MacCast 11.23.2008 - Show #245
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Media/Links
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Opening
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Opening Music
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Music is Say Anything by Manda and the Marbles
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Mandaandthemarbles.com
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Sponsor
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Project Wizards
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Merlin 2 - Project Management
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Made in Germany by Project Managers for Project Managers
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Made for Macs. 100% Cocoa and is a Mac app, not a port.
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Takes full advantage of it. Integrates with OS X apps like iCal and Address Book, but also 3rd party apps like Omni Outliner.
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Also plays well with others offer full MS Project import and export.
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Free trial version is available.
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If you have been looking for great project management software on the Mac, Merlin is it.
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News
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Mac OS 10.5.6 release may be soon
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According to AppleInsider a second build (9G38) was released just days after after build 9G35.
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The developer notes on the 9G35 build was light and the seed notes for the 9G38 build noted no known issues.
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Doesn't guarantee the release is ready, but should indicate it's getting close.
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According to an Ars Technica piece, developers are being asked to test about 80 components an the 10.5.6 update is said to contain about 90 bug fixes making it a significant update.
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Will we see a new cat in the new year?
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A slide in a presentation given by Jordan Hubbard, Apple's director of Unix technology, at the Large Installation System Administration (LISA) conference in San Diego has many in the Mac community buzzing about a possible Mac 10.6 Snow Leopard release early next year.
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A slide titled "Mac OS X Release" listed a 10.6 ship date of Q1 2009.
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That date would contradict the statement made at the WWDC in June when Snow Leopard was first discussed. At WWDC they said the white kitten would be ready in about a year.
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What new hardware will Macworld bring?
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Will we see Quad Core iMacs?
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The DigiTimes is reporting that Apple and others are awaiting new low power Core 2 Quads in January.
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The Q8200s (2.33GHz/4MB L2), Q9400s (2.66GHz/6MB L2) and Q9550s (2.83GHz/12MB L2)
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The new chips are the same clock speeds, but offer 4 cores and double the L2 cache on the top end. They also drop the power requirements from 95W down to 65W. That combined with LED backlit displays could help keep the iMac nice and thin.
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Apple should weather December
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MacNN says in looking at the latest NPD group numbers, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster predicts Apple will do OK this Holiday season.
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After keeping an eye on Apple retails stores piper predicts only a 5-15% decrease in iPhone shipments. This is far from the 40% drop in production we have been hearing from other sources.
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They also feel the Mac may see a 5% decline in sales from the prior month and sales are still up 90% when compared to the same period last year. They predict Apple will still sell a respectable 2.6 million units in the quarter.
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As a matter of fact the NPD Group reports that Macs sales were up 28 percent year over year during the month of October
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New Macbooks using DPCP
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Looks like for at least some files the new Macbooks and Macbook Pros are enforcing DPCP
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The report came out on Ars Technica. A teacher tried to play iTunes purchased content from is new Macbook via a Display Port to VGA connector on a school projector and received the error message. "This movie cannot be played because a display that is not authorized to play protected movies is connected".
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The new CP seems to be on files from the iTunes store using Apple newest Fair Play v3 DRM.
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The Apple TV also requires HDCP (which is similar CP over HDMI), but there you can by-pass the restriction by using the analog component video connections.
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The technology is is being employed by the movie studios to try and close the "analog hole".
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I view it the same way I view all "Digital Restriction Management" technologies. They only really serve to decrease and negatively impact the user experience of legitimate paying customers and may even push them into obtaining DRM-free versions illegally.
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Apple discontinues 23" Cinema Display
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At least Apple's new 24" LCD Cinema Display supports the DPCP technology.
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It this week quietly replaced the 23" Cinema Display.
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At least on the Store. As of 10:00 PM Sunday night the 23" model was still show and listed in the Cinema Display product pages on the US Apple site.
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Might be a bit premature, since currently the Macbooks and Macbook Pros are the only macs to have a built-in Display Port connector required for the new monitor.
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Also those who want a matte and not glossy display from Apple will now only have the 20" and 30" options.
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Apple's Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapter has been delayed and will ship on December 18th.
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Updates, updates, updates
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MacBook, MacBook Pro Trackpad Firmware Update 1.0 - Addresses issues with non-registering clicks on some new Macbooks and Macbook Pros.
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Compatibility Update for QuickTime 7.5.5 - Improves QuickTime compatibility with iChat.
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iTunes 8.0.2 - Improves stability and performance and provides a number of important bug fixes. Enhancements to VoiceOver, Addresses a quality issue creating MP3s on some computers, and fixes a connectivity issue with the iTunes Store when using some Internet proxies.
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Pro Applications Update 2008-004 - For Final Cut Pro 6.0.5, Compressor 3.0.5, Color 1.0.3 and Shake 4.1.1. "addresses general performance issues and improves overall stability."
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Apple also redesigned it's Support Download page. I find it much easier to drill down into and search. Also better matches the main site UI.
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Apple TV updated to 2.3
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Can stream AirTunes from the AppleTV to an Airport Express or other Apple TV
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Support for some 3rd party remotes
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See playlists in iTunes that contain movies, TV shows, podcasts, and music videos.
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Volume control when playing music (wow that took a long time).
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General Settings-->Software Update.
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Will break the Boxee Alpha if you have your Apple TV patchsticked, but there is now an SSH hack to get it back or you can use a new USB patchstick creator. Details on the Boxee.tv blog.
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iPhone updated to 2.2
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Overall performance and stability increases.
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Google Maps updates. Street view, walking and transit directions. Share maps.
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Not for iPod Touch owners. Accounting? Wireless only?
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Podcast downloads
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Works over EDGE and 3G
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Can stream or download. Over 10MB needs to happen over wi-fi, but they will queue.
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UI changes in Safari.
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Multiple screenshots in the App store.
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Home to go to main launch screen.
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Emoji icons for Softbank users in Japan.
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More malware and trojans target Apple
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A new variant of the RSPlug trojan horse, found on several adult websites.
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Changes your local DNS settings to redirect to phishing sites.
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Displays an Active X Object error, saying video can't be played. Asks the user to download and install the object.
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Security firm TendMicro sent an alert for the OSX_LAMZEV.A trojan.
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Give hackers remote access to the Mac.
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Prompts users to select an application and a port above 1024
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Both exploits require the user to actively download and install the malware.
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We need to be more and more aware of these kinds of attacks.
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Sponsor
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Smile On My Mac
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DiscLabel 5.4 was just released, including some holiday themes.
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Works with most popular labels, as well as direct-to-CD printers, and Dymo DiscPainter.
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Comes with great built-in templates and you can of course design your own.
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Feedback, Comments and Commentary
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Mac Mini Home Theater Special Feedback
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Ripping DVDs
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Alternative to Mac the Ripper, RipIt. $19.95 USD.
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Storing and acessing media content on external CD or DVD discs
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From Andy, create an alias of the "/Volumes" directory in your Movies folder. Then it will be accessible from FrontRow.
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Choose 'Go-->Go to folder..." from the Finder and type '/Volumes'. Now you can see the directory and create an alias. Just be careful with the contents of this directory. Mostly aliases to mounted volumes.
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Remote controls
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Logitech DiNovo Mini. Bluetooth Mouse + Keyboard device. No official Mac support, but works. $119.00 USD
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Air Mouse iPhone app. Works over WiFI and has 2-buttons, scrollwheel, and keyboard. $5.99 USD
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Snatch $7.99 USD and SnatchTest (free) - Free version is trackpad only, paid includes keyboard.
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Syncing Firefox bookmarks to iPhone
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Play comment from Dave
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Manually
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1. Open Safari and choose File-->Import Bookmarks…
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2. Find your bookmarks file: Home-->Library-->Application Support-->Firefox-->Profiles--> [user profile]
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3. Select the file called bookmarks.html.
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4. Connect your iPhone and select it on the left pane in iTunes.
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5. Click on the Info button.
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6. In the Web Browser section, turn on Sync Safari bookmarks and click Apply.
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Manually has the big disadvantage of habing to repeat the process each time. Will get dupes if you don't clear Safari prior to reimporting.
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Use syncing software like BookIt. $12 USD.
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Review: Choosy
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Found via MacUser
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Choosy is a little System Preference pane created by George Brocklehurst.
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Using the pane you can set Choosy as your default browser.
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Then when you click a link that would launch your browser Choosy intercepts that call and pops up a selction pane of browsers installed on your system and you can choose which browser to use.
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Free BETA right now.
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Mac web development tools
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Play comment from Robert
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Template Based
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iWeb
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Sandvox
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Rapid Weaver
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Coding and WYSIWYG
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Taco HTML
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Dreamweaver
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Freeway
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Coda
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Expresso coming soon (Nov)
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Text Editors
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TextMate
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BBEdit
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Other tools
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CSS Edit
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Versions, Subvesion Client
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Home Inventory software for your Mac
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Adam was looking for something to inventory his stuff for insurance purposes
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Home Inventory from Binary Formations
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Sole Possession from Epigroove
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Delicious Library, works for media.
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Simple personal banking software
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Shawn was looking for a simple and low cost alternative Quicken
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Checkbook Pro - on sale for $19.95
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Cha-ching
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iBank
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LiquidLedger
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Money
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Squirrel - Apple 2008 Design winner for Best Student Product
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Closing
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Podcast Marketplace
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Thanks to my sponsors
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Merlin 2, Project Wizards - Project management, Gantt Charts, MS Project import/export
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Circus Ponies, Notebook
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Smile on my Mac, DiscLabel - Great for your holiday projects
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Zarra Studios, iWeb Buddy - iWeb post-processor, Add Google analytics, and work with multiple domain files.
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Faronics, Deep Freeze
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Audible, free audio book with Audible Listener Gold
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Keep emails coming. Audio comments.
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281-622-4269 or 281-Mac-I-Am-9
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PLEASE LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
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MacCast Forum
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"Massachusetts" by The Predicates
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Met and interviewed Gregg at the iPhone 3G launch.
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Can get their tracks for free on their website, but also available in iTunes, so if you really like it. Buy it!
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Buy in iTunes
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EOL: Real World Photoshop CS4 UI
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The Adobe Photoshop CS4 user interface created with real world objects.
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