TidBITS#774/04-Apr-05
=====================
Jeff Carlson upped the ante on holiday cards this year with
a full-fledged DVD; read on for an article sharing the essential
lessons he learned in the process. Adam relates his experience
of switching to MaxEmail for incoming fax-to-email service, and
Glenn Fleishman covers the announcement of Adobe Creative Suite 2
and notes that Skype users can now receive calls from normal
telephones for a small fee. In Take Control news, check out
our redesigned Web site!
Topics:
MailBITS/04-Apr-05
Replacing eFax with MaxEmail
Building a Holiday DVD
Take Control News/04-Apr-05
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/04-Apr-05
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MailBITS/04-Apr-05
------------------
**Skype Adds SkypeIn for Mac** -- I've written a bit about Skype,
a voice-over-IP program for Mac, Windows, and Linux that offers
great quality service, five-user conference calling, and outbound
calls at low rates to the regular phone network (see "Road Warrior
Scramble" in TidBITS-771_). But wait! There's more. Skype is now
testing SkypeIn, an inbound telephone number attached to your
Skype account. Other companies offer a similar service, but
typically only in a bundle. For instance, Vonage has what they
call a soft phone service, but it's an add-on to an existing
Vonage full-service account.
<http://www.skype.com/products/skype/macosx/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=08028>
SkypeIn costs a ridiculously low 10 euros for three months of
service in this phase (including unlimited inbound calls and
voicemail), or about US$4 per month. The Vonage service is
Internet telephony only, while Skype includes Skype-to-Skype
and inbound and outbound telephone network calling. And Skype
includes instant messaging and file exchange, too. [GF]
<http://www.skype.com/products/skype/macosx/changelog.html>
Adobe Announces Creative Suite 2
--------------------------------
by Glenn Fleishman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Adobe announced today that the latest versions of Photoshop,
Illustrator, InDesign, and GoLive will hit the market in May 2005
as part of Creative Suite 2, the company's thorough refresh for
their flagship products. Acrobat is on a separate track, and was
updated to version 7 in fall 2004.
The new CS2 offers a host of advantages for those working across
many Adobe programs by further pulling together elements that get
created in one program, tweaked in another, and placed on a page
(Web or print) in another. The new Adobe Bridge software works
with Version Cue CS2, a WebDAV-based server that retains multiple
versions of files in an archive, to allow browsing across all
kinds of media, including looking at older revisions, storing
multiple live versions of a single file, and even browsing and
purchasing royalty-free stock photography.
New features in Photoshop include a vanishing point feature for
adjusting perspective, better raw digital camera file support,
32-bit-per-channel images, and layer control through click and
drag. Illustrator gains live trace, live paint over bitmaps,
Photoshop layer support, and aid for creating content for mobile
devices such as cell phones. Indesign now features object styles
and support for Photoshop and PDF layers. GoLive is improved
with better previews through embedded rendering, visual tools
for building CSS-based pages, mobile device authoring tools,
secure FTP (SSH and SSL), and the capability to create favicons.
Version Cue now supports multiple live versions of the same for
use in different applications, but more important, it apparently
now works, too - something I couldn't say about Version Cue CS.
CS2 comes in Standard and Premium editions. Premium includes
Acrobat Professional, GoLive, Illustrator, InDesign, and Version
Cue. Standard omits Acrobat and GoLive. Premium costs $1,200 from
scratch, or $550 as an upgrade from either CS 1.1 or earlier
edition, or $450 from CS 1.3. Photoshop CS or 7.0 users can pay
$750 for an upgrade to the entire suite. Standard is $900 from
scratch, $350 from a previous CS version, or $500 from Photoshop
CS or 7.0.
Replacing eFax with MaxEmail
----------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
I'm not a fan of faxes. I fully admit they're useful on occasion,
when the source material is on paper, or when a form must be
filled out in pen and returned, often with a signature. But as a
technology, fax has always bothered me, since it usually generates
more paper than would otherwise be necessary. But, like it or not,
being able to send and receive faxes remains an integral part of
doing business today, so Tonya and I own a fax machine. It's
acceptable for sending faxes when a PDF in email won't do, but
we've never liked receiving faxes on it, since the print quality
is lousy and, more important, allowing it to answer a phone line
is always cause for annoyance, particularly given that it's
necessary so infrequently.
Long ago, we solved this problem by signing up for an eFax Free
receiving account; it accepted faxes and sent them to me as TIFF-F
attachments to email messages (see "Rejiggering Personal Voice
Communications" in TidBITS-593_). Because the account was free,
it also meant that eFax could (and did, frequently) send me
advertisements to support the service. The ads were annoying,
but the account was free, and for our limited fax reception needs,
the price was right.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=06528>
At some point, however, eFax presumably realized that free
accounts weren't worth as much as paid accounts, and they
increased their efforts to encourage me to start paying for an
eFax Plus account for $13 per month. Since the comparison was
with putting up with the annoyance of managing incoming faxes
on our existing fax machine for free, I politely ignored their
messages. Eventually, though, eFax must have decided I wasn't
worth the effort anymore, and cancelled my account. In theory,
I could have tried to sign up for a new eFax Free account, but
at least when I read the fine print just now, it would have been
a violation of their customer agreement, which states that a
customer is limited to a single eFax Free account, that you
couldn't receive more than 20 pages in month, and that you'd
have to use whatever random area code you were assigned. I didn't
care about the area code, but I wasn't sure if signing up after
they'd canceled my legacy account would be kosher, and if I were
to receive more than 20 pages in a month, I'd have to upgrade the
account or have it automatically cancelled. No thank you.
**Enter MaxEmail** -- After looking around for another free fax
reception account, I decided that there either was no such beast
anymore, or that if one did exist, it would be too onerous to use
due to intrusive advertising or other restrictions. The fee-based
service that floated to the top of my research next was MaxEmail,
which offers a Lite service option that provides reception of up
to 500 fax pages per month for $15 per year. The $9 per month
MaxEmail Plus provides additional features such as being able
to pick your area code, but MaxEmail Lite does all I want, and
it does it well.
<http://www.maxemail.com/>
MaxEmail's standard features include:
* Delivery in PDF format instead of TIFF-F, which was always
difficult to work with given that GraphicConverter was the only
utility I had that could see multiple pages in TIFF-F files.
TIFF-F is also an option with MaxEmail, but PDF has been much
easier to deal with.
* Delivery to up to five email addresses, which makes it possible
to have Tonya receive incoming faxes as well, so I don't become
a bottleneck on her work.
* Delivery options that allow for attaching the fax to email,
sending just a notification message with a link to the fax on
the Web, and alerts for pagers and cell phones. Bandwidth isn't
a problem for us, but Tonya prefers the notification option.
* A Receive Activity Log that shows faxes I've received in the
last month, and lets me resend them to myself or to forward them
to another email address. I haven't had to use this feature, but
I could easily see wanting it if something went wrong with the
email message containing the original fax. For an extra $2 per
month, MaxEmail will hold onto all faxes for a year.
<http://www.maxemail.com/fax/services_features.html>
I've been extremely happy with MaxEmail so far because it has just
worked. Whenever I've expected an incoming fax, it has appeared in
my email promptly, and printing the PDFs when necessary has never
been a problem. Since the incoming faxes are attachments in email
messages, I can archive them like any other email message, though
I do change the editable Subject field in the message in Eudora
so I don't have to puzzle over what "1 page MaxEmail fax from
123456790" might have been later on.
If you've been looking for a way to bring faxes into the email
world, or just a way of freeing up a phone line, check out
MaxEmail.
Building a Holiday DVD
----------------------
by Jeff Carlson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Now that Adam lives in Ithaca, the only time we see each other
in person is at January's Macworld Expo in San Francisco. When
we met up for the last show, at a small gathering at Joe Kissell's
apartment, one of the first things he said was, "Man, you've
ruined it for the rest of us!"
What had I done? He pointed to Joe's mantelpiece, which had a copy
of the beautiful, professionally printed Christmas card that he
and Tonya sent out. And then I knew: my family's holiday "card"
this year was a DVD containing video, music, and still photos
from the previous year. I had raised the geek bar.
What Adam didn't know was that the DVD almost didn't happen.
I started later than I should have, and even though I've made
several videos and DVDs while writing three editions of my book
on iMovie and iDVD, I made the classic mistake of thinking, "I've
done this before... it'll go quickly!" The truth, of course, is
that no multimedia project (or home repair project, or writing
assignment, for that matter) ever goes as fast as you think it
will. I didn't keep track of my time, but I estimate the project
took 30 to 40 hours of work over a three-week period, compressed
to try to finish it before Christmas.
<http://www.necoffee.com/imovievqs/>
Whether you're creating a holiday DVD, a movie chronicling your
most recent vacation, or the highlights of a child's birthday
party, the following chronicle of my experience should help you
create your own DVD project more easily and effectively.
**Gather Material** -- Even though we were assembling a project
packed with multimedia elements, my wife Kim and I started
by writing a traditional letter that touched on the year's
highlights (my sister's wedding, a trip to Arizona, etc.).
From that basic script I created an outline in Microsoft Word
listing the highlights and noting any corresponding video or
still photos I already possessed, and whether I needed to shoot
any new footage.
For example, I ended up shooting some new video of Kim building
a ceramic bowl (a new hobby of hers). Also, I wanted to summarize
some of my work accomplishments, so I used Boinx Software's
iStopMotion to create a movie of me working at the computer
while books and lots of coffee cups magically appear around me.
(You can view the clip at the second URL below.)
<http://www.istopmotion.com/>
<http://www.tidbits.com/resources/774/jeffworks_stopmotion.mov>
The video footage taken throughout the year, such as from our
Arizona vacation, already existed in iMovie. I assumed that our
viewers didn't want to sit through a holiday DVD that lasted
several hours, so I chose a few representative scenes and exported
them from iMovie as DV-formatted QuickTime files. (Here's a tip:
You don't have to export an entire movie in iMovie 4 or iMovie HD.
Command-click the clips you want to export, and then chose Share
from the File menu. Make sure you mark the checkbox labeled "Share
selected clips only," then click the QuickTime icon, and choose
Full Quality DV - or a different format, but Full Quality DV is
good for importing into Final Cut Express - from the "Compress
movie for" popup menu.)
For still pictures, I launched iPhoto and built a new photo album
containing the photos I wanted to include. I also knew I wanted
to create some background music in GarageBand, but since the music
would depend on the length of the scenes in the video, I saved the
composing part of my project for later.
**Managing Assets and Planning** -- With the raw materials
assembled, I was ready to edit. My original plan was to use
iMovie, but I quickly realized that iMovie didn't offer the
flexibility I'd need: I was pulling together a growing number
of assets (video clips, digital still photos, background music,
a voiceover narration), and I wanted to create a few simple
special effects (photos overlaid on the video). Although iMovie
could have handled the job - with the help of one of GeeThree's
Slick volumes of iMovie plug-ins for the special effects -
I decided to edit the movie in Final Cut Express instead for
that and a number of other reasons.
<http://www.geethree.com/>
<http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress/>
The big advantage of using Final Cut Express was that I wouldn't
be limited by iMovie's one video track and two audio tracks.
Final Cut Express offers up to 99 video and 99 audio tracks,
which let me arrange layers on top of one another. For example,
in the scene from the completed movie where books and coffee cups
appear, I added two magazine covers that pop up, complete with
drop shadows.
<http://www.tidbits.com/resources/774/fce_timeline.jpg>
I also chose Final Cut Express because I would be dealing
with lots of still photos. I wanted the camera to appear to
be moving slowing across them, an effect called "pan and zoom"
but more commonly referred to by Apple as the Ken Burns Effect.
Unfortunately, although the Ken Burns Effect is easy to implement
in iMovie, its output is erratic (even in the current iMovie HD).
There's no way to control how fast the effect happens, so you
frequently end up with a pan that starts quickly and then slows
down, or vice-versa. Implementing a pan and zoom effect in Final
Cut Express is slightly more involved, but the results are
consistent. If I had stuck with iMovie, I probably would have
used a third-party utility such as LQ Graphic's Photo to Movie
($50) or Granted Software's Still Life ($25) to create my pans,
which could be imported into iMovie as DV-formatted QuickTime
files.
<http://lqgraphics.com/software/>
<http://www.grantedsw.com/still-life/>
Since Final Cut Express doesn't enjoy the inter-application
integration shared between iMovie and iPhoto, switching to
Final Cut Express required me to go back into iPhoto and export
my images as JPEG files. In fact, I ended up going back to iPhoto
several times for more photos as the project progressed, requiring
more exporting. Fortunately, Final Cut Express makes it easy
to keep track of your assets by creating bins in the Browser
window. iMovie's counterpart, the Shelf, stores only video files.
(Actually, it can also store photos, but because the Shelf uses
the same work area as the Photos pane, you must drag photos first
to the Timeline, not directly to the Shelf). I created several
bins for differently themed photos in Final Cut Express, which
could be collapsed in a list view and put out of sight when
I didn't need them.
Remember that by this point I hadn't begun editing clips at all;
I had only pulled together the assets. So, the first lesson is
to think ahead: gather your materials and anticipate what you'll
need, so you don't end up with a half-finished project and the
realization that you need to switch back into collection mode.
In this case, I had my outline as a guide and a rough idea in my
head of what might prove challenging. You might find it equally
helpful to create rough storyboards highlighting each scene.
If I had jumped headlong into editing the movie before thinking
through what would come up later, I might _still_ be working on
the project.
**Building the Movie** -- Before editing a frame of video, I had
to perform a final edit on the script and make sure it was done -
a concept that's often alien to Hollywood, but terribly important
when our "letter" served as the foundation of the video. Using a
MacMice MicFlex USB microphone, Kim and I recorded the narration
directly into Final Cut Express using the Voice Over tool. You'd
think that reading from prepared text into a microphone would be
easy, but it actually took us a couple of hours to get it right.
Having never done an extended voiceover, I was surprised how
speed, inflection, and enunciation can vary so much while
recording.
<http://www.dvforge.com/micflex.shtml>
The narration also dictated how much video and photography to
include. Playing it back a few times also gave us a chance to see
if our movie would be too long; how much time would someone want
to spend with it? 15 minutes? 10? The initial reading turned out
to be a bit less than 6 minutes, which seemed reasonable.
Finally, it was time to add the visuals. As I'd learned from
experience, I just tossed the footage and still photos in without
messing with timing, titles, or transitions. It's easy to get
sidetracked making the opening sequence _just_right_, but resist
that urge.
Based on the narration, it was easy to tailor the video to the
different thematic sections (introduction, working lives, friends
and family, and best wishes for 2005). The time-lapse movie
created with iStopMotion, for example, was about 12 seconds in
duration, which in context seemed to be plodding. Speeding up
the footage 50 percent (since it was time-lapse, the speed change
didn't look awkward as normal footage would) maintained a more
active pace, and freed up some time in that section to create the
superimposed the magazine covers. Though I had to choose which
clips to use in the end, having the framework of the narration
made the initial editing process feel like a fill-in-the-blanks
exercise.
That's also where my choice of Final Cut Express came in handy.
In a section where I needed exactly 10 seconds of video, say, I
could set the In and Out points (which define the section of the
video clip that's used) and then "roll" through the clip to find
the best 10 seconds. In iMovie, I would have had to adjust the
beginning and end points of the clip separately to find the
sequence I wanted and then make sure it occupied 10 seconds.
Final Cut Express, on the other hand, offers a Roll tool that
keeps the 10 second window constant and, in essence, plays the
footage behind it.
With the rough cut nailed down, I then went back through and
fine-tuned the movie: adding transitions where needed, applying
pan and zoom to the still photos, and creating titles for each
section. Titles, especially, are better handled in Final Cut
Express, where there are more controls for setting type size
and placing the words on the screen.
Finally, I turned toward background music, most of which I built
in GarageBand using Apple Loops (I'm not sufficiently adept with
real-world instruments to record my own playing). Again, knowing
the lengths of each section helped define the duration of the
music and where to bring in other virtual instruments to highlight
what was happening onscreen.
The only frustration I had with GarageBand was that you can only
export your compositions by sending them to iTunes first, and
then locating the AIFF-formatted audio file on the hard disk
before dragging it into my movie. Final Cut Express HD, the
current version, now includes Apple's Soundtrack application
for working with background music; I was using Final Cut Express
2.0. I haven't had a chance to use Soundtrack, but it looks as
if it would have made my music process easier.
<http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress/soundtrack.html>
(To see the final version of the Jeff Works section of the video,
click the URL below, a 4.3 MB QuickTime movie. And remember that
this was made with far-flung relatives in mind, who don't keep up
with my work life on a regular basis, so I apologize if it sounds
like I'm gloating.)
<http://www.tidbits.com/resources/774/jeffworks.mov>
**Creating the DVD** -- With the movie completed, it was time to
turn to the DVD. One advantage of using iMovie in this case would
have been its great Create iDVD Project button, which packages
everything up nicely, launches iDVD, and creates a new project
all ready for tweaking. Instead, coming from Final Cut Express,
I exported the movie by choosing QuickTime Movie from the Export
submenu of the File menu. Then I launched iDVD and saved the
project with a custom name.
iDVD offers plenty of beautiful templates to choose from, but
I had created my own background image, so I chose a simple theme
without any motion elements. To add my movie, I simply dragged
it from the Finder to iDVD's editing screen.
To change the background image, I opened the Customize drawer,
switched to the Settings pane, and then dragged my JPEG image file
from the Finder to the Background well. The rest of my time in
iDVD was spent twiddling with the screen's title font and color,
choosing a border for the button one clicked to play the movie,
and positioning those elements.
I also created a slideshow in iDVD by clicking the Slideshow
button, and then dragging the collection of digital still photos
from the Finder to the Slideshow editing screen. Since several
people receiving the disc own computers, I made a point to enable
the checkbox labeled Add files to DVD-ROM in case they wanted
high-resolution versions to add to their own photo libraries.
A DVD disc holds roughly 4.7 GB of data, and my little 6 minute
movie only took up a little over 1 GB, so I had plenty of room
for dozens of photos.
Burning the project to a DVD-R disc took only about an hour, since
it didn't contain much data. Then I tested the disc on as many DVD
players as I could find: every DVD-equipped computer in the house
and the DVD player connected to our television.
**Duplication and Distribution** -- The last steps were to make
several copies of the first disc, package them up, and mail
them out. I connected an external LaCie d2 DVD+/-RW burner to my
PowerBook and used Roxio's Toast 6 Titanium to create duplicates.
Having the added drive sped up the process slightly by keeping the
original in the PowerBook's SuperDrive, so I didn't have to keep
swapping it out for a new blank disc for each copy. The 16x speed
of the LaCie drive was also a plus. If you have only one drive,
you can use Toast or Disk Utility to create a disc image from
the original and use that as the source for burning duplicates.
iDVD 5 now includes the capability to create a disc image directly
from iDVD without burning a physical disc (choose Save As Disc
Image from the File menu).
<http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=10548>
<http://www.roxio.com/en/products/toast/index.jhtml>
As the discs came out of the burner, I affixed custom-designed
labels created with Smile On My Mac's disclabel software. Normally
I'm hesitant about disc labels; if one comes off in a slot-loading
computer drive, you could be in for a hefty repair bill. However,
these DVDs were more than likely all destined for tray-loading DVD
players. Besides, have you seen my handwriting? Making something
using disclabel was definitely the wise choice.
<http://www.smileonmymac.com/disclabel/>
The last task was to buy cardboard disc envelopes that could be
mailed without using a jewel case, which would have added weight
and bulk and postage costs.
Speaking of price, this last push revealed a detail I failed
to account for at the beginning of the process. Discs, labels,
mailers, and postage add up (as did the two ink cartridges I need
to buy for my inkjet printer - boy are those things expensive!).
I estimate it cost me about $4 per disc (largely due to the
emergency ink refill, so around $2 per disc without that expense).
If price had been a major factor, I may not have embarked on the
DVD project in favor of a nicely printed postcard.
But this project wasn't one based on price. We were able to send a
more vivid greeting to family members as far away as South Africa,
and got some good feedback in return. In fact, while talking with
Adam in January, he told me that his son Tristan ended up watching
the video several times. Who would have thought that a holiday
card would be a repeat experience?
Now, it's time to start planning for next year's DVD. Starting
the project in April just might give me enough lead time.
PayBITS: Will Jeff's experiences help you plan your next
video editing project? Thank him with a few bucks via PayBITS!
<https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=jeff%40necoffee.com>
Read more about PayBITS: <http://www.tidbits.com/paybits/>
Take Control News/04-Apr-05
---------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The last few weeks have been full of work on the Web side of
things as we try to make the Take Control site more coherent,
easier to use, and helpful to people who would prefer to order
via phone or fax.
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/news/>
**Take Control Web Site Redesigned** -- As we gear up for the
eventual release of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, we realized that our
Web site desperately needed to be redesigned. In the early days,
we had only a few ebooks, so a main page that listed them, and
individual pages for each book, were totally appropriate. But as
we increased our title count and added a variety of support pages,
the usability of the site started to suffer. Some pages (like
the home page and individual book pages) had too much information,
and other pages (like all the support pages) forced users to
figure out what sort of problem they were having and pick the
right page. Plus, we'd added the Take Control News page without
having a good way of integrating it with the rest of the site.
So, in rethinking the Take Control site, we focused the home page
on providing a brief explanation of Take Control, showing off just
our most recent titles, and offering links to recent news items.
A persistent navigation bar at the top of the page provides links
to the other three main pages: Catalog, News, and FAQ. The catalog
page takes over as the complete listing of all our ebooks,
translations, print books, and bundle offers. For ebooks and
translations, the catalog also now makes it possible to add
multiple items to the cart at once. (This doesn't work with
bundles because each bundle has a different coupon code, and
an order can have only one coupon code, and it doesn't work with
print books, since they go through the Amazon cart.) The FAQ page
brings together all our previous support pages with a unified
table of contents at the top and a contact form at the bottom.
The pages for each ebook have changed considerably as well.
They'd grown organically, as Web pages are wont to do, and much
of the information on them was irrelevant or available in other
places. After much consideration, we pared the pages down so they
contained a left column that contained ordering controls, and
a right column that described the book. At the bottom of the
right column were three narrower columns containing just the
facts about the book, the author bio, and a list of book reviews.
Most notably, we removed the Table of Contents and Introduction
sections from the page, since they made it extremely long and were
available in their native form in the sample PDF, which also helps
people get a feel for what makes a Take Control ebook better than
99 percent of the PDFs out on the Internet.
Behind the scenes, I utilized CSS heavily, much more so than
before, and I also started relying on Web Crossing to include
commonly repeated elements so changes can be made in a single
place. The entire experience, particularly the CSS, required
a huge learning curve, since I'd never worked with CSS before.
CSS is tremendously attractive, but there are still implementation
gaps and quirks; in particular, I came to dislike Internet
Explorer on both Mac and Windows in entirely new ways because
Internet Explorer tends to deal with CSS differently than all
other browsers, requiring unsightly hacks to work around the
differences. In a few places, I just threw up my hands and fell
back to using HTML tables to position elements on the pages.
Finally, we have switched to the new domain of
www.takecontrolbooks.com, which is clear and accurate, if a
tad longer than ideal (takecontrol.com is in use for margarine).
We shied away from www.takecontrolebooks.com because the extra E
just made the words difficult to parse visually, and of course,
we also have print versions of some of our books. All our old URLs
should still work; the new domain is being handled via behind-the-
scenes redirects in Web Crossing.
So give the site a look, and let me know if there's anything you
find confusing or difficult to use.
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/>
**Phone and Fax Ordering Now Available** -- To help people who are
uncomfortable ordering on the Web, or who have problems with our
Web ordering process for whatever reason, we've enabled phone and
fax orders via eSellerate. Basically, if you want to order over
the phone, you find the SKU (stock keeping unit - a standard term
for identifying products in retailing) ID codes for the ebooks you
want on our Phone Order page, then you call eSellerate and relay
the order information and payment details. Once the operator
processes the order, you'll receive an email receipt with download
information. Placing an order via fax involves filling in the
Fax Order page, then printing it and writing in the remaining
information (quantity, subtotal, total, date, and your signature)
before faxing it to eSellerate. Again, you'll receive download
information back via email. All the details you need are on our
Phone Order and Fax Order pages.
<http://store.eSellerate.net/s.asp?s=STR5625274989&CMD=PHONE>
<http://store.eSellerate.net/s.asp?s=STR5625274989&CMD=FAX>
One more thing. To take advantage of a coupon (which is how all
the bundle discounts work), you'll need to start the order on the
Web, just so you can get to the first page of the shopping cart.
Then copy the coupon code from that page and either read it to the
operator or write it on your fax order form. eSellerate will take
it into account when placing the order.
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/04-Apr-05
------------------------------------
by TidBITS Staff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The second URL below each thread description points to the
discussion on our Web Crossing server, which will be faster.
**Tinderbox impressions** -- Readers take the Tinderbox demo for a
spin and compare how well the note-taker works over the long term.
(3 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2530>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/389>
**Getting Tiger** -- With Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger nearing completion,
Amazon has posted a rebate offer for those who order Tiger now.
(7 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2531>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/390>
**Who's clueless, the computer or the user?** A hidden interface
element leads to a fascinating discussion of design in software,
interfaces, and real-world appliances. (25 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2532>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/391>
**Mini in your carry-on?** Are you likely to cause a ruckus if you
try to bring a Mac mini onto an airplane in your carry-on luggage?
(10 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2533>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/392>
**Anyone using GoodPage?** Following the recent DealBITS offer
for Tari's GoodPage Web design software, a reader solicits
opinions from other people who may have downloaded the demo
version. (3 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2534>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/393>
**Other credit card number theft stories** -- Clearly, Adam isn't
the first person to have his credit card number stolen (as related
in last week's issue). Others share their tales of frustration.
(2 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2535>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/394>
**Introducing an elderly computer novice to Macintosh** -- An
elderly friend wants to buy a computer, but with no previous
experience, what other sources should he or she look to for
help getting up to speed? (25 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2536>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/395>
**Thoughts about identity theft** -- Are credit cards more likely
to be stolen than debit cards? What other steps can you take
to protect your identity? TidBITS readers continue to offer
good suggestions. (7 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2537>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/396>
**Mac-friendly GPS systems** -- Global Positioning Satellite (GPS)
receivers are cool, but support on the Mac has always been spotty.
One reader solicits suggestions for USB drivers and other
information. (3 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2539>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/398>
$$
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