The MacTrack - Items of Mac Interest

Evansville, Indiana - Second Gear has released Today 1.5, an update to their popular Mac OS X application for managing iCal events and tasks. Today makes it easy to get a one day snapshot view of your upcoming events and tasks in a compact window. Assign a keyboard shortcut, and you can toggle Today’s visibility in a split second. Adding new events and tasks is just as easy. You can quickly schedule next week’s meeting or a quick task in Today. No iCal required.

In Today 1.5, Second Gear has added two of the most requested features. Users can now add custom alarms to notify them of upcoming events and tasks. Today 1.5 also adds support for the popular notification framework, Growl. Users can be notified of event and task creation, date changes and more. Other features, enhancements and fixes were also added to this version.

What’s new in Today 1.5:
* Added support for creating and attaching alarms to events & tasks.
* Added support for Growl notifications: Event creation, task creation, nightly date change and task completion.
* Added notification symbol to tasks that are overdue.
* Refined registration process.
* Improved the hotkey setting functionality by implementing ShortcutRecorder.
* Reset the beta period for Today 1.5.
* Resolved a bug with declined CalDAV events causing Today to crash.
* Other smaller fixes and performance enhancements.

Today Features:
* See events and tasks for each day
* Create new events and tasks directly from the application
* Filter what events and tasks appear in Today based on their calendar
* Open an event or task externally in iCal
* Quick navigation between dates in the past or future
* Smaller footprint than iCal
* Synchronizes calendar information from iPhone and iPod touch
* Synchronizes between multiple Macs using MobileMe
* Works with Mac OS X Leopard’s system-wide CalendarStore

Pricing and Availability:
A 10-day fully-functioning demo of Today can be downloaded from the Second Gear Web site. The price is $15 (USD) for a personal license. Mac OS X 10.5 or higher is required. Today 1.5 is a free update for registered users of Today 1.x.

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Second Gear is based Evansville, Indiana. Founded in 2006 by Crew Chief Justin Williams, Second Gear focuses on building beautiful Mac OS X and iPhone applications for consumers and business. Their first application, PocketTweets, is the most popular Twitter client for Apple’s revolutionary iPhone. Copyright 2006-2008Second Gear. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, and iCal are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Vienna, Austria - Dare to be Creative Ltd. today announced the release of Yum 3.0, a recipe manager for Mac OS X Leopard. Yum is a recipe and cook book manager that allows users to organize recipes into categories, assign ratings, print with custom layouts and create shopping lists from a recipe’s ingredients. The new version is the first official release since Yum’s recent acquisition by Dare to be Creative Ltd., and comes with a brand new user interface designed to make using it more fun.

Under a new flag:
The new version marks the first official release of Yum since its recent acquisition by Dare to be Creative Ltd. With the acquisition, the company aims to strengthen its portfolio of Mac applications, which next to Yum includes the archiving and file compression utility iArchiver, the batch file renamer Renamer4Mac, the file converter Dragoman, the batch image editor ResizeMe, and the document merge utility iCombiner.

A fresh look:
Yum comes with a brand new user interface designed to make organizing and entering recipes more productive and fun for users. The new interface resembles that of the Mac OS X built-in Address Book application, so that users will feel immediately familiar and comfortable.

Features:
* Organize recipes into categories
* Print with customizable page layouts
* Create shopping lists from recipe ingredients
* Include graphics and photos with recipes
* Localizations for French, German and Spanish
* Ships with sample recipes to help users get started
* Import MasterCook recipes and export recipes for easy backup
* Share recipes quickly with email

Minimum Requirements:
* Mac OS X Version 10.5 or higher
* Universal Binary for PowerPC and Intel

Pricing and Availability:
Yum is $19.95 (USD), and available as a free download from the Yum website. It runs initially in a 15-day trial mode with all features active. This is the first commercial release of Yum.

Yum 3.0
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Located in Vienna, Austria, Dare to be Creative Ltd. is a software company founded in 2006 by a group of Mac enthusiasts. The Dare to be Creative team focuses exclusively on developing utility applications for Mac OS X designed to save valuable time while being enjoyable and easy to use. The current portfolio includes a) iArchiver, an archiving and file compression utility, b) Yum, a recipe manager, c) iCombiner, a tool to combine images and PDF files into single PDF documents, d) Renamer4Mac, a batch file renamer, e) ResizeMe, a batch image editor that resizes, scales, rotates and flips images, and f) Dragoman, a batch file converter for images, photos, music, text documents and archive files. All Material and Software (C) 2006-2008 Dare to be Creative Ltd. / All Rights Reserved.

Chelyabinsk, Russia - Andrei Doubrovski, an author of video-books on Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, has released “Elements+” - add-on for Adobe Photoshop Elements unlocking up to 144 undocumented functions. The kit includes smart filters, vector masks, and many more advanced tools normally hidden under the hood.

As you probably know, Photoshop Elements has not inherited all the essential features of the full Photoshop. The available functions are quite sufficient for a beginner. The limitations, though, grow more and more frustrating as you advance. For example, why on earth we are not allowed to look into layer group or use “justify” text alignment mode? Fortunately, not all the missing features have been completely removed. Most of those are just stay hidden under the hood.

“Elements+” is a handy patch revealing the hidden functions in your Photoshop Elements. The undocumented commands appear as additional categories in the Effects palette. Unlike similar solutions, Elements+ unlocks many advanced functions featured in the latest versions of full Photoshop. To apply unlocked command, you merely choose appropriate category and double-click the effect thumbnail.

Distribution kits available for all versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements.

Main Features:
* 144 undocumented commands
* 11 categories: Color and Tone, Selections, Layers, Masks, Smart Objects, Smart Filters, Paths, Text, Languages, Interface, Utilities
* Usage manual included

Minimum Requirements:
* Mac OS X
* Adobe Photoshop Elements v. 2, 3, 4, or 6

Pricing and Availability:
Elements+ is $10-12 (USD) to download.

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Located in Chelyabinsk, Russia, Andrei Doubrovski is author of 4 video-books on Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Flash, and Paint Shop Pro. All Material and Software (C) 2003-2008 Andrei Doubrovski / All Rights Reserved. Photoshop, and Photoshop Elements are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Inc.

New York, NY - BreakThru Radio (BTR) introduces Cooking With The DJs to the on-the-go listener. In its continuing effort to provide unique and entertaining on-demand radio programming, BTR is proud to announce the debut of its latest specialty show, Cooking With The DJs.

With a new 60 minute episode slated to premiere every Sunday, Cooking With The DJs will follow the culinary adventures of a different BTR DJ every week, as they prepare a meal from scratch in tandem with an expertly-picked music playlist. Think of it as a dinner and a movie-type concept, with underground music playing the part of the featured film, and a BTR-certified musicologist providing the play-by-play.

The first episode, which premiered on Sunday, November 16th, finds DJ Latola digging into the family recipe book. With music from groundbreaking artists such as Frida Hyvonen, Women, Look Mexico and The Rosbuds in the mix, Latola instructs on how to bake the smashingly delicious feast known as Party Chicken - a staple at the Latola family dinner table for decades.

The best part is, every episode will feature a different BTR DJ, which means a completely different taste in both cooking and music than the previous week’s host. Only on BreakThru Radio can you hear such a vast variety of lip-smacking content, complete with a birds-eye view into the ever-evolving realm of independent music!

About Breakthru Radio:
BreakThru Radio (BTR) is the World’s Source for the Best Independent Music on the Internet, where expert DJs expose the rich underground of sound not found on commercial radio. Whether it’s death metal, dancehall, dubstep, hip-hop, indie rock, skronk, roots country, reggae, electronica, acid jazz, ambient beats, dub, two-step or folk, whatever genre you can imagine, BTR has it well-stocked, and with no expiration date.

In a world where independent music is becoming infinitely more accessible on the Internet, the need for informed sources to filter out the best of it has become a necessity. Unfortunately, this wealth of relevant music simply cannot be found on the graveyard known as commercial radio. Serious music aficionados are beyond sick and tired of feeling victimized by the expendable airwaves ejaculated by the old corporate radio structure.

Their frustration, however, is at an end. “Music for music lovers,” is BTR’s motto, and one that its DJ’s take very seriously.

BTR offers its listeners unlimited access to underground music, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, with a daily audience that includes more than two dozen countries. With its unique on-demand musical programming and focus on the best in new, independent music, it’s no surprise the site has well over 1,000,000 listeners daily, the majority of which are aged 13-24 years old.

BTR is constantly evolving, and 2007 saw the creation of a unique BTR Facebook application, making it possible for Facebook users to install a miniature version of BTR’s unique media player upon their personal pages. Also, independent video coverage was added to BTR, as well as top-notch editorial content and an intuitive global show calendar. Plus, BTR’s live musical content experienced immense growth, with exclusive recordings from Ardent Studios (Memphis, Tennessee), Old School Studios (Bury St Edmunds, United Kingdom) and Dubway Studios (New York City, New York) becoming part of BTR’s regular show schedule. In fact, you could say that BTR has taken everything a music fan could ever need or want, and put it all into one cohesive website, completely free of charge to is users.

Unlike other radio stations, BTR offers complete on-demand programming; a first in internet radio. Listeners can cater to their specific musical preferences, whatever the genre, and at the same time discover the best independent and unsigned artists from across the world.

BreakThru Radio
Cooking With The DJs Show
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BreakThru Radio (BTR) is the World’s Source for the Best Independent Music on the Internet, where expert DJs expose the rich underground of sound not found on commercial radio. Whether it’s death metal, dancehall, dubstep, hip-hop, indie rock, skronk, roots country, reggae, electronica, acid jazz, ambient beats, dub, two-step or folk, whatever genre you can imagine, BTR has it well-stocked, and with no expiration date. 954 Lexington Ave., Suite 199, New York, NY 10021 Copyright 2008 BreakThru Radio. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Woodstock, Illinois - Thoughtful Tree Software is proud to introduce Docks 1.0, their new Dock-swapping utility for Mac OS X Leopard. With Docks, users can easily and conveniently swap out sets of applications and files that sit in their Dock with any other set they have have stored. Now users can have a Dock for work, a Dock for games, or a Dock for whatever they need.

It’s easy to create a Snapshot of the current Dock, and switch back to it at any time. Users can store sets of Dock items by clicking the New Snapshot button, which will take a look at all the application and file icons in the Dock, and store what appears as a “snapshot” of their Dock, directly inside the Docks window. Once a Snapshot is saved, reordering and renaming Snapshots is also available through keyboard shortcuts or directly in the menu.

A menu bar item (next to the Menu Extras such as the Clock) is available for conveniently switching between Docks by name, without showing the applications window. There are also global hot-keys the user can set to either take a new Snapshot or to show the Docks application window.

Feature highlights include:
* Multiple sets of vastly different applications and files
* Quickly switch Docks or take a Snapshot using global hot-keys
* Optional menu item to switch Docks even quicker
* Reliably takes care of all user-created Docks to prevent any data-loss

Minimum Requirements:
* Mac OS X Version 10.5 Leopard or later
* Universal Binary for PowerPC and Intel
* 3.8 MB Hard Drive space

Pricing and Availability:

Docks 1.0 is available for $14.99 (USD) for a single-user license. A Family Pack of 5 licenses are also available for only $59.95 (USD). Thoughtful Tree Software will be offering Docks for an introductory discount of $5-off for the Grand Opening sale on Monday 17th, and Tuesday the 18th only.

Docks 1.0
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Located in historic Woodstock, Illinois, Thoughtful Tree Software is a new, privately funded company founded in 2008 by Steven Degutis. Committed to providing the highest quality software, Thoughtful Tree Software was founded for the purpose of developing personal productivity software solutions specifically the Mac community, with a major emphasis on total customer satisfaction. As the skill set developed are diverse, the company has near-future plans for applications in other areas, such as graphics, drawing and internet chat. Copyright 2008 Thoughtful Tree Software. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.

London, UK - Dockland Software has announced Fantasktik 1.2, an update to their innovative taskbar application for Mac OS X Leopard. Displaying a clean and sleek user interface, Fantasktik is a powerful tool allowing users to easily switch between open windows and applications.

Among Fantasktik’s unique features are the large document previews created with Leopard’s Core Animation technology. Just hover on a window and Fantasktik will display a smooth animation to show the window contents, making window identification easy and fast.

Inspired by the new multitouch interfaces, Fantasktik introduces Click and Slide to browse through open windows. Click and Slide offers an intuitive way to see all windows while keeping a minimal interface. Even with many opened documents, finding a window is fast and easy. Fantasktik is also consistent with Mac OS X and groups windows by application.

Version 1.2 adds many new features and improvements:
* Ability to exclude applications from the bar
* Auto-hide or hide Fantasktik when selected applications are active
* Better support of applications having windows open in different Spaces
* Optimized version of Sidekick
* Fixed applications/windows bring-to-front
* Option to show the bar in all Spaces

Feature highlights include:
* Switch between windows with a single click
* Large windows previews
* 100% Core Animation
* Click and slide browsing
* Auto-hide
* Automatically group windows by application
* Collapse and expand windows of an application

Minimum Requirements:
* Mac OS X Version 10.5 Leopard
* Universal Binary for PowerPC and Intel
* 512 MB Minimum Ram
* 1.0 MB Hard Drive space

Pricing and Availability:
Fantasktik is available for only $9.99 (USD) and may be downloaded directly from Dockland Software website. A fully-functional, 15-day trial version is available.

Dockland Software
Fantasktik 1.2
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Dockland Software is based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 2008 by Corine Droux, Dockland’s mission is to develop Mac software that improves the user experience by combining features and style. Fantasktik is Dockland’s first application, with more projects in development for release in the near future. Copyright 2008 Dockland Software. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Leopard, are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Fremont, CA - .com Solutions Inc. has released FmPro Migrator 4.45, as a maintenance update, including a new FileMaker Pro to SQLite migration feature. FmPro This release also includes a new FmPro Migrator preference file implementation and enhancements to Access database migrations.

As the popularity of the SQLite grows, developers may choose to take advantage of FmPro Migrator’s ability to easily copy FileMaker Pro data and schema into SQLite databases. FmPro Migrator can also be used to replace data within existing SQLite database files when using FileMaker Pro as a workgroup development repository. This technique enables SQLite to serve as an embedded database for a website or a desktop application, utilizing refreshed data from FileMaker Pro.

FmPro Migrator Developer Edition includes all the features of FmPro Migrator, but also includes FileMaker Table Consolidation, and automation of the relationship and layout creation process on Mac OS X and Windows.

FmPro Migrator Developer Edition includes all of the features of FmPro Migrator, but also converts FileMaker Pro Layouts and ScriptMaker scripts into Revolution stacks. The Table Consolidation feature performs the automated copying of Tables/Fields, Table Occurrences, Relationships, ScriptMaker scripts and Layouts between FileMaker 8, 8.5 and 9 database files on MacOS X and Windows.

FmPro Migrator Changes Include:

* FileMaker Pro to SQLite Migration - FmPro Migrator provides software developers with the opportunity to manage data in FileMaker Pro, and then transfer that data into SQLite databases for use with portable, embedded or web applications.

* Enhanced FmPro Migrator Preferences - The FmPro Migrator preferences database file stores user entered info for the FileMaker tab migration fields within the user documents directory. Previously entered settings are restored each time the application is launched.

* Simplified Access Database Migrations - Migration projects involving Microsoft Access databases have been simplified by eliminating the need to create an ODBC DSN to either a source or destination Access database file. FmPro Migrator now automatically makes a File DSN ODBC connection to the Access .mdb file. This feature is used when gathering info from Access databases, creating tables or transferring data to/from Access databases.

* Maintenance Items - Cosmetic improvements have been made to the display of table columns from Bento databases, and when refreshing the Migration Process window after resizing.

Existing FmPro Migrator customers can upgrade to FmPro Migrator 4.45 at no charge. The single-user licensing includes a copy of FmPro Migrator for both Mac OS X (Universal Binary) and Windows platforms. FmPro Migrator customers may upgrade to FmPro Migrator Developer Edition for $100. A functional demo version of FmPro Migrator may be downloaded from the website.

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.com Solutions Inc. develops multi-platform graphical applications supporting FileMaker, Bento, SQLite, Oracle, MySQL, Access, SQL Server, Sybase, DB2, OpenBase, PostgreSQL, FrontBase and Revolution developers. FmPro Script Diff, compares and edits FileMaker ScriptMaker scripts, FmPro Layout Diff, compares FileMaker Layouts. FmPro Migrator converts FileMaker databases to and from FileMaker, SQLite Diff compares SQLite database schema and data. FileMaker is a trademark of FileMaker, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Los Angeles, CA - The next meeting of the Los Angeles Final Cut Pro User Group (lafcpug) will be Wednesday, November 19, 2008 beginning at 6:45 PM at the Gallery Theater in E. Hollywood, CA. It will be the “other NLEs Night,” featuring Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 and Avid Media Composer v3.” Every so often lafcpug brings in “other” NLE applications and systems so you can see what else is out there. It’s time to do it again.

Join us as we welcome Giles Baker, Adobe Premiere Pro Product manager, to show off the just shipping Adobe Premiere Pro CS4. Also scheduled to appear will be Michael Krulik from Avid who will show off Avid Media Composer v3. Plus film editor Michael Alberts will show off Digital Heaven’s brand new application, “Loader,” a very smart tool for importing music, sound effects, graphics and movies into Final Cut Pro. All that and still time for Stump The Gurus, Show and Tells and of course, World Famous Raffle.

Before the show and the break there will be demos in the lobby of DV Kitchen from DVCreators, storage solutions from HDDisk, Green Screen keying from Veescope Live and much more. Food and drink will also be available at a nominal cost.

A $5.00 donation will be requested at the door. Doors open at 6PM. lafcpug meetings are open to the public. First come, best seat. For complete details and a directions to the Gallery Theatre, visit the lafcpug web site.

Los Angeles Final Cut Pro User Group

Founded in 2000, the Los Angeles Final Cut Pro User Group (lafcpug) is the largest UG in the world dedicated to the education and use of Apple Inc’s Pro Applications. In addition, lafcpug co-produces the Annual FCPUG SuperMeets at both NAB and Macworld and IBC. Copyright 2000-2008 Los Angeles Final Cut Pro User Group. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, and Final Cut are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Los Angeles, CA - Maxprog is proud to present a new release of MaxBulk Mailer, new version 6.0, available now on Maxprog website with several interesting new features and improvements. Version 6.0, available now in English, German, French, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Chinese, Russian and Portuguese.

MaxBulk Mailer is an email-merge solution for Macintosh and Windows that supports plain text, HTML and rich text formats including optional plain text alternative and attachments. It includes document and contact managment, support for multiple lists and multiple accounts with POP, APOP and ESMTP authentication, SSL, groups, mySQL and postgreSQL imports, unicode UTF-8 support, 40 encoding for virtually any language and hundreds of exclusive features.

MaxBulk Mailer is available in English, German, French, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Chinese, Russian and Portuguese for Mac OS X and Windows Me/2000/XP/Vista.

Maxprog has created the ultimate tool for all of your email marketing needs. MaxBulk Mailer allows you to design and send professional looking emails to your customers and prospects for as little as fractions of a penny… directly from your own desktop. MaxBulk Mailer is a powerful mail-merge tool for Macintosh that allows you to send out customized press releases, price lists and any kind of text or HTML documents to your customers.

MaxBulk Mailer is fast, fully customizable and very easy to use. MaxBulk Mailer handles plain text, HTML and styled text documents and gives full support for attachments. Here is a breakthrough tool from Maxprog that will allow you to increase your profits, strengthen your customer service and send your messages to new markets.

With MaxBulk Mailer you will create, manage and send your own powerful, personalized marketing message to your customers and potential customers. MaxBulk Mailer is a software tool that you purchase once, no need to pay on a per-email basis to submission services.

Now your promotional messages will jump off the screen with HTML mail! MaxBulk Mailer HTML allows you to include graphics, fonts and colors turning your messages into professional online brochures. Any user can utilize their full lists of contact information with MaxBulk Mailer. You’ll be able to reach everyone in your database without worrying about integration or compatibility issues.

Maxprog
MaxBulk Mailer 6.0
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MAX Programming, LLC. also known as Maxprog(R) is a privately held company dedicated to Macintosh, Windows and Linux software development. MAX Programming mainly develops and markets Internet, communication and database tools. MAX Programming is unique in its approach to business, especially when it comes to customer care and satisfaction. In fact, our goal is to give each customer the utmost in personal attention and service. MAX Programming, LLC was founded in the early nineties by French-born programmer Stanley Roche Busk, after over 15 years of experience in the high-tech networking industry and computer software development, now Chief Executive Officer of the company. Since its creation, MAX Programming has built firm business relations with thousands of clients from over 136 countries with products localized in up to 10 different languages. Copyright (C) 2008 Max Programming, LLC - All rights reserved.

Los Angeles, USA - MacVide is proud to announce iPod Converter 1.8, their video to mp4 conversion utility for Mac OS X. With a focus on ease-of-use, iPod Converter allows conversion of the most popular video files to mp4 iPod video. It fully integrates the process into the Mac experience by allowing human interaction on the content during conversion.

All of the most popular formats are supported, including MOV, 3GP, MPEG, AVI and helps bridge the gap between many video standards. iPod Converter is a great tool for using with Apple’s iTunes.

MacVide iPod Converter provides powerful functions to set different settings for your video files. It allows you to select crop video area, the bit rate, frame rate, video resolution. Video preview with “rangebar” allows you to choose the exact video footage you want, anywhere between the first and last frames. With MacVide iPod Converter you will able to convert your entire movie to .MP4 and watch it anywhere and anytime. It’s very easy to use and it supports most portable MP4 devices.

New in version 1.8:
* Bitrate Calculator Included, now user able to set aproximated output file size.
* Misc bugs fixed.

Feature highlights include:
* Input format supported: all popular Video formats including AVI, WMV, MOV, MPG, ASF, DivX, etc.
* Playback on multiple players including iPod, iPhone, PSP and Apple TV, Creative Zen, Archos, etc.
* Crop your video area to remove the black video sides.
* Powerful video/audio output settings
* Allows to set video resolution and frame rate
* Allows to set video and audio bitrate.
* Customizable dimensions for exported video
* Auto Determination of Movie length
* User can control Movie over Capturing

Minimum Requirements:
* Mac OS X Version 10.4 Tiger or 10.5 Leopard
* Universal Binary for PowerPC and Intel
* 19.4 MB Hard Drive space

Pricing and Availability:
iPod Converter 1.8 is available for only $29.95 (USD) for a Single License, and may be downloaded directly from the MacVide website.

MacVide
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Located in historic St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, Intelus, Ltd. is a privately funded company founded in 2002. Leveraging their longtime experience in the video industry, Intelus’ goal is to develop best-of-breed tools for the Mac platform, and lead to the creation of Macvide. Copyright 2002-2008 Intelus, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPod and iTunes are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.