MacEdition Pro News : October 12, 2001
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This issue of ProNews has a distinctly "visual" theme. Perhaps it's coincidence but numerous companies currently want to dazzle your eyeballs (one way or another) as the press releases below shall demonstrate:
iTunes acid trips - Homebrew style!
Been a bit down that iTunes on OS X 10.0 won't spin you out? Fear not, the folks at ArKaos have an alternative. As a nice bonus it's also compatible with SoundJam and Audion. From the press release:
Brussels – ArKaos announced its new ArKaos Visualizer 1.5 for iTunes 1.1 for Mac OS 9 and OS X , Soundjam 2.X and Audion 2.X.
ArKaos Visualizer is a free plug-in for all major PC and Mac MP3/media players. Its beat matching artificial intelligence synchronizes visual projects created with ArKaos VJ 2.1 and VMP 2.1 with the music.
The Visualizer comes with 11 visual files pre-loaded. Users can download new ones in the User Zone section of ArKaos Web site (www.arkaos.net), where multimedia designers, graphic artists and users of ArKaos VMP or VJ are posting their creations for download.
The new features of the version 1.5 are:
- OS X support
- multi effects support
- Altivec (G4) optimization
- new effects (video feedback, larsen, filtering )
- new waveform support
- new content (11 .kos files)
The installer can be downloaded at:
http://www.arkaos.net/site/en/prod_downlo_visu.html
US server :
ftp://ftp.arkaos.net/pub/ArKaosVisualizer/ArKaosVisualizer_1_5.bin
European server :
ftp://europe.arkaos.net/pub/ArKaosVisualizer/ArKaosVisualizer_1_5.bin
Have fun, and do remember to stop staring at the swirly patterns when you get dizzy...
There's a telescope in my soup!
If psychedelic visuals are not your bag, perhaps astronomy is more your style. We couldn't think how to make this sound exciting, but the folks at Software Bisque did the job for us:
Add a Telescope to Your Digital Lifestyle!
Software Bisque has just released a new beta version of the TheSky Astronomy Software for Macintosh. TheSky brings to your desktop the wonder and fascination of viewing the heavens, whether you are tracing your first constellation, or hunting for yet-discovered celestial bodies. This new version is a free upgrade for existing users, and it has some exciting new features.
It supports several new telescopes:
- The Meade ETX AutoStar
- The Celestron NexStar
- The Vixen SkySensor 2000
- The Losmandy Gemini System
It supports these new operating systems:
- Mac OS X "Classic"
- Mac OS 9.2
It also has these new features:
- It supports Belkin and Keyspan USB-to-serial adapters
- It has a new Slide Show command
- It saves previews into documents
- It downloads comets and minor planets from the web
- It has improved minor planet support
- And it has improved telescope controls
Existing users who would like to test the beta version can learn more about it at http://www.brasure.com. Beta testers are also encouraged to join Software Bisque's online discussion group called "BisqueMac". You can join the group by visiting "http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BisqueMac/join".
You can learn more about TheSky in general by visiting Software Bisque's web page at "http://www.bisque.com/products/thesky/thesky.asp".
Think GIFs are old hat? So does Helios!
Helios Software, mentioned in a recent ProNews, has announced support for both PNG and BMP file formats in its prepress server software. From the press release:
Garbsen, Germany – October 9, 2001 – HELIOS Software GmbH, a leading provider of network and prepress server software, announced it has added support for PNG & BMP file formats to its EtherShare OPI prepress server software. These new features are currently in beta and available for testing by existing EtherShare OPI 2.1 customers. Additionally, HELIOS announced that its PCShare server for PC clients now supports dynamic DNS updates.
PNG and BMP file formats The PNG file format is the successor of the well known GIF-format that is widely used on many Web pages. The PNG format has better features than GIF The HELIOS EtherShare OPI beta update supports the conversion of all images to PNG interlaced (progressive) format including converting Photoshop and TIFF image masks into PNG masks. Conversion can be configured on a volume-wide or per-folder basis.
BMP is also now supported in beta within EtherShare OPI. The BMP format is employed by Windows as the default image format. Additional OPI layout features include the ability to create preview images with a fixed x/y pixel resolution, and Internet previews with a fixed image size are now supported using the new layout command line switch. This preview will timeout on February 1st 2002. The software is available for existing EtherShare OPI 2.1 customers to download at http://www.helios.de/pub/beta/png_bmp
PCShare DHCP with dynamic DNS update PCShare 3 includes a DHCP server with support for dynamic DNS name updates of Mac and Windows workstation names. By default every DHCP client (e.g. Mac or Windows workstation) receives their TCP/IP configuration including IP address, subnet mask, router, WINS, and DNS server address. To allow a reverse lookup to this DHCP client (e.g. ping mac-mike.helios.com) instead of the decimal TCP/IP address, PCShare 3 can update the DNS server with the workstation name of the Mac or Windows client.
No GIFs were harmed in the making of this ProNews...
Looking for old ProNews segments? Check out our index at http://old.macedition.com/news/. Do you have news releases or tidbits of interest to the Macintosh professional? Send them to pronewsnotes@macedition.com.