On October 17th, Applelinks' Charles Moore gave a great review of Bento 2. What I'd like to do here is provide a more detailed exploration of FileMaker and Bento, and explain why both are excellent database programs which serve two completely different customers. The fact is, Bento is an amazingly simple, easy to use database that requires no knowledge on how to create a database. FileMaker is an amazingly powerful database that is very simple (when compared to other databases), but requires creating every field, every relation, and every structure of a database. Admittedly, this is much more complicated and more work than many people need. Thus, there is Bento (and to borrow a phrase from the early days of Apple), a database "for the rest of us."

Cool Mac Gear


iTunes_RGB_9mm
image DriveSlim should prove especially popular with MacBook Air Users and those who go with the 128 GB Solid State Drive option on other model MacBooks
Wednesday, May 05, 2004

Shareware Beat - Wednesday, May 5, 2004290

• OmniWeb 5.0 beta 6 Web Browser [OS 10.2 up]
• DOT-PHOTOS 1.0b10 Shares Your iPhoto Images Via Browser [OS 10.2 up]
• DOT-POD 1.0b10 Shares Your iPod tracks Via Browser [OS X]
• DOT-TUNES 1.0b10 Shares Your iTunes Music Via A Web Browser [OS 10.2 up]
• homeAudit 1.1.2 Home Contents Inventory System [OS X]
• Manuscript 1.5.2 Specialized Word Processor For Authors [OS 10.2 up]
• Ipe 6.0r12 Extensible Drawing Editor For Creating Figures In PDF or EPS [OS X 10.3 up]
• ScholarWord MLA 1.1 Helps Students Write Papers [OS X 10.1 up]
• MacPrime Introduces FileMatic File Automation
• KnowledgeTank Updated To Version 1.1 [OS X 10.3 up]
• Ipanema for Mac OS X 1.4 Released [OS X 10.3 up]


Notable New Product News - Wednesday, May 5, 2004202

• 20% Off On Easy Card Till Mothers Day May 9th
• HighDesign 1.2 CAD Software
• Kanguru Solutions Unveils the Kanguru Micro MP3 Pro, an MP3/WMA Player, Digital Voice Recorder, and USB Flash Drive in One
• IOGEAR Launches Industry’s Shortest Wi-Fi 802.11g Notebook Network Card
• Thomas PR Is Chosen Agency Of Record By Express Digital
• Top US Cable Operators Announce 'On Ramp' to Advanced Java Technology-Based TV Services
• NASCAR Racing 2003 1.2.8 Car Racing Game


Aspyr updates NASCAR 2003236

Aspyr let us know yesterday that an update to NASCAR 2003 has been released. For those who don't know, NASCAR is that sport of which Mike & Ike brand fruit chew candies is "the choice." The NASCAR 2003 v1.2.8 update fixes problems with force feedback devices, but is not bursting with fruit juice flavor.


iConversation: Kevin Murphy (repost)487

Kevin Murphy is perhaps best known as the voice of Tom Servo, one of the witty puppet robots who ripped apart bad movies on the cult TV show Mystery Science Theatre 3000. But, after ten years of watching the worst films known to man, Murphy, a film school graduate and cinephile, found he had lost his love for movie going. So, he launched on a quest to watch a movie a day—in a theatre or public exhibition—for a year.



Is Market Dominance Bad for the iTunes Music Store?233

The major recording labels might be getting leery of Apple's dominance of the world of legal music downloads, because of the power it gives the computer company in terms of promotion.


Tuesday, May 04, 2004

Mac game developer Q & A181

On the eve of this month's release of Alida, an adventure game for Mac OS X, GameBoomer's has arranged a chat with the game's developer Cos Russo. Russo developed the game on a Mac and will be answering questions about the game and the development process. The forum is open to all.


[url=http://developer.apple.com/click/applelinks.html]Preview the highly evolved Mac OS X v10.4 “T144

The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference is the most important week of the year for developers, IT professionals, and digital media authors. Apple CEO Steve Jobs will kick off this year’s conference with a keynote and unveil “Tiger,� the next release of Mac OS X — Apple’s critically acclaimed operating system. Don’t miss the opportunity to preview this new release and discover how Tiger will fuel the next generation of developer innovation.


Apple posts latest iPod/iTunes Commercial146

In an innovative move, it features a guy walking by a bunch of Apple posters... and not defacing them!



The Road Warrior Compleat Buyer’s And User’s Guide To Low-End Macintosh Laptops 2004 Edi157

Sub-$1,000 Mac Portable Workhorses - PowerBook WallStreet Through 667 MHz Titanium PowerBook and 800 MHz G4 iBook


OS X Odyssey 553 - Tex Edit Plus X 4.7.0b1 Mini Review Update162

New tweaks make an already excellent tool even better


G3s Now “Vintage and Obsolete”, Buffett and Jobs Advise Kerry, Legally Beat iTunes Copy Restriction147

• G3s Now Vintage and Obsolete Macs
• Berkshire's Buffett, Apple's Jobs Join Kerry Advisers
•How to Beat iTunes Copy Restrictions Legally
• Office For Macs Could Make Windows Users Envious
• Tools Of The Trade: Virtual PC
• Ancient Maps Of The World
• PowerBook Wishlist
• INDUSTRY ANALYSIS:The Rebirth of Apple as a Multimedia Company
• Former Disney Director Says Jobs Could Fix Company
• Is the PowerBook With 128mb Video Memory Option Faster Than The 64MB version?
• Barcodes in Commercials, Wristwatch Credit Cards, and Bathroom Broadcasts of `Advertainment'
• The Tech Night Owl: A Tale of Two Cars
• Mac Night Owl: Apple Needs to Empower New Mac Users
• Internet worm paralyzes third of Taiwan's national post office


Shareware Beat - Tuesday, May 4, 2004194

• Mozilla Thunderbird 0.6 Enhanced Mozilla Email Client [OS X]
• OnyX 1.3.1/1.4.5 System Utility [OS 10.2 up]
• DeskCover 1.1 Translucent Desktop Sheet [OS 10.2 up]
• Apimac Slide Show X 6.2 Creates Slideshow Presentations [OS X]
• XFactor 0.15 P2P client for Gnutella, FastTrack & OpenFT [OS 10.2 up]
• inkBook 1.0.0 Takes Handwritten Notes That You Can Search Later [OS X 10.3 up]
• Duover 1.6 File Synchronization App [OS 10.2 up]
• SockhoEasyFind 1.5 Increases Speed & Simplicity Of Any Net Search [OS 10.2 up]
• FlightTrack 0.0.12 GPS Track Viewing & Downloading Software [OS 10.2 up]
• Apple Security Update 2004-05-03 for OS X 10.3 client [OS X 10.3.2 up]
• Apple Security Update 2004-05-03 for OS X 10.2.8 client



Notable New Product News - Tuesday, May 4, 2004387

• Sonnet Announces Dual G4 1.3 GHz; Reduces Prices On Single Processor Upgrade
• Cheap Impostor 1.0 Affordable, Personal PDF Imposition Software
• World’s First Wireless Turbo Super G Drivers for Macintosh: 12X The Throughput Of AirPort
• Micromat Drive 10 1.1.5 Disk Repair And Maintenance Tool
• PowerMail 5.0b18 Email Client
• Unsanity Releases Menu Master 1.1.1
• Creative Manager Pro 6.3 Released
• NoteTaker 2003 1.8.8 Personal Note And Idea Organizer
• Cross Culture Updates Mergemill to 3.6.2
• Moxi Jukebox Provides Instant Access To Your Favorite Music
• InstallShield Redefines Installation Authoring Standards With InstallShield X
• Autonomic Software's 'ANSA' System Named a Finalist in the Best of Interop Awards for NetWorld+Interop 2004 Las Vegas
• MAXON Bridges The Gap To ArchiCAD


Latest Hot Deals From Apple368

Specials from B&H, AudioMIDI, J&R, and Ramjet


iTunes vs. The Record Labels194

Steven Levy is impressed with iTunes performance, but finds a few flaws in pricing, and points the finger at the record labels.


Northland387

Northland is the third game in the Cultures series, continuing the story of Bjarni and Cyra as they free their friend Hatschi's homeland from mysterious serpent creatures and find themselves in the middle of another adventure. You'll watch over your Vikings as you start with nothing and build a thriving city which can interact with other villages with whom you can trade or against whom you can fight. Whether you succeed or fail at these tasks is reliant on how well you can keep track of the many details of Viking life.



Unreal Tournament 2004560

Unreal Tournament 2004's formula is simple and yet extremely effective: Take all the best that previous versions of the game had to offer, add a few new touches (but not enough to re-invent the game) and then make sure there's so much content included with the product that your hard drive chokes on it. It's a simple formula, but the execution is so thorough (almost verging on the excessive) that UT2K4 has become the best of all the Unreal games to date.


Monday, May 03, 2004

Daystar Announces PowerBook Lombard XLR8 G4 Upgrade209

Upgrade delivers 433 MHz G4 performance for USB PowerBooks. Features 24 hour factory installation, and near-zero downtime


Apple Releases 5/3/04 Security Update130

While you watch your PC friends try to deal with "Sasser," why not download the latest patch from Apple?


Time: Mac Office 2004 Superior to PC Version156

But then, you already knew that, didn't you?