Type of Article: MacTech Reviews

A couple of weeks ago, tired of Comcast’s ever-rising cable TV prices, I ditched their cable TV (but kept the Internet package) and went with DISH TV. Their pricing is cheaper and I was intrigued by their TV Everywhere feature — which has worked pretty well so far.

By Marcus Geduld

FxFactory 2 from Noise Industries (http://www.noiseindustries.com) may be the future of Adobe After Effects plug-ins. The concept will be familiar to anyone who has tried the Apple iTunes Store.

First, you can download FxFactory for free. It’s a plug-in store that, like iTunes, has some free products and ones for purchase. You can try any of the hundreds of plug-ins right in After Effects. This is both a blessing and a curse.

Sometimes when you’re listening to your tunes or using your iPhone, you want to feel isolated. Sound isolated, that is. Enter the US$199.95 SE315 earbuds (http://www.shure.com/americas/products/earphones-headphones/se-models/se315-sound-isolating-earphones) from Shure. The SE is for “sound isolating.”

The SE315 sports High-Definition MicroDrivers and utilizes a vented driver. A detachable cable with formable wire can be easily replaced in case of damage. Sound Isolating sleeves — available in black or clear — in multiple sizes provide up to 37 dB of isolation and a customized fit.

Data Backup 3 (http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_backup.php) from Prosoft Engineering is an utility for Mac OS X (10.4 and higher) that lets you back-up, restore and synchronize your data easily. And it’s a step (or two) up from Apple’s own Time Machine.