AYM 4 Training – Online and Onsite Computer Training – Cool Stuff

I’ve been a Mac user since about 1990 and, despite a zillion improvements on the Mac and in all computing, I find myself nostalgic for Mac’s Good ‘Ol Days. The days when it didn’t take itself too seriously. The days when cute little extras and Easter Eggs could be found in software, and in the Finder.

One man has managed to bring back a little bit of the quaint times on the Mac by recreating the original  Classic Mac sounds for the New OS’s and for the iOS as well.

Check out the free download from http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/19079/mac-os-classic-sound-pack

Also, I recommend checking out the Steven Jay Cohen’s Blog, on which he has some serious software development stuff, his resume, and some very cool Doctor Who stuff! http://www.stevenjaycohen.com/tags/development 

Demo image made in 4 minutes with Fumy and Photoshop

Here’s a little program I love! I bought a program named Smoke some time ago, at a discounted price. I thought it looked like a cool, fun toy of a program, but it’s so much more! Smoke underwent a name change. It’s new name is Fumy, and the newly released version is  Fumy 2.0.

Painting in Fumy is like painting with smoke, or waves, or patterns or light. Version 1, with all it’s point updates was very cool – choose a style and some colors and then paint. You could place the end results into Photoshop documents (or simply create a stand-alone graphic). The only “real” limitation was that the end-result image was opaque. You could use any color background, but you created an opaque image for which you might have to use Blending Modes in Photoshop to influence the result.

Now, with version 2.0, we have layers! This means that not only can we create images with transparent backgrounds, but we also have some limited blending modes inside the program, and we also have the ability to export individual layers of our image.

The names of the controls present a bit of a learning curve: names like “Flow”, “Range”, “Intensity”, “Density”, “Fluency”, “Gravity”, and “Quality” may not make immediate sense, but that’s part of the idea of working in this Fumy. It’s all about experimentation (you all know that’s a BIG teaching point of mine anyway, right?)

Version 2.0 just came out a few days ago, so there’re still a few “issues” to resolve. For example, the tooltip names don’t align and so you have to trust the icon more than the name of the tool. Also, there seems to be a bit of a problem with the function of exporting individual layers, but you should also be aware that the developer is extremely responsive. I’ve had a few questions over the past couple of versions, and I received response emails the same day!

On top of all this coolness and fun, here’s the real kicker – I’d originally bought this program for $6 via Maczot.com. It was also included in a software bundle I’d purchased at MacLegion.com. But I never needed the new version. Every update has been free – and the recent UPGRADE was ALSO FREE! Any developer with such a cool product, who is so responsive, and has such generous upgrade policies should be commended! I encounter so many programs with ridiculous and draconian upgrade costs, I’m especially impressed by this (see Adobe’s new upgrade policies, for example!)

Despite the few bugs in this new version, I highly recommend it – and the developer. If the regular $19.99 seems a bit much, wait… you’ll see it in a bundle, I’m sure. Also, Neatberry (the developer) seems to have a slew of other cool programs. I’m looking forward to checking them out.

Oh, and the image you see in this post  was done using a stock image from stock.xchng, and a quick image from Fumy 2.0, created and composited in about 4 minutes using Photoshop.

Check out Fumy 2.0. Let me know what you think!

So, looks like Apple’s doing a bit of work on FCP X, but to me it doesn’t look like they managed to address any of the “Pro” deficiencies (see the “What’s New” section) What do you think?

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7282/apple-final-cut-pro-x

Yesterday, Apple released a point update to the new Lion Operating System. The new OS designation is 10.7.1 (this is an UPDATE, and therefore free to MacOS 10.7 owners), and it covers:

• Address an issue that may cause the system to become unresponsive when playing a video in Safari
• Resolve an issue that may cause system audio to stop working when using HDMI or optical audio out
• Improve the reliability of Wi-Fi connections
• Resolve an issue that prevents transfer of your data, settings, and compatible applications to a new Mac running OS X Lion

As many of you know, I’m an advocate of holding off on any new product until at least a .1 or .2 update. If you read some of the comments on http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/39487/apple-os-x-lion  - you’ll get an idea why that’s my position.

That being said – I visited the Apple Store to check out this new Operating System. Of course, as a long-time user of the Mac, I’m always skeptical of big changes to the way we work. I must say that, aside from the stupid layout of the Address Book, and some annoyances with iCal’s new layout, I didn’t hate Lion. Yeah, I don’t need better gestures on my MacPro with my favorite Might Mouse; I never used Exposé much, so the new Mission Control, while being cool, may not be something I use;  Launchpad makes me feel like using my iPhone, for which I have an…. iPhone!; and I may dislike Autosave and versioning, because even I probably don’t have enough hard drive space for that! Also, being a tech, I HATED the fact that we can’t get to our own User Library, without bending over backwards. The redeeming feature for lots of this is that we can un-set some of these options, and make them work as we expect. Of course, then the question arises – do we need an upgrade if we’re going to make it work like the old OS?

For me, the BIGGEST issue holding me back from upgrading is the lack of Rosetta – the program that allowed Leopard and Snow Leopard run old PowerPC based programs. Until there’s a consistent, viable resolution to this, I won’t be upgrading my main system. I need to use those apps (some of my students still USE those apps), and the idea of dual-booting, and maintaining 2 systems and 2 drives is annoying.

Otherwise, for new users, this will be really simple to use, it certainly looks pretty, and there are some  fun and cool features. And – now that there’s a .1 update, it’s something to consider!

Lions are beautiful animals – smart, strong, powerful. However, I’m not feeling that great about upgrading to the new Mac OSX 10.7 Lion. From what I read, it seems that some features on which I depend are going to be either completely deprecated, or won’t function at all in the way I want them.

However, I am NOT an early adopter – I don’t install version 1 of ANYTHING, especially an operating system. It’s my hope that by the time I do install it (probably around the .2 update), Apple will have addressed my needs for Address Book, and iCal, and will have maybe found a way to sell Rosetta as an addition to Lion – or at least for Parallels to devise a way for me to use my Snow Leopard installation in emulation, and have resolved some issues I already see as being against my personal interests to upgrade.

However, many of my clients ARE early adopters, and I get the phone calls to help bring them back, when they’re sorry for what they did. That’s great – thanks – I love the work! But, as I’ve mentioned to ALL my clients and students in the past, it’s IMPERATIVE to have a reliable “Cloned Backup” of their original startup disk.

This article addresses how one may go about resurrecting your Snow Leopard installation, if they don’t like Lion. It emphasizes the “Cloned Backup” idea quite strongly.  A good read:
http://gigaom.com/apple/how-to-downgrade-from-lion-to-snow-leopard/ 

Okay, I’ve actually been a fan of the Mac Mini, for a great many of my clients. It’s small, you can attach any monitor, it had good processor speed, and could handle a decent amount of RAM – and it was cheap for a Mac.

They’ve announced the new Mini – with NO OPTICAL DRIVE! Sounds like they may be touting it for an Apple TV replacement with more features? Bad idea, Apple…  :(

Here’s a quick review:
http://dealmac.com/features/Dear-Steve-Jobs-The-Mac-mini-Is-Crap/482596.html 

Here’s a really good checklist for preparing yourself and your Mac to upgrade to Mac OSX 10.7 Lion, which went on sale today. Courtesy of Gigaom.com

http://gigaom.com/apple/mac-os-x-10-7-lion-install-checklist/