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May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation

David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women
Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership

Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer?

Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche

May 10, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be

Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs

Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces
Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told

Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : The Great Gatsby's Jewish Ties; Jews in the "Time 100 list" List; People's Most Beautiful Women

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon

May 8, 2013

Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas

Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate

Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
Amanda Paulson: Study reveals sad truths about community colleges

Harvard Health Letters: Evidence weak that zinc, echinacea are beneficial

The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility

May 6, 2013

Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again

Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense

Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage
Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say

Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy

Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal

May 3, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text

Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public

Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study
Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Iron Man's Jewish Connections; Marc Maron's New TV Show; Martin Landau Grows Up with Israel; Shalom, Allan Arbus

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert

May 1, 2013

Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy

Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push

Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices

Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine

Jessica Shugart: When it comes to math, MRIs may be better than IQs

The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be

April 29, 2013

Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust

Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?

Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Morgan Housel: He's rich, smart and old: Listen to him

Thomas Salinas, D.D.S.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: The safety of amalgam fillings

Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection

Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie

April 26, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The world is a mirror

Caroline B. Glick: Time to confront Obama

Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Kimberly Lankford: New strategies ease pain of paying for long-term care insurance

Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Too much ibuprofen?

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Major Leaguers, 2013; New Movies and Comedy Show; Shalom, 'Lumpy' (Leave it to Beaver)

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead

April 24, 2013

Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret

Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on
Harvard Health Letters: Can you get headaches from headache medication?

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to easily get more Omega-3s in your diet

Melissa Healy: Pot in a pill: All the pain relief without the smoke

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: Chipotle Chili Butternut Squash Soup is bold, zesty, hot

April 22, 2013

Ken Dilanian: Counterterrorism's future is unclear

US man departing country arrested on terror charges
Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer

P.J. Skerrett, M.D.: How to recognize a good whole grain product

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel


Jewish World Review Feb. 16, 2007 / 28 Shevat, 5767

New “Toast” Bows in Media Mix

By Mark Kellner

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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Nothing is simple these days, particularly when it comes to media: video blends with photos, accompanied by music, and is then locked into slide shows, or loaded onto portable players, or played back in the living room as the 21st Century doppelganger of those hoary "look-at-my-vacation" 35MM slide shows.


Putting everything together seems daunting, even for users of the oh-so-media-friendly Apple Macintosh. The iTunes program found on just about every Mac these days can only go so far, as can its "cousins," iPhoto and iMovie . You can do a lot with these programs, but preparing a simple "mix" of all media can be a tad daunting if you need to move between all three.


One part of the answer, could well be found in the recent release of Toast 8 Titanium, a $99 piece of media wizardry released by the Roxio unit of Sonic Solutions (www.roxio.com). Toast is a name that's almost legendary among Mac users for its ease in letting you create a CD, DVD, and, now, a Blu-ray , high-definition, high capacity disc, of just about anything you've got on your computer: last week's episode of Law & Order, your cousin's drive-thru Vegas wedding video, those slides from your trip to Lithuania's Rasos (midsummer) festival, all your 1970s vinyl translated to computer files - whatever.


This latest version of Toast shows that the software is, hardly, "toast" in the slang sense: it's up-to-date and thoroughly useful, save for one "speed bump" which is decidedly not Roxio's fault, of which more in a moment.


For now, let's start with some basics: You've got some television shows on your computer thanks to the EyeTV Mac-based recorder, or on your TiVO video recorder which is networked to the Mac. Either way, Toast 8 can transfer these to appropriate DVD discs, or convert them for use on an iPod or Sony PSP device. That's neat, especially when you video-recording hard drives start to fill up. According to the program's manual, a blank DVD can hold between two and five hours of video. Tracking recording progress isn't difficult: once the program starts recording, a progress bar is shown both in the program window and the system icon visible in the system "dock" of program icons.


Similar creating processes exist for data discs, which can back up a hard drive's contents, or for photo albums (just how many snaps can I get on a DVD?), and for moving the aforementioned old vinyl platters into modern times (get the right "patch" or connecting cables to run from your turntable to the computer).


In short, as you might be able to guess, there's a world of possibility here that is waiting for the right person to come along and use. Apart from Apple's multimedia programs, Toast 8 offers a lot in the way of melding and making multimedia recordings that can be truly useful. In some sense, it's a "precursor" program to Apple's applications, creating the kind of media that, for example, can be used in a presentation with Keynote, Apple's answer to Microsoft PowerPoint, or with PowerPoint itself.


But there's more. Because this software offers a bridge among several formats - you can create video in 13 different formats, for example - it's possible to go from Mac to PC platforms, and back, without too much hassle. And because it works with several multimedia types, blending items is possible.


I mentioned a drawback before, and it's this: you cannot use Toast 8 to create discs containing music purchased through Apple's iTunes online music store; that can only be done with the firm's iTunes software. Perhaps that can change in the future.


Since Toast 8 seems to have a wide range of possibilities, this limitation is an annoyance and not a deal-breaker. If you work with media, and a Mac, you'll want this program, and be glad you have it.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Mark Kellner has reported on technology for industry newspapers and magazines since 1983, and has been the computer columnist for The Washington Times since 1991.Comment by clicking here.

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