Episode 34 Safari and Windows 7 Cool Factors

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Comments on the Acer One NetBook and Using FileZilla to share files between Windows and Apples.

For many years I ignored wallpaper and desktop image options preferring to use a solid background so that my icons would not be obscured. After shifting to Vista, I started to use wallpaper because the images shipped with Vista were appealing and less cluttered. Those included with Windows 7 have upped the ante considerably. They’re absolutely stunning.

I had notice that Apple updated Safari but assumed it was the traditional bug fixes and a few enhancements here and there. I was surprised when I opened it and found that I was greeted with an Apple animation announcing Safari 4.0. I knew that Safari 4 had been in beta for some time but had avoided downloading.  I just don’t have the time to test beta applications.  I’ve made the exception with Windows 7 ,but, that’s a rare exception.  I was immediately impressed with the opening animation and sound but my jaw dropped and I unuttered cool several times as I saw my favorites displayed on a three dimensional convex wall.

I’ve tested Safari and it seems to be faster than IE 8 and even faster than the version of Safari 4 now running on my Apple.  For the first time I can enjoy using Safari without that ugly battleship gray frame.  Apple has finally adopted the Aero look of Vista.  Not only does Safari 4 seem to run faster on my Vista tower than on my Mac but it is far it more attractive …  a major shift from my experience in using Safari on Apple vs. Vista.

I purchased a NetBook because I was intrigued by all the press they have been receiving.  I wanted to find out for myself if I could use it as a replacement for a traditional laptop.  When I opened the box, I was impressed by the fit, finish and quality feel. I was also impressed with the short battery life and how easy my finger prints found their way on the shinny blue plastic enclosure. I don’t believe I ever logged more than two hours. I feel fortunate to get 1:45 minutes from a full charge. My NetBook uses the 3 cell battery. I highly recommend you opt for the 6 cell battery which reviewers suggest gives well over two hours of runtime.

I later experimented with MixCraft 4 to record podcasts, I used a Telex USB audio adapter and a higher quality headset.  I was impressed with the recording and the responsiveness of MixCraft 4 running on the NetBook.  Without reservation, I can recommend the Acer NetBook as an inexpensive platform for field recordings of music and speech.  The proviso, of course, is that if you plan to do any serious field recordings using battery power that you invest in the six cell battery option.

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Technorati Tags: safari,apple,windows 7,netbook,skype,mixcraft

Episode 33 Our Long Hiatus Is Over

We apologize to our faithful subscribers for the long hiatus between episodes.  In our defense we have been productive during our absence … focusing on producing podcast for clients and moving into full fledged production and publication of audio as well as printed books.  We have been fortunate to sign three excellent published authors one of whom has produced an exceptional reading of her autobiography “Bent Not Broken”.

Please see our iNetSynch.com website for links to additional podcasts and audio books.  We believe that you’ll find Lauren Kim Roche’s  reading of  Bent Not Broken an inspirational adventure.

Much has happened since we last produced this podcast.  We have acquired and have begun using Leopard as well as iWork 09  and experimented with the new release of GarageBand and iMovie 09.  Microsoft has issued two public beta releases of Windows 7 and we have installed both on two PC’s with impressive results.

We attempted to upgrade our Nuance Dragon Naturally Speaking speech to text software and ended up sending version 10 back. I think it’s safe to say that this was one of the worst experiences I’ve had in trying to upgrade software over the 30 plus years I’ve been working with computers.

We have repeatedly returned to the MacSpeech Dictate software hoping that minor updates issued by the company would make it usable. It remains a disappointment and we continue to rely on the free Vista Speech Recognition software for most of our dictation requirements. MacSpeech recently offered a .2 upgrade but requires customers shell out a minimum of $69 (with U.S. shipping) to get relatively minor fixes and enhancements. This has set off a firestorm of complaints! See the MacSpeech 1.5 Upgrade forum for this interesting bit of PR handling.

In our Windows 2 Apples  podcast, I noted my impressions of Leopard and the Windows 7 Beta.  Of the two it’s easy to proclaim Windows 7 beta as the more impressive update.  To tell the truth, I noticed essentially no enhancement in feature set or performance when Leopard was installed and only installed it so that I could take advantage of the new iWork and iLife 09 applications.  The Leopard experience highlights a significant difference between Apple and Microsoft . Microsoft rarely requires customers upgrade the operating system in order to use a new release of major Microsoft software suite such as Office but Apple seems to depend on the revenue generated by tying the adoption of iWork and iLife upgrades to an OS upgrade.

One rather unsettling change in my Mac since shifting to Leopard has been a less reliable connection between my Mac and PC network via the shared Linksys router. In past, my Mac would always find and list my PC and HP MediaSmart Server under Shared Places. I could immediately access public files on my PC and shared folder on the Server. Now I have to reboot the Mac or toggle my router on and off several times before the Mac joins my network. What a waste of time and unnecessary anxiety.  When I revert back to the Tiger OS image on my external firewire dive the issue goes away. If I were not dependent on Leopard to run the now upgraded RapidWeaver, I would gladly reinstall Tiger.

Windows 7 on the other hand has allowed me to give new life to my old Sony multimedia tower PC.  I had  been using it with the original XP Home Media center software to provide streaming video and audio to my  flat screen television.  It worked reasonably well however the XP Media center software is simply not as capable as that shipped with Vista and it seemed to get slower and slower each passing day.

Recently, a relative complained that her ancient Vista Home edition computer was too slow and inefficient to use inspiring her to look at new vista machines.  She was choking a bit on the idea of having to shell out the cash for a new system. I suggested she backup her data and try a clean install of Windows 7. In our last conversation she was exceptionally happy with the increased performance as well as the high end features such as Aero not part of her original configuration … and the cost, as in free, was a much appreciated bonus. Her son plans to upgrade his aging XP machine when Windows 7 is officially released. For the first time I can remember, Microsoft has developed a major upgrade to the Windows OS that requires fewer resources to run and does not force customers to upgrade their hardware.

I suspect this will be plus for Microsoft and a negative for the likes of HP and Acer. I  had considered purchasing a new small foot print PC to use as our home media center but saw no reason to make the purchase after installing Windows 7 on the Sony tower. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the market place, especially in this age of recession and record unemployment.

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Windows 2 Apples Episode 32

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The last few weeks have been nothing if not eventful.

Not only have both Microsoft and Apple released new MP3 players, Microsoft launched the first two commercials in a long series said to have cost Microsoft $300,000,000 and the U.S. financial infrastructure seems to be crumbling before our eyes. On a personal side, I was a bit surprised to see the relatively steep drop in the New Zealand Kiwi as a result of the defaults in the U.S. banking system. I have a long running love affair with New Zealand, finding it a bona fide heaven on earth. I watch their economy and subscribe to Saturday Morning, a podcast re-airing of the wonderful Radio New Zealand interviews by radio and TV host Kim Hill.

As is usually the case Microsoft’s announcement of the third generation Zune was over shadowed by both traditional and internet press coverage of the introduction of the new Apple iPod Nano players zooming by (pun intended) with a longer and even thinner package, audio record, text to speech options as well as even more enclosure colors. Apple continues to offer one of the best players for accessing and remotely enjoying podcasts. Some would argue music as well. However, I find it a bit peculiar that so many people continue to purchase music that can only be played on Apple sanctioned devices. Apple claims it will not embrace subscription music services such as Rhapsody or Napster because consumers want to own their music and not rent it. However, tying your music to a specific technology does not have the appearance or feel of ownership to this blogger.

Recently, my generation five 30 gig iPod stopped synching with many of my favorite video podcasts. I noted others in Apple forums complained of the same problem at approximately the same time. Thankfully, the latest iTune version 8 update seems to have fixed this as well as the dreaded blue screen of death reported by many Windows users trying to activate their iPhones via iTunes. During the iPod down time I reverted back to using my now ancient Zen Vision M 30 gig player which converts both audio and video podcasts to AVI files before transferring to the player and not only was I able to again watch my favorite video podcasts on the beautiful, albeit smaller Zen screen, I was also reintroduced to the fabulous sound so characteristic of Creative Lab products. I still prefer to use my iPod when accessing podcasts but almost never use it to listen to music because of the noticeably inferior audio.

There was much speculation Apple would finally embrace a subscription model however Apple continues to require customers purchase most media protected by the proprietary Apple digital rights encryption. True, Apple offers a very limited library of music free of DRM and many pundits seem to feel that music industry movers and shakers prefer it remain this way.

The most common rationale for this assumption is the music industry is focused on working with competitors such as Microsoft to throttle Apple’s dominance in media distribution.Microsoft has released new Zune players with enhanced storage capacity and new colors as well as support for audible books and enhanced WiFi connectivity. Microsoft took advantage of WiFi and built-in FM tuner to add an innovative feature, not found in other players. The so called “Buy from FM” feature allows the listener to download music heard on selected FM radio stations. Microsoft is trying take advantage of the excellent built in FM tuner to promote its service by syncing this option with special encoded data found in many FM radio streams.

I personally wonder how many people actually listen to radio and in particularly how many of those in the age group targeted by Microsoft use FM Radio to shape their personal preferences for music. I long ago stopped using radio for anything but access talk stations and find I am spoiled by the ability to create my own MP3 playlists. I simply don’t trust the judgment of the radio station managers or DJs to deliver content I would enjoy. Perhaps I am wrong in my assumptions and this option will prove to be a draw for the Zune.

I do love the ability to use my Ibiza MP3 player to snag songs as they are streamed from my Rhapsody account via WiFi. If I hear a song I enjoy, I simply hold my finger down on the touch pad and select the download option. As long as I maintain my Rhapsody account the song is available to me regardless of whether I am connected to my Rhapsody account. True, I rent the music but much of the pop music that grabs my attention today will have little appeal to me 6 months from now. Those songs I want to keep can often be purchased as DRM free MP3 files from Rhapsody or other vendors such as Amazon.

Microsoft unveiled its first salvo against the very successful Apple advertising campaign with the now infamous Seinfeld / Gates shoe store fiasco. I personally found it very difficult to sit through the entire commercial. It just seems obvious to me Microsoft has little understanding of how to market its products to the masses. The second commercial in the series was as equally disturbing in that it seemed embarrassingly out of touch with the consumers Microsoft needs target.

I find it very distressing that Microsoft management has taken this approach to their much touted and much needed retort to the Apple advertising campaign. Microsoft should have reached out to some of the youths producing the often very clever YouTube Apple / vista commercial parodies. Even better, Microsoft could have initiated an online contest offering wealth, notoriety and fame to those producing the best amateur video response to the Apple commercials.

I believe this would have garnered a tremendous amount of free press coverage and encouraged the target audience for Microsoft to focus on features and services offered by Microsoft that actually address their needs. I have seen many such videos posted on YouTube that are exceptionally clever, some bordering on professional in quality and which always seemed to get an impressive number of hits from viewers.

On well, I’m sure Seinfeld at least is laughing (all the way to the bank).

Produced using M-Audio Interface, MixCraft 4, Vista Speech, Pages, iTunes, and Hp MediaSmart Server

Windows 2 Apples Episode 31

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We start this posting with an update to my issues with Microsoft Windows Media Center. After considerable time trouble shooting I decided make adjustments in Windows Media Center performance settings. Unfortunately, Windows Media Center software doesn’t have setting options allowing the user to correct for differences in Internet access and streaming media performance. Changes must be made in the Windows Media Player which apparently provides the engine used by Media Center to access Internet content and render streaming video.

I am using Media Player 11 in which Microsoft has decided to hide performance options in a drop down list under the Now-Playing button. After many years of training customers to look for these kinds of settings under the file or help menu options, the Windows Media Center team decided to change the rules as well as well as eliminating the traditional help menu option. Eventually, I found the and performance options panel where I changed the default setting for connection speed from “detect connection speed” to “choose connection speed” and selected DSL/cable at 768 Kbps even though my DSL connection typically logs in at a download speed of at least 4 MB. I also checked the “drop frames to keep audio and video synchronized option” box.

After making these changes I was able to log on and access MSN streaming media including music concerts without the frequent appearance of the dreaded blue circle of frustration appearing in the center of my screen. I’m still confused as to why these changes were needed given performance benchmarks for my DSL Service showed no change between the earlier posting when I was so impressed with Windows Media Center and my later posting lamenting the loss of usable access to MSN video content. Obviously, the auto detect code is unable to automatically make the necessary adjustments in real world internet through put.

Since making these adjustments I have added Comcast cable and have been able to reset media center settings to automatic detection and remove the check next to the drop frames option. I wonder how many casual users would be willing to dig this deep to get Media Center to work as promised. I suspect that most would simply give up on the software.

As usual, I am dictating the notes for this podcast using the free Vista speech to text software rather than Nuance Dragon Naturally Speaking. As mentioned in the past, all though the Nuance product is more accurate but Vista speech to text technology is much more intuitive to use and far superior when modifying or correcting text. Recently, Nuance introduced an upgrade from 9.5 to Version 10. Anxious to see how far speech to text technology has moved I ordered the upgrade.

Unfortunately, all attempted installs failed displaying a warning message suggesting “applications have a reboot waiting” and then prompting you to close the install and re-boot. I did this perhaps three times before checking the Nuance site where I found a tech note suggesting this was a fairly common problem and that users should disable automatic Windows updates and re-boot! Disabling automatic Windows updates is not recommended by Microsoft. I have to wonder how many frustrated Nuance customers are now running systems with automatic update disabled.

The Nuance tech note advises that if this fails, which of course it did for me and I suspect many others, that you should also run msconfig and disable all start up programs. If this step fails Nuance goes on to recommend you download a zipped file from which you must extract an executable that will supposedly disable the Nuance installs insistence on “checking for a required restart”. This was too much sugar for the nickel and I wasn’t willing to continue to jump through any more hoops in order to install an upgrade.

To top off my frustration the Plantronic headset shipped with my order could not be used to produce accurate speech to text translations running either Dragon 9.5 or Vista speech. I have shipped both the install disk and headset back to Nuance with a request for refund. Until Nuance is able to ship the upgrade with a working and relatively painless install, I recommend that those using nuance 9.5 skip version 10.

Produced using M-Audio interface, MixCraft 4, Vista Speech Technology, HP Media Smart Server, iTunes and Pages.

Windows 2 Apples Episode 30

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Is it possible Microsoft finds it intolerable when someone actually claims to have found the WOW in Windows?

Shortly after proclaiming Windows Media Center offered a superlative viewing experience when accessing free video content on the Internet, I’ve lost the ability to use Windows Media Center to view any of the MSN Control Room Music Concerts without continuously having them paused every 5 to 10 seconds. Ironically the only way I can actually view the videos without frequent pop ups of the dreaded blue circle of frustration to log on to Soapbox (a.k.a. Video MSN, a.k.a. MSN video) and view using my Fire Fox browser running in either Vista or OS X. When using IE7 my viewing experience is not any better than when using Media Center.

I feel as if I’ve been punched in the stomach! I’m happy I didn’t rush out and buy a Media Center Extender or the HP Media Center television I had been lusting after. Given the current degradation in performance, it’s impossible to recommend Windows Media Center as a preferred means of accessing MSN beta TV content reliably.

I don’t know whether the problem is with Microsoft’s implementation of its high resolution streaming display technology, Microsoft Servers or a temporary clogging of the pipes by Internet video coverage of the Olympics. Whatever the cause, for me Windows Media Center has now become a source of angst as opposed to a proof Microsoft can actually follow through on a winning strategy to garner customer enthusiasm for its products.

The only positive from my experience is the realization that apparently all of the Beta Internet content produced by Microsoft can be accessed by anyone with a flash enabled Firefox browser and does not require the Windows operating system or any proprietary Microsoft technologies. Even though the viewing experience is less than that I experienced when using the Windows Media Center several weeks ago, Microsoft offers an impressive catalog. Perhaps the easiest way to access MSN content is to do a Google search for Soapbox. You will be taken to the video.MSN web site where not only can you view MSN beta television content but iNetSynch videos.

I have my fingers crossed that the issue is not with the Media Center technology but rather with a heavier than expected demand on servers as a result of internet coverage of the Olympics. Whatever the cause, the wind has been abruptly taken from my sails. I have to wonder why Microsoft can’t get its act together … why they seem intent on offering up a more and more fodder for Apple to fuel its continued successful strategy of ridiculing Microsoft.

Produced using MixCraft 4, M-Audio Interface amd HP MediaSmart Home Server.

Windows 2 Apples Episode 29

I'm going to jump on the Microsoft bashing bandwagon today. My beef with Microsoft is not that it has not delivered excellent products, but rather it has delivered excellent products that would in fact give Windows much of the "WOW” promised when Vista was introduced. Sadly Microsoft hasn’t taken the initiative to promote them. Many of these applications and services are hiding in plain sight.

Microsoft offers an exceptional collection of free tools and services under the Windows Live Moniker. Included are Live Writer, Live Photo Gallery, and Live Mail. Live writer is an exceptionally intuitive and easy to use blog editor. Live writer makes it easy to setup, edit and maintain blogs hosted by Google, Microsoft and other hosting services using popular blogging software such as WordPress. To my knowledge Apple provides no equivalent application. If you are using Windows and maintaining or creating blogs Live Writer is a must-have application and free as a down load from Microsoft.

There are of course many photo management applications shipped with both the Apple and Microsoft operating systems as well as a dizzying selection offered by third party vendors. After considerable experimentation with Apple iPhoto and Windows photo gallery I have no problem in recommending Windows Live Gallery.

Not only is the program attractive and intuitive it is also noticeably more efficient in organizing and displaying photographs. The Apple iPhoto application has always been a great frustration to me. All of the other Microsoft and third party applications I’ve tried simply seem to consume time and drive space. Windows Live Gallery is surprisingly fast and nimble. After using Live Gallery I can’t imagine using any other Windows application to manage my photos. Live Gallery is free for the asking from Microsoft.

I have used many e-mail clients over the years including Outlook, Thunderbird, and Apple Mail. Apple mail is nice in that it is intuitive, easy to configure and provides for spell checking as you type. Spell checking is missing in the e-mail client shipped with Windows Vista but is happily imbedded in the Live Mail client. The Live Mail interface is intuitive, easy to configure and uncluttered … something that Mac users would appreciate and it is now my e-mail client of choice when working in Windows.

To top things off, one of the crown jewels hidden and un-activated on I suspect a majority of Vista Home Premium and Ultimate installations is Windows Media Center. We have three systems running Media Center, a Sony Media XP tower, a low end Acer Aspire Home Premium Vista Laptop and an HP 9040 Quad Core Tower running Vista Home Premium. For years now I have been using the Windows Media Center software to access cable television via the built-in tuners on both my Sony and HP computers. Occasionally, I would record videos and export them to various external players such as my Creative Labs Zen but had never really experimented with the many other available features. Approximately six months ago, I tested the beta Internet television and I was disappointed in the limited media offered.

Recently, I decided to take another look and was absolutely amazed at the amount of streaming media content available free from the Internet via Windows Media Center software. I had opted not to activate the Windows Media Center on my laptop because it didn’t have a tuner and I couldn’t imagine using the software to simply play MP3s and watch the occasional DVD.

Once the software was activated, I was pleasantly surprised to see the beta Internet television worked as well or better on my inexpensive Acer laptop as it does on my quad core HP tower. Because the content is streamed from the Internet there’s no need for cable or satellite television services to access it. I believe I even uncontrollably uttered “WOW” as I watched concerts by John Mayer, Jack Johnson and Cheryl Crow. As of today there are 23 music concerts available as streamed videos. It doesn’t stop with music concerts.

There are 10 programs from the Food Network, 10 programs from House And Garden TV, as well as programs from other sources such as Fine Living, travel channel, sports, news, geek and tech oriented programs, viral videos, as well as programming from the Biography, History, and Arts &Entertainment channels. I’ve only begun to scratch the surface.

Not only is the amount and selection of content impressive the user interface is superb … equal or superior to anything produced by Apple. If your computer is so equipped you can also use an external remote control to interact with the software. I have controls for both my tower computers but no control is available for the Acer laptop. However, I have been viewing much of the content using the a wirelessly tethered Acer laptop connected to our 50 inch Hitachi rear screen projection TV as well as a smaller LCD television and I am very impressed by the quality of the picture on both sets.

I’m using the S-Video output of my laptop configuring it to display the image on the external television rather than both the laptop display and external device. When I use this configuration there are a few small hiccups in the beginning as the stream begins to synchronize but after that I’m able to view without any interruption. The Windows Home Media center software is truly a WOW experience! Apple simply does not provide any equivalent free service for off the shelf Macintosh computers. Apple iTunes allows for the purchase of content which can be streamed to an Apple TV or free audio and video podcasts but there is no equivalent for the kind of viewing experience available to Windows users having access to high speed Internet and the Windows Media Center software.

If Microsoft truly wants improve its image they simply need to promote the many exceptional tools and free services available to only Windows users. It is ironic that many of the free Microsoft applications and services focus on converting your computer into an entertainment center and encouraging creativity. This of course is contrary to the claim Apple is so fond of making in its advertisements. The reality is Apple is far from providing the exceptional integration of both business and entertainment that Microsoft has been able to achieve.

Get with that Microsoft. You already have the services and killer applications to put the WOW into Windows just let your customer know there are there!

Created using M-Audio Interface and Microphone, Vista Speech to Text Software and MixCraft 4.

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Windows 2 Apples Episode 28

This episode we will take a peek at another Apple only Web site creation tool, the Windows only iClone as well as the built-in archive option shipped with Tiger and Leopard.

iWeb, RapidWeaver and SandVox, popup when Googling for simple Mac website creation and management tools. iWeb is flexible, intuitive and fun. In a nut shell, iWeb is all things Apple but a royal pain if used to install and maintain Webs on a hosting service other than .mac. I am surprised no one has offered up a simple application that takes the mess and fuss out of using iWeb to manage sites on non-Apple hosting services.

I have previously reviewed RapidWeaver 3.6 and continue to use it in creating and managing several of our Webs. The more I use it, the more I like it. The growing list of 3rd party add-ons and plug-ins is reminiscent of the early days of PageMaker. RapidWeaver unfortunately is not a What You See Is What You Get environment, requiring instead the developer switch between edit and proof modes. This is a pain but I have become skilled at layout in edit mode and find myself having to shift modes less often.

I loved PageMaker and lament it was not upgraded to meet WEB standards. Given PageMaker non-standard code and issues with current browser technologies, I would never use PageMaker to create and manage new content. In an effort to get a user friendly What You See Is What You Get editor, I down loaded the trial version of SandVox. I was disappointed the advanced features such as adding and editing html code were not available in the trial version requiring I purchased the Pro version to take a more complete look see.

I had hoped that SandVox would allow more control and customization than the theme based RapidWeaver. Instead, I immediately felt a profound sense of loss of control and wanted to retreat to Rapid Weaver post haste. I could drag and drop content and see the site evolve without having to flip between edit and display modes but the product felt cumbersome and unfinished.

We always test our Webs using a wide mix of machines, displays and browsers and are accustomed to variance in colors and overall visual impact across systems but SandVox seemed to generate sites with greater variance than we have seen using another low end web content creation applications. Configuring SandVox to access and upload files to our web hosting service was a nightmare. My memory of the hours spent trying to make it happen have become clouded with a soft covering of protective fog but the pain of metaphorically pulling the remaining hairs from my aching head is still vivid.

Less than three days after purchasing SandVox Pro I requested a refund which was promptly processed. I occasionally revisit the SandVox web site and look for new 3rd party support but always come away happy to have RapidWeaver and the impressive community of developers and users that keep it on top of the limited list of easy to use Web design applications available for the Apple OS. At this time, I can’t recommend SandVox but perhaps it will pull ahead of the pack over time and offer up some worthy competition to iWeb and RapidWeaver.

I continue to be impressed by iClone and by the often very clever projects produced by iClone enthusiasts. For a healthy sampling of iClone creativity log on to YouTube and use iClone as your search criteria. You may be surprised at the volume of videos uploaded by amateurs, professional animators and Reallusion.

As stated in our last podcast, iClone 2.5 is a work in progress blessed by a relatively intuitive interface, time saving movement and facial animation templates, automatic synchronization of lip movements voice tracks as well as a reasonably complete online manual and extensive series of video tutorials. The lack of an undo option continues to be a major impediment to experimenting with lighting, movement and other features without having to frequently cycle through saving and starting new projects.

Unfortunately, iClone usability also suffers from inconsistencies in the way changes are made in character movement, lighting and camera angles. Creating animations with multiple talking characters still requires that you save a separate project per character and use an external video editor to create a finished animation. The simple option of assigning which character responds to imported speech files on a frame by frame basis would make the creation of multiple character scenes possible and bypass the current need to jump through hoops.

Although Reallusion and third party vendors provide additional content which may be purchased and downloaded at the Reallusion site, the selection of additional avatars (clones) and add-ons such as clothing, accessories, scenes and props is noticeably impoverished compared to competing animation programs such as Poser 7.0. In an effort to enhance access to third-party support, Reallusion offers an application called 3D Exchange which allows users to download 3D models stored on the Google 3D Warehouse site and created using Google SketchUp. Although this option goes a long way in increasing access to additional content, evidence of more support by commercial third party vendors would give at least a superficial feeling of confidence iClone will continue to evolve and capture a larger share of the animation market.

In spite of the above issues and limitations iClone and its sister product CrazyTalk are impressive applications and have been adopted by iNetSynch to produce an animated video podcast entitled Windows2Apples Video News. Windows2Apples Video News focuses on topical Internet Microsoft and Apple specific news and tech tips. Postings from blogs such as Half Byte produced by George and hosted by Microsoft Spaces Live, supplement iNetSynch content. IClone 2.5 was used to create the introductory animation and background for our news announcer who is animated using CrazyTalk 5. Please visit the Windows2Apples.Com website to view video news episode hosted by Viddler or subscribe to our podcast. The podcast is listed in the iTunes directory and the feed URL posted to enable subscription using all popular pod-catchers.

One of the things that impressed me most about my new Mac was the ease with which I could format an external firewire hard drive and then basically copy the entire operating system along with all installed program files to an external bootable partition. I’ve always been perplexed as to why many of the Mac podcasters recommend programs such as Carbon Copy to create a cloned backup of the Mac operating system. The only advantage I can see to these kinds of applications is the ability to schedule regular backups without user intervention. I was very surprised to find one of my Macite friends with many years of experience with Macintosh computers had never used the Mac disk utility application to backup her system and applications to an external drive.

Once the clone or restore file of your hard drive has been created you can simply use system preferences to reset the boot drive to the external fire wire drive and bypass the internal hard drive. If your hard drive is corrupted the image stored on the external drive can be restored to the internal drive or its replacement. This feature is well documented but apparently not often used by even long time Mac users. I have yet to understand constant references to third party applications to clone a Mac drive when the built-in utility works so seamlessly. For me it was and remains a main attraction of the Apple OS.

Created using Vista Speech to Text, M-Audio Interface, MixCraft 4, HP MediaSmart Home Server, iWork 08 Pages as well as Microsoft Word 2007. Podcast hosted by PodBean.

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