The MUSICMATCH Radio MX service (available by subscription) provides user-selections of a wide range of music types and artists, all in CD-quality, and without commercial messages. The user can program the music to create a personal radio station with up to 25 favorite artists input at one time, or make selections by era or station.

The Quite Revealing control panel can be displayed in its initial short form, or expanded to its long form (revealing more options). The user can select from the options to Reveal plates, Reveal profiles, Reveal fonts, Reveal overprinting, Reveal transparency, Reveal image resolution, Reveal transfer functions, and Reveal halftone screens. Each of these categories holds some significant revelance in a production environment and therefore equate to potentially valuable information.

The upper window of the control panel shows the list of items that are in the current PDF. The selection of any one of the items, such as a font, will result in a listing of the characteristics, in the lower window, that can be viewed.

The program offers considerably more control than would be otherwise available. In the area of plates and colors, for example, the user can convert selected spot color items to CMYK, or convert all spot plates to CMYK, or merge two spot plates, or perform other related operations.

For each of the Quite Revealing categories, the user manual provides an explanation of the function, why controlling it is important, what can be seen on-screen, and what can be modified. $249

Unit Ready: Ascertains the drive's ability to receive commands.

Supply Voltage: Checks the power supply voltage level that powers the drive.

Self-Diagnostic: Runs manufacturer's self-test on the drive.

Rezero Unit: Determines the drive's ability to resynchronize and rezero the read/write heads.

Format Check: Establishes whether the drive was properly formatted during initial setup.

Spare Sectors: Checks the service tracks to isolate whether there are enough spare blocks for block repairs.

Surface Scan: Checks entire media surface for defects that could cause read or write errors. Blocks are repaired by remapping.

Random Read: Used in conjunction with the Random Write test, reads data from a random memory location.

Random Write: Used in conjunction with the Random Read test, writes data from a random memory location.

Seek: This test checks the ability of the initiator to position the device heads in preparation for access to a particular logical block.

Linear Read: Used in conjunction with the Linear Write test, reads a linear set of blocks from the drive.

Linear Write: Used in conjunction with the Linear Read test, writes a linear set of blocks to the drive.

Read Buffer: This test is used in conjunction with the WRITE BUFFER command as a diagnostic function for testing the drive's buffer cache and bus integrity.

Write Buffer: This test is used in conjunction with the READ BUFFER command as a diagnostic function for testing the drive's buffer cache and bus integrity.

Volume Structure: Tests and repairs critical volume structure elements like Volume Header, Extents File, Catalog File, Attributes, etc.

The software was the runner-up for the Apple Design Award in the category of Best Mac OS X User Experience in 2001. The interface is clean and attractive, and provides appropriate and easy-to-understand feedback. It is the tool that OS X users will learn to depend on, and ultimately may rescue users from data loss and other disasters. $69.95

This version introduces StuffIt X (based on Aladdin's exclusive ATOM(tm) compression technology), the .sitx file format that provides better file compression (down to as small as 2% of the original file size, up to 20% better than .sit and up to 40% better than .zip), 512-bit encryption for unparalleled security (up from the standard .sit 40-bit encryption), error-correction for file corruption protection (and the addition of summary data that can aid in file reconstruction if it becomes damaged, corrupted, or copied to bad media), and support for long file names.

Digital publishers will be impressed with the new .sitx compression. A 95.7 MB Photoshop file, for example, can be compressed to 2.7 MB, and reduce a 56K modem transfer from 3.9 hours to 6.6 minutes. The StuffIt Expander, for Mac and PC, continues to be provided for free.

The program helps users to automate the exchange of files between users of any operating system: Macintosh, PC, UNIX, or LINUX. Using the StuffIt Express PE, users can drag and drop files for automatic compression, encryption, and distribution. $79.99

The program also provides a Workbench which is useful both to view the contents of a PostScript file, and to observe as the code is processed (full speed or one line at a time), and to compose original PostScript code. A PostScript programmer can view code composed by others and learn how it was put together.

PSalter is especially good at reporting errors as each page is composed. In some cases the errors can be fixed.

The four modes of PSalter are: View, Translate, Report, and Workbench. In the View mode the user can display the processed pages in a range of zoomed views, and in the Translate mode he or she can save the view in another file format. A Report can be generated which includes the number of pages, fonts contained in the file, and any errors. $326

One area where the program now excels is in title creation. The Adobe Title Designer is a program within a program, offering tools that support the production of broadcast-quality titles composed of type that can be kerned, leaded, and subjected to other typographic adjustments and manipulations. The library of over 90 Adobe PostScript Open Type fonts can be composed within any of the over 100 templates to create rolls, crawls, and custom presentations. In addition to the text control, which is the main purpose of module, users can create and compose custom graphics.

Sound tools are provided in two platform-specific ways. Windows users benefit from the addition of three audio plug-ins from TC Works that enable the simulation of the acoustic characteristics of various environments, the manipulation of specific frequencies, and the increase in sound quality through new compression and expansion tools. Macintosh users are provided with TC Works SparkLE for the optimization of sound tracks in a variety of common formats.

DVD authoring has been simplified for Windows users through the use of DVDit! and the application of the Adobe MPEG Encoder. The Encoder provides excellent control over the generation of MPEG2 files which can be used directly in the DVD authoring program. Macintosh users can use either iDVD or DVD Studio Pro to author DVDs. With the professional version installed, users can take advantage of its QuickTime MPEG encoder.

Premiere includes SmartSound Quicktracks, certainly among the easiest ways to add a custom music sound track to virtually any length clip or movie. The program is provided with a library of royalty-free music tracks, with others available at additional cost. $549

Digital publishers will find the program to be an invaluable aid to creating diagrams for Web site construction, or for illustrating the relationships in related databases. The program provides the best, and most logical, first step in the planning and design phases of many kinds of publishing projects. A version of the program (kidspiration) is used with children as a powerful thinking tool for enabling them to express and organize their thoughts and ideas in a tangible way. Users can capture ideas as quickly as they can type, and see them appear in diagram form, using the RapidFire tool.

The diagram view enables the user to add notes so that detailed annotations, explanations, and other forms of information can be attached to specific symbols. The program includes several libraries of related symbols (over 1300) , and the user can add his or her own by using the Insert Graphic option, drag and drop, or copy and paste. Symbols are connected by using the Link tool, and text can even be added on the link itself. Symbols remain linked even when they are moved and rearranged. Hyperlinks and audio notes can also be attached to symbols, expanding the scope of a brainstorming session.

An extensive array of formatting tools are provided for changing fonts, styles, and colors, and for manipulating the appearance of shapes, lines, and other elements.

The program provides multiple output alternatives, such as saving a diagram as a JPEG, exporting it to a word processor or presentation program, or expressing it as HTML. The program excels as vehicle to propel ideas from rough thoughts into a sharable form of refined visual expression. $69

From the PC perspective, the user can share Macintosh files and printers by using the Network Neighborhood. The Macintosh takes on the appearance of another PC. Macintosh CDs, hard drives, and external devices can also be accessed.

From the Macintosh perspective, from the Chooser or the \"Connect to Server\" window, the user can browse shared PC directories and manipulate files over the network. The Mac user can also print to shared PC printers and share external devices such as CDs and Zip drives. On a Macintosh-to-Macintosh network, DAVE can enable users to share files and printers in the same way that they would share with PCs in a Microsoft network.

Major program features include: NT Domain Login; support for Microsoft standard browsing; three security options; support for Microsoft NTFS file format; sharing of CDs, printers, hard drives, folders, etc.; support for Distributed File Systems; automatic workgroup detection; allows for Windows network password changes; and much more. $149

The program has easy drag and drop installation and provides a step-by-step Set-Up Assistant. It comes with hundreds of anti-spam filters, which can be edited or expanded using the filter editor. Automatic filter updates are provided, and the program alerts the user when a new version of the software is available.

Spamfire is intelligent enough to accept messages from anyone listed in the user's address book, and not trash a message simply because it contains a single suspicious keyword (it uses fuzzy-logic). Messages that are incorrectly eliminated can be rescued. $39

The program makes it easy to print selected photos in the sizes and quantities that are needed. Photos are maintained in catalogs, which are groups of images that are arranged according to criteria determined by the user. Modifications that are made to the photos in a catalog are maintained as transformations...the original photos are left unmodified.

The program supports a wide range of file formats, including GIF, JPEG, PDF, PICT, Photoshop, and TIFF. $20

This classic little book has been brought up-to-date, now including information about type applications for Web, e-mail, and other on-screen uses. The title, attributed to type designer Fred Goudy (1865-1947), and his comment that \"Anyone who would letterspace Blackletter would steal sheep\" is meant as a warning to those who would avoid the rules of tradition and defile beautiful letterforms. The authors show how type has evolved and its proper use and application.