Reprinted from TidBITS#801/17-Oct-05 with permission. Copyright (C) 2005, TidBITS. All rights reserved. http://www.tidbits.com/ MailBITS/17-Oct-05 ------------------ **PCalc Adds! (A New Version, That Is)** -- PCalc is a calculator utility by James Thomson (who also writes DragThing, my favorite launcher). Developing a calculator is something of a thankless task, because users feel that arithmetic is something computers should just know how to do, and because a free calculator utility is always included by default. PCalc, however, has had remarkable staying power; it's been around for a long time, and has usually been the calculator that Apple strives to emulate with each successive version of its calculator. The Tiger version of Apple's calculator threatened to catch up at last, adding reverse Polish notation and hexadecimal/binary mode. Now PCalc strikes back with version 3, adding extensible unit conversions and user functions, plus a superior interface (you can do just about everything without the mouse, plus it looks really slick with all three drawers showing - RPN stack, Unicode, and paper tape). PCalc requires Tiger 10.4.2 (and includes a calculator Dashboard widget); it costs $20 and is a free upgrade for current PCalc users. [MAN] **Adam Helps Launch MacNotables Podcast** -- Podcasting is all the rage right now, and it's something we've thought about doing in a variety of ways for TidBITS and Take Control. But the obstacles are huge - learning entirely new technologies and skills, coming up with interesting topics to talk about, and carving out time in our already overcommitted schedules on a regular basis. So when Chuck Joiner, who has tons of experience with The User Group Report, called to run an idea past me, I sort of ambushed him with a related idea - why not create a new podcast with a group of well-known Mac people who weren't currently participating in the podcast space? In one fell swoop, the idea, now a reality as the MacNotables podcast, eliminated all the problems that had kept many of us out of the podcasting world. Chuck's production, interviewing, and scheduling skills anchor the podcast, which features a veritable who's who of panelists, including Chris Breen of PlaylistMag.com, Bryan Chaffin of The Mac Observer, Jim Dalrymple of MacCentral and Macworld.com, Tonya and me representing TidBITS, Andy Ihnatko of the Chicago Sun-Times, Ted Landau, Bob LeVitus of the Houston Chronicle, and Dennis Sellers of Macsimum News. The first few episodes have been panel discussions: the first one focused on Apple's financials and speculation about last week's announcements, while the second covered Apple's new products. So give us a listen, and stay tuned for more notable episodes. Use the second link below to subscribe via iTunes; the MacNotables home page has links for general RSS subscription and direct listening. [ACE] **DealBITS Drawing: Swift Publisher Winners** -- Congratulations to Kevin Savetz of savetz.com, Ole Andreas Kongsgaarden of c2i.net, and Marijn van der Waa of xs4all.nl, whose entries were chosen randomly in last week's DealBITS drawing and who each received an electronic copy of BeLight Software's Swift Publisher, worth $34.95. If you weren't among our winners, you can still save 15 percent on Swift Publisher through 26-Oct-05 by using the links below (the second link is for the download edition of Swift Publisher for $29.95, the third one is for the CD edition for $33.95 plus shipping (a total of $43.95); the CD edition contains 23,000 images and 100 designs versus 800 images and 60 designs in the download edition). This offer is open to all TidBITS readers. Keep an eye out for future DealBITS drawings! [ACE] .