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08-29-07 / 10:09 PM : September, 5, Special Event confirmed (cjed)
Apple confirmed the Special Event (september, 5), where new iPods should be unveiled.
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08-27-07 / 11:38 PM : VirSyn REFLECT (cjed)
VirSyn presented REFLECT, a reverberation plugin that combines classical algorithms with convolution. Audio demos are available.
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08-27-07 / 11:23 PM : MacGlide 0.13b1 (cjed)
A new version of MacGlide is available at Macgamefiles. This shared library allows to emulate a 3dfx Voodoo card, by mapping Glide calls to OpenGL instructions, and then to play old games such as Carmageddon, Myth, etc.
And a little tip to run Driver game !
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08-27-07 / 11:19 PM : NeoOffice 2.2.1 (cjed)
A new version of NeoOffice, 2.2.1, is available here (150 Mo). It brings support for Office 2007 format.
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08-26-07 / 05:42 PM : AKM : AK4397 DAC (cjed)
AKM presented a new pro audio converter, the AK4397, that operates at 32 bits up to 192 Khz. It also brings a direct stream digital data input (DSD), up to 216 Khz.
To remember, the Roland XV-5050 uses an AKM AK4324, and the Echo MIA audio card onboards an AK4528.
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08-26-07 / 05:22 PM : Parallels Desktop 3.0 beta 2 (cjed)
A new beta (beta 2) of Parallels Desktop is available. Among other enhancements it brings a more polished Coherence mode (PC windows minimization in the dock, Exposé compliant) and a lower CPU usage.
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08-26-07 / 04:49 PM : Leopard : new desktop picture, new colors (cjed)
Macrumors gives some details about last Leopard build, that whould reach soon Final Candidate. They also provide the new Sci-Fi Leopard desktop picture, and the Leopard installer introduction video, as well as other recent screenshots. We notably notice the redesigned three window buttons (close/minimize/maximize), whose shape was slightly modifed, as well as their colors (very brighter, somewhat too much ?)
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08-26-07 / 04:45 PM : Special event september, 5 ? (cjed)
Macnn reported that Apple could have planned a Special Event september, 5, to announce new ipods.
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08-24-07 / 12:18 AM : Kotf : The six Star Wars episodes on a MOD (cjed)
The site Knights Of The Force (kotf) has been working since 2003 on a MOD for Jedi Knight : Academy aimed at recreating the six Star Wars episodes ! The whole weights 2 Gb and will be downloadable in a few days (as two 1 Gb parts), as the team is finalizing the install scripts. Screenshots and a teaser are available.
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08-23-07 / 09:44 PM : Deezer : really worth ? (cjed)
The site Deezer seems having succeeding focusing attention these days, as we can read on many site that this is the first time a site provides famous artists music for free. However :

1. The site only includes 200 000 titles
2. Agreements with Sacem and authors were signed but there is still to do the same with producers (majors). Moreover as stated, the "experimental agreement ends december, 31, 2007", then parts involved here don't risk too much (if ads shares aren't sufficient for majors they won't follow the deal).
3. The previous version of the site (Blogmusik ) had to close, unable to reach agreements, and another such initiative (Radio.blog.club) faces strong problems (without mentioning dozens of such sites that didn't made it).
4. The songs cannot be downloaded (only available through the online player, even if it isn't really streaming...)
5. Finally the interest is plagged by the poor quality of most published songs at this time (by users for now), as they are encoded in mp3 at 22Khz, between 32 and 64 kbits !

We can be assured that this buzz won't be sufficient to hurt the ITMS (70 percent of the market), even with the keyword free. In fact the ITMS provides the highest quality available on the internet (AAC 256 kbits at 44,1 Khz), not so far from CD qulity for many people with lo-fi audio system...
There is also the free and great sites Dogmazic (musique-libre.org) and Jamendo....s
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08-22-07 / 10:43 PM : MAME OS X 0.118 (cjed)
A new version (0.118) of MAME OSX is available at Macgamefiles. Besides a revamped settings interface and synchro with Mame 0.118 base code, it brings support for multiple simultaneus keyboards and mice.
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08-22-07 / 10:36 PM : Prophet 08 specifications (cjed)
Details about Prophet 08 are now available on the Dave Smith Instruments site. It offers two oscillators per voice (8 notes polyphony) with selectable waveform and pulse-width modulation (as with the D20), one analog filter (2/4 poles), 3 envelope generators, 4 LFOs, and an arpeggiator. Audio examples are available.
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08-22-07 / 10:23 PM : Google Earth 4.2 : explore outer space (cjed)
A new version (4.2) of Google Earth allows to travel space and zoom on galaxies, as we would do with a telescope. It can be downloaded here and a demonstration video is also available.
This somewhat reminds me the great application Celestia.s
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08-22-07 / 10:18 PM : Wikipedia : editing by companies (cjed)
Macnn reported that Apple, Microsoft and Dell have been caught (through IP from their networks) editing Wikipedia pages relating to them... and even pages about concurrent companies ! With that open system it is obvious that these things happen frequently. However as control is global, what has been removed or modified can be easily writted back. There is still to know the frequency of these "modifications".
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08-21-07 / 11:24 PM : Yamaha NP-30 (cjed)
Yamaha presented the NP-30, a portable digital piano fitted with 76 keys using Graded Soft-Touch (doesn't affect the instrument weight), and offering 32 notes of polyphony. No details are available yet about the samples rom size (AWM2 stereo).
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08-21-07 / 11:15 PM : Ableton Live 6 LE (cjed)
Ableton presented Live 6 LE, a light version of Live (199 $). A feature comparison chart of the two products is available here.
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08-21-07 / 11:01 PM : Rumors about Logic 8 (cjed)
Rumors on the upcoming new Logic 8 surface again. Besides a new interface single window centered, new audio plugins and revamped synth virtual plugins, it could bring a new virtual workstation plugin with 30 Gb samples (alla Colossus), and would sound better than Korg Oasys.
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08-20-07 / 06:30 PM : Jedi Knight Mod for JK Academy (cjed)
A Jedi Knight (DF2) mod for Jedi Knight: Academy is also in development. It is aimed at recreating the whole 21 levels of the original game. Some screenshots are available here. The project was started 3 years ago (texturing at first) and the work on the levels is making progress since 2 years.
A feeling that I found on the description page and that I share :

"...the levels were huge and very well designed—take a look at the Nar Shadda maps, for example. You just don’t get that sense of sheer immense height and scale from any of the levels in JO or JA

I have always thought that the reason is the JK engine, as the later Quake 3 engine used for the following titles (JK2 Outcast and JK Academy) didn't succeed in rendering perspectives. .

We also learn that a petition has been opened to ask LucasArts for releasing the source code of the JK engine, for free to the community.
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08-19-07 / 12:24 PM : RC Helicopter Simulator 2.0 (cjed)
RC Helicopter Simulator 2.0, now available as an universal binary, is a simulation game that is evolving since the first versions of OSX (10.1). Controls can be triggered from the keyboard, a joystick, or even from a real radio-transmitter. That is here at macgamefiles.
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08-19-07 / 12:20 PM : New EA games released at Apple Store (cjed)
EA finally released its new 4 recent games at the Apple Store : Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Need for Speed Carbon, Battlefield 2142 and Command & Conquer Tiberium Wars. These porting are based on Cider, and the lack of communication from EA these last weeks put some bad feeling on that solution.
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08-18-07 / 12:22 AM : Sierra : games musics available (cjed)
The site Quest Studio provides musics of old Sierra games from 80s and 90s, in uncompressed audio format and Midifiles (GM and sysex for Roland MT32). The Roland D20 could load MT32 system exclusive messages, but I had to rework them for Space Quest 3 (see this thread).
The result was then stunning with the D20 (sound effects, instruments) and contributed to enhance greatly the ambience (notably the music at the Monolith Burger...)
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08-17-07 / 10:52 PM : All about Dark Forces (cjed)
Dark Forces showed on mac stunning performances (notably compared with Marathon), it was even completely smooth on a LC475 (68040 at 25 Mhz) in 640*400 resolution, and used System 7.5 Thread Manager.
Aaron Giles, well known on mac for his work on MacMame, did the port of DF on mac at LucasArts, and succeeded to reduce the required memory to 4,5 Mo (8 Mo on PC), thanks to an optimized swap system. He also enhanced the graphic resolution up to 640*480 (only 320*200 in the PC version...), and even provided a high resolution mode for PowerPC only. The mac had to manage the music tracks through QuickTime Midi instruments.

Byte magazine published an article on the game creation history and on the Dark Forces engine. Aaron then joined Connectix to work on Virtual PC 3, and later on VGS... and finally was hired by Microsoft when they buyed the company. Meanwhile Apple shipped MacOSX...

A DF mod for Jedi Knight : Academy can be downloaded (second demo). It includes the first 3 levels of DF ported to the modern engine. The third demo of the mod will include the first 6 levels (from 14 in the original game). A stunning video is available here.
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08-17-07 / 10:38 PM : Prophet 8 announced (cjed)
Dave Smith confirmed the rumor about an upcoming Prophet 8, totally analog (except Midi connexion).
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08-17-07 / 08:44 PM : BootCamp/Parallels/Fusion/CrossOver bench (cjed)
CNET Labs published online a comparative review of performances under BootCamp (reboot to Windows - though very fast under Leopard, as a session switch), Parallels Desktop and VMWare Fusion (use virtualization principle), and CodeWeavers CrossOver (based on Wine software emulation layer). As expected BootCamp provides best performances, and the bench also confirms that VMWare Fusion is far more efficient than Parallels Desktop (2 to 4 times faster) and that it can manage multiple processor cores.
However Fusion doesn't include support yet to 3D games (Parallels can run Quake 4 at 30 percent Windows native performances).
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08-16-07 / 10:23 PM : Cider interview about piracy (cjed)
Macworld provides an interview of Transgaming about Cider use as a game piracy tool to run PC games that aren't supported yet with shipped ciderized games.
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08-15-07 / 07:34 PM : New photos (cjed)
Photos of Parc de la vallée aux loups and Saint-Brévin Les Pins have been added to the photos heading.
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08-15-07 / 01:46 PM : Doom on iPhone (cjed)
The porting of doom on iPhone makes progress. The sound isn't supported yet, as the controls (so only the demo mode is usable). In fact the iphone doesn't onboard keys, so the developper has to think about virtual controls, as he did previously for his NES emulator port on the iPhone. A wiki has been opened for ideas posting.
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08-15-07 / 01:40 PM : Ratatouille demo (cjed)
A demo of the game Ratatouille is available... for PC only at this time (or on mac through BootCamp or virtualization systems). This time the game derived from the stunning movie seems great. The full game is hybrid (PC & Mac) and can be found here.
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08-15-07 / 01:36 PM : Id Software interview : Quake0 & next Quake (cjed)
An interview of Id Software at gameriot.com gives some new informations about Quake Zero (internet) project and next Quake (based on new id Tech 5 engine).
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08-13-07 / 10:44 PM : ArsTechnica : review of new imacs (cjed)
ArsTechnica provides a full review of new alu & glass imacs. Finally the gain in terms of performances on future games and usual tasks (and also the price) can compensate the negative first impression about the new glossy screen (reflections, and lower viewing angle).
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08-13-07 / 10:37 PM : iPhone : Skype, Dailymotion, games (cjed)
The iPhone can now use Skype, and Dailymotion, and rumors go further about its hidden capabilities for gaming.
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08-10-07 / 01:26 AM : Back choirs & guitar (cjed)
This song is based upon a theme that uses Symphonic Choirs (S position), with a rhythmic loop (time stretched) and percussions from Colossus, strings (basses and violin) from SO Gold, and an electric guitar (Kontakt 2) :
SC_backAlt.mp3

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08-09-07 / 01:45 PM : Boot Camp 1.4b (cjed)
Apple provides at download a new beta (1.4b) of Bootcamp, that includes notably new graphics drivers.
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08-08-07 / 07:14 PM : iWork08 free trial (cjed)
Apple provides at download a free trial version of iWork08 that operates 30 days (469 Mb, very fast server). It works on Intel and PPC macs (UB).
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08-08-07 / 07:09 PM : Radeon HD 2600 Pro vs NVidia (cjed)
Presence PC site provides a comparison of new Radeon Mobility cards (HD 2600 Pro from the new imac, and the more powerful HD2600 XT) with NVidia 8600 GT and 8600 GTS.
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08-08-07 / 07:03 PM : Special event video (cjed)
The video of new imac and iLife08 suite introduction is available here on Apple site.
Ars Technica also provides photos of the new imac they got, and plans a detailed article soon.
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08-08-07 / 12:00 AM : New imacs (cjed)
Apple presented as expected new imacs. Besides added power (CPU and ram), larger S-ATA hard disks (250/320 Mb standard (up to 1 Tb), a better graphic card (ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT 128 Mb of GDDR3 or ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO 256 Mb of GDDR3), they bring a new keyboard (alla MacBook as previously unveiled) that includes shorcuts to features like Exposé, Dashboard, etc. The bundled keyboard is wired and features a numeric keypad. An option (30$) allows to choose an ultracompact wireless keyboard (bluetooth), without numeric keypad.
The glossy type screen has not been well received (see comments at macnn). Configurations prices are respectively 1199, 1449, 1749 and 2219 $.
Apple also presented iLife8 and iWork8 (that brings a new application, a spreadsheet called Numbers).
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08-07-07 / 12:49 PM : VMWare Fusion final : interview (cjed)
Macnn gives details about final version of VMWare Fusion through an interview, and presents some comparison with Parallels Software.
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08-06-07 / 06:08 PM : Quake0 / HD Rage developer walkthrough (cjed)
Shacknews provides a new video from QuakeCon, HD Rage developer walkthrough (443 Mb). A non HD video (but full length, 50 minutes+) is also downloadable (849 Mb).
id Software also announced the development of a new free version of Quake 3 playable through a web browser (Quake 0), and a Quake game that will use the new id Tech 5 engine.
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08-06-07 / 03:07 PM : iPhone firmware update (cjed)
Macnn stated that iPhone firmware update brings security fixes, bugs fixes (calculator, VPN settings, Google Map, etc.), enhances application launch time and battery load.
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08-04-07 / 02:35 PM : Id Software Rage Trailer (cjed)
Id Software presented its new game, Rage, based upon their new 3D engine version, the iD Tech 5 (the game will be available for Mac, PC and consoles). An HD trailer can be downloaded at ici FileShack. Through the download link we can get the file immediately (without requiring an account) at 50 kb/s, or create an account (free) and get it at a faster 500 kb/s (68 Mb size).
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08-04-07 / 02:27 PM : Star Wars: Empire at War review (cjed)
Macworld provides a review of Star Wars: Empire at War. They liked it but the game is Intel mac only.
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08-04-07 / 02:25 PM : StuntMANIA!Pro 1.1.1 (cjed)
StuntMANIA!Pro 1.1.1 is a stunt car driving game. A demo can be downloaded at macgamesfiles. Controls are not very easy to manage, but graphics are original.
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08-04-07 / 01:55 PM : Macosrumors is back (cjed)
Macosrumors is back. Following recent DNS problems that led to think the domain name was down, the site can also be reached there meanwhile.
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08-02-07 / 07:37 PM : VSL Special Keyboards (cjed)
VSL presented Special Keyboards, a new 8 Gb library with harpsichord, harmonium and prepared piano samples. It is priced 385$.
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08-02-07 / 07:16 PM : Apple multitouch : for special event imac ? (cjed)
An Apple patent related to multi touch interface for computers just has been revealed. As Apple is used to keep its patents secret up to new product releases (for example the iPhone), the explanation might be that new imacs expected to be presented during the August, 6 special event will onboard that technology, through iLife08. The shipping date could be later (as for the first imac announce in 98), to be on par with Leopard launch, or the twos could be released earlier, in September.
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08-02-07 / 06:56 PM : Leopard : UNIX 03 certification / VMWare final (cjed)
Leopard (OSX 10.5) just received the UNIX 03 certification. We also learn that VMWare Fusion will ship in final version August, 6, the same date as Apple's special event.
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08-02-07 / 12:09 AM : Cider cracked (cjed)
A video at Google Video presents an Intel imac running various PC games through the Cider version shipped with X3 reunion. Then games such as Collin Mac rae 2005, GTA San Andrea, Richard Burns Rally, GTR 2, Far Cry, or Hitman contract, work whereas no offical ports exist yet.
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08-02-07 / 12:03 AM : Apple special event (cjed)
Apple planned a special event this Agust, 7, macs focused, where new imacs should ne presented, as a new version of iLife suite.
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08-01-07 / 02:39 PM : Always taxes (vincent)
No traduction yet, please switch to french mode.
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08-01-07 / 11:00 AM : Free music (vincent)
Jamendo is a web site that enables legal downloading with the "peer to peer" thanks to musics under free licences.s
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