Apple Cider: You Have Arrived

Tom Iovino speaks of success, its downsides, and why Apple is not a charity. Were recent complaints made in the proposed Apple Expo Paris protest justified?

“My take on this whole mess is that these complaints that have been put forth are the very reason Apple has managed to survive and thrive.”

Beyond the Barline: My Summer at Camp—Part Two

David Ozab continues to report on his experience with the Metasynth summer camp. This month, he introduces Metatrack and the basic techniques of resynthesizing used in composition.

“One of the greatest advantages to analysis/resynthesis is the ability to change frequency and duration independent of each other.”

About This Particular Web Site

David Spencer takes a look at Myfonts.com (huge searchable font DB), Digitallyobsessed.com (Mac-made site about everything DVD), V-R Australia (virtual tour of Australia using Macromedia Flash), Batteries.com (get any battery you need), and Global Mac Games (Mac-only gaming league with ladders, clans, and communities for 15 Mac games).

Graphics and the Internet: Seven Deadly Internet Graphic Sins

Grant Osborne discusses seven sins of Web sites: things not to put on your Web site, such as counters and strange JavaScripts.

“If you want to stroke your ego and show everyone that you’ve only had 10 visitors in the last year, then so be it. If your site is getting loads of visitors then give yourself a pat on the back and use that counter space to sell some banner advertising or something!”

Network Guru in 10 Steps: Factors in Macintosh Network Speed

Matthew Glidden discusses factors that can speed up or slow down a computer network and tells how you can make your network faster.

“The saying ‘a chain is only as strong as its weakest link’ definitely applies to a network, as your network performance will generally be only as fast as the slowest components. It’s critical, therefore, to know which components affect performance and how to get them working their best.”

How to: Frying Spam with Outlook Express 5

Gregory Tetrault takes you step by step through the process of setting up spam filters in Outlook Express 5, so you can avoid those annoying messages in the future.

“You now have the means to automatically filter or delete spam from your e-mail Inbox. Spending half an hour or so to customize junk mail filters and rules will save you time in the future and should improve your satisfaction with e-mail. I only wish I could implement junk snail mail rules!”

Updates

Eric Blair covers new additions to the software for the Nomad II MP3 Player.

BBEdit 6.0

Michael Tsai describes the changes in the newest version of this powerful text editing tool that still doesn’t suck.

“Software that survives until version 5 usually gains a substantial following, yet the track record for version 6 releases is spotty at best. Word 5 was great, but Microsoft dropped the ball with Word 6 and has yet to fully recover it. AppleWorks 5 was widely considered to be nearly perfect, but AppleWorks 6 is a regression. BBEdit 6 bucks the trend: it is an unequivocal upgrade that’s every bit as stable and fast as version 5.”

Burning Monkey Puzzle Lab 1.0

Ellyn Ritterskamp introduces us to Freeverse Software’s newest creation, an absolutely addicting game that’s like Tetris on steroids. It’s living proof that you can have action and suspense without shooting anyone.

“The secret to this game’s success is simple: variation. Burning Monkey Puzzle Lab includes two basic versions of play, Color Reaction and Hex Bonding.”

CalcuScribe Duo

Paul Fatula reviews the CalcuScribe Duo, a portable electronic text processor in the same vein as the AlphaSmart.

“Every time I pack up my laptop and use it to take notes at a meeting, or squint at sloppily handwritten notes scribbled on a sheet of paper on a clipboard, I think back to the AlphaSmart I reviewed a few months ago. The idea of a nice, cheap, portable word processor still seems just a wee bit revolutionary to me, just for being so darn convenient.”

ConceptDraw 1.5.2

Eric Blair gives an overview of ConceptDraw, a drawing program for diagrams, charts, and tables. He discusses program elements such as connectors, templates, and workspaces. ConceptDraw’s no Visio, but it does run on a Mac.

“ConceptDraw definitely does what it sets out to do—it makes it simple to draw complex diagrams. While you may be satisfied with the results, however, you may not have much fun using the application.”

iMovie: The Missing Manual

Jamie McCornack explains why every new iMovie user should take a look at the book iMovie: The Missing Manual.

“I recommend iMovie users start their library with iMovie: The Missing Manual. If you’re using iMovie 2, it’s merely Very Nice, so you’ll want to download the iMovie 2 appendix, and stick a printed copy of that PDF in the back of the book.”

SoundJam MP Plus 2.5.1

Daniel Chvatik marvels about how great SoundJam MP is and shows why it’s currently the best MP3 solution for the Mac.

“I don’t want to mislead you: SoundJam is a complex program. Like BBEdit 1, it takes time to learn. I have been using SoundJam almost daily for three months now, and I still discover new features or nuances. But, as with BBEdit, the reward for learning SoundJam is enormous.”

Cartoon: New Products

Michael Morgan on products that could have been, but luckily never were.

Desktop Pictures: British Columbia, Canada

Lee Bennett’s beautiful images photographed during his autumn 1999 vacation through the northwest states and British Columbia, Canada.

Desktop Pictures: New York

Daniel Chvatik’s images from the Big Apple, taken at various times this year.

Trivia Challenge: TV Times

Edward Goss challenges you to test your memories of TV shows.