Pretty good advice, but the Canon flash system's confusing at the best of times! If you've got an ETTL capable camera remember that you *can not focus then recompose* when using the flash unless you fire the Flash Exposure Lock (FEL) afterwards - it weights the flash exposure around the original focus point and things can go quite screwy (esp. with white garments like wedding dresses). The FEL button helps, but people think you've taken a picture when the preflash fires so it doesn't help posing much:( People coming from other systems hate this and I tend to agree, Nikon handles flash a lot better (though I'm a Canon man myself).
As for plastic diffusers, the Stofen instructions state that you should never use it directly and should *always* tilt to 45 degrees or so and bounce it off the ceiling. As such, they're not very useful at all, esp. when the ceiling isn't white. If you can't bounce off the ceiling I'd recommend buying a decent "mini-softbox" that velcros over the flash head (if you can get a bigger one than the Lumiquest, do so). They're fiddly and bulky, but the results are better.
Oh, one last addition: **always** use a flash bracket: something that holds the flash above and to the left/right of the camera - on-camera mounted flash (even with a diffuser) is the no.1 cause of ugly shadows. If you only have the money for a flash bracket + cord, or a diffuser, go with the bracket.
Another point worth making is that backpacks, especially in crowds (such as London's Oxford Street when it's busy), are a thieves favourite. The method is known as "dipping" as it basically involves the thief dipping their hands into the backpack or pack's pockets - you won't feel this as the pack isn't close to your body (like, say, your jeans pockets is).
NEVER put valuable items such as wallets, mobile phones, etc. in the outer pockets of a backpack: either use the "security" pocket if it has one (my Da Kine bag's got one that sits up against the small of your back and is partitioned from the main space), store them in a better location such as in the inner pocket of a zipped up jacket, or at least put them right at the bottom of the main compartment of the pack and place an item of clothing or something over the top. Common sense really, but you'd be surprise how many people don't think...
As for cameras, taking the minimum gear necessary and making them look mucky with tape (zinc oxide apparently works well, but electrician's tape's good too) is a good idea, though you'll have trouble hiding that big white "look at me, I'm a pro!" Canon 70-200 2.8L - saying that those lenses are so solid you could probably just beat the mugger around the head with it;)
Oh, and a large pet dog such as a rottweiler or doberman goes remarkably far in stopping you being mugged. Who'd have thought!:)
Heh, I always thought of taking the opposite approach (not for advertising; for stealth stencil art):
Get a portable water power washer** and a durable stencil (plastic or metal). Place the stencil on the pavement and stand on the edge of it to keep it in place. Spray over the stencil with the power washer.
Surely you can't be prosecuted for making the streets *cleaner*?:)
** If such a thing exists? Would probably require a normal one in the back of a van with a drum of water
Surely you could get MozDev to be (one of) the top level Certificate Authority(s) though, seeing as it's already the main repository for plugins. Maybe XULPlanet and a few others too, along the same lines as the SSL cert. verification model. Establish some trusted bodies and give them the issuing responsibilities.
Get these bodies to issue a cert. to each project and provide a mechanism for signing code, then plug the above CA servers into Mozilla, Firefox, etc., write some checking code (displaying warnings for unsigned code, for example) then you're done:) Not quite that easy in practice though, I guess?
Both parent posts are pretty much right, but you should *definitely check that you're complying with the law* regarding what you must keep.
I'd recommend reading this paper over at SecurityFocus as it covers a pretty similar remit:
Destructive Influence By Scott Granneman
Basically what he says is that if you have a thoroughly designed and well implemented data destruction policy (that complies with local laws) it can be somewhat favorable should something bad, like a lawsuit, come your way.
Re:It's not that there is a G5 iMac now...
on
G5 in an iMac
·
· Score: 1
Regarding the WWDC, don't forget the other biggie - info on the latest update to OS X: 10.4 "Tiger" (see the the coverage on Slashdot)
And as long as Big Brother ain't watching, I'm gonna continue...
Kinda apt that you mentioned Big Brother - this whole topic reminds me of the part in 1984 where Winston and Julia get intimate, thinking they're safe from the microphones in the woods.
Personally I'm more on your side than the S&R man - I can understand his position of wanting to keep some basic tabs on potential missing persons but it's also exactly the reason why people go into the wilderness - to completely escape from civilisation and know that they've got a very good measure of privacy (getting away from it all).
I think education of hikers is a key point here - hand out leaflets pointing out the basics, such as telling someone your approximate travel plans, estimated travel time, along with the minimum survival skills and info that'll help S&R find you if you do get into trouble (e.g. make a fire, use flares if you have them). Also give advice on the use of technology such as handheld GPS, the relative merits of of CBs/radios over cellphones esp. where coverage is weak for instance (maybe even set up a scheme to rent them at the local outdoor stockist)... stuff like that.
If people are taught the basics of survival then hopefully they'll be able to look after themselves a bit better rather than having to be "watched over".
That's a good point there. An oft quoted "rule" of business is that it's much easier to hold on to existing customers than get new ones, and that when you piss off a customer they tell, on average, 8 other companies/people not to buy your product. (Of course this varies wildly across the vastness of business and products but the principle is the same.)
So when you tell a company that if they don't fix their product you won't buy another bit of software off them (and will tell all your friends), if they have any sort of competent management they'll damn well pull out some stops to get it sorted. Otherwise they know they'll be shooting themselves in the foot with regards to future sales and their reputation with other existing customers.
Open Source, on the other hand to what you said, doesn't *always* tell you to fuck off. In fact, a good percentage of the time the maintainers will actually get it fixed faster than their closed-source counterparts. But this in itself highlights the problem - what it comes down to is accountability and the unknown.
With commercial software you've got a known comeback. With open source you may *or may not* have any, depending on luck, prior research, who (if anybody) is maintaining the code, etc. - all unknowns. Management *hate* unknowns, so having a commercial support channel and therefore filling the void with a known trail of accountability, is *essential* for wide-scale adoption and a massively good thing for Open Source software in general.
don't blindly drop to root and install an unverified/unauthenticated RPM that you receive via email
That would be nice to say to a home user.
...and if a home user actually understood what the above phrase meant rather than looking at you like you just insulted their mother in a foreign language , that would be nice too!;)
Re:excellent! i have been looking for this
on
Samba 3 By Example
·
· Score: 1
...a bunch of geeks tired of being screwed all the time...
Shouldn't that read, "a bunch of geeks tired of not being screwed at all"?;)
Of course the very act of putting a lock on your case indicates to would-be thieves, dishonest baggage handlers, etc. that you're more likely to have something worth stealing... (safety in numbers, don't stand out from the crowd)
Hmmm, and 99% of statistics are made up on the spot;)
iPod sales were around 35-40% of the market (per unit, with closer to 60-70% by cost/profit) last time I checked (from reputable news sources such as Yahoo, the BBC, etc.) and you can guarantee that Microsoft have managed, via their monopolistic practices on the desktop, to make sure that practically *all* portable players support WMA as the de facto standard (with the associated per-player licence fees, licencing from streaming servers, etc.).
So that's 60% WMA, 40% iPod. Hardly "pales in comparison to the iPod".
As for the music stores vs. the iTunes music store... you do realise there's a market (world) outside America and it's much bigger than the US? iTMS is US-only (no fault of Apples I'm sure, more the greedy/difficult labels), while music stores/distributors such as OD2, Destra, MyCokeMusic and others are all peddling their WMA wares in various other countries. While the competition may not be shipping the 50 million units that the iTunes store has in the past year (though they're adding up, with OD2, for instance, managing 1 million downloads in Q1) you can bet that they've been able to get a better profit split than Apple could manage against the mighty RIAA monopoly (which amounts to a paltry 10-20 cents per song for Apple). So if startups know that they can get a better deal by using DRM'd WMA (such as the Walmart store which reopened again recently) rather than DRM'd AAC (as Apple aren't even licencing FairPlay) and guarantee that the majority of the market will be able to play these files both on their desktop and portable (unless it's an iPod) then the financial (not ethical, mind) case for WMA is still tempting.
Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan at all of Microsoft's WMA or their Media Player tactics but Apple's position, while currently very strong, is by no means safe from them.
This may have been one of the reasons why Real offered a partnership - they're currently still fighting against Microsoft's Media Player/WMA/streaming in Europe (yes, I know they've been fined already but it's not over by a long shot, and Sun's now pulled out of this) and may have told Apple they'd keep up the fight against their common enemy in exchange for interoperability. However, Apple aren't stupid and know that Real are going to have to fight *anyway* and couldn't see much else of benefit so told them to go sling their hook.
Regarding the wide issue of downloads as a whole, personally I find charging for them them pretty unappealing:
---Label/Store--- no CD overhead no warehouse overhead no shipping overhead no distributor cut reduced advertising costs (online & via media players)
So lots of benefits for the sellers.
---Consumer--- low quality music (compared to CD) no physical medium/artwork (backups? CD-Rs lifespans are very limited compared to a true CD) bandwidth issues (such as if on dialup) copy protection/DRM restrictions convenience?!
Benefit for the buyers? Convenience at a cost of everything else.
Quite frankly I can't see the appeal esp. considering you can rip that new CD you just bought into iTunes/whatever at *your choice of bitrate and format* and also keep the physical medium, for what amounts to a couple of dollars more. Obviously there must be some appeal (convenience) indicated by the success of iTMS and others but I can't help the feeling that downloads are vastly overrated, may contribute towards the destruction of the album as a format (consider for a moment the tracks on the albums you own that you disliked at first but now love - you probably wouldn't have bought them if you could mix and match) and that they'll INEVITABLY end up costing *more* than a CD once the major labels and stores see the potential profits and get greedy (take tape->CD and video->DVD as examples).
As both a consumer and co-founder of a small record label I won't be part of that - downloads should be free samples tha
Heh, this is the same ship as the local passenger ferry here on the Isle of Man - the Seacat (There are actually two designs: the Seacat and the Seacat Rapide - see the photos here, here and here. To pull a quick excerpt from the above link:
"Built by InCat Australia for Sea Containers in Tasmania, SeaCat was the worlds' first vehicle-carrying catamaran. The original 74 metre craft have subsequently been joined by a new 81 metre length SeaCat design, also built by InCat."
Having travelled on the thing a few times I can confirm that it's fast (with a service speed of 35 knots), but in anything above a force five it "shudders/vibrates" and is rather uncomfortable - much more so than a monohull. Still, it gets you where you need to go and beats hitching on a trawler;)
According to CNN, however, they don't care so much about selling music, 'Analysts have said the goal for Wal-Mart is to bring more people to its Web site
Heh, that's just as well, cause all I use it for is to get 500x500 pixel (better than Amazon) album artwork for my ripped-from-CD iTunes library:) (Not that I could buy anything from 'em anyway, as it's US-only.)
Yeah, I love this one. It seems to defy the universal law that toast always lands butter-side down, and cats always land on their feet. Or maybe they're inferring that it's a pussy magnet? Either way, I want one;)
(apologies to MiniITX for the impending bandwidth onslaught)
Perhaps it'd be worth getting in touch directly with both and seeing what they say? (and checking out what's new in ACDSee v6, it's probably improved a fair bit):
They may be able to offer what you wish as a bespoke development, be it for cash, advertising or both? At the least they may be able to expose various parts of the software via COM interfaces so you can write the automation between the two? I know I'd be keen to be able to say that Sports Illustrated used my imaging software: that's on par with having Natural Geographic on the client list:) So you may find that they jump over themselves to help... (Well, there's a small chance anyway!)
If that doesn't work out then there's a good deal of other software worth checking out, such as IMatch from Photools.com (I'm evaluating this now and it seems pretty good), or the whole host of software listed off Rob Galbraith's site (I'm sure Rob'll be able to help in the suggestions department better than I can, anyway).
I don't think that's so true (anymore). Colour management on Mac/PC is practically identical when it comes to Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign, and colour profiles have been handled better in Windows since 98 (I think, certainly 2000/XP). Yes, Colorsync is still nicer, but there's not as much of "wow, that's so much better than PCs" as there used to be. The historical reason is very much valid though, people work best when they use something they're comfortable with and used to.
As for Mac monitors being *completely* accurate out of the box, that's wrong. They're certified to a certain factory level - not wildly inaccurate by any means and *much* better than most standard off-the-shelf components, but still not good enough for critical work (in fact even Apple themselves recommend using hardware calibration on their website). Besides, devices go "out" with time anyway - esp. CRTs, which on the whole are much better at colour than LCDs: though the Apple Cinema displays are lovely I'd much rather have something like a Sony Artisan: http://luminous-landscape.com/reviews/ac cessories/ sony-artisan.shtml
There's no way around it, you MUST profile your devices with a colorimeter (the Monaco equipment is excellent, GretagMacbeth also, and the Pantone Colorvision stuff serviceable and cheap) unless it's got hardware built in such as the Barco's or high-end Sony's, it's the only way to be sure. Also, a good thing about profiling is you can set devices to specifically match each other, so say you've just bought a batch of laptops to go along with the workstations, you can easily profile them to all look exactly the same - very useful when the photographers may have to share resources. I'm not going to start on profiling print devices or the intricacies of open or closed loop colour systems though, cause it all gets very boring:)
Ooops, sorry - got that a bit wrong: the key *isn't USB*. From the looks of it it's a proprietry device with a Firewire-like connector that plugs into a mount on a blanking plate (supplied) which in turn connects to the inline IDE device. Bit of a pain in that it'd require a bit of work with a dremel to make it front-mounted, but equally means it's fully integrated with no additional hardware requirements.
Slashdot Mirror
Pretty good advice, but the Canon flash system's confusing at the best of times! If you've got an ETTL capable camera remember that you *can not focus then recompose* when using the flash unless you fire the Flash Exposure Lock (FEL) afterwards - it weights the flash exposure around the original focus point and things can go quite screwy (esp. with white garments like wedding dresses). The FEL button helps, but people think you've taken a picture when the preflash fires so it doesn't help posing much :( People coming from other systems hate this and I tend to agree, Nikon handles flash a lot better (though I'm a Canon man myself).
As for plastic diffusers, the Stofen instructions state that you should never use it directly and should *always* tilt to 45 degrees or so and bounce it off the ceiling. As such, they're not very useful at all, esp. when the ceiling isn't white. If you can't bounce off the ceiling I'd recommend buying a decent "mini-softbox" that velcros over the flash head (if you can get a bigger one than the Lumiquest, do so). They're fiddly and bulky, but the results are better.
Oh, one last addition: **always** use a flash bracket: something that holds the flash above and to the left/right of the camera - on-camera mounted flash (even with a diffuser) is the no.1 cause of ugly shadows. If you only have the money for a flash bracket + cord, or a diffuser, go with the bracket.
Mod parent up, that's an insightful post.
;)
:)
Another point worth making is that backpacks, especially in crowds (such as London's Oxford Street when it's busy), are a thieves favourite. The method is known as "dipping" as it basically involves the thief dipping their hands into the backpack or pack's pockets - you won't feel this as the pack isn't close to your body (like, say, your jeans pockets is).
NEVER put valuable items such as wallets, mobile phones, etc. in the outer pockets of a backpack: either use the "security" pocket if it has one (my Da Kine bag's got one that sits up against the small of your back and is partitioned from the main space), store them in a better location such as in the inner pocket of a zipped up jacket, or at least put them right at the bottom of the main compartment of the pack and place an item of clothing or something over the top. Common sense really, but you'd be surprise how many people don't think...
As for cameras, taking the minimum gear necessary and making them look mucky with tape (zinc oxide apparently works well, but electrician's tape's good too) is a good idea, though you'll have trouble hiding that big white "look at me, I'm a pro!" Canon 70-200 2.8L - saying that those lenses are so solid you could probably just beat the mugger around the head with it
Oh, and a large pet dog such as a rottweiler or doberman goes remarkably far in stopping you being mugged. Who'd have thought!
Group Policy Object. See here:
l an ning/management/groupsteps.aspd ir.org/gp_faq.htm
6 43.html
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/p
http://www.active
Check it out locally by running gpedit.msc
For details on how to disable Messenger see here:
http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-6270-5029
Heh, I always thought of taking the opposite approach (not for advertising; for stealth stencil art):
:)
Get a portable water power washer** and a durable stencil (plastic or metal). Place the stencil on the pavement and stand on the edge of it to keep it in place. Spray over the stencil with the power washer.
Surely you can't be prosecuted for making the streets *cleaner*?
** If such a thing exists? Would probably require a normal one in the back of a van with a drum of water
Surely you could get MozDev to be (one of) the top level Certificate Authority(s) though, seeing as it's already the main repository for plugins. Maybe XULPlanet and a few others too, along the same lines as the SSL cert. verification model. Establish some trusted bodies and give them the issuing responsibilities.
Get these bodies to issue a cert. to each project and provide a mechanism for signing code, then plug the above CA servers into Mozilla, Firefox, etc., write some checking code (displaying warnings for unsigned code, for example) then you're done :)
Not quite that easy in practice though, I guess?
'...but my friend is.'
Both parent posts are pretty much right, but you should *definitely check that you're complying with the law* regarding what you must keep.
I'd recommend reading this paper over at SecurityFocus as it covers a pretty similar remit: Destructive Influence By Scott Granneman
Basically what he says is that if you have a thoroughly designed and well implemented data destruction policy (that complies with local laws) it can be somewhat favorable should something bad, like a lawsuit, come your way.
Regarding the WWDC, don't forget the other biggie - info on the latest update to OS X: 10.4 "Tiger" (see the the coverage on Slashdot)
And now that OS X does exist Mac's are even more appealing to *NIX geeks:
Mac OS X for UNIX Users (~500KB PDF)
Kinda apt that you mentioned Big Brother - this whole topic reminds me of the part in 1984 where Winston and Julia get intimate, thinking they're safe from the microphones in the woods.
Personally I'm more on your side than the S&R man - I can understand his position of wanting to keep some basic tabs on potential missing persons but it's also exactly the reason why people go into the wilderness - to completely escape from civilisation and know that they've got a very good measure of privacy (getting away from it all).
I think education of hikers is a key point here - hand out leaflets pointing out the basics, such as telling someone your approximate travel plans, estimated travel time, along with the minimum survival skills and info that'll help S&R find you if you do get into trouble (e.g. make a fire, use flares if you have them). Also give advice on the use of technology such as handheld GPS, the relative merits of of CBs/radios over cellphones esp. where coverage is weak for instance (maybe even set up a scheme to rent them at the local outdoor stockist)... stuff like that.
If people are taught the basics of survival then hopefully they'll be able to look after themselves a bit better rather than having to be "watched over".Heh, that reminded me of Mark Pilgrim's amusing How to install XP in 5 hours or less rant :)
That's a good point there. An oft quoted "rule" of business is that it's much easier to hold on to existing customers than get new ones, and that when you piss off a customer they tell, on average, 8 other companies/people not to buy your product. (Of course this varies wildly across the vastness of business and products but the principle is the same.)
So when you tell a company that if they don't fix their product you won't buy another bit of software off them (and will tell all your friends), if they have any sort of competent management they'll damn well pull out some stops to get it sorted. Otherwise they know they'll be shooting themselves in the foot with regards to future sales and their reputation with other existing customers.
Open Source, on the other hand to what you said, doesn't *always* tell you to fuck off. In fact, a good percentage of the time the maintainers will actually get it fixed faster than their closed-source counterparts. But this in itself highlights the problem - what it comes down to is accountability and the unknown.
With commercial software you've got a known comeback. With open source you may *or may not* have any, depending on luck, prior research, who (if anybody) is maintaining the code, etc. - all unknowns. Management *hate* unknowns, so having a commercial support channel and therefore filling the void with a known trail of accountability, is *essential* for wide-scale adoption and a massively good thing for Open Source software in general.
Of course the very act of putting a lock on your case indicates to would-be thieves, dishonest baggage handlers, etc. that you're more likely to have something worth stealing... (safety in numbers, don't stand out from the crowd)
Hmmm, and 99% of statistics are made up on the spot ;)
iPod sales were around 35-40% of the market (per unit, with closer to 60-70% by cost/profit) last time I checked (from reputable news sources such as Yahoo, the BBC, etc.) and you can guarantee that Microsoft have managed, via their monopolistic practices on the desktop, to make sure that practically *all* portable players support WMA as the de facto standard (with the associated per-player licence fees, licencing from streaming servers, etc.).
So that's 60% WMA, 40% iPod. Hardly "pales in comparison to the iPod".
As for the music stores vs. the iTunes music store... you do realise there's a market (world) outside America and it's much bigger than the US? iTMS is US-only (no fault of Apples I'm sure, more the greedy/difficult labels), while music stores/distributors such as OD2, Destra, MyCokeMusic and others are all peddling their WMA wares in various other countries. While the competition may not be shipping the 50 million units that the iTunes store has in the past year (though they're adding up, with OD2, for instance, managing 1 million downloads in Q1) you can bet that they've been able to get a better profit split than Apple could manage against the mighty RIAA monopoly (which amounts to a paltry 10-20 cents per song for Apple). So if startups know that they can get a better deal by using DRM'd WMA (such as the Walmart store which reopened again recently) rather than DRM'd AAC (as Apple aren't even licencing FairPlay) and guarantee that the majority of the market will be able to play these files both on their desktop and portable (unless it's an iPod) then the financial (not ethical, mind) case for WMA is still tempting.
Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan at all of Microsoft's WMA or their Media Player tactics but Apple's position, while currently very strong, is by no means safe from them.
This may have been one of the reasons why Real offered a partnership - they're currently still fighting against Microsoft's Media Player/WMA/streaming in Europe (yes, I know they've been fined already but it's not over by a long shot, and Sun's now pulled out of this) and may have told Apple they'd keep up the fight against their common enemy in exchange for interoperability. However, Apple aren't stupid and know that Real are going to have to fight *anyway* and couldn't see much else of benefit so told them to go sling their hook.
Regarding the wide issue of downloads as a whole, personally I find charging for them them pretty unappealing:
---Label/Store---
no CD overhead
no warehouse overhead
no shipping overhead
no distributor cut
reduced advertising costs (online & via media players)
So lots of benefits for the sellers.
---Consumer---
low quality music (compared to CD)
no physical medium/artwork (backups? CD-Rs lifespans are very limited compared to a true CD)
bandwidth issues (such as if on dialup)
copy protection/DRM restrictions
convenience?!
Benefit for the buyers? Convenience at a cost of everything else.
Quite frankly I can't see the appeal esp. considering you can rip that new CD you just bought into iTunes/whatever at *your choice of bitrate and format* and also keep the physical medium, for what amounts to a couple of dollars more. Obviously there must be some appeal (convenience) indicated by the success of iTMS and others but I can't help the feeling that downloads are vastly overrated, may contribute towards the destruction of the album as a format (consider for a moment the tracks on the albums you own that you disliked at first but now love - you probably wouldn't have bought them if you could mix and match) and that they'll INEVITABLY end up costing *more* than a CD once the major labels and stores see the potential profits and get greedy (take tape->CD and video->DVD as examples).
As both a consumer and co-founder of a small record label I won't be part of that - downloads should be free samples tha
Heh, this is the same ship as the local passenger ferry here on the Isle of Man - the Seacat (There are actually two designs: the Seacat and the Seacat Rapide - see the photos here, here and here. To pull a quick excerpt from the above link:
"Built by InCat Australia for Sea Containers in Tasmania, SeaCat was the worlds' first vehicle-carrying catamaran. The original 74 metre craft have subsequently been joined by a new 81 metre length SeaCat design, also built by InCat."
Having travelled on the thing a few times I can confirm that it's fast (with a service speed of 35 knots), but in anything above a force five it "shudders/vibrates" and is rather uncomfortable - much more so than a monohull. Still, it gets you where you need to go and beats hitching on a trawlerYup, that's PSDoom, as featured in one of Ars Technica's excellent Linux.Ars articles (amongst other places).
Another one to check would be Reporters Without Borders/Reporters Sans Frontieres:
http://www.rsf.org/Heh, that's just as well, cause all I use it for is to get 500x500 pixel (better than Amazon) album artwork for my ripped-from-CD iTunes library :) (Not that I could buy anything from 'em anyway, as it's US-only.)
Mod parent up, he speaks the truth :)
BTW Greg, the PNH toolbar might be of interest to you? I find it damn handy myself:
http://placenamehere.com/pnhtoolbar/
Yeah, I love this one. It seems to defy the universal law that toast always lands butter-side down, and cats always land on their feet. Or maybe they're inferring that it's a pussy magnet? Either way, I want one ;)
(apologies to MiniITX for the impending bandwidth onslaught)Perhaps it'd be worth getting in touch directly with both and seeing what they say? (and checking out what's new in ACDSee v6, it's probably improved a fair bit):
d ex
:) So you may find that they jump over themselves to help... (Well, there's a small chance anyway!)
www.acdsystems.com/English/Company/ContactUs/in
SCC - Tel: 770 205 5756 Fax: 770 205 5880
They may be able to offer what you wish as a bespoke development, be it for cash, advertising or both? At the least they may be able to expose various parts of the software via COM interfaces so you can write the automation between the two? I know I'd be keen to be able to say that Sports Illustrated used my imaging software: that's on par with having Natural Geographic on the client list
If that doesn't work out then there's a good deal of other software worth checking out, such as IMatch from Photools.com (I'm evaluating this now and it seems pretty good), or the whole host of software listed off Rob Galbraith's site (I'm sure Rob'll be able to help in the suggestions department better than I can, anyway).
Good luck!
I don't think that's so true (anymore). Colour management on Mac/PC is practically identical when it comes to Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign, and colour profiles have been handled better in Windows since 98 (I think, certainly 2000/XP). Yes, Colorsync is still nicer, but there's not as much of "wow, that's so much better than PCs" as there used to be. The historical reason is very much valid though, people work best when they use something they're comfortable with and used to.
c cessories/ sony-artisan.shtml
:)
As for Mac monitors being *completely* accurate out of the box, that's wrong. They're certified to a certain factory level - not wildly inaccurate by any means and *much* better than most standard off-the-shelf components, but still not good enough for critical work (in fact even Apple themselves recommend using hardware calibration on their website). Besides, devices go "out" with time anyway - esp. CRTs, which on the whole are much better at colour than LCDs: though the Apple Cinema displays are lovely I'd much rather have something like a Sony Artisan:
http://luminous-landscape.com/reviews/a
There's no way around it, you MUST profile your devices with a colorimeter (the Monaco equipment is excellent, GretagMacbeth also, and the Pantone Colorvision stuff serviceable and cheap) unless it's got hardware built in such as the Barco's or high-end Sony's, it's the only way to be sure. Also, a good thing about profiling is you can set devices to specifically match each other, so say you've just bought a batch of laptops to go along with the workstations, you can easily profile them to all look exactly the same - very useful when the photographers may have to share resources. I'm not going to start on profiling print devices or the intricacies of open or closed loop colour systems though, cause it all gets very boring
Ooops, sorry - got that a bit wrong: the key *isn't USB*. From the looks of it it's a proprietry device with a Firewire-like connector that plugs into a mount on a blanking plate (supplied) which in turn connects to the inline IDE device. Bit of a pain in that it'd require a bit of work with a dremel to make it front-mounted, but equally means it's fully integrated with no additional hardware requirements.