So I believe I found a bug in Photomatix Pro 3.2.9 on Mac OS X. Below you can see the video on how it comes along. Anyone else experiencing the problems described in the video?
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHV-7yfNaXU
Software
App of the day – Ninite
After you format a computer, you need to reinstall if not also re download all the installation files, that can take a lot of time, and be annoying to sit through all those installation menus. However thanks to a daneault over at reddit I was able to find a program that makes life so much easier! Ninite is a great program that allows you to pick some of the most popular software to be installed on your machine with simplicity. You simply go to the site and select your favorite programs (you can recommend a program if it is not on the site) and then download a small installation file. Once you open that file, it downloads and installs all the programs you selected previously. So this means you will still have to be connected to the internet, however in this day and age, broadband is everywhere. The types of programs are nicely organized in the following categories: Web Browsers, Messaging, Media, Imaging, Documents, Security, Runtimes, File Sharing, Other, Utilities, Compression, and Developer Tools. As you can see there is an extensive list of categories, and the list of software is too long to list in this short blog post. Seriously I use to waste so much time installing software, but now this automated tool makes it so much easier and it actually makes formatting a pc fun again! This software should work on Win Xp and up and supports 32 and 64bit installations.
So next time you format a pc, head on over to Ninite.com to make it a better experience!
Screenshot taken from Ninite.com
WinX DVD Ripper for Mac Giveaway
The nice people at WinX have let me know that they are having a giveaway for their newest software for the Mac OS X Platform. WinX DVD Ripper promises to rip all DVDs (including all the latest copy protections) to any output you could possibly think of. I only launched the software and quickly played around, but did not rip a DVD yet. I found it nice that they tried to keep it simple (Mac philosophy), yet gave the user full control, trust me that is hard to do since I come from an MIS major. Another really cool thing I liked was the ability to control the amount of CPUs to use for an operation. Since I have a four core Xeon processor, that might help out in the ripping speed. Only constructive critisisim I have at this point is to try and make the interface look more Mac like, while some people don’t care about this I think it would look nicer. Since it is still new, maybe they can incorporate that thought later down the line.
Now about the Giveaway. They are giving away the software free of charge to launch the software. This giveaway expires on May 1st, 2010 at 12:00GMT so grab it while you can.
WinX DVD Ripper for Mac Giveaway
Finally Here are two pictures.
After entering the giveaway serial number.
Screen shot of the interface (click on the image to see the full size)
Fix for FirstClass Mac OS X case sensitive bug
When I updated my Mac Pro to Snow Leopard, I selected the case sensitive filesystem. I could not install Adobe CS because it requires a non case sensitive file system. I was really annoyed by that but I’m sure Adobe has their reasons. I also found that the client my University uses for email (FirstClass) would not work. At first I did not think it was because of the case sensitive issue. Today I found out after tinkering around that it was indeed because of this. I figured out that you must edit the home.fc file in “/Users/YOURUSERNAME/Library/firstclass/settings/”. To edit it just open the file in TextEdit, or any text editing program you use, and on line 10 just edit the file extension from .FCP to fcp. Make sure to do this before you save your username and password, because the contents of the file will change and it will then be on line 2401. I am going to contact FirstClass and let them know about it hopefully they will fix this minor bug.
Telestream ScreenFlow Review
Because of the rise of YouTube and video tutorials, screen-casting programs have become very popular. I have used screen capture programs in the past, however now they just don’t cut it. Screen-casting software not only captures, but it also allows editing. As a blogger, I sometimes create screen-casts tutorials, which require quick and painless publishing. I recently switched from PC to Mac because Macs make a lot of things easier to do. The main reason I believe this is because of Apple’s simplistic approach. I have started using Telestream’s ScreenFlow, which follows this simplistic approach (simple yet powerful). It had a very small learning curve of about five to ten minutes.
Features
ScreenFlow supports high-resolution screens with ease. If you have multiple screens ScreenFlow gives the option of selecting the required source. The feature that I believe differentiates ScreenFlow from all other Mac screen-casting software is the ability to “Callout” a window after recording is over. This is no simple zooming technique, it actually makes the window larger compared to everything else on the screen. This could be handy in case you did not know you want to Callout a window before finishing recording. One of my favorite things about ScreenFlow is the way it saves project files. Every project file contains all files needed to open the project in one package. That way files are not all over your hard drive. When you are constantly moving, copying, deleting, and creating new files having one file per project is helpful for organizational reasons.
Support
When contacting Telestream’s support I always received a fast effective response, which shows the Telestream team is there to stand behind their product. I have found some small inconveniences that I have reported to Telestream hopefully they can accommodate for fixes soon (At the time of writing this post the version I am using is 1.5.2). Firstly you must add a video or audio effect for each clip separately, you cannot just drag it from one clip to another. When adding an additional recording with the “Close ScreenFlow before recording option” selected without saving the entire project prior. It will ask you to save the project, but then it won’t record you must to go back and select add additional recording again. Another feature I feel would make ScreenFlow even more amazing would be the ability to blur out personal information such as usernames and passwords. I have received a reply from the support team looking into all these issues for the next version.
As a screen-casting program ScreenFlow ticks off all the boxes I need. It is a very powerful yet easy to use program. I can create screen-casts fast. I am glad the Telestream team made it very simple and not a full-blown video editing solution. This way the application file size stays small (13 Megabytes), the program does not get too complicated, and performs what it does very well. On a final note I noticed that Telestream have made this program amazing by building it systematically. First they got the basics down and slowly they add features as opposed to building it with all the features they can think of. That way the program not only works better, but also is formulated better. I would recommend it for any Mac user that needs to produce screen casts. You can Try and Buy ScreenFlow on Telestream’s Website ($99).
Ps. If you have any questions or are confused by anything in this review and would like an answer, please comment and I’ll do my best to respond.
WordPress 2.8 Released
Yeah it’s finally here! Go and update, I’m not going to post about what is new etc, just find out from the wordpress website
Pageonce
I was watching my friend recently on the computer and he showed me Pageonce. It is a service that aggregates all your online accounts into once place for easy viewing, managing, and productivity enhancement. You can place all different times of online accouts in page once, Finance, Email, Utilities, Credit Cards, Social Networking, Travel, Shopping. You can even input your skype account. If you can’t find your account provider you can even add it (haven’t tried this yet). It works with most banks in Canada as well. For people that are scared about security issues, Pageonce is encrypted and secured(you can read more about that here). The cool thing is that they even have applications for the iPhone and blackberry to be able to look at everything on the go. I found it really great to see the balances of my account in a clear and cocise manner. So check them out its a cool site that is free to use!
I bought the MacHeist 3 bundle
Even though I don’t have a mac yet, I decided to buy the bundle. I have a mac mini now w00t w00t! This is because it had some nice software that I wanted once I have a mac. 25% of the purchase price goes to any of the 10 charity causes available, or split between all 10. I picked the Alliance for Climate Protection. If you use a mac, and want some great programs for very cheap, head over to macheist.com in the next 3 days. The following apps are part of the bundle Which Sells for $39 when retail they would cost $621.75:
iSale – iSale 5 saves time, money and stress. If you’ve ever tried to go through the eBay website to submit an auction, you know where the power of iSale lies: It’s never been easier to handle all your online auctions through just one app.
Picturesque – Make Images Gorgeous.
Picturesque is a simple app with a simple goal: to make images more beautiful. Whether you are in web or print, your images can benefit from a touch of Picturesque magic.
SousChef – It’s a digital cooking assistant
Most cooking software stops at letting you organize your recipes. SousChef helps you cook, start to finish. Find a recipe, cook it, modify it and share it with friends & family—all in one application.
World of Goo – World of Goo is a physics based puzzle / construction game. The millions of Goo Balls who live in the beautiful World of Goo don’t know that they are in a game, or that they are extremely delicious.
PhoneView – Apple locks up the iPhone and iPod touch pretty tight, but PhoneView gives you back your data. Notes, SMS logs, your call history, disk storage, and more are now all accessible, thanks to PhoneView.
LittleSnapper – Offering an end-to-end solution for snapping, editing, organizing and sharing images, LittleSnapper is like iPhoto on steroids for your photo workflow, and combined with the online Quicksnapper service, a photographic memory for anything visual on your computer.
Acorn – Acorn is a photo editor built for the rest of us. With a simple interface and tools for adding everything from text, shapes, and effects, you can make the perfect picture in seconds and minutes, not hours and days.
Kinemac – Real time, professional 3D animation has never been so simple, yet looked so good. Kinemac offers all the tools you need to create stunning animations for any audience on any medium.
WireTap Studio – WireTap Studio is the ultimate recording utility, giving you complete control to record, organize, edit and share sound from any application or system input. If you can hear it on your Mac, WireTap Studio can record it.
Cro-Mag Rally – Man invented the wheel, and soon he learned how to race with it in Cro-Mag Rally, a blast to the past from the makers of Bugdom and Enigmo. Get behind the prehistoric wheel with Brog the caveman and a whole lot of weapons and bonuses that are anything but primitive.
BoinxTV – BoinxTV Sponsored Edition is a complete “TV studio in a box,” ideal for recording podcasts, seminars, and other events. With an innovative interface, live effects, and support for up to three cameras, BoinxTV Sponsored Edition takes your video production to an entirely professional new level.
The Following Two Apps are locked as of now, but once MacHeist reach $500,000 raised for charity they will be released. This will bring the total retail price to $980.70! All apps have been unlocked!
The Hit List – Your life is complicated, but managing it doesn’t need to be. The Hit List is a task manager that is simple to use, yet powerful enough for the most demanding workaholics. Whether you just want to jot down a grocery list or you need a full-blown Getting Things Done tool for tracking every last detail of your business and pleasure, The Hit List is the perfect task manager for you.
Espresso – Espresso is a fresh new web editor that brings equal amounts of caffeine and style to your projects. Offering a complete set of tools for coding, previewing, and publishing sites, Espresso is built from the ground up to be the flexible, powerful app you need to get the job done.
Finally you will get EventBox for free which organizes social networking all in one app!
Extra: if you have twitter and would like to get Delicious Library and Multiwinia for free Click Here
Episode Renamer (epnamer)
So yesterday I created the office season 5 torrent. While I was creating it I was fixing the file names manually. I quickly did a google search and found this program that automatically renames episodes for you! It works great and you can even specifiy the formatting.
You can download it here: EpNamer
Upek Protector Suite 2009 Review
Today I had a nice email conversation with a nice gentleman at Upek, they requested that I remove the download of the 5.8.2 protector suite application and driver. They explained that it was because some users have to pay for this update. I gladly removed it as it is their property and was offered the chance to try their 2009 (version 5.9) for a test spin.