Other Sites
UMAX Technologies Introduces Drawing Tablets, Mini Hard Drives, Flash Drives and MP3 Players
Top Spammer Settles and Pays Microsoft $7 Million - First Profiled in O'Reilly's "Spam Kings"
U2FWEIDE02 FireWire/USB combo PCI slot board
TechTool Pro 4.0.5 Hardware/Software Diagnostic And Repair Tool
Intaglio 2.4 Traditional Macintosh Drawing & Illustration Application
Disk Defrag 1.3.2r2 HFS+ File & Fork Defragmenting Utility
UMAX Technologies Introduces Drawing Tablets, Mini Hard Drives, Flash Drives and MP3 Players
UMAX Technologies has announced it is expanding on its line of consumer and professional scanners with a full line of new consumer electronics products including drawing tablets, mini hard drives, flash drives and MP3 players.
"For years, UMAX has successfully marketed consumer electronics in Europe and Asia," said Christabel Chen, director of marketing at UMAX Technologies. "This is UMAX's most significant product launch in the U.S. since its introduction of licensed Mac systems and digital still and video cameras. The new lines and products are designed to enhance the digital lifestyle of UMAX customers in North America, helping them with new creativity, multimedia and data storage solutions."
The new ProVista drawing tablet line consists of two models. The TB801 is an 8 x 6 in. tablet and retails for $99.99. The TB401 is a 4 x 3.5 in. tablet and retails for $39.99. Both have a wireless pen, programmable buttons (12 and 8 respectively), 512 maximum pressure levels and an overall accuracy of 0.42 mm. TB801 includes a cordless mouse for more input flexibility. For meeting memos, graphic designs, even chatting on the internet, the ProVista drawing tablets are your best choice. The ProVista tablets are all complete with Power Presenter, Free Notes, Office Link, Photo Impact and Pensoft handwriting recognition software.
The new Pollux 300 is a hard drive that is both portable and affordable to corporate and personal users. Pollux's ultra slim body is merely 9mm in thickness and its USB 2.0 high speed data transfer rate yields a perfect mobile storage device for people who are on the go and need more sufficient storage space. The Pollux is compact, light and is powered by any USB port. The Pollux 300 is available in a 4 GB and a 2.2 GB version and retails for $149.99 and $109.99 respectively.
The APUS 210 is perfect for any mobile user, allowing up to 1 GB of the storage space in a plug and play USB 2.0 high speed package. While the ultimate high speed data transfer provides users with convenient data transfer, the password protection function further secures the data from being obtained by other users. The APUS 210 with 1 GB of memory retails for $79.99, the 512 MB model retails for $49.99, 256 MB retails for $29.99 and the 128 MB version is $19.99.
The Vega 203 is a new and stylish MP3 player and is available with up to 512MB of built-in flash memory. The player supports a superior music player, a high quality voice recorder and a stereo FM tuner with 8 pre-sets. It also has a built-in SD/MMC card reader, full equalizer settings and multiple language displays. The Vega 203 is available now for $79.99 (256MB).
The Vega 107 is an MP3 player that is also a voice recorder, an FM tuner and a USB storage device. Multiple language display, 7 equalizer settings and 20 pre-set radio stations are just some of the Vega 107's features. The Vega 107 is currently available in three capacities: 512MB, 256MB or 128MB and retails for $89.99, $69.99 and $49.99 respectively.
For more information, visit:
http://www.umax.com
Top Spammer Settles and Pays Microsoft $7 Million - First Profiled in O'Reilly's "Spam Kings"
Scott Richter, the spammer that was first profiled in depth in O'Reilly Media's book "Spam Kings," has settled a lawsuit by agreeing to pay $7 million to Microsoft. "Spam Kings" details Richter's spamming activity with his company "OptinRealBig," encounters with other spammers and anti-spammers--including the events that led up to the Microsoft lawsuit.
In other news today, AOL announced the Spammer's Gold Sweepstakes and plans to giveaway a pile of loot seized from another Spam King, twenty-one year old Brad Bournival--whose spamming career, also featured in depth in the book, made him a millionaire. The giveaways include a 2003 Hummer H2, $75,000.00 in cash, and $20,000.00 in gold bars.
"Kudos to Microsoft and AOL for their legal victories. But the latest news could send would-be spammers the wrong message--namely, that it pays to operate illegal spamming operations. In 'Spam Kings' I covered the sleazy business practices of spammers and the conflicts they face with anti-spammers, and in a few cases with the law," states author Brian McWilliams. "Hard core spammers today know that the business is full of risks. They are not especially deterred by news of multi-million dollar settlements or spammer booty giveaways. If anything, these developments simply confirm to them that spam is a potentially rewarding, if dangerous, profession."
"McWilliams weaves a true story of spammers, scammers, and neo-Nazis, with an ear for dialogue and a thrilling story that would make Elmore Leonard proud," states John Biggs, author of Black Hat and editor of Laptop Magazine.
Spam Kings: The Real Story Behind the High-Rolling Hucksters Pushing Porn, Pills, and @*#?% Enlargements
ISBN: 0-596-007329,
368 pages,
$22.95 US, $33.95 CA, £15.95 UK
1-800-998-9938
1-707-827-7000
http://www.oreilly.com
U2FWEIDE02 FireWire/USB combo PCI slot board
U2FWEIDE02 is a USB 2.0 & FireWire (IEEE 1394a) to IDE (ATA/ATAPI bridge board. It is ideally suitable for tailgating removable-media devices such as CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, tape drive, and hard disk drive. It allows IDE drive (master or slave) to connect to USB 2.0 serial bus in a plug-and-play fashion.
Both ATA and ATAPI devices are supported with the same firmware.
USB: USB 2.0 to ATA Native Bridge Controller
â—ŠUSB 2.0 interface: one USB B-Type connector
â—ŠUSB bus transfer rate: high speed (480 Mbit) or full speed (12 Mbit)
â—ŠUSB bus power: self-powered mode operationg
â—ŠComplies with T13's ATA/ATAPI-6 draft specification
- PIO Mode 0, 3, 4
- Ultra DMA mode 2, 4
FireWire (IEEE 1394a): FireWire (IEEE 1394a) to ATA Native Bridge Controller
â—ŠNumber of Ports: external x2 (FW-6pin)
â—Š1394a PHY: Ti's TSB41AB2 1394a-2000 400Mbps PHY
â—Š1394 Bus Transfer Rate: 100/200/400 Mbps
â—ŠComplies with T13's ATA/ATAPI-6 draft specification
- DMA Mode 0 ~ 2
- Ultra DMA Mode 2, 4, 5
Self-Access
Connect U2FWEIDE02 to the resident pC's USB or FireWire port through either a USB or FireWire cable.
$99.99 USD
For more information, visit:
http://fwdepot.com/thestore/product_info.php/products_id/1100
TechTool Pro 4.0.5 Hardware/Software Diagnostic And Repair Tool
TechTool Pro 4 is a completely new program, built from the ground up for Mac OS X. The program was completely created in Cocoa, ensuring maximum performance and stability in Mac OS X. The program also features a new, easy-to-use aqua interface and streamlined window for easy navigation.
SMART TechTool Pro 4 now features a suite of S.M.A.R.T tests (Self Monitoring Analysis And Reporting Technology). Most modern hard drives now support this industry standard that employs predictive diagnostics and analysis to help foresee a drive failure BEFORE it happens. TechTool Pro 4's SMART test allows you to automatically monitor this vital data and be forewarned of impending danger to your data, allowing you to back up critical information before disaster strikes.
eDrive The eDrive feature allows you to create an invisible emergency volume from your existing drive. This new partition is created WITHOUT the need to reformat your current drive and allows you to store a copy of your system and a copy of TechTool Pro. If you ever have trouble with your main drive, simply restart your computer and your system will start from your Emergency Drive giving you immediate access to the utilities you'll need to resurrect your main drive. Now there's no more need for a bootable CD or ancillary hard drive for system drive repair or maintenance.
MultiTesting With the power of Mac OS X, TechTool Pro 4 is now the fastest version of the program we've ever made. With Mac OS X's native multitasking capability, TechTool Pro 4 can now run its full battery of tests simultaneously. This means that repair and maintenance chores that once took minutes will only take seconds.
Optimization TechTool Pro 4 now offers a new optimization feature for your Mac OS X drive. The Mac OS X system contains thousands of files that fragment quickly. TechTool Pro 4 lets you quickly and safely unfragment these and other files so your system runs reliably at its peak.
Besides the new features, TechTool Pro 4 also contains updated versions of its time-tested repair and diagnostic features. Like volume repair and data recovery, which can save the most important element of your computer: your data. Like its predecessor, TechTool Pro 4 can also tests all of the critical hardware on your system like the CPU, memory, controllers and even the power supply that feeds all of these devices. The program can also check other important aspects of your system like internet connections, network and even some third-party external peripherals.
TechTool Pro 4 is constantly on guard and protecting your Mac OS X Macintosh. Its Protection feature will regularly check your system's health at intervals you select.
It can even automatically notify an administrator by email if any problems are found.
But with all of its power, TechTool Pro 4 is still the easiest system utility to use. You can run a complete system check of your computer with just one mouse click. Or if you prefer, you can control all tests individually. This makes TechTool Pro 4 the utility of choice for both beginners and experts alike.
New in this version:
• Addressed compatibility issue with FirmTek SeriTek SATA card for Drives test.
• Improvements to the Volume Structures and Optimization routine.
• Improvements to Main Memory test while booted from TechTool Pro 4 CD.
• The eDrive routine will now create a 6GB partition required by Mac OS X 10.4.
• Added compatibility for new Macintosh models up to Summer 2005.
System requirements:
• PowerPC G3 or better. (Beige G3 machines not supported)
• Mac OS X 10.2.x or 10.3 or greater.
• CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.
• 256 Megabytes RAM or higher.
TechTool Pro sells for:$84.95
For more information, visit:
http://www.micromat.com/tt_pro_4/tt_pro_4.html
Ulysses is a critically acclaimed Mac OS X text editing environment aimed directly at creative writers. With its innovative "tabbed" single-window interface, featuring integrated notepads, a documents browser, advanced search/filter capabilities and multi-document previews, Ulysses aims to give creative writers, novelists and storytellers the best writing experience available on any platform today.
Intaglio 2.4 Traditional Macintosh Drawing & Illustration Application
Intaglio is a traditional Macintosh drawing & illustration application exclusively for Mac OS X.
Patterned after the original Macintosh drawing applications, Intaglio is intuitive to beginners and familiar to traditional Macintosh users. Intaglio builds on the 2D graphics, text, color, and scripting capabilities of Mac OS X to provide unprecedented power and flexibility in an inexpensive drawing program. Intaglio isn't just compatible with with Mac OS X, it was designed from the ground up to fully exploit the capabilites that make this platform ideal for graphics work.
Naturally Intaglio is great for casual users, but it is also an ideal tool for experienced graphics experts who need special features or want a simplier experience than what is provided by the usual multi-platform graphic franchises.
Intaglio takes full advantage of the following technologies built into Mac OS X:
• AppleScript & Automator
All graphic operations within Intaglio are fully scriptable and recordable. This provides a huge degree of flexibility to experts and, since anyone can record a working script, allows the novice to take advantage of AppleScript. Scripting makes it easy to automate repetitive tasks and access features that are otherwise cumbersome to use for some tasks. It also means that if a particular Intaglio function doesn't do exactly what you need, you may be able create a custom function taylored to your exact needs. Various included samples show how this can be done. Intaglio also includes a suite of Automator actions to access the scripting capability.
• Apple Type Services
Intaglio supports the full capabilities of the Apple Type Services to create dramatic text effects and get the most from all of your fonts. This includes access to all variations, such as those provided in multi-master fonts, and complete access to all font features such as ligatures, vertical position, letter case, and all alternate characters, which are frequently not accessible from most applications. Of course you also have full control of leading and baseline and kerning adjustments.
Text can be included in any of the graphics operations provided by Quartz and is edited directly in place regardless of any graphic transformations that have been applied to it. For more complex graphics operations, text can be converted to a graphic path to allow the full range of drawing manipulations.
Intaglio is fully compliant with the international text standard unicode, and supports direct input of characters from complex Asian alphabets.
• ColorSync
Intaglio uses ColorSync to calibrate all colors used within graphics and maintains any color profiles embedded in bitmap graphic image files. Every drawing has a default color space and maintains ColorSync profiles for each color space used.
• CoreImage
Special effects can be created using any combination of Intaglio graphics with CoreImage filters. Because Intaglio uses vector graphics, the elements used for effects continue to be editable after the effects are created.
• Quartz
Intaglio makes complete use of the Quartz 2D graphics environment. This allows Intaglio to provide traditional drawing features plus many advanced features previously found only in expensive high-end graphics tools. For example, complex "paths" made from lines, curves, and arcs can be drawn with various fills, line joins, caps, and optional dash patterns. In a feature unique to Intaglio, arcs retain their geometry (they aren't converted to curves) so their angles and radius can always be easily changed.
Advanced graphics features also include arbitrary 2D transformations like scaling and rotation, clipping, antialiasing, opacity, pattern and gradient fills, and PDF import/export.
• QuickDraw
There is a gap between applications that use the classic Macintosh graphics layer called QuickDraw and the new Quartz graphics layer in Mac OS X that most applications can't cross. Intaglio bridges this gap by providing the ability to convert QuickDraw based pictures (i.e., vector PICT graphics) into its own Quartz based graphics, allowing them to be edited in Intaglio. This means you can continue to use files created by traditional Macintosh drawing programs that don't run natively on Mac OS X.
• QuickTime
Intaglio uses the QuickTime graphics layer for importing and exporting bitmap images. This means Intaglio can import and/or export over a dozen image formats and will automatically support new formats as QuickTime is updated.
• Spotlight
Intaglio allows metadata to be added to individual documents and includes a Spotlight importer module to index this metadata as well as the text used in drawings.
New in this version:
• Add CoreImage effects (requires Mac OS X 10.4, Tiger).
• Miscellaneous bug fixes and improvements.
System requirements:
• Intaglio requires Mac OS X 10.2 (i.e., Jaguar) or later. Some features require 10.3 or 10.4.
CoreImage, ClarisDraw, iWork, and Pages are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.
Intaglio sells for $89.00
For more information, visit:
http://www.purgatorydesign.com/Intaglio/
Disk Defrag 1.3.2r2 HFS+ File & Fork Defragmenting Utility
Intech's Disk Defrag utility is designed to speed up your Macintosh's access to files stored on your hard disks. To do this, the Disk Defrag utility identifies files on HFS+ formatted drives which are stored in more than one place on your drive and rewrites those files so that they form one continuous data stream. This process can dramatically reduce the number of data reads and writes to access your files, thereby significantly speeding up file access related functions.
System requirements:
Mac OS X 10.2 or higher
For more information, visit:
http://www.speedtools.com/DCX.shtml
or
http://www.speedtools.com/index.shtml
Charles W. Moore
Tags: News ï Software News ï
