TechNick

Hot off the tail of the WWDC and announcements of the 3G iPhone, Apple will be releasing iTunes v 7.7 before July 11. The current version of iTunes is 7.6 but on the iPhone Tech Specs page, it states that iTunes 7.7 is required for the new iPhone.

Also, on the iPhone Calculator page, a certain number is shown twice:

Could it be a date? Perhaps the 18th of December 2008? We’ll see….

Name: PDFCreator
Company: pdfforge (http://www.pdfforge.org/)
Price: Free
Platform: Windows

Have you ever wanted to save a webpage as a PDF? Or maybe you wanted to export a Word document to a PDF and email that to a colleague who might not have the correct fonts installed. PDFCreator by pdfforge is the right utility for you.

Adding itself to your list of printers, PDFCreator creates a PDF instead of wasting paper.

PDFCreator does everything a normal printer does, just without the need for paper.

Pros

• Handy feature
• Free

Cons

• None

With a price tag like this, what is stopping you from using this?

PDFCreator is developed by pdfforge and is available for free from the PDFCreator download page.

Name: CoverSutra
Company: Sophiestication (http://sophiestication.de/)
Price: €14.95
Platform: Mac OS X

A small app that goes onto the menu bar, CoverSutra (currently at version 2.1) aims to keeps your hands on the keyboard when doing work, while still giving you the ability to control iTunes.

With a search function that can be accessed by a keyboard shortcut, as well as many other functions (such as play, pause, next track, previous track and increase and decrease volume), once you learn the shortcuts that you define, it will be quicker than trying to use the mouse or trackpad.

The other major feature of CoverSutra is the ability to show the album art on the desktop. When doing this, there are three different styles: classic jewel case, jewel case or, my favourite, vinyl record.

Composite image of the three different desktop album cover views.

I use a MacBook Pro, one of Apple’s notebooks, and I have found that, while visually appealing, this small app is a major battery drainer when not plugged into AC power. However, when plugged into a wall, everything is fine.

While I don’t use CoverSutra for the keyboard shortcuts (I use the Apple Remote that came with my Mac), I have CoverSutra open just for the album art on the desktop.

Also, CoverSutra has in-build Last.FM scrobbling support, so for stats buffs (like myself) this means that, while you will have a new app open, another one can be closed.

Demo versions are available for download.

• Version 2.1.2 (requires OS X 10.5.2 or later and iTunes 7.6.2 or later)
• Version 1.2.1 (requires OS X 10.4.11 and iTunes 7.4 or later)

Pros

• Cheap
• Visually attractive
• Unintrusive
• Last.FM Support
• Choice of icon in dock, menubar or both

Cons

• Battery drainer

Overall, I give CoverSutra 4/5.

CoverSutra is developed by Sophiestication and is available for purchase from the CoverSutra purchase page.

Last.FM

Have you ever been in the middle of doing work in a program, realised that you need to do something in a different program but wanted to continue working in the first program until you are ready, without being interrupted?

There is an easy way for you to do this. When double-clicking the icon, simply hold the SHIFT key and the new application will start minimised, keeping the focus on the currently focused on program.

PowerToys add fun and functionality to the Windows experience. What are they? PowerToys are additional programs that developers work on after a product has been released.

Color Control Panel Applet
Professional-level photographers and designers know that getting consistent, accurate color from file to screen to print and beyond is a requirement for great results. This new tool helps you manage Windows color settings in one place.

SyncToy
With new sources of files coming from every direction (such as digital cameras, e-mail, cell phones, portable media players, camcorders, PDAs, and laptops), SyncToy can help you copy, move, and synchronize different directories.

RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer
Are you a serious photographer? Now you can organize and work with digital RAW files in Windows Explorer (much as you can with JPEG images). This tool provides thumbnails, previews, printing, and metadata display for RAW images. Download or learn more.

ClearType Tuner
This PowerToy lets you use ClearType technology to make it easier to read text on your screen, and installs in the Control Panel for easy access.

HTML Slide Show Wizard
This wizard helps you create an HTML slide show of your digital pictures, ready to place on your Web site.

Open Command Window Here
This PowerToy adds an “Open Command Window Here” context menu option on file system folders, giving you a quick way to open a command window (cmd.exe) pointing at the selected folder.

Alt-Tab Replacement
With this PowerToy, in addition to seeing the icon of the application window you are switching to, you will also see a preview of the page. This helps particularly when multiple sessions of an application are open.

Tweak UI
This PowerToy gives you access to system settings that are not exposed in the Windows XP default user interface, including mouse settings, Explorer settings, taskbar settings, and more.

Power Calculator
With this PowerToy you can graph and evaluate functions as well as perform many different types of conversions.

Image Resizer
This PowerToy enables you to resize one or many image files with a right-click.

CD Slide Show Generator
With this PowerToy you can view images burned to a CD as a slide show. The Generator works downlevel on Windows 9x machines as well.

Virtual Desktop Manager
Manage up to four desktops from the Windows taskbar with this PowerToy.

Taskbar Magnifier
Use this PowerToy to magnify part of the screen from the taskbar.

Webcam Timershot
This PowerToy lets you take pictures at specified time intervals from a Webcam connected to your computer and save them to a location that you designate.

These can be downloaded from the Microsoft website.

You are probably aware of the keyboard button Print Screen (sometimes PrtScr or other variations of that).

However, were you aware that instead of capturing the whole screen, you can use a keyboard command to just capture a specific window?

All you need to do is resize the window to show as much or as little as you want and then press ALT-PrtScr. All you need to do now is paste (CTRL-V) the image into your favourite image editing application (such as Adobe Photoshop, The GIMP or even MSPaint) and save it.

When creating a website, sometimes your code becomes messy and hard to read. However, Dreamweaver CS3 has an inbuilt function to make your code easier to read.

Simply open up the file that you wish to tidy up.

In the Commands menu, click on Apply Source Formatting.

Below is an example of how this changes the code:

Before:

After:

At school, we have an on demand video system (they’re educational) which uses DivX encoded videos, probably due to keeping file sizes down. These videos are normally split into multiple parts, like a DVD has chapters. Every time a part of a video loads, the DivX logo shows up in the bottom right and I find myself getting annoyed at it.

However, there is a way to turn it off.

In the Start menu, go to All Programs > DivX > DivX Codec > Decoder Configuration Utility.

If you have version 5 of the DivX codec, you need to check the box next to “Disable Logo” on the “Quality Settings“.

If you have version 6 of the DivX codec, you need to uncheck the box next to “Show DivX logo watermark” on the “Toolbar” tab.

From now on, the DivX watermark shall never again annoy you.

You’ve just finished the movie that you’ve been working on for ages and now you want to make a DVD out of it using iDVD. However, you notice in the bottom right corner of the preview window an Apple overlay.

There is a way to remove it, without the need to pay money for an “update”.

Simply go to the iDVD Menu and click on Preferences. On the general tab, uncheck the box next to Show Apple Logo Watermark.

That’s it. The logo should now be gone from your project.

While it isn’t in the help menu, there is certainly nothing wrong with getting rid of this logo.

Name: Voice Candy
Company: Potion Factory (http://www.potionfactory.com/)
Price: $12.95 USD
Platform: Mac OS X

Voice Candy (currently version 1.2) is an application developed by Potion Factory with one aim in mind. Make recording your voice simple.

In Voice Candy, there are eight different sound effect settings, as well as normal being a selectable option.

To start recording all that needs to be done is the big red button in the bottom left needs to be hit and you’re away. When you’re done, just hit it again and the recording will stop. You can listen to what you just recorded by clicking the play button next to the record button.

While Voice Candy contains an effect called “Vader”, the ominous breathing sound isn’t automatically added. The mouse sound effect sounds like the mice in the movie “Babe” and “Phone” sounds like the person is actually talking to you over a telephone.

If you are happy with your recording, hit “Save to…” and you are given options of where you can save it to, including the Desktop and iTunes. You can even save the recording to play at a certain time, theoretically being able to be used for reminders.

This could be a very useful tool for filmmakers who wish to replace dialogue, or give it a certain effect.

While voice recording is all Voice Candy does, at just $12.95 USD, you can’t really go wrong.

A 15 day trial is also available from the product page.

Requirements:

Mac OS X 10.4 or later
G4 or faster processor

Potion Factory
Voice Candy