Talking with someone face to face who is thousands of kilometers away from you is no more a miracle today. It is possible with live chatting. In a company, if there is a meeting and all the participants are not physically present at the meeting place then they can carry out their meeting using video conferencing. The task of live chatting becomes difficult in the situation if participants of chatting have too much difference in time zone. For example, if one of participant is sitting in UK and other one is site in India and both want to talk to each other then in such situation they can talk to each other by sending their recorded video. You can record your video on your Mac using iSight and iMovie. Students living in UK now no more need to wake up in night to talk to their parents but they can send their recorded videos to their parents and parents in return can too send their own recorded videos in their free time. So recording videos is the best way now to reach each other.

To record your videos, open iMovie and find the camera button that is located on the left hand side of the camera toolbar and click it. After clicking, you will be presented a screen where you can open file menu and click on “Import from Camera”. If you don’t have another camera connected but iSight is there, iMovie will launch a window where you will see your own preview. You can now press the capture button and give a name to your new Event and after this press the capture button again. Your recording now starts and you can say everything that you wanted to say in chat. After recording is complete, press the stop button and recording is ready. You can record multiple clips following the same procedure. You can find your recorded clips in the Event Library present at the bottom side of the screen. Editing of recorded clips is also very easier. You can now attach this video to your email and send to your friends or parents.

If you are intereted in learning about more digital applications, then check out this enigin PLC blog from the head of the digital department. You may find it enlightening!

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iTunes 8 provides a range of new and exciting features, designed specifically for those who have an account at an iTunes Store.

The best feature of the lot has to be the Genius, which includes a smart sidebar and playlist. It also has a playlist feature which captures data about the songs you are listening to and songs that you rate. It then recommends songs for you based on the data that has been captured. All you have to do is simply choose a song in your collection and the Genius playlist will then automatically organise and produce a list of songs for you to buy. It may be slightly daunting to have a machine recommend you songs, but the good news is that they are based on songs you listen to and songs that you like.

The sidebar feature of Genius also works in a similar way, but instead of songs it recommends albums and artists. It uses captions such as “Top Albums” and “Top Songs You’re Missing”, which makes this feature, look good, but when used there can be some issues. For example, when we used iTunes, we were recommended random songs, but to make things worse we had been asked to buy albums that we already had.

For those who do not like the cover flow layout or the seemingly plain text only style, the new grid view will provide the perfect mix. The album art can also be resized under the new grid view making it very convenient to view other things. You can get to see the tracks an album contains by double-clicking it in Grid view. You can also play the songs on the album be simply hitting the play button.

One downside though is that links that connect tracks with the iTunes Store have been made permanent. They cannot be put away so they are not seen either.

Good news everyone, I have just gotten paid for the illustration work that I did on those pvc banners last week. Turns out that Peggy was right, and the pink was a major improvement.

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When we want cutting edge technology with an emphasis on beautiful design and cutting edge looks then, of course, we look to Apple to deliver. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas the talk was less about what was on show than on something that has yet to enter the public domain - yes the latest thing to get the techies talking is the much vaunted, yet still enigmatic, I-Slate!

Rumours of the I-Slate have been growing over the last year but the latest word on the super highway is that the official launch of the I-Slate is only days away with the product about to splash down into the stores in Spring 2010.

The domain name islate.com has already been registered by Steve Jobs and his gang at Cupertino, CA and speculators have already set up sites such as islate.org ready for the anticapted frenzy that the official launch will raise.

So what exactly is the i-slate and why are Apple being so coy about it? Well the official answer, of course, has to be that nobody knows yet but for those of us who make a living out of keeping our ears close to the Silicon Valley ground we have enough information to make a more than educated guess.

The i-slate will be, as you would expect, a beautiful piece of equipment but with functionality and performance that would not be expected from such an unobtrusive piece of kit. Think how it would look if French maestro Philip Stark re-designed the personal computer and that’s pretty much how the i-slate will look.

A rectangular tablet with a 10-inch screen size set in a matt black casing, rather than the ubiquitous white, the i-slate will look like an oversized i-phone or a netbook without a keyboard. Cutting edge touch screen technology provided by Fingertouch, the company bought by Apple in 2005, will provide a seamless interface that will be particularly appealing to the generation that has already fallen in love with the i-phone. The i-slate will be more powerful than existing netbooks without the disadvantage of a fiddly keyboard and will be ideal for reading e-books. Credible rumours, some people might call them leaks, state that it will also be able to run apps just like its little brother the i-phone.

Microsoft tried to jump the gun by announcing Windows 7 powered ’slate’ computers at the CES but were met with a general apathy but from what I have seen and heard the Apple I-Slate will blow people away, it is going to be everything that people are hoping for and more! Just keep your eyes peeled and your ears open for a big announcement on January 27th - and remember: you heard it hear first!

Some exhilarating news before I run, I was talking to my friend last night and he has just got a amazing new position at an hr software company. Well done Thomas

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When the iMac G5 came out some years ago it was a revolution in the all-in-one design for computers. The new iMac 27 inch with Core 15 is spun from that same thread and thus keeps the photo-frame look that we have now come to love. Keep in mind that this new design not only personifies the integrated concept but it also reduces the desk space previous machines took up. The new 27 inch is light and its display will rotate easily. If you want you can attach this machine to the wall via a wall mount and that is simply great from those who do not want to have this massive screen on their desk.

The iMac 27 inch display is now one that has a 16:9 aspect ratio and is wider but just a bit taller than the older models. It also provides you with an improved level of natural field of vision. There is also now an improved level of expansion with the inclusion of a SD/SDHC card slot which is just below the optical drive. This makes it easy to upload photos and not have to use up any usb port to read the card. Tests have shown that you can upload a cluster of photos really fast.

There are only four usb ports but it comes inclusive of a keyboard and a Bluetooth mouse. There is no longer FireWire 400 included but the new FireWire 800 is, and for anyone who has legacy devices you will have to find yourself an adapter. It has a dual core processor and a built in camera or as it is called an iSight camera. This iMac also comes with a Mini Display Port connection which allows you to play video.

There is an improvement in the memory as there is now 2 GB of Ram which is expandable and which should be pleasing to those into video editing. This iMac is wireless capable and with this machine you will be able to do multiple tasks at the same time without any problems. Currently there are some warnings about the use of Windows on your iMac but chances are this will not be the case for long.

Really amazing news about the band, I just found this great company who agreed to give us a discount on the Bespoke Packaging, check out the stuff on the site and see what you think!

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A few weeks ago, I decided to treat myself to an iPhone. It was quite a landmark decision for me because, although I have always loved my gadgets, I have always had a bit of an aversion to Apple. I find that their way of doing things with software is a bit naff when you compare it to Microsoft but I thought I should give them a go…

So, after hours of trawling around, I finally found an iPhone on contract with 02 that was a very good deal. I committed myself and waited eagerly for the postman to arrive.

When I got it I was delighted. It lived up to all of the hype and the apps you can download (many for free) are brilliant. I love the novelty of having a digital spirit level and the Ocarina is fantastic. Everything was great… until I wanted to make a call.

Everyone has problems with reception from time to time and some areas are far worse than others, but my new iPhone will only manage two bars at the very most. At first I thought that it was faulty but after reading about them on the internet I discovered it is actually a problem that is down to 02. Until they bring out an app which boosts your signal, my iPhone is next to useless for calls or texts!

The iPhone is definitely the best mobile on the market at present but if you want one then DON’T GET IT ON 02!!!!

If I’d known about the problems that I’d have then I would have just got a cheap mobile and an iPod Touch instead. This is basically an iPhone that has everything except the facility to make calls.

In fact, that is what I have inadvertently bought…

Speaking of providers, I have recently been looking into email marketing for this website that I have, to help me keep in touch will all of my contacts. Does anyone know any reputable providers that they have already tried out?

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I can fully sympathise with the author of this post. The trouble that they have had with Dell is very reminiscent of my problems with Acer.

A couple of months ago I bought an Acer laptop. All was well until three days had passed by…

After a long list of problems (including a broken connection to the screen) I had to send the unit back to them. This was a bit of a pain but I decided that I should be patient.

Since then I have had to send it back AGAIN because of THE SAME PROBLEM with the display. They had not even fixed it properly. The ‘support’ that I received online and over the phone was pathetic.

Why do large companies not seem to care about their customers anymore? It made up my mind, the only system I am ever going to trust again is Mac.

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Instant messaging has many positives to it. For instance, it is a great way to communicate with people without the need to pick up the phone. For example, let’s say in business, you have a few things that you need to do, but you also need to talk to a few prospects as well concerning your business opportunity, this is where instant messaging can be a godsend. It makes multi-tasking shine! You simply sign into your Yahoo or MSN instant messenger and make yourself available or “online”. Then you can carry on with what you need to do and just answer the instant messages at the same time when they pop up. In most cases, the person on the other side has absolutely no idea you are doing something other than chatting with them.
Talk of chatting a friend of mine has just launched a beauty forum, she is having trouble getting it off the ground if you free time and you are interested in beauty could you join in, thanks.

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Amoungst other important office gear I brought recently (a chilled water machine and coffee machine – essential for the troupes of course) I also bought a new mac. Though instead of actually doing any work on it I’m addicted to it’s bundled application, iLife’09. Well, mainly just iPhoto and GarageBand, but I thought I’d talk about the whole thing since iMovie, iWeb and iDVD are also included in the package should you be interested.

Free as part of any new mac or upgradeable from older iLife’s, iLife’09 is similar to the older package but with some cool new additions. And believe me when I say, you can spend literally HOURS just messing around on it.

Well, we all love photos right? And if you’re as anal as me you’ll love the new feature in iPhoto which allow you to taking your organising to a whole new level! You can add names to a few faces and iPhoto will find all the other pics of that person! It does the same with places too so you can find all the pics you took in a certain place or on a certain holiday with virtual pins in a virtual map! Not only that but it also lets you create themed slide shows and even upload and share you photo’s straight onto Facebook and flickr!

Garageband is next in line as my favourite application in iLife. Even without a music set up, I still jam for ages with myself, playing all the different instruments on the computer keyboard. This time around they’ve introduced basic piano and guitar lessons and even the option to learn how to play some songs by some great artists – taught to you by the artists themselves! I love watching Sting, Ben Folds and Norah Jones show me how it’s done! Genius!

So what else? Well I haven’t really spent much time on iWeb yet, but it looks great for a website novice like me. With a typically macish user friendly interface, you can easily create your new website, integrate your photos, movies and designs into it and put it on the web. It also has a huge range of easily downloadable add ons that inhance it depending on what you want to do. From seo tools through to email marketing software, you can now download these extras straight onto your computer and plug them in. Certainly some of the website and browser tools will attach straight onto the ilife, some of the other software is still free but runs alongside rather than within the ilife.

Maybe I’ll get my kids to show me how it’s done, once I’ve dragged them off iMovie and iDVD!

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I’m so excited about my new toy! And as a graphic designer I can honestly say that the New Macbook Pro is the best yet! It boasts an 8hour battery life, high-resolution widescreen display, illuminated keyboard, multi-touch track pad, built in wifi and a powerful Intel core duo processor that runs at 2.93Ghz. Basically, to the non-techies out there– it’s bloody fast! Going back to the battery for a minute, as we all know, most electrical items batteries will wear down through charging. The guys at apple have over come this issue by developing a technology called adaptive charging. This involves a microchip in the battery that communicates with the computer to work out the best way to charge its cells, adjusting the current so as not to over charge the system. The result- a lifespan of up to 1000 recharges compared to previously only 200-300. That’s more than 3 times the original lifespan of older models, which is nearly 5 years! With this and the built in wifi I’ve been able to work away from home and buy cosmetics online for my wife for Valentine’s Day at the same time!

Now for the best bit in my opinion - the screen. For the first time on an apple notebook you can now get desktop quality colour, due to the 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution (2.3 million pixels!). That means you can even watch films in High Definition. This is hugely significant if you use macs for graphics and designing like me, as you now have a screen that offers 60% greater colour spec and a 700:1 contrast ratio. It’s perfect for my running clothes designs as I know they’ll look as good on screen they will when printed, which is great for my client.

You have to see it to believe it. Even the keyboard is a dream as the keys have been designed to curve perfectly around my fingers! And with the illuminated setting, I can always see what I’m doing in low lighting such as on an aeroplane or in a conference room. The 17inch model comes with a huge 320Gb hard drive, (perfect for all my music, photos and other projects) and 8GB of memory, so I’m always be up to speed when running multiple applications. All of this and more in a durable and sleek aluminium cover, which not only makes the MacBook Pro look and feel good, but it’s also the thinnest and lightest model available at just 0.98 inches thick and 6.6 pounds. It’s great to carry around with me and silently show off in Starbucks!

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IPod touch also has a built-in ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the display’s brightness.

IPod touch features up to 22 hours of audio playback and up to five hours of video playback.

The advanced web browser ever on a portable device, you can see web pages the way they were meant to be seen, with the ability to zoom into any webpage with a tap of your finger.

Court house clinic also now offers: omnilux blue, eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty) Birmingham and facial cleanser oily/problem.

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