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Jeff Gamet

Jeff Gamet is the Mac Observer’s Managing Editor, and co-host of the Apple Context Machine podcast. He is the author of “The Designer’s Guide to Mac OS X” from Peachpit Press, and writes for several design-related publications. Jeff has presented at events such as Macworld Expo, the RSA Conference, and the Mac Computer Expo. In all his spare time, he also hosts TMO’s Daily Observations podcast, co-hosts The iOS Show podcast, and makes guest appearances on several other shows, too. Jeff dreams in HD.

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Using Keywords in iPhoto

Keywords are a great way to help keep all of the picture you store in iPhoto organized. You can quickly narrow down a long list of images to just what you want – as long as you remember to assign keywords ahead of time. Hereis how: Click the keyword button in the lower left corner…

Living Without Safari Week 2: OmniWeb

Last week I used only Firefox, and this week, itis OmniWeb. Next week is Opera, and thanks to the overwhelming number or requests for Camino, thatis now on my list, too. Week 2: OmniWeb 5.5.4 OmniWeb from The Omni Group is about the only Web browser for the Mac that you have to pay for.…

ISO Moves MS Office Open XML to Approval Fast Track

The ISO Joint Technical Committee (JTC-1) on Information Technology secretariat, Lisa Rajchel, chose to move Open XML to the fast track five month balloting process after discussing the proposal with the International Technology Task Force. Microsoft proposed Open XML as an alternative standard to the already approved Open Document Format (ODF) – a document standard…

Copyright Ruling May Kill Internet Radio

A ruling to change how royalties are collected from independent Internet radio stations has the potential to drive many of the sites out of business. The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), a U.S. government agency tasked with overseeing the royalty process, decided to change the way most small Webcast stations are charged from a percentage of…

Apple Hot Deals Update For J&R Computerworld, Sweetwater

The new J&R Computerworld Hot Deals page has offers on the ShuttlePRO 2 multi-button multimedia control device from Contour Design, Evolution TV from Miglia Tech, the JBL Spyro multimedia speaker system with subwoofer and two flower-shaped satellite speakers, and more. You can find the J&R Computerworld Hot Deals page at Appleis Web site. The new…

Google CEO: Apple/Google Collaborating On More Projects

Speaking at a technology conference in San Francisco, Google CEO Eric Schmidt confirmed that his company is collaborating with Apple Inc. on several more projects. His comments were in response to a question about rumors that the companies are co-developing a tablet-style computer, according to MarketWatch. Mr. Schmidt neither confirmed or denied that an Apple/Google…

Apple Hot Deals Update For AudioMIDI, Ramjet

The new AudioMIDI Hot Deals page has offers on Line 6 Variax 300 (Red), a Digimax FS and Firestudio bundle from PreSonus, the FireWire Audiophile compact audio/MIDI interface from M-Audio, the EZ Drummer drum sampler from ToonTracks, and more. You can find the AudioMIDI Hot Deals page at Appleis Web site. The new Ramjet Hot…

Analyst: Flash Memory Important for Future iPods, Macs

Flash memory prices are still relatively high compared to hard drive storage, which means that for now Appleis full-size video capable iPod will continue to rely on the same disk-based storage is has been using. As memory prices drop, however, that is likely to change. Mr. Wu commented “Our sources indicate that while AAPL plans…

Living Without Safari Week 1: Firefox

Iive already written reviews for Firefox and OmniWeb, but testing, poking and prodding a browser for a review is one thing. Relying on it as your only interface to the Internet is something else entirely. To that end, I decided to totally immerse myself in several alternatives to Safari just to see how they really…

Apple CFO: Vista No Threat to Leopard

Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference in San Francisco, Mr. Oppenheimer commented “We really have simplified the installation process in such a way we donit think itis a deterrent to sales.” Mac OS X 10.5, due sometime this spring, will likely help boost Appleis bottom line. Typically, Mac software sales slow leading up to…

DEVONthink Pro 1.3 Improves AppleScript, Firefox Support

DEVONthink Professional Office, which includes email archiving, document scanning with OCR, and an integrated Web server, now adds French and Danish localizations, improves the OCR (optical character recognition) process, and supports drag-and-drop importing of Unix mailbox files. Both applications are available at the DEVONtechnologies Web site. DEVONthink Professional is priced at US$79.95, and the Office…

PDFpenPro 3.1

We already have Preview, Acrobat, and Adobe Reader. Why do we need another application that reads PDF documents? Because PDFpenPro lets you edit, modify, and sign the PDFs you work with – and it does all that with a user-friendly interface and an affordable price – thatis why. PDFpenPro is a full-on PDF editor that…

RadTech BT500 Mobile Mouse

Iim always a bit leery of “portable mice” and “travel mice” because more often than not those terms really mean “too small to use, and uncomfortable, too.” Thatis why Radtechis BT500 Mobile Mouse was such a surprise: It is actually a usable travel-size mouse. The BT500 is an 800dpi optical Bluetooth mouse with rechargeable batteries.…

Apple Hot Deals Update For Small Dog, Sweetwater Sound

The new Small Dog Electronics Hot Deals page has offers on the Xerox Phaser 6120N USB 2.0 Postscript color laser printer with Ethernet networking, the AudioStation 80-Watt iPod speaker system with AM/FM/Alarm from Logitech , Intuitis TurboTax Deluxe with State for tax year 2006, TurboTax Premier with State for tax year 2006, and more. You…

Frenzic 1.0

The Iconfactory describes Frenzic as a game that takes minutes to learn and months to master. Thatis pretty much spot-on. Frenzic is a puzzle game that The Iconfactory co-developed with ARTIS Software. The object is to fill circles with colored wedge shapes before the timer runs out. Completing circles with wedges of the same color…

Creating Custom Firewall Ports

First, a little back story on network ports. Network ports are a kind of virtual port that different types of data travel through. The data that passes through your firewall is assigned to a specific port, and each port has a unique number. For example, Web-based data, like the information that tells your Web browser…

NewerTech USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adapter

Keeping spare empty drive cases around so you can access bare hard drives is kind of a pain: You have to install the drive before you can use it, and you need different cases for each drive connection type. If you are looking for a way to quickly access hard drives that doesnit require cases,…

Adobe Ships Lightroom 1.0, Camera Raw Update

Photoshop Lightroom 1.0 is priced at US$199 through April 30, 2007, then climbs to its regular $299 price. The public beta will expire on February 28, 2007. Camera Raw 3.7 adds Photoshop Lightroom 1.0 support to Photoshop CS2, Photoshop Elements 4 and 5, and Premier Elements 3.0. It supports over 150 cameras, and adds the…

MediaCentral 2.5

The Mac is a perfectly good option as the hub of a home entertainment center, and Apple has already shown that with its Front Row application. If you want to take that to the next level, however, itis time to look at MediaCentral from equinux. MediaCentral recognizes iTunes audio and video content, displays your iPhoto…

Analyst: Vista to Have Short-term Negative Impact on Apple

A survey of 50 Best Buy stores revealed that about 80 percent of the locations are selling fewer copies of Microsoftis new operating system than expected. 72 percent of the stores are also stating that Vista is driving sales of new PCs to consumers. The increase in PC sales is due to a pent up…

IBM Open Client Solution to Support Mac OS X

IBM claims the new system frees companies from “vendor lock-in” and steep Microsoft licensing fees by offering collaborative open source-based applications that work cross platform with little or no modification. Scott Handy, IBMis vice president, Worldwide Linux and Open Source, commented “Our goal is to provide a flexible open client platform that minimizes customer investment…