TidBITS#838/17-Jul-06
=====================
Summer weather in the United States makes for good driving
weather, and what better way to travel than with your favorite
music? Adam takes a set of devices that let you play your iPod's
tunes in the car for a test drive. Also in this issue, Matt
Neuburg gives a written presentation of Mousepose 2, Adam and
Tonya are honored by inclusion in the MacTech 25 list, Adam looks
at the release of NoteBook 2.1, and we announce the release of
a print-on-demand version of "Take Control of Running Windows
on a Mac." Lastly, check out this week's DealBITS offer for
BeLight Software's Image Tricks.
Topics:
MailBITS/17-Jul-06
DealBITS Drawing: BeLight Software's Image Tricks
Adam & Tonya Engst Honored in MacTech 25
Boinx's Visible Cursor Gets Slicker
Print-on-Demand Available for Running Windows Ebook
Simple iPod/Auto Integration
Take Control News/17-Jul-06
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/17-Jul-06
<http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-838.html>
<ftp://ftp.tidbits.com/issues/2006/TidBITS#838_17-Jul-06.etx>
Copyright 2006 TidBITS: Reuse governed by Creative Commons license
<http://www.tidbits.com/terms/> Contact: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
---------------------------------------------------------------
This issue of TidBITS sponsored in part by:
* READERS LIKE YOU! Support TidBITS with a contribution today! <----- NEW!
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Special thanks this week to Bill Purdy, J. van Prooijen,
and William B. Abbott III for their generous support!
* Make friends and influence people by sponsoring TidBITS!
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* FETCH SOFTWORKS: Fetch 5.1 goes Universal and adds a widget <------ NEW!
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progress, AppleScript, and interface optimized for Mac OS X.
Download your free trial version! <http://fetchsoftworks.com/>
* WebCrossing Neighbors Creates Private Social Networks <------------ NEW!
Create a complete social network with your company or group's
own look. Scalable, extensible and extremely customizable.
Take a guided tour today <http://www.webcrossing.com/tour>
* Yojimbo 1.2 from Bare Bones Software: Your effortless, reliable <-- NEW!
information organizer for Mac OS X. It will change your life,
without changing the way you work. Download the demo or buy it
today! <http://www.barebones.com/products/yojimbo/>
* Circus Ponies NoteBook: Get organized, in two easy steps! <-------- NEW!
De-clutter your Desktop. Organize your Web clippings. Manage
your projects. Voice annotate your notes. With NoteBook, it's
simple. Try it free for 30 days. <http://www.circusponies.com/>
* MARK/SPACE, INC: Connecting the coolest gadgets from Dell, <------- NEW!
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---------------------------------------------------------------
MailBITS/17-Jul-06
------------------
**NoteBook 2.1 Adds Syncing, Cornell Note-Taking System** --
Circus Ponies Software has released NoteBook 2.1, a notable (heh!)
upgrade to their information organizing tool (see "The Well Worn
NoteBook" and "The Shiny New NoteBook" for my reviews of earlier
versions). For new users, NoteBook 2.1 now includes the Starting
Point system that provides pre-built templates for a variety of
common usage scenarios. It also adds support for the Cornell
Note-Taking System, a method of taking notes that divides the page
into three areas for taking, analyzing, summarizing, and reviewing
notes. Other enhancements include support for syncing to-do items
with Microsoft Entourage, the capability to make to-dos synced
to iCal be calendar appointments or regular to-do items, support
for the LinkBack content linking technology promulgated by Nisus
Software, improved uploading of HTML-exported notebooks to .Mac,
support for SFTP and FTP uploading of HTML-exported notebooks,
and creation of fully linked PDFs when exporting to PDF.
<http://www.circusponies.com/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=08079>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07803>
<http://www.clt.cornell.edu/campus/learn/LSC%20Resources/cornellsystem.pdf>
<http://www.linkbackproject.org/>
NoteBook 2.1 is a free upgrade for registered users; new copies
cost $50. It's a universal binary and requires Mac OS X 10.3
Panther or later. It's a 20.5 MB download. [ACE]
<http://www.circusponies.com/store/index.php?main_page=downloads>
DealBITS Drawing: BeLight Software's Image Tricks
-------------------------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Speaking as someone who finds Adobe Photoshop rather inscrutable
while at the same time wishing I could perform some of the
graphical manipulations it makes possible, I'm a total sucker
for programs like BeLight Software's Image Tricks. Put simply,
Image Tricks uses Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger's Core Image filters to
enable you to apply a wide variety of neat effects to your own
photos and graphics. The filters fall into a number of categories:
color, focus, distortion, styling, halftone, tiling, illumination,
and overlaps, along with a dizzying array of masks. New in
the recently released Image Tricks 2.0 was the addition of
"generators" for creating mathematically generated patterns
(which I like, though I prefer patterns in my screensavers).
With 2.0, BeLight also made the distinction between the free
version (which does plenty for most people) and a pro version
that adds more generators and filters. Now we're up to 2.2,
which adds even more filters and generators.
<http://www.belightsoft.com/products/imagetricks/overview.php>
In this week's DealBITS drawing, you can enter to win one of six
copies of Image Tricks, each worth $9.95. 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 - one person whose name was chosen
as a winner in the last DealBITS drawing didn't receive her prize
because my email messages to her bounced repeatedly. Remember too,
that if someone you refer to this drawing wins, you'll receive the
same prize as a reward for spreading the word.
<http://www.tidbits.com/dealbits/image-tricks/>
<http://www.tidbits.com/about/privacy.html>
Adam & Tonya Engst Honored in MacTech 25
----------------------------------------
by Jeff Carlson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Due no doubt in part to the votes cast by TidBITS and Take Control
readers, we were pleased to see that not just Adam, but also
Tonya, were included in the MacTech 25 list of influential people
in the Macintosh technical community. Apart from its use of public
voting, the MacTech 25 differs significantly from the MDJ Power 25
in honoring people outside Apple who influence the Macintosh world
via their technical contributions. The end result thus included
writers who explain technical topics or maintain sites deemed key
to the technical community, system administrators who spread their
knowledge through writing and speaking, and programmers who help
other programmers.
<http://www.mactech.com/news/?p=1008582>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=08594>
MacTech chose not to rank the top vote getters, making for a flat
list. Congratulations to everyone on the MacTech 25, which this
year includes the following people (see the forthcoming August
2006 issue of MacTech for a full write-up of each person; if you
don't currently subscribe, you can download a free PDF sampler
of recent articles):
<http://www.mactech.com/news/?p=1008581>
* Aaron Hillegas: Author of Cocoa programming books; founder of
Big Nerd Ranch
<http://www.bignerdranch.com/>
* Adam & Tonya Engst: Publishers of TidBITS and Take Control
<http://www.tidbits.com/>
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/>
* Amit Singh: Hacker and author of "Mac OS X Internals"
<http://www.kernelthread.com/>
* Andrina Kelly: Mac OS X system administrator for C.O.R.E.
Feature Animation and contributing editor for afp548.com
<http://www.afp548.com/>
* Andy Ihnatko: Author, speaker, prankster, and technology
columnist for the Chicago Sun Times.
<http://www.cwob.com/>
* Ben Wilson: Editor of MacFixIt
<http://www.macfixit.com/>
* Brent Simmons: Creator of NetNewsWire and MarsEdit
<http://www.newsgator.com/NGOLProduct.aspx?ProdID=NetNewsWire>
<http://ranchero.com/marsedit/>
* Dan Frakes: Author, Macworld Senior Editor, Senior Reviews
Editor of Playlist, MacFixIt Contributing Editor, TidBITS
contributor, and Take Control editor.
<http://www.danfrakes.com/>
* Danny Goodman: Author of numerous programming books about
HyperCard, AppleScript, JavaScript, DHTML, Dashboard, and more
<http://www.dannyg.com/>
* David Pogue: Author, New York Times technology columnist,
and creator of the Missing Manual series
<http://www.davidpogue.com/>
* Drunkenbatman: Creator of the apparently defunct, but previously
influential, DrunkenBlog
<http://www.drunkenblog.com/>
* John Gruber: Writer of the popular and well-written Daring
Fireball blog
<http://daringfireball.net/>
* John Siracusa: Writer of incredibly detailed technical articles
about the Mac at Ars Technica
<http://siracusa.home.mindspring.com/john/articles/ars/index.html>
* Jonathan "Wolf" Rentzsch: Hacker extraordinaire, developer,
and TidBITS contributor
<http://rentzsch.com/>
* Josh Wisenbaker: Mac OS X Server guru, speaker, and editor at
afp548.com
<http://www.afp548.com/>
* Michael Bartosh: Trainer and author of "Essential Mac OS X
Panther Server Administration," who died in an accident in June
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Bartosh>
<http://www.afp548.com/article.php?story=20060611204217263>
* Mike Breeden: Maintainer of theAccelerate Your Mac site
<http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/>
* Nigel Kersten: Senior Technical Officer for the College of Fine
Arts at the University of New South Wales and knowledgeable system
administrator
<http://blogs.cofa.unsw.edu.au/blog/nigelkersten/>
* Ray Barber: Founder of the MacScripter site and MacDeveloper,
a marketplace for outsourced projects
<http://macscripter.net/>
<http://macdeveloper.net/>
* Ric Ford: Editor of the Mac news and tip site MacInTouch
<http://www.macintouch.com/>
* Rich Siegel: Creator of BBEdit and founder of Bare Bones
Software
<http://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/>
<http://www.barebones.com/company/history.shtml>
* Rob Griffiths: Macworld columnist and the guy behind the
Mac OS X Hints site
<http://www.macosxhints.com/>
* Rosyna Keller: Programmer at haxie developer Unsanity
<http://www.unsanity.org/archives/000003.php>
* Scott Knaster: Long-time technical writer, Take Control author
<http://foodisworse.typepad.com/this/>
* Wil Shipley: CEO of Delicious Monster, creator of Delicious
Library, and Pimp My Code blogger
<http://www.delicious-monster.com/company.php>
<http://www.delicious-monster.com/>
<http://www.wilshipley.com/blog/>
Boinx's Visible Cursor Gets Slicker
-----------------------------------
by Matt Neuburg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
As someone who gives a lot of talks with a computer as a visual
aid - not "slide" presentations with Keynote or PowerPoint, but
live demonstrations, where I'm doing and discussing something
on my computer, whose monitor is projected onto a screen at the
front of the room - I am ever cognizant of the need to optimize
the audience's viewing experience. Such presentations can be
surprisingly difficult to see, even on a huge screen. So, if
my subject matter will accommodate it, I reduce my screen's
resolution. In every application I intend to use, I increase
the default font size if possible. I enlarge the mouse cursor
slightly, and occasionally, to give the audience an even better
view of a detail, I zoom the screen (for these features, see
the Universal Access preference pane). With a utility such as
Ultimate Pen, I might "draw" on the screen to outline an area
I want the audience to notice. And now and then I use a cursor
highlighter, such as Mouse Locator or PinPoint (which Jeff Carlson
wrote about last year).
<http://www.snowmintcs.com/products/ultimatepenmac/>
<http://www.2point5fish.com/>
<http://www.macchampion.com/pinpoint_features.shtml>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07976>
A newly improved contender on the cursor highlighter scene is
Boinx Software's Mousepose. Mousepose used to be effectively
a one-trick pony - when you pressed a hotkey combination,
it temporarily darkened the screen outside a circle around
the cursor - and it didn't provide enough options to be useful
to me. Now, however, Mousepose 2 incorporates a couple of
valuable improvements:
<http://www.boinx.com/mousepose/>
* Mousepose will now make mouse-clicks visible, in a particularly
vivid way: a dot at the cursor hot spot for a single click or
while the mouse is held down; the same dot, plus a circle around
the cursor, for a double-click; and an additional circle for a
triple-click. This is truly valuable for presentations, because
mouse clicks are otherwise invisible, so that it's difficult to
clarify to the audience what you're doing (in the past I've often
used my voice, saying "I'm clicking this button... NOW").
* Mousepose 2 now enables hot keys commands for some additional
functionality. Besides darkening the screen starting at a circle
around the cursor, you can now, for example, use hot keys to
increase or decrease the size of that circle, thus helping you
focus more accurately on the area of the screen you want the
audience to notice.
Mousepose 2 is a major new version, and is not without its
teething problems. For example, running the "talkthrough"
animation, in which Mousepose demonstrates its own features,
caused me to lose my customized preference settings; and I
had quite a bit of trouble getting my hot key settings to
"take." Mousepose is scriptable with AppleScript (that's how
the "talkthrough" operates), but the example script included
in the Help document doesn't even work; the key command,
"start effect," is incorrectly documented; and the scripting
dictionary incorporates the entire massive AppleScript Studio
dictionary, which is pointless and confusing to the user.
(The Boinx folks should have read my AppleScript book!) Most
depressing, Mousepose 2 requires Quartz Extreme, which means
that I won't actually be using it for my talks any time soon,
as my old, trusty portable lacks this enhancement; this seems
a silly restriction, since previous versions worked fine without
it, and surely the program could just optionally disable whatever
new slick animation features employ it.
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596102119/tidbitselectro00/
ref%3Dnosim/>
Mousepose 2 is a universal binary and is a 2.6 MB download; it
requires Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and Quartz Extreme. It costs just
$10, and can be run unlicensed as a demo which quits after five
minutes.
<http://www.boinx.com/download/index.html#Mousepose>
Print-on-Demand Available for Running Windows Ebook
---------------------------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
At last! Ever since we started Take Control in 2003, people have
been taking our heavily linked and thoroughly digital ebooks and,
well, printing them. Although one of our goals was to reduce
the amount of paper used on quickly obsolete technical books,
there's no question that many people prefer to read on paper
for undeniably good reasons. And more to the point, some of our
ebooks, such as Joe Kissell's "Take Control of Running Windows
on a Mac" and "Take Control of Upgrading to Tiger" and parts of
Sharon Zardetto Aker's "Take Control of Fonts in Mac OS X", simply
cannot be read onscreen while you follow their instructions unless
you have a second Mac handy.
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/windows-on-mac.html?14@@!pt=TRK-TB838>
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/tiger-upgrading.html?14@@!pt=TRK-TB838>
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/fonts-macosx.html?14@@!pt=TRK-TB838>
One of the big reasons we shied away from producing print versions
of our ebooks on our own was that the costs of inventory and
fulfillment of physical product are more than a tiny business
like Take Control can handle. We've produced print versions
of a few of our ebooks with Peachpit Press, but the process is
sufficiently time-consuming that it's worthwhile only for select
titles. The real answer was print-on-demand, where we could upload
a PDF file to a service and owners of our ebooks could order a
print version whenever they wished, keeping us out of the loop
entirely. Although many firms claim to do some form of print-on-
demand, most didn't offer the quality or services we needed,
so it's taken a long time to get everything set up.
But all the waiting has merely increased the pleasure of
accomplishment. We're excited to announce that owners of Joe's
"Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac" can now, by clicking
the Check for Updates button in the lower left corner of the PDF's
first page, access a link from which they can purchase a print-on-
demand edition of the book. We're testing with "Take Control of
Running Windows on a Mac" initially; if everything goes well, we
will start adding print-on-demand versions of our other ebooks.
It is worth noting a few facts about this print-on-demand service:
* The only way to buy a print copy is to purchase the ebook first;
the pricing of the print copies takes into account the fact that
you already own the ebook. Prices are based on page count and
have an added $0.25 per copy that we'll be donating to some worthy
charity that's nice to trees. Shipping is extra; various options
are available.
* The print versions are scaled to a 7 x 9-inch trim size (18 x
23 cm) to reduce the font size to what's expected in print, have
laminated color covers, and use wire-o bindings so they lie flat
on your desk (or can be folded back entirely). They're printed
double-sided, and we generate new PDF files to ensure the highest
possible graphics quality.
* You can purchase a print copy with either a black-and-white or
color interior. The black-and-white version is very good, but
the color version is utterly gorgeous. Unfortunately, the cost
of printing in color is higher ($26 versus $11), so we've left
the choice up to you.
* We're using a print-on-demand company called QOOP for this print
service. That means ordering takes place in a different online
shopping cart system than we use for our ebooks. Honestly, the
ordering process is a little clumsy and there's an annoying Terms
of Service agreement you must accept even though it doesn't apply
to us and our customers, but we're working with QOOP to improve
the cart.
<http://www.qoop.com/>
* We consider this a print service that enables you to avoid using
your own paper and ink on printing our ebooks. The bound book is
far more elegant and easier to use than loose sheets; it's easier
than baby-sitting your printer through printing hundreds of pages
and replacing ink cartridges; and the print quality will likely
be higher. On the downside, QOOP's print service is slightly more
expensive because of the costs of binding, providing a cover,
and shipping, and of course, it takes longer for them to print
and ship a book than it does for you to print it on your own
printer. (But of course, you have the ebook to read for instant
gratification.) You can learn more and see pictures of what
the print-on-demand copies look like.
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/print-on-demand.html?14@@!pt=TRK-TB838>
So if you've been waiting for a print version of "Take Control of
Running Windows on a Mac," give our new print service a try and
let us know what you think! Remember, to get started ordering a
print-on-demand copy, click the Check for Updates button in your
copy of Joe's ebook.
Simple iPod/Auto Integration
----------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
When it comes to listening to an iPod, I find I'm interested in
doing so only in very specific situations. There's an iPod in the
bedroom, which helps Tonya and me go to sleep at night and wakes
us up in the morning, and I've become quite fond of listening
to the iPod's earbuds inside protective earphones while mowing
the lawn. But even though living in Ithaca enables us to spend
relatively little time in the car, that's where I appreciate
the iPod the most.
I've considered some of the more permanent methods of installing
an iPod in the car, and as much as they're attractive from an
interface and elegance standpoint, I'm uncomfortable with many
of them for three reasons. First, they tend to be a bit expensive,
with prices above $150, and that's before paying for professional
installation. Second, I have trouble committing to the entire
situation, since I strongly suspect that some solutions might not
be physically compatible with even near-future iPods, and I don't
know how long we'll keep our Honda Civic (I hold out hope that the
automakers or conversion companies might come out with a plug-in
hybrid that could run almost entirely on electricity for the
around-town trips that dominate our driving). Third, we have
an older Subaru Legacy Outback that we use primarily for winter
driving, and since we almost never drive both cars at the same
time, it feels wasteful to install something that would be usable
only in one car.
With all that in mind, I've been testing a number of entries in
the current crop of car iPod adapters from Griffin Technology,
Belkin, and Small Dog. No doubt there are others, but these are
the ones made available to me for review, and I've had some time
to evaluate them on more than a cursory level.
**Functionality & Design** -- The solution I wanted to find has
three basic functions:
* It should send sound to the car's stereo system through an FM
transmitter or via a cable connected either to a cassette adapter
or input jack.
* It should provide power to the iPod via the car's electrical
outlet.
* It should hold the iPod in a way that makes it possible for the
driver to view and control the iPod without driving unsafely.
It's not essential that any given car iPod adapter perform all
three of these functions, but if not, it shouldn't prevent some
other device from adding the missing functionality.
Along with these technical requirements, industrial design turns
out to be paramount. A hinged arm that wobbles is maddening, for
instance. Plus, iPods come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes
even now, forcing the manufacturers to come up with a variety of
ways of accommodating the different form factors. Lastly, although
color would seem to be merely a matter of taste, with an iPod and
car adapter, I prefer black, since the dashboards of most cars are
more likely to be dark colored and the adapter/iPod combination
will be less likely to stand out visually to a larcenous passerby.
**Small Dog Car Tune** -- The first iPod car adapter I tried
was the simplest and least expensive, the $33 Car Tune from
Mac retailer (and TidBITS sponsor) Small Dog Electronics.
It combines a car charger with an FM transmitter, but doesn't
hold an iPod at all. The unit consists of a plug that fits into
the car outlet, and an articulated oval head that provides an LCD
display, two tuning buttons, and a power button. Although I was
worried initially that I wouldn't be able to see the Car Tune's
LCD display or reach its controls easily, it turned out to adjust
well. It connects to the iPod via a dock connector on a thin,
springy cable, and although I prefer being able to see the iPod
screen while I drive, the cable allowed me to set the iPod in
an open slot in the car's dashboard. Even still, some other
holder like Griffin Technology's $10 iSqueez would have been
welcome.
<http://www.smalldog.com/product/38574/>
<http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/isqueez/>
As an FM transmitter, I was a bit disappointed in the Car Tune.
Although it was easy to tune different stations, and the Car Tune
remembers the last one, its audio output level was quite low,
lower than all the other devices I tried, which forced me to turn
up the radio volume, increasing the amount of background static
noise and exposing me to loud static whenever the Car Tune wasn't
transmitting. And since it takes about 8 seconds for the Car Tune
to start transmitting after receiving power, I was continually
diving to turn down the volume when I started the car.
From a usability standpoint, the Car Tune was extremely manual.
It doesn't pause playback automatically when the car turns off,
and although it does automatically come back on, that 8 seconds
of static ensured that I not only had to press Play on the iPod,
I had to manage the volume on the stereo.
**Griffin Technology iTrip Auto** -- Similar to the Small Dog Car
Tune is Griffin Technology's $70 iTrip Auto. It too provides
a car charger and FM transmitter, but no method of physically
holding the iPod. Instead of mounting the interface on the power
plug directly, the iTrip Auto places the chewing gum packet-sized
control module in the middle of the cord, between the dock
connector and the power plug. Unfortunately this design proves
rather awkward, since I had to root around for the control
module whenever I wanted to change stations. Plus, since
changing stations requires pressing flush-mounted buttons,
seeing the change on an LCD, and then pressing a Select button,
it proved more difficult to operate than the Car Tune, with
its raised buttons and no need for a Select button.
<http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/itripauto/>
For the extra money, the iTrip Auto provides significantly
greater audio output levels, eliminating the need to crank the
radio volume just to hear the music. Even better, the iTrip Auto
automatically pauses music when the car turns off, and while
it doesn't automatically resume when the car turns back on,
it starts transmitting silence instantly so there's no burst
of static. The iTrip Auto provides two modes - DX and LX - that
supposedly provide different quality levels, though I couldn't
tell much difference between them.
**Griffin Technology RoadTrip** -- Moving from the two previous
devices, which had wires snaking around my dashboard and required
that I leave the iPod loose in a dashboard slot, I next tried
Griffin Technology's $90 RoadTrip, whose charger plug leads - via
several articulated arms - to a dock that holds the iPod. Plastic
inserts enabled compatibility with a wide variety of iPod sizes.
The dock is also home to an LCD display with two tuning buttons
and power button, the latter of which also gives access to four
preset stations.
<http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/roadtrip/>
I'm always amazed when I can get one of these devices with
articulated arms, complete with rotating joints and locking
screws, to work. The first iPod car adapter I tried, a DLO
TransPod, used the articulated arm design and was miserable.
And indeed, with the extender arm that I was sure was necessary,
I couldn't get the RoadTrip into a decent position. However,
when I removed the extender arm and played with the possible
articulations, I was able to find a sweet spot that was in fact
the best of any of the devices, blocking nothing but one of two
cup holders in front of the center-mounted gearshift lever.
Your happiness with the articulated arm approach will depend
completely on the dashboard layout of your particular car.
Despite the unexpectedly good positioning made possible by the
RoadTrip, it suffered from some usability annoyances. Although
it helpfully paused playback when the car turned off, it not only
didn't resume playback when power returned, it required me to push
the power button. As a result, the typical process for starting
the car went like this: Turn the car on, swear at the static on
the radio, push the RoadTrip's power button, and then push Play
on the iPod. The swearing and powering up of the car adapter
are entirely unnecessary, and soured me on the RoadTrip.
Audio output volume was good, better than the Car Tune, but
perhaps not quite up to the iTrip Auto or the next product
I tried, the Belkin TuneBase FM.
**Belkin TuneBase FM** -- The $80 Belkin TuneBase FM promised to
meet all of my technical needs, and since it's available only
in black and works with most modern iPods (not including the
iPod shuffle, the iPod 3G, or anything earlier), it seemed
like it might be the ultimate solution. Physically, it provides
a short, sturdy gooseneck that can be manipulated into different
positions. Unfortunately, I could never quite get it into the
position I wanted due to the stiffness of the gooseneck. The iPod
slots into a holder at the end of the gooseneck; Belkin provides
eight plastic adapters to hold all the supported iPod models and
it worked fine with my iPod photo and iPod nano. Belkin also makes
the TuneBase FM for iPod nano, which has a longer, more flexible
neck and which likely addresses my minor complaints about the
positioning, though of course at the expense of compatibility
with larger iPod models.
<http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=257270>
<http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=257293>
As an FM transmitter, the Belkin TuneBase FM worked well. It ties
into software Apple put into the iPod for radio tuning (recent
firmware updates are necessary), so the tuning interface appears
on the iPod screen. Four buttons store preset stations, and up
and down arrow buttons select different frequencies. Changing
stations was easy, but even in Ithaca, finding clear frequencies
wasn't so simple, especially since our hills change reception
quality significantly as we drive around the area. Notably,
the TuneBase FM provided five different volume settings that
controlled the audio output level, which was particularly helpful
with the iPod nano, which has lower audio output levels than other
iPods. It's also possible to switch the TuneBase FM from stereo
to mono, though mono is useful mostly for audiobooks.
From a usage standpoint, the TuneBase FM stood out. It
automatically paused playback whenever I turned off the car,
and it automatically resumed playback when I turned the car
back on. Welcome as these capabilities were, they weren't perfect.
It took the TuneBase FM some time to start transmitting, which
meant about 8 seconds of static from the radio before the music
kicked in. And although the automatic resume feature worked well,
a few seconds after music came in again, there was a brief pause
while the TuneBase FM switched from its tuning display to the top
level of the iPod's interface. Unfortunately, the display always
reverted to the main menu, whereas it would have been better
to retain the previous spot in the interface, or at least the
Now Playing screen. Finally, although automatic resume works
well when only a single person uses the car, since Tonya and
I share the car, I would sometimes have to find my place in a
podcast because she had either listened to it or just turned
off the stereo without first pausing the iPod.
My main complaint with the TuneBase FM, though, is that it
prevents a connected iPod from going into deep sleep. That
means that if your trips are relatively short (such that the
iPod doesn't charge for long) and you don't drive for several
days, the iPod will drain its battery entirely. On the next
usage it reboots, having forgotten its position in a podcast,
and sometimes refuses to respond to input until it has acquired
a small charge. I don't know that this is actively bad for the
iPod, but it proves annoying on a regular basis, and didn't seem
to affect any of the other adapters I reviewed.
**What about a Cassette Adapter?** With all of the car iPod
adapters I've discussed so far, nothing prevents the use of
a cassette adapter that plugs into the iPod's headphone jack.
The pros of a cassette adapter are that it eliminates the burst
of static that plagues all the FM transmitters other than the
iTrip Auto and it provides better audio quality than any of the
FM transmitters, particularly at the higher volumes necessary
to drown out road noise on freeways. Though my hearing simply
isn't very good - or at all trained - I'd say that the sound from
the cassette adapter was less muddy and provided more range than
that coming from the FM transmitters. Plus, since plugging into
the iPod's headphone jack enables the iPod's own volume control,
I've found that you can extract more volume from a cassette
adapter than from any of the FM transmitters that work through
the iPod's dock connector. And no, I'm not a semi-deaf head-
banger, but in our relatively inexpensive (and thus not heavily
sound insulated) cars with factory sound systems, the road noise
at speed, particularly with the windows down, requires a fair
amount of volume.
But cassette adapters aren't perfect either. I dislike having
a cable trailing down the dashboard from the cassette player
and that cable makes both removing the iPod (as we do sometimes
when parked in public) and ejecting the cassette adapter clumsy.
Also, despite the fact that the cassette adapter itself provides
better sound quality, the two that I have both make a noticeable
amount of noise turning the fake reels. They of course don't do
anything, since there's no tape to wind, but the fake reels make
much more noise than real ones in a normal cassette. Of course,
many new cars simply don't have tape decks at all, as was the case
with the rental car we used on our April trip to the West Coast.
Lastly, the iPod nano, with its bottom-mounted headphone jack,
can't be used with a cassette adapter in units like the RoadTrip
and TuneBase FM.
Nevertheless, for my uses, the cassette adapter was the lesser
of two weevils, to quote the late Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey
character, and that enabled me to bring a final iPod car adapter
into this test.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey%E2%80%93Maturin_series#Humour>
**Griffin Technology TuneFlex nano** -- Whereas the Car Tune
and iTrip Auto provide charging and FM transmission, but not
a holder for the iPod, Griffin Technology's $40 TuneFlex nano
offers charging and a dock at the end of an 8-inch (20 cm) thin
gooseneck, but no FM transmission. And since the TuneFlex works
only with the iPod nano, whose headphone jack is on the bottom,
next to the dock connector, it has to work with a cassette adapter
or by plugging directly into an input jack. The trick is that
the headphone jack for this purpose is located at the base of
the TuneFlex, where it plugs into the car's electrical outlet.
Because the TuneFlex is connecting to the iPod nano's dock
connector, that headphone jack is putting out line-level output,
making the iPod's volume control irrelevant, but providing more
than sufficient audio output levels.
<http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/tuneflexnano/>
The TuneFlex's thin gooseneck is far less obtrusive than the
TuneBase FM's thick gooseneck, and it's far more adjustable.
Because the cassette adapter plugs into the base of the TuneFlex,
the cable to the cassette adapter doesn't hang off the top of
the iPod, reducing cable clutter and making it easy both to swing
the entire TuneFlex out of the way or to remove the iPod nano to
store it in the glove compartment.
Like the iTrip Auto, the TuneFlex automatically pauses playback
when the car turns off, but does not resume when power returns.
I do prefer the way Belkin's TuneBase FM automatically resumes,
but I'm willing to put up with pressing Play on the iPod nano,
especially since it means that Tonya and I have fewer conflicts
with positioning in podcasts.
**Today's Favorite** -- Although all these devices provide
basically the same set of features, I was somewhat surprised
to find that my favorite ended up being Griffin Technology's
TuneFlex. In large part that's not due to great technical
engineering - the TuneFlex's is perhaps the simplest of the
devices - but to its excellent industrial design and physical
usability when combined with the svelte iPod nano. Belkin's
TuneBase FM has the best set of features overall, ranging from
a good interface, powerful audio output levels, and decent
physical usability, but the constant blasts of static every
time I turned on the car put me off. It's likely that Belkin's
TuneBase FM for iPod nano is in fact the ultimate device; it would
depend on how it enabled a cassette adapter or direct cable to
be plugged in. I can't really recommend Griffin Technology's
RoadTrip; it doesn't match up to the TuneBase FM, and the need
to turn it on every time you start your car is unnecessary effort.
Although I may have sounded somewhat dismissive of Small Dog's
Car Tune and Griffin's iTrip Auto, they're so small that they
become easily thrown into a laptop bag for a trip that will
involve driving in a random rental car. Choosing between them
is difficult, since the iTrip Auto is better in every way but
ease of tuning, something that's constantly necessary on long
car trips in unfamiliar areas, and it costs more than twice as
much as the Car Tune.
One aspect of my testing that surprised me was how much more
I liked using the iPod nano in the car in favor of my large
iPod photo. My iPod nano is black, so its color and size make
it harder to see against the black dashboard from outside the car,
making me worry less about leaving it out. Since it's solid-state,
I also worry less about the heat and cold endemic to this part
of the world hurting the iPod. It's a 4 GB model, and although
that's significantly smaller than the 30 GB iPod photo, it has
proven to be more than sufficient for the music and podcasts
and audiobooks we want to hear in the car.
Take Control News/17-Jul-06
---------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
**Backups Ebook Updated to Cover Intel Macs and More** -- Need a
rock-solid, up-to-date backup strategy to protect your important
data? Turn to version 1.3 of Joe Kissell's popular Take Control
of Mac OS X Backups, which now extends its detailed discussion
of different backup strategies, media, and software, along with
over 20 pages of step-by-step directions for the popular
Retrospect backup program. Changes in version 1.3 include:
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/backup-macosx.html?14@@!pt=
TRK-0014-TB838-TCNEWS>
* Info about backing up videos purchased from the iTunes
Music Store
* Tips about backing up Windows files when using Boot Camp
or Parallels Desktop
* A sidebar about Amazon's S3 remote data storage service
* Details about booting Intel Macs from USB and FireWire drives
* A tip about overcoming difficulties when booting from a
FireWire drive
* A variety of minor updates and clarifications
If you own a previous version of the ebook, you can update for
free; click the Check for Updates button in the lower left of the
ebook's first page to find a download link. You'll also see a
special 50 percent discount off the purchase of Take Control of
Maintaining Your Mac, which can be used as a companion volume to
Take Control of Mac OS X Backups to avoid problems and keep your
Mac running in tip-top condition.
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/maintaining-mac.html?14@@!pt=
TRK-0032-TB838-TCNEWS>
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/17-Jul-06
------------------------------------
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.
**Erasing data on a "dead" drive** -- When faced with a dead
hard drive, how do you ensure that your sensitive data isn't
compromised when sending the drive back for repair? Readers
suggest several alternatives, from physically destroying the hard
disk to swapping enclosures to determine the cause of the problem.
(25 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=3049>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/881/>
**iPod update cause MP3 glitches?** The latest firmware update
to the iPod nano appears to be responsible for playback problems.
(2 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=3050>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/882/>
**Best of Crazy Apple Rumors** -- Last week's piece about the
Crazy Apple Rumors Site prompts a list of the best articles
John Moltz has published. (3 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=3051>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/883/>
**Missing Web browser feature** -- The release of Opera 9 makes
one reader wish for Internet Explorer's Scrapbook feature
in modern browsers. Readers suggest several alternatives.
(11 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=3052>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/884/>
**Notification of incoming calls works only once after restart**
-- A reader asks for help in identifying this problem. (1 message)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=3053>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/885/>
**Reinstalling Classic** -- How easy is it to reinstall the
Classic environment under Tiger? Although, for that matter,
is it worth trying at all? (3 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=3054>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/886/>
**Usage vs ratings** -- The Web site iusethis.com lets readers
list the software they use. Is it a better indicator than reviews
that appear in publications such as TidBITS? (2 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=3056>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/887/>
**Has Mac Home Magazine Just Walked Out?** A missing recent issue
and lack of information on the magazine's Web site indicates that
it may have folded. (2 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=3057>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/888/>
$$
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