Adobe hasn’t released a new version of Photoshop Elements for Mac since version 4 at the end of 2005. I never tried that version, considering I have only owned my Mac since last summer, and Elements 4 wasn’t written as a universal binary app for Intel machines at the time. Adobe passed on making version 5 of Elements on the Mac.

Now, Photoshop Elements is back on the Mac with the new version 6.0, released March 24, 2008. The Windows version has been out since October 2007, and has received excellent reviews. So, when Adobe announced a pending new release for the Mac, I went online and pre-ordered my copy. Prior to this release, I’d always borrowed a software disc from friends to install myself a copy, or used less scrupulous methods. Now, I have given Adobe a sale, which they have certainly earned for such a fantastic product as Photoshop. I opted for a physical boxed copy of Elements 6, instead of the option to download the program online. I received my copy in the mail last Friday.

Installation from the software DVD took a long time. Also installed by default were apps for Adobe Bridge CS3 and Stock Photos CS3. After the lengthy install, the program loaded quickly, and with ease.

I love the new look of Elements 6. Its dark interface helps make your photos appear vibrant and alive. The new layout is just as wonderful, with the toolbar running along the left side of the screen. The palette bin on the right side provides easy access to filters, layers, and more. The palette bin does consume a bit of screen space, but it is easily collapsible.

The main functions of the program are divided into three colorful tabs: Edit, Create, and Share. I will likely spend all of my time in the Edit mode. Within the Edit mode, you can choose three editing methods: Full, Quick, or Guided. Users can use whichever they prefer based on their amount of experience with Photoshop. The Full mode is what most users will want, which is now more feature-rich than any old version of Elements ever was.

One complaint I have is that when I’m using Elements and switch to a new Space in Leopard, the program is mysteriously gone when I switch back to the Space it was running in. I have to click its Dock icon, or use alt-tab, to get the program to show itself after I come back from working in another Space. That is odd.

I haven’t yet had a chance to experiment with some of the new features of Elements 6, such as PhotoMerge. I may find a use for that when the time comes. For now, I am happy using the traditional Photoshop tools available in the Full Edit mode. I am already very satisfied with this application. Cheers to Adobe for bring Photoshop Elements back to the Mac!

This article from AppleInsider has informed us that Apple plans to redesign and upgrade the Mac Mini. This is very welcomed news. I love my Mini. It is so fast and powerful, yet so small and silent. I am very happy with the performance of my machine. It is amazingly fast and snappy at all times. I can only imagine how much faster the new Mini will be.

Rumors had once gone around that Apple may pull the plug on the Mini. That would be a shame, considering it is the most affordable Mac you can buy. It’s an inexpensive way for iPod/iTunes users to try out the Mac side of computing. After all, that is what reeled me in. Macs are a very different world to some Windows users, and potential switchers are put off by the high price of the Apple brand. The Mini is a cheap way for anyone to experiment with the Mac.

While I’m glad that Apple is upgrading the Mini, there is a giant gap between the Mini and the extremely high-end Mac Pro. I wish Apple would design a desktop computer that falls somewhere in-between. One that doesn’t come with a screen, as the iMac does. That gap in their desktops is a glaring omission in their product line.

I wish that Apple had added an easy way to bulk rename files in the Leopard Finder. I have a lot of pictures that are emailed to me that come with weird, cryptic names. I like to add the year and a short event title to the filenames of batches of photos like this. I have experimented with two bulk renaming utilities on my Mac, and my favorite is Renamer4Mac. It is really cool and fairly easy to use. Simply drag a group of files to the program window and you can see the current filename and a preview of changes you are making. Typical features such as numbering, capitalization, match/replace, add/subtract are all present. Changes to even very large groups of files are near-instant. A batch renaming program like this is very useful. Plus having better file naming habits will ultimately improve Spotlight searches. Give it a try.

If you are a Rolling Stones fan, like myself, you have probably already heard about the upcoming movie Shine a Light. It’s a concert movie directed by Martin Scorsese, filmed over two nights in late 2006 at the Beacon Theater, in New York City. The movie is going to be released at IMAX and regular theaters on April 4, 2008! A double CD movie soundtrack is also available!

I received the link to this site in an email that was sent to me. It is worth sharing with you all. It is a flash-based world clock and counter for planetary data of all types, including births, deaths, CO2 emissions, etc. I don’t know how accurate the figures are, but it is pretty stunning none the less.

Last week, I finally turned on the Time Machine in Mac OS X Leopard (now 10.5.2). Before I started using it, I chose to partition my external hard drive to limit the amount of space that Time Machine was going to use. I first had to copy my existing files to another location before the partition, since doing so erases all of the data on that drive. My internal drive is a mere 80 GB, so I capped my Time Machine partition on the external at 110 GB. That should be more than enough. After I completed the partitioning, I turned on the Time Machine. I dragged what Macworld called the “cartoonishly large slider” into the ON position.

The first backup of my data took quite a while. It had to back up around 30 GB and it took most of the night, around 8 hours or so. Fortunately, only the original backup would take anywhere near that long.

I have to say I am impressed. I am now getting my full money’s worth out of my Leopard upgrade. Time Machine works exactly as advertised, running seamlessly in the background. Now, after a week of backups, I can “travel back in time” as I flip through my folders and files. So cool! I think Time Machine could use a lot more options, though. I don’t like that it wants to back up every hour, take-it-or-leave-it. I don’t want my external drive spinning up and down all the time. I have my music library on the adjacent partition of that drive, and I don’t want it wearing out faster than it should.

Fortunately, you can download a free app that will give you more control. No installation is necessary, either. The app is called TimeMachineEditor and it allows you to easily change the intervals of the backups, without using the Terminal. Using the editor, I changed my backup interval to every six hours. Give it a try, it’s great.

I have to finally weigh in on the potential takeover of Yahoo by Microsoft. As you probably know by now, Microsoft has offered up $40B in an effort to buy rival Yahoo. So far, the powers-that-be at Yahoo have not been warm to the offer. Still, Microsoft will probably go to any length necessary to make this a reality, even if the takeover becomes a hostile one. The company claims they need Yahoo in order to compete with Internet star Google.

Personally, I hope they fail…and fail miserably. I am no fan of Microsoft. Their decades of corporate greed and endless bullying of their rivals has left a bitter taste in my mouth. I think the company should have been broken up years ago. I believe they still operate a monopoly today, at least in the business world, and they abuse that power at every opportunity. Microsoft is all about stealing others’ ideas and claiming them as their own. I have watched for years as they relentlessly stomped on anyone trying to get a foothold in the business. The systematic destruction of the Netscape browser was among the most personal.

I think Microsoft’s web services stink. I do not like MSN or the new Live.com. Funny, I remember when Microsoft bought Hotmail.com and made it their own. It went from being a cool, hip place to send mail via the web, to a bloated, cumbersome service littered with advertisements. I remember once, years ago, when Microsoft updated individual user preferences for Hotmail account holders to include incorporate new privacy options. In doing so, Microsoft forcefully and deliberately set each and every user account to allow their addresses to be used for targeted advertising. Is that what you expect from a company you supposedly trust?

I happen to like Yahoo. The site is still a great online destination, and they have an immense array of product offerings. I admit that I use Gmail instead Yahoo Mail, but that doesn’t mean Yahoo is lacking. I do read Yahoo News and visit My Yahoo on a daily basis. I also use the Yahoo Messenger, Yahoo Widgets, Yahoo Answers, Flickr, and Del.icio.us, just to name a few.

If Microsoft becomes the controller of Yahoo’s services, I am planning to cancel each and every one one of those services when/if it goes into effect. I won’t have any part of being a Microsoft web customer. Period.

Go away, Microsoft. Leave Yahoo alone!

What has happened to the state of Swiss Cake Rolls today? I remember when I was a kid, I would be so thrilled if I had a pack in my lunchbox. I can vividly remember how soft, fresh, creamy, and fantastic they were. Today, the same little cakes are borderline terrible. I don’t believe it is just my imagination, either.

Last night I opened a pack and I could only stomach one of the two rolls. It just wasn’t good, and had little taste. Today’s Swiss Cake Rolls taste so cheap and industrial, they are like biting into moist rolled-up cardboard. They have the texture of something made from chemicals and heavy machinery. I swear that over the years and decades they must have dramatically changed the recipe, and are just riding out their success using the original box. I don’t plan to buy any more of these, at least for a very long time. They are not the least bit good anymore.

I have successfully upgraded the RAM in my Mac Mini to 2 GB. My computer originally had 1 GB installed at purchase. I spoke to the folks my local Apple Store and they wanted over $250 to replace my memory with new chips. I thought that was insanely high and chose not to do that.

I decided that I’d try to install the new RAM myself. One thing about the Mini is that it isn’t meant to be opened. There are no screws or tabs to open the case. You have to pry it open to get inside, which effectively voids your warranty. I decided to take that chance. I bought two 1 GB chips from Crucial for an amazingly cheap price of $48 total. I successfully installed my new memory last night, and I am now up and running without any problems.

This was actually my second attempt at upgrading my memory. Last week, the chips that Crucial first sent me were high density RAM chips, and my Mac couldn’t use it. I think the company mistakenly thought I had the latest Core Duo 2 Mini, which apparently does support the high density memory chips. This was simply a misunderstanding and the company corrected the mistake.

If you own a Mac Mini and want to do this yourself, check out the following how-to videos on YouTube. If neither of these suit your fancy, there are a lot more videos and instructions on YouTube, and elsewhere online.

• Mini RAM upgrade video part 1
• Mini RAM upgrade video part 2