While there are plenty of media collection/organizer applications for the Mac -- some well-known and glamorous, others quietly utilitarian and functional -- fans frequently swear by the merits of Bruji's 'Pedia suite for books, DVDs, music and games. Armed with a barcode scanner or your iSight, you can quickly and easily catalog all your media, manage your lending habits and wishlists, collect tips and walkthrough links for your games, export to a website, pull data from Amazon or other sources -- even browse your catalogs in the Finder via QuickLook. The individual organizer apps (Bookpedia, DVDpedia, etc.) are only $18US, and you can get the bundle of all four for $49 if you want.

Now Bruji has taken the obvious and exciting next step with Pocketpedia for the iPhone and iPod touch [App Store link], allowing you to create collections on your device or sync up from your Mac and take your catalogs with you. Having your DVD rental wishlist with you at the store sounds like a great idea; plus, you can quickly access reviews online if you're having trouble deciding what to rent or buy. Pocketpedia is a free download from the App Store, and will work just fine in standalone mode if you don't have the Mac apps to sync with. If only it could do barcode scanning from the iPhone's camera... *sigh.*

It's easy to get spoiled using Apple's Media Browser, that little tool that pops up in many of the iLife and iWork applications and provides access to photos, music, graphics, and movies. But what about those cases where you want to use Media Browser and the application you're in doesn't support it?

Karelia Software, makers of the popular website creation tool Sandvox, has just shipped an update to iMedia Browser. iMedia Browser 1.1.1 works with Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) and 10.5 (Leopard). It provides all of the functionality of Media Browser, but for just about any application on your Mac. This update adds international support and new media sources.

iMedia Browser now supports the following media (information from Karelia's website):

• Browse Photos: iPhoto / Aperture / Lightroom library, Pictures folder, and other predefined folders.
• Browse Music: iTunes library, GarageBand songs, Music folder, etc.
• Browse Movies: iTunes and iPhoto libraries, Movies folder, etc.
• Browse Links: Bookmarks from Safari, Camino, OmniWeb, etc.
• Drag and drop any folder into the source list to add to your library.

As the really old song says, "the best things in life are free", and iMedia Browser is no exception. Download it and start enjoying your media in almost every application you use.

Sometimes Command-C and Command-V just aren't enough. You're working on a project and want to capture a bunch of text, pictures, or code, and then paste it into the project you're working on. Using the Mac clipboard, you're toggling between open applications, cutting and pasting like there's no tomorrow. Wouldn't it be nice to capture all of that information into one place, then pull it out when you're ready to use it?

Corkboard (from Ayluro) does exactly this -- you press a hot key or click a menu bar icon, and a transparent "corkboard" appears. You can either paste or drag-and-drop items onto the corkboard, then hide it. If your machine crashes, or if you need to restart it, no problem -- the items that you've pinned to the corkboard are there. When you're ready to use those items (text, sound, pictures, etc..), just open Corkboard and drag them into the receiving app.

Corkboard accepts many types of media, and Ayluro has created a framework so other applications can work seamlessly with Corkboard. It's currently a time-limited beta (download here) with an introductory price of $12.99. Developer Jonathan Grynspan expects the app to leave beta in early 2009. Give it a try!

People who are religious about backups, especially those who use removable media like CDs or DVDs as backup media, often find themselves in a world of hurt when they try to find individual files on a pile of discs. It's worse than finding the proverbial needle in a haystack!

Developer Robert Kuilman released version 4.0 of his Media Catalog application today (July 7, 2008). Media Catalog makes quick work of cataloguing all of those archive CDs, DVDs, and external hard drives.

While test-drivng Media Catalog, I popped in a few old backup CDs. The application catalogued hundreds of files in a few seconds, then popped the CDs out. You can also drag-and-drop volumes onto the application to add them to the catalog. Searching is extremely fast, and you can use Quick Look to preview documents as long as the original media is mounted.

Kuilman rewrote his indexing code and speed has improved up to 770% over version 3.9. You can try out Media Catalog 4.0 for free (limited to five media), or purchase it for $24.95.

I have a mountain of CDs and DVDs in my office. Some of them are in sleeves, others are stacked on spindles. For the most part, my disc labeling consists of grabbing a Sharpie ultra-fine-point marker and scrawling something right on the top of the disc. I've tried sticky labels before, but stopped after I had a few CDs that wouldn't come out of my iMac's SuperDrive slot.

Dymo, the labeling company, is now shipping the DiscPainter. It's a single-duty printer designed for one thing; printing directly onto inkjet-printable CD and DVD media.

Size, Installation, and Setup

The first thing that hit me when I opened the DiscPainter box was how big it is. Given that it is a single-tasker, it takes up a lot of room on a desktop (roughly 5.75" x 10"). For those with limited space available, this may be a reason not to buy the DiscPainter.

Following the included Quick Start Guide (yes, I RTFM), I removed the usual tape and plastic cruft encasing the DiscPainter, popped in the single ink cartridge, and connected the power cable. The initial user experience is excellent.

Read on for the full review

Size, Installation, and Setup (continued)

The DiscPainter comes with a Mac OS X / Windows installation CD that installs drivers and Discus for Dymo, an application that helps you to the design the disc image. After plugging in the USB cable and restarting your Mac, the instructions take you through making your first disc.

Software

I was underwhelmed by the Discus for Dymo software, which despite a 2007 copyright date appears to have been written while Mac OS X 10.2 was still all the rage. It has a cheesy, Aqua-like interface (see below) that looks very unprofessional and is obviously a port done by Windows programmers. My first thought was that I needed to update the software. No, version 1.1.1 IS the latest version.


Discus for Dymo does its job, but is uses many Mac OS X features incorrectly. For example, I wanted to use a picture from my iPhoto Library as a backdrop on a CD so I clicked on the Photo button expecting the standard Apple media browser to appear immediately. Instead, I had to navigate to my Photos folder before the media browser appeared.

Software (continued)

Likewise, trying to pick the "TUAW Green" for the text on the label, I thoroughly expected to see the standard Apple color picker so I could use the little magnifier tool to go for the green. No such luck. I finally figured out that I could option-click one of the custom colors to make the color picker appear (see below).

Conclusion

Reviewer Rating: 3 out of 5 possible

Should you buy one? If you need to do a lot of CD/DVD labeling and money isn't an object, yes. However, if you need a new printer anyway, the HP Photosmart C5280 all-in-one gives you a disc and paper printer, copier, scanner, and more, all in one box that costs less than half the price of the DiscPainter. You can also buy HP LightScribe external drives for much less, but the media is quite expensive.

If you DO buy one, remember to include the cost of BeLight Disc Cover to replace the Discus for Dymo software.

Pros

• Fast high-resolution printing
• Very quiet
• Does the job it is designed for, despite software shortcomings
• Does excellent job of printing directly on CD/DVD media

Cons

• Software isn't very Mac-like
  
• Printer footprint larger than it needs to be
• No power switch, can't turn it fully off without unplugging
• Very Expensive ($279.95 MSRP, about $250 online)

Be sure to check out the Gallery below for more pictures of the Dymo DiscPainter.

I've found myself transcribing different types of media lately; primarily recorded Skype conversations and footage from interviews. I do a lot of work in Scrivener, an application so enjoyable that it makes me want to write a lot more than I do. Scrivener allows for a split pane editor with a QuickTime media file loaded in one pane, and your current document in the other. While you type you can hit Shift-Space to start and stop the media. I loved it, but I wanted to take it to another level. There are applications specifically designed for this, but why not have a system-wide, works-with-anything solution?

Find out how I did it after the jump.

Positive Spin Media's media search tool, Pandora (formerly NetScrape) has been bumped up to version 2.3. The new version primarily fixes some issues that Pandora had with reading some pages with non-English languages or encoding. The update is free to registered users, and you can download the update today.

If you haven't seen Pandora before, it's worth a look. Pandora uses a plug-in architecture to wander the big image search engines (i.e., Google and Flickr) or your hard drive, and supports finding and fetching any type of media -- not just images. Once you've found the media, Pandora provides easy slide show creation so you can show it off. I like the fact that you can start off multiple searches simultaneously and have them run

The Pandora demo is limited to 50 image viewings, and if you love it you can buy it for $29.95.

Artists, photographers, writers, musicians and other creative types use Apple products every day as tools and inspiration to help them fulfill their creative desires and aspirations. So it should come as no surprise when some of those creative aspirations turn out to actually feature one of the tools that helps enable their creativity.

Case in point: Over at LAist, editor Zach Behrens has posted a piece on artist Nick Rodrigues' mixed-media installation known as the "Porta Party." What exactly is the "Porta-Party" you may wonder? Well, its a giant-sized iPod-like box where you go inside, bring your own iPod or iPhone, and groove to your favorite music.

Or, as the man who created it sums up in his artist's statement about the "Porta-Party": "If you walk around with a party going on inside your head and your just too shy to bust a move in public. Or if you like partying but hate people. Your prayers have been answered."

It's great when Apple can help empower artists and users to reach their full potential -- especially when that full potential involves dancing. And yes, in case you were wondering, the "Porta-Party" is available for your next event.

We posted about SuperSync last year, and we just posted about another iTunes library syncing app, Syncopation. But just in case you've been waiting to sync your music libraries not just across iTunes but also to your TiVo, the wait is over -- SuperSync version 2.3 now does just that. You can connect to a shared library with any series 2 or series 3 TiVo, and even use the remote to browse and play music.

And of course, SuperSync will still let you do all the other stuff other sync tools will let you do -- browse multiple libraries and copy music between each, transfer whole playlists, and even browse and play music over the 'net. A two-machine license (the app has to be running on both computers you use the transfer the music to and from) costs $29.

TiVo support is all well and good, but I can haz Xbox 360 support, too? Connect360 is great, and Rivet seems interesting, but if we could roll up the sync tool and the sharing tool into one app, all the better.

[Via Macworld]

A recent post at hicksdesign on turning a Mac Mini into a media center is very serendipitous for me, as I'm currently researching options (and buying hardware) to do just that. I've acquired a Mini, a couple of hardware items that I'm trying to decide between and several software solutions that I'm putting to the test.

The post serves well as an update to some of our previous thoughts and takes into account some hardware and software updates. Among other things, the post discusses the decision between the Apple TV and the Mini, the virtues of Front Row 2, external hardware, and some great software tips.

Admittedly, my current solution is the result of hours of hacking and wiring and runs on a PC. I've been itching for a couple of years to make the whole system Mac-based. The hicksdesign post, along with all of my other research, should lead to a system that puts my current HTPC to shame.

[via 43 Folders]

Here's an interesting twist on the iTunes vs. record companies situation. Radiohead (disclaimer: I'm a Radiohead fan) is choosing not to sell their latest album on iTunes not because their record company is pressuring them out of the deal-- their record company is EMI, and they're more than willing to sell the record DRM free-- but because iTunes is forcing them to break up their album into songs that can be sold separately.

Usually, I'm all for selling separate songs-- why should I pay for a whole album when I'm only going to listen to three or four songs? But when a request comes from the artist like this, it seems like a different ballgame. I'd like to buy Radiohead's album on iTunes, and if they want it complete, then that's the way I'd want to buy it. But because Apple has fought to keep songs separate, Radiohead isn't selling it with them at all. You might say that I wouldn't feel the same way about other artists, and you'd be right-- if Vanilla Ice required me to buy the entire To the Extreme just to listen to "Ice, Ice Baby," I'd decide it wasn't really worth it.

But my personal tastes aside, the whole thing actually reminds me of Ed Burns talking about watching Godfather on the iPod-- the iTMS has fundamentally changed the way we purchase and consume media. The concept of "album" is losing meaning. For most iTunes purchasers, I'd imagine that's not a bad thing. But artists like Thom Yorke and Radiohead clearly aren't ready to see the album experience disappear, and they're willing to keep their music off of iTunes to fight it.

[via MacBytes]

Watch out Delicious Library, you finally have some competition on the way. Koingo Software's upcoming Librarian Pro for Windows and Mac will bring some interesting new features to the media cataloging table. While its standard UI doesn't look quite as flashy as Delicious Library's (though it features a 'Gallery mode' that displays everything by cover art that the company hasn't posted a screenshot for), Librarian Pro allows users to catalog PC hardware and software in addition to books, movies, music and games. In fact, it can scan your hard drive (I assume both Macs and PCs) to automatically catalog your software. Users will be able to create smart collections for organizing their stuff any way they please, and Librarian Pro allows for multiple media databases to help keep different collections separate (say, one for your home stuff and another for your work-related books and software). Speaking of staying organized, Librarian Pro can also display a panel of contacts from Address Book to show you who borrowed what, when and how many.

Another cool new feature takes Amazon integration one step further by allowing you to shop the site from within Librarian Pro, immediately adding anything you purchase to your collection. Fortunately, Librarian Pro works with Amazon Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, German and France, and the database is fully UTF-8 compatible spanning both Mac and Windows systems.

Librarian Pro will be available for download and purchase on September 1st (I have no idea why they announced two days early) for $29.95, with a 15-day trial available to get your feet wet.

[Update: By the way, I forgot one thing: to help facilitate switchers, Librarian Pro can import from Delicious Library, DVDpedia, Bookpedia, CDpedia and Gamepedia.]