Text content (OCR)
The best-looking,game
ever is here. Are you
ready? Is your Mac?
We've got the answers.
REVIEWED:
30-INCH CINEMA HD DISPLAY
Palm Tungsten TS
Virtual PC 7
RadioShark
Painter IX
«and 19 more
HOW T
Podcast Your Own Talk Show
Take Fab Photos on the Cheap
estat
esterase!
ete
ateee
eaten’
ares
ProSticks
High Fidelity For Your Desktop
www.macmice.com
You are the First to t — a US Marine
on the front lines of urban combat in Beirut.
Lead a 4-man fire team that executes authentic
Marine tactics. Move aggressively, knowing your
team gives you 360-degree security, and devastate
your enemies with precise air and mortar attacks.
Experience a first-person shooter so realistic,
the Marines use it as a training tool.
Single-player, co-operative 4-man
multiplayer, and team us. team.
FIRST TO FIGHT
THE R
BASEo ON A THAINING TOOL DEVELOPED
FOR THE UNITED STATES MARINES
Aromic = @ ___. MacSoft
information.
Copyright 204 by Destineer Studios, nc. Al ights reserved. First ta Fight and feady-Tean-Fire sist are tradenarks of Destineer Publishing Carp, Close Conba. sa regateed tradenark of fiom Games, Inc, and 1s used by Destine under Iicese, Nacinlash version published
by Destine, ne. MecSoft and Destineer are registered trademarks of Destine, nc The ratings ican 1 a trademark ofthe Entertainment Sftuare Assocation, Mac and Mcintosh are registered trademarks of Pople Canputer, Inc. GameSpy and the “Powered by GaneSpy" design are
‘radenarks of GaneSpy Industries, nc. lights reserved.
Superpowers
Think the iPod's just for music? Think again. We show
you how to transmogrify your ’Pod into your personal
assistant, foreign language translator, bartender,
karaoke machine, gourmet chef, librarian, photo vault,
weapon of mass instruction, and more. by Kris Fong
28 Meet Your Doom 3
Doom 3 is as scary as hell—and for good reason. Get
ready to fight demons and other hellspawn, including
the aptly named Arch-Viles. We give you a taste of what
to expect when it comes to the Mac and when you go to
hell later this month. by Niko Coucouvanis
54 Ask Us
Learn how to print multipage posters and perfectly addressed
envelopes. Exorcize iPhoto’s demons—orphaned, redundant, and
temporary files—and put the kibosh on P2P file sharing. We also
throw in the roadmap to your Mac’s hidden Unix directories and
clue you in as to what’s going on when Installer says that it’s
Optimizing System Performance,
56 Take Fab Photos
on the Cheap
You've got some unwanted holiday gifts to
unload on eBay, and what a coincidence:
We've got some low-budget photography
tips guaranteed to make any old piece
of junk look
positively
priceless—or
at least pretty
precious.
by Steven Parke
58 Podcast Your Own
Talk Show
Podcasting is the new rage that lets iPod
owners download audio broadcasts
to enjoy on an iPod later—but any
chimp can do that.
We take you to the
next level, where
you produce and
broadcast the
content yourself.
by Niko Coucouvanis
CONTENTS
~ a better machine. a better magazine.
every month
08 Editor's Page
The internet is rapidly becoming a necessity—
too bad it’s too expensive for many.
10 Get Info
The iPod photo is here but may not have all the features
you want. Dare you ask...what are your alternatives?
Find out what devices hope to pommel the ’Pod by offering
larger color screens, video playback, and competitive
prices. Also learn about a cheaper alternative to .Mac, find
out what Microsoft has in store for the Mac, get a peek ata
zombie with deadly flatulence, and a whole lot more.
35 Reviews
36 30-inch Cinema HD Display display
51 Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper kids game
50 Blue-WAV External removable drive
48 d2 DVD+/-RW Double Layer DVD burner
48 Eye- 43632 camera
44 FL300 MP3 player
44 Gmini 400 media player
39 Grid2 video-playback software
51 Headphones for Kids headphones
50 Move LCD stand
49 inMotion iM3 {Pod speaker stand
49 KCA-420i iPod car adapter
50 Laptop Desktop USB notebook stand
40 Mirage 1.2 animation software
38 Painter 'X painting software
46 RadioShark radio recorder
43 Railroad Tycoon simulation game
41 Solar SeV Finetex Shell gadget-charging jacket
46 SoundBridge M1080 network music player
42 Store ‘n’ Go HD Drive portable hard drive
47 Stylus €X4600 muttitunction printer
45 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell action game
42 Tungsten T5 PDA
37 Virtual PC for Mac Version 7 with Windows XP
Windows emulator
52 The Hot List
We’d spend our own hard-earned
money on these products.
QUICK TIPS
FROM THIS MONTH'S ISSUE
> FASTER STROKES
When your brush seems slow, tweak
Painier IX’s Boost Slider to make it
faster. Corel says this mode uses fewer
random strokes and therefore boosts
performance, but we barely saw any
degradation after mashing together
a bunch of strokes and colors.
From Reviews, p38.
04 MacAddict February 2005
78 Log Out
78 Lelters
MacAddict: Big Brother, unwitting
pervert, and casualty of war. One reader
gets a lamp dance, another gets high
on ’Pod, and two glam it up in wearable
iPod art.
> GIVE YOURSELF A HAND
Instead of scrolling through an
overpopulated Finder window in icon
f) view, press
+) Command-
4 Option to turn
your cursor
into a grabby
hand and drag
the window's
contents into view. From Ask Us, p54.
79 Contest
This month, win a treasure trove of
M-Audio music-making gear—we're
talking controller, mic, audio monitors,
FireWire interface, sustain pedal,
software loops, and more!
80 Shut Down
These shoes aren’t made for walkin’.
> IS YOUR MAC DOOMED?
Doom 3 is coming, and Mac addicts
everywhere want to know one thing:
Can my Mac handle it?
Sure, as long asit’sa
Power Mac G5—and if
you haven’t upgraded
your G5’s video card,
you'll probably want
to. From “Meet Your
Doom 3,” p28.
as)
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Our Multi-Function Center? models deliver the wltimate jin printing,
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06;
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CONTENTS
a better machine. a better magazine.
Not only does this month’s Disc
include all the software you need to
join the Podcasting revolution (see
“Podcast Your Own Talk Show,” p58),
we also provide you with a demo of
Grid2, a trial version of Painter IX,
iPoker and nine other nifty games and
puzzles—plus a whole lot more.
Grid2 demo
We have a demo of
the dazzling video-D)
software, Grid2, and 20
tasty—and exclusive—
clips to get you started.
Painter IX trial
For years, Painter has
been the world’s best
natura\-media painting.
app—and with version
IX, it gets even better.
What’s the hottest
game around? Poker,
of course! With iPoker
you can have all of the
fun with none of the
pecuniary pain.
L—e Grid2.2.0 demo
Lee Painter x9.0 nal
‘AUDIO & MUSIC Poster Print 2.0 ‘Compost 1.3
1Sweep 1.3 RadlcalPhoto 1.1.1 DiscBlaze 4.2.5
Linein 1.2 Snail Mail 0.5.1 DiskTracker (Classic) 2.
Soundflower 1.4 DNTEREACE Transmit 2.6.2 DiskTracker (OS X) 2.3
‘AquaChat AV 1.01 eepanen
DEVELOPMENT Looking Glass 1.1.1 PRODUCTIVITY iPhoto Extractor 2.066
BBEdit 8.0.2 demo ‘Safar Aquafier 44 Loan Helper 1.1.0 3
pone OS XSS-* INTERNET ee SPONSORS
(COMMUNICATION JiWire Portable Hotspot
FUN & GAMES iPodderX 2.2 UTILITIES: Locator 1.0
Blackjack Card Counter 27 JiWire Portable Hotspot ChangeShortName 14 Photo to Movie 3.1.1
Clan MacAddict CTF Map
Pack
Staff Video:
The Making of
{nto the Groove
Learn how video artis
Droo created a
ic video using
Davtri Haiku Generator 2.0
Davtrl insult Generator 2.0
Poker 3.2.6
Neko Puzzle 1.1.4
‘SuperTux 0.1.2
Ultimaze 2,0
Vega Strike 0.4.1
Zen Puzzle Garden 1.1.4
Cheat everyday sounds—and if
DeskDoodle 1.1 you missed {nto the Groove
EasyFrame 11.3 last month, we've got it for
ou again (plus outtakes)
Photo to Movie 3.1.1
UPGRADE
It you don’t receive the Disc with your copy of MacAddict, you might want to consider upgrading. Each Monthly
disc contains coo! demos, useful shareware and freeware, and the inimitable MacAddict Staff Video. To get 12
issues of MacAddict that include this value-packed disc with your subscription (prorated if necessary) for just $1
more per Issue, call 888-771-6222—the operator will take care of everything.
06 MacAddict February 2005
MacAddict
EDITORIAL
EDITOR INGHIEF_Rik Mystewsk!
MANAGING EDITOR Jeniter Morgan
FEATURES EDITORS Kris Fong and Jake Widman
HOW-TO EDITOR Niko Coucouvanis
REVIEWS EDITOR Roman Loyola,
EPONYNEDTON Moe
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS David Bledny, Joseph 0. Holmes,
Helmut Kober, Cathy Lu, jan Sammis, Deborah Shadovitz,
Andrew Tokuda, Buz Zoller
ART DIRECTOR Mark Rosenthat
ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Peter Marshutz,
PHOTOGRAPHER Mark Madeo
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Samantha Berg
BUSINESS
PUBLISHER Chris Coelho
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Bernie Lanigan, 212-768-2966 x4001
EASTEAN ABVERTISNG MANAGER
Anthony Danzi, 646-723-5453
WESTERNADVERTISING DIRECTOR
Dave Lynn, 949-360-4443
WESTERN ADVERTISING MANAGER
Se eee oo 1205
NASIONAL ACCCUNT MANAGER
Nate Hunt, 415-656-8536
‘SENIOR ACCOUNTS MANAGER, DIRECT SALES
‘Ana Epstein, 415-658-8416
MARKETING MANAGER Kathleen Rellly
ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Jose Urrutla, 415-656-8313
PRODUCTION
PRODUCTION DRECTOR Richard Lesovoy
PROOUCTION COORDINATOR Larry Briseno
CIRCULATION
GROUP CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Amy Leder
NEWSSTAND MARKETING MANAGER Bill Shewey
BILLING AND RENEWAL MANAGER Mike Hill
FULFILLMENT MANAGER Peggy Mores
DIRECT MARKETING SPECIALIST Robin Connett
Fists
‘Media with Passion
PRESIDENT Jonathan Simpson Sint
VICE PRESIDENT/CFO Tom Valenti
VICE PRESIDENTICIRCULATION Holly Klingel
GENERAL COUNSEL Charles Schug
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR/GAMES Simon Whitcombe
FUTURE NETWORK USA,
4150 North Hill Drive, Brisbane, CA 94005
wwwew uturenetworkusa.com,
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR/TECHNOLOGY Chris Coelho
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR/MUSIC Steve Aa
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR/BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Dave Barrow
EDITORIAL DIREGIOR /TECHNOLOGY Jon Phillips
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR/MUSIC Brad Tolinski
DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL SERVICES Nancy Durlester
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Richie Lesovoy
Future Network USA is port of The Future Network ple.
“The Future Netwotr produces carfuly targeted special-interest magazines
We aim fo sally thet passion by creaing
‘lable information and emart buying
2a pleasure to read, Today we publish more than 109
‘magazines the US, UK, France, and tal. Over 100 interrtional ections of
‘ourmagazings 6 also pubfehed in 3 other counties across the word.
“The Future Network pc is @ pub company quoted on the London Stock
Exchange (symbo! FNET)
‘THE FUTURE NETWORK PLO
20 Monmouth St, Bath, Avon, BAI 28W
‘wrthefaurenetwork picuk |
Tal +44 1205 442248
CHIEF EXECUTIVE: Greg Ingham
GROUP FINANCE DIRECTOR: John Bowman
Tel +44 1225 442044
REPRINTS: For reprints, contact Ryan Derfler. Reprint
‘Operations Specialist, 717-299-1900 x167 of email:
fulurenetworkusa@reprintbuyer.com
SUBSCRIPTION QUERIES: Please email
Medcustserv@cdsfulfilment.com or call
customer service toll-ree at 888-771-6222,
Volume 10, tssue 2
Macdddict (\SSN 1088-548) Is published monthly by Future Network
USA, 150 North HillOr, Ste, 40, Brisbane, CA 94005, USA. Petiodcal-ca
ostage pald a Brisbane, CA, and at adational mailing ctices. Newest
stibution is handled by Curtis Crcula Basic subscription ralos:
fone year (12 eves -+ 12 CD-ROMs) U.S, £99.90, Canada $43.95, US.
repaid funds onl. Canadian price includes postage and GST 126220688,
IPA 0962392, Outside the US, and Canada, price s $53.95, US. prepaid
funds only. POSTMASTER: Send addrass changes to MacAddit, 20. 80x
5126, Harlan, lA 51598-0628, Future Network USA also publishes Mavimum
PC, PC Gamer, Official Xbox Magazine, and PSM. Entre contents copytiht
£2004, Future Network USA. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole on
pan is prohibited. Fulure Network USA is ot affliated win the companies
Of products covered in MacidGict. Rida-Along enclosure Inthe following
etion(s): A2, 8, Bt, B2, 53
AMERICA, Publications Mal Agreement #4004363), Returns: 4960-2 Welker
Road, Windsor ON NAA 6/3
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The Mac Solutions You Need When You Need Them.
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to data is essential. That's why CDW offers mobile solutions from
top name manufacturers. We also have account managers who
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macwarehouse,com * 800.ALL.MACS
In Canada, call 800.387.2173 * CDW.ca
| recently had the good fortune of spending
aweek with Apple’s fabulous new 30-
inch Cinema HD Display @@#@© p36).
I’ve never been more reluctant to return
a product after testing, and | briefly
considered buying one for myself. But |
soon came to my fiscal senses. My first
reaction to the realization that I can’t afford
such an expensive technological wonder
was vibrant, electric-green jealousy toward
those who can. That lasted about a nanosecond before my better
self admonished me, “Rik, grow up. You own a house full of Macs, a
Cat-5e home network, and a 1.5-Mbps DSL connection to the Internet.
You’re one of the fortunate few.”
My better seifis right—I am fortunate. The digital divide, so
prominent in the news just a few years back, remains a stark reality—
so Stark that soon-to-be-unemployed Colin Powell has referred to
the technological gap between the well-to-do and the down-and-out
as “digital apartheid.” And the divide isn’t narrowing. According to
one recent study (www.consumersunion.org/pub/ddnewbook.pdf),
the percentage of Americans that has Internet access has stagnated
at around 60 percent since late 2000. Although this number sounds
comfortably high, consider thatit’s bloated with tony folks: About 85
percent of households with incomes greater than $75,000 have home
Internet access, while over half of the households with incomes under
$30,000 a year don’t; four out of five households without access have
incomes under $50,000 a year.
Another recent study by the U.S. government’s Economics and
Statistics Administration (https://www.esa.doc.gov) paints a rosier
picture, stating that a third of American households have broadband
access to the Internet—but less heartening is that that access is also
highly skewed by income: If you make over $75,000, you’re around
five times more likely to have broadband Internet access than if you’re
stuck under $25,000—if you have Internet access at all.
Access to the Internet is rapidly becoming a necessity rather than a
luxury. News, email, government services, school work, shopping—
everything is going online. If you don’t have access, you're relegated
to second-class status in our culture, economy, and educational
system. Sure, you can argue that uneven income distribution is a fact
of life; some of us drive BMWs and some ’80s-era Toyotas—but we
all drive on the same roads. Perhaps it’s time for the government to
institute a free information superhighway, much as it began the free
interstate highway system back in 1956.
Enjoy, ‘24
comingsoon:march2005
Here’s what our editors are preparing for the next issue of MacAddict,
Jenifer Morgan BARBIE (AS THE PRINCESS—NOT THE PAUPER)
‘Hiow want ynurlite lie ciftiomoitwithoutitterres ome?
» The Internet is my indispensable lady-in-waiting, She finds
new gowns for me to wear, which are magically delivered
2 to my palace door; she shuttles messages to fellow royalty
(as well as my many minions); and she arranges videochat trysts with
my Prince Charming,
Nike Coucouvanis Tie GRIDDLER
ynurite tne diferent items nme?
Well, privilege is one thing; priorities are anather. | drive a
10-year-old beater Volkswagen and eat Top Ramen to save
cash for my digital habits. | suppose if | hadn't gotten sucked
into the Internet's info vortex, I'd still be slinging hash—but
you can bet I'd have one tricked-out ride and all of the cable TV channels,
Jake Widman Doctor OF TRIVIOLOGY
‘sHtowweoult yoo iifetiecifFtorertwlttonatietieertt ammo?
Number one, | wouldn't know half of the useless crap that |
know now. My compulsion to follow every iink leads me directly
to number two: My girlfriend would be a lot happier.
Mark Rosenthal Soni oF A LIBRARIAN
Mowwoulithyourliietbe difftororttwdtthnuti tors manana?
The library is a great way to go for those who can't afford a
broadband subscription. And since the library isn't as cozy as
home, you won't waste time surfing your day away. Yes, there Is
a digital divide, but better use of our free institutions can help,
Noah Tsutsui commano-1:NE COMRADE
‘Hitowrwaou ith yanarriifte tine ctiiftamartt withoostt internet anon?
Ifnot for the glorious oracle known as the Internet, I'd stil
be one of those antisocial BBS kids, locked in my room and
communicating at 2400 baud.
Roman Loyola RECOVERED WEB SLINGER
tHtow wait ynurifeteeaitterontwittroutstemet nome?
Betore coming to MacAddict, | was in the dot-com biz for five
years, so without the Internet I'd probably still be in a previous
profession—one that putto good use my ability to rapidly lace
any shoe in under 19 seconds.
Peter Marshutz mennienT SURFER
‘Hitowwenulldl your ilite thee diffterentt wiltiunnttitrtiernett aces?
[use the Internet mostly for entertainment—maybe it should
be called the Entertainmentnet. But | also do a lot of esearch
‘on the Internet, finding facts on everything from recipes to
cars. Without it | would spend a iot more time in the library—in fact, I don't
think I've been toa library since | began using the Internet,
q Max Forum FANATIC.
a> eaten
I'd certainly miss all the spirited discussions on the opinion
forums at MacAddict.com. It's good for my ego to read all the.
postings from readers who want to see more of me. Hey, they
to slip me onto the Jan/05 cover—my comeback has begun!
inspired
Apple's elegant sense of design has inspired other manufacturers to create equally gorgeous products—and we'll showcase
the best in MacAddict’s First Annual Design Awards. We'll also take a close look at all the goodies that Steve rolls out at
the January Mac Expo. We'll then explore hidden features of Safari, show you how to trick out your QuickTime movies
with custom controls, and do your .Mac blog up right. Reviews? We got ’em—read our opinions of Apple’s Logic Pro 7,
Adobe Photoshop Elements 3, a pair of new Canon cameras—the EOS 20D and PowerShot A85—the mongo Xerox
7750DN color laser printer, and a whole lot more.
08 Macéitidiict February 2005
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SS E | | N | oO news of the month in bite-size chunks
iPOD
PHOTO
WORLD
There are plenty of iPod photo alternatives—
if you're willing to think different.
ow that the iPod photo is here, one thing is clear:
You either love it or think Apple should have
started from scratch and created a full-blown
media player (like we did; @@@@0 Jan/05, p34).
We can see why you feel one way or the other—you
love it because, hey, it’s an iPod, or you look at it and think,
“The screen’s kinda small,” or “How do | connect
my camera?” or “I! Want! Video!”
If the iPod photo doesn’t float your boat, no worries—-there
are several portable media players to choose from. The
question then remains: Are you willing to forgo the elegant,
Archos
Gmini400
20GB, $399,
www.archos.com
*POD ENVY:
Slightly bigger screen
(2.2 inches versus 2
inches). More colors
(262K versus 65K). Built-in
media reader. MPEG-4 video playback.
Better games. Smaller and thinner.
DRAWBACKS: No models greater than 20GB.
VANITY QUOTIENT: 8 of 10. It lacks the iPod's elegance and
doesn’t have a large selection of nifty cases, butit’s a sturdy,
sophisticated, compact package.
THE BOTTOM LINE: The iPod photo’s toughest competitor. For
the complete lowdown, see Reviews, p44. Also check out the
Archos Pocket Video Recorder AV40 (@@ @@ Oct/04, p50).
10 MacAddict February 2005
easy-to-use status symbol that is the iPod in favor of a product
better suited to storing and viewing images and videos?
It’s a toughie.
Here we take a look at a few top contenders and show you
what each has to offer. if you’re thinking of buying one, we
heartily recommend that you first get your hands—and your
eyeballs—on your candidate and find out what how well it
displays your precious images. Also, be forewarned that none
of these babies can link up with iTunes or play AAC files,
including those you download from the iTunes Music Store.
—Roman Loyola
iRiver H320
20GB, $328, www.iriver.com
*POD ENVY: FM tuner. Voice recorder Line-in for recording audio,
Similar size as iPod photo.
DRAWBACKS: 2-inch screen.
Windows-centric software and interface.
VANITY QUOTIENT: 7 of 10. Looks
cool, and could be mistaken fora
U2 iPod Special Edition ($349,
wwv.apple.com).
THE BOTTOM LINE: The H320
could’ve been a contender, buton
the American version, iRiver decided
to leave out USB On-The-Go, which
allows direct connection toa
camera for offloading photos—a
feature that’s also sorely missing
on the iPod photo.
COURTESY OF APPLE COMPUTER
=
EPSON P-2000
40GB, $499, www.epson.com
POD ENVY: Huge screen (3.8 inches!). Stunning image quality.
Built-in media reader. MPEG-4 video playback. Direct print with
Epson printers.
DRAWBACKS: No games. Lacks iTunes support. Big and bulky.
VANITY QUOTIENT: 7 of 10. This biack beauty is even more
dazzling when an image is on its screen, but people might ask
what’s with the tricorder on your belt—uniess you happen to be
at a Star Trek convention.
THE BOTTOM LINE: A great choice for photographers to offload
images from a camera. The high-quality display is great for in-
the-field proofing.
PalmOne
Tungsten T5
215MB, $399, www.paimone.com
’POD ENVY: PDA functionality.
Large screen. Built-in media reader.
Bluetooth connectivity.
DRAWBACKS: Measly storage
capacity, even with media cards.
VANITY QUOTIENT: 5 of 10. Nothing
screams “anal-retentive nerd”
louder than a PDA. Except maybe
a Dungeons and Dragons dungeon
master with a FranklinCovey day planner.
THE BOTTOM LINE: The 75 is a PDA first, a media player second.
It’s also an Editors’ Choice award winner (see Reviews, p42).
NEW STUFF
> TUBE TAMER
Plextor ConvertX PVR
$229 www.plexter.com Available: Now
Plextor’s new USB 2.0-based
personal video recorder uses
Surround yourself with Absynth.
Avaig
RCA Lyra Poke
RD2780 Ne
20GB, $449, www.rca.com
*POD ENVY: Big 3.5-inch
screen. Built-in media
reader. Video recording
and playback.
DRAWBACKS: Lacks iTunes support. No models
greater than 20GB.
VANITY QUOTIENT: 6 of 10. We'd like this one better if it
weren't for that 70s-looking RCA logo. The screen’s image.
quality doesn’t compare to the Epson P-2000.
THE BOTTOM LINE: The Lyra’s video recording ability is unique
to this class of products.
CreativeZen
Media Center
20GB, $499, www.creative.com
FIRST, THE BAD NEWS: The ZMC is Windows-compatible only.
Still interested? Read on. Repulsed? You're done.
*POD ENVY: Large 3.8-inch screen. Plays Windows Media Video
and Photo Story files.
VANITY QUOTIENT: 4 of 10. The ZMC utilitarianism reminds us
that the iPod is both pretty and practical.
THE BOTTOM LINE: iPod for Windows owners might consider the
ZMC for on-the-go video. Why are you Mac users are still reading
this? Hoping for some witty, cutting dig at Windows?
> WIFIPREVIEW
Belkin Wireless
Pre-N Router
$159 www.belkin.com
Available: Now Wider,
You can get 800 faster WiFi?
percent wider Almost.
Elgato’s EyeTV software to capture
TV to your Mac’s hard drive, and
includes time-shifting features such
as fast-forward and slow motion. You
can edit your video using EyeTV’s
simple tools or export your video to
better-equipped editing
apps.
Watch, pause, and
record TY on your Mac.
> SUPERSYNTH
Native Instruments Absynth 3
$339. www.nativeinstruments.de
Available: Now
This popular synthesizer now
supports surround sound and has
an enhanced oscillator section that
adds real-time fractalize mode and
frequency shifting modulation.
Plus, its revamped interface makes
Absynth easier to use.
coverage and 600
percent faster speed than standard
802.11g using this Pre-N router
and Belkin’s Pre-N card—which,
unfortunately, isn’t yet Mac
compatible. Pre-N means this router
uses specs under consideration for
802.11n wireless networking—the
final specs weren't set at press
time. The router is compatible with
802.11b and g.
February 2005 MacAddict 14
DROOLWORTHY
‘Sony Sniff We Caritt Waitt to Get Our Mitts on
Tote-able
Terabytes >
WiebeTech’s RTS5 ($1,699 to $4,699,
www.wiebetech.com) holds up to five
160GB, 250GB, or 400GB hard drives,
which you can configure as a RAID 0,
0+1, 3, or 5 array—with 400GB drives,
we're talking a whoppin’ 2 terabytes
of storage connected to your Mac via
FireWire 800 or USB 2.0. The RT5 is made
of heavy-duty aluminum and steel, but
you can carry it to your next Mac users
group meeting.
Mini Cam,
Mega Display >
We're not quite sure why Olympus decided to label their new
line of MP3 players and cameras m:robe, a name that brings
to mind images of slippers, terry cloth, and the morning
paper, rather than sleek and sexy products like the m:robe
12 Macdttidict February 2005
mn
500 ($499, www.olympusamerica.com). The m:robe 500 rolls
a 1.22-megapixel camera and a 20GB hard drive-based MP3
player into one compact, buttonless unit, and it has a huge 3.7-
inch high-resolution VGA display with touch-screen controls,
IMAGE COURTESY OF WIEBETECH
IMAGE COURTESY OF OLYMPUS
When we told you about
a group of Bungie old-
timers who defected from
Microsoft to form Wideload Games (“Mystery
Game Uses Halo Engine,” Dec/04, p15), we
didn’t know what the upstart company had planned
for its first title. Well, now we do. Stubbs the Zombie
in “Rebel Without a Pulse” is a third-person action
fighter built on a tweaked version of the Halo engine,
with new pixel shaders and screen effects that fuel a
As Stubbs the Zombie, you control a zombie
army to thrash Punchbowl, Pennsylvania.
GET INFO h 13
SPUTUM, GUTS, FLATULENCE,
AND REVENGE!
cinematic film-noir feel. You stagger through a 1950s vision of
the future as Stubbs, a back-from-the-dead traveling salesman
with a hankering for human brains and revenge. Besides using
bodily weapons like Zombie Sputum, Gut Grenades (exploding,
lobbable organs), and deadly clouds
of Unholy Flatulence, Stubs’s
best weapons are the zombie
minions he recruits (chomp,
chomp) from the police, tourists,
and Pennsylvania militia—
member farmers, and other
humans he encounters.
—Niko Coucouvanis
Stubbs the Zombie in “Rebel
Without a Pulse”
Price TBD
Available Summer 2005
Wideload Games and Aspyr Media
www. wideloar.com
www.aspyr-com
www.stubbsthezombie.com
FIRST LOOK AT FIRST TO FIGHT
> The Destineer crew came by to give us a hands-on
preview of Close Combat: First to Fight, the U.S. Marine
Corps—approved tactical shooter due out in February.
Here are some of the highlights.
VOLUMETRIC SHADING Characters cast shadows on their
own faces and bodies instead of just the lame old full-
character ground shadows we get in other games.
MULTIPLAYER MODES Upon the simultaneous Mac, PC,
and Xbox release, Mac and PC players will be able to meet
online or ona LAN for multiplayer matches against either a
human- ora computer-controlled enemy fire team.
EASY ON THE SYSTEM Best of all, we saw the game
running on a 1.5GHz PowerBook with a mere 64MB of
Radeon 9700 video—running smoothly at that.—NC
ee
Glose Combat: First to Fight
Price | $45 (ESP) ad
Available | February 2005,
Destineer Studios and MacSoft
www.macsoftgames.com
www-firsttofight.com,
Finally, @
without aie
and sashingy
PUT THE BLING ON YOUR SPACE THING
» Want to join your friends in a massively multiplayer online
game—only you’re not interested in the swords-and-sorcery
stuff? Check out Vendetta Online,
where you pilot your spaceship
across a vast universe, striving to
Vendetta Online
Prigg | $29.99 retal,
5 ae $9.99 download,
become a rich captain of industry, $9.99 monthly fee
decorated military hero, or successful | Available | Now
Guild Software
outlaw. Free trial available.
wwa-vendetta-online.com
—Matt Osborn
WORLD OF WARCRAFT TIPS AND TRICKS
» World of WarCraft fans, the wait is finally over. To
play this giant of a MMORPG, you don’t need previous
experience with the other incarnations of WarCraft, just
the help of a wise old wizard—that’s where we come in.
Bring your own broadband connection.—MO-
READ YOUR MANUAL Playing World of WarCraft is more
complex than you might think.
MAKE ALLIES Make sure you choose races that are
allied with your friends from the real world. The Horde
is battling the Alliance for control of the world, soa
human priest can’t quest with an orc warrior. It wouldn’t
be proper.
SELECT THE RIGHT SERVER Choose your server
wisely—or just ask your friends for help. When you start
a character on one server, you can’t move it to another. If
you want to play on another server, you must start a new
character. You won't lose your old character, but starting
over after 30-plus hours can bea real buzz-kill.
February 2005 MacAdgict 13
| GET INFO
the news of th
iPOD CASE OF THE MONTH
P ress releases for new iPod cases engorge MacAddict
email boxes almost as frequently as spam, so we thought
we’d inaugurate a new section to spotlight our favorite case
each month. Our first winner: Apple's iPod socks ($29, www
-apple.com).
Socks made their debut during the iPod photo rollout back
in October. When Steve fobs introduced iPod socks, the
crowd’s laughter was immediately followed by whispers of, “Is
he joking?” Apple representatives confirmed that socks were
real—but we didn’t believe it until Apple started taking orders.
Socks are made of knit cotton and nylon, come in six colors,
fit every iPod, and perfectly match most Old Navy outfits. To
actually use your ’Pod, however, you have to take it out ofthe
sock.—Roman Loyola
IMAGE COURTESY OF APPLE
Can we resist saying,
“Sock it to me?”
Apparently not.
SUBMIT YOUR CASE whetheryouriPod case is a custom-made one-off or
a mass-produced product, you can submit it for case-of-the-month consideration—
just send it to iPod Case of the Month, MacAddict, 150 North Hill Drive, Ste. 40,
Brisbane, CA 94005. Please note that we cannot return cases.
O.MacFinlt
BUG OF THE MONTH
‘Woubetootng Solr for the Mace
SPEED UP YOUR MAC OS X STARTUP
fou may experience a stall or lag in your Mac OSX startup right after you've
logged in. If you have automatic login enabled, you might experience a pause
right after the Mac OSX desktop comes into view, but before any icons or menubar
items appear. Here are a few tips for speeding things up:
DISABLE AUTOMOUNT If your networked volumes are set to mount at startup,
disable automount and mount them manually when you need them. It takes a few
seconds of extra work once your machine is up and running, but it’tl shave off.
significant startup time.
FIX PROBLEMATIC VOLUMES A damaged FireWire or USB drive or cable can
grind the startup process to a halt. If you think you have a problem with a drive,
disconnect it and restart to see if your speed improves. If so, then reconnect the
drive and use Apple’s Disk Utility or a tool such as Alsoft’s DiskWarrior ($79.95,
www.alsoft.com) to fix the drive. If you suspect a bad cable is the culprit, try a
different one.
CACHE OUT Use a utility such as Panther Cache Cleaner ($8.95, www
.northernsoftworks.com) to perform deletion of system caches. Also check
out Mark Douma’s Font Finagler ($10, http://homepage.mac.com/mdouma46
/fontfinagler), which purges font-cache files that can stall your startup,
TRY THE UPDATER AGAIN The tried-and-true method of reapplying the most recent
Mac OS X combo updater once again proves its worthiness in the case of slow
startups. The combo updates are larger files that take longer to download, but
can eliminate mishaps caused by delta (release-to-release) updates. Many users
have found that downloading and installing the \arger file can lessen startup time.
You'll find the update packages at Apple’s Mac OS X download page (www.apple
.com/downloads/macosx/apple).
14 MacAddict February 2005
he hard plastic
bezel on Formac’s
Gallery Xtreme
1900 and Gallery
Xtreme 2010 TFT
LCDs ($599 and
$899, respectively;
www.formac.com)
may remind you of
old-generation Apple
Cinema Displays. The
19-inch 1900 has a
1,280 by 1,024 native
resolution, while
the 20.1-inch 2010’s
native resolution is
1,600 by 1,200. Both
displays have a 700:1
contrast ratio and
Formac’s zero-dead-
pixel guarantee.
LaCie’s 321 LCD
Monitor ($1,699,
www.lacie.com) is a
21.3-inch TFT panei
with 10-bit gamma
correction instead
of the traditional
8-bit. The 321 has
Our mascot, Max, a contrast ratio of
achieves nirvana 500:1 and a native
on LaCie’s resolution of 1,600
pivoting LCD. by 1,200 pixels, and
pivots to portrait
mode if you have an ATI Radeon 9800
Pro graphics card. Samsung unveiled the
SyncMaster 711T ($599, www.samsung
.com), a 17-inch LCD monitor with a
1000:1 contrast ratio, 1,280 by 1,024
native resolution, and 0.6-inch bezel.
Eizo Nanao released a pair of
displays, the ColorEdge CG220 and
ColorEdge CG19 ($6,499 and $1,859,
respectively; www.eizo.com). The CG220
has a 22.2-inch screen with a 1,920 by
1,200 native resolution, and supports
Adobe’s RGB color space. The 19-inch
CG19 is bundled with Eizo’s Color
Navigator calibration package, and has
a 1,280 by 1,024 native resolution and
450:1 contrast ratio.
PhotoVu’s PV1940 ($1,299, www
-photovu.com) is a 19-inch WiFi digital
picture frame that you can hang on a wall
to display digital photos and illustrations
at 1,280 by 960 pixels. A PV1940 is
available with an external power supply
($1,399) or a 40GB removable hard drive
($1,549).—Roman Loyola
KXKXXK
MONS JEU
y
0
3
r
b
<
®
u
2
co)
rs
m
9
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°
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GET INFO
SHAREWARE PICK OF THE MONTH ; onge
wwwyellowmug.com $15 # Zoe
‘he world might be a better place without borders, but when borders add creative flair and personality. Here’s how to use Yellow
it comes to pictures, Web pages, postcards, and newsletters, Mug Software’s EasyFrame to frame a photo.—Andrew Tokuda
rie Ex a
@ brag any picture into the Drop A @ From the Simple Shapes pop-up menu, © Click any frame shape to see a preview
Picture Here window. choose a frame set you like. of that border around your photo.
© Tocreate a custom
frame, open Photoshop
(or comparable app), use
your art skills to create
a cool 8-bit grayscale
image or 32-bit RGB
image with an alpha
channel (transparency).
When finished, drag it
into the My Frames list.
© When you find a border you like, drag the picture with |
its new border onto your desktop or a folder te save it.
AUDION: ANOTHER
iTUNES VICTIM
anic’s Audion (free, www.panic.com) has changed from commercial app to
freeware. In its heyday, Audion was the premier Mac MP3 player, but it lost
popularity after Apple released iTunes, which is based on Audion’s former competitor,
Casady & Greene’s Soundjam.
Panic cofounder Cabel Sasser has a history of Audion posted on Panic’s Web site
(www.panic.com/extras/audionstory). According to Sasser, Apple once considered
using Audion as the basis for iTunes. During initial discussions, however, Panic was
working on a deal with America Online—a deal that didn’t pan out. In the meantime,
Apple decided to use SoundJam instead. The rest, as they say, is history. Panic i
continues to develop software such as CandyBar 2 H
($12.95), an icon utility; Unison ($24.95), a Usenet
client; and Transmit ($24.95), an FTP client.
There’s more! Sasser’s tale is void of car
chases and life-or-death situations, but it
provides insight into the inner workings
of Apple and life as a Mac third-party
developer. Sasser’s account of a meeting
with Apple bigwigs—including Steve
Jobs—is especially worth a read.
—Roman Loyola
MODDING
MAC OS X
Mention mod when
referring to your Mac, and
your Pavlovian reflex is to
fire up your dremel tool.
But O'Reilly Media’s new
Modding Mac OS
X (2004; $24.95,
www.oreilly.com)
is all about the
0S—specifically,
the interface and
the command line.
Author Erica Go Mac mod mad!
Sadun’s hacks
include basics like creating
your own custom desktops,
as well as more-complex
mods that help you make
better use of the Terminal and the
Property List Editor. Each mod has step-
by-step instructions and screenshots to
make modding easier.—Roman Loyola
yoog
MolAo
February 2005 MacAddict 15
/, GET INFO
the news of the month in bite-size
MAC INTERNET SERVICES
pple’s .Mac (www.mac.com) offers
convenience and ease of use,
while at the same time maximizing
the internet as a resource. But did you
know that you have a choice? Spymac
(www.spymac.com) offers many of
the same features as .Mac, either for
less cash than .Mac—or free entirely.
While we had no problems using either
service, it’s always a good idea to ~
check out message boards and do
your research before deciding on one
or the other.
«MAC An $99 annual membership
gets you a name@mac.com email
address with 250MB of storage—
125MB is set by default for mail, while
you can allocate the other 125MB
between your mail and your iDisk
account (more on iDisk later).
-Macis easy to use and the icons for
your functions are clearly labeled. You
can also keep an address book and use
iSync to manage the records between
your online book and the Apple Address
Book in your Mac. Our syncs went
without a hitch.
Other features. The iDisk feature
allows you to store files online, so you
and access them from any place you
can connect to the Internet. If you want
to share your latest iMovie creation
with friends and family and it’s too
big to attach to an email message, for
example, you can share the file publicly
via your iDisk. You can aiso use iDisk
to host Web pages that have the URL
http://homepage.mac.com/user name.
Other features include virus scanning;
an e-greeting card service called iCards;
Backup 2 backup software; forums; and
special shopping deals.
SPYMAC with a free Spymac account,
you get a name@spymac.com address,
1GB of email storage (10MB attachment
limit), spam and virus scanning, and
a spelling checker. A free account
doesn’t include POP email access to
other accounts.
For a reasonable $18.99 per year,
you can sign up for Spymac Mail
Pro. It comes with everything in the
free version, plus 3GB of storage
(20MB attachment limit), access
via POP or IMAP, and cell-phone
integration. .
Other features. There are forums
covering mostly tech topics, and you can
use Spymac’s blog to create your own
Internet soapbox. You also get 100MB
for a Web site. Spymac has a Picture
Gallery where you can store and share
photos. Spymac’s main page has Mac
news stories and features that are open
for discussion.
Spymac has a ton of other products
for sale, such as Web hosting, Wheel
(a $39.99 per year
‘SERVICE URL ANNUAL = EMM ATTACHMENT ADDRESS ICAL ALIASES WEB SITE SPACE . a
FEE CAPACITY LIMITs BOOK HOSTING FILE STORAGE service that offers Mail
MAG www.mac.com $93.95 125MB —10MB yes yes. yes. 125MB (canallocatespacetomai) PTO, Online file storage,
‘SPYMAC ‘waw.spymac.com free 168 40MB yest yes: no OMB (Web site oni) backup, iCal, and a blog),
SPYMAC MAILPRO wwwspymac.com/maipro $18.99 3GB 20MB yess yes 0 ‘TODMB (Web ste ony) Mac accessories, clothing,
‘SPYMAC WHEEL weww.spymac.com/wheel $39.99 368 20M yes* yes no 250MB
and notebook gear.
"Doesn't sync with Aple's Adfress Book.
MICROSOFT’S MACBU SPEAKS
ith two big software releases this
year, it’s apparent that the folks at
Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit (MacBU)
have been busy. Virtual PC (see Reviews,
p37) gota speed bump, and Office 2004
is flush with innovative new tools. We
called on Roz Ho, general manager of
MacBU, to give us some insight about the
group's philosophy and where it’s headed.
The MacBU now harbors nearly 200
employees, with new staff focused on
Entourage-related enterprise integration
and upping overall product quality. In
fact, when talking with Ho, the words
“research,” “testing,” and “retesting”
came up again and again. Ho marks
improved product quality as her biggest
accomplishment; Office support calls
were down by half in the four to five
months following the release of version
2004. That version’s error-reporting
dialog provided info that helped the
MacBU to develop Service Pack 1, which
16 MacAddict February 2005
fixed common errors— and another
Service Pack is in the works.
But the bigger picture is also under
constant examination. Once 2004
shipped, Ho asked her staff to take
a three to four month breather
to “rethink engineering”
forthe long term, and to
work toward integrating
new features from the
ground up rather than
just tacking them onto
existing products.
Ho remarks that
these are “exciting times
for Mac customers,” with
Apple continually improving its
operating system. She says, “The pace
of innovation is the best thing.” So if the
MacBU matches pace, what’s up next?
The group’s ongoing—and painstaking—
customer research efforts have revealed
that for 92 percent of customers, PC
—Roman Loyola
compatibility is the most important
thing, To this end, MacBU worked with its
PC neighbors to completely rewrite the
animation in Office 2004’s PowerPoint
for improved timing and better looks.
With new graphics capabilities
built into Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger),
future versions will be
poised to take advantage
of the increased power. Ho
says another market trend
is the need forteams
to collaborate, and for
users to organize and track
information—Office 2004’s
fledgling Project Center is a
solid start in this direction. As for
expanding the Microsoft Office Suite,
Ho sees instant messaging infiltrating
the corporate environment, and an
overall move toward better integration
with the Internet and between platforms.
—Jenifer Morgan
Wired.
The Mouse USB scroll mouse.
Wireless.
The Mouse BT Bluetooth
wireless mouse.
Decisions, decisions.
www.macmice.com
February 2005 MacAddict 19
Apple’s digital audio player can do more than carry a tune—
we show you how to infuse your iPod with superpowers
that’ll transform it into an all-in-one wonder.
By Kris Fone
ike a superhero, your iPod has the power to lead a your favorite music player truly indispensable. We also show
secret double life. One minute it’s a mild-mannered you some cool hardware add-ons that outfit your iPod with
music player; the next, it magically transforms itself totally new functions.
into a personal digital assistant, current events Whether your iPod masquerades as a white knight or a
informer, flashlight, foreign language translator, party planner, _ colorful mini, you can give it the power to be different and lead
or even an eBook. For mere chump change (or for free!), you whatever multiple lives your heart desires. And even if you
can bestow these superpowers and more on your iPod. We don’t have an iPod, some of these apps will happily provide the
rounded up the greatest iPod apps out there, stuffthat’ll make same functions on your Mac.
POWER:
1otes, weather f
ui
mail messages
kly
ion of cur
away
for on-the
‘Terminal bash —
1 18:27382 on canole
Your Sovior.ep
enteee.x4a
fre0t4.ada
free6t.ata
1r0809.040
fr@id6 xa
freigs.nta
Say8.093 fraiot.ata
4B The Auttnrity Song.npd—treBinto
10 Tho Difficult Kinduwlp —11c087.nfa
42 Slou.ms
booger :/Volunes/Sonay Pod/iPud Control /Musicira? Kriss
yut your
24 BAT
Wester Moves Stehs Moroopes yes Text Oweesans Appt tidus
a single iP¢
one—it off
i superpower, |
very thir
that we can sing alon
Can't figure out hor
Making Friends
English; How are you?
Spanish: Camo esta?
Glick To Listen
ingo iLingo spea
: Transforms English-speaking mortals into word or phr:
lingual communicators.
WHO'S RESPONSIBLE: Talking Panda (www.talkingpanda.com) word or phrase, its
PRICE YOU'LL PAY: $14.95 per language translator or $39.95 to translation, anda
house a European polyglot helpful one-click
THE TERMS: Mac OS 10.2 or later, iTunes 4.1 or later, any iPod with spoken translation
a dock connector, iPod Software 2.0 or later soyou can make
What kind of secret agent—or happy traveler—would be caught Sure that you get pronunciation down pat—and avoid the
in a foreign country without any means of communication, embarrassment of uttering “Je t’aime” (I’m in (ove with you)
whether you get assistance from a travel guide, a phrase book, when you really meant to say “J’ai faim” (I’m hungry).
or an interpreter? If you take along your iPod and iLingo, it won't One important thing to note: iLingo hogs your iPod’s Notes
be you. iLingo transforms any dockable iPod into a compact folder, moving all existing content into a Notes Backup folder.
language translator that'll help you communicate with the locals, That means you won’t be able to access any other Notes-based
as long as they reside in a country that speaks one of the four item as long as you have an iLingo module installed—you
included tongues. must manually switcheroo iLingo to the Notes Backup folder
Talking Panda offers four language modules—-French, and your Backup stuff to the Notes folder to access everything
German, Spanish, and Italian—that, when installed on an iPod, again, Still, ifyou’re on vacation, why the heck are you reading
provide common words and phrases for travelers (you can email messages or calling contacts back at home anyway?
have only one language installed at
atime—which, admittedly, is a pain).
The program separates all phrases ry 4
and words into various categories and SH sist t ia n t
subcategories on your ’Pod—Simple iPod it i
Terms, Greetings, Getting Around, (POWER: Dutifully organizes contacts, schedules, %,
Dining, Making Friends, Time, email messages, tasks, news, and more.
Numbers & Money, Local Lingo, and WHO’S RESPONSIBLE: ZappTek (www.zapptek.com)
more. Each entry provides the English PRICE YOU'LL PAY: $14.95 for peace of (organized) mind
T NS: Mac OS 10.2 or later, any iPod
PDAs are expensive. Filofaxes are so 90s. And Post-Its have a tendency to hitch
ride on somebody and walk out the door. Thank Boadncss Apple built Mail and iCa
you need to look up numbers orappointment times. But iPod It goesa sabigstep fur
by giving Microsoft Office users something to crow about: Entourage support.
For Office users, IPod It allows you to sync your Entourage contacts, email, evel se
notes, and tasks between your Mac and your iPod. The app lets you decide how juch
collection, if you so desire. Or you can choose to sync all of your contacts, |
business peeps, or only your friends and whatnot.
Ifyou avoid Microsoft apps like the plague, iPod It can also syncdata from Apple —
apps, including Address Book, Mail, iCal, and Stickies. It can also feed your: :
| weather forecast (just tell itwhat city or cities es interested ue and the
foo
entourage
full-story download on
right can be hit-and-miss)
65 tt a &
web Serviees ifyou're a scatter
@ & on-the-go type, iPod It c:
See help you stay on top of things
byletting youtake your
Entourage and Apple app |
= |
just stash the Podtender package in your iPod’s
mea eer 0
to whip up every drink recipe imaginable.
(www.enriquequinterodesign.com)
details), iPod Software 2.0 or later (for
dock-bearing iPods)
Dale Carnegie didn’t have this
little app around when he wrote
How to Win Friends and Influence
People, but Podtender will give
you the superpowers that can
steer you toward the same goals.
This fun database contains a
sobering number of mixed-drink
recipes—over 900 of them at your
fingertips—that can make you the
life ofthe party as you mix and
serve every partygoer’ 's alcoholic
fantasy 0 on the fly (assuming you
havea liquor cabinetthe size of The
Donald’s bank account...or hair).
T: NewsMac
‘THE SUPERPOWER: Fills the human cranium with
the latest news and current events in a single swoop.
WHO’S RESPONSIBLE: ThinkMac Software
(www.thinkmac.co.uk)
PRICE YOU'LL PAY:
nothing (though donations are appreciated)
THE TERMS: Mac OS 10.2.x, 10.3, or later; any iPod
with a dock connector; iPod Software 2.0 or later
Gain the combined daily knowledge of Tom
Brokaw, Christiane Amanpour, Al Michaels,
Walt Mossberg, Mary Hart, Dave Marsh, and
countless other broadcasters and journalists,
without having to do endless research. NewsMac
transforms your iPod into a nerve center of
current events, world news, sports, literary arts,
Mac news, entertainment, business, science,
technology, and other cultural goings-on at the
press of a button.
NewsMac supplies RSS news feeds fram over
120 different sources (you can also add your
own), and aggregates headline and description
content on your Mac that you can click to read
the full story. Or you can sync headline and
description content to an iPod or Palm device,
and take Cliff’s Notes versions of current affairs
with you. Do be aware that your mileage may
# Grants the intoxicating ability
WHO'S RESPONSIBLE: Enrique Quintero Design
PRICE YOU'LL PAY: Ameasly $5 to become the life of the party
RMS: Mac OS 10.2 or later, any iPod (first and
second generations require alternate installation—see site for
Notes folder, hide your'Pod discreetly, and pull a little
cheat-sheet maneuver as you | let the spirits fly. Drinks
are arranged alphabetically, so if someone asks you for
“something with a little rum in it,” you'll need to pull
your best Jedi mind trick to get him or her to utter an
actual drink name, lest you expose your secret. Some
of the | fun comes from just reading the drink names.
Who knew that you could order an Extra Nutty Irishman,
a Screaming
Orgasm, ora
Woo Woo #2?
robably not
_ with a Straight
' face. Just be
_ prepared fora
lot of Pod-wheel
scrolling.
Brink f
For the hidden
“tush in all ofus,
" Podtender will hav
Just like your local TV news, absolutely
Newsiac_Channel_€di_ View Category Window Help
" you making friends
"fast with fast
friends.
vary. We experienced some inconsistent results with
various feeds—some feeds would just give us simple
headlines on our iPod, while others would give us the
headlines plus a healthy synopsis of the stories. But
rather than carpal-tunnel yourself to death as you
exhaustively click through every news site to feed your
thirst for knowledge, it’s easier to just plug in your iPod
and have NewsMac feed you.
iy ness
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The Diva Gree es
THE CATALYST: KaraTunes
THE SUPERPOWER: Turns everyday people into word-accurate
singers (and we use that last word loosely).
WHO’S RESPONSIBLE: Ideographer (www.ideographer.com)
PRICE YOU'LL PAY: $11 for not having to loddy-dada-doo-doobie
through your favorite tunes (unless you're singing Red Hot Chili
Peppers songs)
THE TERMS: Mac OS 10.2.8 or later, iTunes, any iPod with a dock
connector, iPod Software 2.0 or later
You sing along to songs in your car and in the shower; why not
serenade your iPod? KaraTunes turns your iPod into a pseudo
karaoke machine that can display lyrics for every single
stored song as it plays. The app integrates well with iTunes, KaraTunes organizes your lyrics much as iTunes manages
allowing you to simply select any song in your iTunes Library your music, and lets you display them on an iPod for
oron your connected iPod, download song lyrics lickety-split anytime-anywhere sing-alongs.
at the click of a button (it grabs them from Lyrictracker.com),
and save them to KaraTunes’ lyrics library. If the app can’t This has to be the fastest and easiest method we’ve
find the lyrics, you can click the Google button to search the seen so far for collecting lyrics—you can literally grab and
entire Web for your wanted words. If you’re a musician or save them in seconds. Just remember: Belting out songs while
GarageBander, you can even create entries for your own tunes, your iPod’s earbuds are still in your ears could be hazardous
then just click the iPod icon to load your lyrics onto your’Pod. to bystanders’ eardrums—and patience.
More Superpower Options
As with everything in life, you have options. In case our choices don’t float
your rubber ducky, here are more power-ups to fuel your iPod’s double life.
BACKSEAT DRIVER: Mibasoft PodQuest ($9.95, www.mibasoft.dk)—
Puts MapQuest or MapBlast driving directions on your iPod.
BODY GUARD: Pariahware Pod Secret ($29.95, www.pariahware
.com)—Securely encrypts sensitive data when you carry it onan
iPod or thumb drive,
CLONER: Findley Designs iPod Access ($10, www.drewfindley.com
/findleydesigns), Sci-Fi Hi-Fi PodWorks ($8, www.scifihifi.com), Robs iPod
Exporter (free, www.robsmac.com), Bitcom Xpod (free, www.bitcom
.ch)—Copy your music files and metadata from your iPod to your Mac.
MAIL CARRIER: PodMail (free, www.podmail.org)—Sync your iPod with
your email account and take your messages with you.
MOVER: Ronin no Sakurakai Softronics youPod ($14.99, www
.kaisakura.com)—Use your iPod to move one Mac’s info (Address Book,
iCal, bookmarks, Keychain, music) to another Mac to keep them in sync.
RADIO-SHOW HOST: iPodder (free, http://ipodder.sourceforge.net)—
Turns your iPod into an Internet radio device by grabbing prerecorded
radio-show content to which you've subscribed and dropping it onto
your’Pod.
INSURANCE AGENT: iPodBackup (free, http://homepage.mac
.com/amake/software/ipodbackup.html)—Backs up your Home
folder’s data onto an iPod.
SECRETARY: MacChampion Alepin ($10, www.macchampion
Vojou Software iNotePad ($14, www.vojousoftware.com),
THHdesign Podtext X (free, www.mysunrise.ch/users/thhdesign
/mote.html), Flying Meat Software VoodooPad ($19.95, free Lite
version, www.flyingmeat.com)—Apple NotePad alternatives let
you treate detailed notes and store them on an iPod.
STORYTELLER: Zapptek iSpeak It ($12.95, www.zapptek.com),
Alex King’s Read it to Me (free, www.alexking.org)—Reads any text
doctiment (email messages, news, eBooks, and more) out loud
by cbnverting text to audio,
February 2005 Macdddict 23
The app separates recipes into categories, including —
Beef and Veal, Cakes, Desserts, Fish and Shellfish,
Pastries, Pork, Poultry, Salads, Soups, and Vegetables.
Each category lists tons of enticing entries such as Cra
in Shrimp Sauce, Double Chocolate Cake, and Orange
Glazed Capons, and oddities such as Coleslaw Tartare,
Enrique Quintero Design Chicken Sea Pie, and Pepperoni Salad. Along with down-
riquequinterodesign.com) home Americana cooking, PodGourmet offers : different
YOU'LL PAY: $5 for a garden of gastronomic delights national cuisines, including Italian, French, Cl inese,
MS: Mac OS 10.2 or later, any iPod with a dock Spanish, Cajun, and Mexican recipes. It's good enough 0
‘od Software 2.0 or later make you wanna shout “Bam!” Do note that ifyou have
a big impression an iPod mini, some of
our family, friends, the recipe names may
and present or future appear cut offdue to
laws by showing the screen’s smaller
ithat jot only can ae Pan r _ size (Ham Stuffed
Nu cook (or atleast : — _ Cab... or Crusty Cold
_ make the effort), but A 1 loaf cake | | Chick..., anyone?), but
your gastronomical you'll get the gist of
_ mastery doesn’t even : sebuthar _ what it is ifyouread the |
“require youto cracka a ingredients (or take a
cookbook. PodGourmet Beet _ peek at the text docs on
ate 260 recipes on p sug | yourMac).
“your iPod, allowing you
_ to whip up a batch of 6 i
Crépesa al'Orange and 4 eg ei ' What's cookin’? You are
~ (falsely) claim that it’s “Ifyou have PodGourmet
your own secret recipe. installed on your iPos
places them in your iPod’s Notes folder for your reading
enjoyment. Do note that the iPod has a 1,000-note limit;
Book2Pod after bestowing batches of various app power-ups and
Turns iPods into electronic books. two bocks on our iPod, we didn’t have enough room to
: Tom Sutcliffe (www.tomsci.com hold Moby Dick as well.
/bookzpod)
YOU'LL PAY: Nothing, just like a public
Nindow _ Help
[06 Book2Pod
|
2Pod Source Edi
Mac OS 10.3 or later, any iPod witha
dock connector, iPod Software 2.0 or later
Whether you're a forward-thinking bookworm or fj “umterofnews: 88 5 =
Generating notes
Notes fokder: sh
| |
q a person of the save-a-tree ilk, electronic books J Books in this Notes folder
| (aka eBooks) offerthe same story contentas | a Shontitie Long title
) regular boo! ithout inet | | Sleepytoltow SleepyHollow
regi ks without the burden of lugging the FNS siaesisiaee paadteeaa
volumes. Book2Pod enables you to carry around
MobyDick MobyDick a
multiple books in your iPod. The app works | i
around the iPod Note Reader’s 4Kb limit per | |
note by splitting a text document into multiple Te hae au boos mt yeber toed I
segments, allowing you to read a book, your term -
paper, or any other long plain-text document on Sourcefile: /Users/kris/Desktop/WarAndPeace.txt ‘Chease...)
your iPod. If you're into classic literary works, | shore title: [WarAndPeac
you can download free eBooks from Project
Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.net), and pack em
Use break string for headings
/ Long title; WarAndPeace
Break on:
on your’Pod. | : Show File
Encoding: { Western (Mae 08 Roman} % i
To make an eBook or lengthy text doc iPod- |
compatible, just connect your ’Pod, fire up t
Book2Pod, click the plus-sign (+) button to add the
plain-text (TXT) doc to the interface, and click Save, The
app then splits the book into multiple linked notes and
or any other l inded doc on your iPod.
MacAddict February 2005
\UPERPOWER: Gives your iPad notes a voice.
WHO'S RESPONSIBLE: CodePoetry (www.codepoetry
snet/projects/textreader)
PRICE YOU'LL PAY: As for freedom
of speech, nothing
THE TERMS: Mac OS 10.2 or later,
JTunes 3 or (ater, any iPad
If you're the type who’s constantly
(Text Reader J
IM cat _speech_
New
Open.
Open Recent
Close
save
the Text Reader icon and select File » Save As AIFF to
convert text to spoken-word audio. Or select File >» Export
To iTunes; from there, convert the file to AAC or MP3
format and load it on your iPod as you would any audio
file. If you've got eBooks, this is a great way to turn them
into audiobooks—if you can stomach listening to your
Mac’s monotone synthesized
voice pondering whether
it shall compare thee to a
summer's day. Use your Mac’s
Speech system preferences
on the go, parking your butt in Spee Se to change your Mac’s default
one place for any length of time eee ue’ } voice (Text Reader also.
becomes a luxury. Most likely, it'll [esprit Page Setup. ox ft | lets you control the pitch
be when you’re driving from place a cit and speed of the voice). Do
“titcentin” she sa
to place. While you can take your
email messages, headline news,
and reading materials with you on
your iPod, the car is notthe place
to play catch-up—your eyes should
be on the road and yourhands on
the wheel. However, itis a great
time to hear your email messages,
schedule, to-dos, and whatnot
read out loud. Text Reader can
do just that.
Just drop any plain-text file onto
uperhera)
S
: Transforms your iPod into
friendly laser pointer (OrReanitene
ONSIB! Griffin Technology
(www.griffintechnotogy.com)
PRICE YOU'LL P 19.99 for enlightenment
THE TERMS: Any iPod with a dock connector
a lecture-
NHO’S
ful ea Ar wid own Do yo 8?
3 8, ahaha ad ale ha aa
ashy ey
oftware isn’t the only catalyst that'll unleash your iPod’s superpowers.
You can strap one of these hardware devices onto your iPod’s armor
and transform it into a completely new weapon.
The laser pointer: Lecture-hall professors love them;
moviegoers want to wring the skinny necks of those
who wield them inappropriately and excessively.
Now you can instantly transform any dock-bearing
iPod into the host of an impromptu laserlight
ined and tas
note that the conversion
Process can take quite a
long time and the resulting
AIFF file can swell to gigantic
proportions—especially if
you're converting eBooks.
inher Juste
With Text Reader, you can
listen to Leo Tolstoy’s epic
War and Peace right on your
iPod—if you don’t mind the
machinelike delivery.
y a
show. The iBeam is actually a set oftwo
small devices that attach (one at a time)
to a’Pod’s minijack—one delivers a red laser
beam, while the other casts a small white flashlight
beam so you can avoid becoming the thing that goes bump
in the night. The bits also ship with caps that you can attach
to your keychain (the one for your house and car keys, not
your Mac’s), so you always have them handy.
iTalk
dod into a re
ecording
irth
Photo Vault
THE WEAPON: Digital Camera Link
for iPod, Media Reader for iPod
THE SUPERPOWER: Pulls
photographic date from either
a camera ora media card.
WHO’S RESPONSIBLE: Belkin
(www.belkin.com)
PRICE YOU'LL PAY: $79.99 (Digital Camera Link) or $99.99
(Media Reader) to never have to lug your Book to weeklong
photo shoots or on vacation
‘THE TERMS: Any third-generation iPod except iPod
mini (fourth-generation support for Digital Camera Belkin’s Media
Link coming soon), iPod Firmware 2.1 or later, supported Reader for
camera or media iPod (above)
Uniess you have loads of high-capacity media 4 and Digital
cards, chances are you review photos on your 3 Camera Link
camera and erase lots just to make room for more ¢ (left) imaging
while you're on vacation. With either of Belkin’s q devices free
image-storing devices, now you don’t have to. Both | photographers
the Digital Camera Link and the Media Reader foriPod | from lugging
transform the iPod into a virtual storage shoebox 4 around a’Book
forall of your digital photos, freeing up your media or buying extra
cards for more snap-happy adventures. The Camera media cards.
Link allows you to tether your USB camera to your
iPod and upload images at the push of a button. The
Media Reader supports Compact Flash (Type! and
I), Smart Media, Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard,
or Memory Stick media, allowing fast transfers via
FireWire. Both devices operate on batteries so you
can transfer your images to—though not view them
on—your iPod anywhere in the world.
Forget Music—Play Games
Be a bum one day anda secret agent the next: Worlds of (text-based) adventure await!
Practically anyone with some basic HTML knowledge can create his or her own iPod text game.
Home-brewed iPod games are starting to trickle in, though this market is still a young one, on the
brink of breaking out into the mainstream. iPod Software 2.0 (and later) features Note Reader
software to display text files on an iPod’s screen, but the software also supports some HTML tags,
including Absolute and Relative links that allow you to organize notes into a hierarchy and link them
together—making your iPod the perfect platform for creating text games.
These types of games generally offer a story where the player chooses what he or she wants to do
in various predicaments; these choices alter the plotline, If you’re looking to play, you'll find various
iPod games from iPod game developers XO Play ($14.99 per game, www.xoplay.com) and from the
iPod-toting masses who host their ventures on iPodSoft (most games are free, www.ipodsoft.com),
If light HTML coding is more than you can handle, iPodSoft’s iStory Creator (price TBA, www
-ipodsoft.com) allows anyone to create iPod text games without code—but as of press time, you
need a peecee to use it. Don’t worry, though: A Mac version, iStory Creator X, is coming soon.
February 2005 MacAddict 27
Doom is back, and it’s
Can you handle it? Ca
by Niko Coucouvanis
-
a f
i ah
I
as
a
d
‘
‘ome,
research facility on Mars, a
nameless space marine with no
past (nor much of a future), and
an endless supply of zombie-
demon hell spawn: What more could you ask
for in a computer game? When id Software
released the original Doom for Macs in 1995
(PC users got it in 1993), most of us were still
playing flat, arcade-style games like Tetris and
Centipede. Doom immersed us in the intricately
designed, completely creepy 3D environment
of a remote space outpost, where it ambushed
us with hellish monsters and frenzied first-
; 3 esa Se ' person shooting action. Doom was an instant
- 2 pe. hit and gave us our first taste of the networked
"a multiplayer deathmatch-type games, thus
4 : securing Doom’s place in gaming history (and
that of its creator—see “Developer Q&A,” p35).
\
2 ‘ February 2005 NacAddict 29
vengeance—and a brand-new 3D engine—in Doom
3. The basic story hasn’t changed much, but the new
rendering capabilities add effects, such as real-time
lighting and shadows, that make the dynamic and creepy world
of Doom even more hellish. Before you get too excited, kni
that Doom 3’s system requirements start with a 1.5GHz G5 (see
“Is Your Mac Ready?” p35). However, after extensive research on
a gamer friend’s beefy PC, we expect Doom 3 to look absolutely
horrifying on a Mac—on a fat Mac with a fat video card,
anyway—and we can’t wait to see it.
Doom 3 took PC gamers by storm in August 2004, and Aspyr
is bringing it to the Mac in February ’05—a relatively short six
months later. it’s still in the alpha stage of development as we
write this; Aspyr couldn’t even provide a playable build to give
us a feel for the game. (Such a build no doubt exists, but it must
be locked up tighter than the Colonel's chicken recipe.) But soon
Mac addicts will be battling mutants, demons, and fearfueled
madness in meticulously crafted environments rivaling those of
any Hollywood horror thriller. |
N r owid’s flagship game is coming back with a
ST@®RY LINE
WELCOME TO MARS—
DON’T MIND THE DEMONS.
You confront your Doom as an anonymous space marine
dispatched to the Union Aerospace Corporation's Mars Research
Facility just in time to survive the massive demonic invasion of
2145, Now you're the only thing standing between Hell’s army
and God's green Earth. And Hell has a big army.
Your mission is centered around fighting your way to (and
through) the portal to Hell—not an easy find in the labyrinthine
research complex. To keep you on track, your trusty PDA
provides mission objectives and other documents, and you'll
occasionally find PDAs dropped by fallen fellow marines. Among
mission information, audio files, and security clearance codes,
these found PDAs contain email messages received by the
now-dead marine—some informative, some not, and some that
provide URLs for Web sites where you can find more information
and clues. Although none of the info on the Web is required for
finishing the game, it’s a cool touch. You get further guidance
from overhearing conversations among other surviving (but not
fighting) humans through vent shafts and around corners, and
from short cut scenes.
IN SPACE, DEM@NS WILL SEAR
YOUR SPLEEN.
Doom 3 creates a palpable, visceral environment of...wel
doom. The Union Aerospace Corporation Facility on Mars is
dark, dank, and thoroughly foreboding in several different
ways. Creeping through endless gloomy corridors, you can
hear agonized screams in the distance, while hidden scratching,
scurrying, whispering, and whatnot emanate from everywhere.
(Thank you, surround sound!) The soundtrack is also full of
random drips of water, floor creaks, footsteps, and distant,
Pe
y #23
eerily distinct voices giving you advice—some of which is sound,
some of which is suicide. It’s downright nerve-wracking, and
all the while you’re mentally debating whether you should be
holding the flashlight to see where you're going and what lies
in wait (we’re not kidding about the darkness) or the BFG (big,
um, fat gun) to deal with those waiting demons when you find
them—or they find you. You can only carry one weapon at a time,
flashlight included. Decisions, decisions.
AS HIS TOOLS.
All of our favorite Doom weaponry is back, from good old
fisticuffs and the standard pistol on up to the BFG. New toys
include the Soul Cube, which you charge up by killing five
demons. At that point the Soul Cube can instantly killa demon
and transfer the beaten monster's strength to you; recharge
and repeat. We don’t want to give away the plot, but the Soul
Cube plays a key role in your mission to Hell—use it wisely.
The key new piece of gear is the flashlight (did we mention'the
darkness?), which is also effective as a blunt object for clubbing
demons in tight quarters.
Other items you can find lying around include ammo for all
the weapons, protective body armor, restorative health packs,
and the aforementioned PDAs. Power-ups include temporary
invisibility; a superstrength-inducing Megasphere (more a state
of mind than a physical sphere); and good old Berserk, one of
~ ARE YOU READY?
|
|
our favorites from the original Doom. Berserk (which plenty
of games have copied since) tints your vision red as you run
around at double speed, screaming bloody murder while dishing
out 30 times more damage than normal with your flashlight
club, chainsaw, and fists. After all that time picking your way
through dim, threatening corridors, a dose of zombicidal faee is
just what the doctor ordered.
ZOMBIES AND MUTANTS AND
DEMONS, @H MY!
Doom is about demonic possession, so most ofycurenemies
are of the demon—hell spawn persuasion. You also encounter
endless hordes of zombies—as in Halo, the creepy twist here is
that the zombies used to be responsible, respectable, well-
adjusted space marines like you. Rounding out the cast are,
at the low end, fireball-hurling Imps, crawling two-headed
Maggots, and exploding Ticks. You can easily dispatch ’em all
with any weapon, but they’re spry little buggers, anda small
pack can quickly overwhelm you. Higher up the demon chain
you encounter Hell Knights, fire-shooting Arch-Viles, several
classes of higher-level zombies with bigger guns and more
you about them—you'll have to meet them for yourself. .
We can’t describe the monsters of Doom 3 without / jr"
mentioning the true oddities: Bernie the flaming conte
the cyborg pit bull, almost-cute little demonic Chert
yet they’re somehow recognizable-
completely spooky.
| The ESRB (entertainment software rating board) rates Doom 3
Mfor “mature”~and that's a capital, bold M, for gamers age
17 or above. We preferid's advice: “Doom 3 isa terrifying
Sci-Fi horror game experience. It is not recommended for the
cowardly or the faint of heart. However, for those who dare to
face Doom 3 as it was intended; lock your door, turn off the
fights, and turn up your sound.”
Y@U CAN ALS® FRAG WITH YOUR
FRIENDS. OR JUST FRAG THEM. DEVELOPER QkA
The original Doom was one of the first titles to offer
networked multiplayer gaming, and Doom 3 multiplayer mode
supports four-player play in four basic games: Deathmatch,
Team Deathmatch, Last Man Standing, and Tournament.
Nevertheless, Doom 3 is primarily a single-person game.
Actually, it’s more like a horror movie in which you play the
onscreen hero, a fusion we’re seeing more of as the lines blur
between video games, TV, movies, and whatever comes next.
Doom 3 takes a huge step in that direction with its integration
of game play into a detailed cinematic environment and the
depth of its plot, at least in single-player mode.
TERROR HAS ITS PRICE. )n the ideal develop atforn
February’s right around the corner, so start saving up fora e
Mac worthy of this game. If we scared you off with all of this talk n pretty happy with the modern developmen
of demons and hellfire, don’t fret—when a completely new 3D 1 P
engine like the one powering Doom 3 comes around, it’s onlya Nu
matter of time before other developers license the technology
to power their own games. If, on the other hand, all this evil only
piques your interest, you’re in for a real treat.
ad
Is YOUR MAC
READY?
MacAddict editor N
| demons every day in real life,
in Doom 3.
~ Letme take
you on atrip.
Quick, where do you most often listen to music? In your car, right?
The easiest way to enjoy all of that music in your car is the Griffin
Trip. Snap iTrip on your iPod or iPod mini and suddenly your music
is filling up your next road trip, daily commute or business trip - right
through the built-in FM stereo of any car, Buy an iTrip for your iPod
or iPod mini and your favorite song will always be on the radio.
. § 999
iTrip :
FM Transmitter for iPod
«The only FM Transmitter designed “iTrip for 4G iPods also
exclusively for the iPod & iPod mini available, Please visit us ;
sGnoose any Grimey tacion from online for more information
87.7 to 107.9, and change your + Draws power from the iPod, no
iTrip stations directly from the iPod batteries ever needed-or wasted
iTrip mini shown
(actual size)
f _~_@ )
iCurve =
Laptop Desktop Stand
* Raises notebook screen to eye level -
no more sore neck from looking down
* Creates room on the desktop for your
favorite USB keyboard and mouse -
wireless versions work great
+ Keeps your notebook running cool
(and loud fans off) with 360° airflow e $3999
iTalk
Voice Recorder for iPod
*Turn your iPod into a digital voice recorder
with thousands of hours of recording time
$3999 « Automatic Gain Control assures the best
‘ possible signal level for recordings
iMic + Features internal microphone and built-in
USB Audio Interface laptop quality speaker for playback
+ Connect an external microphone or even
+ Record your old records and tapes to play headphones to the built in pass-through :
in iTunes, put on your iPod, or burn to CDs
+ Connect any keyboard, guitar or
microphone directly to GarageBand for
high quality recording
+ Use line level output to connect your Mac - GRIFFIN)
toa stereo or external powered ai. Another great idea from (GRIFFIN
mini jack connection on top
Buy now at www.griffintechnology.com
ae pe
oes RATED
Ae "eoqc0
al il 3 Tae be cai rE be
. disappointed, pissed off.
Ste in
50 Blue-WAV External removable
48 d2 DVD+/-RW Double Layer DVD burner
48 Eye-0 43632 camera
44 FL300 MP3 player
44 Gmini 400 media player
39 Grid2 video-playback too!
51 Headphones for Kids headphones
50 iMove LCD stand
49 inMotion iM3 iPod speaker stand
49 KCA-420i iPod car adapter —
50 Laptop Desktop USB notebook stand
40 Mirage 1 nates software
TheHotList
52 The best of the best from recent reviews.
February 2005
Addict 35
REVIEWS
better living through smarter shopping
HD Display
SPECTACULAR DISPLAY
ow huge is Apple’s 30-inch Cinema
HD Display? An InDesign magazine-
spread layout displays at about one-
and-a-half times actual size, Photoshop
displays a 6-megapixel file at 66.7
percent with plenty of room left over for
piles o’ palettes. A default Microsoft
Excel spreadsheet with View > Zoom set
at 100 percentis 116 rows tall and 33.5
columns wide--that’s 3,886 cells. Aiso
at 100 percent, Word’s Page Layout view
displays eight pages.
This display is so ungodly large that it
takes a bit of getting used to. You need
to set a faster mouse-tracking speed,
develop a sharp eye for finding your
cursor, and get accustomed to swiveling
your neck as if you’re watching a tennis
match as you move from the Apple menu
to the right side of the display. But the
effort is worth it. The 30-inch Cinema HD
Display is by far the finest display to ever
house the Mac OS X desktop.
Hefty display, hefty requirements. As
fabulous as this display is, few of us will
ever enjoy it. First, at $3,299, it’s pricier
than even the highest-end Power Mac
G5—and you need a Power Mac G5 to
run it. Plus, it requires an nVidia GeForce
6800 Ultra DDL ($599) or GT DDI ($499)
graphics card. Both are longer than
typical cards (see right), and their heat
sinks and audible fans stretch out over
the adjacent expansion slot, rendering
it unusable. Both cards support two
DVI displays—if you can afford it, a pair
of 30-inch Displays will provide pure
desktop indulgence. (Look for
a full review of the 6800 Ultra
DDL in our March 2005 issue.)
Like its smaller brethren—
the 20- and 23-inch Cinema
Displays (@@@@L Nov/04,
p39)—the 30-inch Display has
a durable anodized aluminum
case that’s VESA-compliant for
COMPANY: Apple
CONTACT: 800-795-1000 or
408-996-4010, www.apple.com
PRICE: $3,299 ‘raphics card
36 MacAddict February 2005
30-inch Cinema
REQUIREMENTS: Power Mac G5,
Mac OS 10.2.8 or later, GeForce 6800.
tra DDL (6599) or BT DDL ($499)
This display must have
been on Sophie Tucker’s mind
when she said, “I’ve been
rich and I’ve been poor.
Rich is better.”
mounting on walls or articulating arms,
plus dual FireWire 400 and powered
USB 2.0 ports. The bezel around the
display is less than 1 inch wide, and the
display itself is just under 2 inches thick.
The display sits on a tension-hinged
aluminum pedestal with a low-friction
base and too-easy-to-brush controls on
the right side. At 27.5 pounds, it’s no
lightweight—but even a 21-inch CRT-
based monitor can be up to three times
as heavy.
Widescreen, fine screen. The Cinema
HD Display’s abundant screen real
estate may change the way you work.
Some of us here at MacAddict felt more
comfortable with it pushed back a
good 8 to 10 inches further than usual
to get comfortable with its wide field
of vision—and then felt uncomfortable
with it being so far away. Others felt
Relatively puny
graphics cards such
as nVidla’s GeForce
FX 5200 (left) don’t
have the processing
power of the GeForce
6800 Ultra DDL (right).
d image quality. Lots
compatible
y hardware requirements.
immediately comfortable at normal
viewing distances and dove rightinto
its wide-open layout-, audio-, video-,
and image-editing spaces. Spreadsheet
users were in heaven; word-processing
editors loved being able to display a
full page of 8.5-point type at 200
percent; Safari surfers scrolled less
and saw more.
Color fidelity is excellent—even if
you're a nose-ta-the-display Photoshop
pixel pusher, you'll notice remarkabie
color consistency even at extreme
angles. Pixel-response time is snappy,
so when you gather your family around
the display to watch widescreen DVDs,
there’s no image smearing, even when
the onscreen action is fast and furious.
The display is also quite bright: it’s
spec’d at 270 cd/m2 and noticeably
brighterthan a CRT—and if you're like us,
you may actually find it’s too bright at its
maximum setting.
The bottom line. including the
required graphics card, the 30-
inch Cinema HD Display is a hefty
investment—but you'll see immediate
returns if you use it as a production tool.
Otherwise, it’s an indulgence most of us
can’t afford. But, oh gawd, we wish we
could.—Roman Loyola
MacAddict RATED
eeeccod
GREAT
PROTOGRAPHY BY MARK BIADEO
Virtual PC for Mac Version 7
with Windows XP
SNAPPIER WINDOWS EMULATOR
hen Microsoft
bought Connectix’s
Virtual PC division
back in February ’03,
itwas unclear whether
the Windows monger
would improve the
venerable PC emulator
with some sorely needed
performance gains, or
simply kill the aging app.
Now we know: Virtual
PC7is here, and it’s
snappier than previous
versions. Just don’t
expect to play Doom 3
on it—VPC is still built for
convenience, not speed.
Conveniencewise, VPC
keeps getting easier to
install. The version we reviewed doesn’t
even come with a Windows installation
disc, but rather a preinstalled Virtual
Machine—it took us all of 15 minutes to
install it, configure it, and hit the Web
(in Internet Explorer 6 no
less—-woo-hoo!). We feel
dirty saying it, but we’ve
had Mac OS installations
go less smoothly.
|) We didn’t expect VPC
|| to handle our PC copy of
Doom 3 for one simple
reason: Video RAM.
Even more than other
modern games, Doom
3 requires a boatload of
Toning down
Windows interface VRAM (at least 64MB).
fluff helps cure VPC still tops out at
the clunk—at 16MB, and the default is
leasta little. a ridiculously low 4MB.
(See “Pump It Up,” right,
for performance tuning tips). Another
weak performance link is RAM; you can
delegate only 512MB of your Mac’s RAM
to power the emulated PC. Too bad, since
we'd like to see ifa couple gigs of RAM
Mu COMPANY: Microsoft
CONTACT: 800-642-7676, www.microsott.com/mac
PRICE: $249 (with Windows XP Pro), $129 (sans
‘Windows XP Pro), or $99 (upgrade frarn VPC 5 or 6)
Mee ¢@ =
iTunes on Windows on Mac OS X. Has the world gone mad?
would speed things up.
Performance. VPC 7’s speed isn’t
impressive, but we have to give
Microsoft credit making it somewhat
quicker. On the same Dual 1.25GHz
Power Mac G4 we used to test Virtual PC
6 (@8@v Apr/03, p52), VPC 7 clocked
in with over twice the speed, reporting
Speed equivalent to a 1.6GHz Pentium
Pro, whereas VPC 6 called it a 666MHz
X86. Regardless of how different flavors
of Pentium processors stack up, VPC 7 is
noticeably quicker—unfortunately, it still
adds the insult of slow, clunky redraws
and interface lag time to the injury that
is Windows.
Other than significant retooling for
Apple’s latest wares
(namely the G5 processor
and Mac OS 10.3), Virtual
PC’s list of major new
features is short. Printing
is greatly improved; VPC
taps right into your Mac’s
existing print drivers, so
you don’t need to install
a driver for most printers.
And even if your printer
needs a driver, you can
install it normally on your
Mac and Virtual PC will tap
into it from the Windows
environment. Version 7 is
more about improving old
VPC features than adding
new ones. in preferences,
for example, you can set up
the PC much more precisely than before,
taking control over everything from those
annoying Windows OS alerts (yes, we
know our PC may be infected—stop being
redundant) to CPU usage, and a mainline
button to launch the PC Settings dialog
from VPC’s Preferences. That may seem
like a no-brainer, but it’s easy to forget
about the PC Settings, and you can use
them to eek some of the clunkiness out of
your faux Windows system.
The bottom line. Even these days when
you can score a real peecee for barely more
than VPC’s price, we'd pick Virtual PC over
the real Intel deal. But if we didn’t know
Doom 3 was coming to the Mac, it’d bea
tougher decision.—-Niko Coucouvanis
Jumping through these minor hoops will make your VPC experience less clunky and Windows-like.
> Get the VPC 7.0.1 update (free, www
-mactopia.com)
> Goto www.windowsupdate.com, and
install Service Pack 2 and all available
patches.
> Disable any third-party firewall software,
REQUIREMENTS: 700MHz G3
(no upgrades), Mac 0 10.2.8 or later
(10.3 required with 65), 512MB RAM,
GB disk space
GOOD NEWS: Bra
Faster than previous
dle games
and use Mac 0S X's built-in firewall instead.
> Open VPC Preferences and jack up the RAM
and VRAM settings as high as you can.
> In the Windows Control Panel, open the
System settings, click the Advanced tab,
and go nuts with the Performance settings.
p MacAddict RATED
RAM. iS} iS} e e e)
GREAT
February 2005 MacAddict 37
Vv
}
Painter IX
ULTRAREALISTIC PAINT PROGRAM
nthe surface, Corel’s Painter IX
looks like Painter 8 (not known
as Painter VIII}. But under the hood,
Painter's revamped engine provides a
screaming speed hoost. Painter IX also
has nifty new features and tweaks that
move its natural media tools, papers,
and pigments even closer to a real-life
paint experience.
As soon as you launch it, Painter
presents you with a change—a welcome
screen (you can set itto not appear, if
you prefer). From this screen, you can
choose what files to open, create a new
canvas, look at other artists’ work,
register for free Painter training, and
tweak settings before you start your
new painting—we like being able to
adjust the brush stroke palette manually
to reflect our mood or the amount of
caffeine we've ingested.
When you open a work in progress,
all of the tools you used—from colors
to brushes to paper textures—are right
where you left’em. If that’s not cool
enough for you, let’s talk about speed.
mney Esgare in previous versions,
4 era Painter couldn't keep
up with brush strokes
in large images, a
|
Palnar 8.0 rah
COMPANY: Corel
CONTACT; 800-772-6735,
‘www.corel com
PRICE: $425 (boxed) or $393 (download)
38 MacAddict February 2005
REQUIREMENTS: 500MHz G3 or faster,
Mac OS 10.2.8 or later, 128MB RAM,
24-bit color display, 1,024 by 768 screen
resolution or better, 395MB diskspace
drawback for working with liquid ink
or watercolor—it forced you to paint in
slooow motion. But in Painter IX, all
the brushes gain some serious speed,
and you get real-time results. Ona
Dual 1.25GHz G4, we saw at least triple
speed gains when we used the default
oil brushes in a 2,700-by-3,600-pixel
image. Corel says some of its brushes
offer more than a tenfold speed
improvement. Whether it’s three times
or ten times faster, it's awesome.
But wait—it gets better. Painter
has a Boost Slider (available via the
Brush Controls) that gives you the
ability to turn up the render time. In
instances where a brush seems slow,
Painter’s mixing palette is so realistic you
want to wash your stylus afterward.
pect The new Painter looks
E like the old, but it has
more horsepower and new
features that make it feel like
you're really painting.
you can tweak the Boost
Slider to make it faster. Corel
says this mode uses fewer
random strokes to get the
performance boost, but we
barely saw any degradation
after mashing a bunch of
strokes and colors together.
Way cool.
More to like. Another
favorite addition is the new
and amazing set of Artists’
Oils. Not only can you grab
paint right off the mixing
palette and apply it to the canvas just
like real oil paint, but also you can seta
brush to get dirty after so many strokes,
to carry more than one color on its hairs,
and to run out of pigment gradually. The
media interaction was so realistic that
we found ourselves checking our Wacom
Intuos3 stylus (@@@@v, Jan/05, p44)
to make sure it wasn’t leaking paint.
Other new and welcome additions
include KPT Effects; one-step cloning;
customizable shortcut keystrokes;
multiuser support, with custom settings
and palette layouts for different users on
the same Mac; various color sets, artist
colors; and the really nifty ability to
stroke paths with a brush, which gives
a more natural or painterly feel to
avector file. There’s also an iterative
save feature, which automatically
attaches a version number, such as
pic.tif_001, pic.tif_002.
The bottom line. In creating this
update, Corel has plainly seen the
wisdom of interacting with its core
users. And by offering training programs
online, as well as tutorials in the
manual, the company is also looking to
convert those who may find Painter's
depth of options intimidating. Painter
IXis a worthy addition to your artist
toolbox—and if you already have
Painter 8, upgrade now. Right now.
—Steven Parke
AWESOME
Grid2’s interface gives you immediate access to 128 movies. Click to play—it's that simple.
he digitalization of video made ita
new performance medium. These
days people are using it, like music,
to set the mood of presentations and
performances. Video jockeys—Vjs—are
even mixing videos during concerts and
parties. The VJ’s main tool is a video
management and playback system—one
such system is Vidvox’s Grid2, a simple,
clean, and effective app that eschews
useless bells and whistles.
Grid2’s streamlined interface consists
ofa main screen of 128 slots for
QuickTime or Flash videos, arranged as.
a 12-by-12-cell grid with a “now playing”
window in the lower-right corner. Grid2
automatically loads the first seconds of
each video into RAM to provide quick
response when you trigger a video. You
can also load entire videos into memory,
— though Grid2 is good
"| pee at juggling videos and
memory resources.
Gri? 2.0 demo
Attacha MIDI
COMPANY: Vidvox
CONTACT: 800-856-1502,
wwwvidvox.net QuickTime 6.5
PRICE: $75
REQUIREMENTS: G4 or faster,
Mac OS 10.2.8 or later, 256MB RAM,
controller te your Mac, and the fun really
begins—you can use a music keyboard fo
trigger the videos, Grid2 can also act as
a basic media sequencer, playing videos
automatically in sequential or random
order. Use the moduiation and pitch
wheels of a MIDI keyboard to jog a movie
back and forth, or use a programmable
cross-fade effect to switch smoothly
(IN-LINE PREVIEW
MAINOUTPGT
Grid2 offers excellent support for OpenGL
acceleration and display control.
between movies.
Grid2’s response is snappy—essential
for live performances. It has options for
looping videos, controlling where video
playback begins and ends between
movies, and minimizing audio clicks and
Pops as you switch from one movie to the
next. Grid2 also supports DV-resolution
video streams, as well as the enhanced
video-playback performance offered
by OpenGL acceleration in selected
video cards. And you can save and load
sets of videos for quick configuration
when performing—another example of
thoughtful interface design.
Controls. To ensure that video
switching synchronizes properly with the
beat, Grid2 has controls for fine-tuning
playback and transition timing. Grid2’s
excellent jog and reverse playback
options allow extensive manipulation of
video and associated audio—and they
work even better if you use a Contour
ShuttlePro USB jog wheel (see Reviews,
May/01, p61).
Grid2’s support of turntable MIDI
controllers such as EJ’s MIDI Turntable
($999, www.ejenterprises.tv) or Ms.
Pinky Vinyl ($99 fora set of four vinyl
records plus software—you supply the
turntable; www.mspinky.com) allows
you to “scratch” video, opening up old-
school Dj techniques to the world of video
manipulation. it gets even weirder if you
happen to own esoteric MIDI controllers
such as Big Briar’s Ethervox MIDI
Theremin (you wave your hands in the
air to play the Theremin and your videos),
or tie Grid2 into a MIDI sequencer to
deliver video effects synchronized to
music from the sequencer.
Our only gripe with Grid2 is that it
doesn’t directly support importing MP3
audio files to use as mix elements,
something we consider useful for
musical performance work.
The bottom line. Grid2 isn’t for
everyone, but ifyou need extreme
control and tight integration with a
MIDI rig, grab it.—David Biedny
February 2005 MacAddict 39
Mirage 41. 2
QUIRKY ANIMATION SOFTWARE
t first glance, Mirage looks like
yet another video-compositing
application in that it takes individual
visual elements and combines them into
a final moving image. That capability,
however, is already well covered by such
apps as Adobe’s After Effects (@@eee
Sep/04, p46), Discreet’s Combustion
(@@@©® Sep/04, p47) and Apple’s
Motion (@@ ©@v Nov/04, p36).
Dig a littie deeper in Mirage, however,
and you find a full set of painting tools—
in fact, those tools are among its
strongest features.
Mirage comes with typical paint tools
(pens, pencils, and airbrushes) as well as
unique ones that you can make the most
of using a graphics tablet. The OilBrush
tool, for example, creates strokes with
the look of oil paint on canvas, the
WetBrush tool simulates a wet watercolor
paintbrush, and the WarpBrush and
SpecialBrush tools warp and smear
(respectively) your images for interesting
effects. Mirage’s Color Picker features
a Mixer, where you can smear together
different colors to create new ones.
The animation situation. Mirage
does animation frame by frame. Before
COMPANY: Bauhaus Software
CONTACT: 210-212-7530,
‘www.bauhaussoftware.com
PRICE: $695
40 MacAddict February 2005
REQUIREMENTS: G3 orfaster, Mac 0S 10.3.
orlater, 128MB RAM, 2GB disk space
Flash-heads and vector-is-where-it’s-at
weenies whine about animating without
automated tweening (generating images
between two keyframes), remember that
certain animations require that you use
the frame-by-frame method of animating.
Mirage also has compositing capabilities;
you can mixand match your
Mirage’s Light Table lets you see 10 frames
behind and 20 frames ahead of your
animation, with control over color,
opacity and visibility of each frame.
effect, and it runs counter to Bauhaus’s
claim that Mirage works in real time.
Apple’s Motion requires mounds of
processing power, but at least it’s true
real-time processing.
Curiously, Mirage runs ina single
window—even the Mirage menubar
resides inside the window while the
actual Mac OS x menubaris functionless.
Also, when you have two displays and try
to drag any of Mirage’s control panels to
the second display, it won’t go. You can’t
drag anything beyond Mirage’s single
window, which is frustrating because
Mirage’s many panels can take up a lot
of space.
Other cool features. A built-in sprite-
based particle generator allows you to
create your own particles from 2D images,
and the built-in Volumetric Light effect
generates streaks of light—an effect
that’s available as a third-party plug-in for
other apps. The AutoPaint feature allows
you to record a motion path live (such as
a handwritten title sequence) and save
that path for other effects (think sparkly
handwritten title sequence).
frame-by-frame animations with
video and still images. Roger
Rabbit on your Mac? You bet.
Mirage’s Light Table function
can display up to 10 images before
and after your current frame,
helping you maintain moticn and
shape consistency. You can also
use the Light Table to adjust an
individual frame’s opacity.
Quirks. Mirage’s compositing
features differ from conventional
compositors. For example, in
After Effects you can add, remove,
or tweak an effect at any time in
multiple layers without making:
any commitments. In Mirage, you must
commit to the effect on a layer before
moving on to work with another layer.
This is a tedious process because you
have to wait for Mirage to apply the
Mirage’s FX stack has welcome built.
as Volumetric Light, which adds Movie-of-the-Week
lighting to your images.
effects such
The bottom line. |s Mirage good
enough to replace After Effects,
Combustion, or Motion? Nah, but it’s a
great addition to your video-production
arsenal—Andrew Tokuda
MacAddict RATED
©eee0
GREAT
i
Solar SeV Finetex Shell
SPIFFY GADGET-CHARGING JACKET
‘here’s nothing sadder than a gadget
guru without power—not vim and
vigor; we're talking about electricity. If
you want to go anywhere without having
to worry about power outlets to charge
your cell phone, MP3 player, or PDA, the
Solar SeV Finetex Shell turns you into a
walking power plant. The jacket has a
set of panels on its back that captures
solar energy to charge a pocket-size
battery. From behind, you look like one
of the Starship Troopers gone astray—it’s
definitely a conversation-starter. Not
feeling chatty? Remove the panels, and
the SeV turns into a plain ol’ jacket.
Actually, the jacket’s not so plain.
It's made of a breathable nylon called
COMPANY: ScotteVest
CONTACT: 866-909-8378,
‘www.scottevest.com
PRICE: $474.99
REQUIREMENTS: Sunlight
Solar panels—the reason
why you're wearing a jacket
in 70-degree sunshine.
Finetex and has a DuPont
Coolmax lining—you'll
stay cool while you run
from security for stealing
WiFi bandwidth. The
jacket feels durable, not
flimsy; it protects you
from wind and provides
warmth without buik
(in case you live in
Antarctica, a Solar SeV
with a fleece lining is
available for $624.98).
Magnets hold the zipper
flap in place so you don’t
feei a draft, and the
sieeves are removabie.
The Solar SeV has
pockets galore—30, to be
exact. There are pockets
for your hands, wallet,
pens, MP3 player, PDA,
MacAddict magazine,
thumb drives, light saber,
hamster, and more.
There’s even an attached
lanyard for your keys, a
buckle for who knows
what, and a water-bottle
holder. Oh, and don’t forget the included
Koss earbuds,
Power broker. The
solar panels charge a
battery that’s just a bit
thicker than an iPod. A
cable threads through the
jacket and attaches to
the battery, which has an
indicator light to tell you
when it’s charging. The
battery has a single USB
connector—it only powers
With 30 pockets, you may
need a map to figure out
where you put your wallet.
gadgets that can charge through a USB
connection (sorry, iPod—oh, and you
too, trusty digital camera). If you do
have a chargeable gadget, go buya
USB charging cable, because the Solar
SeV doesn’t come with one (you can
purchase a retractable universal phone-
charger cable from ScotteVest
for $19.99).
ScotteVest says the battery takes
two to three hours to charge in direct
sunlight. Since we didn’t plan on staying
in the sun for that long, we detached
the panels from the jacket, placed them
in the sun, and scampered back to our
Macs. Three hours later, we came back
to a charged battery, plugged in our
cell phone, and saw the phone’s charge
symbol (fully charging a device from
the battery can take three to five hours).
With the panels attached to the jacket,
we didn’t feel any excess heat, and
most of the time we forgot the panels
were there.
The only way to recharge the Solar SeV
battery is by exposing the solar panels
to sunlight. In areas where
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