This is a great
short video about the history of Comic Sans and
is told by the font's designer. It's really quite
funny and he has a great sense of humor about it
all.
Apple's
ProRes Codec is a great tool for
professional video editors. Apple has
released a version that let's PC users and
editors read the files created on a Mac.
This is great for video and mograf folks.
It's a free download. I made a new tiny URL
for my Windows friends..http://tinyurl.com/prorespc
I was
interviewed for this documentary. I'm
looking forward to seeing it.http://www.galloway.tv/reppt/ "Release
Date: March 15, 2010 on Netflix, iTunes, Amazon,
& Comcast VOD
Distribution: Method Content LLC
Director’s Comment: I’ve done nearly
200 speeches in the last 3 years, and in every
one, clients insisted I include a PowerPoint
presentation. My film “Why Walmart
Works” was about the scale and influence of
Walmart, and I became fascinated with the scale
of PowerPoint, which has an estimated 400 million
users worldwide.
The documentary “Regarding
Powerpoint” traces the origin of the
program and its subsequent development.
We’ll look at who uses the program for what
purposes. The film will also address
PowerPoint’s effect of cognitive
development and syntax structure, i.e., is
society beginning to think in outlines and bullet
points, as opposed to to paragraphs? Does anybody
give a speech without slides anymore? Will
audiences listen to one?
Much as Walmart dominates physical distribution
of goods, PowerPoint has come to dominate
business expression and presentation.
“Regarding Powerpoint” will attempt
to put the program’s influence on business,
education, and thinking into meaningful
context."
In the truth is
stranger than fiction category. I give your the
Cats of Microsoft.
The URL only works on
campus (it's an Intranet link).
Seems to be for a good cause... but I findly it
very odd nonetheless.
Hey
PowerPoint lovers (and haters). My book, How
to Wow with PowerPoint is 35% off and free
shipping in the U.S. Simply go tohttp://bit.ly/c8RLdand enter
HTWPOWER at checkout. The book focusseson all of the
coolest features and the essential skills you
need to make great-looking presentations.
Here’s a preview of a useful tip on how to
insert a Flash file or YouTube video into a
PowerPoint slide.
Put Flash in a Presentation
Inserting Flash
animations into a slideshow can significantly
extend the animation abilities of PowerPoint.
However, the task is NOT easy. In order to unlock
this feature, you literally need to unlock the
software. This feature is tricky, and if you are
of the faint of heart.
1. Enable Flash Technology
There are several
preferences you must modify to enable Flash
files. You may need to adjust your security
settings to allow ActiveX to run (this is the
portal for Flash). To activate ActiveX, it is
best to view the PowerPoint help file, enter the
text “Enable ActiveX.”
Next, make sure that the Shockwave Flash plug-in
has been loaded on your system. For maximum
compatibility you should download the latest
version from www.adobe.com. You should also
install the latest version of Flash Player on
your system.
2. Enable the Developer’s
tab
The Developer’s tab contains several
advanced elements that let you customize a
presentation. Most of these are for developers,
that is those individuals who are actually using
PowerPoint as a programming environment to create
interactive programs.
To enable these tools, click the Microsoft Office
Button, and then click PowerPoint Options button.
Next, click Popular, and then under Top options
for working with PowerPoint, select the Show
Developer tab in the Ribbon check box B. To apply
the change, click OK.
3.
Add the Flash Control
On
the Developer tab, go to the Controls group, and
click More Controls. In the new dialog box,
select Shockwave Flash Object from the list of
controls B and click OK. Draw on the slide to
insert the control. Drag from the top corner to
the bottom corner (covering the entire slide). A
white box with an X should now cover the entire
slide.
4.
Locate the Movie
Unfortunately, the
Flash control does not have a browse function to
locate the movie. You have to know the actual
file path (this is a long string of text such as
C:\Documents and Settings\RHED
Pixel\Desktop\Chapter
4\Sources\Video\Flash_Title.swf). Be sure to
figure out the location of your file.
5.
Modify the Control Container
Now that you know the
location of the file, right-click the Shockwave
Flash Object on the slide and choose Properties
A. On the Alphabetic tab, click the Movie
property (this specified the file). In the value
column (the blank cell next to Movie), type or
paste the full drive path B, including the file
name or URL to the Flash file that you want to
play.
You can also set options such as looping by
modifying settings in the Properties dialog box.
6. Test it Out
Lets see if it works?
Press Shift+F5 to Preview the current slide. Did
it work? Flash animations are a quickly evolving
feature inside of PowerPoint, so keep an eye on
the built-in help menu to see if future updates
streamline embedding a Flash file. If the above
steps seem too in-depth, then be sure to check
out PFCMedia, which makes this process a few
clicks.
7.
Want YouTube?
If you’re
clever, you can get a YouTube video to work in
PowerPoint. It’s not easy (but its pretty
cool!) The trick is to harness the power of Flash
(see Put Flash in a Presentation). The only
difference is you’ll insert a web URL for
the movie you want. For example if you found a
movie like this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RysNrUP5MqAyou
would view it on the page. What you need to do
is modify the web link. Instead, usehttp://www.youtube.com/v/RysNrUP5MqAto
create a direct link to just the media file
and none of the web page navigation. When you
launch your presentation, click once to start
the clip. If you click the screen again it
takes you to the YouTube website. Instead,
click the space bar to advance the slide.
Hey
PowerPoint lovers (and haters). My book, How
to Wow with PowerPoint is 35% off and free
shipping in the U.S. Simply go tohttp://bit.ly/c8RLd
and enter HTWPOWER at checkout.
Here are a few samples to check out.
So last night, I attended a sneak peak preview
session on PowerPoint 2010. I wanted
to see what all the fuss was about and what
new features are going to be useful to my
clients. I also won a "sweet" door prize.
I am open to ideas on how to use this shirt.
Here's a sneak peek on some of the new transition
animations. Looks like video support is finally
getting its due as well.
What
would happen if you locked Bill Gates and Steve
Jobs in the same apartment (like Big Brother)?
Well you get the risque comic strip
–The Silicon
Apartment(PG-13). The strip
is really quite good and skewers both sides.
Thanks to
Scott Kelby for releasing his very cool
guide to gift shopping (for geeks and
photographers at least).
“It’s
here: the long awaited, unabated, triangulated,
amalgamated, 2nd annual edition ofScott’sGonzo Holiday Gear
Guide!
This year’s expanded in-depth guide
includes nothing but the coolest, personally
hand-picked gear for the photography and
Photoshop freak on your holiday list.”
I
just got back from the PowerPoint Live Conference
in New Orleans. The show was a lot of fun and I
got to meet some great folks who are trying to
make PowerPoint more useful. Here are the
materials from my sessions.
• Video in
PowerPoint |PDF|PPT • Putting Your
Presentation on DVD |PDF|PPT • Broadcast
Graphics with PowerPoint |PDF|PPT
Sci-Fi
Network has a very cool series that "re-imagines"
the Land of Oz. The show is calledTin Man, and while
the show looks fantastic, it is an amazing
promo site that deserves mention. They have
created a really unique sub-site calledThe Infinite Ozwhich offers
a virtual reality experience. What I like is
how immersive and creative the website is. It
also features the work of several up and
coming 3D artists.Go take a look...really!
If
you came to either of my classes atPodcast and New Media
Expo. I just wanted to
offer you the handouts and resources. Heck..
even if you missed the show you might like
these.
CLASS ONE – Field Production Strategies for
Video Podcasting
The rules of the studio don't apply the same in
the field. In this session you will learn how to
properly capture your video content outside of a
controlled environment and unpredictable lighting
and background noise. You also learn how to
achieve the best results when encoding files for
various output devices. See how the experts
retain overall quality with an overview of the
latest methods and technologies. This session
will also share best practices for multi-camera
productions.
If you are a
Windows user who likes to fix up their
photos and video... then you should check
out thenew releases from
Adobe. There are very
solid releases with a lot of cool features. I
created a few free tutorials on Premiere
Elements (I love the YouTube publishing
feature). You can check them outhereand also learn more
about Photoshop Elements.
If you'll be at
the Podcast and New Media Expo show this
weekend, consider checking out these free
classes on the show floor. Podango is
offering an“Unconference,”a
featured program of the Podcast and New Media
Expo (PNME) taking place September 28-30, at
the Ontario Convention Center.
Podango, the online video and audio network that
enables publishers and advertisers to “get
heard” by today’s hard-to-reach,
niche audiences, is heralding a wide range of
topics and speakers. They include: new media
pioneer Scott Bourne, host of The Apple Phone
Show; Paige Heninger and Gretchen Vogelzang,
hosts of MommyCast; as well as Jason Van Orden,
David Lawrence and others. Speakers will share
ideas for building and monetizing audiences in
today’s niche-oriented, interest-driven new
media marketplace.Read
More...
If you'll be at
the Podcast and New Media Expo show this
weekend, consider checking out these free
classes on the show floor. Podango is
offering an“Unconference,”a
featured program of the Podcast and New Media
Expo (PNME) taking place September 28-30, at
the Ontario Convention Center.
Podango, the online video and audio network that
enables publishers and advertisers to “get
heard” by today’s hard-to-reach,
niche audiences, is heralding a wide range of
topics and speakers. They include: new media
pioneer Scott Bourne, host of The Apple Phone
Show; Paige Heninger and Gretchen Vogelzang,
hosts of MommyCast; as well as Jason Van Orden,
David Lawrence and others. Speakers will share
ideas for building and monetizing audiences in
today’s niche-oriented, interest-driven new
media marketplace.Read
More...
If you'll be at
the Podcast and New Media Expo show this
weekend, consider checking out these free
classes on the show floor. Podango is
offering an“Unconference,”a
featured program of the Podcast and New Media
Expo (PNME) taking place September 28-30, at
the Ontario Convention Center.
Podango, the online video and audio network that
enables publishers and advertisers to “get
heard” by today’s hard-to-reach,
niche audiences, is heralding a wide range of
topics and speakers. They include: new media
pioneer Scott Bourne, host of The Apple Phone
Show; Paige Heninger and Gretchen Vogelzang,
hosts of MommyCast; as well as Jason Van Orden,
David Lawrence and others. Speakers will share
ideas for building and monetizing audiences in
today’s niche-oriented, interest-driven new
media marketplace.Read
More...
If you'll be at
the Podcast and New Media Expo show this
weekend, consider checking out these free
classes on the show floor. Podango is
offering an“Unconference,”a
featured program of the Podcast and New Media
Expo (PNME) taking place September 28-30, at
the Ontario Convention Center.
Podango, the online video and audio network that
enables publishers and advertisers to “get
heard” by today’s hard-to-reach,
niche audiences, is heralding a wide range of
topics and speakers. They include: new media
pioneer Scott Bourne, host of The Apple Phone
Show; Paige Heninger and Gretchen Vogelzang,
hosts of MommyCast; as well as Jason Van Orden,
David Lawrence and others. Speakers will share
ideas for building and monetizing audiences in
today’s niche-oriented, interest-driven new
media marketplace.Read
More...
My company
recently produced a new podcast series called
OnMicrosoft (and yes, its about Microsoft).
Here's the official blurb.
OnMicrosoft—Each
week, we will talk to some of the IT Pro and
Developer community's leading experts about a
wide range of programming, systems, and software
issues. Our interviews include talks with
Microsoft’s Program Manager on the .NET
Framework- Brad Abrams, Connected Systems
Division Architect at Microsoft- Chris Anderson,
Wintellect Co-Founder- Jeff Prosise, and Group
Product Manager at Microsoft- Brian Goldfarb.
With discussions on topics including ASP.NET
AJAX, Silverlight, PowerShell WPF, Orcas and
SharePoint, we have something for professionals
working in every part of the industry.
You can check it out in iTunes by clicking here
–Video FeedorAudio
Feed.
If you'll be at
the Podcast and New Media Expo show this
weekend, consider checking out these free
classes on the show floor. Podango is
offering an“Unconference,”a
featured program of the Podcast and New Media
Expo (PNME) taking place September 28-30, at
the Ontario Convention Center.
Podango, the online video and audio network that
enables publishers and advertisers to “get
heard” by today’s hard-to-reach,
niche audiences, is heralding a wide range of
topics and speakers. They include: new media
pioneer Scott Bourne, host of The Apple Phone
Show; Paige Heninger and Gretchen Vogelzang,
hosts of MommyCast; as well as Jason Van Orden,
David Lawrence and others. Speakers will share
ideas for building and monetizing audiences in
today’s niche-oriented, interest-driven new
media marketplace.Read
More...
Continuing
my mixtape habit.... I invite you to listen
to an iMix (a collection of songs arranged
around a topic). Just click thislinkto visit the
iTunes music store and you can here a little
part of the soundtrack of my life.
Radio & TVfeatures some
songs for those who work in the
film/video/broadcast industry. A little
satire, a few good beats, and some nice
instrumentals. Seems that all my iMixes run
with a theme... but I guess all good mix tapes
do.
Looking to
expand your typographical toolbox? Then be
sure to visit Dinc Type at the unique
URLwww.GirlsWhoWearGlasses.com.The
site is sassy and filled with great fonts. The
unique thing is that while fonts are free, the
selection frequently changes and fonts appear
then disappear. Its like an incredible import
shop where everything’s free, but the
inventory keeps changing. Bookmark and keep
checking back as their fonts are absolutely
fantastic.
It was a proud day
at RHED Pixel (my office). One of our new
podcasts made the front page of iTunes.On Softwarefocusses on how
software is developed, and features interviews
with the creative folks who design and program
the tools we all love.
(It's not every day that you're grouped with a
presidential candidate, CNN, and PBS)
OnSoftware—Each
week, we will talk to some of the software
industry's leading developers about a wide
range of programming and development issues.
Our interviews include talks with Java
Puzzlers author Josh Bloch, C++ Inventor
author Bjarne Stroustrup, and Java
Concurrency in Practice author Brian Goetz
to name just three. With discussions on
topics ranging from the future of C++ and
Concurrency and value driven software
development to Design Patterns, Agile
Estimating and Planning, Iterative
Development, Generics, and language
compatibility, we have something for
technical professionals working in every
part of the industry.
Is it technical... yup. But I still think you'll
find itinteresting.
I've
gotten a few letters lately asking about new
books... there are three updates and a new one in
development (more later).
But I did write a new book and thoroughly revise
another.
For your reading enjoyment and personal
education.
Photoshop
for Video 3rd Edition (previously titled
Photoshop for Nonlinear Editors)
• Major updates with tons of new content
and more than 75 new pages of material
• Over 2.5 hours of training videos
• Expanded coverage of DVD and Motion
Graphics
• In-depth look at HD graphics and workflow
• Full coverage of Photoshop CS3
Download the free
chapterhere.
You can order the bookhere.
Here's
a freechapterfrom my new book
How to Wow with PowerPoint. This is the intro
to the book and focusses on best practices for
designing graphics for the screen (so even if
you aren't a PowerPoint fan, you'll find some
wholesome goodness on here). I hope you all
enjoy it, If you'd like to order the book
clickhere.
In
case you missed it... Apple released a public
beta ofSafari 3.0for
both Mac
AND WINDOWS!To be honest, I never
saw that one coming... With great new features,
its a worthy upgrade for both platforms. I've
seen an occasional hang-up, but the program is
faster and adds some great features.
Inline find– Search
within a web page by pressing Cmd+F (Ctrl+F)
Resizable Text Fields –More room when working
online
Improved Security –Shoo!
Pick up the tabs –Rearrange tabs with
drag and drop ease
PDFs Control – Zoom, Save, or Send to
a PDF app
I just had a need to pull
outTRANSTYPE
SE.
This useful utility comes in handy when
working on a design project and getting
client-provided materials? Oftentimes fonts
come over (which is great), except they are
for the wrong platform (which isn't so great).
Instead of rushing out to buy the font again,
you can usually convert it.
This shareware application converts Mac fonts to
PC fonts, or vice versa. Simple in concept, clean
in execution--this tool has been a lifesaver that
has kept many a motion graphics project on
track.
I'm always on the lookout
for a new laptop case. While at MacWorld I
came across a great bag for Macintosh
laptops. Behold theglovez casefrom case-mate.
On the inside its pretty standard, a
well-constructed neoprene case. On the outside
its very different. The case is wrapped in a
perforated nylon exterior that makes it easy
to grip and hard to drop. It also has two
velcro closures to help keep it under wraps.
The cases are sized to fit all models of Mac
laptops perfectly... in fact its a very snug fit
and offers peace of mind that the laptop is
well-protected. You can choose from four colors:
Mocha, Silver, Red, and Black. The cases are very
reasonablypriced– $24.95
to $29.95 which seems plenty reasonable. I've
been plenty happy with it and invite you
tocheck them
out.
I've just gotten
permission from my publisher to release
achapter for freefrom my
new book How to Wow with PowerPoint. This is
the intro to the book and focusses on best
practices for designing graphics for the
screen (so even if you aren't a PowerPoint
fan, you'll find some wholesome goodness on
here).
I hope you all enjoy it, you can download direct
or visit the resources page. If you'd like to
order the book (it ships in a few weeks)
clickhere.
So what was in my stocking
this morning? The perfect gift for someone
who is frequently stuck next to a computer
for long hours. AUSB beverage
cooler(no really.. I swear). Plug
it in to a USB port and it dips to 45 degrees
within seconds. Its perfect for chilling
several cans of Coke Zero (I'm on a writing
deadline you see).
The device works, doesn't seem to draw much
power, and it runs silently. I know you're
jealous, so if you're significant other didn't
get you one, than stop over towww.thinkgeek.comand pick one up.
The book
is
DONE!I have just finished a
new book onPowerPoint
2007. It’s
calledHow to Wow with
PowerPointand I am writing it
with my friendScott
Rekdal. I am quite proud
of it... It's full color, to-the-point, and
teaches you how to do all the important stuff
with PowerPoint 2007. It's great for all
levels of users, especially those who feel
their skills have leveled-off.
I'm trying to get a sample chapter up this week.
If you want to order it, put a pre-order
intoAmazonor directly at
Peachpit. This way you'll get it first (heck
we might even get the book out before
Microsoft gets the software out).
There are two great gift
guides for the holiday season (both
published by friends). If you need to find
something for the digital geek in your life
(or even just want something to give others
ideas) then check these two out.
First, you have Scott Kelby's“Gonzo Holiday Gadget
Guide.” This
free PDF features a ton of cool digital
photography and photoshop related goodies. All
the products have been tested by Scott
himself, which is cool as he certainly knows
his stuff. You can download it fromhttp://www.planetphotoshop.com.
The other guide is from Terry White (who is a
true road warrior who works for Adobe).The 2006 Holiday Gadget Gift
Guideis an interactive PDF links
to some of the coolest gizmos out there. Terry
covers everything from digital video to
frequent traveler to music lover. His choice
are really very good.
I’m still reading
this comic, but it is absolutely
amazing.Bound by Lawis absolutely
amazing, it analyzes the murky world of
copyright law in a clear way. It is an
excellent source on information for film and
video pros as well as other creative
professions. Published by theDuke University Center for the
Study of the Public
Domain, this comic covers the
essential information in the most creative and
entertaining way possible. It’s totally
free and should not be missed.
I will be walking this
weekend to raise money for the American
Diabetes Association. If you are able to,
would you consider making asmall donationto the cause?
Every dollar raised goes to help in the fight
against diabetes. Someone is diagnosed with
diabetes every 21 seconds, this is quickly
becoming the leading cause of death in
America. America's Walk for Diabetes is my
chance to give back (and yours as well). If
you find this blog helpful or entertaining,
please consider making a$5
donation. Thanks!
While at NAB New York, I
had the chance to catch up with some
industry pros. I just found at that the New
York Final Cut Pro User Group has evolved
into a broader focus. The group is now
calledThe Motion Pictures
Collective.
"The Moving Pictures
Collective fosters our professional filmmaking
community to enhance their abilities and broaden
their overall knowledge and skills to reach their
career goals. With post-production as our core
competency, we will share techniques, tools, and
best practices in all competencies including
editing, directing, writing, producing, and
shooting. We will also promote member
collaboration by sharing our work in a supportive
environment and create opportunities for our
members to
flourish.”
If you live near New York City, be sure to check
out one of theirgreat
events.
At NAB New York, I had a
chance to take a look at a newrotoscopingproduct that is
truly unique and fast! Imageneer Systems
showed offmotor, which looks to speed up
the tedious process of rotoscoping by 3 times.
The tools is designed for both video and film
work. It is a standalone product, but it can
export matted clips or mask data to other
programs. The product works using 2.5D planar
tracking technology where the user defines
basic objects or planes (like body parts). The
system then supports variable edge width and
the ability to refine edges with far fewer
keyframes. The product is currently in beta
testing (but release looks to be soon).
While clearing off my cell
phone camera, I came across this gem from
Photoshop World. I had intended to sit down
and watch a demo on Windows Vista (writing a
book on PowerPoint makes you do strange
things).
So I went to hear (and see the latest). But it
seems that the Microsoft rep couldn't get the
system to boot up using Windows Vista. The
audience was good natured, but still after
multiple reboots and attempts, it just wouldn't
work). So, the unaltered photos you see here are
what the audience got (at least the demo guy had
a sense of humor).
So, has Vegas started taking odds on Apple vs.
Windows as to who will get their operating system
out the door first? What are your plans about
Windows Vista?
I'm hard at work
on a new book onPowerPoint
2007. It’s
calledHow to Wow with
PowerPointand I am writing it
with my friendScott
Rekdal. We're focussing
on all of the coolest features and the
essential skills you need to make
great-looking presentations.
Here’s a preview of a useful tip on how to
insert a Flash file or YouTube video into a
PowerPoint slide.
Put Flash in a Presentation
Inserting Flash
animations into a slideshow can significantly
extend the animation abilities of PowerPoint.
However, the task is NOT easy. In order to unlock
this feature, you literally need to unlock the
software. This feature is tricky, and if you are
of the faint of heart.
1. Enable Flash Technology
There are several
preferences you must modify to enable Flash
files. You may need to adjust your security
settings to allow ActiveX to run (this is the
portal for Flash). To activate ActiveX, it is
best to view the PowerPoint help file, enter the
text “Enable ActiveX.”
Next, make sure that the Shockwave Flash plug-in
has been loaded on your system. For maximum
compatibility you should download the latest
version from www.adobe.com. You should also
install the latest version of Flash Player on
your system.
2. Enable the Developer’s
tab
The Developer’s tab contains several
advanced elements that let you customize a
presentation. Most of these are for developers,
that is those individuals who are actually using
PowerPoint as a programming environment to create
interactive programs.
To enable these tools, click the Microsoft Office
Button, and then click PowerPoint Options button.
Next, click Popular, and then under Top options
for working with PowerPoint, select the Show
Developer tab in the Ribbon check box B. To apply
the change, click OK.
3.
Add the Flash Control
On
the Developer tab, go to the Controls group, and
click More Controls. In the new dialog box,
select Shockwave Flash Object from the list of
controls B and click OK. Draw on the slide to
insert the control. Drag from the top corner to
the bottom corner (covering the entire slide). A
white box with an X should now cover the entire
slide.
4.
Locate the Movie
Unfortunately, the
Flash control does not have a browse function to
locate the movie. You have to know the actual
file path (this is a long string of text such as
C:\Documents and Settings\RHED
Pixel\Desktop\Chapter
4\Sources\Video\Flash_Title.swf). Be sure to
figure out the location of your file.
5.
Modify the Control Container
Now that you know the
location of the file, right-click the Shockwave
Flash Object on the slide and choose Properties
A. On the Alphabetic tab, click the Movie
property (this specified the file). In the value
column (the blank cell next to Movie), type or
paste the full drive path B, including the file
name or URL to the Flash file that you want to
play.
You can also set options such as looping by
modifying settings in the Properties dialog box.
6. Test it Out
Lets see if it works?
Press Shift+F5 to Preview the current slide. Did
it work? Flash animations are a quickly evolving
feature inside of PowerPoint, so keep an eye on
the built-in help menu to see if future updates
streamline embedding a Flash file. If the above
steps seem too in-depth, then be sure to check
out PFCMedia, which makes this process a few
clicks.
7.
Want YouTube?
If you’re
clever, you can get a YouTube video to work in
PowerPoint. It’s not easy (but its pretty
cool!) The trick is to harness the power of Flash
(see Put Flash in a Presentation). The only
difference is you’ll insert a web URL for
the movie you want. For example if you found a
movie like this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RysNrUP5MqAyou
would view it on the page. What you need to do
is modify the web link. Instead, usehttp://www.youtube.com/v/RysNrUP5MqAto
create a direct link to just the media file
and none of the web page navigation. When you
launch your presentation, click once to start
the clip. If you click the screen again it
takes you to the YouTube website. Instead,
click the space bar to advance the slide.
AOL has
launched afreeutility for
online storage calledXdrive. They'll
give you a whopping 5 GB (which is pretty
good). The service is free (for now it
appears) as it doesn't charge you or ask for
any payment info. But the login screen does
allude that they may ask to charge in the
future (you won't be billed automatically).
“With
your 5GB of secure online storage there's plenty
of room to keep backup copies of digital photos,
all your important documents, e-mail attachments,
and other files — and still have space
leftover for your music collection. It's the best
way to keep computer crashes from becoming
disasters. Think of it as hard drive
insurance.” In that vein, it
gets even better. When I logged in, they upped it
to 50 GB for free. They offerfree software for Windows
usersthat lets you
mount the Xdrive as a volume on your desktop.
But Mac users can still access the service
through a slightly more clunky web interface.
So iTunes
and ABC are doing something cool. You can
download theseason finale of
Lost(as well as
Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives) for
free. The first Million viewers can pull down
the show as well as "The Lost Survival Guide"
so you can catch back up.
As a podcaster, it's an interesting concept.
Making something free, but 'exclusive' (if you
consider a million to be exclusive). Still, I
like free TV as much as the next creative type.
Long
time readers will know that we are big fans
ofParallels Desktopsolution
for running Windows on a Mac. No need for
multiple partitions or rebooting, you can have
both Operating Systems going at the same time.
Plus you can install the optional Tools that
allow you to copy and paste between systems
and even access folders on your Mac.
The good news... theirtrialis
still available and a newupdatehas
been released.
Recent improvements include:
Support for new
quad-processor Mac Pro towers outfitted with up
to 3.5GB of RAM
Experimental support
for Windows Vista
An
improved Parallels Tools package
Better video output
improvement and acceleration
Added isochronous
USB devices support (including WebCam
devices)
Keyboard support
improvement: Eject CD key support and
more
Microsoft has a bad habit
of buying technology... then killing it.
It'd not really their fault... they've got
all of that cash just lying around. The
recent victim is Virtual PC. Originally
developed by Connectix, it was sold to
Microsoft in 2003. In a statement today
Microsoft said it "has made the decision not
to move forward with a Universal version of
Virtual PC at this time."
At this time is corporate speak for never, in
fact never ever. Recent competition from
Parallels and VMWare have made the Windows on a
Mac space a bit cluttered. Additionally,
Microsoft alluded that rewriting Virtual PC to
run on Intel Processors would mean having to
essentially rewrite the program.
"The (Macintosh business unit) still recognizes
that customers need access to Windows
applications from their Intel-based Macs and
feels confident that alternative solutions
offered by Apple and other vendors, combined with
a fully packaged retail copy of Windows will
satisfy this need," the company said.
Anyone else find it ironic that Microsoft which
started as a company that made Mac software, has
decided that it is too difficult to get their
software to run on Intel chips. Go figure. Guess
they're too busy getting Vista out the
door.
For more details, head over toCNET.
Mac
users can now access Windows Media files...
for free. Telestream has updatedFlip4Mac,
so it works with the new Intel-based Macs.
Telestream has a series of QuickTime
components that enables Mac OS X users to
play, import and export Windows Media files
using QuickTime-based applications. Mac users
can access the free player fromMicrosoft's
website,
while those creating pro vide will want to
check out the different options atTelestream's
site.
I've caught up on
my sleep and appear to be a glutton for
punishment again. I have been asked to
co-author a new book on PowerPoint (more
details soon). Essentially, I will be
putting together a new book on design
principles and techniques for effective
screen graphics. The book is going to focus
on all versions of PowerPoint, including the
recently announced PowerPoint 2007. I am
starting to wade into this latest version
(its a public beta). If you are a
cutting-edge, risk taking technocrat, feel
free to join me. You can download the beta
(legally) from Microsoft by clickinghere. It's a Windows
only program (though its running just fine on
both my MacBook and MacBook Pro). I welcome
yourcommentsas I work on the
new book. Requests and suggestions are
welcome.
With a sense of humor firmly intact, New York
Times columnist David Poguereviews Microsoft Windows
Vista. David takes a
look at several of the new features in the
latest version of Windows (set to ship next
month). His mission... prove that“Microsoft
did not steal ideas from Mac OS X.” Does
he succeed? It all depends on your perspective
so you'll want to judge for yourself. You can
take a look at thequick videofor
free online.
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