Take Control News/04-Dec-06
Holiday Discount on Buying Guides for Cameras, Macs, and TVs — If your holiday shopping list includes a digital camera, new Macintosh, or digital television, you may be scratching your head over which model to purchase, or gearing up for a stressful trip to a consumer electronics superstore. To help you pick just the right gift, we have a special offer for you – purchase any one of our “buying guide” ebooks below and take 30% off your entire order through the end of the year:
- “Take Control of Buying a Digital Camera” – This ebook walks you through a step-by-step process that helps you determine the right features; it even comes with a worksheet you can print out and use while shopping. Author Laurence Chen wrote this ebook because he was frustrated at how seldom camera buying advice is based on how photographers actually use cameras to create pictures.
- “Take Control of Buying a Mac” – This ebook, written by Mac guru Adam Engst, helps you think carefully about what Macintosh to buy in terms of features, timing, and accessories, and it has advice on where to buy in order to get the maximum bang for your buck. It also comes with a handy section about how best to transfer your existing files to a new Mac.
- “Take Control of Digital TV” – Looking to surprise your family with a gorgeous new television for your living room? Make sure they’re suitably impressed with your choice, thanks to the advice in this ebook, which explains the jargon and makes sure you know which features are worth paying for and where to get high-definition programming so your new set looks as good as it should.
Second Edition of “Macworld iPod and iTunes Superguide” — We’re pleased to announce the release of the second edition of the “Macworld iPod and iTunes Superguide,” an 80-page ebook providing the advice iPod and iTunes users need to get the most from Apple’s digital music duo. Some of the main topics include getting music into iTunes from various sources (including tapes and LPs), organizing your collection in iTunes (with extra help for classical music and podcasts), working with and converting video, managing multiple iPods and computers, troubleshooting iTunes and the iPod, and finding iPod accessories.
The second edition is thoroughly updated to cover iTunes 7’s new features, such as multiple music library support, new library views, album art, gapless playback, the downloads interface, and Backup to Disc, with special attention paid to the new iPod settings pane. The ebook now also discusses using the free Audacity to record and edit audio from cassette tapes and offers tips for removing scratches from the iPod, restoring the iPod in iTunes 7, finding music videos, playing protected AAC songs on third-party streaming devices, and gauging battery life on a second-generation iPod shuffle.
We’re offering a free update to anyone who purchased the ebook after 12-Sep-06, and a $9 discount to anyone who purchased a copy before that. We’ve sent email with the necessary links to those people; drop us a note if you missed yours.
Psst… Want to Learn How to Podcast? If you’ve been wanting to get started with podcasting, or if you’re already podcasting but want to improve your workflow or take your show to the next level, “Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac” version 1.2 is here to help. This just-released version offers up-to-date coverage of how to plan, record, edit, publish, and promote a podcast. In particular, it now covers Audio Hijack Pro 2.7 and how to work with it to record from Voice-Over-IP software like Skype and iChat (a great option for interviews!), and it now discusses Rogue Amoeba’s new and well-received Fission for quick editing without sound degradation. For those who own an earlier version of the ebook, the update is free; click the Check for Updates button on the cover of your copy to download a new version. Print-on-demand setup is underway and should be available soon.