur Bleich

COMPANY: Pure Digital REQUIREMENTS: GOOD NEWS: Inexpensive. Full 30 frames per second for excellent motion.
CONTACT: 415-445-7626, Mac OS X, USB Pocket sized. Ridiculously easy to use.
www.puredigitalinc.com BAD NEWS: No memory-card option. Abbreviated functions during TV
PRICE: $129.99 playback. Focus goes soft on extreme close-ups. Warranty is for only 90 days.

iPod Showcase
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copy music, videos, playlists, and See the big picture with
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make a backup of your music, and It attaches to and draws power
at safe levels. Hear crisp, clear
move music to another authorized from the iPod’s bottom dock
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Advertisement August
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2006 63 63
GAMES
COMING SOON
because you play as hard as you work
65

When Cold
Wars Heat Up
H earts of Iron II: Doomsday is
an expansion pack for the
popular World War II real-time
strategy game Hearts of Iron II.
The pack continues the war past
1945, with the Western Allies
and the Soviets squaring off.
Doomsday takes a realistic look
at WWIII with over 10 playable And to think, there
war-torn nations going into a new was a time when
conflict, political and resource this was a possible
maneuvering, heightened tension reality. Scary.
in China, and nuclear scenarios.
Use spies to steal technology,
sabotage research and factories,
assassinate leaders, and even
encourage revolutions. Doomsday HEARTS OF IRON II: DEV/PUB: Virtual Programming, www.vpltd.com
DOOMSDAY AVAILABLE: Now ■ PRICE: $24.95
also comes with a new scenario
editor for your own alternative
timeline.—Matt Osborn

TIPS & TRICKS

Colin McRae Rally Mac Tips

Colin McRae Rally Mac (price TBD, www.feralinteractive.com) is an off-road rally-racing game in which you hone your drift turns and
steering tactics on more than 300 tracks. Try these tips to climb up the ranks, or you may get run off the road.—MO
• Look for opportunities to drive straight instead of turning—it’s faster. Use the hand brake if you swing into a sharp turn.
• For a subtle slowdown, try briefly maneuvering two wheels on a patch of grass.
• Check the weather and road conditions on the stage and adjust your tires before the race; you’ll
be ready for sudden downpours, especially in the UK races.
• Try to have more speed coming out of a turn than going in. Do this by
slowing down before the turn and drift-turning while gaining
traction, and then hit the accelerator.

“You did get the

optional renter’s
insurance, right?”

December 2006 65
66 GAMES
because you play as hard as you work

iPOD GAMES

Portable Casual Games

The iPod’s nine new games (which require a video-capable iPod running version 1.2 of the iPod software) won’t tempt you to replace
your PlayStation Portable or any other dedicated handheld gaming console, but they’ll help keep you from getting bored stiff while
waiting for the bus. The games are designed for the iPod’s clickwheel, and we’ve rated each one as Easy, Medium, or Hard to reflect
the difficulty of adapting to the clickwheel control. Each game is available only via the iTunes Store for $4.99, or together as a nine-
pack for $44.91.—Roman Loyola

Bejeweled Mini Golf Texas Hold ’Em

DEVELOPER: Apple
DEVELOPER: PopCap Games DEVELOPER: Electronic Arts OBJECT: If you didn’t know that this is a
OBJECT: Match three or more jewels by OBJECT: It’s miniature golf on your ’Pod. version of poker, you need to get out more
swapping adjacent jewels. CLICKWHEEL CONTROL: Hard often. Or at least watch more cable TV.
CLICKWHEEL CONTROL: Easy The courses are challenging, but this CLICKWHEEL CONTROL: Easy
Fun game, but scrolling through each row game requires precision that’s difficult Get past the hokey graphics and you’ll
to select a jewel feels inefficient. to achieve with the clickwheel. satisfy your jones for Texas Hold ’Em.
RATING: SOLID RATING: SOLID RATING: GREAT

Cubis 2 Pac-Man Vortex

DEVELOPER: Apple
DEVELOPER: Fresh Games DEVELOPER: Namco OBJECT: Breakout-style game where you
OBJECT: Quickly clear cubes from the OBJECT: Eat dots, avoid Blinky, Pinky, eliminate blocks with a ball.
board by lining up three or more similarly Inky, and Clyde. CLICKWHEEL CONTROL: Easy
colored adjacent cubes. CLICKWHEEL CONTROL: Medium Vortex relies on touch more than strategy,
CLICKWHEEL CONTROL: Easy All the Pac-Man goodness you expect— which some may find boring. Perhaps the
The controls feel natural in this addicting just try not to get frustrated as you adapt best use of the clickwheel in a game.
puzzle game. to using the clickwheel for control. RATING: GREAT
RATING: AWESOME RATING: SOLID
Zuma
Mahjong Tetris

DEVELOPER: PopCap Games

OBJECT: Guard your skull by firing colored
DEVELOPER: Electronic Arts DEVELOPER: Electronic Arts balls at an advancing string of balls;
OBJECT: Match digital Mahjong pieces to OBJECT: Create horizontal lines using when the colors match, the attacking
clear the board. falling blocks of different shapes. balls disappear.
CLICKWHEEL CONTROL: Medium CLICKWHEEL CONTROL: Hard CLICKWHEEL CONTROL: Medium
It’s nothing like traditional Mahjong. Still addicting, but the clickwheel It takes practice to get the precise touch
This game essentially tests your ability controls don’t feel natural—and they you need for this game, but thankfully,
to scroll and click as fast as you can. can be too sensitive. Zuma is well paced and addictive.
RATING: SO-SO RATING: SOLID RATING: AWESOME

66 December 2006
 S C H O O L O F: C O M P U T E R A N I M A T I O N > D I G I T A L A R T S & D E S I G N > ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS > FILM > GAME DEVELOPME NT > R ECORDIN G ARTS > SHOW PRODUCT ION & T OURI N G
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our Religion
Duty 2Losing Your
Call of Religion
Duty 2
son-shooter
ed, I
of Rywennia, priests aren the
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eretic Kingdoms: Theover
burned
sight,
De
fantasy
tour
zealots
on kingdom of Rywennia, priests are burned on
First-person-shooter
temples
ForCe
Inquisition,
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God. In Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition, you
tor who must stamp out playthe
asrefuse
a female inquisitor who must stamp out the refuse
n and get close to theleft
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n is a 3D isometric action-RPG
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The Inquisition is a 3D isometric action-RPG (think
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Gate) with 50 areas to explore, tons of quests,
omization, and lots ofdetailed
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Watch your matches,scouting
which lookopportunities). Watch your matches, which look
hes, with the benefit of
similar
beingtoable
televised
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and formations in 3D.change
You cantactics,
even players, and formations in 3D. You can even
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ith disgruntled playersmorale,
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iTunes recognize it as an audiobook. Keyboard & Mouse preferences pane

As we write this, the new iTunes 7.0.1 and disable any F-key shortcuts or other
acknowledged our renamed M4B files global shortcuts that you’ve set. Finally,
as audiobooks, but we’ve heard reports to account for DVD Player’s playback
that some audiobooks may need to be controls (play/pause via the spacebar
removed from the iTunes library and and navigation via the arrow keys), open
reimported to appear as audiobooks. System Preferences’ Universal Access
pane, click the Keyboard tab, click the
radio button to turn on Slow Keys, and
crank the Acceptance Delay slider all
the way to Long—now Junior will have to
press and hold keyboard keys for about
a minute to interrupt the DVD action.
AUDIOBOOK CDS TO iPOD
I have several audiobooks that are on
CDs. How do I convert them to files that
I can play on my iPod?
Making audiobook files is easy if you
know the secret. Insert your CD and
select it in iTunes’ Source list; if the
tracks are out of order, click the Name
column header to sort them sequentially
(bonus tip: make sure the little triangle Harry Potter can’t make iTunes audiobook-
is pointing up; down sorts in reverse savvy, but you can.
order). Press Command-A (or click Bonus: Slow Keys has incredible practical-
and drag) to select all of the tracks. STICKY FINGERS joke potential.
Select Advanced > Join CD Tracks from Is there a way to disable the keyboard
the menubar, then select iTunes > on my PowerBook while my kid watches MOVIE SAVER
Preferences > Advanced, set the Import DVDs on it? I have a large AVI movie that I’d like to
Using pull-down menu to AAC Encoder, After searching far and wide, we use as a screen saver. Can you help me
tweak the quality settings if you like (the couldn’t find a solution to this simple make that happen?
Spoken Podcast setting is usually good request—but we did find an easy Darn tootin’ we can help you turn
for audiobooks), and press OK. Now click workaround. The first keys you need your movies into screen savers. Just
iTunes’ Import button at the upper-right to worry about are the F-keys, which grab a copy of SaveHollywood (free,
(or lower-right in iTunes 7) to import launch Exposé and Dashboard when http://s.sudre.free.fr) and drop it in
the lot as one big file. iTunes 6.x users pressed; open System Preferences’ your /Library/Screen Savers folder.
can simply find the file (Control-click Dashboard & Exposé pane and clear Then launch System Preferences >
the track you just imported into iTunes each item’s keyboard activator by Desktop & Screen Saver and click
and select Show In Finder), highlight selecting the dash mark at the bottom the Screen Savers tab. Finally, select
the file, press Return, and change its of the pull-down menu. If you’ve set SaveHollywood from the list and click
extension from M4A to M4B to have any custom F-key behaviors, open the Options to set it up.

you’ve got 11 channels available within ACE MYSPACE

that frequency, so changing your Wi-Fi As I browse through the many profiles
router’s channel should set things right. on www.myspace.com I am constantly
greeted with large, invasive videos that
WHAM, BAM, ZAP sometimes don’t even work! Can I make
THE PRAM them go away?
Please settle this office bet: When Choose Safari > Preferences, click the
AIR TRAFFIC
Apple CONTROL
calls that status window thingy SNAP BACK,
resetting a Mac’sJACK
PRAM, is a cold start Security tab, and uncheck the box labeled
Help!
the I got Display
iTunes a new cordless
Area. phone, and really
What’srequired, or can
up with the littlewe justarrow
curvy restart Enable Plug-ins to disable the QuickTime
WMV,
every timePANTS
I make aON
callFIRE
my wireless the Mac?
on the right side of the iTunes status plug-in and all those inane MySpace
Hey, you said
network takesFlip4Mac wouldsignal
a powder—no enable windowofthingy?
Plenty know-it-all types say it doesn’t vids. Firefox users, disable JavaScript via
my Mac to play Windows Media video
whatsoever. matter, but Apple’s
That’s actually party line
a snapback is to shut
icon— Firefox > Preferences > Web Features.
files, but
Many it didn’t
phones use work—liar!
the same 2.4GHz band down the Mac,
recognize then
it from start URL
Safari’s it cold and
bar? Click
frequency
Oops; used by modern
we neglected Wi-Fi,that
to mention and hold downthe
it to bring thecurrently
PRAM-zapping
playingkeys
song to MATH IS HARD
they don’tisalways
Flip4Mac playon”
“working nice.
itsFortunately,
Universal (Option-Command-P-R).
the top of your browser window. Bonus: I’m sick of fighting with my boss about

52
68 August 2005
December 2006
 DIFFICULTY No whining—
anyone
It’ll take some
effort, but you
This stuff’s
for the pros.
HOW TO
69
RATINGS can do this! can do it.

UNIX UNIVERSITY
BAD HOST! BAD!
I’ve been experimenting with SSH on my
remote server, and all of a sudden it says “bad SECURE FTP
host” or something—what gives? FTP is still an excellent way to move files from your Mac to a remote
You’ve just met the security behind the SSH, server or vice versa, and you can add an s to route your FTP session
or Secure (Socket) Shell protocol: matched- through a SSH-style secure shell. SFTP works similarly to FTP, using the
key RSA encryption. When you log in to a following syntax: sftp nikbot@www.macaddict.com: /path/to/
server via SSH, the server identifies itself remotefile.zip /pathto/local/file.zip
to your system and establishes matching This downloads a file (remotefile.zip) from the server (macaddict.com) and
encryption algorithms on both ends of the saves that file according to the file path and file name you use in place of
conduit—or the SSH tunnel, as the hipster our example. Since you’re creating the file on your local Mac, you can name
system administrators call it. If either end of it whatever you like, and this is secure FTP, so naturally you’ll be prompted
the tunnel gets messed up or updated, the next for a password. As always, learn more about this handy tool by typing man
time you try connecting to the server it’ll warn ssh in a Terminal window and pressing Return.
you that it’s an unknown server, and if you’re
using Mac OS 10.3.x, it’ll leave you hanging,
which sounds like your situation; Mac OS 10.4 Don’t you
smartened up the SSH tunneling to accept a wish finding
new identifier from a formerly known server. your car keys
Since this month’s lesson is pretty easy, was as easy
we’ll give you some bonus knowledge: RSA as finding a
isn’t an acronym; the protocol is named for server’s RSA
its inventors, Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and key?
Leonard Adleman.

HOMEiWEBPAGE? Mac.com and enter the HomePage

I have a huge sprawling mess of a .Mac section. Then open your Site Menu page
HomePage site. If I upgrade to iWeb, (or create one if you need to), press
can I import my HomePage pages into the plus sign to add a menu item, then
iWeb to update them? click the Edit Link button and enter the
Nope, sorry. iWeb and HomePage speak address of your iWeb (or other) page.
entirely different dialects of Web, and You can reciprocate the link on your
there’s no translator. But both types iWeb pages via the Link Inspector.
of sites can coexist happily on your
.Mac space—and you can even link
SaveHollywood is way easier to use and them together. To add iWeb pages to
more versatile than its name implies. your HomePage index, log in to

iDVD
whose DSL line is faster, my 300KB or LAZY MOUSE
iDVD’s Media Browser—just make
his 1.5Mb.
iDVD 6’s Media Browser is cool, but I want to Sometimes
sure you click mytheMac doesn’t
Photos tabrecognize
first.
use pictures
You’ve thatby
got him aren’t in my
about iPhoto Library.
a thousand my Bluetooth mouse for quite a
Can
bits.I get
We’dthem
tellinto
youthe
theMedia Browser
equation, but SAVE can I speed it up?
while—how
without
you’d justimporting them
forget it (OK,into
weiPhoto?
forgot it). Go When ICommand-Shift-B
Press save a document, some apps
to activate
to www.speakeasy.net
You sure can. Assembleand the use the you
photos free let me
the save anywhere
Bluetooth on the Mac,
File Exchange but
utility, If you want more integration, you’ll have
Speed
want inTest tool.and drag the folder into
a folder some only
press offer a list of places
Command-Period to save
to cancel, to rebuild the HomePage site in iWeb.
it. What
and thengives?
press Command-Shift-O
Niko Coucouvanis never met a Mac he couldn’t
to open
That’s thethe
what Bluetooth Device
spiffy little blue arrow beat into submission, yet he knows that one
browser,
next to thewhich
Save As should
text fifi
eldndisyour
for; will someday replace him.
mouse.
click it toIfmorph
not, get
thesome newSave
truncated
batteries
dialog intoin
Bluetooth
esque window.
that
fully rat—toothless
navigable
is a Bonus:
sure sign
Finder-
Thethat
shortyour
list Submit technical questions
or helpful tips
directly via email (askus@macaddict
batteries
shows anyare nearlythat
directory dead.
you add
.com) or c/o MacAddict, 4000 Shoreline
You’re sitting pretty with 300KB—also to Finder windows’ Sidebar, so you Ct., Ste. 400, South San Francisco, CA
known as 2.4Mb. can easily add some of your favorite
December 2006 69
70 HOW TO
make a stop-motion video with iStopMotion

Make a Stop-Motion Video

with iStopMotion
by Brian Moore

Main Viewing
WHAT YOU NEED Window, aka
iStopMotion ($39.95, on the the stage.
Disc or www.istopmotion.com)
A compatible video camera,
such as an iSight (built-in on
most new Macs, or $149, Standard
www.apple.com) shuttle
Patience, Grasshopper, controls.
patience

The premise of stop-motion animation Scrub through

is simple: Take a picture, move your the whole
character, take another picture, move project in the
your character again, rinse and repeat, Frame Viewer.
and then put all of your pictures
together as frames into a video that Blinking: Onion Use Display
shows your character moving. With Quickly Skinning: Mode to
Preview Overlay: Slide toggle View the tweak the
some patience, a camera, and a little
this slider to crossfade the view current scene transparency
help from Boinx Software’s
ON THE between what you’ve between in context of onion-
iStopMotion, making your
own Gumby-like animation is DISC captured and the live adjacent with previous skinned
iStopMotion 1.10.1 video feed. frames. shots. frames.
nothing but fun.

1 2
Set the Stage Prepare the Shoot
Preparation is the key to any filmmaking project, so get Connect your FireWire video camera or iSight to your
your ducks (or action figures, in our case) in a row before Mac; Boinx provides a Still Camera Plug-in ($20) for
you pick up the camera. Choose actors and props that can stand the videoless. Launch iStopMotion, and if the New Movie
on their own without any human intervention, such as an action dialog doesn’t appear, select Command-N (or File > New) to
figure or a clay person—easy posability is also key. A well-lit and set the resolution (Width and Height, measured in pixels) and
static set is best for stop-motion. If you use natural light coming Framerate (measured in FPS, or frames per second) of your
in the windows, the scene’s lighting and shadows will change video. Click the little camera icon to pick up your camera’s
throughout the capturing process (which can add a cool effect native resolution, or pick a preset size from the pull-down
if you’re into that). Finally, create a compelling story (we’ll leave menu, or simply type your desired dimensions into the
that part to you) and write down an outline of what you’re going appropriate fields. When setting the framerate, keep in mind
to do in your video so you don’t get lost. Stop-motion takes a that more frames per second makes for a smoother animation,
long time to but also
complete, means that
and once you you’ll have to
get into a fill that many
project, you’ll more frames
probably have to make a
to start over second of
if you change footage. Click
your plan. OK and you’re
ready to roll.

Their expressions may seem blank when standing still, but with Choose a preset, or click the camera icon to use
your expert directing, they’ll surely become Oscar nominees. your camera’s native resolution.

70 December 2006
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72 HOW TO
make a stop-motion video with iStopMotion

3 4
Lights, Camera, Action! Keep Your Eyes Peeled
Place your camera where it won’t get bumped or jostled Stop-motion animation is a long process that takes
as you work—a tripod is ideal. Beware putting an iSight an incredible amount of patience. Take your time
on the top of your PowerBook—you could easily jostle the while capturing—one second of misshot footage can take all
camera just by advancing frames in the iStopMotion window. day to correct. It’s a good idea to frequently play back what
We repeat: A tripod works best, with the added bonus that you’ve captured so far, to make sure everything is flowing
you can easily add a cinematic camera pan (pan a tiny bit, appropriately. If you find a problem, scrub through your movie
snap a shot, repeat) to the action. Move your actors and props in the frame viewer to find the errant frames, and remove them.
into position for your first scene and start capturing frames You can try reshooting a frame by leaving the playhead in place
by pressing the spacebar or clicking the Record button on the of the deleted frame(s) and triggering a new capture—it’s easy
main screen. Once you’ve captured the first frame, move your in a low-complexity scene, but more trouble than it’s worth if
character(s) just a bit and capture the second. As you add your scene
frames, you’ll notice the default Onion Skinning feature, which is too busy.
shows you several frames simultaneously—it’s incredibly
helpful for creating smooth motion, because you can see
exactly where everything is in the previous frame. To slow
down the action for dramatic effect or what have you, press the
number 2, 3,
or 4 on your
keyboard to
capture the
respective
number of
frames in Remember, even at 10 frames per second, a five-minute
one shot. film contains thousands of frames.

6
Score a Soundtrack
Now that you’ve completed a full stop-motion
animated video, jazz it up with a soundtrack. The
We slid the Onion Skinning slider to the right for a clearer view of quick way to score your masterpiece is to select File > Import
fewer frames than the setting in this how-to’s opening screenshot. Soundtrack and navigate to an audio file on your Mac to play
in the background—but note that you can’t edit the audio in

5
Take Your Time, Use Your Tools iStopMotion. Select File > Export To QuickTime to put your video
Lighting and shadow problems can sneak up on you, on the Web, or File > Export To DV for a higher-resolution version
even in a setting with controlled lighting. The main you can put on a DVD. Otherwise, if you’d like to synchronize
problem is when you, or an assistant if you’ve got one, cast your sound more precisely, select File > Export To DV, then open
a shadow over the scene and nobody notices until you’ve the DV file in iMovie or Final Cut Pro to line up your audio. Then,
shot 200 more frames—and changed the action 200 times. within either of those applications, you can export the video
To minimize shadows from you or anybody working with you, using QuickTime conversion or send it to iDVD, and share your
select iStopMotion > Preferences > Shortcuts and check the box work with the world. That’s a wrap!
to enable speech recognition. Now you can speak capture one,
two, three, or four to capture up to four frames at once—better
yet, you can
tweak the Brian Moore has a newfound respect for claymators.

phrase and
yell whatever
you want
to trigger
captures. If
you have a
newer Mac,
you can use
the included
Apple Remote
to capture
frames.

In iStopMotion’s Preferences window, you can enable speech Editing in a separate video-editing application such as iMovie
recognition so you can yell from across the room to capture a frame. gives you more control over your video’s audio track.

72 December 2006
74 HOW TO
tee up your photos

Tee Up Your Photos

by Linda Weber

A
What You Need ll right fashionistas,
enough whining and
Inkjet printer groaning about the
Iron-on T-shirt transfer media tacky offerings at
(usually available where you buy your your local T-shirt Hut. We’re
inkjet-printer media) going to show you how to make
White cotton or cotton/polyester T-shirt custom T-shirts that actually
look cool—to you at least,
Hard, heat-resistant surface
because they’ll be plastered
Pillowcase with your own photos and
Iron catchy slogans.
Scissors ON THE
Tape measure DISC
MaxFace.gif
Pencil Perfect
Sheet of white card stock for holiday
gifting.

1 2
Prepare the Materials X Marks the Spot
Gather all the materials listed in the “What You Need” Using a pencil or dressmaker’s chalk, lightly mark the
section above and set up your ironing surface—a metal T-shirt in the spot where you’d like the top of the transfer
tabletop or a board on a table works well. Empty any water from to go. To figure out where to place your transfer, look at other
your iron, plug it in, and preheat it on its highest cotton setting T-shirts you own with a similarly sized graphic. For example, the
for at least eight minutes. While your iron is preheating, place top of a 4-by-6-inch transfer is usually about 2 to 3 inches below
your T-shirt face-up on your surface and flatten it out. the seam that joins the collar with the front of the shirt. Next,
measure from the left and right to find the horizontal center of
the shirt and mark that spot.

As they say,
strike while the
iron’s hot—so Figure out where
gather your you want to put your
supplies ahead image—front and
of time. center works.

3
Design and Test Your Transfer
Open the file that contains the image or text you want to transfer.
Set your Print Quality to Best (or your printer’s equivalent) and
Paper Size to Letter. Your Paper Quality setting depends on the kind
of printer you have; if your printer has a setting specifically for T-shirt
transfers or iron-ons, select that. If not, choose photo-quality media,
special media, or premium media. When in doubt, consult the directions
that come in the transfer-media package.
Once you’ve determined the media-quality setting, you’ll want to flip
your image horizontally before you print. Depending on your printer, you
may be able to flip your image directly through your printer settings; if
not, use an image-editing app such as Adobe Photoshop CS2 or Adobe
Photoshop Elements (iPhoto won’t do the job). Once your image is flipped,
do a test print on regular media; it should look like a mirror image. The text or image should appear mirrored, siht ekil.

74 December 2006
76 HOW TO
tee up your photos

4 5
Print the Transfer Prepare for Ironing
When you’re happy with your test-print results, place the Now you’re ready to iron. First, iron the blank T-shirt
T-shirt transfer media in your printer and print it. (The (don’t put the transfer on yet) to remove wrinkles; then
transfer media’s backing generally has the manufacturer’s logo iron the pillowcase. Place the pillowcase on your ironing surface
on it; the side you should print on is blank.) Don’t use transfer and put the T-shirt on top of it. Using scissors, trim the transfer,
sheets that have wrinkled or damaged corners—they can all-too- leaving a quarter-inch around the image; this will prevent the
easily jam your printer. ink from bleeding onto the fabric when you iron. Next, cut an
L-shaped piece of card stock so that the legs of the L are about 4
inches wide—you’ll use this as a “mask” when ironing. Position
your transfer face-down on the T-shirt. Make sure the center
of the transfer lines
up with the center of
the garment. Place
Make sure you print on your card-stock mask
the plain white front of the about half an inch
transfer media, not the from the transfer to
logoed back. protect the fabric
that isn’t covered by

6
The Heat Is On the transfer, making
Beginning at the edge of the transfer, iron straight across sure not to cover the
from right to left—or left to right—in one pass for about edges or corners of the
20 seconds. Be sure to apply firm pressure—and don’t be afraid transfer with the mask.
to use your body weight. To avoid scorching, keep the iron Stack up your stuff and just add heat.
moving at an even pace without stopping. After ironing across

7
once, return your iron to the starting point and make a second Remove the Backing
pass parallel to and slightly lower than the first pass, making Once the transfer is cool to the touch (about two minutes
sure to overlap a little bit of the area you just covered. For a full- after you finish ironing), peel off the backing; start at one
page transfer, make four or five passes total with your iron. Then, corner and use slow, steady pressure. If the backing begins to rip
follow the same process from bottom to top, making overlapping or tear, move to another corner and start over. Once the backing
passes that completely cover the entire transfer area a second is off, you and your T-shirt are ready for the runway.
time. Be careful to iron the edges and corners well.

Steady now—you want

Tip: Iron first, quadruple to remove just the
espresso later. backing, not the image.

TIPS AND HARD-WON KNOWLEDGE

Here are some important things the transfer-media instructions don’t tell you:
You should see Linda Weber’s wardrobe.

• Use an iron that doesn’t have an auto-shutoff setting. T-shirt, just to make sure you’ve mastered the process.
Otherwise, the iron won’t get hot enough to make the transfer • Be sure not to iron the margin of your transfer over the
adhere well. pencil or chalk mark you made—you won’t be able to erase it
• Never iron on an ironing board (or any soft, padded surface), later if you do.
glass, granite, concrete, or any heat-sensitive surface. • Buy a couple of extra T-shirts the first time out, just in case
• Transfers for white T-shirts don’t show up well on dark you make a mistake.
fabrics—the “white” areas are actually transparent, so • Once you’ve taken the backing off, never iron directly over a
you’ll get a dark-on-dark design. Special transfer media are transfer—you’ll ruin it.
available for transferring images to black or other dark- • Wait 24 hours before washing to give the transfer time to
colored T-shirts. set, and be sure to wash the T-shirt separately the first time.
• Print a practice transfer and try it on an old white pillowcase • Always turn the T-shirt inside out and machine wash in cold
or similar piece of fabric before you try transferring to a water using color-safe detergent; never use chlorine bleach.

76 December 2006
Meet your new toolbox...

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into Mac OS X. It includes the full-featured diagnostics and the following:
repair utility TechTool Pro, as well as the disk partitioning
program DiskStudio™. All that, and there’s still room left over DIAGNOSE MACINTOSH
HARDWARE
for some of your other utilities as well. Unlike a CD, TechTool
Protege is a read/write device. This means it can be updated DIAGNOSE AND REPAIR HARD
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78 HOW TO
trick out iTunes 7

Trick Out iTunes 7

by Niko Coucouvanis

What You Need

iTunes 7.0.1 (free, www.apple.com)
QuickTime 7.1.3 or later (free, www.apple.com)
Mac OS 10.3.9 or later ($129, www.apple.com)
An ever-growing iTunes library to manage

A
s iTunes and its integrated iTunes Store evolve—now
offering feature-length movies alongside the songs, TV
shows, music videos, audiobooks, and podcasts—our
iTunes library is busting at the seams. Unfortunately, there’s
no easy way to divvy up your library to keep different-media
files in different locations—but we’ll show you how to do just Behind its flashy new eye candy, version 7 retains some old iTunes
that, along with other tips for managing your collection. annoyances—here’s how to work around ’em.

1 2
Move Your Movies Keep ’Em Separated
Movies aren’t like songs; you might listen to Pantera’s If diddling with iTunes’ preferences every time you want
“Hostile” 18 times a day, but even the most hardcore to buy a movie is too much hassle, try using a separate
David Carradine fan (probably) won’t put that kind of mileage library for your video content. Quit iTunes and then relaunch
on the movie Death Race 2000. So we’ll move the movie files the app while holding the Option key. iTunes will prompt you
out of our main iTunes library and into another folder or hard to select a library or create a new one—click Create Library,
drive. For movies already in your iTunes library, drag the files navigate to the volume or folder where you want to keep the
from /Users/your user name/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music new library, type a name in the Save As box, and click Save.
(most movies will be in the Movies folder) to another location, Henceforth, press Option while launching iTunes to select which
and now when you play a movie in iTunes, it treats the moved library to load.
movies as if you had never moved them. The next time you buy a
movie, first open iTunes > Preferences, select the Advanced tab Stash your
and click the Change button. Navigate to your new movies folder videos in a
and click OK. After buying dedicated
your movie(s), go back to the video library.
same place and click Reset

4
so anything you import or The No-Cover Recover
buy henceforth will go to the By now you know that iTunes 7’s Get Album Artwork
regular iTunes library. feature (found in the Advanced menu) doesn’t always
work; here are some tricks and workarounds to artsy up your
Niko Coucouvanis thinks this whole digital-media
At around 1GB per, feature movies can quickly fill your hard drive. music library.
Art à La Carte If you only want art for a song or two, Control-

3
Share a Single iTunes Library click the song in your iTunes library and select Get Album Artwork.
If your problem is too many users rather than too much ReName That Tune If a song’s name in your library doesn’t
media, set iTunes to share one music library amongst exactly match the song’s name in the iTunes Store, no art for
all of a Mac’s user accounts. Quit iTunes and drag your iTunes you. Check the iTunes Store’s nomenclature and use it.
thing will eventually catch on.

Music folder into /Users/Shared/, where every user can access BYO If you need covers for songs that aren’t listed in the iTunes
it. Now from each user account, launch iTunes, open iTunes > Store, grab a third-party album-art fetcher; we dig the Album Art
Preferences > Advanced, click Change, and navigate to /Users/ Widget (free, www.liquidx.net), which runs on both PowerPC-
Shared/iTunes Music, or wherever you stashed the library. and Intel-based Macs,
and Fetch Art (free, http://
Make sure to only members.cox.net/afriesen3/
move the iTunes fetchart/), which only runs on
Music folder, not PowerPC Macs.
its neighbors or
parent folder.
No Big Black in the iTunes Store? We need to speak to the manager.
78 December 2006
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vv t

86
tell us how you really feel

LETTERS include Web Clip technology,

which will let you create your I made this
own Dashboard widgets from for a salon, to
Web pages.—Max keep the iPods
SAVING GIGS from running
I am a newly converted Mac SIZE MATTERS off. I’d submit
user—thank Mr. Jobs and Now there’s a 24-inch iMac— it for Case of
the Intel Mac mini for that. and that’s great—but why not the Month, but
The “iLife to Go” tips (Ask try making a wall-mountable I can’t get it off
Us, Sep/06 p60) saved me 45-inch (or bigger) iMac that the wall!
gigabytes of storage space would truly be the center of —David Woods
on my anemic primary drive. the living room? Does this
I am very appreciative, and make sense as a logical
realize this is why I prefer the progression? Or do you think
Mac over the PC. It would’ve Apple will work more toward
taken a 256-page book to integrating with the regular
explain a simple move like plasma TVs and receivers
that in Windows, and when most people are now using
all was said and done, it in their homes—such as with
probably still wouldn’t have the iTV wireless box? I’d
worked. One question: Are prefer a giant iMac! It looks like a
there any advantages to —Brian Hill torture rack! Cool!
using Mail and Safari over Sure, but why stop at 45
Thunderbird and Firefox? I inches? Heck, why not 45
used the Mozilla programs feet? Now that’s thinking remembered reading about several minutes to initiate
on my PC and continue different.—Max a similar problem years the mounting sequence.
to use them because of ago and a seemingly weird To my delight, it finally
familiarity, but think I may COLD COMFORT fix to recover the data: the mounted and ran fine! I was
be missing out on more Mac My wife carries a portable freezer! I enclosed the drive able to copy all her data to
goodness.—Rich Plisco 2.5-inch 40GB drive back in a plastic bag to keep a new drive. And, of course,
Welcome to the MacAddict and forth to work. It worked out moisture and froze it this one goes right in the
nation! As for your question, fine for about four years, overnight; in the morning trash—it was four years old,
it all comes down to your until one day when it simply I let it warm up for several after all.—Doc Swift
personal preference. Mail wouldn’t mount. I could hear hours (still in the bag), then Nice save! You may have
integrates nicely with the drive spinning, but since plugged it in and let it run read about that drive-
Address Book, and when it wouldn’t mount, no utility for about an hour to get it resuscitation method in
Mac OS 10.5, Leopard, could touch it—obviously a hot again. Finally, I kept our Jan/05 issue (“Total
arrives next spring, Safari will mechanical problem. Then I turning it off and on for Troubleshooting,” p16), in
which we also described
another “extreme” repair

Survey Says Here are the results of our September 2006 survey. Check
out www.macaddict.com each month for a new online poll.
trick: baking your drive in a
350-degree oven.—Max

Which of 14% Apple isn’t getting 6% A bad-arse 8GB MAC OS X AND THE
Apple’s another dime of mine until I can black iPod nano ($249) PANZERKORPS
recently drop it on an iPhone. My brother and I recently
announced 8% A cool, colored came across an interesting
products will 4GB iPod nano ($199) theory online about the
you spend your nicknames for the Mac OS
hard-earned 29% The 24-
8% A 30GB iPod X releases:
no that they’re
cash on? with video ($249) named for the Panzerkorps.
foot...er, 24-inch
iMac ($1,999) 24inthere was no tank
Although
14% That sexy little or armored fighting vehicle
iPod shuffle ($79) 8 gb (Apple’s name
called0Jaguar
forsMac
hu OS 10.2) in the
21% The titanic 80GB Germanf army’s arsenal,
iPod with video ($349) 30gwas
there b a Panther,
286 respondents followed by the Tiger. After
4gb
86 December 2006 8gb
WRITE TO US!
MacAddict, 4000 Shoreline Court, Ste. 400,
FOR CD PROBLEMS:
go to www.futureus-inc.com 87
South San Francisco, CA 94080 FOR SUBSCRIPTION QUERIES:
or letters@macaddict.com call (toll-free) 888-771-6222

WIN!
WWII was over and the
German army proceeded
with tank production
once again, they built the
Leopard. So I assert that
Apple’s code names are not Win Shure E500PTH
necessarily feline related,
and that these nerds may
Sound Isolating Earphones!
have built plastic models These ’phones are so nice, we’re offering them twice. Last month’s
as kids.—Travis prize, Shure’s E500PTH Sound Isolating Earphones ($499, www
That’s pretty interesting .shure.com), was so popular that we’re giving you a second chance
stuff, Travis. “Tanks” for to win these beauties. Each earpiece contains three speakers—a
sharing!—Max tweeter and dual woofers—and a detachable Push-to-Hear Control
allows you to mute the sound when you need to deal with the
iFLY? WI-FLY? real world. To win them, just write the best caption to the picture
I had an iMac without Intel below—it’s déjà vu all over again! Only one entry per contestant.
chips and everything was
fine. Then I switched to an
Entry Form
Intel iMac and noticed an
interesting phenomenon.
I was wondering: Do your
iMacs attract flies? I walk Write a caption
away from my iMac for 10 for this picture.
minutes, and it has two
or three flies on it. Any CONTESTANT INFORMATION
ideas?—Mike Hoffman Full Name:

Maybe they just think your Address:

new Mac is sweet.—Max City: State:

Zip:

LEGO MY MAC! Email or telephone:

My 5-year-old likes LEGOs, Is there anything LEGOs
and I like Macs. This laptop can’t do? Send email entries to: contest@macaddict.com with the subject: Shure Contest—Take
Two (Don’t forget to include your address information!) Send snail-mail entries to: Shure
is custom built using Contest—Take Two, MacAddict magazine, 4000 Shoreline Court, Suite 400, South San
Francisco, CA 94080. Deadline for entry: December 30, 2006. Contest results will appear in
pieces purchased at the our Apr/07 issue.

LEGO retail store right next cost: $23 and two hours well Contest Rules The judges will be MacAddict editors and will base their decision on 33 percent humor, 33 percent
originality, and 33 percent creativity. All entries must be received no later than December 30, 2006, with the winner
door to the Apple Store in spent with my son. My son announced around April 2007. By entering this contest, you agree that Future US, Inc. may use your name, likeness,

the Glendale [California] loves it; he even took it to and Web site for promotional purposes without further payment. All prizes will be awarded, and no minimum number
of entries is required. If two or more people enter identical winning captions, the entry received first will be awarded
Galleria mall. It has a 10- show-and-tell.—Scott Garcia the contest prize. Prizes won by minors will be awarded to their parents or legal guardians. Future US, Inc. is not
responsible for damages or expenses the winners might incur as a result of this contest or the receipt of a prize,
inch widescreen “display” Outstanding work! Imagine and winners are responsible for income taxes based on the value of the prize received. A list of winners may also be
obtained by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Future US, Inc. c/o MacAddict Contest, 4000 Shoreline
(printed on photo paper) what you two esteemed Court, Suite 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080. This contest is limited to residents of the United States. No
purchase necessary; void in Arizona, Maryland, Vermont, Puerto Rico, and where prohibited by law.
and a slot-loading “optical hardware developers
drive” with authentic could accomplish with the
cardboard-cutout CD. Total technogoodies on p60!—Max
Winner!
Congratulations to Todd
MNEMONICS CONTEST WINNERS! Johnson, whose caption won him
Remember our contest (Log Out, Sep/06, p78) for the best a BookEndz Dock for his trusty
mnemonic device for Apple’s OS X releases (Cheetah, Puma, iBook G4 ($159.95, www
Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, and Leopard)? Well, here are the .bookendzdocks.com)—and better
winners, who will each receive a supercool MacAddict Mini luck next time to the dozens of you
Maglite. Congrats! And thanks to all who entered.—Max who submitted firewall jokes. Undo! Undo! Undo!
Computer perfect just prior to lightning.—Dave Aton Volume 11, Issue 12
Canceled promises justify people trying Leopard. MacAddict (ISSN 1088-548X) is published 12 times a year by Future US, Inc., 4000 Shoreline Court, Suite 400, South San
Francisco, CA 94080. Periodicals Postage Paid at South San Francisco, CA, and at additional mailing offices. Newsstand
—Nick Houllis distribution is handled by Curtis Circulation Co. Basic subscription rates: one year (12 issues + 12 CD-ROMs) U.S. $39.90,
Canada $43.95, U.S. prepaid funds only. Canadian price includes postage and GST 128220688. IPM 0962392. Outside the
Charcoal paint jobs pricey to laptops.—Zach Decker U.S. and Canada, price is $53.95, U.S. prepaid funds only. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to MacAddict, P.O. Box
5126, Harlan, IA 51593-0626. Future US, Inc. also publishes Maximum PC, PC Gamer, Official Xbox Magazine, PSM, Guitar
Cheesy Poofs jeopardize peace toward lunacy. World, Guitar One, Guitar World Acoustic, Bass Guitar, Guitar Legends, Future Music, Future Snowboarding, Snowboard Journal,
Snowboard Trade News, Revolver, and Scrapbook Answers. Entire contents copyright 2006, Future US, Inc. All rights reserved.
—Michael Hallsted Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited. Future US, Inc. is not affiliated with the companies or products covered in
MacAddict. Ride-Along enclosure in the following edition(s): B1, C1, C2, C3, C4. PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA. Publications Mail Agreement #40043631. Returns: 4960-2 Walker Road, Windsor ON N9A 6J3

December 2006 87
88 SHUT DOWN
don’t let the back page hit you on the way out

Shufflearring?
When Steve Jobs unveiled the tiny new iPod shuffle, he showed and hipsters—whether they’re sucking down ciggies outside
off its built-in clip by attaching it to his trademark jeans while grungy dive bars, waiting in the bathroom line at crowded
boasting that it would be the must-have fashion accessory warehouse parties, or hunting down the perfect pair of skinny
of the holiday season. Little did he know how true that boast jeans in their local thrift stores—here’s a glimpse at the future of
would become. Recently spotted on the most discerning punks musical jewelry.

88 December 2006