STERLING, VA – Jan 31, 2007 – AEC Software today announced that Small Business Technology Magazine, the only print and digital publication in the U.S. focusing on the technology needs of small businesses, has awarded FastTrack Schedule 9 as a Top 10 Product of the Year in its 2006 Product of the Year Awards, its annual salute to the best technology products and services for small business. Honorees are profiled online and in print as part of Small Business Technology Magazine’s Best of the Year Issue and 2007 Buyer’s Guide, available now at www.sbtechnologymagazine.org.
Small Business Technology Magazine Awards AEC Software’s FastTrack Schedule 9 a Top 10 Product of the Year for 2006
4GB of RAM “Nirvana” for Vista
Short has been beta testing Vista for two years and was at the IBM-oriented Share user group conference in Tampa, Fla., last week discussing some of Vista’s performance requirements. His XP system has 2GB of RAM, which he calls the “sweet spot” for that operating system, but on Vista, 4GB of RAM may be closer to its “Nirvana,” he said.That’s due in part to Windows SuperFetch, which takes data from the hard drive, stores it in the available RAM and makes it readily accessible to the processor. SuperFetch depends a great deal on user predictability and takes snapshots of user activity. If SuperFetch determines that an application is launched at a particular time, it will have it loaded into the available RAM. With more RAM, there’s more caching and better software response, said Short.
Tips and Tricks There’s so much more to QuarkXPress 7 software than meets the eye, and these tips and tricks will give you a basic understanding of the new features so that you can start using them to change the way you work. For more in-depth information about the new features and improvements in QuarkXPress 7, consult your software documentation.
Download 250 essential tips and tricks in the Insider’s Guide to QuarkXPress 7
Photoshop Lightroom – Ars Technica Review
Adobe has clearly benefited from the public beta feedback and put it to good use. They might not get geek points for using Core Image, but Lightroom innovates in its own way by providing a mother lode of intuitive adjustments, many ways to navigate and tag a huge library of images and it does it with speed to spare. The crazy wealth of toggles, presets, snapshots, metadata filtering techniques, history states, etc. ensures that you’re not going to be looking for a workaround while trying to work quickly and these things don’t overlap to the point of taking up space needlessly. It would be really easy to mess up an interface like this and thankfully Adobe has done a really good job at throwing a ton at us while not making it look like it.
The prospect of having third-party filters in a RAW setting is also great. The only real drawbacks in Lightroom 1.0 is the lack of a more sophisticated sharpen tool and lackluster high-ISO RAW conversion quality. These will likely be the first place third-party developers will look to improve on Lightroom with plug-ins but Adobe needs to fill these gaps itself since it also affects Camera RAW.
But all in all, Lightroom is a really great program that is just short of a nine or ten. I don’t doubt that this is going to be a very popular program and for Windows users, it’s a no-brainer for professional photographers. Mac users on older hardware will also appreciate its low system requirements. Lightroom is off to a very promising start and it’s definitely one of the better ways to spend 43 megabytes.
Wacom Cintiq 21UX appearance on American Idol
The Wacom Cintiq 21UX Tablet made a special appearance on a recent episode of American Idol. An animator of The Simpsons Movie used the Cintiq 21UX to create a “Simpsons” character of Thomas Daniels, the last man cut before the round-of-24 on American Idol.
ZBrushCentral – ZBrush 2 64-bit Windows Version Now Available
Even though the release of the next ZBrush version is close (more information will be posted by Pixolator by the end of this month ) we wanted to make a version of ZBrush 2 available to 64-bit users. This version should run properly on most 64-bit systems with up to 4 gigs or RAM. Please note that if you are running other Windows versions – including the 32-bit Vista – or running the 64-bit Windows and have not experienced any difficulties, then you do not need to get this version.
Free Courseware Makes it Easy to Integrate Digital Art into the Classroom
At Corel, we’re committed to supporting the efforts of students and teachers, which is why we’re creating Corel Painter X courseware – written by teachers, for teachers.
All Corel Painter X academic courseware is downloadable, free of charge. Each publication includes lesson plans, class projects and project files.
Announcing Weekly SigmaPlot Webinars
Find out why SigmaPlot is considered the world standard for graphing! This webinar will teach you how to become a SigmaPlot power user. One-hour sessions moderated live by Dick Mitchell, PhD, senior scientist at SSI.
Systat Software Inc. invites you to attend a seminar:
February 15, 2007
SigmaPlot 101 – introduction for new users
2 – 3 p.m. EST
1 – 2 p.m. CST
12 – 1 p.m. MST
11 – 12 p.m. PST
SigmaPlot Tips & Tricks – for all users
3:30 – 4:30 p.m EST
2:30 – 3:30 pm CST
1:30 – 2:30 p.m. MST
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. PST
This event does not require a password for registration
Please click the following link to see more information about the event or to join the event. https://systat.webex.com
Corel is Debuting Painter X today, the latest version of the company’s digital painting tool. The new version brings some significant changes to the paint engine and to Painter‘s workflow and performance across platforms. We have a first look at this newest release, which is expected to ship in both boxed and “canned” form later this month. (And yes, that’s “canned,” as in the old classic Paint Can packaging.)
As with all of Corel’s Painter updates, this latest version adds a host of new creative features that, alone, justify the upgrade price. But it also gains workflow, interface and performance enhancements as well.
First Look at Corel Painter X from Digital Producer Magazine
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