Dethe Elza posts the slides from his VanPyZ talk on Python and Cocoa on Mac OS X at "Living Code": "Again I'm using Eric Meyer's S5 tool for HTML slides, but it still ends up being a large download because it includes a completely unneccesary quicktime movie. My daughter and I have been playing with iStopMotion and this was one of our first forays into claymation. The reason it's in the slideshow, is that movie making is now completely accessible to an eight-year-old, and I want to writing games and other programs equally accessible to her." The 35MB movie is on slide 32.

Mike Morper writes: "My five year old son and I created this movie over the weekend. Great fun and great product... Keep up the good work..." "Crash Scene - The Movie" has a nice sound track and a no-expense-spared-sports-car-crash. And a lot of firefighters.

The Mac mini's have arrived. The small form factor gave us the idea to try to build a cluster for distributed compiling using Xcode. Unfortunately, our apps's code base is not nearly big enough to produce significant gains in compile time. A Dual-G5 still yields a lot better compiling time for us than 4 G4s.

Nevertheless, it is fun to see the machines stacked up occupying less space than the Production Suite package. Another idea for Apple: Cluster-In-A-Box.

Until our apps grow to a size that requires a cluster, those Mac minis will be put to good use in the administration where they have waited for years for a Mac that is small and affordable.

New York City based post-production facility Editional Effects created a fresh new packaging look for MTV2's tribute program “Viewer's Choice: U2's Greatest" which premiered Nov. 19th 2004 on MTV2. From their Press Release: "Through a labor-intensive process of hand cutting individually printed frames and the help of iStopMotion for Mac, Barry & Harrison were able to use a Nikon D70 Digital SLR camera controlled by a PowerBook laptop to photograph hundreds of images of the performing band members juxtaposed on the city's skyline. Shot on location on a Manhattan rooftop, the combination of stop motion animation and time-lapse photography made for a gritty, unpolished look that was just right for the show." A short clip featuring U2 has been posted to Editional Effects' Website.

FotoMagico 1.2 is nearing completion. New in 1.2b5:

• Redesigned Custom Export Presets Window.
• Completely new Default Export Presets.
• Many more small improvements and fixes.

Of course, titles remain the big thing about FotoMagico 1.2, but getting your slideshow out in QuickTime or on DVD has just become much easier with the new presets. More Info and Download...

Oliver Wehrens likes iStopMotion: "It is a nice stop motion program. It can also take timed snapshots. So I pointed out of my window." and posts a time lapse of the view from his window in MPEG4 format at his weblog. Lots of trains and cars... BTW, the Boarding Card layout of the webpage is quite original.