Serious Editing in iPhoto 6 Released
Serious Editing in iPhoto 6 has been updated for both iPhoto 6 and Tiger. The eBook is packed with 25 fixes for common photo problems and 33 effects. These can easily be created with iPhoto 6 and what's already on your Mac. Fixes include: how to correct lighting temperature (including fluorescent lighting), using iPhoto's Retouch tool to remove dirt from scans/eliminate wrinkles/etc, filtering images for better tone and less noise in black and white conversions, correcting serious exposure problems, minimizing the harsh look of on-camera flash, removing stubborn red eye, reducing color artifacts, restoring old color prints, improving phone cam photos. Effects include: solarization, posterization, thermograms, negatives, silhouettes, toning black and white, monotoning, extreme sepia, newsphotos, selective blur, double exposures, image masks, soft focus, warping, mirror images, collages, and 8 vignette/ matte/border effects that use iPhoto 6's new Effects dashboard.

Serious Editing in iPhoto 6 is a true eBook and not just a paper book in PDF form. It's hyper-indexed with 450 links for quick navigation and up-to-the-minute Web updates. It's $24.95 and includes lifetime upgrades as more is added, as iPhoto improves and as the Mac OS is upgraded. Serious Editing in iPhoto 5 purchasers are already enjoying their free upgrades.

Submission Guidelines Updated, New Upload Script Installed.
Our Submissions Policy was feeling more than just a little bit outdated in a few specific areas so we took a few moments to bring it up to date so it's more reflective of the times. On top of that, we also located and installed a new upload script that is just the bees knees in ease of configuration and customization for us, and at the same time is just as easy to use for our contributing artists.

Here's a quick overview of the policy and upload script functions...

The big change in submissions is tied to accepted compression formats, .zip files are at the top of our list. We'll still accept .sit and .sitx, but outside of professional uses, the days of Stuffit appear to be waning. Disk image (.dmg) files are also accepted. Going forward, we'll post files in .zip format with an occasional .dmg as the need arises. The accepted compression formats noted have been specifically coded into the script, any other compression formats will return an error message and will not be uploaded.

The upload script, SPAds File Uploader, is a huge step up in functionality over the previous. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who is in need of the same type of simple upload script. And at $9.99 it's easy on the bank account too.

For our use, I was able to disable some extraneous functions and pre-set the form to disable the 'Allow Overwrite' option. The username and email address fields have been coded with defaults and are set as 'Read Only' — contributors never have to do anything other than select a file and hit the 'Submit' button. As part of its function, the upload script has been coded to open up as 580x580 popup window.




Feed Me. ResExcellence RSS Now Broadcasting.
Schmeed, weed, seed, give us the feed...

Doing an most ungraceful 180° your friendly editor finally gives in to mounting pressure from scores of folks asking for an RSS feed. After a quick look at a few RSS generators I settled on OrangeBox for Macintosh. So far, I'm pleased with the choice, it's easy to create channels and news articles and then publish the articles with its integrated FTP service.




Easter Egg in Final Cut Pro 4?
BK shares an unusual find in the 'STRL resources' of FCP4's 'Final Cut Pro.rsrc'. At first glance it appears as to be some programmer's wild ramblings that may have been overlooked during by the Quality Assurance team. Funny stuff, and with a recurring 'yak' theme too boot! :^) A few snippets are posted below, to see the entire string hop on over to BK's forum thread.

If we can't ship this puppy by then, we might as well be herding yaks.
I'm glad it's getting weird again. I didn't understand it when it wasn't weird.
The little cartoon man is messing with my head!
Many Yaks were exploited during the creation of this product.
I'm concerned because the cow sounded pretty threatening.
When you have a car that's that uncool, you just gotta drive stupid.
Don't look at me. They're not my flying monkeys.
The disco ball is spinning, but no one's home.
Cows didn't have dynamite and steam shovels.
There exists, but you can't get there from here.

Revive Scratched iPods and iBooks with NewerTech Polish Kit
Newer Technology Inc. has introduced the NewerTech Clean and Polish Kit, a product engineered to remove scratches, restore color, and return original off-the-shelf shine to Apple iPods, iBooks, and other quality plastic technology products. The NewerTech Clean and Polish Kit includes a specially formulated Heavy Scratch Remover solution, Fine Scratch Remover solution, and Plastic Clean and Shine protection polish. A valued-added free polishing cloth and step-by-step instructions are included.

Packaged in three convenient, long-lasting one-ounce application bottles, the NewerTech Clean and Polish Kit components are non-toxic and non-flammable, ensuring safety to iPods, iBooks, and users. The Kit utilizes advanced chemistry bonds to remove heavy scratches, abrasions, fine marks and delicate cuts from virtually all plastics and acrylic surfaces without unsightly filling. The scratch remover elements also restore faded and discolored plastic. A state-of-the-art, Level 3 plastic polish leaves a lustrous shine that resists fogging, repels dust, resists fingerprint marks, and eliminates static.

Sticky Windows 1.2 Released
Donelleschi Software, the developer of Filegazer, DockFun! and other OS X applications, has announced the immediate availibility of Sticky Windows 1.2. Sticky Windows turns 1.2 with some major improvements that makes it more compatible and friendly with the latest release of Mac OS X.

Sticky Windows is an utility for Mac OS X 10.3 and 10.4 which extends the tab browsing experience to the Desktop. Sticky Windows transforms your windows into tabs when you drag a window towards the edge of your screen. Providing you with a completely clutter-free workspace. By clicking on the tab the user can show and hide the window. The tab can be created by dragging a window on the left or the bottom or the right side of the main screen. Each tab displays the window title as well as the associated application icon. The tab's icon provides a contextual menu which offers some useful commands (show/hide window, close tab, switch).

To remove a tab, simply drag it away from the screen edge, or choose "Close Tab" from the tab's context menu. If the window is not currently visible when the tab is dismissed, the original window is re-displayed on the screen

A video on the Sticky Windows homepage explains what the application does. Sticky Windows is a 14.95$ shareware.