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A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. NAB Special. A special edition of the Maccast where I sit down with two Mac Pro and discuss their impressions and reactions to NAB 2007. First I talk with Craig Syverson, from Gruntmedia and we the new updates to Apple’s FinalCut Studio 2 product. We also chat about Apple’s market strategy for Pro video along with some of Craig’s impressions of some other great products announced at NAB. Then I sit down and have a conversation with the Maccast’s own Pro adds guru, James Alguire (Inkdrop Media). James writes the “Stuff, Guts, and Video” articles here on Maccast.com and I ask him what new FinalCut features make it worth the upgrade cost. James and I discuss Adobe’s return to video editing on the Mac and both Adobe’s and Microsoft’s new web video and multimedia applications. In addition, I also get James take on some of the products and highlights from this years NAB show.

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If you have any interest in Craps then this is your a neat app at a price that won’t make you flinch. “My Craps Game” is great for the beginner and the advanced player. For those that don’t know their way around the table, the game helps you out by giving definition to different types of bets. For those who have played it endlessly, you will feel right at home.

Let me say that there is nothing fancy graphics wise about the game, but it makes up for it in the game play. The version that I reviewed was a drag and drop situation while I wished for a right click on the Mighty Mouse to speed up the betting process.

The game is great when it comes to stats, there is a history pane in the right side showing the history of the rolls that have been made. Also is a running count of how much cash you have, how much are you up, or are in the hole. One stat I wasn’t expecting but what is neat is the Points Made(In Craps the Point is the number you want to roll in order to win), and the Sevens Out(If you roll a seven after the Point is made you lose). This gives you an idea on the tide of the game.

You can pick this via download for $15 USD, $29 for a CD. And for those on Windows, because we can, they also offer a Windows version. If you buy the CD you get both versions, so that may be a route you may want to take.

For the money this is a lot of fun, and it’s not too heavy on the gaming budget. With a rating of one to ten it get’s a solid seven, no pun intended. Great game play, though nothing flashy. But still a great item to pick up.

All I can say is WOW! I really thought that no one really used the enhanced features of the Maccast. Boy was I wrong. Within about 2 hours of posting the last show I had over 100 emails in support of keeping chapters. Thanks to all who sent comments about how they love, use, and depend on the enhanced Maccast. Needless to say the eMaccast is hear to stay. You can stop emailing now.

It does leave me wondering one thing though… with this kind of an endorsement, why don’t more podcasters do enhanced podcasts?

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A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 185. Apple Q2 financial results. Stock options questions still linger. Apple battery fixes, woes and replacements. Oh my. Apple’s European plans revealed obs talks about a “greener” Apple. Apple drops Pro-Care training and goes one-to-one. Denmark Lab verifies denied iBook flaw. Feedback on buying your software, go open source. Backups and restoring. Tip on using OS X Smart Folders. Upgrading your notebook hard drive. Tip, using 2 iTunes Libraries, 1 Mac, and an AppleTV. Firewalls and opening ports, what are the risks? Docking a notebook

New music, Santa Barbara by Andrew Osenga [ iTunes ]

Promo for the Suite Pineapple Hotel Podcast

Thanks to our show sponsors
The GadgetLocker and Audible.com (Audible Offer)

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A few months back I started assiting the fine developers over at SpinTriplet in doing bug and beta testing of their revamped and sorely needed Air Traffic Control dashboard widget for Mac OS X 10.4.

I donated to the cause (the widget is donationware), and poked and prodded them to continue development despite facing a major setback: Apple had released their Extreme ‘N’ Enabler, and blown a hole through the development of a widget that was initially just trying to grapple with the new Intel Macs, let alone a new unratified wireless protocol.

As it turned out, I was of considerable help, having an Intel Core Duo iMac, a Core Duo MacBook, and a Core2Duo MacBook, coupled with both a b/g Airport Extreme and a new Airport Extreme N wireless router. Installing the then newborn beta widget on all three computers, I set to testing and reporting console logs and screenshots for the developers.

Of course, I had a vested interest in all of this: There was no other widget nor application that could accurately display the Core2Duo’s wireless signal strength and scan for networks at the same time.

There are several applications which have since been updated to better work with the new Core2Duo Macs, but I wasn’t interested in an application- I wanted a widget that I could pop open when I’m roaming and traveling to scan for open networks and find the strongest connection areas.

Air Traffic Control has been around for awhile, sporting a few different looks, but its latest incarnation is extremely slick, and still functions as well as it looks even for a beta. Currently at 2.0.1 beta400, Air Traffic Control runs flawlessly on the three Macs I have here at home.

Though updated to work on all new Intel macs, the beta is Universal and works fine for older Macs as well. It’s feature set includes the ability to:

• Scan for closed networks
• Scan in ‘active’ mode, scanning more frequently to find networks
• Prevent unauthorized users from changing your network settings
• Connect to any type of network (a,b,g,n – if your airport card supports them)
• Check for AirTrafficControl updates automatically
• Use the Keychain to store, retrieve and update WPA or WEP passwords
• View current connection details including network speed
• Sorts networks by signal strength

There simply isn’t a better Airport widget available which includes both the functionality and the style of Air Traffic Control. It’s one of the handful of widgets that I consider essential for a mobile Mac user, and one in which I had no issue paying for.

Now you can “knock out the fat” and pump out some killer tracks at the same time. In the “now I HAVE seen it all” category we have the George Foreman iGrill. For USD$149.00 you get an indoor/outdoor electric grill with a built-in 10 watt amplifier and speakers. The site doesn’t provide many details, but it looks like it will support any MP3 player, so I assume it is using the 1/8″ mini jack to connect to the grill, and not the iPod’s 30-pin dock connector. From the images it looks like there is a holder near the base of the grill where you would set your iPod. I am guessing the speakers are also mounted near the base of the grill. Now, in checking Apple’s iPod tech specs the rated operating temperature is 32° to 95° F (0° to 35° C), so it’s a good thing the iPod is kept far away from the grill, but I imagine that doesn’t make for convenient operation. I would also worry about hot grease splattering and raining down on my precious Pod. Definitely not for most, but if you would like to hickory smoke some ribs and listen to the Maccast I’m not going to stop you.

Finally, some good news to counter the unfortunate news on the Leopard-front, albeit on the 10.5 Server side of things. I guess beggars can’t be choosers, right?

If you’ve been keeping up with all the new (non-surprise) features of Leopard, you probably have heard about the new iCal Server. It’s an open-source, open-standards server that promises to help users publish, schedule, share, collaborate on events, instead of simply posting and subscribing to events through the iCal client today.

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Earlier this week there were reports of a new iPod game, “iQuiz” surfacing on the French iTunes store and then quickly disappearing. Well I was just on the iTunes US store (12:51 AM PDT 4/24/07) and saw the game featured on the main page and for ONLY $0.99? I of course clicked through immediately and the resulting page showed the standard price of $4.99. Unfortunately when I tried to buy a copy it reported that the item was no longer available. Bummer. Not sure if this means they are launching it today and just getting it set up or if it is another fluke. Just in case I grabbed a screen shot (below) and a screen capture of the preview video. Basically this looks like an updated version of the iPods previously built-in “name that tune” style game with a much improved interface and graphics. It also claims to have the ability to create and share your own quizzes, so that should prove fun.

Update: Well… Looks like it is official and it’s only $0.99! Great price, but no scoop here. Darn. Looks like I just caught them setting things up in the wee hours of the morning.

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A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 184. Security Update 2007-004. iTunes contact negotiations will get pushy. Apple TV expanding “big box” presence. MacBook Pro successfully hacked in security contest. Please sign the Save Net Radio.org petition. BBC iPlayer will be coming to the Mac. Clearing up the 720×304 video on iPod confusion. Feedback on OS X Active Directory support. Buy your software, please.. Review of El Gato eyeTV Hybrid. Combo Updater can offer a magic fix. Tip for creating quick playlists from a selection in iTunes. Thoughts on Apple allowing re-downloading of purchased content from iTunes. Concerns over bulging MacBook Pro batteries. Apple sees significant market growth in a year.

Teach Mac double rewards offer

New music, The World Is Over by The New Addiction

Yeah, and we’re not going to fall for a banana in the tailpipe. — Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

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by James Alguire

I’m reporting this week from the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas (www.nabshow.com), where cool things are happening in the world of video editing and podcasting. NAB hosted it’s second Podcasting Summit, further establishing podcasting as a legitimate and viable content delivery method. Sessions held Saturday and Sunday covered podcasting essentials, encoding tools and techniques, demystifying RSS, distribution strategies and metrics, marketing your podcast, and the legal issues of podcasting. Serious podcasters should consider attending this event next year.

On Sunday, April 15th, at the Venetian Ballroom, at the Venetian Hotel, Apple hosted a special event, basically a keynote presentation followed by a finger food reception. During the keynote given by Rob Schoeben, Apple’s vice president of Applications Product Marketing, Apple announced a brand new product, Final Cut Server and an updated version of Final Cut Pro Studio (FCPS 2). By now there are many web sites commenting on the new products and features, so I’ll just summarize here and provide links to the appropriate pages at Apple’s Web site.

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