Eolake Stobblehouse Questions Piranha Net's Picture Compression Innovation

Last week we reported that Piranha, Inc. has unveiled a "lossy" digital compression technology that it claims enables browsers to download content-rich Web pages in a fraction of the file size of JPEG, GIF or PNG, dramatically reduces Web page file size, and increases the speed associated with Web page loading.

Piranha Inc. says that Piranha Net produces high download speed by allowing Web page graphics, photos and content-rich illustrations to download dramatically faster than normal by eliminating redundant or unnecessary information through Piranha's lossy compression technology, and that every Web site utilizing images (photographs, video and graphics) can benefit from Piranha's ultra-high compression.

An example of the compression, demonstrated at http://www.piranha.com/site/products/pr_net_doc.htm, is a picture of an owl that is 4,805,902 bytes. Piranha Inc. claims that with Piranha Net, it can be compressed to 36,558 bytes, while a JPEG is 222,765 bytes and a GIF is 1,110,663 bytes.

However, Eolake Stobblehouse of MacCreator thinks Piranha Inc's claims are "very disingenuous."

"The comparison pictures they show do not have the same size," says Eolake. "The html of their web page is instructed to scale down the JPEG comparison picture so it shows the same size on the screen, but if you save it and drag it into a browser window again, you will see that it is actually over three times larger! (1536x1024 pixels compared to 400x600). (If they want to cheat, they could at least fiddle with the compression only, not the picture size. Not very intelligent.)"

Eolake says he has has resized a jpeg of the owl image to the size of the "piranha compressed" image (400x600), and compressed to exactly the same size (36k), with the same quality. The sample jpeg file he sent me is 39k, but that's a minor quibble.

"I am not saying that they may not have a good compression technology," says Eolake. "They may have something, but it is clear that they are grossly misrepresenting it by pretending that it can compress images to 1/6 the size with the same quality."

Eolake also notes that he isn't able to open Piranha's images in Photoshop and that Graphic Converter says they are Quicktime movies.

"Which means I cannot easily compare them scientifically," he says. But even on my lowest screen resolution, I cannot see a *whit* of a difference between their "super-compressed" image, and the one I compressed with standard Photoshop to exactly the same file size.

"The plug-in they deliver may be so much placebo. (Although the browser does not see the image without it, only a white square, so it does do something or other, perhaps only allow the browser to recognize the image.)"

Eolake is more erudite in these matters than I am. As a professional artist and photographer he works with digital images and graphics software all the time. You can form your own conclusions by downloading the Piranha Net plug-in and comparison image demonstrations which are available at http://www.piranha.com/site/products/pr_net_doc.htm.

PlayerPRO is a Music Tracker, Composer, and Player

PlayerPRO is primarily a musical utility called a "tracker". Trackers are programs that generate music files called MODs.

The MOD originated on the Amiga system, but quickly gained popularity, and now, software packages are available on almost every platform to compose and play these files. However, on the Macintosh, there are very few good trackers.

A MOD file is significant, as it is a totally self-contained music file with a reasonable file size. It was intended originally as a compact way of storing background music for games and demonstration programs, but it has since grown to become a favorite file format for online music exchange. There are literally thousands of MODs available in the public domain, and they can be found on the Internet, AOL, and almost any good BBS.

PlayerPRO is also a full-fledged composition tool, with many editing modes, including a block mode, digital view, and a traditional score view of the music. PlayerPRO has tools simple enough for a novice but robust enough to keep even the most technically advanced musician satisfied.

PlayerPRO also supports many ways of entering music. The mouse can be used to click notes on to a score, which resembles any sheet music that you would find around. If you have a MIDI keyboard, you can do even more. The program can record notes from your keyboard. You can even record one note at a time or in real time, and you can see your music appear as you play.

If you don't have a MIDI keyboard, you can still play music in real time into the computer. PlayerPRO can convert the keys pressed on your keyboard into musical notes, and you can even play chords by holding down more than one key simultaneously.

PlayerPRO is also capable of playing and importing almost any music file that you can find. Unlike most programs, which either work with MIDI files or sampled files, PlayerPRO can deal with both.

It supports different sound file formats as samples, as well, including the majority of popular Windows, Macintosh, and Unix file formats.

For more information on PlayerPRO, visit:
http://www.quadmation.com/PP/What-1.html

CD Cyclone Announces New CDRevo CDRW Drive In FireWire And USB Versions

CD CyClone Duplication of Lake Forest, California has announced the CDRevo rewritable external CD burner comes in both a 12x4x32 FireWire version, and a 4x4x32 USB version.

Both drives are Macintosh compatible, and are planned to be offered with interchangable cosmetic panels in the iMac colors in the future, but at present is available only in a basic metallic color.

The manufacturer describes the CDRevo as "the fastest, most stylish, and easiest to use CD-RW drives available. With a convenient handle in the back, you just might want to carry it with you."

The CDRevo drives are scheduled to debut in June at $395 for the FireWire variant and $295 for the USB version.

For more information, visit:
http://www.cdcyclone.com/cyclone_products.html

Supercard 3.6.2 Update Now Available

IncWell DMG, Ltd. has announced the availability of SuperCard 3.6.2, a free update to their multimedia and rapid application development tool. The new version is available via download to registered users of versions 3.5, 3.5.2, 3.6, and 3.6.1, and addresses both feature requests and reported problems from home users and developers alike.

"The recent announcement of the delay of the release of Apple's Mac OSX operating system provides us a golden opportunity to address current users' requests for additions to SuperCard in what is planned to be a series of updates to be made available to the SuperCard community.", said Scott Simon, Director of Product Development for IncWell.

SuperCard offers both the home user and the professional developer alike, an easy to use - easy to learn, yet high-powered environment that provides the ability to create custom applications that can take full advantage of the interface, graphics, and multimedia power of the Macintosh platform, all at a significantly more affordable price point than other tools.

SuperCard 3.6 is available directly from Solutions Etcetera, and new customers can purchase the product for US$149.95. Users of versions 2.x through 3.0x can upgrade to the version 3.6 for US$99.95. Site licenses of 10 or more seats are also available at reduced cost.

You will have a choice between downloading a single, 9MB updater archive or 7 segments, each approximately 1.3MB in size.

For more Information, visit:
http://www.solutionsetcetera.com
or
http://www.incwell.com/SuperCard/Support/updates.htm

NewerRAM Launches Extranet Site for Up-to-Date Pricing and Product Information

NewerRAM has announced the launch of the NewerRAM Online Pricing Configurator, an Extranet site providing up-to-date pricing and in-depth product information for NewerRAM's strategic customers.

The password-protected NewerRAM Online Pricing Configurator allows NewerRAM distributor and reseller customers to access pricing and system configuration data for any NewerRAM memory upgrade product, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The pricing engine searches for NewerRAM memory upgrades by model, OEM part number, NewerRAM part number, system manufacturer, and system type. In addition to customer and suggested retail pricing, the NewerRAM Online Pricing Configurator displays useful information about each computer system, including its standard memory configuration, maximum RAM capacity, the number of memory slots available, and a complete listing of the memory upgrades available from NewerRAM.

Traditionally, NewerRAM published pricing information to its customers via fax or e-mail every two-three weeks. Now, customers can constantly access up- to-date pricing utilizing the same database from which NewerRAM, itself, pulls its information on a daily basis.

"We built the NewerRAM Online Pricing Configurator based on the input of customers we've been working with since we first conceived this Extranet tool," said Robbi Jean Welsh, NewerRAM account manager. "For the past week, customers have had access to both online pricing and the traditional price list we've always published proprietarily. During the transition period, the most common feedback we've received has been that the NewerRAM Online Pricing Configurator is more than just a reference for our customers -- it's a valuable sales resource. Resellers are able to access complete information on any NewerRAM product while talking with their customers."

With the aid of the NewerRAM Online Pricing Configurator, as prices begin to fall, NewerRAM customers will be the first to be able to take advantage. As prices begin to rise, NewerRAM customers will be able to recognize the trend before their competitors and act accordingly.

"The most exciting thing is that a NewerRAM Extranet has been established," said Welsh. "Right now, only pricing and memory upgrade configuration information is available, but it won't stop there. NewerRAM has always prided itself in listening to its customers. The Extranet platform established with the NewerRAM Online Pricing Configurator will be a place where many more customer suggestions become reality."

NewerRAM is a member of the Apple Developer Program, and all NewerRAM products come with a lifetime warranty.

For more information on NewerRAM and its line of Apple memory products, visit:
http://www.newerram.com

Micromat's Drive10 To Be First Drive Repair Utility for OS X

Micromat has announced the first Macintosh disk repair and utility recovery product for Mac OS X. Drive10 is a brand new product sporting an Aqua interface. In addition to repairing drives and recovering data, Drive10 offers users the additional benefit of providing automatic, regular backups of important volume structure data, which can make data and drive recovery far easier and more reliable.

"We've spent a lot of time with OS X and it is simply fantastic," said Jeff Baudin, Micromat’s Technical Architect. "This new system represents the next wave in the Macintosh user experience. We are committed to making Drive10 the essential OS X utility."

“Mac OS X users are going to be delighted by our next generation operating system's combination of simplicity, reliability and power," said Clent Richardson, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. “We're thrilled that Drive10 will be available for Mac OS X from day one, giving our users immediate access to one of the best disk and file analysis tools on the market.”

Drive10, based on TechTool Pro’s established repair and recovery technology, has been written from the ground up to take full advantage of OS X's native format. Drive10 takes full advantage of OS X's pre-emptive multitasking environment as well as protected memory. Not only does Drive10 support the HFS+ file system, but it also works seamlessly with the POSIX and NFS file systems.

Drive10 will ship concurrently with Apple's release of OS X. The suggested retail price of the program is $99.95 and it will be available from major resellers worldwide, as well as directly from Micromat.

For more information, visit:
http://www.drive10.com/

PictureBuddy 1.1 Released

PictureBuddy (formerly iView) is a picture viewer for viewing both offline and online images. PictureBuddy 1.1 is $5 shareware.

For more information or to Download, visit:
http://neptune.spaceports.com/~msoft/products.html

Charles W. Moore

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November 21, 2008