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| 01-31-06 / 11:05 PM : DVD Manager : catalog your films using Imdb (cjed) |
| The donationware DVD Manager allows to manage a films database, with infos (author, length, year, reviews) automatically grabbed from Imdb site database. Moreover the software looks like a nice mac app. |
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| 01-31-06 / 10:58 PM : Steve Jobs on the dark side : the video (cjed) |
| And to follow on SW, here is another fan video cut (i'm not alone !) that shows Steve Jobs joining the dark side... In this one a short sequence from the last film is also used. |
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| 01-31-06 / 10:41 PM : StarWars Blue : video composition (cjed) |
 The site's Movies section presents a new video, SWBlue.mov, an experiment of video composition. A still completely blue image has been sent on the 1,5 base screen through the projector, and the whole scene filmed. Samples from SW Episode 3 film have been put in place of the blue parts. First the classic "blue" composition mode has been used. However it resulted in the light saber to disapear, so the "blue-green difference" mode was tried (current version). It keeps much more of the saber as its main color is green (much easier to compare with the back blue screen).The sequence weights 15 Mo (H264 820 kbits video, AAC 160 kbits VBR audio). (song EpisodeMix, © 2001). |
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| 01-31-06 / 01:47 AM : Another 30mn made song (cjed) |
 Here is anther song (piano based) made "live" in few minutes :PianNoQT.mp3 |
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| 01-30-06 / 11:07 PM : iMagneto (cjed) |
| Following the Free media center with VLC, here is iMagneto, that also provides TV channels recording (as with MPEG4 transcoding), but based on MPlayer engine (mencoder). This software is meant to be more intuitive (more iApps like). |
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| 01-30-06 / 10:53 PM : Korg Digital Edition (cjed) |
 Available since september (at 149 euros through Playback for example), Korg Digital Edition is the successor to Korg Legacy Collection. It adds complete M1 emulation with additonnal resonant filter, 256 voices and samples from all of 19 expansions cards (the same for the now complete Wavestation emulation). Stunning demos are available here. |
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| 01-30-06 / 10:28 PM : NAMM : Roland SH-201 video (cjed) |
 Roland provides a video demonstration of the new SH-201. Another nice machine, whose analog modeling engine comes from the V-Synth. |
| 1 comment |
| 01-27-06 / 11:19 PM : Soundsonline : End credits / Jazz Impro (cjed) |
| Returning to soundsonline, i discovered again new wonderful compositions. Among these, a song composed by the yet well known Roberto Ferrari, that he dedicated to Neil (akka Lionel Bansept, an also talented composer) : End credits. We also found this Jazz impro, no less impressive ! |
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| 01-27-06 / 09:47 PM : Macspeedzone : iMac Intel / G5 test (cjed) |
| Next to the Macworld test, Macspeedzone provides an article comparing performances of an Intel iMac versus an old G5. It is more realistic as the CPU usage is considered. Moreover Intel hardware controllers seem more powerful (5 times less CPU hungry while copying a large file). It is there. |
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| 01-26-06 / 01:29 AM : Sheepshaver : Classic on Intel (cjed) |
| Sheepshaver allows to emulate Classic (MacOS9) on computers that do not support it : MacIntel, PCs under Windows or Linux... The speed hit compared with native execution (OS9 bootable PowerMac) has a factor of 8. So an Intel Dual-Core 2Ghz should perform close to an old 400 Mhz G4. It is there. |
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| 01-25-06 / 12:21 AM : Precisionsound : Retro Gadgets Vol. 1 (cjed) |
 Precisionsound ships Retro Gadgets Vol. 1, a samples library that contains samples from 3 toy keyboards : Dubrek Stylophone (Black), Dubrek Stylophone (White), Waddington Compute-A-Tune (respectively, 40, 40 and 144 samples in WAV format. Patchs are available for Halion and Kontakt). It takes 32 Mo and it is downloadable for 25$. No demo yet. |
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| 01-25-06 / 12:09 AM : IBM Power6 (cjed) |
| Here is an interesting un article from ArsTechnica about the IBM Power6, that we would pleased to see in next XServe. It should have been planned (before the Intel switch ?) because this processor includes an Altivec unit, not found on previous Power4 and 5. |
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| 01-23-06 / 09:08 PM : Macintel : WinXP/OSX dual boot contest (cjed) |
| We can discover an intriguing contest on this site, aimed at rewarding the person who will be able to make dual boot (Windows XP / MacOSX) on the new Macintel. The gain comes from various contributors (readers), and is more that 800$ at this time (100$ from the author of the contest). We can however doubt money is what motivates hackers. |
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| 01-22-06 / 11:52 AM : Travelling in space (vincent) |
| Celestia is a free and impressive software for astronomy, like a 3D planetarium which enables to travel in space toward the desired space object. For instance we can quit the Earth as if we were in a rocket ! The light speed mode made it instable on my comp, maybe because it needs lots power, anyway the software works on many systems. |
| 1 comment |
| 01-22-06 / 11:35 AM : New Korg (vincent) |
 What about korg ? After the huge Oasys which does everything but not always as good as specialised keyboards, Korg releases the Radias, a compact keyboard derived from the multi-synthesis of the Oasys, with an independant control panel. There is also the X50, derived from the Triton without sequencer nor sampling, like a follower of the old N5ex. Last, the micro-X is almost the same but put in a small 2-octaves keyboard ! All those keyboard got a nice design, we gotta wait now for demos to get a better idea... |
| 1 comment |
| 01-21-06 / 03:27 PM : NAMM : NI Kore (cjed) |
 Native Instruments announced Kore, an unified software container for their various virtual instruments products (and for third-party plugins), with database management (to classify and search through the total 11 000 patchs !), and external remote control surface. However it remains a software solution, where many companies look towards complete hardware integration solutions. |
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| 01-21-06 / 03:12 PM : NAMM : Miroslav refills for Reason 3 (cjed) |
| IK Mulitimedia and Sonic Reality presented 6 volumes of samples (one DVD for each) taken from legendary Miroslav Vitous llibraries, targeted to Reason 3 Combinator and NN-XT formats : Miroslav String Ensembles, Miroslav Solo Strings, Miroslav Brass, Miroslav Woodwinds, Miroslav Choirs, Miroslav Percussion & Keys (199$ each). |
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| 01-21-06 / 02:51 PM : NAMM : Roland Juno-G [UPDATE] (cjed) |
 Roland unveiled at NAMM the Juno-G, successor to Juno-D. It hides the audio engine of the Fantom X (128 voice polyphony, famous Grand Piano sound), an SRX extension slot, and a sequencer with 4 audio tracks. Midi and audio can be synchronized with a computer through the USB connexion. The design reminds much more the legendary Juno. [UPDATE] You should realy see this new video, the guy is so funny ! :) |
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| 01-21-06 / 02:37 AM : New short SO example (cjed) |
| Here is a new short song made with SO, that shifts in all ways ! AllWays.mp3 |
| 1 comment |
| 01-20-06 / 09:25 PM : Intel version of Bugdom 2 (cjed) |
| Following the release of an Intel version of Nanosaur 2, now it is the same for the famous Bugdom 2. |
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| 01-20-06 / 09:15 PM : Apple / Intel ad : did Apple copy ? (cjed) |
| Apple could have copied an ad from The Postal Service to make its Intel Mac new ad. Some elements of comparison are provided here. Indeed it is as if, on one hand, all companies are copying themselves and make some financial arrangements to stop pursuies, and on other hand software patents stops innovation by making illegal similarities resulting from different search paths. |
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| 01-20-06 / 08:58 PM : Apple : 4th in US, 4% of market share (cjed) |
| Apple gains on place for the year 2005, and was the fourth computers maker with 4% of market shares. It does not take account iPod sales. In Europe results shouldn't be as good due to conservatism and lobying. |
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| 01-20-06 / 08:46 PM : NAMM : Cubase and others for Intel (cjed) |
| As reported with some humor by Macnn in this news (Steinburg, isn't it a nice name for a company :-) They reitered in a second article about Virtual Guitartist !!), Steinberg will ship later in the year Intel Mac versions of Cubase and other of their softwares. They ever have working test prototypes that work well. |
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| 01-20-06 / 08:33 PM : NAMM : Logic 7.2 Pro for Intel (cjed) |
| Apple will ship next month a crossgrade to Intel Macs for Logic Pro users (will cost 50$). Some enhancements will be included in this 7.2 version. |
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| 01-19-06 / 11:20 PM : NAMM : Roland VP-550 (cjed) |
 Starting NAMM, we now see releases of other stuff than sometimes boring samples libraries. Notably, Roland presents the VP-550, a 4 octaves synthesizer derived from V-Synth's VC-2 (Vocal) card, and successor to the VP-330. More than an harmonizer and vocoder, this instrument is aimed at generating various choirs or strings ensembles. The playing is modulated by voice through a microphone. The design of the machine is pretty appealing.s |
| 2 comment |
| 01-16-06 / 09:41 PM : WoW on Intel iMac (cjed) |
| The famous arstechnica publishes a short review of the Intel build of WoW on an Intel iMac : it is incredibly fast, now the Mac catch up with best PCs. |
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| 01-16-06 / 08:38 PM : Firefox, Camino, Thunderbird, Nanosaur 2 for Intel (cjed) |
| Mozilla.org will present late march a stable version of Firefox for Intel Mac. Meanwhile they provide at download unsupported Intel builds (less stable) of Firefox, Camino and Thunderbird. In another area, Pangea Software unveiled on its site an Intel build of Nanosaur 2, that can be downloaded here. |
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| 01-12-06 / 08:26 PM : No Windows XP under Mac Intel (cjed) |
| New Mac Intel use EFI, successor to BIOS, a more advanced open firmware developped by Intel (allows to access a shell, launch diagnostics from it, and access components - even surf on the internet to grab last updates - before booting into an OS). However only 64 bits Intel processors (use EFI) are supported by XP. So we will have to wait Windows Vista to start Windows on the 32 bits Mac Intel. Meanwhile we could boot on Linux IA32 bits (supports EFI) and use WINE to emulate Windows APIs. |
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| 01-11-06 / 11:30 PM : MOTU : drivers for intel macs due late january (cjed) |
| MOTU announced that their audio & midi cards drivers will be compatible with new intel macs by the end of january. |
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| 01-11-06 / 11:12 PM : Enigmo 2 trailer (cjed) |
 Pangea software announced the upcoming release (february) of Enigmo 2, the sequel to their machines puzzle 3D game. A trailer can be watched here. The game is universal binary (ready for intel macs). |
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| 01-11-06 / 08:48 PM : Flip 4 Mac... 4 free (cjed) |
| Flip 4 Mac, a Quicktime extension allowing playback of Windows Media Player files, is now free. The software has been buyed by Microsoft, renamed "Windows Media® Components for QuickTime", and is available at download here (supported formats listed in the page). |
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| 01-11-06 / 01:41 AM : OSX 10.4.4 update available (cjed) |
| MacOSX 10.4.4 update (brings OSX on par with the version shipped with new Mac Intel) is available here (new features listed on the page). Aside there is an update of Quicktime (7.0.4) that improves performance with H264 codec. |
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| 01-11-06 / 01:16 AM : Google Earth for mac available (cjed) |
| Google Earth is now availble for OSX 10.4, it is here (beta release). I advice the "Play Tour" (F10 or View menu) that plays a wonderful demo. |
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| 01-10-06 / 11:13 PM : Apple / Microsoft : second agreement (cjed) |
| We remember when S. Jobs came back to Apple in 1996, he then conclued a famous agreement with Microsoft stating that : Microsoft would continue porting Office suite to macintosh for at least 8 years (and would do a better job than the pathetic Word 6 for Mac...) and would bring some funds (the amount of the transaction wasn't made public). Apple in return would stop pursues and concede substantial shares (in fact 5% of the capital only, so Microsoft not only wasn't part of the administration board, nor they had buyed Apple. They sold these shares some years later). Today S. Jobs seemly reconducted the agreement for 5 years more. While Microsoft will continue developing Office for MacOSX, Apple will feed them with informations upon new Apple technologies (to be included in Microsoft mac applications... and probably in Windows Vista to try to catch up with MacOSX). Meanwhile, Office mac sells very well ; its user interface is far more better than Windows one. However performances are a concern, as even through VirtualPC emulation, some Office applications do better than native ones. We can only hope it will change with the next Office update for the new Mac Intel. |
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| 01-10-06 / 11:05 PM : Intel Ad (cjed) |
| Apple made available a new Intel Ad. Well, we remember Apple's anti Intel ads where these people were being "toasted"... |
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| 01-10-06 / 10:52 PM : iWeb : AJAX / keynote's video (cjed) |
 Among announces, we noticed iWeb, a web sites and blogs generator that brings a fabulous user interface, and that provides various templates and quick navigation in published images through AJAX technology.More informations by watching the keynote directly. |
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| 01-10-06 / 09:23 PM : Apple : Transition 3 completed (cjed) |
 Today Apple just completed its third transition, the switch to Intel processors (dual core chips). First transition consisted in switching over PowerPC (from Motorola 68k) in 1995, and second in switching to a modern OS (MacOSX, build upon OpenStep and FreeBSD) in 2000. This time ever, they achieved the goal without any difficulty. Now it will be easier to compare new macs (MacBook - up to 4 times faster than the old G4 PowerBook, iMac intel - more than two times faster than the old iMac G5) with common PCs, and mainly system performance, through applications and games benchmarks (for the later, it depends not only from Apple's OpenGL implementation in OSX, but also in graphic cards drivers quality, made with ATI and NVIDIA). |
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| 01-09-06 / 10:48 PM : VSL : Pictures at an Exhibition (cjed) |
 Vienna Symphonic Library made available at download more than a dozen recordings played with VSL libraries. The files can be found here. These are compositions from Mussorgsky orchestrated by Ravel. |
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| 01-09-06 / 01:56 AM : Photos : Petit Palais (cjed) |
 To continue the serie, here are new photos added to Projets-->Images-->Photos :Petit Palais (taken from the K750i) |
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| 01-06-06 / 08:13 PM : Site access stats (cjed) |
 In less than a year (the site opened march 2005), here are some elements demonstrating the relevant grow of the site popularity (very good frequentation despite few efforts to promote it. The site was referenced by Google in a few weeks, while in a few months by Yahoo) : stats from Free say 3800 visits (112 000 hits) since creation, a top 30 visits a day (5 a day initially), 10 visits a day average (Google Analytics stats). Access from France represent 60% (95% before), while access from US now reaches 30% ! (other access are from various countries). The returning visitors rate is very high (43%) and access is mainly from Google (42%, versus 42% direct access, other are from an average number of 5 refering sites). Thank you ! |
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| 01-05-06 / 10:58 PM : Best Service Orient World (cjed) |
 Best Service ships a new samples library, Orient World (Middle Eastern Instruments). On 4,5 Go we find here separate samples (Saz, Balaban, Zurma, Ney, Kanun, Violin, Accordion, Oud, Saxophone) and percussion loops. On soundsonline site some demos are available. |
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| 01-05-06 / 10:41 PM : MP3 Surround / MP3 Stereo eXtended (cjed) |
 The Fraunhofer institut provides at download a player and encoder for the new multichannels MP3 Surround and MP3 Stereo eXtended formats (as well as some samples examples). MP3 Surround encoder creates mutlichannels mp3 files from .wav files (6 .wav source files for example for a 5.1 playback), while MP3 SX encoder (Windows only for now) generates MP3 multichannels file from a regular mp3 stereo file, by adding computed surround (filtering). |
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| 01-05-06 / 10:21 PM : Audiofanzine : review of NI Bandstand (cjed) |
| Audiofanzine continues on its curse on detailed articles. This time they reviewed Bandstand, announced recently. It is a virtual instrument aimed at replacing a GM expander (it includes 2 Go of samples, when a Roland Sound Canvas only provided 8 Mo of Rom). However it can't catch up with dedicated hardware GM expanders in terms of polyvalence (of sounds and response from midi controllers). Therefore it doesn't comply fully with the XG extension. So, experience from historical instruments makers (Roland, Korg or Yamaha) is crucial and can make the difference with huge samples libraries. Furthermore long samples take longer to switch between patchs, and that can be problematic when playing midifiles. |
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| 01-02-06 / 02:41 AM : Photos: Grand Palais / Hôtel Concorde new year (cjed) |
 Here are new photos, added to the Projects-->Images-->Photos area :Grand Palais Hôtel Concorde-Lafayette (new year 2006) (news from 2005 are still available through the link [2005] at the top of the page) |
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| 01-02-06 / 12:33 AM : Ipodiway : export google maps on ipod (cjed) |
| Ipodiway is a web site that allows exporting directions results from google Maps into separate image files for loading on an ipod. The search takes place before on the mac browser then. It is there. |
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