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DARPA's new Space Surveillance Telescope will keep our satellites safe from interstellar debris
What's that in the sky? A bird? A plane? Oh, it's just some junk floating around in space, posing major threats to our military's spy satellites. To help keep an eye on it, engineers at DARPA, MIT and the Air Force have unleashed a new $110 million telescope that's been in the works for nine years now. The new Space Surveillance Telescope (SST) is capable of delivering wide-angle views of the Earth's firmament thanks to a curved CCD. This allows for a massive 3.5m aperture and f/1.0 exposure settings, capturing more light in a day that your average scope can in a week. As part of the Air Force's Space Surveillance Network (SSN), the telescope's primary task will be to look out for any microsatellites, meteors or other alien droppings moving at the same speed at which the Earth rotates. The system developed its first images earlier this year and the Air Force may eventually place SSTs all over the world, creating a 360-degree surveillance blanket and going a long way toward keeping our spycraft warm, cozy, and safe from galactic hazards.
Aperture updates to 3.1.2, fixes crash when importing iPhoto libraries
Aperture received an update Tuesday designed to address several issues regarding iPhoto compatibility and other bug fixes. Many of the fixes focus on interaction with iPhoto. For example, the update fixes instances where Aperture crashes while importing large iPhoto libraries, and now imports albums from iPhoto 9 correctly. Also, importing slideshows with text slides and RAW images has been improved. An issue that caused Aperture to stop responding when trying to process damaged images has also been resolved. A full list of fixes can be found on Aperture's support page. Aperture 3.1.2 is a 297.63 MB download and is now available via Software Update, Apple support page or through the Mac App Store.
Dear Aunt TUAW: Do I need to upgrade to Aperture?
Dear Aunt TUAW, I have a ~100 GB iPhoto '11 library. I currently have it on an external FireWire drive because I didn't originally have space on my internal drive. All that has changed, and I am now looking for tips on how best to manage this library and be able to back it up regularly. iPhoto '11 seems to be working fine right now (takes a little bit of time to start the app, but nothing really excessive). However, I really want to start backing it up on a regular schedule -- would splitting it up make sense (only the latest library would need to be backed up, which would take much less time). It sucks that you can only access one library at a time in iPhoto. Would moving to Aperture seem a natural at this point? Any and all help including backup/sync progs would be helpful. Thanks in advance, Your nephew, Matt "iPhoto challenged" C.
Lensbaby goes practical with aperture-adjustable Sweet 35 Optic
We love a Lensbaby lens as much as the next hipster, but if there's one thing the Optic Swap system isn't, it's fast. Switching out aperture plates is a royal pain, and for those looking to simply capture moments as they happen, it's a system that simply doesn't work. The company's apparently aiming to fix that with the introduction of its first 35mm optic with a 12-blade adjustable aperture. The Sweet 35 select focus optic requires but a twist to change the aperture, and in turn, the "sweet spot." 'Course, you'll still need to find yourself adequate light (or boost your ISO / slow your shutter) before stepping that aperture value up too high, but at least now it's easier than using a magnetic tool to fish one plate out and drop another in. The lens has a maximum aperture of f/2.5 and steps all the way down to f/22, and it'll focus down to 7.5 inches from the front of the lens. The downside is that this particular optic isn't compatible with current 37mm Lensbaby accessories, nor will it function with the Composer with Tilt Transformer for Micro Four Thirds and Sony NEX cameras. Still, for $180 it's easily the most practical thing the company has ever delivered, and we definitely hope this is just the beginning of a trend it intends to push.
The MacBook Air: A professional photographer's best friend
It's good to see that it's not only the geeks here at TUAW who are in love with the MacBook Air. Photographer and blogger Derrick Story at Macworld also has a great fondness for the lightweight Mac, although he's using it for more than just blogging. Story today published the second of two posts about using the MacBook Air as a professional photographer's tool. The first post answers the question "Is the MacBook Air powerful enough for a professional photographer to use everyday?," while the second focuses on the workflow that Story uses with the MacBook Air. In the initial post, Story notes that both the 11.6" and 13" models of the diminutive Mac not only fit in a camera backpack easily, but have the power to run iPhoto '11, Aperture 3, Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Adobe Lightroom 3. He had earlier written a post about using the iPad as a professional photographer's tool, but now feels after using the MacBook Air that the added power and storage make it the ultimate addition to the camera bag. Today's post features the workflow that Story is using. He basically uses the MacBook Air to offload photos to Aperture or Lightroom while in the field, and then "offloads cargo, namely photographs and video, to the mothership." If you're a professional or skilled amateur photographer, check out the Macworld posts for more information.
Ask TUAW: Presidents Day Edition
Hi everyone! Welcome to the Presidents Day Edition of Ask TUAW -- everyone's favorite Mac and iOS Q&A and advice column. We got a nice group of questions from last week's post, but we always need more! Here's what we need you to do: go to the comments of this post, think long and hard about which burning questions have been bothering you about your Mac, iPod, iPad, iPhone or AppleTV and ask away! You can also email your questions directly to ask [at] tuaw.com. When asking a question, it makes life a lot easier for the Ask TUAW team if you include what type of machine you're using, which version of Mac OS X you're running or, if you're asking an iPhone/iPod/iPad question, let us know which generation device and which version of iOS you have -- though, in general, you should always upgrade to the latest version if you can. Now, questions! Henry asks: I have a large iPhoto database of about 50,000 photos. Despite having a very beefy machine (2.8 GHz 8-Core with 32 GB RAM / 4 TB Disk and the 4870 GPU) to say it is slow to work in would be an understatement. It takes almost a minute to open, and is incredibly slow to scroll through. Working in it is unbelievably slow, while Aperture on the same machine is flawless and quick. How can I make this usable (considering I have already thrown huge hardware at it)? It seems to have ballooned to over 300,000 files with all the thumbnails, faces, etc.
Apple releases Digital Camera Raw Update 3.6
Apple has released Digital Camera Raw Update 3.6 via Software Update. The 6.8 MB update adds RAW image compatibility for the following cameras to Aperture 3 and iPhoto '11: Canon EOS Rebel T3 / 1100D / Kiss X50 Canon EOS Rebel T3i / 600D / Kiss X5 Olympus E-5 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 Pentax K-r Pentax K-5 In addition, the update addresses processing issues for the Nikon D7000, Nikon COOLPIX P7000, Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 cameras.
iWeb 3.0.3 update released
Software Update calls your name... the latest version of Apple's iWeb site editor (part of the iLife suite) is available now. The iWeb patch contains "bug fixes and improvements," including: resolving an issue when using the iSight Movie widget on certain Macs; an issue publishing iWeb sites using FTP; and "improves compatibility with Mac OS X" (an odd thing to say, as it presupposes that iWeb might be compatible with some other operating system that we didn't know about). The update is 186 MB. Removed the Aperture update detail, as it was indeed an old update -- sorry for the false alarm.
Ask TUAW's triumphant return from abroad
This, my friends, is the triumphant return of Ask TUAW -- everyone's favorite Mac and iOS Q&A and advice column. Unfortunately, a giant beaver ate all of the questions from prior editions of Ask TUAW, and we need more new questions! So, here's what we need you to do: go to the comments of this post, think long and hard about which burning questions have been bothering you about your Mac, iPod, iPad, iPhone or AppleTV, and ask away! You can also email your questions directly to ask [at] tuaw.com. Here are a few perennial favorites asked and answered: Q: Which MacBook Air should I buy? A: Get the 11" if you have another computer, or the 13" if it's your primary machine. Order the BTO memory upgrade, too; you can't upgrade the RAM after the fact. Q: What's the best way to sync my iPhone to multiple computers? A: The only way to win is not to play -- syncing to more than one computer is asking for trouble, honestly. Pick your most accessible machine with the best storage situation for your media and applications library, and sync to that one. If you need to shuffle content around or purchase apps on multiple machines, go with Apple's Home Sharing to keep things synchronized. So, head down to the comments at the end of this post, and do your best. When asking a question, it makes life a lot easier for the Ask TUAW team if you include what type of machine you're using, which version of Mac OS X you're running or, if you're asking an iPhone/iPod/iPad question, let us know which generation device and which version of iOS you have -- though, in general, you should always upgrade to the latest version if you can. We've got a few questions left in the can from last time, so let's get cracking. Dave asks: I am seeing terrible performance from Finder when trying to access a Windows share over a VPN. If I do an 'ls' or 'cd' command to get to the same files, everything is instantaneous. Is there some setting in Finder that will make it act more like the 'ls' done via Terminal? I have looked at a lot of Finder replacements and they all appear to have the same problem. Given this works great on Terminal, I'm a bit stumped at what Finder can be doing that would slow things down so dramatically.
Updated terms specify number of installs from the Mac App Store
While researching the reduced price behind Apple's Remote Desktop -- $79.99 on the Mac App Store versus $299.99 for up to 10 seats through Apple's website -- we in the TUAW newsroom found ourselves debating the number of allowed installs. I perused the individual license attached to the Apple Remote Desktop app on the Mac App Store, and it said the app can be installed on computers you own or control in accordance with with the Mac App Store Product Usage Rules. These rules (which weren't on Apple legal's site as of yet, but you do see them when doing your first purchase in the Mac App Store) specify that "You may download and use an application from the Mac App Store for personal, non-commercial use on any Apple-branded products running Mac OS X that you own or control." So that shiny copy of Remote Desktop you just downloaded? It goes to any personal Mac you own. Granted, most people aren't going to own a plethora of Macs, but it's still a better deal than $299.99 just to even use the product. Same goes for Aperture, which is $79.99 on the Mac App Store, but $199.99 through the website. Commercial enterprises will still need to buy individual licenses. It answers a concern about whether or not Apple will restrict the number of installs you can do on the Mac. Likewise, iOS apps downloaded through the iOS App Store can be installed on any Apple-branded products running iOS.
Apple Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 3.5
Apple today released another Digital Camera RAW Compatibility update. Version 3.5 provides RAW format compatibility for imaging applications like Aperture and iPhoto for these new cameras: Canon PowerShot G12 Leica D-Lux 5 Leica V-Lux 2 Nikon D7000 Nikon COOLPIX P7000 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 These cameras have been added to the list of digital camera RAW files supported by Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, and are in addition to those currently listed on Apple's Support website. You can view the list of supported cameras here, or download the update from MacUpdate.
Apple releases Aperture 3.1.1 update
Apple has released an update to Aperture, its popular photo management and editing software. The 3.1.1 update addresses overall stability and performance issues and includes fixes for over 20 bugs, including the following: Addresses compatibility with the iLife Media Browser Improves reliability when upgrading existing Aperture libraries Addresses issues with publishing photos to MobileMe, Facebook and Flickr Aperture 3.1.1 is 358MB in size and can be downloaded through Software Update or from the web here. Aperture 3.1.1 requires Mac OS X 10.5.8 or 10.6.2 or later. Full release notes can be found in this Apple knowledge base article.
FlickrExport for iPhoto and Aperture updated to version 4
FlickrExport, Connected Flow's popular photo management plug-in, has been upgraded to version 4 for both iPhoto and Aperture. Full of new features like video uploading, support for multiple Flickr accounts, the ability to add photos to multiple photosets during uploading and metadata-only uploads in Aperture, FlickrExport is a must for anyone serious about sharing their photos via the popular online photo sharing site. It's an easy way to quickly upload a lot of pictures, something you might want to do if you plan on using Flickr HD as a digital picture frame on your iOS device this holiday season. Sure, you can use the Flickr export tools already built into iPhoto '11, but FlickrExport offers you so many more options that it's definitely worth the price of admission. Available in a feature-limited version that's free for 30 days, licensed versions are available for iPhoto at £12 (about US$19) and Aperture at £14 (about US$22). FlickrExport requires OS X 10.5.8 and either iPhoto '08 or Aperture 1.5.1 and up. Click Read More to check out video demos of FlickrExport in action. [via MacWorld]
Software updates: Aperture 3.1, Java Update 3, and ProKit Update
Three big updates just showed up in Software Update: Aperture 3.1, Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 3, and ProKit Update. Aperture 3.1 weighs in at nearly 375 MB. Aside from the usual improvements to "overall stability and performance," Aperture 3.1 brings compatibility with the brand new iLife '11 suite. There's also a whole host of bug fixes -- too many to list here, honestly. Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 3 is about 78 MB and updates Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_22. The ProKit Update "fixes issues with user interface software that is shared by Apple's professional applications," which includes Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Aperture, Final Cut Express, Soundtrack, Logic Studio, Logic Pro, MainStage, WaveBurner and Logic Express. The specific issues this ~14 MB update addresses: -- Improves reliability for browsing iPhoto libraries in Aperture. -- Addresses cosmetic issue with appearance of disclosure triangles in Aperture. -- Fixes a problem in Logic Pro and MainStage where numeric parameters display incorrect information. All three updates are available via Software Update now, so fire it up.
RAW compatibility update for iPhoto and Aperture 3
An update was released this week for Aperture 3 and iPhoto, providing really nothing more than RAW compatibility to a bunch of new cameras. For the most part, those concerned with RAW support in software are those who do professional-grade photo editing or are intent on saving uncompressed versions of photos, either for posterity's sake or because disk space is so cheap these days. The casual digital photographer wouldn't likely care about the RAW format. Added to the list of cameras now supported in these applications: Canon PowerShot SX1 IS, Olympus E-PL1, Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2, Panasonic Lumix DMC-G10, Samsung NX10, Sony Alpha DSLR-A390, Sony Alpha NEX-3, Sony Alpha NEX-5.
Canon EOS 7D joins fleet in receiving firmware update to fix manual exposure movie bug
"Fixes a phenomenon in which the set aperture moves when shooting movies in manual exposure mode using some Canon lenses (such as macro lenses)." If you've got a 5D Mark II, 1D Mark IV, or Rebel T2i handy and have been keeping its firmware fresh, that phrase should be all too familiar; all three of those shooters have received updates in the past two months to fix such an issue, and now it's time for the EOS 7D to get a fix all its own. Our darling budding filmmakers' tool is also getting a few tweaks with AF point display and selection, and the multilingual copy editors of this world can breathe a deep sigh of relief as typos in the Spanish and Thai menus have been corrected. Well, what are you waiting for? Focus your lens on Canon's website and download away.
Mac OS X 10.6.4 is in Software Update
Head on over to Software Update to find the latest OS X dot release.10.6.4 is now available -- and in addition to the usual split between delta and combo updates, and regular/server versions, there's another wrinkle here: the Mac mini released today gets its very own flavor of the 10.6.4 update, presumably because of late changes that couldn't be tracked back into the trunk version of the OS. The size of the update may vary if you pick it up via Software Update -- we saw 315 MB on a MacBook Pro running 10.6.3. The combo update for all 10.6 systems weighs in at a bandwidth-hogging 887.4 MB. Here's Apple's write-up on the matter: The 10.6.4 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard. It includes Safari 5 and general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including fixes that: resolve an issue that causes the keyboard or trackpad to become unresponsive resolve an issue that may prevent some Adobe Creative Suite 3 applications from opening address issues copying, renaming, or deleting files on SMB file servers improve reliability of VPN connections resolve a playback issue in DVD Player when using Good Quality deinterlacing resolve an issue editing photos with iPhoto or Aperture in full screen view improve compatibility with some braille displays For overall details look here, or find security information here.
Apple releases Aperture 3.0.3 update
Apple has released an update to Aperture 3, its professional imaging software. The 3.0.3 update improves overall stability and fixes issues in a number of areas, including: Applying adjustments such as Retouch or Chromatic Aberration Creating and using Raw Fine Tuning presets Viewing, adding and removing detected faces Switching target printers and paper sizes when printing Duplicating Smart Albums Repairing and rebuilding Aperture libraries Reconnecting referenced files Working with GPS track files in Places Searching for keywords in the Query HUD or Keyword Controls The Aperture 3.0.3 update weighs in at 69.4MB and requires Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later, or Mac OS X 10.6.2 or later. The full release notes can be found here.
Aperture SlideShow Support Update 1.1 released
Apple has released its third fix for Aperture 3 since launching a little over four weeks ago. The update addresses an issue affecting the playback of HD video clips used in Aperture 3 slideshows on Snow Leopard. Audio and video tracks now remain properly synced in video clips that have been trimmed. The update weighs in at 3.29MB and is recommended for all Aperture 3 users. Mac OS X 10.6.2 is required.
Apple releases ProKit 5.1 update
Step right up for an update for ProKit apps. According to Apple: "This ProKit Update fixes issues with user interface software resources that are shared by Apple's professional applications. The issues addressed include: Corrected an issue with improper scrolling behavior. Resolved memory leaks for improved performance. Addressed layout of interface elements in certain application alert windows. The update is recommended for all users of Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Aperture, Final Cut Express, Soundtrack, Logic Pro and Logic Express." Installing the software doesn't require a re-boot and should show up in your Software Update window. Or if you'd prefer to install manually, you can download it from Apple's support page.
