AAUG Reviews

By Rob LeFebvre, AAUG Member
Reviewed 5/05

This e-book was reviewed at the same time as Take Control of Making Music with GarageBand, by the same author. Both e-books cover a breadth of material in good detail, with plenty of example and well written instruction.

Take Control of Recording Music with GarageBand covers both kinds of recording in GarageBand: Software Instruments and Real Instruments. Software Instruments are MIDI controlled performances, using either a MIDI keyboard or other controlling device (even your Mac’s keyboard!). Real Instruments are exactly what they sound like: instruments or vocal recorded either directly through the computer or via a microphone that is connected to the computer.

There’s a section on strategizing the recording session in GarageBand, which helps keep us creative types in line. The author then takes the reader through the recording of two hypothetical tunes, one with software instruments and one with real instruments. As opposed to his other book, Take Control of Making Music, this one can’t be as specific or tutorial-like. It’s much easier to tell readers to “click this, do that” when working with predefined loops that come with the program. It’s quite harder, then, to help readers understand what is essentially a “process,” and not just a series of steps that can be followed. Tolbert does an excellent job in explaining what types of processes to go through when recording such things as MIDI keyboards, vocals, and electric guitars. A very thorough discussion of tricky subjects like windscreen, signal to noise ratios and mic placement ensues. I learned a lot, even with having some experience with home recording.

One chapter deals exclusively with how to “fix” a section of your performance, whether it be with a real or software instrument. This is a HUGE part of recording music, as most of us, even professional musicians, are not technically perfect in each performance of a piece of music. The author explains how to duplicate a track, and even gives advice NOT to follow Apple’s method as explained in their help files. This was a great chapter, and really has improved my use of the software.

Finally, the author explains Garage Band effects, and how to use them intelligently and effectively. I’ve really had a difficult time understanding how GarageBand applies effects, since it’s rather, to me, unintuitive. I really tend to like Soundtrack, as it mirrors some real life recording and the application of effects. However, with this book, I’ve been able to tease out how the effects actually work, and how to apply, mix and match them. Excellent learning.

At the end of the e-book, the author provides links to two songs he’s created using the techniques of the book. They’re a wonderful listen, if nothing else, and provided me with some inspiration to create some music of my own. In addition, there is a page or so of web resources, and then two appendices: one on MIDI drum sounds and one on Troubleshooting, an essential item in any computer book.

I rate this book a 5 moose, due to it’s friendly, down-to-earth approach to what can be complex techniques. The book is an easy read, and at $10 is a tremendous value. If you buy the book, you can loan it to a friend, who then can use an included e-coupon to get a discount on their own purchase. Please wander over to www.takecontrolbooks.com and see the wide offerings in this fantastic series.

By Sean McPhilamy, AAUG Member
Reviewed 5/05

Wow.

Hold on now, that might be not quite the right three letter expression.

Hmmmm. No, Regis, I think that is my final answer.

Wow.

I like Graphic Converter a whole lot.

Now, when I loaded this program by Lemke Software, I expected a piece of software which would allow me to translate graphic images from one format to another (such as from .tiff to .jpg for example), but this application goes well beyond the scope of a standard graphic converter.

So, don’t let the name fool you.

I suppose, that since Adobe had already taken the name “Elements”, one might understand why Lemke Software didn’t use that name…

But while my Photoshop experience is limited, I have used Photoshop Elements before, and I like Lemke’s Graphic Converter more. (more…)

By Sean McPhilamy, AAUG Member
Reviewed 5/05

Wow.

Hold on now, that might be not quite the right three letter expression.

Hmmmm. No, Regis, I think that is my final answer.

Wow.

I like Graphic Converter a whole lot.

Now, when I loaded this program by Lemke Software, I expected a piece of software which would allow me to translate graphic images from one format to another (such as from .tiff to .jpg for example), but this application goes well beyond the scope of a standard graphic converter.

So, don’t let the name fool you.

I suppose, that since Adobe had already taken the name “Elements”, one might understand why Lemke Software didn’t use that name…

But while my Photoshop experience is limited, I have used Photoshop Elements before, and I like Lemke’s Graphic Converter more.

So, on the “pro” side, Graphic Converter does what it sets out to do. And that is convert graphics from one form to another. There were over eighty types of conversions that I counted. Oy! I was mostly hoping to convert .gif images to .jpg images, and so on. And I haven’t found a problem yet in this conversion scheme. (The website suggests that the user might import 175 image varieties, and export to 75 different file types.)

Well beyond however, lies the “pro” squared realm. Here, Graphic Converter excels in picture manipulation. There are many varied editing effects on the image characteristics. Again, I shall state for the record, I am not a digital image whiz, but this stuff was very smooth and fun to play around with. I enjoyed the image results with many of my standard digital pictures … producing fun and feature filled products. And for a about half what I paid for Adobe’s Photoshop Elements (an outstanding program in its own right.)

About the only thing I would recommend is to use the website often as a reference. My main reasoning here is that there have been three changes to the software and associated documentation since I’ve been using the application during the past month. And, all have been subtle improvements. So, while not a downside, my recommendation is to allow the novice user more access to the expertise of the software developers. But that’s hardly a “con” in my book.

By Elaine Robinson, AAUG Member
Reviewed 5/05

Andromeda Cutline filter is an Adobe Photoshop compatible plugin filter to apply engraved and woodcut effects to all or selected portions of a continuous tone grayscale photo or illustrations with gradient blends or line art. Four different screens are included. It also includes a screening tool called a Stamper for setting the position, curvature and angle of the elliptical line screens.

What a fun filter! You can create woodcut effects right out of the box or read the included 44-page .pdf manual to fine tune the effect. I created the elephant graphic without even looking at the manual saving it with a 25% transparency! Afterwards, I printed the manual 2 up, or 2 pages per sheet to have it handy and not have to read it on the screen. It is quite easy to learn the basics and experiment for different effects.

The Andromeda Cutline filter is Mac OS X/9.x compatible and is stored in your Photoshop plugin folder. Installation is incredibly easy. Chose Install from the CD and the installer searches your computer for Photoshop. When asked, it installs the filter automatically in your Photoshop plugin folder. It is also supported by other graphic host programs. Restart Photoshop after installation and you will find it under Filters/Andromeda/Cutline. Also on the CD are folders of art and movie galleries, examples and tutorials.

I tried a tutorial that created a portrait into high contrast cutlining. I used one of my 300 dpi b/w stock images of the workman. You could use a color photograph and turn it into grayscale mode or use a color photo for other interesting effects. I experimented in Photoshop using the Brightness/Contrast from the Adjust menu raising both significantly. I chose Cutline from the filter menu and selected the tonal range to Highlights and 35 LPI (lines per inch) and selected the wavy elliptical cutline.

Graphic artists could create interesting illustrations for magazine articles or flyers. Web designers might use it for creating page backgrounds or to make creative photo montages. You can do so much with this plugin and I couldn’t explain it all here. Please take a look at some of the different effects you can create at www.andromeda.com and choose “Cutline Filter” under the Photoshop Plugins on the left of the screen. You can also download a Demo of any of Andromeda’s products from their Home Page. All considered, I give this product a solid 5 Moose (Terrific!)

I tested this filter on a 1.8 GHz Power PC 17″ iMac G5 with 768 MB DDR SDRAM running OS 10.3.9.

By Gary Miller, AAUG Member
Reviewed 5/05

elaTerra is a new world clock that allows you to compare with it’s multiple displays - local times, daylight hours, and moon phase info for time zones/cities around the globe.

I keep track of times for friends in different spots in Europe, Asia, and in the USA, with VelaTerra, it makes it easy with a glance to know exactly how many hours ahead or behind they are compared to your time, say Edinburgh, Scotland, it displays that is has Daylight Savings time, is 9 hours ahead of us, plus it shows it’s flag for quick reference. I have 5 cities set, so each shares this information for me.

The application has a menu of time zones for countries of the various continents. I like seeing how much daylight the city has too. it’s displayed by a horizontal graph, showing how much twilight, sunset, sunset hours, and exactly how many hours of daylight there is. It displays my time too as a reference. So if you ever call someone abroad, it easily displays the current time in most cities around the globe.

The help file is useful as a more indepth instruction manual with clear instructions, easy to follow. Sometimes products have so many features, it’s hard to know where to start or stop, this one has many features, but it keeps it fairly simple.

VelaTerra uses the Olson Time Zone database or tz zoneinfo, most accurate one in the world they say, works on a unix os. A feature that was unique to me was it’s ability to see the past time or future anywhere. Also being able to you can plan a meeting in multiple time zones, so each knows when it’s time for them to get involved, each to copy/paste it into an email.

I’d recommend VelaTerra, a great resource!

By Gerrit Dalman, AAUG Member
Reviewed 5/05

Apple has allowed us to manage media digitally with greater flexibility than was possible before. But there are still mediums that iLife does not include. Until digital books are reinvented and full-quality movies can be stored in volume, the incorporation of our libraries and video collections into the digital lifestyle will be incomplete.

While that’s on the horizon, there are ways to experience some of that future now. With “personal media management systems” like Delicious Library, users can organize their media collections much like they manage the rest of their iLife, just without actual digitized content.

Library stores a database of information on all the books, movies (DVDs and VHS), games (console and PC), and albums (CD, tape, and vinyl) that sit on your shelves or in boxes and entertainment centers. With a sleek interface that borrows from iLife and uses a “shelf” analogy for display, Library allows for quick inventory, intelligent searching, and flexible sharing of your collection.

Items are added to any number of virtual “shelves” that work like play lists in iTunes or albums in iPhoto. You can manually enter information or search by titles, but you can also use a hand scanner or an iSight to read barcodes right off items! Meta-data for each is gathered from Amazon’s database - including cover art that shows up on the shelf.

If you want to quickly find out who wrote a book or when a film was released, you needn’t go farther than your desktop. You can search titles, authors, actors, directors, and more with a search field just like iTunes or even speak a title to have it selected with voice recognition!

Library also helps you manage your inventory better than some libraries. By integrating with your Address Book, Library displays a list of potential borrowers and you can check items in and out with ease. You’ll never forget when or to whom you loaned your favorite flick again!

While Library is a standout product for a lot of big reasons, there are little things that make it great too. If you have an item that you think someone else might enjoy, one menu click will prepare an email with all the details (including cover art) so you can let them know about it.

You can even sync your library to your iPod so the next time you’re at Best Buy and can’t remember if you own season three of “The Simpsons,” you can check your notes and know for sure. Delicious Library can even pay for itself by expediting sales of your items on Amazon.com.

There’s even more in the cards for those who have made the step up to Tiger, since an updated Library now includes Spotlight support and a Dashboard widget so you can find a book without even having to launch the application!

Library is a lot of fun to use. You can tell the developers were passionate about their work from the amount of detail in the app as well as the presence of at least one “easter egg.” Add any item with “Star Wars” in the title to see what I mean!

On the downside, while the integration with Amazon.com goes even farther than I’ve mentioned, it would be great to have some functionality with other services as well, like selling on Half.com or collecting item info from CDDB.

It would also be wonderful if even a small amount of real data could be included. Trailers for films and games or comprehensive summaries for all books seem like natural improvements. Still, no matter how picky I want to be, I can’t complain because there is no doubt in my mind that Delicious Library is the best application of it’s kind.

System Requirements: * Mac OS X 10.3 or higher

ADDENDUM

It’s great when a program garners a supportive user base. In the case of Delicious Library, one user liked it so much they wrote another program to complement it. DeliciWeb provides the ability to export shelves as web pages to easily share collections with others online. They even maintain the sleek appearance of the shelf view from the Delicious application itself!

By Gary Miller, AAUG Member
Reviewed 5/05

With Tiger’s new operating system ( OS 10.4 ), we get the Dashboard’s widgets. VelaClock is a neat one that you’ll use all the time, I know a pun, but it’s right on. It’s a World clock that displays local time, daylight hours, moon phase information, and the flag for particular county you’re tracking, most helpful.

Like many, I have friends in different parts of the globe, and I wonder sometimes when receiving an email from them, what time it is there, well with VelaClock you not only can see exactly what time it is there, but see how much daylight hours they have, and how the moon is there. Always good for conversations… and when you travel to somewhere, it sure is helpful to know.

You have the option of using either a 12 hour or 24 hour clock, and switch by clicking on the digital time box. You can go up or down the selected group of cities you’re following too.

Using a widget is a cinch, just click on the Dashboard icon in your dock, the desktop darkens a bit, revealing your widgets. VelaClock has a bluish background color that’s easy on the eyes, cities, their times are clearly shown, with daylight, moon phase, or analogue clock below. That’s it. Get one, and their support via email is quick.

By Gary Miller, AAUG Member
Reviewed 5/05

EarPods are easy on your iPod earbuds, your wallet, and save you time, interested? Well, the folks at Audio-Outfitters, devised a product many of us prayed for when we grabbed for our Ipod earbuds, found a tangled mess, spent extra time we didn’t have, and wondered why someone, you know that proverbial someone, to invent a cure. Well, this is it.

The Original earPod is made of hard plastic, white so it matches your iPod’s earbuds, and been devised to store your input connection plug and earbuds, leaving only the cords outside. And I like the way the closing lid hides and keeps safe your earbuds/connection plug. I wish the entire package was smaller, but I haven’t figured out how to do it, but that’s why I didn’t invent them. The belt clip on it’s backside does help.

It’s amazingly simple, easy to use, and will save you from calling Apple to replace your iPod’s earbuds. Get them. By the way, click on over to Audio Outfitters to find all sorts of iPod goodies/gadgets, and they respond quickly to email or their phone.

By Gary Miller, AAUG Member
Reviewed 5/05

SimplyAudioBooks will keep you entertained, learned, and saves you money & time buying audio books. They have 4,546 unique titles, pay for shipping in either direction, have no late fees, and you can cancel anytime, what could be easier! And they have a sense of humor in their website, and packaging - notes that give you a smile. Their monthly emailed newsletter tells you what’s new.

If you ever tried Books on Tape, then this is the successor. You go to their site, enroll either for their trial period of 15 days, or join, with rates starting for 2 books for a month for $19.95 (if paid a year in advance), $27.95 (prepaid for the year) for 3 books a month, or 4 books a month for $37.95.

I contacted their marketing department, they gave me a 6 week trial period, so then i looked over the many books to create a list for ‘My Bookshelf,’ where you keep your books. You can change the order easily, but I found most of the books were either on backorder, had few copies available to get now, so I had to put either old material, or call customer service to get help is being put first for a book when it came back for sending out. I asked when more book inventory would be available, but customer service is in Canada, and operations is in Buffalo, with customer service being nice, but often not knowing the reasons why a book wasn’t available. They offered to do research and call me back, but often didn’t call me back. The advertised shipping time was 3 - 5 days in each direction, it actually took a week in each direction. One book arrived without the correct number of CD’s, so I called, and they send me another book. They now have a new distribution center in Las Vegas to supplement their Buffalo, NY center, I received books from both.

I enjoyed the books I received, but wished I could have got my first choices easier, the most current book I put on my list the first day, only came available after 5 weeks, so I didn’t get it. I put the CD’s into iTunes and listened to them on my iPod. Most books are 3 or 4 CD’s, but if it’s longer, then it’s considered 2 selections. With a couple of books, I received the first set of CD’s and decided I didn’t want the rest, so that saved me time, to get something I wanted. Each book comes with a summary, user ratings, and suggestions of similar books for future listening. I would have liked to have an audio sample of the book, to know if a reader’s voice was easy to understand, 2 books were barely audible with poor narrators.

All in all, it’s a great way to listen to books, and when they gain more inventory, they’ll be able to stay current, send out your first choices.

By Gary Miller, AAUG Member
Reviewed 5/05

Version Tracker Pro saves me time, effort, and frustration. How? It keeps track of all the current versions of the software on my computer and 3 of my associates/friends computers for only $49.95 a year.

Version Tracker Pro scans your hard drive for all software, then compares what versions you have with what is current, displaying in red what you need to upgrade to. It will send you an email with a Daily Alert of what software has been newly released for you, or you will see a Watch List display. I like the fact that it tells you about the software, what’s new in the update/newer version, so you can decide. You can download directly from Version Tracker on your desktop, and with some apps, install it directly. You will have a download history of what you have downloaded, the ability to skip a version if you want, and it downloads into a new folder on your desktop, so you don’t have to hunt to find your update.

Version Tracker is the best known resource for computer software, be in Mac or Windows, you can go to their website, and easily search for the latest or to just find out if something is made for what you want to do. I learned about bulk mail applications by searching there, then looked at fellow user ratings of them, before upgrading/purchasing, very helpful. If you want to search for Tiger apps, you can easily do that. Or to find new Widgets for Tiger’s new feature Dashboard, very cool.

I use it daily. And like subscribing to their weekly summary of what has been released, be it software, freeware, or shareware, it’s all there for you on your desktop. I highly recommend Version Tracker Pro!

Please note that AAUG members can get a $10 discount off of the price of a VT Pro subscription if they follow this link.