More info : here. 

With its innovative user interface, BoinxTV makes it easy to create professional ‘TV style’ recordings, setting a new quality level in the production of video podcasts. “A few years ago I visited a production control room in a television studio—and was intrigued by the sight of all the monitors, effect generators and video mixers,” remembers Oliver Breidenbach, CEO of Boinx Software. “I wondered if we could do all that ’in software’ as Macs become more powerful. Well, Boinx Software joined forces with TheCodingMonkeys, and we did it. With BoinxTV, video podcasters now can create professional‐looking shows. And they can do it live, without spending hours in post‐production afterwards. BoinxTV is a real game changer.”

“The first time I saw BoinxTV I knew this would change the way I’d create video podcasts forever”, says Bastian Wölfle, host and producer of the DigitalUpgrade video podcast. “Before BoinxTV, I spent countless hours refining my recording with Final Cut Pro. No more! As I can add all the effects and titles during the live recording, I’m basically done when the recording finishes. This means I can produce more shows in the same time, or spend more time with my family.”

Ease‐of‐use An easy to use interface allows a single person to operate BoinxTV during the recording session. After the starting of BoinxTV, the user can choose from the many predefined templates, or one he previously created, making it easy to produce, for example, a news show. In education, BoinxTV opens new horizons for school TV whether students are recording a sport event or setting up an interview with two cameras. In enterprise, BoinxTV can be used by sales managers who want to address their staff in a weekly podcast. And because it runs on a MacBook Pro it can be used in the field as well as in a studio.

Familiar layer concept BoinxTV uses various inputs like video cameras, microphones, and pre‐recorded material like movies and sound clips. Those inputs can be used in any number of ‘layers’ that can be stacked on top of each other, toggled on and off and dynamically controlled. Multiple layers—for example a ticker tape, a station logo, lower thirds and others—can be placed on top of a video source, creating a professional looking result ‘as seen on TV’.

Live recording Interactive controls allow one to change important aspects of every layer—for example a movie, a title, the caption of a lower third—on the fly while the show is being recorded. The movie can either be encoded directly to a QuickTime movie for later post‐processing (e.g. with Apple Podcast Producer) or be played fullscreen on a dedicated monitor. Combined with third‐party hardware as the Matrox MXO, BoinxTV delivers broadcast‐quality output.

Say goodbye to post‐production Video podcasters currently have to spendmany hours editing their takes to get a professional looking result. Post production is a time‐consuming part of their workflow. BoinxTV reduces the overall production time dramatically as cuts, graphic effects, titles and more can be applied during the recording of the show.

Broadcast‐grade features BoinxTV ships with more than 30 professional layers (video switcher, RSS crawler, lower third, interview setup, and others), and can be extended by custom layers designed with Apple’s Quartz Composer software, which comes free with Mac OS X. Advanced chroma keying makes BoinxTV a valuable production solution in podcast studios with green screens and lighting rigs.

Live‐production ‘for the rest of us’ BoinxTV leverages advanced Mac OS X system technologies to achieve in software what would otherwise require expensive hardware in a traditional studio. And with all the ‘real stuff’ available in BoinxTV, video podcasters can create shows in a higher production quality in less time at a fraction of the cost.

Availability and pricing BoinxTV is available immediately for download at boinx.com/download. In demo mode, BoinxTV can be used for 5 days. The single license of BoinxTV is available for $499 at the Boinx Kagi Store (boinx.com/kagi). The BoinxTV Sponsored Edition for $199 (single license) requires a credit for BoinxTV in every video created with BoinxTV. For education and volume licensing (multi‐seat) of BoinxTV, please contact sales@boinx.com.

*BoinxTV requires a Power Mac G5 or Intel based Macintosh with discrete graphics running Mac OS X Leopard. Full system requirements and more information on BoinxTV can be found at boinx.com/boinxtv

The first competition prize is the amazing EyeTV DTT Deluxe (see below for a brief spec). The second prize is the brilliant hardware accelerator the Turbo.264 (again spec is below).

We toyed with asking users to write in and explain why they deserve to win or perhaps asking a silly question where the answer is clearly all over the post.Instead we decided on something a little different to ensure one of our regular readers/followers gets the benefit of this great pize.

So here is the 12 Digit Code : 101008311008 . The first person to email elgatocompo@digmo.co.uk with this code and their name and address wins. That simple. The first emailer wins the DTT Deluxe the second emailer the Turbo.264

To ensure you get this code as soon as we release it you need to follow us. Following is easy, simply add our RSS feed to your reader (click here) or sign up for our  RSS Email service. The RSS email system sends a single daily email if we have added to the site. We don’t pass on addresses to 3rd parties either Finally you can also follow us directly on twitter. Whatever mode you opt for the code will appear on or before Friday 31st October 2008 (12 noon uk). 

Details on the EyeTV DTT Deluxe 
EyeTV DTT Deluxeis an extraordinarily powerful miniature TV tuner that delivers digital terrestrial television (DVB-T, or Freeview) to your Mac. Exceptionally small and beautifully designed, EyeTV DTT Deluxe slips easily into the USB port of any Mac without blocking other devices.

EyeTV DTT Deluxe comes with an EyeTV Remote and offers a variety of options for aerial reception. These options vary from a miniature telescopic aerial, a portable rod aerial with a tilt/swivel magnetic base and detachable suction cup, and adapters to connect EyeTV DTT Deluxe to a rooftop aerial if necessary.

Unique Features
Receives digital TV (DVB-T, or Freeview)
Miniature USB stick; does not cover any other ports, even on a MacBook Air
Two types of aerials included plus unique IEC-MCX adapter cable
Comes with an EyeTV Remote
Click here for more information 

Turbo.264 is a powerful hardware encoding device that quickly converts any video to the advanced H.264 (MPEG-4) format without using your Mac’s resources. Work, watch TV and surf the web while you encode video with no reduction in processing speed. Turbo.264 supports many third-party Mac video applications as well as EyeTV.

Turbo.264 Details:
Turbo.264 also comes with its own software to quickly drop any video into iTunes to sync with an iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV.
Prepare and upload videos to YouTube™
Preserve Multi-channel Dolby Digital™ sound for playback on an Apple TV®
Use Turbo.264 for hardware-based live encoding in QuickTime Broadcaster™

Unique Features
Quickly and easily export content to iPhone™, iPod®, Apple TV® and PSP®
Free up your Mac for other tasks while encoding
Convert videos to superior quality H.264 files
Accelerate EyeTV’s Wi-Fi Access feature.
Click here for more information.

Competition Rules :

Competition closes : 31st October 2008 (5pm UK) with the 12 digit code being displayed on site via RSS and Twitter on or before that date.
The Competition is open to UK and Ireland residents only.
The winners are the first and second individuals to email us from the UK / Ireland detailing name, address and the 12 digit code. Note: It is the first and second users (not emails) we receive and the DigMo! / Elgato decisions are final.
Family of current or previous DigMo! writers are sadly unable to enter.
Winners will be informed within 5 days of close of the competition. Winners will also be announced via the DigMo! RSS feed. Good luck!

This update contains the following fixes:

• - New maps Creek, Chinatown, Broadcast, and Killhouse
• - Hardcore and oldschool server browser filters
• - Fix for a Denial of Service attack.
• - Fixed an exploit that allowed players to access certain console dvars
• during multi-player matches.
• - Fixed a crash that could occur when a Chinatown Sabotage match would go
• into over-time.
• - Fixed a bug where the MP icons (Bomb, Defend, Capture, etc) were always
• showing up as English regardless of the install language.

Loosely Based On Fiction is a ten-track man-eating alt-pop rocket, hotly anticipated since the June release of single ‘God Says’ and it doesn’t disappoint. (“Top Marks” - Hot Press). With a finely balanced mix of sub-3 minute pop tunes and mind-bending indie-psych explosions,Loosely Based On Fiction offers the discerning music lover a multi-layered, high definition, cross platform, socially networked Vitamin-D fix, sure to dispel the Autumnal blues. 

The highly innovative blog release project will conclude with the release of the CD album in independent record stores in the UK and Ireland. A limited edition digipak CD, including handmade, numbered booklet, will be available through the band’s website. 

Escape Act, the plucky alternative pop trio from Belfast, have been exciting audiences up and down the country since their formation in 2006. Their recent tour sparked much curiosity in Dublin, Limerick, Cork and all points North, and the band will return later in the year to tickle the ear buds once more. 

Loosely Based On Fiction was recorded at Glasgow’s legendary Chem19 Studios, with producer Andy Miller (Mogwai, Sons and Daughters) behind the desk / at the controls. Recording began last August with the band embarking on a 4 day marathon of live tracking, tweaking and tracking some more.

There followed a dark winter of journeys across the Irish Sea and up the A77, with five more visits seeing the tracks gaining colour, form and intensity. By April 2008 the sessions were complete, ready for the June release of God Says. It was met with considerable acclaim winning plaudits from Hot Press, State, AU, Subba Cultcha, Losing Today among others as well as regular spins on 2FM, Phantom FM, Radio 1 and Radio Ulster. 

The latest Escape Act tracks entitled Green is available here. 

Links:
Amuze.me
Escape Act

The first competition prize is the amazing EyeTV DTT Deluxe (see below for a brief spec). The second prize is the brilliant hardware accelerator the Turbo.264 (again spec is below).

We toyed with asking users to write in and explain why they deserve to win or perhaps asking a silly question where the answer is clearly all over the post.Instead we decided on something a little different to ensure one of our regular readers/followers gets the benefit of this great pize.

Relatively shortly we will post a 12 digit code via RSS and Twitter. The first person to email elgatocompo@digmo.co.uk with this code and their name and address wins. That simple. The first emailer wins the DTT Deluxe the second emailer the Turbo.264

To ensure you get this code as soon as we release it you need to follow us. Following is easy, simply add our RSS feed to your reader (click here) or sign up for our  RSS Email service. The RSS email system sends a single daily email if we have added to the site. We don’t pass on addresses to 3rd parties either Finally you can also follow us directly on twitter. Whatever mode you opt for the code will appear on or before Friday 31st October 2008 (5pm uk). 

Details on the EyeTV DTT Deluxe
EyeTV DTT Deluxeis an extraordinarily powerful miniature TV tuner that delivers digital terrestrial television (DVB-T, or Freeview) to your Mac. Exceptionally small and beautifully designed, EyeTV DTT Deluxe slips easily into the USB port of any Mac without blocking other devices.

EyeTV DTT Deluxe comes with an EyeTV Remote and offers a variety of options for aerial reception. These options vary from a miniature telescopic aerial, a portable rod aerial with a tilt/swivel magnetic base and detachable suction cup, and adapters to connect EyeTV DTT Deluxe to a rooftop aerial if necessary.

Unique Features
Receives digital TV (DVB-T, or Freeview)
Miniature USB stick; does not cover any other ports, even on a MacBook Air
Two types of aerials included plus unique IEC-MCX adapter cable
Comes with an EyeTV Remote
Click here for more information 

Turbo.264 is a powerful hardware encoding device that quickly converts any video to the advanced H.264 (MPEG-4) format without using your Mac’s resources. Work, watch TV and surf the web while you encode video with no reduction in processing speed. Turbo.264 supports many third-party Mac video applications as well as EyeTV.

Turbo.264 Details:
Turbo.264 also comes with its own software to quickly drop any video into iTunes to sync with an iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV.
Prepare and upload videos to YouTube™
Preserve Multi-channel Dolby Digital™ sound for playback on an Apple TV®
Use Turbo.264 for hardware-based live encoding in QuickTime Broadcaster™

Unique Features
Quickly and easily export content to iPhone™, iPod®, Apple TV® and PSP®
Free up your Mac for other tasks while encoding
Convert videos to superior quality H.264 files
Accelerate EyeTV’s Wi-Fi Access feature.
Click here for more information.

Competition Rules :

Competition closes : 31st October 2008 (5pm) with the 12 digit code being displayed on site via RSS and Twitter on or before that date.
The Competition is open to UK and Ireland residents only.
The winners are the first and second individuals to email us from the UK / Ireland detailing name, address and the 12 digit code. Note: It is the first and second users (not emails) we receive and the DigMo! / Elgato decisions are final.
Family of current or previous DigMo! writers are sadly unable to enter.
Winners will be informed within 5 days of close of the competition. Winners will also be announced via the DigMo! RSS feed. Good luck!

An Apple laptop each for the overall winners; four brand new Apple iMacs, plus a digital stills and digital video camera, for the winners’ schools

They’re looking for the brightest, boldest, most exciting ideas yet: students will need to be inventive and original in addressing their target audience. Prizes are awarded in two categories: 11-14 and 15-19. For more information visit www.filmeducation.org/becreative

To enter the competition, you must research, design and create an original campaign to promote legal downloads and discourage illegal filesharing. You could focus on film, music or games or create a cross-industry campaign. Choose from the following media:

a 30 second filmed advert, plus a teaser version, OR;

a campaign of three 30 second radio commercials, OR;

a poster campaign featuring three designs

Entries must come from UK students aged 11-19; individual and group entries will be accepted – see our terms and conditions for full details.

Prizes will be awarded in two categories: 11-14 and 15-19. Where group entrants are of mixed ages they must nominate the most appropriate category for their entry. Overall winners in each category will receive an Apple laptop each, and their school will receive four Apple computers with a full range of creative software along with a digital stills and digital video camera. Runners-up in the 11-14 category will each receive an iPod; for the 15-19 runners-up the prize is a digital SLR camera. 

You can find more helpful information on our Resources page and further details in the Terms and Conditions.

Gaming cost me a fortune. Seldom did I buy a base computer, it had to have great sound and more importantly great video. Anytime I bought a game I would crank the video settings to max and when it got to the stage my graphics card couldn’t cope with the 100% settings of a game it was time for a new card. Actually I can remember buying a separate 3D graphics card with each computer as the one provided didn’t meet the grade.

Gaming was additive but also increasingly expensive. With HD TV came HD gaming and I opted for an XBOX 360. It was never the great gaming experience a keyboard and mouse offered but with the hardware being static I could be confident the games would work and work to their best.

With no computer based gaming I moved to a iMac home and having used OSX for the last few years there is no way I could go back to start buttons and making sure I had the latest video cards and the latest drivers. The disadvantage of the Mac is, well actually was the lack of investment by game developers in the Mac platform. The times they are a changing!

Yesterday we received the latest Call of Duty (4 Modern Warfare) having played it on the 360 I was excited to see what it looked like on the Mac.

Installing the game could not have been easier. Simply drag the game folder over to the ‘Applications’ folder, double click and enter your license code and we were in.

Initially I paniced at the graphic quality, the game defaults to 800 x 600 and a visit to the options menu I soon cranked that up to max. This game looks great but on a 24″ imac it looks absolutely stunning ! The game recommends you use the ‘optimal settings’ but it reverted to 800×600 each time we used this even with a high end iMac. I definitely think you can push the settings to a reasonably high level without putting too much pressure on a recent mac anyway. We settled for 1600×1000 on our 24″ machine and the game still played brilliantly.

The story is centered around a fictional near-future conflict involving the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia, who are fighting against Russian ultranationalists in civil war torn Russia, and rebels that have staged a coup d’état in a small Middle Eastern country. It is told from the perspectives of a United States Marine and British SAS operative, and is set in multiple locations, including the Middle East, Azerbaijan, Russia, and Prypiat, Ukraine. The multiplayer portion of the game features various game modes, and contains a leveling system that allows the player to unlock additional weapons, weapon attachments, and camouflage schemes as they advance.

Single Player is great, we are no where near through the game but the playability and graphics are excellent. What attracts us is the multiplayer options. There are two separate installs one for single player and one for multiplayer but there is an option in each main menu to switch between the two modes.

Getting into a multiplayer game could not be easier. Click ‘join game’ refresh the list and a menu of games servers will appear in ping (connection speed) order. The lower the ping the better the game experience.
The online game offers all the same ranks and challenges that other versions of the game offers. Loading maps is significantly faster on the Mac version of the game than on the XBOX360 and you can set up your own private servers with ease.

I can’t recommend this game highly enough. Even in the short test period of the last two days we didn’t see any significant issues or problems. We were kicked from a game for some sort of INT error but it was one of around a dozen gaming sessions which I’d say is pretty good.

Aspyr have produced an excellent version of Call of Duty 4 for the Mac. We are hooked !!!! Who is up for a game ?

Order Now

Aspyr

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

• Operating System: 10.5.4 (Leopard)
• CPU Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo
• CPU Speed: 2.0 GHz
• Memory: 1 GB RAM
• Hard Disk Space: 8.0 GB + 1 GB Swap File
• Video Card (ATI): Radeon X1600
• Video Card (NVidia): Geforce 7300
• Video Memory (VRam): 128 MB
• Media Required: DVD-ROM
• Peripherals: Macintosh mouse and keyboard

MULTIPLAYER REQUIREMENTS:

• Internet (TCP/IP) or LAN (TCP/IP) play supported
• Internet play requires broadband connection

RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

• Operating System: 10.5.4 (Leopard)
• CPU Speed: 2.4 GHz
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Video Memory (VRam): 256 MB

SUPPORTED VIDEO CARDS:

• NVIDIA GEFORCE 7300 NVIDIA GEFORCE 7600 NVIDIA GEFORCE 8600 NVIDIA GEFORCE 8800 NVIDIA GEFORCE QUADRO FX 4500 ATI RADEON X1600 ATI RADEON X1900 ATI RADEON HD 2400 ATI RADEON HD 2600

We didn’t make the grand opening due to sleep commitments and thus don’t own one the exclusive Apple opening T-Shirts.

A number of prominent Northern Ireland bloggers were there and have photographed and written about the exciting opening. Alan in Belfast is rumoured to have negotiated a pre opening press tour mush to the envy of those waiting outside. 

Phil O’Kane was there with his camera capturing the queue and the moment the doors in the Victoria Centre opened to cheers and high fives.

Vox O’Mally was there and had almost talked me into an early start but failed at the last hour and the BBC have video coverage of the opening featuring a large number of people wearing the same T-Shirt !! and a guy with an Apple tattoo !

Apple fans who turn up for the grand opening stand the chance to win a Digital Lifestyle Collection that includes a black MacBook and a silver iPod nano. The first 1,000 people through the doors will receive a free Apple T-shirt. 

Better again the store will be offering a number of training events :

iWeb Workshop : Monday 22nd Sept 12- 1pm  Reserve
Take your website, blog or podcast to the next level. iWeb lets you create awe-inspiring websites and blogs complete with podcasts, photos and movies - and get them online fast. With iWeb and a Mac, you have everything you need to become a true web master. 

This is great news for Belfast but what does it mean for us in reality ? somewhere different to queue for the next iPhone ? somewhere different to go and look at the new iPods? better still somewhere to take solace when you have been dragged shopping on a Saturday afternoon !

Don’t get me wrong, we are as excited as the next fanboy but my newly found web 2.0 laziness will still result in online shopping and pre-ordering and good old Mac Sys for when my Macbook plays up. Perhaps I have missed something ?

The event was sponsored by Digital Circle, Front and Mac-Sys and can certainly be considered a massive success. The concept of CreativeCamp focuses on ”unconference” idea. Basically people sign up and agree to present on a range of topics.

Unfortunately I was unable to attend for the full day but for the few hours I was there gained massively from the experience. As of today (thanks to DavyMac) my life has a new ‘Getting Things Done’ structure using an application called ‘Things’

The event was completely free to attend the food and drink was free, free internet and without doubt one of the best training events I have been at. I gained more in the 2-3 hours I was there than I do at training courses I pay to go on. 

A blog post really can not do the event justice. Head over to the Digital Circle website and checkout Podcast Episode 2 created by Davy Sims. 

CreativeCamp Belfast

I have to say the 1% of customers effected have a very large voice and they appear to be many of the major Apple bloggers. The newly discovered problem related to syncing over the air was certainly well blogged before Apple discovered it. The good news is, if you were effected by the deletion of data during a sync it is possible to restore the information. See below.

We have completed restoring Mail service, including historical messages, to all of the 1% of affected members. Thank you all for your extreme patience during this trying time. If you have been affected by this issue and are still having problems we have established a dedicated chat line to reach a MobileMe Mail specialist for help. Please use this dedicated chat line for Mail issues only. By completing this restoration of Mail services, we hope we have put the vast majority of MobileMe Mail problems behind us and can now focus on improving other aspects of this new ambitious service.

Yesterday (Monday) morning a syncing bug was discovered which caused contact and calendar data to not sync properly over-the-air with iPhones and iPod touch. For some users this caused their contact and calendar data to disappear from their devices, but not from their computers or the MobileMe cloud. When we fixed the bug in the late afternoon, the problem resolved itself for most users: their data simply reappeared on their iPhone or iPod Touch. If you are one of those affected users and your data has not automatically reappeared, follow the steps at this link to restore your data. 

Keep to to date with the Status blog here.

And that’s just what we’re starting with — we’ve got some ideas in the hopper that should make managing your WordPress blog incredibly simple, wherever you are.

• Support for WP.com blogs and self-installed blogs version 2.5.1 and higher
• Embedded Safari for true previews of posts
• Full tag and category support
• Photo support for both camera pictures as well as library photos
• Support for multiple blogs
• Ability to password protect a post, save as a draft, or mark the post for later review
• Auto-recovery. This will recover posts which have been interrupted by phone calls

The maze is an area of 2.7 acres planted with 6,000 Yew trees, forming the largest hedge maze in the world. The time taken to solve the puzzle of the maze will vary but the average time should be about 40 minute. The maze was officially opened by the Minister of Agriculture for Northern Ireland, Mrs Brid Rodgers, on 12th September 2001.
The Peace Maze is now officially the largest permanent hedge maze in the world. Well it can be a bit of a challenge but not when you have the trusty iPhone 3G with Google Maps and GPS. Check out the screen shot below. Photo also available on a new iPhone GPS Photo group on Flickr

Related Links :
Peace Maze 

BlogNI.net

With the cost of chromatic tuners being well in their double figures spending £5.99 on a series of applications is amazing value. 

This is a well designed, highly polished application. The chord diagrams are stunning as is the overall visual interface.

Chromatic Tuner
Stop carrying around a separate device for tuning — your iPhone can handle it! Guitar Toolkit’s high accuracy tuner will get you pitch perfect in no time. You can run in three modes: all notes, standard tuning, or choose from over 40 alternate tunings.

Chord Diagram
With over 260 chord diagrams at your fingertips, the Chord Finder is an essential guitar player’s reference. Quickly cycle through chords, seeing in realtime the fingering for each.

Metronome
Keep the beat with the metronome tool. You can dial in an exact Beats Per Minute (BPM) count, or tap along to a song to determine the correct tempo. Multiple time signatures and tick-tock sound effects are there to craft just the right rhythm.

Tuning Tones
Prefer to tune by ear? Guitar Toolkit hasbuilt-in pitch reference tones to help you along. We’ve got you covered from E to E. 

To find out more about this great little music utility why not visit it on the Apps Store now. 

Head of Moving image Arts, David Cleland explained, “This amazing opportunity was made possible by the wonders of Apple’s iChat application. From our classroom in Lisburn we were able to enjoy an interactive workshop with Daniel in North Carolina. The full screen digital link up was the first time we have done something of this magnitude and I’m happy to say it was a great success.”

Sixth year Harry Bateman went on,“Daniel also starred in “Big Fish” so he was able to give us lots of information about his experiences on the set of the film as well as the intricacies of writing for film. He was very informal and we had a lot of fun taking part in the video conference.”

Daniel Wallace commented “I’d just had my first cup of coffee, wandered up to my home office and then I was speaking to and looking at David’s class in Lisburn. So cool. My head’s still spinning over what we were able to do with iChat. ”

The Moving Image Arts A-Level was developed by the British Film Institute and CCEA in collaboration with the Nerve Centre and Northern Ireland Screen. The new qualification is located within the arts curriculum and has a clear focus on the visual arts and its relationship with film. Students have the opportunity to study and create their own films and animations using applications such as iStopmotion and Apple’s Final Cut Express.

David Cleland concluded “Students seldom gain access to writers of block buster films and we in Wallace really appreciate Daniel’s participation in this event.”

Related Links:
www.danielwallace.org
Apple iChat