Rosario Tech

Looking to do great slide shows? Fed up with iPhoto? Want more transitions? Want to keep your audience from falling asleep?

Well, look no further. FotoMagico from Boinx (where did they come up with those names?) is one fantastic slide show program. Laid out like iMovie, you import your fotos and do magico on them. Very simple to use and also has a lot of depth. Add music and great transitions and you’ll be the next Ken Burns.

Click here to see a sample slide show I made in just ten minutes on my Powerbook (It’ll open a browser window - let it load for a couple of minutes, it’s a big file, about 12 megs).

What a pain in the @$$ it is when, after you print your incredibly cool label onto your just-burned DVD, you touch it and get a fingertip full of wet ink!! Then you go and type on your brand new white Mac keyboard and it suddenly looks like detectives have been dusting your keyboard for fingerprints. How I hate that!

So, it looks like Imation has come up with a solution (I hope). Aquaguard printable DVDs supposedly are quick drying and smudge proof. “An industry first!” Imation boasts:

“Imation’s new inkjet printable CDs and DVDs with AquaGuard™ surface offer a powerful new advantage—the ability to print fast-drying custom graphics that won’t wash away and are smudge and smear-resistant right from CD/DVD inkjet duplicating equipment or desktop disc printers.”

I, for one, will be giving them a try. They can’t be any worse than the discs I’m using already. And maybe then I can have a clean keyboard.

So you remember to back up your hard drive every week, right? You don’t!? Shame!

Now, for the low price of $70, you can have a no-brainer hard drive backup system. BounceBack Pro is a great backup program that makes backing up your hard drive as simple as plugging in an external drive and sitting back and having a cup of coffee. Or, you can continue to surf the web as BounceBack works its magic in the background.

So, now you have no excuses anymore. Go and backup, or else.

Apple is opening a new flagship store at 767 Fifth Avenue at the old GM building (between 58th and 59th streets) on Friday, May 19th at 6pm.

Get there early and get a (yawn) t-shirt. Maybe also win great prizes. But go there to check out the amazing 2-story tall glass cube that tops the store.

Adobe has posted an update to its camera RAW plug-in for Photoshop as well as an update to its DNG (Digital Negative) converter program. Download it thru Version Tracker. Here are the details of the update:

“Support for the following cameras has been added. Visit the Camera Raw page for a complete list of supported cameras.

Canon EOS 30D
Leaf Aptus 65
Leaf Aptus 75
Olympus EVOLT 330
Olympus SP-320
Pentax *ist DL2
Samsung GX-1S”

If you want more details about the DNG format, you can find them here.

Here are the instructions for installing the new Camera RAW plug-in for Photoshop CS2:

1) Exit Photoshop CS2.
2) Open the Finder.
3) Navigate to Library/Application Support/Adobe/Plug-Ins/CS2/File Formats.
4) Move the existing plug-in to another location (for example, a new folder on your desktop). Ensure you keep this version in case you need to revert back.
5) Copy the Camera Raw plug-in, Camera Raw, from the download into the same folder as in Step 3.
6) Launch Photoshop CS2 or Adobe Bridge.

Apple has released a small update to their photo processing program Aperture. Download it here.

Here are the usual sketchy details of what the update addresses:

“This update addresses several issues related to performance, stability, color correction, and display compatibility and is recommended for all Aperture users.

Note: You must first update to Aperture 1.1 and Mac OS X 10.4.6 or later before installing Aperture 1.1.1.”

Remember, you need to update your version of Aperture to 1.1 before you can use this 1.1.1 update. Download the 1.1 update here.

[BTW, I've started to use Aperture (version 1.1) and I like what I see. More in a capsule review later.]

Apple has produced a new series of ads for the Macintosh computer. I think they are a hoot. Check them out for yourself here.

We all know that Bill Gates loves the Macintosh, right? Well, if his own words don’t convince you, take a look at the Super Secret Microsoft Mac Business Unit’s laboratory hidden somewhere in the bowels of the software giant’s Redmond headquarters.

And get a load of this pic. Yup, those are all Mac Minis. And they belong to Bill Gates and you can’t have them!

So you want your DVDs to outlast you. Well then, you need gold.

Kodak has announced their new Preservation series recordable DVDs and CDRs which both contain 24 karat gold within the discs to make them archival. According to Kodak’s product info:

“Gold promotes longer disc life. Gold does not oxidize or break down; therefore data is preserved longer. Kodak Preservation CDs and DVDs use only 100% 24-Karat Gold.”

Delkin Devices also has recordable optical media called e-Film (enough with the “e’s” and “i’s” already!) which also contain gold.

I’m not so sure about this gold standard for archiving purposes. The discs are much more expensive than regular discs and the chances are high that the discs themselves will outlive the optical drives used to read them. But, I suppose if you’re really wanting the most stable optical disc, gold might do it for you.

Plus, they sure look purdy.

Well, this was bound to happen. Apple decided that $499 was too much to ask consumers to pay for their photo processing program, Aperture, so they dropped the price by $200. In addition, the program is now Universal, meaning that it will run natively on both the Intel Mac as well legacy Power PC Mac. The update can be downloaded here.

Now, for you suckers early adopters - those of you who bought the program for $500 - Apple is offering you a $200 “e-coupon” which you can download here (PDF link). Here’s their press release:

“On April 13, 2006 Apple released Aperture 1.1, the first Universal version of Aperture and a significant update to the revolutionary all-in-one post-production tool for photographers. In addition, Apple lowered the price of Aperture from $499 to $299. Apple is offering a $200 e-coupon good on the online Apple Store to licensed users of Aperture 1.0. Licensed users of Aperture 1.0 Academic will receive a $100 e-coupon.”

I suppose that giving back that $200 is the least they could do. Even at $299, I think it’s still a little steep, but manageable. Capture One costs over $500 and so does Photoshop CS2, but those programs do a heck of a lot more than Aperture. I’d still advise waiting until Adobe finishes up Lightroom and puts it out on the shelves. My bet is that Adobe will price it the same or less than Aperture.