After a forced hiatus, I am back in old shape and ready to take on the world

Here’s what’s coming up the next few weeks:

• a new forum for all users to post tech problems and solutions
• the first two tutorials
• news, tips and tricks
• a new website with brand-new layout

The new website will feature memberships (free, of course, I don’t need your precious, hard-earned cash ), every member gets its own blog, there will be a wiki and the possibility to write manuals together, so noone needs to suffer from something where another user has found a solution for!

Also, I am preparing my move to the USA. People here in Europe think I am crazy for doing this now. But I say, now is the ideal time. Time for a change, time to actively DO something about the US economy.

And in times where all my so-called European friends were nowhere to be found, the only people who stuck by me, were… US citizens, no exception!

So to all the nay-sayers, instead of complaining, DO something about it, and that is exactly what I am about to do.

Cheers

Arthur

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As was widely predicted, it uses the in Europe and Asia dominant UMTS or 3G technology, a sigh of relief for us European users

But the best of all: the new iPhone is ONLY 199$ EVERYWHERE. Cool!

Here is the official Apple blurb:

Phone, iPod, and Internet in one fast 3G device.

Introducing iPhone 3G. With fast 3G wireless technology, GPS, support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, and the new App Store, iPhone 3G puts even more amazing features in your hands. And just like the original iPhone, it combines three products in one —a revolutionary phone, a widescreen iPod, and a breakthrough Internet device.

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So without further ado, here are my predicitons for today’s Apple Keynote at WWDC 08 San Francisco:

1. Opening Song: my prediction: “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay. (why? Coldplay is the hottest seller on the iTunes music store)
2. New Application Store for iPhone and iPod Touch applications (no surprise, I guess)
3. New 2.0 firmware for iPhone and iPod Touch (no surprise either)
4. New iPhone Nano 3G, in black and red, launched all over the world, subsidized and starting at 2GN memory up to 32 GB
5. New name for DotMac… Me.Com with a basic free service and additional services at a price.
6. New names for MacOS, OS X Leopard and OS X
7. OS X Leopard is now also available on select PC machines, leaving the Apple only doctrine (personal note: I would find this not cool, could be dangerous for Apple)
8. New OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, with focus on Multi Touch capability, would make sense why Microsoft was in such a hurry to present quick quick a video of Windows 7, but only showing some Multi Touch capability. So they can say… we were first… yeah right
9. New MacBook Pro, with new processor, launches in August or so
10. One More Thing: Presentation of a multitouch notepad kinda computer, to show off the capabilities of 10.6 Snow Leopard.

Ok, thus my predictions. Some will be obvious, some might not be. Let’s see what comes true

Cheers
Arthur

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Pro Tools 7.4.2pr software is available as a download only, and requires Mac OS X 10.5.3. Pro Tools 7.4.2pr is not compatible with earlier versions of Leopard.

Download the Free Pro Tools Pre-release

The link on the Digidesign website for the download HERE

Pro Tools 7.4.2pr is a free download for the following Pro Tools users; please note that you will need your Pro Tools 7.4 authorization code (Pro Tools LE) or iLok authorization (Pro Tools|HD or Pro Tools M-Powered) to authorize the Pro Tools prerelease software:

• Registered Pro Tools LE® 7.4 users
• Registered Pro Tools M-Powered™ 7.4 users
• Registered Pro Tools HD® 7.4 users (Pro Tools HD 7.4.2pr includes new support for Avid Mojo® and older Apple Mac Pro computers)

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IMPORTANT UPDATE: Today, Digidesign announced a pre-release version of Pro Tools 7.4.2 for Leopard. This special pre-release will be available for download within the next few days, according to Digidesign.

This is a non=typical behavior for the leading DAW developer from Silicon Valley. The most likely and understandable reason will be the growing impatience and malcontentment of the LE user base, since there was still no approved version for Mac OS Leopard.

Although not explicitly said, my experience forces me nonetheless to warn early adopters. Pre-release versions will by nature be more unstable than final releases. But if you are waiting on a new release because you have a brand new Mac waiting (that is only delivered with Leopard by the way…) you will most likely accept the added risk.

So, according to my source (always been reliable), you will be able to download the special pre-release free of charge if you are already a 7..4 user. There will also be a 7.4.2 for us HD users of course. Although, I have been using 7.4.1 HD for Leopard for a while now, with no real issues.

OK, so get ready, brace yourself and hope that all plugins will follow suit.

Cheers

Arthur

—- END OF UPDATE —-

Apple Releases 10.5.3

After a lot of beta tests, a seemingly endless series of seedings to developers and patient waiting by anxious users, Apple finally released the long awaited 10.5.3 update for it’s Leopard OSX operating system.

Good news for Pro Tools LE users

The update fixes numerous issues with the 10.5.2 release (see list at the end of this blog article).
But the real good news is for Pro Tools LE users. While HD users already enjoyed Leopard compatibility with Pro Tools version 7.4 HD, LE users felt a bit left in the cold.
It must be said though that this was not really a fault by Digidesign. Some changes had to be made in OSX in order for the Core Audio driver of LE to work smoothly with Leopard.
Also, I can understand Apple for not wanting to upset a complete update schedule for one third party developer. So Digidesign had to wait on the 10.5.3 release to publish a Leopard compatible version of Pro Tools.
So it seems that Digidesign’s General Manager Dave Lebolt’s statement about the release timing of the Leopard compatible LE version will be pretty accurate. He made this statemant on the Digidesign User Conference forum (http://duc.digidesign.com), since users understandably were getting impatient and some were right out angry and cursing.
My personal take on this? I’d rather have Digidesign post a stable version later than rush out a version that crashes every two seconds and makes the complainers even more angry.

Some wise words of caution

If you want to update to 10.5.3 ( a free update, keeping with the Apple tradition), here are some tips to help preventing disaster:

• ALWAYS back up your drive before the update. Ideal is a combo of Time Machine on one side and a disk cloning utility like my favourite SuperDuper on the other side. Use SuperDuper to make a clone or Ghost image of your startup drive so that when disaster strikes, you are back up and running in minutes time.
• Be careful if you run third party mods of Leopard. Unexpected results can occur, according to Apple… True, been there done that!
• Especially Pro Tools users profit from using the so-called Combo updater (a separate download from the Apple Support Site) instead of relying on the automatic update function of OSX. History has shown that this is a more reliable method of updating your OS. If you need to know more how to do this, leave a comment in this blog post, and I gladly will help.
• After a successful update - or more generally after each software install - I advise to ALWAYS repair your disk permissions of the startup disk. To do this, run Disk Utility after the reboot/install. Disk Utility can - but you knew that, no? - be found in the Applications>Utility folder of your hard disk.

The changes in detail

To top this article off, here is a list of all the changes/new features/fixes that the 10.5.3 release brings (Source)

The Mac OS X 10.5.3 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X 10.5 and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility and security of your Mac.

General

• Fixes a font issue that could result in Helvetica Narrow being used in applications instead of Helvetica.
• Addresses an issue with stuttering video and audio playback in certain USB devices.
• Resolves stability issues with Word of the Day, iTunes Artwork, and Slideshow screen savers.
• Fixes an issue in which certain attached hard drives may not show up in the Finder.
• Addresses an issue with .Mac syncing of Dashboard widgets over multiple Macs that use different screen resolutions.
• Includes additional RAW image support for several cameras.
• Improves the accuracy of the Software Update progress bar indicator.
• Addresses an issue in which Finder may not be available if the computer name is blank in Sharing preferences.
• Improves Active Directory binding and login.
• Eliminates a delay when logging in as an Active Directory user in a .local domain.
• Improves Spotlight searches on a AFP file server volumes.
• Clients can now change their password at the login window when bound to a Mac OS X 10.4 Open Directory server.
• Improves Safari reliability when connecting to the Internet through a Microsoft ISA proxy.

Address Book

• Addresses reliability issues when searching for contacts using built-in search.
• Resolves issues with mapping addresses that contain an ampersand character (&).

AirPort

• Improves 802.1X behavior and reliability.
• Improves reliability when using Time Capsule.

Automator

• Addresses an issue in which some actions may not work with the “Show When Run” option enabled.
• Resolves an issue in which the “New iCal Event” action may not work.
• Resolves an issue that prevents workflows from being saved in the Finder’s contextual menu.
• Fixes reliability issues for Automator scripts that search for files by date.
• Resolves an issue that prevents workflows from being saved in the Finder’s contextual menu.
• Addresses an issue in which Automator workflows as Finder plugins do not work when the workflow begins with the “Get Selected Finder Items” action.
• Fixes an issue in which the “Copy Files” action does not reliably work when added from Automator’s warning dialog.

iCal

• Addresses potential privacy issues by allowing events to be marked as private.
• Resolves an issue in which the inspector does not show capacity and availability info for conference rooms within a building.
• Addresses an issue in which the current day could appear in the left-most column of the weekly view.
• Addresses reliability issues with meeting alarms, invitations and attachments.
• Resolves issues with reliability when restoring from iCal backups.
• Fixes accuracy issues with auto-completion, availability data and location names.
• Resolves an issue in which iCal may send cancellation notices for events in the past after a calendar is deleted.
• Fixes reliability issues with iCal syncing.

iChat

• Addresses reliability issues with screen sharing.
• Resolves an issue in which saved chat transcripts may reported as “still in use” after opening and closing them in iChat.
• Resolves an issue with group chats not being indexed in Spotlight.
• Only the last 250 messages of an active chat are saved.  Fixed to save unlimited number of lines.
• Addresses issues with echo cancellation that may occur on portable Macs.

Mail

• Resolves an issue in which Mail may prevent idle sleep when set to automatically check for new messages every minute.
• Addresses stability issues that may be encountered when dragging large attachments into an email message.
• Fixes an issue that could occur if two compose windows are open when dragging a file to the Mail icon in the Dock.
• Addresses reliability issues when changes are made to a mailbox while offline.
• Resolves wrapping issues that may be found with consecutive spaces in plain text.
• Fixes issues with certain web pages appearing garbled when emailed from Safari.
• Fixes an issue in which the Sent, Drafts, and Outbox mailboxes incorrectly list the “cc” recipients in the “To” column.
• Addresses reliability issues with attachments added to plain text notes.
• Fixes reliability issues with authenticated RSS feeds.
• Resolves an issue in which attaching an alias to an email message may not send the actual file.

Parental Controls

• Addresses reliability issues with application logging and time limits.
• Resolves an issue in which Parental Controls may prevent forced sleep.
• Addresses performance issues with web content filters.
• Fixes an issue with managed accounts in which iChat transcripts may not be created.
• Addresses issues with 4-byte files and whitelist.

Spaces

• Resolves an issue in which switching to a different space and returning back to the original space may reorder the application windows with a different active window.
• Resolves an issue in which activating an application from the Dock switches to a different space, even if there is a window for that application in the current space.
• Fixes an issue in which Command-Tab may incorrectly switch to a new space.
• Addresses reliability issues with Spaces when syncing preferences over .Mac.

Time Machine

• Includes fixes for Time Machine compatibility with Time Capsule.
• Resolves certain issues when backing up a portable Mac that is on battery power.
• Addresses compatibility issues with Aperture 2.
• Addresses reliability issues when performing a full restore from a Time Machine backup.
• Fixes an issue in which certain function keys may be disabled after using Time Machine.
• Fixes a possible alert message that incorrectly states a backup volume does not have enough space.
• Updates Time Machine to reliably restore attachments and messages in Mail.

VoiceOver

• Includes Braille Update 1.0 which enables GW Micro, HandyTech, HIMS, Nippon, and Papenmeier Refreshable Braille displays.
• Addresses an issue with Braille dot 7 and 8 underlining.
• Fixes an issue in which HTML page anchors may be ignored by the VoiceOver cursor.
• Fixes an issue that prevented Hot Spots from being used in text areas.
• Resolves an issue with spell checking in which VoiceOver may only announce the first misspelled word if there are multiple words spelled incorrectly.

If you want to know more about this release or PT issues or Apple issues in general, feel free to leave a comment here. Help is just a comment away

Cheers

Arthur

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This blog, while useful, was only meant as temporary solution. Pretty soon we will launch the full blown community with a custom made CMS (Content Management System).

That is also why we wait with the publishing of the Pro Tools and DAW tutorials. We feel it makes more sense to launch it all in one go.

Here’s what the new community will bring:

• two membership systems: free and premium, premium being eligible to unique and unheard of features
• buddy systems, so you can keep in touch with other members of the community
• free content (tutorials, software, screencasts, podcasts…)
• forums for tech help and general chit-chat
• different languages, content in English, Dutch, German and French
• an interactive handbook for the home recordist and pro engineer
• and lots and lots of more stuff.

So we are still working on the CMS backend. As soon as that is ready for prime-time, you will be the first to hear it. As in all software projects, it is pretty dangerous to give a launch date, but I will try to aim for this summer.

Cheers, and don’t be shy to leave comments and/or suggestions.

Arthur

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Digidesign is excited to introduce the free Transfuser™ Preview—a three-month prerelease version of Transfuser, a brand new, upcoming RTAS® virtual instrument plug-in for Pro Tools® from the Digidesign Advanced Instrument Research (A.I.R.) group.

Transfuser is an innovative, real-time loop, phrase, and groove creation workstation that allows customers to quickly and easily create, manipulate, and perform loop- and rhythm-based music on the fly within Pro Tools. Ideal for electronic, hip-hop, and dance music production, remixing, and anyone working with loops, Transfuser comes packed with a variety of loops and phrases to get started creating right away. It also offers a great way for customers to quickly and easily modify their existing loop libraries to breathe new life into their creations.

Product and Preview Details

Transfuser Features

• Easily develop and tweak grooves on the fly within Pro Tools
• Offers unique tools for working with audio files, including: - Real-time slicing and tagging of loops - Automatic conversion of loops into MIDI patterns/drum kits - Sound replacement in existing loops on the fly
• Musically intelligent randomization of loops for instantly crafting variations on a whim
• Offers a wide range of real-time effects for electronic, hip-hop, and dance music creation
• Includes a variety of loops and phrases, and breathes new life into existing loop libraries
• Supports full drag and drop of Pro Tools regions and audio files from your computer browser
• Powerful live performance-oriented features allow for both creative arranging and performing of grooves

The free Transfuser Preview will be available for a limited time through June 25, 2008. To download the Transfuser Preview (as well as hear some of its sounds), customers and dealers can visit the Transfuser Preview website at www.digidesign.com/transfuserpreview. An iLok USB Smart Key (along with a free iLok.com account) and a Pro Tools|HD®, Pro Tools LE®, or Pro Tools M-Powered™ system are required to use this special time-limited version of Transfuser. Once the license has been activated, you will have three months to use the Transfuser Preview fully.

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“The GreeNYC logo shows a stylized apple with a stalk and a leaf. It bears a resemblance to Apple’s famous logo — a resemblance Apple says infringes on its trademark.”

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