1 comments about Watch And Learn Introduction to Blues Guitar (DVD).

1. Professional will learn nothing new, but for beginners this DVD is great ... if you have another book with a little bit more theory in addition. I was educated in the C-A-G-E-D layout of the fretboard when I started to practice using this DVD, and the knowledge of C-A-G-E-D helped to to understand what was really going on. You can get a lot out of this DVD even without the basic ideas of the fretboard, but with the logic in your head you can moce every pattern all over the neck ... and then it is fun.

4 comments about COSMI 6000 Sound Effects (Windows).

1. Many of the files are repeats, many more are corrupt. Most importantly the quality is very poor, I would guess most (80%) are 11.025/8bit/mono. Too low quality for anything over a school project. I wouldn't even put them on my desktop.



2. Horrible quality, many repeats, many sounds mislabeled.
   Interesting idea, as far as the software goes, but not useful for anything, even a simple amateur home/family video project.
   
   Not worth even half the money.



3. better than some of the alternatives. If you just are looking for a couple of sounds this might be worth the $5. Certainly better than the Snap! 2000 Sound Effects.



4. Yup, many of the sounds have hiss and are not the best quality.
   
   Yup, there are more bird calls than anyone could possibly ever need.
   
   Yup, there are lame, clipped, and odd sounds included, some of which sound like they were nabbed from movies and other old productions now in the public domain.
   
   So why the five stars you ask?
   
   1. There are a great number of very usable sounds, both in quality and content. SFX for web, animated projects, software, and, granted, non oscar-winning video projects. ("Files are stored in 8,000 hz to 24,000 hz fidelity depending upon the specific effect.")
   
   2. There is a searchable index and sound categories.
   
   3. AND for anyone in search of sound EFX that may be LEGALLY included in products for publishing and resale, this collection is worth all nine hundered and ninty-nine pennies. ( Be careful to read the licensing information for sound EFX collections you may buy - the vast majority prohibit use in for-profit projects - don't open yourself and your clients to copyright liability!)
   
   Cosmi Licensing Terms: (cut from the PDF manual with the product )
   
   This program is subject to COSMI'S standard single user license agreement contained on the back of the manual/CD-ROM insert. Sound effects in this collection may be used by the registered owner of the program without payment of any royalty in the following cases:
   a) web pages - no more than 150 sound effects per site;
   b) computer programs (including computer programs for resale), no more than 150 sound effects per program;
   c) any computer generated application, 150 sound effects per application;
   d) broadcast (no more than 150 sound effects per day).
   All other uses require permission. Permission will be granted in most cases without charge for other uses. IN ALL CASES, you must affix a copyright notice to the materials which can be either yours or:
   Portions copyright 1998 COSMI Corporation
   PERMISSION WILL ONLY BE GRANTED VIA E-MAIL REQUEST.
   Please provide the following: your name, your mailing address, your telephone number and a contact time, and a brief description of your proposed use.
   
   
   Finally, why am I bothering to provide the lengthy review? I'm simply excited to find such an incredibly affordable collection like this that I can LEGALLY use as I see fit and am sharing the news with friends in various media professions and thought I'd do the same for you.

No comments about JumpStart Animal Adventures.

No comments about Adobe Illustrator 9.0 [Old Version].

3 comments about The Logo Creator: Corporate Logo Edition.

1. The box is appealing....I was looking forward to using this program. However the user interface is incredibly below average. When starting a new logo, it forces you to choose one of their prebuilt graphics, and all you do is pretty much change the text to the name of your company. I mean its a cheap product...and thats what you'd get. I'd say stay away...Although its much more expensive, i'd say photoshop is the way to go...



2. Picked this up to help design graphics for some of the affinity groups that I belong to. The software is easy to use and provides interesting results as long as you modify the templates that the program provides - it provided 78 in this version. The templates are very professionally done and there is quite a bit of customization that the user can do relative to fonts, colors, shapes and copy. I could not figure how to use the software to do one from scratch so I basically pick a simple one and delete most everything then build it back up the way I want it. The vendor has a very user friendly web site where you can join forums, look at other member's creations (or post your own) and get technical support. Great product for a beginner who needs some quick logo help but I suspect that the more advanced users will quickly tire of the templates provided.



3. I was looking for something to create a few logos for some web sites that I support. Not being a graphic artist and not really wanting to be one this was the perfect product for me. I don't have time to devote hours (days, weeks) to learning software like photoshop. In less than a hour after installing the program I was able to crank out 20 different logos and send them to my customers to choose from. Fast, simple to use and great output I could not have asked for more!

1 comments about Juilliard Music Adventure (PC / Mac).

1. Musical traditions of The Juilliard School are introduced in the game, where a mischievous gnome named Gnoise has stolen all the music from the Queen's castle. Exploring the castle, you have to solve the musical puzzles, free the Queen, and restore music to her realm.
   
   Also you can compose your own music with Rhythm and Melody Tools.

3 comments about Berlitz English Premier (Win/Mac).

1. I purchased this program yesterday from CompUSA.
   I can't use it.
   Software and documentation is written in Spanish.
   I'll try to return it to CompUSA tomorrow



2. I know nothing about Spanish, how do I suppose to figure out it is for Spanish speaker only? There is nothing in the description (in English at least) about it. I picked one up (at Fry's) hoping to get my parents to learn English. I guess they would be totally confused if they saw English AND Spanish popping out on the screen. This one goes back to the store.



3. this Berlitz language program featuring an hispanic chica on the cover is for Spanish speaking individuals to get help in learning english. I have been looking for good self-paced language learning materials for Mexican friends who want to learn English. This is one of the very few good ones on the market. There is a lot of ESL junk (English only vocabulary) on the market from the perspective of English speaking teachers teaching Spanish speaking children. Those seem to me to all to be in English only, probably because our educational institutions are stuck in control-freak mode instead of cognitive mode. Clearly there is a good market niche for someone to enter who wants to make good money by presenting adult self-paced instruction (using Spanish to English vocabulary!) for Spanish speakers who want to learn English.
   
   Peace and all good.

5 comments about Adobe Photoshop 7.0 Upgrade-Mac [OLD VERSION].

1. Looks and acts a lot like Photoshop 6.5, but there are many little elegances added. The biggee is the so-called healing brush and it actually does erase wrinkles on a portrait. For me, that was worth the price of the upgrade. If erasing wrinkles on friends, family members and customers doesn't light up your sky, you may be able to live without this -- unless you are on a Mac running OS X. Photoshop 7 is the first big-time graphics program to make the jump to X.



2. If you're a Photoshop user and want to upgrade to OS X--let this piece of software convince you. It's stabler and more elegant than the previous version in OS 9. I simply *love* Photoshop 7.0. I've been a Photoshop user on the Mac since Photoshop 4.0, and this is by far the best version yet. If you're a graphics professional and have been waiting to switch to OS X for software like Photoshop to be ready for OS X, then the time has come--switch away. As always, I think Adobe's pricing is a bit too high, but this is a rare example of an upgrade whose price I felt was worth it.



3. Ask most graphic artists and designers and they will tell you that their livelihood depends on their usage of Photoshop. PhotoShop 7 is worth the time to learn and use for your projects. Photoshop is still the reigning monarch for digital photos and graphic work.

   PhotoShop 7's Healing Brush

   The most publicized new feature in Photoshop 7. The PhotoShop's Healing Brush lets you remove dust, scratches, blemishes and wrinkles on your images. With the healing brush tool, you can preserves shading and lighting texture. You can use the Patch Tool for more precise graphic editing. Also, you can use the patch tool on selections or channels.
   
   Controversy. Does removing wrinkles and facial defects destroy the character of the family member? Maybe that was one of the reasons that Native American Indians refused to have their pictures taken in fear of the photograph picture capturing and destroying their souls.

   The Wall Street Journal's article on PhotoShop 7 commented on the moral aspects of using the PhotoShop 7's Healing Brush. The writer noted that Adobe Systems was masterful in creating the Healing Brush but was it ethical to use it?

   PhotoShop 7 File Browser

   The new Browse command opens a File Browser palette. This lets you view thumbnails of all your graphics files.

   In the Expanded View the File Browser offers a Microsoft Internet Explorer style view. You will see a panel down the left hand side of your monitor containing a tree structure pane where you can choose which folder you wish to view.

   Under the PhotoShop Hood

   PhotoShop is a Deep Program. The layout of PhotoShop has three distinct elements: the menu, the toolbox and the palettes.

   The PhotoShop menu has eight distinct entities: File, Edit, Image, Layer, Select, View, Window, and Help.

   The PhotoShop toolbox has four distinct entities: selection tools, painting and editing tools, specialty tool and navigation tools.

   The PhotoShop Palettes has eleven distinct entities: Option Palette, Info Palette, Navigation Palette, Color Palette, Color swatches Palette, Brush Palette, History Palette, Actions Palette, Layers Palette, Channels Palette and Paths Palette.

   What does the New ImageReady 7 do?

   ImageReady is a separate companion application to Photoshop. It lets you create web graphics, animations and rollover buttons with greater ease.

   Becoming a PhotoShop User

   How do you become a PhotoShop user? If you asked the professionals they would answer, "Know PhotoShop inside and out, study graphic artists works and practice, practice, practice until you can see the PhotoShop 7 menu's in your mind."

   In additional they would suggest, "Make contact with other PhotoShop 7 users. Go to workshops to meet them. Don't stay isolated."

   Pro Reaction

   Spell Checker in Photoshop 7. Like a text document, you can now search, replace text, check spelling in multiple languages within the same file. In addition, now you can correct spelling on one text layer or all text layers in the same document.

   New brush options. Brush choices and options for each brush are so powerful and easy to understand and use. Also, you have the ability to create your own PhotoShop brushes.

   Photoshop 7 program comes with an excellent hardcopy Photoshop 7 user guide of 441 pages.

   Video Workshop for Photoshop 7 is a CD that contains over 60 minutes of full screen, full motion, professional training video. Help's you get started with the pros.

   Graphic designers who use vector-based and bitmapped images will find that Photoshop 7 and Adobe Illustrator 10 work well together.

   Con Reaction

   Your control over open documents has been moved to a sub menu. This adds another step each time you want to change your images. Not much has changed in Photoshop 7's look-and-feel compared to version 6's radical revamp.

   Missing was Adobe Photoshop 7.0 tips and techniques that was available at the Adobe Breakfast for Mac Users Board members.

   Final Notes

   The perfect time to be a Photoshop user. Healing Brush is easy to use and does amazing results when you edit your photographs and graphics.

   Photoshop 7 lets you work more efficiently. With PhotoShop. you now have new tools like: Healing brush, Auto Color, ImageReady 7 for web output, animations and rollovers.




4. Just do it, 7.0 has few improvements but-folks
   these are great ones!
   I upgraded from 6.0.



5. If you are a Mac user and have an older version of Photoshop ... well I would seriously recommend that you upgrade to version 7.0

   While v7 doesn't add a whole lot of new features ... it does improve on a number of existing ones ... and most importantly it is the first Adobe application to feature their new common user-interface design ... that will be shared with imageready and illustrator.

   Since it is highly probable that one will be using one of these applications ... you may as well drop down the coin and purchase this upgrade now ... before they start restricting the versions the upgrade supports.

5 comments about Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition [OLD VERSION].

1. Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition is not something necessary for the enjoyment of life, but, then, neither is a computer, a cell phone, or a TV, unless you are a diehard couch potato. What this collection of utilities does is add some fun to Windows XP, and it's stuff no other operating system enjoys. I personally use Photo Story and Analog Recorder often, because they are both easy to use and a blast to use, too. The games collection could have been better, but, hey, for a little over ten bucks, why complain?



2. This is not the most current version of this software; but since it's probably still being sold new in places like eBay, I thought I'd still do a review. I bought this years ago to convert my records to CDs, but just ended up using it this year. I got a terrific Audio-Technica turntable for Christmas that plugs in easily to my PC. This is the software I'm using to convert the records. It is VERY easy to use, and has VERY easy instructions. The only one problem I had is that sometimes the hiss reduction feature will not be available if the software can't detect the spaces between the songs on an album, or if you are playing a 45. You then have to go back to the recording page, and record the blank area at the end of the record. And believe me, you don't want to leave out either the pop or hiss clean up! It's unbelievable how well they both clean up the record. (And I find this software far easier to use than the Nero that came with my Sony CD/DVD burner.)
   
   After the software chooses the correct volume, you record whatever songs you want. Most of the time, it has been able to tell the tracks apart on my 33 records. Sometimes it doesn't, and sometimes it may break the song apart. But that's very easy to correct. You also do have to type in the song info, but that's not a big deal to me. When the music has been downloaded to MY MUSIC, you can then burn it on CD, or go to iTunes and click "add a file" to get it in your iPod. The songs sound great on the iPod, too!



3. I don't get this, in Plus 98 you get a whole bunch of themes and other stuff - in Plus XP you get nothing - well you get a couple of thems! I cannot believe I paid for this - I uninstalled this and returned it for store credit - this is not worth $19.99 or $12.99 it is worth $1.99 - if you want some more themes for Windows XP look around on the internet for FREE ones and save your money!



4. This is so poor, it shouldn't be given away. The screen savers are excellent but require heavy use of the CPU. The games are only partial and require further investment for the complete version. Quite a rip off and disappointment from an otherwise satisfied Microsoft customer.



5. The description of the product which was Plus! Digital Media Edition [OLD VERSION] is why I bought it. At this point I was in no rush and didn't worry aout the price of the product. I knew what I would get from the description of the product and the sellers rating because I had previous experience with the product but had no key. Also, I couldn't get the product any where or way else. The sale of the product was prompt despite a short delay but early compared to Amazon.com's prediction of when I would recieve it by. I am thankful and happy that I bought this product. It was everything the description said it would be and what it actually was when I recieved and installed it. The purchase was even responded to with an apology for the short delay which I accept.

1 comments about Cakewalk Studio Instruments ( Windows Macintosh ).

1. Studio Instruments are a big improvement over the stock instruments in Garage Band. They sound very real and have a decent collection of preset patterns for quick song ideas. I wish there were more patterns to work with and the sounds could be changed: for example different types of basses, Rhodes and Wurlizer, different drum sets. For 50 bucks you can't go wrong. Well worth the price.Apple iLife '06 (Mac DVD)