Agen Schmitz
Agen Schmitz has worked within the Apple eco-sphere since helping manage conference speaker content for Thunder Lizard Productions in the mid-90s. After spending time at Amazon in the early 2000s (as senior editor for the Electronics, specializing in PDAs and MP3 players—he still has his original pre-release iPod), he has continued to focus on e-commerce content and works with a variety of brands across the e-retail landscape. Agen lives in Seattle with his wife and son (who, sadly, has moved onto Windows for gaming), loves making monthly music mixes, and is always dreaming of Iceland.
New release of the file cleanup utility includes a revamped rule engine that responds more quickly to folder changes and uses fewer system resources. ($25 new, $10 upgrade, 4.7 MB)
Adds a number of few format-specific and user interface-related features, and fixes a number of bugs. ($39.95 new, free update, 124 MB)
Update to all three editions of information assistant adds support for Adium chatlogs and Google Chrome bookmarks, and improves indexing of Safari Web archives. The Pro and Pro Office editions improve display of news feed unread items and add a contextual menu item for deleting databases. ($49.95/$79.95/$149.95 new, free updates, 17.7 to 28.6 MB)
Resolves a graphics issue that may cause the internal display to flicker. (Free, 1.8 MB)
Adds new video and audio encoders and improves support for Mac OS X Lion, plus provides a link to download the correct VLC library for DVD decrypting. (Free, 7.1 MB)
Maintenance release for venerable file transfer software that’s full of fixes and corrections. ($29 new, free update, 11.3 MB)
Update adds official Smile developer ID used by OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion's Gatekeeper plus a variety of small fixes. ($34.95 new, free update, 5.9 MB)
Resolves an issue for iMacs running Mac OS X 10.7.3 that can prevent automatic connection to a Wi-Fi network after waking from sleep. (Free, 25.81 MB)
While much of the chatter over the upcoming release of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion has focused on the Gatekeeper security feature and unifying the Mac and iOS experience, Macworld’s Serenity Caldwell delves into ten less-heralded system changes, including multi-disk Time Machine backup, draggable files in screen sharing, and a Dashboard overhaul.
Apple recently debuted a Mastered for iTunes section in the iTunes Store, where audiophiles can discover releases that have been optimized for playback within its 256 kbps AAC format. Chris Foresman at Ars Technica delves into what goes into the mastering process for compressed digital audio files, including a discussion with Masterdisk Chief Engineer Andy VanDette (who recently completed a remastering project for Rush’s back catalogue).
Quartet of firmware updates for 2011 Macs improves stability for three instances of system booting. (Free, each approximately 4 MB)
Maintenance update to the screencast recording app with a plethora of fixes, including problems with publishing to Vimeo and recording PowerPoint. ($99 new, free update, 14.1 MB)
Open source Web browser gets updated to the latest Mozilla Gecko rendering engine and limits the use of older versions of Adobe Flash Player 10 and 11. (Free, 18.5 MB)
Updates add official Smile developer ID used by OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion’s Gatekeeper plus provide small fixes. ($59.95/$99.95 new, free update, 47 MB)
Adds the capability to select folder favorites via the Finder’s contextual menus and supports Automator workflows in Lion. ($34.95 new, free update, 10.6 MB)