TidBITS#807/05-Dec-05
=====================
We're back with beefy issue anchored by Jeff Carlson's discussion
about choosing the Canon PowerShot S2 IS for going on safari.
Before that, Tonya shares her experience with the innovative
streaming music service Pandora, Adam points developers toward
a better way to help users install applications, Matt Neuburg
notes the open source Unicode font Gentium, and Glenn Fleishman
reports on the demise of TaxCut for the Mac. News this week: the
releases of Security Update 2005-009, BBEdit 8.2.4, TextWrangler
2.1.1, EyeTV 1.8.4 with iPod video support, Rhapsody for Web
browsers, "Take Control of Apple Mail in Tiger," "Take Control
of Podcasting on the Mac," and the second edition of "Take Control
of Buying a Digital Camera" (on sale through Christmas).
Topics:
MailBITS/05-Dec-05
DealBITS Drawing: GarageSale 1.9
RealNetworks Unveils Browser-Based Rhapsody
A Better Way to Install Applications
Pandora Beats iTunes for Holiday Music
Buying My Canon PowerShot S2 IS
Take Control News/05-Dec-05
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/05-Dec-05
<http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-807.html>
<ftp://ftp.tidbits.com/issues/2005/TidBITS#807_05-Dec-05.etx>
Copyright 2005 TidBITS: Reuse governed by Creative Commons license
<http://www.tidbits.com/terms/> Contact: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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This issue of TidBITS sponsored in part by:
* READERS LIKE YOU! Support TidBITS with a contribution today! <----- NEW!
<http://www.tidbits.com/about/support/contributors.html>
Special thanks this week to Bill Merchant, Peter J. Paul,
Ralph Handen, and James Guibault for their generous support!
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* Web Crossing, Inc: Web Crossing offers integrated collaboration <-- NEW!
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* Circus Ponies NoteBook: Never lose anything again. NoteBook <------ NEW!
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* Bare Bones Software's BBEdit 8.2 -- More than 100 new features
and improvements including Subversion support, Text Factories,
Codeless Language Modules, Documents Drawer, and much more!
Demo or buy it today, visit <http://www.barebones.com/>.
* StuffIt Deluxe 10 from Allume Systems supports Automator,
compresses JPEGs up to 30%, enables Spotlight to search in
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MailBITS/05-Dec-05
------------------
**Last Call for Holiday 2005 Gift Ideas** -- Submissions for
our holiday gift issue have been a little light this year,
particularly in the hardware and game categories, so if you've
been holding off, drop us a note with your suggestions by
07-Dec-05. As always, we're collecting ideas in TidBITS Talk,
so send suggestions to <[email protected]> or submit them
in the TidBITS Talk Web forum, and please use plain text format
rather than HTML. We've already started threads for specific
categories. Please suggest only one product or idea per message,
give the reason why you're recommending it, make sure to include
a URL or other necessary contact information, and please recommend
only others' products. Thanks! [ACE]
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/>
**Security Update 2005-009 Released** -- Apple has released
Security Update 2005-009, preventing a diverse collection of
possible exploits in both the desktop and server versions of Mac
OS X 10.3.9 and Mac OS X 10.4.3. The most notable changes are to
Safari, in which Apple improved handling of credit card security
codes, eliminated a bug in the JavaScript engine's PCRE (regular
expression) library, ensured that files with overly long names
won't be downloaded into unexpected locations, caused JavaScript-
generated dialogs to identify the site that created them, and
fixed a heap overflow that could enable arbitrary code execution
in WebKit-based applications. Other components of Mac OS X seeing
fixes include Apache2, apache_mod_ssl, CoreFoundation, CoreTypes,
curl, iodbcadmintool, OpenSSL, passwordserver, QuickDraw Manager,
ServerMigration, sudo, and syslog. Security Update 2005-009 is
available via Software Update and as a standalone download for
each version of Mac OS X; sizes range from 6 MB to 33 MB. [ACE]
<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302847>
**One for the Mac, Nineteen for Windows** -- U.S. Mac owners have
one less option to pay the taxman. For a few years, H&R Block
developed TaxCut for Mac OS X, paralleling their fairly good
online site for tax preparation and filing. However, there will
be no TaxCut 2005 (that's tax year, not release year).
<http://taxcut.com/>
With the growth in tax-preparation Web sites that provide instant
feedback, don't require downloaded updates, and offer all kinds of
upsell ("Have an accountant review your return for $75, and we'll
ship you a cheese sandwich for $15!"), standalone Mac OS X tax
software appears to be a losing game. That said, Intuit's TurboTax
remains an option for Mac users (Intuit also offers Windows and
online versions). Their 2005 tax year version for federal filing
is available now; state tax add-ons will appear starting next
month.
<http://turbotax.intuit.com/>
For years, I worked with an accountant because of some complicated
payout issues and other matters. I switched to TaxCut because
I like the Web site and although the standalone version had some
shortcomings, it seemed like the right choice. Now that I'm being
forced to switch away from TaxCut, I'll be curious to see how easy
it is to move my Quicken data into TurboTax. [GF]
**Bare Bones Updates Text Editors** -- Bare Bones Software has
updated both of their text editors, the powerful BBEdit and the
freeware TextWrangler. Both programs, which share the same text
engine, benefit from a variety of bug fixes and the capability to
turn off the Script menu. BBEdit 8.2.4 is a free update and is a
15.2 MB download; TextWrangler 2.1.1 is a 9 MB download. [ACE]
<http://www.barebones.com/support/updates.shtml>
<http://www.barebones.com/support/bbedit/current_notes.shtml>
<http://www.barebones.com/support/textwrangler/current_notes.shtml>
**Gentium Goes Open Source** -- Gentium is a lovely and free
Unicode font designed by Victor Gualtney (at the University
of Reading, in England) and now distributed by SIL International,
a far-seeing organization that has long played an important and
generous role in linguistic computing and related causes. Gentium
contains a full range of characters for the Latin alphabet with
all variants and diacritical marks, as well as Greek (Ancient
and Modern) and phonetic symbols, making it a splendid choice
for those wishing to represent Latin-based writing systems and
transliterations, as well as for classicists and others. The news
is that SIL has switched to a new "Open Font License" structure,
making it possible for users to modify Gentium and to contribute
to its further development. Those interested in languages, fonts,
and the open source movement will find this to be a significant
and commendable development. [MAN]
<http://www.sil.org/>
<http://www.sil.org/computing/>
<http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=nrsi&id=gentium>
**EyeTV 1.8.4 Offers One-Step Export to iPod Video** -- If the
limited selection of TV shows available on the iTunes Music Store
is preventing you from watching video on your new iPod, check out
the latest version of EyeTV from Elgato Systems. EyeTV works with
video hardware to enable you to watch and record TV on your Mac,
edit out unwanted content, and (in conjunction with Roxio's Toast)
burn recorded shows to CD or DVD. The latest update, version
1.8.4, adds the capability to export shows to one of two formats
for video iPods: QuickTime H.264 or MPEG-4, the latter of which
Elgato claims encodes five times faster and offers higher
resolution output. The updates is free to registered users
of EyeTV, which costs $80 on its own, or comes in a dizzying
array of bundles from Elgato (due in large part to international
television standards; only four products are appropriate for U.S.
Mac users). [ACE]
<http://www.elgato.com/>
<http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_eyetvmain>
<http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=support_updates_eyetv>
DealBITS Drawing: GarageSale 1.9
--------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
A year ago, we did a DealBITS drawing for the program GarageSale,
from iwascoding.com. GarageSale is a Mac OS X application that
acts as a front-end for posting auctions on eBay. It integrates
with iPhoto and the iSight camera, provides decent text-editing
tools, and can track your auctions after posting. It was one of
our most popular drawings; apparently lots of TidBITS readers post
auctions via eBay and dislike eBay's Web-based interface. If you
fall into that group, but haven't yet tried GarageSale, you have
another chance to win a copy of the latest version, which now
features a slew of nicely designed templates that you can use
and customize for free (apparently eBay charges if you want to
use their designs) and a streamlined interface. GarageSale also
now takes advantage of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, via a Dashboard widget
for tracking active auctions, with a new Core Image-savvy Image
Editor to improve pictures, by searching auction templates with
Spotlight, and by using Automator to work with auctions and
images.
<http://www.iwascoding.com/GarageSale/>
In this week's DealBITS drawing, you can enter to win one of three
copies of GarageSale (the 5-machine Family Pack license), each
worth $44.99. Entrants who aren't among our lucky winners will
receive a discount on GarageSale (both the single-user and Family
Pack license), so if you'd like a program to ease the process
of posting an auction on eBay, be sure to enter at the DealBITS
page linked below. All information gathered is covered by our
comprehensive privacy policy. Be careful with your spam filters,
since you must be able to receive email from my address to learn
if you've won. Remember too, that if someone you refer to this
drawing wins, you'll receive the same prize to reward you for
spreading the word.
<http://www.tidbits.com/dealbits/iwascoding2/>
<http://www.tidbits.com/about/privacy.html>
RealNetworks Unveils Browser-Based Rhapsody
-------------------------------------------
by Geoff Duncan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
RealNetworks today announced Rhapsody.com, a beta launch of a
browser-based version of its Rhapsody streaming music subscription
service for broadband users in the United States. Previously, the
Rhapsody service was restricted to users running a Windows-only
jukebox application; the new browser-based version opens popular
features of the service to Mac and Linux users for the first
time. Unlike Apple's iTunes Music Store, where users purchase
and download individual tracks, Rhapsody users sign up for
streaming audio service via the Internet. Subscribers paying for
the Rhapsody Unlimited service can stream as much audio as they
like for the $10 per month subscription charge; needless to say,
users lose access to the music if they cease subscribing to the
service, and there's no support for iPods, other portable music
players, or any household digital music players for Mac and Linux
users.
With the launch of Rhapsody.com, any user can - for free - stream
up to 25 songs a month on-demand, as well as listen to 25
commercial-free streaming "radio" stations classified by theme
and genre. Rhapsody carries over 1.4 million tracks from the
five major music labels as well as independent distributors,
so RealNetworks has enabled free streaming access to a big library
of commercial music, no doubt hoping users will be so taken with
Rhapsody - and that the company will earn enough advertising
revenue from the browser-based player - that they'll eventually
come out ahead.
<http://www.rhapsody.com/>
<http://www.realnetworks.com/company/press/releases/2005/rhapcom.html>
To access Rhapsody.com, users must sign up (providing an email
address, ZIP code, and year of birth, but no credit card info)
after installing the Rhapsody Player Engine - a browser plug-in.
Real says they support Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher using Internet
Explorer, Firefox, and Safari: installation failed spectacularly
for me under Firefox 1.5, but installation using Safari worked
fine, and thereafter Rhapsody.com was also accessible via Firefox.
Aside from installation, audio quality via Rhapsody seems somewhat
variable and the browser-based interface offers some amusing
glitches (it's currently crediting every song in the '60s Pop
station to Jan and Dean), but, even as a beta release, Real's
move increases pressure on Apple to consider streaming and
subscriptions options for its iTunes Music Store.
A Better Way to Install Applications
------------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
One nicety about Mac OS X packages (folders that look like files;
they're how most applications are delivered these days) is that
they make installation easy. You download a disk image, open its
window if necessary, and drag the program inside to your
Applications folder. What could be easier?
Well, it would be easier if your Applications folder was a readily
available target, but unless you've put it in your Dock or made
it permanently visible in some other way, you must somehow display
it, such as by opening another window or revealing the sidebar in
the disk image's window by clicking the toolbar lozenge. But what
if the developer made an alias to the Applications folder right
in that disk image window, such that installation becomes merely
a matter of dragging the program a short distance in the same
window? Particularly if there's also a bit of instructional text
and a graphical indication of what to do like an arrow, such an
approach would make for an even better user experience than we
have now.
I had just that idea a few years ago at MacHack while chatting
with MindVision's Josh Ferguson about FileStorm, which makes it
easy to create classy-looking disk images. But like so many good
ideas, I never looked into what was necessary to make it reality.
Just the other day, though, I downloaded a beta version of Dejal
Systems' server monitoring tool Simon, and was delighted to see
that David Sinclair of Dejal had implemented the very same idea.
<http://www.mindvision.com/filestorm.asp>
<http://www.dejal.com/simon/>
When I asked David how he'd done it, he admitted that he'd read
about the technique on O'Reilly's MacDevCenter in an article
by Ben Artin, who works with Jim Matthews on Fetch (and who
was a regular at MacHack - clearly all roads lead to Dearborn,
Michigan). You can read Ben's full article for details, but in
short, the trick turns out to rely on a Unix symbolic link instead
of a normal alias, since a symbolic link can stand in for the
Applications folder on the system it's on, rather than being
an alias to the developer's Applications folder.
<http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2005/09/02/
easy-access-to-application-folder-from-a-disk.html>
If you're a developer whose software should live in the
Applications folder, I encourage you to adopt this approach to
simplifying the installation process for your users. And if you're
a user, like me, who has been irritated at having to reveal an
Applications folder icon before dragging a new program to it, a
gentle suggestion to developers whose software you've purchased
wouldn't be amiss.
Pandora Beats iTunes for Holiday Music
--------------------------------------
by Tonya Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The holiday season is upon us, and if you are the resident geek in
your home, that probably means messing around with smart playlists
in iTunes to wrangle your holiday music into likely compilations -
quiet music, lively music, silly music, and so on. If you tend
to have long, uninterrupted chunks of time for setting up and
maintaining an iTunes metadata system where you keep all those
fields in the info window properly filled out, you'll probably
enjoy playing music elf. However, if the reality of your life
is that you'll end up spending several hours messing around with
the Genre field while your uncle mutters about "more trouble than
it's worth," your teenage cousin complains that all your music is
boring, and your child tromps around noisily like a reindeer, you
may want to dump your plans to organize music you own and instead
bring in the experts.
The experts come in the form of a new Internet service called
Pandora, based on the former Music Genome Project, which has
analyzed over 15,000 songs to determine the characteristics that
make them similar or different. Pandora brings the guidance of
an expert music librarian to the morass that music listening
has become, effortlessly streaming just the right music, Internet-
radio style, to your computer with a minimum of effort from you.
As with a normal radio station, you listen once and can optionally
flag songs with a thumbs-up so you can easily remember what you
liked, but you can't keep the tunes or listen again, though
commands are provided to purchase the song from the iTunes Music
Store or its CD from Amazon. Pandora is free in ad-sponsored mode,
or a $36-per-year subscription fee eliminates the ads; it's
available only to people in the U.S. due to licensing issues.
<http://www.pandora.com/>
**Opening the Box** -- Here's how it works: you come up with one
(or a few) artists or songs that you like, such as, say, Ray
Charles, and you use it to create a "station." Pandora immediately
begins playing a playlist that includes songs by Ray Charles and
tunes that you will probably enjoy if you like Ray Charles, such
as "Rollin' Stone" by The Marigolds. The elegant Flash-based
interface shows the song title, artist's name, and album art.
As the song plays, besides listening to it, you can click its
image to act on it in a variety of ways: You can find out why
the song is playing - you might learn that it has "classic soul
qualities, mild rhythmic syncopation, and acoustic rhythm piano."
You can give the song a thumbs up so Pandora knows to tweak the
station with more songs like that one or add it to a Favorites
list for future reference. If you dislike a song, you can give
a it a thumbs down; if you do this, Pandora moves on to the next
song and incorporates your feedback into future selections.
You can also pause the track or jump to the next one.
Although Pandora's Flash-based interface runs in Web browsers
(only in Safari and Firefox in Mac OS X 10.3 or later for Mac
users), you can minimize it so it's nearly indistinguishable from
any other brushed-metal application. Safari wasn't able to handle
Pandora on our elderly blueberry iBook, but we were able to play
Pandora through our AirPort Express-connected stereo using Rogue
Amoeba's Airfoil utility. Pandora also requires a broadband
connection.
<http://www.rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/>
The folks at Pandora understand the desire to share music - you
can send a custom link to your radio station to others via email
(the link to my Ray Charles station is below), or you can listen
to the 20 most popular stations that other Pandora users are
enjoying - I've been enjoying "International Pop Overthrow Radio."
<http://www.pandora.com/?sc=sh3075857>
I do realize that not everyone reading TidBITS is interested in
Christmas music, but if you are, you can now further tweak Pandora
by starting a station with the name of a holiday song or artist.
I struck out in my efforts to follow the directions in the FAQ for
combining the "holiday" key word with an artist's name - Pandora
didn't know that Ray Charles or Henry Mancini have released
wonderful Christmas albums - but it worked like a charm when
I started a station based on "Jingle Bells." I was asked which of
seven artists I liked the most - The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Ella
Fitzgerald, Brenda Lee, and so on, and the station kicked off with
"Christmas Island," a fun number involving coconut trees, which
I'd never heard. So perhaps I had opened Pandora's box, after all,
and suddenly iTunes didn't seem as much fun anymore. Instead of
the usual fussing around to find the music in my library, it took
only about 10 seconds to be treated to exactly the sort of music
I wanted to hear. And since it's Christmas music, I don't even
particularly want to own most of it; I enjoy it only for a few
weeks of the year.
**High and Low Notes** -- If your iTunes library is anything like
mine, it holds about 5,000 items which would require many hours
of focused effort - effort which I must coordinate with Adam - to
categorize effectively so I could generate smart playlists for any
likely eventuality, and every time I buy more music, we would have
to spend more time on the metadata. In Pandora, I can create up
to 100 stations, which feed from a growing library that currently
contains over 300,000 songs from over 10,000 artists. Although
I find owning and organizing music an appealing idea, it doesn't
seem to be in harmony with my current stage in life, where time
is at a premium.
Although I like Pandora a lot, it's not perfect. It currently
lacks classical music and is working on bringing in Latin music,
and I'm not enough of a musical expert to know if it is missing
other important genres. I would love to see it allow users to
request songs by cultures or by all sorts of possible holidays,
and to request radio streams by mood or era, such as inspiring,
loud, or 1980s. And, using Pandora makes me think about how
limited the Gracenote Media Recognition Service (previously known
as the CDDB) is for importing a common set of useful metadata
into iTunes and how wonderful it would be if Apple could bring
Pandora's smarts into iTunes.
<http://www.gracenote.com/music/corporate/FAQs.html/faqset=what/page=1>
For now, though, I'm happy to listen to Pandora while my enormous
pile of uncategorized iTunes music sits around, waiting for a day
when someone comes up with a way to categorize it automatically
or I wake up with a burning desire to mess around with metadata.
In the meantime, though, I know a particular six-year-old who is
waiting for his mother to play reindeer with him.
Buying My Canon PowerShot S2 IS
-------------------------------
by Jeff Carlson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
For an upcoming vacation, I wanted to buy a new digital camera
that offered more features and flexibility than my existing point-
and-shoot model. Although my aging Canon PowerShot S200 has served
me well for a number of years, I knew it wouldn't be up to the
task of photographing animals on safari. Therefore, I faced a
decision: upgrade to a full blown digital SLR (single lens reflex)
camera, or find something in between that was still compact enough
that it would not be a burden to carry. Fortunately, at the same
time my colleague Larry Chen delivered version 2.0 of his ebook
"Take Control of Buying a Digital Camera," on which I was the
editor. With his advice as a guide, I picked the right camera
for me: the Canon PowerShot S2 IS.
<http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&;
fcategoryid=144&modelid=11368>
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/buying-digicam.html?14@@!pt=
TRK-0015-TB807&cp=CPN51201HOL>
[The 2.0 version of "Take Control of Buying a Digital Camera" is
now available as a free update for current owners. If you don't
yet have a copy, it's on sale for 50 percent off through
Christmas, as are our other consumer electronics books: "Take
Control of Digital TV," "Take Control of Your iPod: Beyond the
Music," and "Take Control of Buying a Mac." The discount applies
to any one or more of these titles; use the link above to load
the necessary coupon. -Adam]
**Who Am I?** Before I even started to look at camera models
and reviews, I sat down to figure out what type of photographer
I am. In the past, I've always been a "snapshooter," more
concerned with getting the picture than with trying to eke out
the highest quality of the shot; my little point-and-shoot gives
me plenty of quality for just about any picture I typically need,
and the small size makes it easy to carry along. But in this case,
I'm headed to South Africa, where I'll have the opportunity to
photograph sweeping savannas, wild leopards and elephants, and
other subjects not found in Seattle (including the wildest of
them all, my niece and nephew). In this respect, I will be
shooting more as what Larry terms an "artistic photographer"
than a snapshooter, focusing more on the quality of the image
than the portability of the camera.
But the quest for higher quality usually leads one to look at DSLR
(digital single-lens reflex) cameras, which can use specialized
lenses and shoot at much higher resolutions (currently between 6
and 16 megapixels). DSLRs also include many more manual controls
for setting aspects such as white balance, ISO speed, and the
like. "Take Control of Buying a Digital Camera" version 2.0
includes a new chapter about DSLRs that not only gives you an
idea of what you might spend for one, but also talks about
characteristics specific to DSLRs that you may not run into
with point-and-shoot cameras (such as focal length magnification
factor and dust spots on the sensor).
Although a DSLR was appealing, I couldn't justify the cost
(at least $1,000 at the low end) and I knew it was too much
technology for me - I have no training as a photographer and,
quite simply, want to get the best shot with the least amount
of work. I'm willing to learn, but I don't shoot consistently
enough to become an expert. Plus, when you buy a DSLR, you invest
in a system - on most models, you're buying only the camera body,
then purchasing a lens or three and associated peripherals.
I didn't relish the idea of dragging a huge photographic kit
with me.
**Setting My Priorities** -- With a DSLR off the table and a
point-and-shoot too limited, I waded into the crowd of mid-level
digital cameras. To narrow my search, I needed to figure out
which features were most important to me. Obviously, I wanted
more resolution. These days, that means looking for a camera
with a resolution of at least four megapixels. However, that
didn't narrow my search much.
So, I began compiling a list. I wanted some manual focus
capabilities so I wouldn't be locked into using the automatic
focus mode all the time. Tying into that, I wanted good macro
capabilities, so that I could shoot objects extremely close-up
without the lens and camera processor choking on the focus.
At the same time, I wanted a good level of zoom, since I'd be
shooting animals and the like from a distance. And I wanted good
shot-to-shot speed, a notoriously tricky problem with most digital
cameras, especially higher-resolution ones due to the time it
takes for the camera to capture an image, save it to the memory
card, and be ready for the next image. I can't tell a lion to
please hold still while my camera digests its pixels, and kids
aren't much more cooperative.
Size was also important. In fact, Larry's ebook sensibly
encourages thinking about size and usability before delving into
marquee features because you have to carry and grip and manipulate
the camera's controls far more often than you press the shutter
button. A camera that frustrates you due to its onscreen controls
or poor ergonomics, no matter how tricked out with features,
is a camera that ultimately gets left at home. After using my
point-and-shoot for years, I already knew that I wanted something
larger than a pocket camera but small enough that I could stow
it in - and quickly retrieve from - a backpack or shoulder bag.
The middle range of digital cameras is also where manufacturers
cram every last feature they can dream up in order to compete in
their ongoing Marketing Bullet-Point Escalation. So I also made
a short list of features I would ignore, such as digital zoom
(useless), PictBridge compatibility (nice if I owned a supported
photo printer, but I don't), video capture (I own a small digital
camcorder), and built-in effects (oh, please).
Lastly, some people swear by certain camera manufacturers, but I'm
flexible. I started by looking at Canon models because I've had a
good history with their products; my S200 is still working just
fine, and the S100 I owned before it still takes decent photos,
even after I accidentally dropped it into a river.
**Choosing and Buying** -- Like a good geek, I took my search
online. Web sites such as Digital Photography Review post
extensive reviews of current models - enough to make my
head spin. But they're also good barometers of what models
photographers are interested in. That's when I came across
the Canon PowerShot S2 IS.
<http://www.dpreview.com/>
<http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons2is/>
As it turns out, my office-mate, TidBITS Contributing Editor Glenn
Fleishman, owns the previous model, the PowerShot S1 IS, which let
me add a valuable dimension to camera buying: hands-on experiences
from friends and family. The S2 improves on the S1 on several
fronts, such as increased resolution and better shot-to-shot
speed. Both share a body style that meet my size and ergonomic
requirements, with a rounded grip on the right side that fits
my hand well.
Based on playing with Glenn's camera, reading the reviews, and
viewing sample images taken from the S2 online, I decided to
buy it. Here, again, Larry's advice came in handy. Using a few
online price-comparison sites, I found the camera offered by a
vendor for half the asking price of $500. However, I became wary:
I wasn't familiar with the vendor (though it had fairly good buyer
ratings), and most other stores were either selling the camera
for full asking price (indicating to me that it was a popular
model, so price cuts weren't necessary to attract buyers) or
listing no current inventory. For all I know, that discount
vendor would have delivered, but it seemed like too much of
a good deal and spooked me.
Instead, I went to dealmac.com and set up a notification for
"S2 IS," and a few weeks later received an email message that
Dell's online store was offering a camera deal, a coupon, and free
shipping that brought the price down to about $350. I jumped on
it, also taking the opportunity to buy a pair of 512 MB SD memory
cards.
<http://www.dealmac.com/>
**Matching Priorities to Reality** -- So, how did my wish list
compare to the final product?
The S2's 5 MP resolution is probably more than enough for
my needs, and the shots I've taken have been nice and clear.
(You can view some of them at my Flickr site; the metadata stored
with each image includes the camera used, so you can look at the
right-hand column on a picture page to see which shots were taken
with the S2 versus other cameras.) I was surprised to find quite
a bit of noise in some of the shots, but Larry's ebook came
through there, too: noise can occur at high ISO settings;
I had been shooting some low-light tests and forgotten to
reset the ISO.
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcarlson/>
The manual focus controls, while not as smooth as having a
focus ring around the lens barrel, are intelligently placed.
The manual focus button is located on the left side of the lens
barrel (lens protrusion is probably more accurate), so I can press
and hold it with my left hand and use a four-way rocker switch
on the back of the camera with my right thumb. Pushing up or down
increases or decreases the focal length, with a usable (but still
somewhat limited) enlarged detail on the screen indicating the
focus point.
The macro feature is, well, awesome. When I engage the Super
Macro mode, it can focus on objects that are, according to the
specifications, 0.0 inches away. Canon goes out of its way to
make sure you understand that you can damage the lens by bumping
it against the object you're photographing!
The 12x optical zoom is wonderful, especially compared to the
2x zoom of my S200. On my Flickr site, the photo of the Lenin
statue near my office was taken from almost a block away using
the maximum zoom. Another nice thing about the S2's zoom is that
the lens barrel doesn't keep pushing forward as you zoom in;
instead, when you enter shooting mode it extends to a fixed
length, and the lens adjusts within the barrel as you zoom.
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcarlson/45674756/>
The shot-to-shot speed is impressive as well, at 1.6 seconds.
I made a point of spending the extra money to get high-speed
memory cards that can keep up with the data flow. I'm going
to have to be careful with this feature, as I could easily
fill up a card without realizing it.
I also discovered a feature I didn't know I would love until I got
my hands on the camera. On my S200 and my wife's Canon PowerShot
S50, the flash is always activated automatically when you power
the camera up, but I find that in most cases the flash is too
bright and either washes out the image or creates an unwanted high
contrast between foreground objects and the background. Not only
does the S2 have a setting for controlling the intensity of the
flash, the physical flash mechanism must be raised by hand to
activate it. This way, I don't have to remember to turn the
flash off before I start shooting.
**Final Thoughts** -- I've had the camera for a few months and am
very happy with it. I'm also indebted to Larry for writing an
ebook that answered all of my questions (one reason I volunteered
to edit the book in the first place). I'm writing this article
mid-flight on my way to South Africa, so I'll soon know for
sure whether my research and experimentation so far will pay off.
Depending on my Internet access, I'll try to upload photos to my
Flickr site when I can. I hope you enjoy them!
Take Control News/05-Dec-05
---------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
**PayPal Now Accepted for Take Control Orders** -- Thanks to an
upgrade to our shopping cart functionality from our friends at
eSellerate, we can now accept PayPal payments for Take Control
ebooks. The process of ordering remains almost exactly the same,
but at the Billing Info screen, you can now choose between paying
via credit card and paying via PayPal. If you select the PayPal
radio button, the credit card fields disappear, and clicking the
Continue Checkout button displays first a PayPal login screen and
then a PayPal authorization screen, after which you're returned
to the Confirm Order screen in our cart to finish your order.
So, if you prefer to purchase online items with money from your
PayPal account, or if you've had trouble with using your credit
card in the past, give the new PayPal option a try for your
next order.
**"Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac" Released** -- If you're
excited about the idea of creating your very own podcast but
need help getting started or working efficiently, you can now
hop on the podcasting bandwagon with the start-to-finish guidance
in our latest ebook, "Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac."
Written by long-time podcaster Andy Williams Affleck, "Take
Control of Podcasting on the Mac" leads you along the path to
podcasting success from beginning to end. Andy starts by helping
you think about your topic, format, and polish; assemble the best
audio gear; and understand the pros and cons of recording in four
popular programs - Audio Hijack Pro, GarageBand, Audacity, and
SoundStudio. You'll find step-by-step directions for how to record
in each of those programs, along with instructions on how to edit
your recording by mixing in additional audio and eliminating any
awkward bits. Andy also explains how (and why) to encode and tag
your podcast file. Finally, he discusses how to choose a podcast
publishing tool, offers essential advice about bandwidth costs,
and gives you seven ways to promote your podcast. The ebook is
available on its own for $10 or in a $17.50 bundle with "Take
Control of Recording in GarageBand."
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/podcasting-mac.html?14@@!pt=
TRK-0029-TB807-TCNEWS>
**"Take Control of Apple Mail in Tiger" Released** -- If you use
Apple Mail in Tiger, and if you want to use it more effectively
or have unanswered questions about its behavior, we highly
recommend that you read our latest ebook - "Take Control of
Apple Mail in Tiger." Written by the inimitable Joe Kissell,
the ebook provides the guidance you need with regard to Mail 2.0.
Joe has been writing this ebook for months as an update to a
previous ebook that he wrote about Mail in Panther. Along the
way, he has carefully researched the new features: searching with
Spotlight, changes to the interface, the best ways to use smart
mailboxes, the practical upshot of Mail now supporting HTML, how
to work with meeting invitations, using Mail with .Mac, and more.
As Joe wrote (and wrote, and wrote, and wrote) he added more than
80 pages, so the ebook now weighs in at 184 well-organized pages,
chock full of exactly the sort of info that you need to get your
work done and use the software in an enjoyable, efficient manner.
You'll learn about the different email protocols Mail supports,
the best ways to set up new accounts, how to import messages and
addresses, and how to manage Mail's parental controls. That's just
the beginning, as Joe next explains how to customize your incoming
mail view for fast browsing of messages, control styles in
incoming messages, display slideshows of attached photos, reply
to meeting invitations, find messages using Spotlight, and
organize mail into smart mailboxes. Then, he turns to outgoing
mail, offering quick ways to address messages, tricks for sending
attachments, and information on Mail's new HTML support. You will
also find seven key bits of advice about rules, five ways to
improve the Previous Recipients list used for spam filtering
and address completion, and six suggestions for smart mailboxes.
Going beyond the feature set, Joe offers solutions to connection
problems, fixes for damaged mailboxes, and tweaks to improve
Spotlight's accuracy. An extensive glossary and 11-page resource
list of Mail-related products anchor the ebook.
The ebook is available on its own for $10 or in a $12.50 bundle
with the updated-for-Tiger "Take Control of Spam with Apple Mail."
Get them both while they're hot!
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/tiger-apple-mail.html?14@@!pt=
TRK-0028-TB807-TCNEWS>
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/spam-apple-mail.html?14@@!pt=
TRK-0005-TB807-TCNEWS>
**"Take Control of Spam with Apple Mail" Updated** -- We've just
released version 1.2 of "Take Control of Spam with Apple Mail."
The update adds coverage of the Tiger version of Mail, plus looks
at updated versions of spam-fighting software and other techniques
in the effort to eliminate spam. The update is free for current
owners; to get it, click your ebook's Check for Updates button.
Here's a list of the most important changes:
* Deleted several sections describing bugs exclusive to the
Panther version of Mail that have been resolved in the Tiger
version.
* Updated wording and instructions in several places to cover
the Tiger version of Mail.
* Clarified the instructions for retraining Mail's Junk Mail
filter, should that be necessary.
* Completely rewrote the section "Use Add-On Spam Filters"
to describe new or updated third-party anti-spam software
that works with Mail.
* Added a new section about using disposable email addresses.
* Expanded the discussion of how you can use rules to get
more out of Mail.
If you haven't yet read "Take Control of Spam with Apple Mail,"
and you're finding that the Junk Mail filter in Apple Mail isn't
doing as well as you think it should, be sure to pick up a copy
today! You shouldn't have to live with spam in your Inbox.
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/spam-apple-mail.html?14@@!pt=
TRK-0005-TB807-TCNEWS>
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/05-Dec-05
------------------------------------
by TidBITS Staff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The first link for each thread description points to the
traditional TidBITS Talk interface; the second link points to
the same discussion on our Web Crossing server, which provides
a different look and which may be faster.
**Is anti-virus protection necessary?** Macs don't suffer from the
virus problems seen in the PC world; should Mac users even bother
with anti-virus software? (21 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2795>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/640/>
**Keyboard application switching** -- The gift suggestion
of LiteSwitch generates discussion of keyboard application
switching tips. (4 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2806>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/651/>
**Blogs vs wiki vs forums?** When should you use a blog versus
a wiki versus a discussion forum? (3 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2791>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/636/>
**Finding and using power outlets in airports** -- TidBITS Talk
readers take the topic of PowerBook power adapters and morph
it into a discussion of how to find power outlets in airports.
(12 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2802>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/645/>
**Digital photography books** -- TidBITS talk readers suggest
useful books about digital photography. (7 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2792>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/637/>
**Music file conversions** -- A complaint about not being able to
burn an MP3 CD from AAC originals prompts a discussion of music
file formats and conversions. (8 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2794>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/639/>
**Protecting a PowerBook from unauthorized use** -- How do you
keep your PowerBook entirely secure? (3 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2801>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/646/>
**Proper format for audiobooks** -- When ripping CDs of
audiobooks, what are the best encoding settings to use?
(4 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2798>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/639/>
$$
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