My iPhoto mess before cleaning it up

I had about 38000 photos + 5000 more somewhere in my external hard drive. That’s an average of eight photos a day since 1999. iPhoto ‘09 is a fantastic software that has handled all my sharp, colorful pixels. Over the years, I enjoyed many desktops and laptops, PC/MAC, which made it hard to keep all of the photos in one place.

Over the weekend, I managed to back up/clean up 3TB, which took over 20hrs using SuperDuper. Meanwhile, I was checking my iPhoto library, and noticed that I got hundreds if not thousand of duplicates. I wish I could carry all my photos in my MacBook Air. So today, I am starting on my iPhoto Diet.

Duplicate Annihilator

After a few minutes online I found couple of solution: Duplicate Annihilator. It is a neat application; for only AED35 it will help you to spot all the duplicates by adding a tag on the duplicate. Once you search in iPhoto for the duplicates, select All > Cmd+Del. Done!

Then, to merge all my libraries from my first PowerBook, PowerMac G5, iMac, MacMini, MacBook Pro 17-inch, MacBook Air, and to my last MacBook Pro 15-inch, (taking a breath) I needed a smart software from FatCat called iPhoto Library Manager (AED75). You can use it for free but with limited options. I would recommend you to get the full version if you are over couple of libraries or above 20000 photos. It will help you to preserve albums and special tagging to your photos, faces & places.

How many photos do you have? How do you manage them? Let me know in the comments below

Snow Leopard

I’m a member of Apple’s developer program so I get to download and try early versions of some of their software including Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Just this morning I did Software Update on my MacBook and it updated to the latest release, 10A402.

As far as I understand the developer program rules I can’t really talk about any particular details or post screen shots, so I won’t. What I do want to share with you all is the general progress Apple is doing.

My first reaction when booting up Snow Leopard the first time was “wow, it’s fast!” It seemed everything moved snappier, apps launched faster, windows opened and closed faster, etc. That’s a good sign that Apple’s been working on the underlying code. There are also minor interface improvements, especially in Finder, that will make things easier for you to work with your Mac. So far, in the latest developer release, there’s nothing earth shattering in terms of interface or functionality and I don’t think that’s what Apple has in mind either.

For most users Snow Leopard is going to be a faster and more reliable operating system. The new version is not so much about new functionality or improved interface. Personally I like what I’ve seen so far and I think we’re in for a real treat in September. It might not sound like it when Snow Leopard is described to you but once you have it running on your Mac you’ll see what people are talking about.

That was this Saturday’s My apple column posted a bit early since I’m now going to finish up packing so we can leave Atlanta and head back to Dubai.

In everything Microsoft does, they make the bulk of their money on sales of Windows and Office. Those are the cash cows and anything that threatens that threatens the very core of Microsoft. That must be scary for the software giant.

When Google released the first early versions of their new web browser Chrome late last year immediately pundits started speculating about where it was leading. Many said Google’s aim was to position the web browser as an alternative to the tradition way of distributing software where there is an operating system (OS) and applications that run on that OS.

Now they’re announcing the Google Chrome OS, available in second half of 2010. It’s supposed to be a small and fast OS built on a Linux kernel, which basically only boots into Google Chrome. All apps, all services, everything you as a user needs to do is then run inside Google Chrome as web apps. This means the OS can be made very specific without a lot of the overhead a traditional OS has. In turn, this should mean it is faster and runs better on modest hardware.

Google says they’re working with various netbook manufacturers to have Google Chrome OS run on various hardware offerings as soon as it’s ready next year.

This has profound effects on both users and software companies and it’s something Apple needs to take note of. A netbook running Google Chrome OS can presumably be even cheaper than current netbooks that typically run Windows XP. Sure, the netbook form factor has all kinds of issues like small keyboards but we know many customers buy netbooks and some of them do si instead of buying a Mac.

But Apple doesn’t have to worry as much as Microsoft. The whole basis of their dominance - Windows and Office - is seriously threatened by Google Chrome OS and they will have to think long and hard about how to respond. Google Chrome OS will be open sourced, something else Microsoft is certainly not well known for embracing.

That said I wouldn’t count Microsoft out yet. They are working on things to counter this, I’m sure, and it’ll be interesting to see what they come up with.

Shufflegazine WWDC get together

Why is it that we Apple fans get so excited when we see or meet other Apple users? Our recent get together for WWDC was a good example. Get some 50 Apple fans together, add some good food, throw in an Apple keynote, and you have the makings of a great Stevie partaaay.

I often think when I walk through an airport, for example, and see other people use Macs, iPhones, or iPods, that they are probably not as big Apple fans as I am but I’m happy to see they use Apple products.

Perhaps it’s just something very human to feel good about yourself in that you’ve made the same choice about something as others have. We do like to feel we’re a part of a group of people, feel like we’re a part of a community, feel like we fit in, I guess.

And that’s true for not just Apple and its fan base, it’s true for many other companies and products as well. But I do think it’s definitely different with Apple fans and perhaps only comparable to a few other brands, like Harley Davidson.

The great sense of community that exists in among Apple fans is one reason why we’ve worked so hard on EmiratesMac.com for so long and it warms my heart every time I hear that the web site has helped someone. It’s also a big reason for Shufflegazine to exist and we hope we can do our part to support the Middle Eastern Apple fan base.

It happens that I think about why someone else has not taken advantage of this before. Why, for example, Arab Business Machines (ABM) has not done more to actively support the Apple community and be a part of the various aspects of it. I always fail to come to any answer other than that companies don’t see any money in it. To me that’s a very short-term and narrow-minded view point and one that I don’t want to entertain for myself.

Instead, let’s be happy that we’re a part of a great community, one that is healthy and growing. Let us also do what we can to nurture that community to the benefit of all of us. That’s the way to go and that will lead to financial results for the companies who take part, I think.

What Dropbox does is to synchronize a folder on each of your computers up to a central server they manage. This is done in the background, and incrementally. What this means is that if you write 10 more pages on the next great novel, the first 300 pages aren’t copied up to the network again - just the parts you changed. This may not sound like much, but it also applies to any type of file - if you add a new layer to a Photoshop document, only that change is sent up when you save the file. Better yet - this applies to any file saved in the Dropbox folder, which appears along side Pictures, Movies and Documents in your home folder. These files are copied up to the central server, where they can be viewed and managed online, as well as synchronized seamlessly back down to any of the other computers you have registered to your free account. This can be any number of computers running Mac OS X, Windows XP or Vista, and recent versions of Linux. It all happens silently, when the network and the computer aren’t busy.

The other amazing thing that Dropbox does is to keep previous versions of the files you send up to them. So, if you need to get back the version of your final report from this morning, and not the one you just saved, it’s easy to do. Even better - if you accidently delete a file, or even a whole folder of files, these can all be restored from the web interface. I’ve used this many times to back out of a an accidental Command-Delete.

The final feature of Dropbox is that it allows you to pick folders within the Dropbox folder, and share them with other users. Any files you put in the folder are sent over to anyone who you are sharing the folder with, and any changes anyone makes are quickly sent back. It’s great for casual collaboration on projects - and it makes the multiple versions feature even more important. If someone over-writes your current copy, you can simply log into the web interface and restore the version you need.

The free account allows you to use 2 GB of space on their servers. You can upgrade to 50 GB of space by paying a monthly fee of $9.99 USD/month (appx 35 AED/month) or $99.00/year (appx 350 AED/year).

Let’s first deal with what happens when you shoot JPG. You take the photo and depending on the settings in the camera the photo is processed in various ways, compressed so it takes up less space, and finally saved to the memory card. Once it’s on the memory card, in all it’s processed form, there is no going back. Through the processing and the compression the original information captured by the camera is gone and only it’s “interpretation”, partially based on your settings, is saved.

To simplify a bit, the main difference with RAW compared to JPG is that the camera applies very little if any processing before the image is saved to the memory card. This means the RAW file is larger than a corresponding JPG and it also requires more of you in terms of post processing. Another difference is that you can do a lot with a RAW photo in post processing on your Mac that you can’t do with a JPG. For example, there is something called White Balance in digital photography. Basically it has to do with the temperature of the light. Early morning light is “warmer” than mid-day light, fluorescent light, common in many office environments, is very green, for example. Our eyes adjust to these differences without us thinking about it but a digital camera does not. Digital cameras have different settings for white balance and they typically do an okay job with automatically deciding which one to use. When you take a photo and it’s saved as a JPG the camera has already applied the white balance and there’s no going back even after you’ve transferred it to your Mac. If the white balance was not applied correctly, like if the camera applied a daylight white balance when it should have been a tungsten white balance, the colors in the photo are going to look “off”. When you take a RAW photograph you can on your Mac change the white balance and apply different ones to see which one works best. Again, you can do much more in post processing when you shoot RAW.

So to sum up, JPG format is easier to work with especially as it is universally supported but you sacrifice some quality and flexibility. With RAW you get maximum quality and flexibility but it is not as compatible and requires more of you in post processing.

To work with RAW you have to have software that can read the RAW format and let you work with the photo. Adobe Photoshop, Apple Aperture, and Adobe Lightroom are among the more common softwares used for RAW processing.

Another one, perhaps not as commonly known, is Nikon’s Capture NX 2. It’s basically Nikon’s RAW processing and editing software and meant especially for Nikon’s RAW format files, NEF. Even though you’ll only get the full potential out of Capture NX2 if you shoot RAW (NEF) you can use the software with most functionality available even on JPG, TIFF, and other file formats. Unfortunately you’ll have to spend some money to get it as it is not free. Currently Capture NX2 goes for around $140 on Amazon.com.

Capture NX2 is an application full of functionality and I won’t go over all of it with you in this article. I hope to be able to return to the app in future issues of Shufflegazine, perhaps with tutorials.

When you open a photograph in Capture NX2 you see a sidebar with a number of controls. By clicking check boxes and dragging sliders you can control most aspects of the exposure like contrast, brightness, white balance, and more. The application can also attempt to correct chromatic aberration (often called purple fringing), red eye, and vignetting (dark corners). In fact, it’s almost like you’re looking at the photo through the camera and can play around with various settings in the camera.

These things are not that unique to Capture NX2 but something else is, the Control Point.

The Control Point is an easy to use tool with which you can very quickly make some dramatic edits to a photo. You just select the Control Point tool and then click on the photo where you want to make the adjustment. Once you do that the software shows you a set of sliders. With each Control Point you place you get sliders for the Size of the effect, Hue, Saturation, Brightness, Contrast, Red, Green, Blue, and Warmth. Just drag each one to the left or the right to adjust them and you see the effect immediately. Since you can place many of these Control Points on a photo you can control different parts of the exposure. For example, you could with a few clicks make the sky look more blue and the ground more green. The software makes the effect of the Control Points blend seamlessly into one another.

You can make a set of adjustments to a photo and save those as a set, which you can then apply to other photos in a batch operation. It’s not as easy as Lift and Stamp in Aperture but it works pretty well.

So far I’m very happy I made the investment in Capture NX2 and I would say that for anyone working with NEF it’s a must have application.

It’s always a thrilling experience to walk into an Apple store. It’s so strange, even just walking through the mall trying to find it I feel an excitement that is hard to explain. Then entering the store I was very surprised that it was so full of people. That so many people had come to an Apple store on a Sunday afternoon was amazing to see. Something else that always strikes me with Apple stores is that there are people of all ages and from all walks of life. There were grand parents who might have been shopping for gifts for their grand children, there were teenagers window shopping for iPods, and everything in between.

There is an excitement in Apple stores that is hard to understand or even describe to people who have not experienced it. And there’s a simplicity to the stores that is deceptive. Products are largely displayed on fairly simple wooden tables, accessories are stacked up against the walls, the store staff are all identified by t-shirts in different bright colors, etc. Just being in an Apple store is an experience like no other retailer can match, or at least none that I can think of.

A question I keep coming back to in my mind is whether we’ll ever see something like this in the Middle East? Even if Apple Inc. would move in with their own stores, something many in the region want, would we see the same excitement, the same crowds in the Apple stores in the Middle East?

We’ve just traveled to Atlanta for about a week to see family and friends and we’re staying at a Crowne Plaza hotel. As far as hotels go they’re not that bad when it comes to Internet connections; they have free wired Internet in all the guest rooms and free Wi-Fi in most public areas. However, we have two MacBooks so what do we do in our room?

Apple Airport Express to the rescue!

From previous trips we’ve got it set up already and usually we just plug it in and it works. Sometimes we have to change some setting on it to get it to work but not this time. Once connected it gives us Wi-Fi for our two Macs, iPhones, and more.

I recall once in Salalah, Oman, where they charged for the wired Internet connection in the room per computer but you had to accept the charges using Internet Explorer, as the instructions read. We plugged in our Airport Express, never had to accept any charges, and when we checked out they had no record of any Internet usage so we didn’t have to pay. Way to go!

Of course more and more hotels now have Wi-Fi everywhere, which is great. However, I don’t foresee us not bringing the Airport Express on our trips for many years to come.

Panasonic’s strategy for Viera has three prongs: a move from conventional (watching) to multifunctional (use), ecologically oriented products (all Viera TVs are lead and mercury-free), and largest variety of flat-panel TV sets. In the segment of flat-panel TVs over 37-inches in size, Panasonics aims to be the market leader with 25% market share. In their expansion plans, a Panasonic executive said at the event, Middle East is the most important “emerging market” for electronics company.

Panasonic’s VIERA range of TVs, established in 2004, derives its name from condensing “VIsual ERA”.

Recently Sony launched their Bravia WE5 line of TVs in the Middle East. The WE5, Sony claims, is the “world’s first eco-friendly LCD TV” and it’s capable of reducing the energy consumption of a regular household by AED100 per year by its energy-saving features.

Mr. Mohamed Abu Issa, Managing Director, Grand Stores

Grand Stores and Nikon launched the Nikon D3X Digital Single Reflex Camera (DSLR) at event in Dubai tonight. The D3X is Nikon’s flagship professional camera, featuring 24.5 megapixels (6048×4032 pixels), 12 or 14 bit digital conversion, 51 point autofocus system, top speed of 5 frames per second continuous shooting (up to 130 frames), ISO100-1600 (can be extended to 50-6400), a 3-inch LCD display with LiveView functionality, magnesium-alloy construction with weather sealing, and a shutter release time lag of 0.04 seconds. All in all the D3X is clearly built for professionals demanding the highest in quality and functionality of their camera. Retail price for the Nikon D3X is AED32999 and it is offered a special introductory price of AED29999.

Together with the D3X, Grand Stores announced the Grand Stores Professional Services program GSPS, aiming to give improved service to professional photographers who buy their Nikon equipment from Grand Stores. Provided that the photographer buys his or her equipment from Grand Stores they’re eligible for membership in the GSPS. Once a member they will qualify for discounts on purchases and other benefits. Grand Stores is also establishing a trade-up program as a part of the GSPS, which should help professionals stay current with technology.

We’re hoping to be able to bring you a review of the D3X shortly.