City of Gloucester is Out Shopping

October 15, 2009 No comments yet

Thank you for all your responses.

My fair city has put out for bid a new website.  It seems like only yesterday my old boss at the Gloucester Public Schools was buying phpWebSite (which is the foundation for both the city and school websites). Time files.

So check out the current one, gloucester-ma.gov and here is the question to people that live and work in Gloucester, MA. What does it do now that you like, what do you hate and what is missing?  You can send respond using the comments, the contact form below and I have put together a survey just to ask a few questions.  Your input is appreciated. Thank you – James Pope

Workaround: uStream.tv and Logitech QuickCam

October 13, 2009 No comments yet

uStream Defaults to iSight, cannot use Logitech Quickcam

This isn’t a review, the issue I came across was a client trying to broadcast using uStream.tv was caught in the middle of a fight between the built-in iSight and the external Quickcam vie’ing for uStreams.tv app’s attention. So the customer of Tidal Consulting couldn’t use his new Logtiech QuickCam Vision Pro webcam because his MacBook Pro’s iSight would become the video source and he couldn’t choose the QuickCam.

Occasionally there isn’t a fix that delivers the 100% functionality you are after.  However with a few added steps, or some modification to your routine, can get you back up and running until a true fix is available.

Here’s the issue:

The QuickCam Vision Pro is driverless — at least it does not use any drivers produced by Logitech — it uses the built-in drivers in OS X (10.5 Leopard) and as best I can tell, it is the same drivers that run the built-in iSight camera in most modern Apple hardware. The issue comes up when useing the Flash based application in uStream.tv which sees your iSight as “USB Video Class Video” unfortunately it also sees the Logitech Webcam as the same thing.  My testing showed some inconsistencies between using a Unibody MacBook Pro and a previous generation MacBook Pro.  The Unibody MacBook Pro will choose the Logtiech QuickCam over the iSight, allowing me only to use the external webcam, however earlier MacBook Pros will only choose the iSight and not give the option of switching to the QuickCam.

The workaround:

The idea is to preoccupy the built-in iSight so when you launch the uStream.tv app,  uStream cannot use the iSight and and allows the Quickcam to become available under the option of  ”USB Video Class Video” . It turns out that Apple’s Photo Booth application will only use the iSight and if you launch Photo Booth before uStream.tv, the external webcam will be available to the uStream.tv application.

Have an issue you can’t get around. Contact Tidal Consulting and find out if we can help.

Mac OS X Snow Leopard (10.6)

August 20, 2009 No comments yet

Macenstein.com has reported that Snow Leopard could be available as soon as Friday, August 28th.

According to reliable sources, support training for Snow Leopard has begun, signaling an imminent release of the next major release of OS X. Sources claim a date of Friday, August 28th is extremely likely.

Amazon has Snow Leopard available for pre-order, $29 for a single installation (one computer), $49 for a Family Pack (5 computers).  Please note, that you must already have 10.5 installed on your computer to use the $29/$49 version of Snow Leopard.  If you are upgrading from an Intel-Mac with 10.4, you must purchased the Mac Box Set with Snow Leopard, which will also includes iLife 2009 and iWork 2009.

Mac OS X v 10.6 Snow Leopard for $29

Mac OS X Snow Leopard Family Pack for $49

Mac Box Set (with Snow Leopard)

If you want to schedule and installation of Snow Leopard or have question about upgrading Contact Tidal Consulting.  Also note, Apple has dropped the price of Snow Leopard Server Unlimited by $500.

Snow Leopard to hit next Friday via macenstein.com

Snow Leopard System Requirements via Apple.com

Quickbooks Deal – Mac, Windows & Payroll Services

July 22, 2009 No comments yet

For the QuickBooks users out there Intuit is having a sale on their Quickbooks Pro for Windows and Mac.

Windows:

Download QuickBooks Pro 2009 Now! Save 20% + Free Learning CD

Mac:

Download QuickBooks Pro for Mac 2009 Now for 20% off + Free Learning CD

Payroll Service:

Intuit Online Payroll – 6-month FREE trial – Plus, lock in 66% monthly savings at $9.95/month starting the 7th month.

Both are available as a physical CD or an immediate download. There are also some discounts available on the Premiere edition of Quickbooks and quickbooks.com has some information on the differences between the versions.

Document Scanner: ScanSnap S1500

April 9, 2009 No comments yet

Recommended Desktop Document Scanners

Desktop Model: Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 Instant PDF Sheet-Fed Scanner

The ScanSnap S1500 provides users an effective way to greatly reduce paper clutter, storage space, and security risk associated with unmanaged paperwork at home or office. Even better, documents scanned by ScanSnap take on a higher level of accessibility and usefulness once liberated into the digital realm. — Fujitsu Product Website

Available in a Mac and Windows Model, for sale through NewEgg.com

Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 PA03586-B005 Sheet-Fed Duplex Scanner Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 PA03586-B005 Sheet-Fed Duplex Scanner

Dimensions: 11.5″ x 6.3″ x 6.2″ Weight: 6.62 lbs. Light Source: White cold cathode discharge lamp Scanning Speed: Simplex or Duplex, 20 pages per minute (ppm) Interpolated Resolution: Color: 600dpi, B&W: 1,200dpi Max. Document Size: 8.5″ x 14″ Media Type: A4, A5, A6, B5, B6, Business card, Letter, Legal and Custom sizes Automatic Document Feeder (ADF): Yes


Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500M PA03586-B105 Sheet-Fed Duplex Scanner for the Macintosh Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500M PA03586-B105 Sheet-Fed Duplex Scanner for the Macintosh

Dimensions: 11.5″ x 6.3″ x 6.2″ Weight: 6.62 lbs. Light Source: White cold cathode discharge lamp Scanning Speed: Simplex or Duplex, 20 pages per minute (ppm) Interpolated Resolution: Color: 600dpi, B&W: 1,200dpi Max. Document Size: 8.5″ x 14″ Media Type: A4, A5, A6, B5, B6, Business card, Letter, Legal and Custom sizes Automatic Document Feeder (ADF): Yes


Looking to go paperless, or just less-paper. Contact Tidal Consulting today to see how you can integrate a document scanner into your work flow.