Back in 1997, when I got my first computer, although I've been working with computers since late 1980s from time to time, image processing and fractals were some of the first passions I dedicated my computer time to, apart from gaming and Pascal programming. Oh, my, how I miss those days!

Back then, mobile phones were only appearing here and there, and working with image files on them was still a dream. Even working with large images (back in those days, more than 800X600 was "large" for most computer users) on my computer often turned to be a gruesome task, so seeing where we got today is a dream coming true, and - even more - iPhone image manipulation is a dream turned into reality for iPhone users, with the help of Intellicore's ImageTouch!

This software has the following features to help you turn iPhone image manipulation into pure joy and relaxation:

- add pictures from your iPhone or iPodTouch photo library
- resize, move, rotate one picture or more at a time
- switch pictures with a double tap
- add a frame or a shadow to any picture with a long tap on the picture (tap the picture and don't release, and a drawer appears after a short moment). Same operation to delete a picture
- change background color with a long tap on the background<-336x280 Large Rectangle - right->
- beautify your composition and add decorations within a set of 16 stamps
- export in Hi-Rez in the iPhone or iPodTouch photo library; you can then email your composition
- add and filter with tags, dates and locations to easily find your compositions
- locate your composition on Google Map
- special tab ('More') provides with Infos, Tutorial, and latest news about ImageTouch
- contextual advises help you discover all features (you can turn it on and off in the Settings)

Obviously, all operations support one or more fingers, so you can turn this iPhone image manipulation activity into "family sessions," and what can be more fun than playing with your holiday photos all at once? I know the results could be a bit strange in most cases, but we're talking about the fun of iPhone image manipulation now, and not the results, since it's obvious Adobe Photoshop or another specialized application will always beat its mobile so-called "competitors,"(now I say that no mobile application can compete with Photoshop, but one day I may swallow my words...) or at least in the close future, if not "always..."

All in all, if you have an iPhone around, you can give this free application a try. Like it or not, you'll surely have at least some fun with it. Don't blame me if you will end up saying this is not powerful enough - after all, it's an iPhone image manipulation app, not Adobe Photoshop!

In some areas of the world, people involved in politics are (almost) all right. In the US, as far as I can tell, things are black & white. Well, that's better than in other countries, believe me! As the race for the most powerful president in the world continues, it seems Barack Obama accomplishments list is the first one to include...a very interesting and handy iPhone app!

Less than a day ago, the Obama campaign team released an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch to allow supporters track and coordinate volunteering efforts, while being able to receive the latest news about their favorite candidate, wherever they may be - <-180x150 Small Rectangle - right->as long as their device can access the Internet, of course.

I know this is not one of the personal Barak Obama accomplishments, but it is surely something worth checking out, and here's the list of features that should make you try this (free!) app, or maybe start working on one for your favorite candidate, if Obama is not the one:

- Call Friends: A great volunteering tool that lets you make a difference any time you want by talking to people you already know. Your contacts are prioritized by key battleground states, and you can make calls and organize results all in one place.
- Call Stats: See nationwide Obama ‘08 Call Friends totals and find out how your call totals compare to leading callers.
- Get Involved: Do more. Find and contact your local Obama for America HQ.
- Receive Updates: Receive the latest news and announcements via text messages or email.
- News: Browse complete coverage of national and local campaign news.
- Local Events: Find local events, share by email and get maps and directions.
- Media: Browse videos and photos from the campaign
- Issues: Get clear facts about Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s plan for essential issues facing Americans.

The system requirements are decent, since there's only one big thing to keep in mind - the iPhone 2.0 software update, as well as one of the following - iPhone 3G, iPod Touch, or the original iPhone, of course! All in all, Obama '08: The Official iPhone Application is a program that may change the way political campaigns are going to take place from now on, since this one is probably the first of its kind...

I don't know if you had the pleasure of using Safari for Windows so far, but I must say that version is not far from the Mac OS X one. In fact, Safari running on Windows machines is more reliable than a lot of browsers specifically created for that platform, and that should say it all! If you say that is not true, then you surely need to check the latest Windows version of the software, and not rely on the impression left by the earlier Betas. Anway, this is not about Safari for Windows, since there's something more interesting than that I have in store - OmniWeb for Mac, a browser based on the same framework as Apple's Safari!

As you probably know already, WebKit is the first page rendering engine to score 100/100 in the Acid3 test. Just for your reference, Opera 9.52 gets 84/100, and Firefox 3, a modest 71/100. WebKit, an open source web browser engine, is also the name of the Mac OS X system framework version of the engine that's used by Safari, Dashboard, Mail, and many other OS X applications, including the browser from Omni Group I mentioned earlier, OmniWeb, now at version 5.8.<-180x150 Small Rectangle - right->

The latest OmniWeb for Mac version, described by Omni Group as "advanced web browsing that's easy and fun" includes all the security updates present in the latest Safari version, such as downloadable fonts, CSS animation, HTML 5 media tags and client side database storage. The feature list looks great, since OmniWeb has auto-saved browsing sessions, workspaces, ad blocker, and a built-in RSS reader.

When talking about new things in the latest OmniWeb for Mac browser, there's the Google Chrome user agent option(already?!?WOW!), upgraded toolbar icons, a bugfix for Leopard's Spaces, as well as support for Non-POSIX file URLs, together with a bunch of other goodies, especially compatibility improvements.

I left the sad news for the last paragraph, because I always consider that such things must come in last place, but you have to know that OmniWeb for Mac is priced at $15 and requires at least Mac OS X 10.4.8. Fortunately, a 30-days free use demo is available, so you may want to give this browser a try, because it's for sure one piece of software worth trying!

You don't have to own a computer or a smart mobile phone to be able to play pinball, since even most our parents and grandparents played this at least one time, or saw a coin-operated pinball machine in a bar, club or casino. Now, we have a lot of alternatives on PCs and mobile phones, and a game with a interesting twist is the Mystery Mansion Pinball, iPod-flavoured!

Usually, one plays pinball to get a lot of points and, maybe, even beat one of the top 10 times, aiming to become the first one in that top, sooner or later, but those enjoying Mystery Mansion Pinball iPod are more like crusaders against evil. Crusades seem a bit outdated to me, and the endless fight against evil, as well, but if there are chicks involved, let it be...

Here's what the producer says you'll get from this game, although features may be slightly different, depending on the mobile platform you're using - after all, it can be Mystery Mansion Pinball iPod, iPhone, and so on...

- B-Movie Atmosphere: Fun and scary setting with lots of familiar characters—Frankenstein’s monster, werewolves, vampires, etc. <-180x150 Small Rectangle - right->
- Design based on the most successful and thrilling real pinball games.
Incorporates the latest pinball machine functionality, such as fun mini-videogames that you can play on the machine’s LED scoreboard.
- Incredible attention to detail to reproduce the real sensation of playing pinball.

While the board and the items are well designed, a little problem for this game could be the scrolling camera, which moves up and down, left and right, up and down, and so on - with the obvious reason of following the ball.

Even more, when playing Mystery Mansion Pinball iPod, you get more than just the main game, since mini-games also popup from time to time, just as you would be playing on a pinball machine scoring screen! This is a interesting addition, and it surely brings a nice break and tempo change.

At last, there's a really funny thing to mention - I don't know exactly how many real pinball machines would be sold if they would keep repeating "I am the devil" over and over again. I am not the religious type, but for God's sake, someone call an exorcist and get rid of this devil who's spoiling much of the fan that can be had by playing Mystery Mansion Pinball iPod!

Accounting is not one of my passions, that's a sure thing. Not even the fact that, for most accounting tasks, you have to use a computer is going to push my explorations to this area, especially since in some parts of the world, this tasks also involves keeping notes in huge notebooks(yeah, those old notebooks, not these new ones!). Anyway, since I like to discover new applications every day, I will disregard my personal opinion and tell you a few things about QuickBooks Accounting 2009, a new version of the notorious QuickBooks software that is coming to Macs once again, thanks to Intuit!

Although past has shown that Intuit isn't extremely interested in developing Mac products, things are about to change. After all, the Mac software market is slowly taking off, and you should be blind not to notice this, as a software company who kept its Mac products into a "forever beta" stage for a pretty long time.<-125x125 Button - right->

QuickBooks Accounting 2009 will come right after QuickBooks 2007 for Mac, but it seems those interested in it will only be able to get it two weeks from now. Retailing for the same price as its predecessor, $199.95, QuickBooks 2009 features a whole new interface, and is a Leopard-only product.

This product now integrates with the LightSpeed POS software, allowing small businesses to organize their transactions, reports, and customer data much better than before(while previous versions forced you to browse through countless windows, now you entries can be easily placed into single-page views).

Unfortunately, there's no info about a multi-user version, and rumors say that full file compatibility between the Windows and Mac versions of the software has not been achieved. At last, it seems the Intuit website wasn't updated yet with the latest information about the upcoming product...