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TidBITS#1235/11-Aug-2014

We once again catch up with the snoops, this time bringing you an update on the CIA/Senate spy drama, where Edward Snowden will likely be spending the next three years, and why using Tor may do more harm than good. Moving to the less dramatic world of graphics, Caroline Green joins us to take a look at Macphun’s new Tonality, a tool aimed at helping photographers improve black-and-white photos. And although we didn’t plan it this way, we have a pair of articles on the intersection of physical books and ebooks. First, bibliophile Michael Cohen ponders the BitLit service, which lets you purchase electronic versions of your print books for a nominal charge. Then Glenn Fleishman wades into the increasingly bizarre battle between Amazon and publisher Hachette in an attempt to explain what’s actually going on. In our own book news, Charles Edge explains what you need to know to run a Web server in this week’s installment of “Take Control of OS X Server.” Finally, in FunBITS, Josh Centers looks at NPR One, an iPhone app that brings the Pandora experience to National Public Radio. Notable software releases this week include GraphicConverter 9.3, Mactracker 7.3.3, Airfoil 4.8.8, iTunes 11.3.1, Carbon Copy Cloner 3.5.6, Hider 2.1, and DEVONthink/DEVONnote 2.7.7.

Caroline Green 5 comments

Macphun Tonality Makes Black-and-White Photos Pop

Most image editing apps focus on color photos, but what if you want to stick with black and white? Macphun’s new Tonality (and Tonality Pro, which can work as a plug-in) offers numerous preset effects and editing options that are specific to black-and-white images. Caroline Green tosses some of her photos in to see what Tonality can do.

Glenn Fleishman 33 comments

Untangling the Amazon/Hachette Dispute

In the ongoing battle between multibillion-dollar global corporations, retailer Amazon and publisher Hachette, Amazon loses the thread of its argument. Glenn Fleishman teases out what’s really going on, and — no surprise — DRM is once again at the heart of the matter.

TidBITS Staff No comments

ExtraBITS for 11 August 2014

This week in ExtraBITS, a programmer has figured out how to use Apple’s upcoming Swift programming language for scripting, Walt Mossberg reveals Steve Jobs’s dream of open Wi-Fi networks, the inexpensive (and non-profit) iOSDevCamp 2014 is coming soon, you can read back issues of The Magazine for free for a while, Flappy Bird is making a comeback, and HarperCollins is investigating more ways to bundle print and electronic books.