Right now, I’m in the midst of cleaning up my Mac hard drive. I’m starting to wish I had held out for the larger drive, but that wasn’t the case and I have what I have at the moment. But this utility seems pretty handy if it isn’t a resource hog. Being able to quickly identify files based on size and location for cleanup/backup is a necessity.
Since I installed Parallels, I find myself constantly in Windows using a variety of software not available on the Mac (some because I haven’t bought the Mac version yet, some because there is no Mac version) and wishing I could access my Mac files. MacDrive seems like a great piece of software to make the whole flow work better. Don’t know about the $50 price tag. Seems steep for what should be a $20 utility. But I might have to check this out sooner than later.
Finally having a chance to catch up on some stuff today. A little free time before a hectic afternoon (and possibly evening). Playing with Celestia. Wondering if you could use it to create some short scenes for sci-fi. They also have ships and other items from a range of movies/tv shows. Star Trek for example - http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/catalog/fic_startrek.php
Schoolhouse 2 | The homework manager for Mac.
Nice looking software manager for students. Though, at first glance, it looks exactly like iGTD. The classcast thing looks interesting, though I wonder who else would use it. But maybe faculty at schools with limited access to content management systems would benefit from this.
I’ve worked with VLC before. Excellent free program, but hasn’t been anything groundbreaking. Now, however, they’ve added the server download. This allows you to turn a computer into a media-streaming machine which can play from DVDs, video files or even a TV encoding card.
This might be an excellent method for recasting media from your home machine. I’m lucky enough to have a home-theater PC with a Hauppage 350 digitizer. The only question is, “Where will I watch it?” Not certain I would until this can serve to a mobile phone. But even then I’ll need a nice digital broadband package for my Treo (or an eventual iPhone, after they get it into the next version).
Thus, little help for me. But this is a great tool for faculty to be able to access media for playback. I’m not certain what the licensing for a central server would be, or whether faculty could build their own, but it will certainly happen in the future.
Nice software, but not quite there yet. I downloaded the demo and played with it. Nice beginning. The interface has some nice features I would like to see in Poser. Especially the view angle selector on the bottom right corner of the interface.
To get started, you select a character gender and then a specific look. There is an option for a female face generator and male body building. Both look to be more comprehensive on creating something from scratch. Unfortunately, neither is active in the demo.
The interface has some nice features. It doesn’t go as deep as Poser’s numeric range (no eyebrows to super-bushy for example) but it does give a wide variety of various body parts.  Eye shape, head shape, neck length and shape. If you can name the body part it seems to a few options for customizing the body. You can see the side angle view controller in the bottom right of the picture below. Click on it and it gives you 6 angle selections from which to view the character.
The body bending methods aren’t as nice as Poser, but it is has some nice features. One of the better features is the small dice in the left pane. Clicking the dice randomizes the character features and clothing. You can see what this feature created in the render below.
Finally, the render is okay. Not extremely great, but nice enough. Though I am using the demo version, so the full version might be a bit better. And I’ve never been a huge fan of Poser’s rendering either. Quidam does include the ability to purchase some plug-ins for exporting to 3DS Max and a few other programs.
Not a Poser replacement yet, but for people new to 3D character creation, or who only want to create quick and simple figures, this seems to be a nice program. Comparing Quidam to Poser is like comparing Paint Shop Pro to Photoshop. Both nice programs, but one is limited while the other is comprehensive. The learning curve, however, would reflect the complexity as well.
Azarhi Software: Do Something When
Great idea. Software which responds to the proximity of other devices and connections. Basically make other software respond in the same way photo software does when a camera mounts. Currently free, but a Pro version is forthcoming. I assume it will include a fee.
A nice easy program for making distractions fade into the background. The only items which appear are the active window(s) of a single app, the dock (which can be set to hide) and the menu bar. Nice for helping yourself focus and for grabbing very clean screenshots.
45 Best Freeware Design Programs
There is just nothing better than free software. Especially useful software. I downloaded Terregen, which looks interesting even if it isn’t a good replacement for something like Bryce or Vue. Always something to learn from.
Block Posters - Create large wall posters from any image for free!
Now that’s just cool. Upload your image, chop into bits, and print. I’ll have to try this with some of our images from Europe or our upcoming images from Peru (can I go NOW?). Basic, inexpensive and artsy all in one.