Archive for April, 2008
TechWeb - Microsoft is holding up the software update’s release, this time after finding a compatibility issue with an electronic checkout system for retailers.
Flow is a smart new FTP client for transferring files built specifically to use the new features found in Leopard.
The applications supports FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, .Mac and local connections and lets you carry out multiple transfers at once. Although it doesn’t offer tabbed views, which I find absolutely necessary when working with different connections at once, it uses QuickLook to visualize files quickly in your Finder.
The interface is clean and simple, giving you the transfer rate for each file and a little progress bar to let you know has much has been uploaded/ downloaded. Programmers will enjoy having a built-in editor to modify code
The best feature of Flow surely is dropmarks. After creating a droplet in Flow, all you’ll have to do is drag any file onto it to transfer it. Easy as pie!
Although it doesn’t offer tabbed views, Flow is a smart new FTP client that makes great use of Leopard technology. Dropmarks are an excellent way of transferring files.
Review by Cyril Roger
Have you ever need to copy specific sections of emails, but could not waste time going through each and every one?
MailCM is a preference and contextual menu item to quickly find and copy to clipboard specific properties of an email. It works in Apple Mail and can recover elements like the header message, source, reply to or recipient address. To use it all you have to do is select the emails you need to retrieve, right click, select MailCM from the dropdown menu, then the property you wish to copy.
MailCM was a little difficult to install. We had to copy the plugin to the Contextual Menu folder in Library and restart Apple Mail to get it to appear. However once setup, it proved to be very handy and certainly saved lots of time when looking for properties in many emails.
Although a little difficult to install, MailCM is a good Apple Mail contextual menu item which copies message properties in one go.
Review by Cyril Roger
To survive the theft or crash of your Mac you need to make sure you have backups of your most important files. Always overlooked by users, this boring yet necessary task can be easily handled by Time Machine if you have Leopard. If not you’ll have to choose a backup program.
BackityMac lets you select what you consider to be your most important files and save them in a dmg. The application offers a simple menu view from which you check the files you’d like to backup, such as Apple Mail files, iCal calendars, or iPhoto and iTunes libraries.
You can save files in a disk image (dmg) or have them burned in a CD or DVD. BackityMac can also restore all your files at the click of a button. A lesser known yet smart feature of BackityMac is that it can import music stored on your iPod back into your iTunes library, in case you’ve lost it.
BackityMac is simple to use but does include some limitations. For one you won’t be able to properly clone your hard drive, meaning you’re liable to forget files in the backup process. You won’t be able to make incremental backups either so every time you want to save new files you’ll have to start from scratch.
In all, BackityMac is a good program for those of you looking for a basic backup solution. For serious backups, find a program which can clone your hard drive, or use Time Machine.
Review by Cyril Roger
PathAway GPS 4 is designed to meet the next level of power and usability on the latest Pocket PC and Palm OS mobile devices.
PathAway GPS 4 sports new features such as Track up navigation, improved Bluetooth communications, Satellite Sky View and Compass View screens, Picture and Audio waypoints, new map calibration options, measure distance between 2 two points, plus many more.
If you get out and go places, PathAway is the companion to take with you. PathAway is the all-purpose tool for GPS.
Key features of PathAway include:
• GPS navigation with most GPS devices (including Bluetooth)
• Import your own maps using PathAway map manager
• Intelligent moving map display
• Map projections, UTM, OSGB, and Datum support
• Add personal points of interest/waypoints
• Record and follow your tracks
• Point to point routing
• Navigation warnings and alarms
• Onscreen trip statistics on a customizable dashboard
• Palm OS and Windows Mobile versions
• Transfer data to and from Garmin and Magellan GPS Devices
All-purpose GPS program in the palm of your hand.
There is an abundance of software for Windows that allows you to tweak and enhance your digital photos. What happens though if you want to edit photographs on the fly while you’re out and about? Get hold of Photos HQ for your Palm and you won’t go far wrong. The application is designed to improve the quality and definition of the pictures your take on your device’s camera.
Thanks to its rather nifty system of pixel replication, the software is able to actually increase the resolution of the camera. For instance, if your terminal has an SVGA camera, Photo HQ increases the number of pixels from 640×480 to 960×720. The process is very simple and the results are surprisingly impressive.
In addition, Photo HQ includes several levels of digital zoom, options for improving the focus, a ten second self-timer function and a helpful picture-in-picture thumbnail view.
Advanced editing features and effects are thin on the ground, but if you want to quickly bump up the resolution of your camera phone’s pictures, Photo HQ offers a pretty idiot-proof solution.
Review by James Thornton
PC World - IBM has scooped up Infodyne, a privately held maker of software that quickly crunches hundreds of market data sources together…
There’s no need to extract the whole zip file just to see what’s inside. Just drag files and folders from all around your hard drives, disks, or network places into your new zip file. Because first copying them into a temporary folder is really lame.
Drag in new or updated files, remove any file or folder from the archive, or move files around inside the archive. If you only need this one file from your archive, you don’t have to extract the whole thing and remove all the other files. Simply drag those files you need out into the Finder. Strip Mac specific files and resource forks from zip files and tar balls for best compatibility with less powerful systems like Windows or Linux.
One of the most important skills for musicians of any kind is the ability to correctly identify intervals by ear. Ear training is therefore a substantial building block of any kind of music education. Typically practicing this skill happens during class or with a private tutor and takes some time. EarMan is a tool that can enhance proficiency in ear training and can aid greatly in the process of advancing in this difficult subject.
The program offers a way for “spot learning” where specific interval sets can be practiced in specific ranges. This can be used to focus on weaknesses. Every session is graded in once completed. In addition EarMan offers a complete curriculum that trains the user step by step from correctly identifying simple intervals in limited groups to the full range including compound intervals.
EarMan uses RoGame’s sound library and includes a Grand Piano library for playback on devices with Palm OS 5.0 and higher. Intervals a shown in grand staff notation to aid the learning process. Interval sets include complementary intervals. The interface for the application has been designed to be free from distractions so that one can fully concentrate on the sound.
SMS messages are a big part of life for many of us and rarely a day goes by without me sending or receiving a text message.
The SMS handling facilities within Windows Mobile 6 are fine for the casual texter, but if you’re a power user who yearns for more functionality then you might want to try installing SMS Tweaker on your Pocket PC.
This simple application is designed to ramp up your SMS manager adding powerful new features such as the ability to view message threads. This means that instead of having to wade through all of your recent messages, you can choose to view only those from a particular contact, giving you the ability to quickly recount the conversation.
Other highlights of SMS Tweaker are customizable backgrounds for your texts (although generally these are pretty hideous unless you’re a five-year-old), plus the ability to change the language of notifications and alter the font size. It’s a very simple program and all of the available options are clearly accessible from the tabs on the interface.
A great way of improving your text life.
Review by James Thornton