Surf-Bits Link Blog

lynda.com announced the release of a new movie-based tutorial, “Illustrator CS2 Essential Training” with Jeff Van West. Illustrator artwork appears everywhere. Magazine ads, cereal boxes, maps, scientific diagrams, children’s book illustrations, and even fine art are often created using Illustrator. And yet, for all its power and complexity, anyone can master Illustrator by learning a few key concepts.Illustrator CS2 Essential Training with Jeff Van West shows new and intermediate users how these simple concepts work together and relate to the complete suite of Illustrator tools.

Training begins with basic drawing, coloring, and editing, then advances to transparency, type, advanced path tools, special effects, and much more. Tips and specific examples that teach users how to improve workflows and maximize productivity are also included. This training is flexible, so experienced Illustrator artists can go directly to the movies on features new to CS2, while beginning students can watch all of the movies in progression. Exercise files accompany the training, allowing you to follow along and learn at your own pace.A lynda.com Online

Training Library(tm) subscription starting at just $25 per month, provides online access to this entire tutorial in addition to over 100 other titles (over 8,000 movie clips) covering a wide range of software, technologies, and techniques.For free online samples of “Illustrator CS2 Essential Training” and more detailed product information, please visit:

http://www.lynda.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productID=365

Griffin Technology, Inc, creator of exciting innovations for iPod, Mac and PC, announces that the iVault aluminum case for the iPod Shuffle is now shipping.

The iVault is indeed a worthy companion to your iPod Shuffle and will ensure that it, and your music, is protected in style. Price for the Griffin iVault is $19.99 USD, and it is available at www.griffintechnology.com.

The Omni Group today released an update to their outlining and organizational tool, OmniOutliner. OmniOutliner 3.0.3 and OmniOutliner Professional 3.0.3 include newly added Automator support, and a number of fixes and improvements.

Updates include improvements to recorded audio, HTML export, scrolling, and printing support under 10.2, as well as speed enhancements when editing large outlines. OmniOutliner 3.0.3 and OmniOutliner Professional 3.0.3 can be downloaded at .

Inventive today announced the release of iClip 3.6, the latest version of it’s award-winning multiple clipboard & scrapbook software. Version 3.6 features significantly improved support for picture clippings with alpha channels and major improvements to files copied as clippings from the Finder. This version also features several bug fixes and other improvements. iClip is available for $19.95 and a free demo is available. iClip enables users to quickly store, organize, and access snippets of information without having to save them as entire documents. Clippings stored in iClip can be arranged into groups, and there’s a special group that automatically records everything copied to the Clipboard. iClip helps eliminate redundant typing, especially when filling out online forms, and it’s useful for assisting with general tasks such as word processing, web browsing, and research. Webmasters, graphic designers, and programmers also find iClip to be useful for their more specialized needs.

Price and Availability
A downloadable demo of iClip 3.6 is available now for Mac OS X 10.2 or later at http://inventive.us/iClip/ and it can be purchased for $19.95 US. A CD version is also available at select retailers and lists for $29.95 US. This version 3.6 upgrade is free to registered users of any previous version of iClip.

Contour Design Inc., designers of the award-winning Showcase and iSee line of iPod cases, is excited to announce the launch of Contourcase.com

Completely flash based, Contourcase.com echoes and complements the sleek stylish lines of the iPod itself. Smooth and intuitive navigation seamlessly blends rich descriptive text with beautifully shot, highly detailed images of each and every Contour case. It is easy to see why Contourcase.com, a perfect reflection of Contour Design’s dedication to style and functionality, is THE site for ultimate iPod protection.

Please take a moment to visit www.Contourcase.com and experience the pinnacle of style and protection. Your iPod will thank you

Version 1.2 brings full support for Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger), adds a preference to automatically launch Stattoo on login, includes a Japanese localization, and adds the ability to show streaming audio information in the Audio capsule.
Download now: http://www.panic.com/stattoo/

1.2 is a FREE UPGRADE for all Unison users — just replace your old copy with the new one, and you’re good to go. === Please purchase! If you use Stattoo, but haven’t registered it yet, now’s a great time! It’s still only $12.95, and it will provide you with lots of fun, useful, and unhindered Desktop statistics in a flash!
Purchase today: https://www.panic.com/stattoo/buy.html

<http://www.barebones.com/support/updates.shtml>

Brigadoon Software, Inc. of Nanuet, New York released the results of the 2004 BSI Computer Theft Survey. This is the second survey to deal with the specific issues surrounding the theft of computing devices. The survey, available for free download on Brigadoon Software’s website (www.brigadoonsoftware.com) encompasses the input of 1226 respondents throughout the world and was conducted in January 2

Survey Highlights
* Almost half (47.1%) of the survey respondents have been the victim of computer theft in the last 12 months.
* 61% of computer theft occurred while respondent was mobile (moving about), rendering cables, locks and enclosures virtually useless.
* Laptops comprised nearly half (61%) of those devices reported stolen, followed by desktop computers (20.5%) and PDAs (18.5%).
* 83.4% of respondents report the estimated value of proprietary data on their stolen computing device at $25,000 or less; 14.6% estimated the value at $1,000.000 or more and 2% estimated the value at more than $10,000,000.
* 62% of all respondents report they only back-up data weekly, monthly, rarely or never - making the theft of a computing device a serious event that results in the permanent loss of data.
* Average total replacement cost of stolen computing devices was $34,408.21 per device.
* 78% of respondent organizations reported that PCs accounted for the bulk of the stolen machines and Macs accounted for 22.6% of all stolen machines.

Download a FREE copy of the entire 2004 BSI Computer Theft Survey at: http://www.brigadoonsoftware.com 

Sonnet Technologies, a worldwide leader in upgrades for Apple Macintosh® computers and iPod® digital music players, announces < ?/x-tad-smaller>< ?x-tad-smaller>Fusion 400< ?/x-tad-smaller>< ?x-tad-smaller>, the first in a new line of Serial ATA (SATA) desktop drive enclosures. Fusion 400’s small footprint, powerful built-in universal power supply, and ultra-quiet fan make it a great solution for users looking to store large amounts of data in a minimal space. Easy-to-use, hot-swap drive trays enable users to quickly add or swap out storage on the fly. This SATA II enclosure supports 3Gb/s drives and is backward compatible with 1.5Gb/s drives, so users are assured maximum flexibility in choosing drives for years to come.

Fusion 400 Key Features
< ?/x-tad-smaller>< ?x-tad-smaller>• 4-bay Serial ATA (SATA II) hot-swap enclosure supports 1.5 & 3.0Gb/s disk drives
• Small footprint - 7.47″ H x 5.06″ W x 11.58″ D (12.05 x 12.85 x 29.4 cm)
• 4 removable drive trays with locking levers that offer cable-less connection between trays and enclosure
• Whisper-quiet fan capable of cooling the fastest drives
• Supports up to 2 terabytes (TB) of storage
• Universal 90-260V AC power supply
• Features eSATA connectors for cable connection to host controller
• Compatible with Serial ATA cards such as Sonnet’s Tempo-X family of PCI-X host controllers

< ?/x-tad-smaller>< ?x-tad-smaller>Pricing and Availability
< ?/x-tad-smaller>< ?x-tad-smaller>Fusion 400 will be available July 1, 2005 with an MSRP of USD $599.95.< ?/x-tad-smaller>< ?/fontfamily>< ?x-tad-smaller>
< ?/x-tad-smaller>< ?fontfamily>< ?param Times>< ?x-tad-smaller>

Speck Products announces the Portfolio Skin, a Rubberized wallet style case that offers great protection and modern fashion to your clickwheel or photo iPod. Portfolio skin features a super-soft, smooth rubberized body and 4 interchangeable straps to suit your mood or match your attire.

The Portfolio Skin features all-around protection when the case is closed, protecting the screen, clickwheel and body of the iPod with soft, shock absorbing Kraton material. The bottom port, headphone jack and hold switch are always accessible. The Portfolio is available in two color combinations- Pink (includes white, black, green and dark pink straps) and Clear (includes blue, black, green and orange straps).

The Portfolio is designed to fit all 4G (clickwheel) and Photo iPods, including 20, 30, 40 and 60 gig, and retails for $34.95. To purchase a Portfolio Skin online, visit www.speckproducts.com. Portfolio Skin will soon be available on retail shelves worldwide. For a complete list of Speck Products’ resellers, visit http://www.speckproducts.com/wheretobuy.html.

The Omni Group today released the second public beta release of OmniGraffle 4. While previously only the Professional version of OmniGraffle 4 beta was available for download, the standard version is now posted as well. OmniGraffle 4.0 beta 2 includes a number of fixes, primarily concerning multiple undo actions, objects on master canvases and exporting to PDF and SVG formats. The updated versions can be downloaded at:  <http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnigraffle/4/>.