Brand: MacNews

iPod Free File Sync (iPFFS) 2.0 is a free utility for Mac OS 9 that allows music from different iPods or any other sources to easily be synchronized. The application shows which music files on the source volume are not on your computer, and allows the user to manually or automatically sync the two devices. A Mac OS X version is in development.

MCE today announced the Lucid-16, a 16x10x24x version of its portable, bus-powered FireWire CD-RW. MCE touts the Lucid as featuring the slimmest dimensions and lightest weight of any external CD-RW on the market. The Lucid-16 carries a US$399 price tag; an optional AC adapter is available for $14.99. MCE’s Lucid page has not yet been updated with the drive’s faster specifications.

CCH, Inc. has announced the debut of its online tax preparation and filing service, CompleteTax. The service allows both Mac and PC users to file both a federal and state tax return for US$17.95 combined. CompleteTax, which is an IRS e-file partner and can file returns electronically with both the IRS and all 42 states that allow electronic filing, gives users the choice of filing electronically or printing out their return and mailing it themselves.

Last week’s Macworld Expo San Francisco attracted 87,890 attendees from nearly 100 countries, according to MacCentral, down from some 93,000 visitors last year but up from the 85,000 two years ago. Charlie Greco, president and CEO of IDG World Expo, called the recent Expo, “by all accounts… a home run.”

Nothing So Strange, a film that debuted Sunday at the Slamdance festival, portrays the assassination of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. In order to further story development, Director Brian Flemming and Producer Brian Clark constructed a number of Web sites that detail the crime and its aftermath — á la Blair Witch Project — noting that Hollywood sees the Web only as a marketing tool, explains a Wired article.