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edited by sundog

Windows Vista™ makes it easier, safer and more entertaining to use the PC virtually anytime and anywhere.

One look at Windows Vista shows the difference, with a breakthrough design, easy-to-use search and organization tools, and a safer online experience. The built-in Windows® Media Center1 and new mobility features give users more ways to enjoy their favorite digital entertainment at home or on the go.

Windows Vista represents the highest-quality and most responsive Microsoft® operating system release ever due in large part to unprecedented collaboration between Microsoft and its customers and industry partners. Windows Vista is the focal point for a huge wave of new PCs, applications, hardware and devices. Users can tap into this ecosystem and experience personal computing like never before.

Windows Vista can be experienced today at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista, and on Jan. 30 consumers and small businesses will be able to experience it firsthand.

The Digital Lifestyle Made Easy

Windows Vista helps make everyday PC tasks, such as starting up a computer and finding files, faster and easier:

• Finding stuff fast. Instant Search helps users locate any document, photo, e-mail message, song, video, file or program on their PC with ease. Live Icons, which display a thumbnail of the contents of each file, help users find what they are looking for at a glance. Windows Flip 3D, available in Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate, gives users a new way to find the window they want by quickly flipping through all open windows in a 3-D stacked view.

• Staying organized. Users can add personal “tags” to their files to make them easier to find. They can store, organize and retrieve information in ways that make the most sense to them — not just in traditional file folders.

• Quick access. New technology in Windows Vista makes the PC significantly more responsive when performing everyday tasks. Improved startup and sleep performance helps desktop and mobile PCs get up and running more quickly and turn off and on in a snap.

• Consistent responsiveness. Inconsistency in PC performance can be frustrating. Windows Vista provides innovative technologies including a new memory management system called Windows SuperFetch that enables applications to launch much more quickly when users start their machines and ensures that these applications will continue to be responsive when it matters most.

• Keeping an eye on what’s important. Users can see the information they care about right away with Windows Sidebar, which brings real-time information such as weather and news directly to the desktop as easy-to-use programs called gadgets. On mobile PCs with exterior screens, Windows SideShow™ technology, available in Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate, enables Windows Vista to extend information form the PC onto a wide range of devices.

• Focus on tasks. Available in the Home Premium, Business and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista, the new Windows Aero™ user experience provides a translucent computing surface. Graphics, pictures and other content spring to life on the glasslike windows, which also remove distracting on-screen clutter, making it easier to focus on information.

• Innovative hardware. A whole new wave of cool and innovative Windows Vista-based PCs from many PC makers will be available Jan. 30, including these:

• The HP TouchSmart PC introduces the convenience of the touch experience to desktop computing, serving as a fast and easy-to-access information, communication and entertainment hub for the kitchen, family room or living room.

• Toshiba PORTÉGÉ R400 is a mobile PC featuring Windows tablet technology that includes a display on the front edge to provide an up-to-date view of e-mail and appointments via Active Notifications, built on Windows SideShow technology.

• Sony® VAIO® VGX-TP1 is a stylish PC delivering a high-performance entertainment experience; users can enjoy their favorite live and recorded TV and movies or surf the Web from their sofa using the wireless keyboard or remote control.

• Medion UMPC is an ultra mobile PC that provides multiple input options including a keyboard, a pen and touch capabilities. It features the new Origami Experience, a user interface that optimizes entertainment and communications on the smallest class of personal computers running Windows Vista.



Safer and More Reliable

Windows Vista is the most secure and reliable version of Windows that Microsoft Corp. has ever shipped, providing an unprecedented level of confidence and control when users browse the Web or engage in other online activities. Now every member of the family can have a safer, more secure online experience:

• Layered security. Windows Vista offers multiple layers of defense that work together, including strong default protections, such as Protected Mode in Windows Internet Explorer® 7 in Windows Vista. Protected Mode helps prevent silent installations of malicious code. To help further reduce identity theft and increase user confidence in Web transactions, the Internet Explorer 7 Address Bar will display a green highlight when it detects that a user is visiting a safe Web site with a new Extended Validation Certificate.

• Thorough testing. Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system are products designed with the help of millions of customers around the world, resulting in the highest-quality and most responsive releases Microsoft has ever released. More than 5 million beta versions of the products were downloaded and tested worldwide.

• Protection against malware. Windows Defender monitors key system locations and watches for changes that signal the presence of malware or other unwanted applications. If a problem is detected, Windows Defender offers straightforward and thorough spyware removal tools to help return the user’s computer to normal.

• Protection against phishing. Windows Vista helps block “phishing” Web sites that try to trick people into divulging personal information. The Microsoft Phishing Filter combines client-side scans for suspicious Web-site characteristics with an opt-in online service that is updated several times an hour with the latest industry information about fraudulent Web sites, enabling it to warn users about suspicious sites quickly.

• Family Safety Settings. Windows Vista provides parents with a new level of control over their children’s computer use. If they choose to, parents can do the following:

• Set limits on what time of day and for how long children can use the computer

• Limit the Web sites that children can visit and the applications they can use

• Restrict PC games based on title, content or Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rating

• Create reports that detail their children’s online activities and other computer use



More Entertaining

Windows Vista redefines digital entertainment, making it easier for people to manage and enjoy their growing collections of digital music, photos, movies and other entertainment:

• Easily managing music. Within Windows Media® Player 11, the same advanced search technology that hunts down documents and programs helps people locate music. Customizable album art and stacking views allow people to browse their digital music in much the same manner as their CD collections, while the lightning-fast Wordwheel search tools help quickly scan through large music collections. In addition, Windows Media Player 11 works with more than 200 portable players and home networking devices. The advanced integration between Windows Media Player 11 and MTV Networks’ URGE music store provides access to more than 2 million songs.

• Making digital memories. In Windows Vista even nontechnical people can create digital memories by blending photos and home videos with music, titles and creative transitions. The new Windows Photo Gallery and an enhanced Windows Movie Maker make it easy to upload, fix and transfer photos and videos to DVD2 or a portable device for easy sharing.

• Playing at a new level. Only Windows Vista can play games that offer the more realistic graphics and complex environments and characters made possible by the new DirectX® 10 technology. The new Games Explorer and Game Folder make it easier to find and access games, and gamers can use the same controller on their PC as they do with their Xbox 360® console.

• Unique content. Windows Vista offers unique content in an integrated package through Windows Media Center, available in Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate. For example, Windows Media Center SportsLounge in conjunction with FOX Sports offers the latest sports news, scores, statistics and video coverage in a 10-foot viewing experience. Other new sources of content will be available in Media Center after the launch of Windows Vista, including MSN® Soapbox interface for Media Center, NASCAR Motorsports content portal, Showtime Interactive, TurboNick from Nickelodeon and Vongo subscription movie service from Starz Entertainment.

• Ultimate extras. Users can take full advantage of all the digital lifestyle has to offer with Windows Ultimate Extras, cutting-edge programs that provide a richer computing experience exclusively for users of Windows Vista Ultimate. For example, Windows DreamScene™ transforms the desktop from the familiar static background wallpaper into a full-motion, personal video canvas. In addition to the new and improved in-box Windows Vista games, Windows Vista Ultimate customers can play exclusive games, such as Hold ’em, the Windows Version of poker’s most popular variant, “Texas Hold ’em”.


Better Connected

Windows Vista lets people enjoy their digital entertainment and other resources virtually wherever they may go:

• Extending the experience. Windows Media Center3 in Windows Vista lets people share their digital music, TV, pictures and other entertainment throughout the home or stream it to an Xbox 360 console. Users can crank the volume and control the fun from the comfort of their couch using the Media Center Remote Control.

• Hitting the road. Tablet PC features4 in Windows Vista let people take their entire computing experience with them wherever they go — and eliminate many of the challenges typically associated with mobile computing. Users can work without a keyboard and easily keep information synchronized between home, office and mobile devices. They can watch a TV show, review their photo collection, or even edit a home video on their mobile PC.

• Origami Experience. Ultra-mobile PCs combine the full functionality and power of Windows Vista with lightweight, carry-everywhere hardware designs to offer additional choice for the connected digital lifestyle. Many new ultra-mobile PCs take advantage of Microsoft’s software innovations such as the Origami Experience and Windows tablet and touch technology to make it easier to connect, communicate, accomplish tasks and stay entertained while on the go.


Other Helpful Resources

Windows Vista home page: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/default.aspx

Windows Vista Ultimate Edition: http://windowsultimate.com/Default.aspx

1 Window Media Center is only included in Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate.

2 Windows DVD Maker is available in Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate.

3 Windows Media Center is available in Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate. TV playback and recording features require an integrated or external USB TV tuner. Supports up to two TV tuners in all supported regions subject to Windows Vista’s compatibility with local TV standards; additional DTV/HDTV tuner support is available in the U.S. and South Korea with compatible hardware. To enjoy all the benefits of Windows Media Center, Internet access is recommended; for some features, such as the Microsoft Electronic Programming Guide, it is required. Internet service provider subscription or other service fees may apply. Microsoft Electronic Programming Guide is not available in all regions or countries. DVD Burning, TV features and remote control support may vary by manufacturer and/or require additional purchases. Support for the Media Center Extender or Xbox 360 will require a wired or wireless home network and additional compatible networking equipment.

4 Tablet and touch technology are available in Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate.

Microsoft, Windows Vista, Windows, SideShow, Aero, Internet Explorer, Windows Media, DirectX, Xbox, Xbox 360, MSN and DreamScene are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

deleted by sundog

:grouphug:

Michael Clayton (2007)



advertisement photos board trailer details

Michael Clayton is an in-house "fixer" at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York. A former criminal prosecutor, Clayton takes care of Kenner, Bach & Ledeen's dirtiest work at the behest of the firm's co-founder Marty Bach. Though burned out and hardly content with his job as a fixer, his divorce, a failed business venture and mounting debt have left Clayton inextricably tied to the firm. At U/North, meanwhile, the career of litigator Karen Crowder rests on the multi-million dollar settlement of a class action suit that Clayton's firm is leading to a seemingly successful conclusion. But when Kenner Bach's brilliant and guilt-ridden attorney Arthur Edens sabotages the U/North case, Clayton faces the biggest challenge of his career and his life. Written by Warner Bros. Pictures

edited by monkeyfunk

Google To Acquire YouTube for $1.65 Billion in Stock
Combination Will Create New Opportunities for Users and Content Owners Everywhere

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., October 9, 2006 - Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that it has agreed to acquire YouTube, the consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos through a Web experience, for $1.65 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction. Following the acquisition, YouTube will operate independently to preserve its successful brand and passionate community.

The acquisition combines one of the largest and fastest growing online video entertainment communities with Google's expertise in organizing information and creating new models for advertising on the Internet. The combined companies will focus on providing a better, more comprehensive experience for users interested in uploading, watching and sharing videos, and will offer new opportunities for professional content owners to distribute their work to reach a vast new audience.

"The YouTube team has built an exciting and powerful media platform that complements Google's mission to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," said Eric Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer of Google. "Our companies share similar values; we both always put our users first and are committed to innovating to improve their experience. Together, we are natural partners to offer a compelling media entertainment service to users, content owners and advertisers."

"Our community has played a vital role in changing the way that people consume media, creating a new clip culture. By joining forces with Google, we can benefit from its global reach and technology leadership to deliver a more comprehensive entertainment experience for our users and to create new opportunities for our partners," said Chad Hurley, CEO and Co-Founder of YouTube. "I'm confident that with this partnership we'll have the flexibility and resources needed to pursue our goal of building the next-generation platform for serving media worldwide."

When the acquisition is complete, YouTube will retain its distinct brand identity, strengthening and complementing Google's own fast-growing video business. YouTube will continue to be based in San Bruno, CA, and all YouTube employees will remain with the company. With Google's technology, advertiser relationships and global reach, YouTube will continue to build on its success as one of the world's most popular services for video entertainment.

The number of Google shares to be issued in the transaction will be determined based on the 30-day average closing price two trading days prior to the completion of the acquisition. Both companies have approved the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Webcast and Conference Call Information

The company will host a conference call and webcast at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time (4:30 p.m. Eastern Time) today to discuss the acquisition. To access the conference call, please dial 800-289-0572 domestic and 913-981-5543 internationally. A replay of the call will be available until midnight Monday, October 16 at 888-203-1112 domestically and 719-457-0820 internationally. Confirmation code for the replay is 2260624.

A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available at http://investor.google.com/webcast.html.

About Google Inc.
Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

About YouTube
Founded in February 2005, YouTube is a consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience. YouTube allows people to easily upload and share video clips on www.YouTube.com and across the Internet through websites, blogs, and e-mail. YouTube currently delivers more than 100 million video views every day with 65,000 new videos uploaded daily and it has quickly become the leading destination on the Internet for video entertainment.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This document includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding Google's and YouTube's ability to improve their services, create new business models and content-owner opportunities, integration plans, the expected timing for the closing of the acquisition and the plans to operate YouTube independently. These statements are based on the current expectations or beliefs of management of Google Inc., and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the statements herein due to (1) changes in economic, business, competitive, technological and/or regulatory factors, (2) failure to receive regulatory approval for the acquisition, (3) failure to retain the levels of traffic on the YouTube site, (4) failure to compete successfully in this highly competitive and rapidly changing marketplace, (5) failure to retain key employees, (6) other factors affecting the operation of the respective businesses of Google and YouTube, and (7) the failure of YouTube and Google to work together effectively. More detailed information about these factors may be found in filings by Google, as applicable, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including their respective most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Google is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any such obligation to, update or alter their respective forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

eview: Mac OS X Leopard
Major update worth the upgrade fee for most users

By sundog
Summary

Pros: Easy backup tools; major improvements in included applications; addresses numerous shortcomings from previous OS versions; improved security and networking functions.

Cons: Stacks and Dock features seem poorly thought out; illegible menu items with some Desktop backgrounds; some bugs in Spaces window behavior.

Processor Compatibility: Universal

Price as rated: $129 (5-user family pack, $199) Best Current Price: $109.00 (via MacBuy)

Company: Apple, www.apple.com

The fifth major update to Mac OS X, Leopard, contains such a mountain of features — more than 300 by Apple’s count — that it’s difficult to boil this $129 operating system release down to a few easy bullet points. Leopard is, at once, a major alteration to the Mac interface, a sweeping update to numerous included productivity programs, a serious attempt to improve Mac OS security, and a vast collection of tweaks and fixes scattered throughout every nook and cranny of the operating system.

As with every OS X update since version 10.1, there’s no single feature in Leopard that will force Mac users to upgrade immediately. Instead, it’s the sheer deluge of new features that’s likely to persuade most active Mac users to upgrade, especially since this is the longest gap between OS X upgrades — two and a half years — since the product was introduced. Sure, some items on Apple’s list of 300 features might seem inconsequential, but if even a handful of them hit you where you live, that will be more than enough motivation for you to upgrade.
A new look

Apple trumpets the interface changes in Leopard as “stunning” and “eye-opening,” but in reality the changes are a mixed bag.

First, the good stuff: After years of experimenting with different looks for windows, sidebars, and other interface elements, Apple seems to have settled on a fairly consistent interface. The color scheme is largely monochromatic—shades of gray with slight gradients. Apple has improved the contrast between the frontmost window and the rest of them by increasing the top window’s drop shadow and dramatically lightening the color of inactive windows. The Leopard Finder’s new sidebar, clearly modeled after the iTunes Source List, is better organized and more usable than its Tiger counterpart.

When it comes to folders containing lots of documents, Stacks is not as useful.

Unfortunately, some of the changes are not as successful. The Mac’s trademark menu bar, which spans the top of the screen, has been made semi-transparent. When the desktop is set to display an image with both light and dark areas, the see-through menu bar is visually striking. Unfortunately, that aesthetic choice comes at too steep a price: the areas of light and dark behind the menu bar can severely decrease the readability of menu items.

Apple has modified the Dock, OS X’s built-in program launcher, so that the Dock’s icons appear to sit on a reflective glass tray when the Dock is positioned on the bottom of the screen. (Someone must’ve pointed out to Apple that the metaphor broke down when the Dock is placed on the sides of the screen; in those orientations, the Dock’s background is a simple half-transparent gray.) A pleasant glowing light appears next to the icons of currently-running programs, although the light is a bit too subtle when the Dock is positioned at the bottom of the screen.

Unfortunately, the Dock’s new Stacks feature is a mess, replacing a utilitarian approach to stashing folders in the Dock (click to open the folder, click and hold to see a list of the folder’s contents) with a snazzy but generally less useful pop-up window featuring a stack or grid of icons. A potential feature touted during earlier demonstrations of Leopard — the ability to drag an arbitrary collection of items into the dock to make a temporary stack — apparently didn’t make it to the final version.
Time Machine

The most important new feature added in Leopard is undoubtedly Time Machine, Apple’s attempt to encourage the vast majority of users who never, ever routinely back up their data to change their ways. Time Machine automatically backs up a Mac’s files to a separate hard drive (internal or external, though external is certainly safer and more convenient) or a network volume being shared by another Mac running Leopard. Attaching a drive and assigning it as a Time Machine backup volume is incredibly easy, and once you’ve set it up, you can essentially forget all about it.

Time Machine's interface looks a bit spaced out, but it makes incremental backups understandable.

Perhaps the most impressive feature of Time Machine is its support for incremental backups. Rather than creating an identical copy of your drive, it tracks the files you’ve changed and saves those changes on an hourly basis. And grabbing an old copy of a file isn’t some complicated job designed for an IT professional; with one click on the Time Machine icon you’re in the gratuitously spacey Time Machine interface, which lets you use the Finder (as well as other supported applications such as iPhoto) to fly back in time and pluck out the data you want to retrieve. It really is backup for regular people, and the presence of Time Machine leads to a remarkable change in mindset: I just installed a new version of a program I’m beta testing, and realized that if it didn’t work, I could quickly roll back to the previous version via Time Machine.

One downside of Time Machine’s backups is that they’re not bootable on their own. If your main hard drive dies, you need to replace the drive and then rebuild your drive by using the Leopard boot DVD's Restore function or the Migration Assistant utility. But all your files will be there when you’re done.

Will Time Machine turn us all into compulsive back-up fanatics? No, because making that backup requires actual storage space, which requires the purchase of a large backup drive. But until online storage is infinitely vast and fast, that will always be an issue. The good news is, Time Machine is simple enough that it really eliminates most of the obstacles that cause most people to bypass backing up their data. If you can buy a big hard drive and plug it into your Mac, you can keep your data safe.
Boot Camp

It’s been 18 months since Boot Camp, Apple’s method of allowing Intel-based Macs to boot into Windows, was released as a public beta. Boot Camp serves a useful purpose in that it provides basic Windows compatibility and the ability to run Windows programs at native speeds. However, most people who want to run Windows software on their Macs will opt for tools such as VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop, which allow Windows and Mac OS X to operate simultaneously.

Still, the importance of Boot Camp can’t be understated. Its mere presence provides a basic level of Windows compatibility that many potential Windows-to-Mac switchers will find comforting.
Spaces

Multiple-workspace utilities, which let you switch between various collections of application windows in order to reduce clutter, have been around for years on numerous platforms, including Mac OS X. Leopard’s new Spaces feature is an attempt to bring the concept of multiple workspaces to a much wider audience. While it’s certainly promising, in the initial release of Leopard I found it to be a bit erratic.

Spaces has been integrated smartly into OS X’s existing Exposé feature, another tool for organizing a large number of windows. The concept of Spaces is that the Mac’s interface is actually a series of workspaces, located adjacent to one another on a grid. To drag a window out of a cluttered workspace and into a pristine one, you just drag the window to the edge of the screen and, after a momentary pause, the existing space will disappear and the window will appear by itself. Pressing the F8 key invokes an Exposé-style zooming feature, that reveals the contents of all the spaces and their spatial relationship to one another.

A four-workspace, two-display set of Spaces.

I’m not convinced that multiple workspaces are ever going to be a mainstream feature, but they can be a huge productivity boost to busy power users. And Apple’s implementation is quite nice, allowing you to assign individual applications to specific spaces or to every space (a feature I used to make sure that my DragThing dock and iChat windows followed me wherever I went).

However, Spaces does have some quirks. I found that sometimes windows would appear in spaces that I didn’t expect, for reasons that I couldn’t fathom. Some of my third-party applications became quite confused until I set them to appear in every space. Sometimes I would launch a program in one space and move to another space, only to find that program’s windows appearing in my new space.

Still, Apple should be credited for bringing such a geeky feature to a broader group of users. While Spaces might never become a feature that takes the world by storm, it does have the potential to dramatically improve the productivity of many users who would never have downloaded a third-party workspace utility.
Quick Look

Quick Look, which appears throughout Leopard, is a technology that lets users preview the contents of documents without opening the program that was used to create them. Click on a Microsoft Word file in the Finder and press space, and the entire file will appear before you, ready to be read (but not edited). Select a movie and press space, and the movie will expand and begin to play.

Quick Look can play back QuickTime movies without launching QuickTime Player.

That same Quick Look technology lets you optionally set Finder views to display live previews of documents. Spotlight and the Open and Save dialog boxes are also Quick Look savvy. And the Finder’s new Cover Flow view really wouldn’t be possible without this technology, which transforms dull document icons into live previews of each document’s contents.

In practice, turning your Finder icons into live document previews isn’t always very useful — text documents end up looking like a wash of gray. But Quick Look itself is an impressive technology, if longtime users can retrain themselves to press space rather than double-clicking on a document to see what’s inside.
Righting wrongs and improving features

In addition to the new features introduced in Leopard, this operating system release includes major updates to numerous existing programs that are included with Mac OS X.

The marquee feature of Leopard’s predecessor, Tiger, was Spotlight, a desktop search engine that indexed the contents of all your Mac’s documents and made them instantly accessible. It made for a great demo, but in everyday use Spotlight was a real letdown. It was slow, couldn’t handle sophisticated queries, and failed to support the simplest query of all (namely, searches for a file with a specific name). With Leopard, Apple seems to have addressed most of Spotlight’s failings. It’s shockingly faster than it was in Tiger, and Spotlight now supports Boolean operators (and, or, and not). There’s also better support for saved searches and for searching files on networked Macs.

Mac OS X’s built-in calendar program, iCal, is now five years old, but Leopard’s iCal 3.0 is the first version that doesn’t feel like a toy. The iCal interface is more straightforward and responsive, and the ability to edit entries by double-clicking on them eliminates the unwieldy Get Info pane of previous versions. iCal 3.0 also supports the CalDAV standard for group calendaring, which threatens to turn iCal into a true business tool. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to test these features on a CalDAV server (one ships with the server version of Leopard, and since the server is based on an open-source server framework, the streets will likely be littered with CalDAV server implementations before too long).

iChat's new tabbed interface, with a chat displayed in the new Compact display option.

Apple’s iChat IM client has also received an excellent update, addressing almost all of the program’s flaws. Audio chat sound quality, which previously lagged sadly behind Skype’s, is noticeably better. It’s much easier to manage multiple chats via a tabbed chat interface (previously only available in iChat via an add-on such as Chax). And perhaps most importantly, iChat now allows you to log into multiple AIM accounts at once. All that’s missing now is support for competing chat services such as those offered by Yahoo and MSN.

Apple Mail 3.0 has also seen numerous improvements, although perhaps the biggest one is the improved speed of Spotlight, which makes searching for messages within Mail much less painful. Mail also now has support for to-do lists and “notes,” in which you leave messages to yourself. Mail seems to be an odd place to stow this information, and the to-do interface in Mail is poorer than the one in iCal. Although Mail’s notes look a lot like the notes on the iPhone, the two don’t sync. Another out-of-place Mail feature addition is support for RSS feeds, which are already supported in Safari and numerous third-party feed-reading programs. But Mail’s interface is actually quite conducive to RSS reading, and I found reading RSS feeds in Mail to be enjoyable. It’ll never be appropriate for heavy RSS consumers, but for casual RSS users it really hits the spot.

OS X’s included Preview utility is probably the most unheralded productivity program in OS X. (By default, it’s the tool that opens images and PDF documents when you double-click on them in the Finder.) But it may be harder for Preview to remain a secret now that it’s been given a major facelift with Leopard. Preview 4.0 gives Acrobat a run for its money when it comes to basic PDF features, improving support for PDF annotations, improving searches within PDF documents, and providing built-in tools to reorder pages and combine PDFs into a single document. Preview’s image manipulation tools have also improved, including the addition of the “Instant Alpha” background-removal tool that Apple first introduced in iWork ‘08.

Numerous other included tools have received major improvements in Leopard, as well. Safari 3, which has been available in beta form since June, offers a dramatically improved Find command and resizable text fields for Web forms. It also includes Web Clip, a tool that allows you to “clip” part of a Web page and turn it into a Dashboard widget. (Despite the addition of this feature and a new movie widget, Dashboard still doesn’t seem to be remotely the paradigm shift that Apple suggested it would be when it was introduced with Tiger. I often find myself forgetting that it’s even there.)

The Dictionary utility has added support for Wikipedia as an additional information source, and it’s nicely integrated into the application’s interface. For everyone who hasn’t abandoned DVDs for the wonders of the iPod, DVD Player has been completely overhauled, giving users much better control over navigating DVD content, including a TiVo-like jump-back feature. And Front Row, which replaces the Mac interface with a remote-control driven menu system for navigating iTunes content, has been updated to use essentially the same software as the Apple TV hardware device, meaning any Mac with an infrared sensor and Leopard can play back music and videos using the slick Apple TV interface.

Wikipedia adds a depth of information to the built-in Dictionary utility.

The introduction of the Automator utility in Tiger suggested the promise of regular users taking advantage of automation technologies previously limited to people who knew their way around scripting languages such as AppleScript. As it turned out, Automator was pretty cool — but once you wanted to automate more complicated tasks, you’d run into its limitations pretty quickly. In Leopard, Automator has been updated to address its two greatest limitations: you can now set and read variables during a workflow, and you can set a workflow to loop. Automator also now has a Record feature, which lets you record yourself performing certain tasks and then integrates those tasks into an Automator workflow.

Finally, Leopard shows remarkable improvement when it comes to handling networking issues. It’s much easier to dismount remote servers, and attempting to access a server that’s disappeared no longer causes an interminable wait. (That’s an issue that should have been resolved by Apple long ago, but at least with Leopard it’s finally been addressed.) The Networking preference pane has also been updated with a better-organized interface.
Improved security

Mac OS X and its users haven’t yet felt the sting of a major hacker attack, but in the two years since the release of Tiger, Apple and other technology companies have come under increased scrutiny about the relative security of their products. And Leopard includes a large number of new features that specifically address security concerns.

Most regular users won’t notice the fact that several Leopard applications are “sandboxed” with restricted access privileges that make them less likely to be used as tools in a hacker attack. Nor will they realize that Leopard now uses a shifting system of assigning memory spaces in order to make it impossible for hackers to bank on the presence of specific code in a specific area of a Mac’s memory. What they will notice is that when they first attempt to run a program they’ve downloaded from the Internet, they’ll be prompted with information about when they downloaded it and what program was used to download it. Apple has done a good job of making its security messages more understandable to regular users, which is good, since most users will simply click through a dialog box that makes no sense.
And hundreds more

It’s impossible to detail the avalanche of new features in Leopard. Screen Savers and international spelling dictionaries aside, Apple’s list of “300+ new features” isn’t far off. If you use Photo Booth, Parental Controls, Image Capture, VPN, Terminal, or just about any other feature you can think of in Mac OS X, you’ll find at least some changes.
Macworld’s buying advice

So are 300-plus new features worth $129? That answer will vary, because no single user will ever take advantage of all — or maybe even half — of those 300 features. But given the impressive value of Time Machine and improvements to existing programs such as iCal, iChat, Mail, and the Finder, most active Mac users will find more than enough reasons to consider that upgrade cost money well spent. Despite a few interface missteps, particularly when it comes the menu bar and the Dock, Leopard is an upgrade that roars.

:toast:

sniffa reviews his response to your post: i hope that the firm hand of the admins see this.

will manipulate you into submission when you least expect it!

I like it very much!

God I love you!

And I love you... :loveya:

But... I will arrive tomorrow night at precisely eight o'clock. At that time I shall make my wishes known to you. You will obey them... or die! Have a pleasant night's sleep... HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!

!

:rofl:

I hope it didn't hurt

and i'm feeling relieved

edited by Audio_Al

watch the others seethe with jealousy

Sharper Image Signs Five New Licensees
Licenses signed with LG International (America), Inc.; Pure HiTech, Inc; Sensio Inc.; Futai USA, Inc.; and Rilliant Systems, Inc.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 23, 2007--Sharper Image Corporation (NASDAQ: SHRP) today announced that it has signed five multi-year licensing agreements for various new product categories. These new agreements make a total of eight licenses for Sharper Image's Brand Licensing Division. Sharper Image announced in February 2007 that it had created a licensing division to enable leading manufacturers to license The Sharper Image brand across a broad range of product categories.


The license with LG International (America), Inc. is for higher end, unique and innovative electronic products. One of these products will launch in Sharper Images stores this holiday season.


Pure HiTech, Inc. will sell Sharper Image branded "unlocked" cellular telephones and related accessories, as well as memory cards and portable rechargeable power packs. Key Pure HiTech licensed products will be introduced this holiday season in Sharper Image stores, catalog and e-commerce Website.


Sensio, Inc., will license the Sharper Image brand name for an exclusive line of upscale kitchen electrics products. The Sharper Image licensed kitchen electrics product line will launch with key retailers in Spring 2008.


Futai USA, Inc., will license innovative, feature-rich umbrellas and packable rainwear. Sharper Image umbrellas are currently carried in Sharper Image stores, and will launch at other retailers in Spring 2008.


Rilliant Systems, Inc. will license a line of Sharper Image-brand self-installed home surveillance and security systems. These products will be launched in Spring 2008.

John W. Spotts, Senior Vice-President, Brand Licensing for Sharper Image, said, "We are pleased that the power of the Sharper Image brand allows us to attract high-quality, well-known licensees such as these five excellent companies. These latest licenses will do much to maintain and enhance the excitement and innovation of our brand. Many of these licensed products will be introduced through the Sharper Image stores, catalog and internet, and then sold into mid-tier and upscale retailers across the U.S. and Canada."

Sharper Image also provides licensing opportunities on other intellectual property, including patents and trademarks.

About Sharper Image

The Sharper Image is a specialty retailer that is nationally and internationally renowned as a leading source of new, innovative, high-quality products that make life better and more enjoyable. The Company's principal selling channels include 186 Sharper Image specialty stores throughout the United States; the award-winning Sharper Image monthly catalog; and its primary Web site, www.sharperimage.com. The Company also has business-to-business sales teams for marketing its exclusive and proprietary products for corporate incentive and reward programs and wholesale to selected U.S. and international retailers.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based on Sharper Image's current plans, expectations, estimates, and projections about the specialty retail industry and management's beliefs about Sharper Image's future performance. Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates" or variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and which may cause Sharper Image's actual results and performance to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in any such forward-looking statements. Some of these risks and uncertainties are discussed in Sharper Image's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended October 31, 2006 under "Risk Factors." These risks include, among other factors, Sharper Image's ability to continue to find or develop and to offer attractive merchandise to customers, the market potential for products in design, changes in business and economic conditions, risks associated with the expansion of its retail store, catalog and Internet operations, and changes in the competitive environment in which it operates. Unless required by law, Sharper Image undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements. However, readers should carefully review the statements set forth in the reports, which Sharper Image files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly its Annual Report on Form 10-K, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and its Current Reports on Form 8-K.

CONTACT: Sharper Image
Tersh Barber, 415-445-6274
VP Finance

SOURCE: Sharper Image Corporation


#30#

crucify me.

:rofl:

will stroke this thread into shuddering orgasms soon enough.

Making strong hands a priority

CStheT

edited by sniffa

:hi:

RL