Macgasm

If you’ve ever produced a video blog, you know just how time consuming it is to upload your videos to the millions of video services on the internet one at a time. There’s been Tubemogul on the internet for a while now, which lets you upload your video once, and they redistribute it for you across the web. It’s handy, but it’s not exactly a native option for OS X, and it certainly doesn’t support anything other than video at this point.

RealMac Software obviously saw an opportunity to redefine how we upload stuff to the internet before they created Courier, and boy are we happy they did. The great thing about the software is that it’s not just for one medium, you can add photos, videos, or files to any group (or envelope) and have it upload to all of your web services with a click of a button.

How does it work?

It’s pretty simple, you set up your envelopes with the web services you want to be grouped together, for instance, all the video services in one, and all the photo services into another. It’s at this point you’ll be asked to authenticate to the web services like Flickr, Facebook, etc.

Then you drag and drop your media files into the envelope, name them and add descriptions, then hit the upload button. That’s it, it shoves off your files automatically to all the services.

You be met with a nifty little map that shows you exactly where your files are being sent, a postage envelope with a complete sticker once it’s done uploading, as well as links to the services you just uploaded your files too so that you can ensure that they made it to their destination alright.

The Webapp integration

There isn’t really much of a downside to this application just yet outside of some particularities. First, the services that are available at launch are limited to Amazon S3, Ember, Facebook, Flickr, FTP, Vimeo, and YouTube. The RealMac team clearly tried to cast the widest net possible in one fell swoop with the services they chose, which was the right decision. They’ve also already announced that they’ll be supporting more services in the future, and they’ve opened up an API so people can develop their own (Twitpic and Cloud integration is already available).

No Menubar items.

Normally I hate having applications jump into my menu bar, I’d prefer them to be open and idling, but this is one time that I kind of wish the application had menu bar support. I move a lot of files around on a weekly basis, and being able to quickly access courier from the menu bar would be something I’d love to see in the future.

Costs, etc

Right now the app is 19.95, but they’re planning on raising the price, so if you’re interested in buying it, you’re going to want to get on board as soon as possible.

The application really is a time saver, and so long as they come through on their promise for more support in the future, this could be an app that becomes a mainstay in a lot of people’s workflow.

Anytime an application let’s me save time everyday I’m all for it. It’s worth the money if you ask me.

MacWorld is reporting that Adobe has updated both Camera Raw 6 and Lightroom 3. These updates are pretty great if you use these apps in your workflow. If you’re not sure if you need to update right away, here are the essential features of these point releases:

Lightroom 3.2 Updates:

• Photo sharing with Facebook and SmugMug
• One hundred and twenty new lens profiles
• Misc. Bug Fixes and Features Tweaks

Camera Raw 6.2 Updates:

• Includes support for sixteen new cameras
• Misc. Bug Fixes and Features Tweaks

These are welcome updates, and I’ll bet quite a few of our readers have been waiting for them to finally launch. Launch your updater, and get your new shiny versions of your favorite photo workhorse apps.

If any of you are having any sort of issue with the updates, please let me know by dropping me a line in the comment section of this post. I wouldn’t be surprised if a few people meet a few obstacles, but let’s hope not. *Fingers crossed*

Article Via MacWorld
Image Credit: Adobe

So, outside of the obvious jokes about people who still use hotmail as their primary email address, we’ve got very little good to say about Hotmail. But, Microsoft still takes the project seriously, and they’ve just added in Exchange support as well as push notifications. What’s that mean? You can now have your hotmail account connected to your native Mail.app on iOS devices.

So, you’ll now be connected for every second of every day to Microsoft’s hotmail service, with emails coming in real time, and you can sync your contacts. Pretty nifty stuff.

To be honest, I had no idea you couldn’t already do this stuff with Hotmail. I had assumed that since Microsoft was the driving force behind Exchange that they would have incorporated it into their web mail service a long time ago. I guess it just goes to show how long I’ve been out of the Microsoft game.

If you’re looking for a tutorial on setting up our email account in the native Mail application, Apple has a brief tutorial here.

Article via AppAdvice

The Oatmeal’s quickly becoming a pop culture icon for our generation. They have their pulse on what’s going on, and they’re able to provide social commentaries on what they see, in a funny little comic strip. There’s a couple of excellent Apple related comic strips, but the one from today hits particularly close to home—the 0.99 cent application.

In a world where we’re ready to drop exorbant amounts of cash to watch a movie in a theatre, it does comes as a surprise that people have such a hard time spending 0.99 cents on an application for their iPhone. It’s a good opportunity to take pause, and think about it for a second. I’m not going to lie, I often fall into this category. I have no idea why, and I’m well aware of it being ridiculous, but I’m not sure why it’s happened. For me, it’s a slippery slope, 20 0.99 cent applications add up quickly, but even then it’s an irrational fear that I’m going to break the bank on a 0.99 cent app.

Is it utility? Does society fear that they’re wasting money on a 0.99 cent application because next week their will be another one to replace it’s functionality? I think it certainly has something to do with it, and it’s probably the core of the problem—perceived value.

Anyway, this is about a hilarious comic strip from the Oatmeal, so let’s get too it. Click on the image for a redirect to the full version on The Oatmeal.

Article Via The Oatmeal

Mac gaming is getting bloodier this October, with the impending release of the Left 4 Dead series through Steam on OSX. In an interview with GameTrailers.com, Left 4 Dead writer Chet Faliszek gave some details on the upcoming new DLC The Sacrifice. He also announced that the Mac version would be coming along with it, so that Mac users can now play as well. Since launching the game download service in May 2010, parent company Valve has committed to bringing its catalog of games over to the Mac platform, and Left 4 Dead is the latest in a list of titles including Portal, Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2.

The Sacrifice expansion pack fills in the story between the original Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2. The new DLC will be a free download for PC and presumably Mac, but paid for the Xbox 360. As a precursor to the new DLC, Valve is also releasing a 150 page digital comic drawn by Michael Avon Oeming, which tells the story leading up to The Sacrifice.

With Steam promoting cross platform interoperability, if you already own Left 4 Dead on the PC, then you do not need to purchase it again for the Mac. Simply log in to your Steam account on OS X, and you will see your purchased games in your library, ready to download and install. Online play is cross platform as well, so you can go zombie hunting with your PC owning friends.

It’s official: The final episode of Season 3 of Sam & Max “The Devil’s Playhouse” is now available for your consumption. If you’re already an owner of this season of Sam & Max, all you have to do is download today’s episode from the Your Games section. If you’ve waited until now to drop your dough on the canine and lagomorph of legend, you’re very much in luck. If you buy the season right now, you’ll only pay $19.95 USD. That’s a full $15 off the regular price. Jump on this deal before it ends.

After I have given this episode a thorough play through, I will be sure to write a full-length review right here at Macgasm. If you have any specific questions or concerns about this season of Sam & Max, please drop me a line in the comment section of this post.

If you’d like a little taste of what you’re in for with “The City That Dares Not Sleep,” you should watch the video below:

We’ve all clicked numerous times on iTunes songs hoping for a quick preview here or there, but has anyone really ever completed a purchase based on a preview? Would sixty seconds instead of thirty seconds really make all that much of a difference to music purchasers? Apple seems to think so, according to CNET, and they expect that music previews will see an increase at Wednesday’s event. Sixty seconds is the new thirty seconds.

You know how you can tell when an Apple event is on the horizon? We hear all kinds of news like this, instead of legitimate news. Everyone’s trying to take a grab at readership this week, and we’re bound to hear the most ridiculous crap leading up to the event. Is it any wonder that Apple takes a swipe at bloggers every single time that the Gizmodo debacle comes up in public or in the press when this kind of stuff dominates the news all week long?

I have a very difficult time seeing this as an announcement worthy of the stage, and if by some chance it does make an appearance in a keynote, it’ll probably be an aside.

I know what you’re thinking. Why are we covering it if we think it’s bunk. Well, we just wanted to point it out and show you guys what you can expect in the next twenty-four hours. We also wanted to make sure you’ve got your B.S. Goggles charged and ready to use, because the Interent’s going to be full of it between now and Wednesday.

But now that we’re on the topic, do you think that Apple’s going to sell more music with a sixty second preview? I don’t. Tell me how I’m wrong in the comments.

Article via CNET

Woah, woah, woah. What right does Autodesk have bringing their awesome creation tool to not only the Mac, but also iOS? Don’t they know we only use iOS to consume media and not create it? Isn’t that what all these haters keep telling us?

I guess the fine folks at Autodesk not only made hell a little frostier today, but they also missed the memo. I’d like to take this moment and salute who ever decided to end the lack of native support for AutoCAD on Mac OS X. I’m sure a lot of people are really ecstatic right now—at the very least the 5000 beta testers that they had looking for bugs.

In addition to having AutoCAD run natively on OS X, they’re also bringing tools to the iPhone and Touch, as well as the iPad. These tools will let users edit and share their designs remotely. It’s a huge deal, and probably a major step in proving that the iPad can be a creation tool for professionals. All it takes is a little gumption and a whole lot of ingenuity from software designers and amazing things will be created for iOS.

Apparently we’re not the only ones who are pretty excited about the new release. “Apple is thrilled that Autodesk is bringing AutoCAD back to the Mac and we think it’s the perfect combination for millions of design and engineering professionals,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “The AutoCAD WS app is a bold new idea, a mobile version of industry-leading design software for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, the world’s most innovative mobile devices.”

The application will be available some time in the fall, but no prices have been announced just yet. We’ll try to keep an eye on this as it develops and moves towards release.

Article Via Macworld