Ilene Hoffman
Articles by Ilene Hoffman
Boinx FotoMagico 4.4 up close and personal
When you need a photo presentation combined with music, video and special effects, FotoMagico from Boinx Software in Germany is a great choice. Recently updated to version 4.4, it now works with Lightroom 5 libraries. This November update is more about adding finesse to the product than new features. Among the new enhancements are 64bit and Mavericks compatibility, faster export, smoother transitions, and better color accuracy. In addition Boinx has opted to join Apple's transition from QuickTime to AV Foundation, which means you will have to convert your legacy movie files or use FotoMagico to convert them. The ability to clip video files with no transition has proved a very useful feature, as you can see in my sample video at the end of this review. Some of the features I write about below were added in updates previous to Version 4.4. It can be a challenge to keep up with what was added when because Boinx Software never just sits on its laurels, it updates FotoMagico frequently with bug fixes and user generated feature requests. Since the update from Version 3 to Version 4 in October 2012, Boinx has generated 12 updates! The most recent update is Version 4.4.2, released on February 5, 2014. I've worked with the last three versions on a 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 iMac with 16 GB RAM and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX graphics card. Previously, you could create an interesting slide show with different transitions, zoom, text, and music. Now, you can add more transition types and masks to the mix and show up to six images (Layers) on one screen, with text, image, or even a video within a static image. Masking your individual layers lets you do some interesting things, such as move a route line along a map as shown in one of their demos or show only part of a video or photo and use custom backgrounds. I last used FotoMagico when it was at version 2, at which time I made several family slide shows and the app made it quick and easy. After years of slide scanning, ripping video and audio recordings, I decided to revisit some of my slideshows. To save myself the hunt for photos I first tried to import my slide show from version 2 (circa 2008), but that didn't work because the FotoMagico file type was changed in Version 4.3. A call to customer support revealed that I could open my slideshow in FotoMagico 3.x, resave it and open it in version 4. I wanted to change a number of things, so I imported the folder of photos I used previously and added new ones. Create your Masterpiece You can drag in photos or graphics from Aperture, Lightroom, iPhoto or any folder on an internal or external drive. The preferences let you set which ones you want. FotoMagico Preferences Each type of media (image, sound, or video) and the transitions you choose present different enhancements you can tweak in the Options tab. The storyboard and timeline views make it easy to switch between mangeable horizontal scrolling through your story. There are some advanced display features in the program, but it's up to you as to how complicated you want to get in making your slide show. When I got stuck on how to finesse a feature, I usually found the answer to my problem in the support forums. For example, I wasn't able to wrestle music to the length I wanted, but tech support informed me that a simple click and drag at the end of a song to where I wanted it to stop, did just that. I was able to add a fade-out through the Audio sidebar tab and its options. While the instructions say you can drag the yellow fade-out slider to adjust the audio, I could not select the little slider consistently. Whether you make your edits in the Timeline view, as seen below, or in the Storyboard view, you can precisely set the timing for everything you see on screen. The updated FotoMagico is still fairly easy to figure out, but I did have some frustrating moments. Most of my imported photos displayed with a warning icon on them. First, it didn't like the size of many shots. I had used the regular TV 4:3 aspect ratio previously and this new slide show I set at 16:9 aspect ratio. Thankfully, FotoMagico offered to resize the shots for me. This operation does not affect your original files and the size edits can be removed, if needed. The other warning message I received is that FotoMagico does not like TIFF files, even though the documentation says it supports most common media types. The program converted the files to JPG for me. In FotoMagico 4 you can now see the slides in a Timeline view to help fine tune the transitions and music. This is a visual representation of the time the slide displays on screen by width of individual slides, whereas in Storyboard view, each photo displays as the same size image. The Timeline view also made it easy to mark the audio where I wanted the music to fade out. FotoMagico 4 Timeline View with Layers Showing FotoMagico 4.2 added a copy geometry feature which lets you copy the orientation (size, tilt, etc.) from one slide to another. The Geometry command is a lifesaver. It let me match where the photos, text or masks reside on screen and animation of the images so that everything looks consistent. I didn't miss fighting with where or how the photos appeared at all. When you have a vertical image, it gives you a black background behind the image, so when you zoom or change the orientation, the edges of the photo also zooms and rotates. You can apply a mask and mask out the edges so that only the photo moves, but the border stays put. I tried this with a couple of shots and it adds a touch of class to the presentation. When you apply a mask a third control appears on the stage area to edit only that mask. FotoMagico 4 Mask and Controls FotoMagico is now 64-bit so that you can make larger slide shows and experience less lag when creating your slideshow. I had no problem with lag or slow updates when adding media. As mentioned above, Boinx reworked their video support to be compatible with with Apple's changes to support iOS device resolution, which is where that update to AV Foundation comes into play. Older interlaced video may not play well, so you have to convert those videos to progressive scan H.264. You can download a Preset to use in the free HandBrake program to convert your video or use Final Cut Pro or Apple Compressor, if you own those programs. I had some trouble with this. My two-minute .MP4 video became one-and-a-half minutes when I imported it into my slide show. After much frustration, I imported the video into iMovie and exported it to a .m4v and it imported into FotoMagico fine. Bumps in the Road At one point I hit the title tab by mistake and when I tried to delete it FotoMagico got flustered and refused to go any further. I got the dialog box below and had to quit the app. Thankfully, I'd saved prior to adding the wrong slide. Unfortunately, the original presentation I created was corrupted and FotoMagico offered to recover my saved version, a feature added in version 4.3. It opened as a 4:3 aspect ration instead of 16:9. I reported this problem to Boinx. The resulting file that FotoMagico makes includes "(recovered)" in the file name. I copied everything to a whole new presentation to get back to my original ratio. The transitions and placement of the photos pasted in without any problems. Even if you save your showpiece as you work, when you close the program down, it still prompts you to save it. I received this dialog every time I quit the program, even though I saved regularly and had Autosave chosen in the Preferences. I put FotoMagico through the paces and according to Boinx Software's video expert, Bastian Wölfle, I wanted to add some non-standard edits. I had met him at a Macworld Expo and emailed him for help and he replied the next day with a customized tutorial video on mixing video and still shots, just for me! That's pretty special. There is a tutorial on the site now also that covers how to clip video and add photo overlays. Clipping the video to add photographs to it was not quite as smooth as advertised. The first three times I attempted to clip my video, it stuttered badly at the clips, or repeated pieces of the video. I think the two-minute file taxed the cache and FotoMagico. I resolved the problem by closing everything down and reopening the file and worked only on the video, then saved and quit when I was done with the clip. I added the shots into the video first when I reopened the file and saved and quit, which avoided the previous problems. File Export You can save your project directly to YouTube, Vimeo, or create a variety of iOS sized files from the Share menu. When I exported my slideshow to one of the many options, I was met with varying success. The resulting .app did not work in Mavericks or Mountain Lion. The export to iPad format worked fine and took about 16 minutes, but I think my 2:18 video layered with photos, added to the processing time. FotoMagico needs twice as much space to export as the file is big. Most of the exports took little time to complete. Boinx knows about the .app issue and released version 4.4.2 last week, which fixes the problem. I could no longer edit the length of time to view a slide in the Storyboard with this revision, but I could still edit it in the Options tab. My .app upload to Dropbox but would still not work when downloaded though. Bastian Wölfle replied to this problem: "Please compress FotoMagico players into a zip file before sharing them [in the Cloud]. OS X app bundles seem to be vulnerable litte puppies that want to be encapsulated and cuddled into a comfy zip archive." My Bottom Line While I worked on one project, I tested most of FotoMagico's features and spent many many hours wrangling with it. I ran into a number of issues, but I don't know whether some are bugs or cache/RAM issues. Yet, even with these issues, I still love the program, but at times felt like a beta tester. FotoMagico can be a breeze to use to create basic photo presentations. The more advanced features are best learned through Boinx's video tutorials and may take some time to master. Boinx Software is very responsive when you have trouble, so if any of your edits do not work perfectly every time, check the support forum. The US $99 price tag may seem steep, but the feature set is so rich, I think the price is reasonable. You can purchase FotoMagico through the Apple App Store or through the Boinx FastSpring site. I just wish Boinx would employ more testers so that they didn't have to update the program so often with minor bug fixes. My 94 photo project with three pieces of music and one video takes about 11 minutes to view and is still a work in progress. I don't believe there's another product on the market that would let me display my Dad's life the way I wanted. My eventual goal is to add more images and video, so that his great grandkids can know him long after he departed (2008). Please leave a comment below if you have any suggestions for my masterpiece. The first part of the video includes text, so you may want to click the YouTube link to see the slideshow in a larger size. For those who think locating family photos is a walk through the park, you can read about how I found mine in my blog on ilenesmachine.net.
OnOne Perfect Photo Suite 8 Review
Perfect Photo Suite 8 from OnOne Software is a robust photo editing suite that allows you to customize your photos in ways only limited by your imagination. This update to version 7 hit the stores in November, 2013 and now is up to version 8.1. It is well worth your attention and dollars. Some of the updates in version 8 include a new content-aware Perfect Eraser, and a Perfect Enhance module that offers preset filters. These filters let you auto correct your levels and colors, which acts a white balance tool, some preset filter enhancements or you can add your own presets. Everything is adjustable with simple tools in the right sidebar. A picture Browser is new as is some new interesting effects, which you can add to images in a batch. Why a Suite When you get home and offload your photographs from your camera there is often a disconnect. I don't mean physical connections between your computer and camera, but the disconnect from what you remember shooting and what you see on screen. Cameras cannot always capture the color, intensity, or range of light we see in real life. This is why there are so many apps available to edit your precious memories. There are hundreds of apps available now to help you bring out your inner Ansel Adams, but most come with presets that are not adjustable. If you want the ability to tweak the finer points of your image or use customizable editing presets, than you may find that the Perfect Photo Suite 8 meets all your needs. It can almost replace Photoshop and Lightroom, if Adobe's new software rental program isn't to your liking. Modules I could easily write 1000 words on each module available in Perfect Photo Suite 8, but I'll spare you with an overview and some example shots. There are eight modules in which you can apply different kinds of edits. The modules are Browser, Layers, Enhance, Portrait, Effects, B&W (black and white), Mask, and Resize. You can open the whole Suite or individual modules as a stand-alone product or as a plug-in to Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture, or Photoshop Elements. Through Lightroom you will not have access to Perfect Mask or Perfect Layers, because Lightroom does not support layers. If you choose the whole suite any module is available to use, whereas if you choose just one plug-in module, only that plug-in is available in that editing session. You can open any image stored on any device, including cloud storage from within the PhotoSuite. This is a great time saver and a useful new feature. The Browser lets you use a slider to make the previews bigger and includes an Info box that lets you see some basic information about the shot, including some EXIF data, such as ISO, F-stop, and color space. You can sort the files by Name or Date Modified. I wish they would add a list view though, because sometimes it is easier to choose a shot from a list if you know the name of the shot you seek. When you open the Suite, the Browse or Layers module opens, depending on how you set the Preferences. The Layers module lets you crop, edit, blend, mask, clone, retouch and blend without using any of the available filters. Many of the edits you might apply in Photoshop or Lightroom are available in the Layers, Enhance, or Effects module. Your screen layout in those three modules presents filters and presets on the left, your photo in the middle and customizable tools on the right. When filters show on the left, other tools appear to the right of them. You can see many of the options available in the Effects module in the screen shot below If you wanted to test different kinds of edits on one of your photos, it would take you hours in Photoshop, Lightroom or Aperture. In Perfect Photo Suite 8 you can click through the filters so quickly that you can preview hundreds of different edits in minutes. As you can see on the right in the screen shot above, once you find a filter you like, you can customize it in a variety of ways. Features In Action The new content-aware Perfect Eraser tool works well and I had less trouble learning to use it than the one in Photoshop. The accompanying Perfect Brush check box to constrain painting in or out an effect doesn't always work perfectly, but if you work at 100% you can catch the little errors. There are so many filters in the Effects module that it's hard to pick out the newest ones. I did find that the Glow, Bleach Bypass, and Grunge looks added some interesting effects when applied selectively. You can see my silo and barn shot in which I used the Perfect Eraser and a combination of filters in the slide show below. Some sample filters appear below in my waterfall reflection photo (larger view appears in slide show). Version 8.1 lets you import your own backgrounds, borders, textures, and presets. A very useful tool that allows you to open a shot as a layer, so you can blend photos was also added to Lightroom and Aperture. The third update lets you reset the slider tool with a double-click on its label. You can also create Photoshop actions that include the Suite plug-ins in the action. The Resize Module is not new, but I had not used it previously. I tested it with a photo shot with a 2.1 megapixel digital camera twelve years ago and upsized it. I am impressed with the result and can finally print an 8 x 10 version of the photo. You can see the original on the left and a zoomed-in shot of the detail in the upsized version in this New York moment below. Preferences As with all programs, a walk through the Preferences is a good starting point. General, Lightroom Plug-ins specific, and Performance options tabs are available through the Perfect Photo Suite 8 application itself. You can set a particular color space for new files, whether to open the product in Browse or Layers, and customize your background. When you use the File menu - Plug-in extras from Lightroom, it creates a copy of your file. These prefs let you set the file type, color space, bit depth and resolution of that copy. The Performance tab lets you set Memory Usage and VRAM Usage, which helps avoid lags and the wait cursor that was so prevalent in previous versions of the Suite. I actually bought a faster iMac with extra video RAM due to the lag I experienced with Perfect Photo Suite 6 and 7. That lag is gone from version 8.x unless you're working on a very large file. Small Annoyances I still had some trouble when opening a RAW file that I'd edited in Photo Suite 8 and saved as a Photoshop PSD file. In a couple of cases the layers did not show up and I couldn't switch into any other module. My workaround included making Photoshop edits and crop, then saving the file and reopening it in Perfect Photo Suite through the Photoshop Automate command, and then adding a vignette. Although I could see the options in the left pane in which you choose the type of vignette, the previews did not appear on my edited shot. I picked one and hit Apply anyway and the vignette did appear in the Photoshop file. A bit odd. (You can see this Herring Gull shot in the slideshow below.) I quit everything and did it all again and it worked fine, which probably means my RAM cache was full and caused the problem. My iMac has 16 GB of RAM and I guess that is just not enough when complex editing is applied. I had to restart the Suite after editing about five shots to clear out my cache. If you pass a file back and forth between Photoshop and Photo Suite 8, you cannot view the Photoshop created layers. The Suite only gives you the option to view a merged composite of the image. That kind of defeats the purpose of saving layered files. You need to be careful when applying sharpening, contrast, and some masking techniques. While the edits may look ok when fit in frame, you need to remember to zoom in 100% to check for noise and artifacts. In a few cases the shot looked ok in the Suite, but in Photoshop the noise was too visible to print. You can see this problem in my Herring Gull face below. The Suite introduced a halo and noise when I used the default dynamic contrast, but it wasn't until I blew it up to 200% that I noticed the problem. I wasn't able to adjust this filter upon reopening the .PSD file and had to re-edit it. One feature I would like to see added is when edits are applied that the layers specified which filter was used, but the layers only designate the module used. Options to Buy Prices vary according to your needs. You can buy the Premium Edition of Perfect Photo Suite 8 for US$179.95, that will eat up over 1/2 gigabyte of hard drive space. It includes the stand-alone app and the plug-ins. The standard edition is $79.95 and only works as a stand-alone photo editor. The plug-ins for Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop Elements, or Aperture also include the stand-alone edition for $129.95. If you own more than one of these programs, I recommend you buy the whole shebang. The option to view OnOne's introductory videos that appears after you install it is recommended because there are a variety of ways you can launch the product(s). The stand-alone app is not installed in your Dock or Launchpad by default. Generally, I do not do much intensive editing of my photos, so using some of the tools in Perfect Photo Suite 8 were a challenge for me. I used the Premium Edition of Perfect Photo Suite 8.1 for this review. There are just so many tools and options in the Suite that I recommend you watch some of their video tutorials or sign up for one of their many free webinars. I found these very helpful. They often cover aspects of good photography, which is fun too. In addition, OnOne offers free sets of new presets periodically, which I've used for great effects. Overall, I enjoyed using Photo Suite 8 and will go back over more old shots to see what new life I can breathe into them with some of the interesting filters offered. This product is totally worth the price of admission. In the slide show below, the original photo appears on the left and the edited photo is on the right with the exception of the silo and barn. The unedited RAW file is first and the Perfect Photo Suite edited file is second.
Reviews: Disk Diag is a popular, but odd Mac utility
Disk Diag from Rocky Sand Studio Ltd. is another one-trick* pony utility for Mac OS X. Updated in December, it simply scans your home folder to locate unneeded files, which you can choose to delete. Disk Diag is not well-named, because it does not do any diagnostics on your hard drive at all. There are no preferences for Disk Diag; this one-window utility shows you a gauge of disk usage at the top and a file type list underneath it. The six file types for which it searches are Caches, Logs, Browser Data, Trash, Mail Downloads and Large Files. You can turn each one on or off with a click on the blue stripe. The latest update disables Downloads deletion access by default. The program launch opens a Welcome to Disk Diag window with ads for other software from Rocky Sand Studio. I found that annoying, but there is a "Show at Launch" checkbox to disable this window from appearing. You can move your mouse over Smart Gauge to show how much space is used on your hard drive, how much is removable and how much free space is available. When you click the line next to one of the items, a text box and search box appears. The text box displays a brief explanation and the search takes you to the folder with the files within. Personally, I don't recommend this little app, because it is just too easy to delete items you may want later on down the road. For example, I keep logs, so I can follow a program's progress in case it crashes or to see progress notes on a sync. Logs are the only way to keep tabs on your system. I'm also not a fan of emptying caches while a program, such as your browser, is still in use. It will also delete files in your Downloads and Mail Downloads folder. I seriously do not want some utility app messing with my downloads folders. I usually keep my downloaded files and often leave received photos in my Mail Downloads folder to look at and deal with later, because it's all personal mail. So, I just think it's a good way to lose items you may want to keep. If you could pick and choose what to delete, Disk Diag would be more useful to me. One inconsistency in Disk Diag should probably be fixed. When you click the blue bar area to activate Downloads deletion, it just adds the whole folder contents to be deleted. Yet, when you activate the Large Files selection, it comes up with a dialog in which you can check boxes to indicate which large files to delete. I think both optional areas should include the check box selection. Now, there are more than 900 people who seem to love this app and have given it a 5-star rating in the App Store. Good luck to them. I just think it gives you enough (or rather not enough) information to make deleting things you cannot view first precarious. Rocky Sand Studio notes on their support page that the only way you can retrieve a file Disk Diag deletes is to restore it from your backup. You do have a backup, right? Disk Diag v.1.2 is free for a limited time, but normally sells for US$4.99. It is a 64-bit app compatible with Mountain Lion (OSX 10.8) or later. I tested it in OS X 10.8.4. * Corrected typo mistake.
Epson Expression Premium XP-610 Printer: Small printer, big features
The Epson Expression Premium XP-610 Small-in-One Printer is a small profile printer (with a long name) that offers an impressive array of features. While it doesn't seem to be as robust as other Epson printers I've tested, it has performed well in most cases over the past month of use. I used this printer as my default for over 30 days with only minor issues. The XP-610 offers auto 2-sided printing, a dedicated photo tray, CD/DVD printing, built-in cards slots, wireless printing, copying and scanning (up to 2400 dpi). With the free Epson iPrint app (shown below) and support for Apple AirPrint, it prints from your iOS device easily too. It's a speedy little printer and produces a mix of color and text well, just not very quietly. Even set to Quiet Mode in the Driver preferences, the printer chugs quite a bit. For such a small printer, it has wide assortment of copy features. I like like two-sided copy capabilities, which came in handy when I needed to copy forms for my health insurance application. It also can reduce and enlarge documents between 25% and 400%, scan to PDF and scan photos to coloring book pages. It fits into a space about the size of a large baking pan. It should fit on any household desk or workspace with its 15.4" x 13.4" x 5.4" (W x D x H) dimensions, but with the output tray extended it is 19.8" deep. It only weighs 21.5 lb, so it is easily moved. The software CD comes with Epson Print and Epson Scan, but those of you with newer Macs sans CD drive can download the software from the Epson site (or check Software Update under the Apple menu), if your Mac doesn't notify you automatically. Unlike most programs, there isn't a setting to have Epson Software Updater application automatically check for updates, so I launched it manually. A Low Ink Reminder program is also included and it lets you know your ink status in the print dialog. The XP-610 includes two paper trays, which I also like. One tray fits up to 100 sheets, no larger than 8.5 x 11" and the other handles the photo paper. The photo tray holds up to 20 sheets if you use the thicker glossy paper. You access all of the controls through the very readable 2.5" LCD touch panel display, which tilts out for easy access. You set up the Wi-Fi access, 2-sided scanning, and copying through the display, while the printed output from the computer uses Epson's Print dialog, as always. I tested the Wi-Fi access through my 2012 iMac and MacBook, plus a Windows 8 machine and an iPhone. Except for an MS Word doc printed through the PC, which regurgitated pages of garbage, the Epson XP-610 produced the needed output flawlessly. Mixed Text and Graphic Printing The XP-610 produces crisp text and graphics when used in Normal or Fine modes. As seen in my review of Greeting Card Shop by Chronos, it printed a greeting card on Kodak stock, which is not as thick as regular card stock, just fine. The area in which I think this printer pales is when you use the Economy setting to save ink. I usually use Economy to print drafts of articles and I found in some cases the print was too light to read adequately. The Fast Economy setting produced completely unreadable pages. I tried the economy settings with brand new black ink cartridges and ones that were partially used with the same results. The cartridges are easy to install and it seemed as if the small black ink cartridges lasted through a lot of printed pages; a few hundred sheets plus many photos of varying sizes. Epson claims you can print about 250 sheets with the regular black cartridge and 500 with a large cartridge. I'm sure I went over 250 sheets. You do get notices of low ink when there's still plenty of ink available. One user suggests disabling the Status Monitor so that the printer keeps going until the ink cartridge is empty. Photo Printing I do not think the XP-610 is up to Epson's usual standard in photo printing. This printer includes five Claria Premium inks: Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Photo Black. This ink produces smudge, scratch and water resistant photos, which supposedly last 200 years. Sorry, I wasn't able to test that... I like not having to switch between matte black and photo black cartridges as I must do with my Epson Stylus Photo R2880. I think I'm a bit spoiled by my R2880 though, because I'm not thrilled with the photo output of the XP-610 and it's probably an unfair comparison because one printer cost around US $500, while the other is now available for $99.00. I tried a variety of photo papers and thought it produced the best results with Epson-branded papers. It pixelated the prints when I tried HP and Kodak 4 x 6 photo paper. I also got better results with the small print sizes than with 8.5 x 11 photo paper. I found that I had to use Epson Controls color to produce color-correct prints instead of ColorSync or another program's. When I tried printing from Photoshop, in which I usually have Photoshop control the color output, the prints came out too red every time. When I set it to the Epson Color Controls the prints looked fine, but just not as crisp as my more expensive printer. While the printer claims it will do borderless printing on photo paper, I could not make it print to the edges (borderless) on paper larger than 5 x 7. CD/DVD Prints I realize that most people no longer print their own CD labels, because most Macs don't even have a DVD burner installed anymore. But, the XP-610 comes with a CD tray conveniently stored in the bottom of the printer. I used the Print CD module and the LCD display to quickly print out some DVDs. I used water-resistant printable media received for another review years ago from Iomega. Sadly, this media is no longer sold. You can adorn your media with the sample labels included, choose one of 95 provided backgrounds and 40+ graphics or create your own masterpiece, as I did in the screen shot above. The print quality is excellent and I ended up killing an evening printing out labels on DVDs on which to archive my photographs and family videos. If memory serves me, you're really supposed to burn data to a CD or DVD before you print on it, but I didn't have that luxury of time. Of course, now I have to use one of my older Macs to burn files onto the media. Printer Trays Some printers work when the output tray isn't extended and spew the paper all over the floor, but the XP-610 produces a loud 5-beep complaint and stops when it's output tray isn't pulled out. The input tray is easy to pull out and slide back in, another plus. The second input tray for photo paper is a bit too easy to push in too far, but it still works though. Summary In brief, the Epson Expression Premium XP-610 is a bit loud and may not product larger photos as well as you'd like, but offers many of options in a small printer. All the needed trays store in the printer itself and it makes scanning easy. If you need a wireless home printer, this one should satisfy your needs, especially if you have school-age kids. The Expression Premium XP-810 (MSRP US$229.99) is similar to the XP-610, but comes with a 30-page Auto Document Feeder for two-sided copying, scanning and faxing, plus it has a bigger 3.5-inch touchscreen and offers Ethernet networking. I only tested the XP-610.
Singlemizer: The Duplicate Finder
A recent request on the Boston Mac User Group mail list sent me looking for an app that compares folders and seeks duplicate files across drives. Singlemizer: The Duplicate Finder by Konstantin Pavlikhin fits the bill. This US$19.99 one-trick pony was updated in mid-December to version 4.4.2 for OS X 10.8 and later. I had used it a few times over the summer, but abandoned it. Most of my complaints with Singlemizer were resolved with the recent updates, which include the ability to designate which files are the originals, a Quick Look Preview function, sorting and filtering by a variety of factors. Now, I like the app much better. I did all my new tests in OS X 10.8.4. You can use Singlemizer for free, but it will not remove any duplicate files until you purchase the app. How It Works You choose the folders in which to search for duplicates by dragging the folders into the Singlemizer main window and click Scan. Singlemizer instantaneously switches to the list window. How fast it locates duplicate files depends on the size of your drives or folders. The speed is impressive, though. You can scroll through your resulting duplicate file or folder list to show particular files and sort them by seven different categories, such as size, number of duplicates, or file name. Singlemizer searches for duplicates on any media connected to your Mac. When an item is checked for deletion and you select Remove Checked, the items are highlighted in red and you then have two dialogs in which to change your mind. You just click the magnifier icon to see the location of the file in a Finder window. Files can be moved to another location or the Trash, instead of deleting them or replacing the file with an alias to the original. After you dismiss the dialog below, yet another appears in which you can still cancel your choice. Minor Issues One minor complaint, shown in the dialog above, you cannot choose individual files to move. You either move the whole file list, alias it or delete it. When you delete the file it disappears -- it does not get deposited into the Trash unless you select Move to Trash, so make sure you really want to remove that particular file as you cannot recover it. There are some oddities in the Algorithm tab of the preferences and a trip to the Singlemizer Help file provided nothing useful. In fact, the help file only deals with information on different versions and license keys. If the program is designed to be used by only techies, it's fine. I'm guessing the everyday Mac user may not know what is a package, resource fork, hardlink, descendant directories, or a sensible system file. An explanation of terms would be helpful. A trip through Google yielded nothing useful on descendant directories. It probably means subdirectories, i.e. a folder inside another folder. I recommend you leave the Algorithm tab set to the defaults, unless you have a specific reason to change them. I think Singlemizer would benefit users more if it had a more complete help file. I found some minor issues still worthy of correction, but overall I recommend Singlemizer, especially if you do not have a strict file organization system. One note: in the File menu, the Open in External Editor commands seems to tell the file to open up in the program in which it was created. That command isn't clear and needs a new name, such as, Open in Original App, or some such. Good One-Trick Pony I knew Singlemizer could really help me clean out space when I found over 2 GB of duplicate photos inside of dissimilarly-named folders on a full backup drive. The recovered space was welcome. It also located all those annoying duplicate music files that are created every time I install an iTunes update. I recovered a few gigabytes of space on multiple drives, because Singlemizer found a few 700+ MB files with slightly different version numbers that I had saved into multiple folders.
Divoom Bluetune-Bean is a handy portable speaker
The Divoom Bluetune-Bean is small, rechargeable Bluetooth speaker and speakerphone that is easy to hand-carry or pop into a purse. It's a bit too bulky for most pockets though, unless you wear cargo pants with pockets on the legs. The device is a little bigger than a jumbo egg and includes a metal ring grip. There are only two buttons: the on and off switch and one to switch to a phone call. You must firmly press and hold the buttons to engage them, which tripped me up initially. An absolutely tiny little hole lets the light through to show you that it's on. The light blinks when it's ready to pair. If the rubber cover moves at all, you can no longer see the light through the hole. I lifted the rubber to look at the mechanism and cannot orient it to show the light anymore; the hole is that small. The Bluetune-Bean charges through your USB port on your computer or plugged into a wall outlet. The Bean has an attached tab that protects its own mini-USB port. Divoom claims the charge lasts at least six hours and it never stopped working for me while using it. There is no way to tell how much charge is left in the device, so I recommend a daily charge, along with your iOS device. You control the sound through your volume control on your Mac or iOS device. I tested a wide range of music, including classical, rock, hop-hop, jazz and audiobooks. To the Bean's credit it reproduces high frequencies acceptably. At my Mac's highest volume, I got little distorted sound from the Bean. Full orchestral sound came through a bit muddy with the treble registers muted a bit. I use "Wandering Star" by Portishead to test the bass sound and the Bean pushed that out, again with a small, but insignificant amount of distortion. It plays any of your chart-topping favorites just fine -- as long as you don't care about a stereo experience. I think for most kids, this device is fine for sharing music or movie sound with friends. I just missed the channel switching in stereo sound. As a speakerphone, it reproduces voice clearly, so it's a good choice as an iPhone speaker. Audiobooks also have good clarity. The operating range seems to be a little over 20 feet before the sound degrades. A 20-something friend wandered in the other day and asked me if something was wrong with my Mac because the music he heard sounded "twangy and hollow." I showed him that I was using the Bluetune-Bean and not the internal speakers. He said, "Wow, I could use that!" Even though he thought the sound was unimpressive, the portability and small size of the speaker was immediately attractive to him. The rubber covering comes in a variety of colors, including blue, yellow, red, pink, black and white. It is neither water- nor drop-proof, although it took a couple of nosedives off my desk without any noticeable effect. It comes packaged with a metal carabiner, but I don't want to walk around with it bouncing off my hip, if attached to a belt loop. The Bluetune-Bean is 3 x 2 x 2 inches and weighs 12 oz. The speaker specs include 3 w output, 80Hz to 20,000kHz frequency range and 4 Ohm impedance. If you hold your hand over the speaker, you can get a minor hand massage, especially if the music has a solid bass line. Please be careful with this speaker if you have pets; it does look like a chew toy or ball, and that could be disastrous for you and a dog. The US$29.90 price makes the Bluetune-Bean an attractive companion to your iOS or any Bluetooth-compatible device. In my opinion, it's just not a "high-quality audio experience," as advertised. While I am not a fan of the quality of this device, there are 11 reviews from owners on Amazon who love it. Positive Notes Small and easily portable. Rechargeable battery. Comes with charging cable. Good colors with complimentary colored metal loop. Clear voice and acceptable music quality. Negative Notes Bulky design. Teeny indicator light. No indicator when device needs recharging. Not drop-proof. Metal loop adds unnecessary weight. No stereo experience Giveaway We have one bright pink Divoom Bluetune-Bean speaker to give away. Here are the rules for the giveaway: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button. The entry must be made before January 7, 214 11:59PM Eastern Standard Time. You may enter only once. One winner will be selected and will receive a Divoom Bluetune-Bean speaker valued at $29.90 Click Here for complete Official Rules. Loading...
Greeting Card Shop lets your Mac make beautiful cards
Just because the Christmas season has slipped by does not mean card-sending season has ended. Just yesterday a friend called wanting information on how to create New Year's cards easily. Greeting Card Shop from Chronos, Inc. fits this bill. With few design skills you can use the app's artwork and design templates to whip up a pleasing single-fold, double-fold or tri-fold card in a reasonable amount of time. If you're not graphically challenged like me, you can create your own card templates too. Greeting Card Shop requires OS X 10.8.4 and later and you can try it for 30 days. The basic install uses a whopping 500 MB of disk space, but adds another 9 GB when you install all of the available graphics. Optional templates are available as a download from the site. While the application includes a number of U.S. templates, you can also download metric paper sizes and formats. You can get to this page from the More Templates button in the side bar from within the program also. Graphics Notes There are over 600 greeting card and 93 invitation templates, 94 envelopes and 16 photo card templates available for your use. The artwork available for Greeting Card Shop can be shared with Chronos' other products, including iScrapbook, Business Card Shop, and PrintLife. The art collection is available in 145 iScrapKits organized by artist. If you find that the full application is squeezing too much space out of your hard drive, you can manually uninstall Greeting Card Shop's artwork. Instructions are included in the manual. When you install the program it asks for access to your contacts, ostensibly to make it easier for you to address and send cards. Greeting Card Shop includes features that let you print address labels or envelopes using your Apple Contacts application. Letting Your Inner Hallmark Loose When you open Greeting Card Shop the Template Chooser appears. To change the template size you must choose your card, then use the Format menu to change the size. I tried to create a New Year's photo card first, which presented stumbling blocks. After abandoning a few attempts, I succeeded in using a Baby Announcement template to create a custom card to give to a friend. My other creations aren't worth showing you though. You can save your creation in the Greeting Card Shop format (.gcs) or export it as PDF, TIFF, JPG, or PNG file. I wanted to create a photo card, but found I could only search my Pictures folder for a shot to use, but I keep my photos on an external drive. A trip to the 100-page PDF manual revealed that I can only use photos stored in the Pictures folder. This means I have to move any shots I want to use into my Home folder's Picture folder to use them within Greeting Card Shop. It seems this is not a Chronos limitation, but a built-in Apple restriction for third-party apps. If you store your iPhoto or Aperture libraries in a different place, you need to move them back to the Picture folder to use them in Greeting Card Shop also. While this may not be much of an issue for you, I found it annoying. After moving photos around on my hard drive, I clicked on the Artwork button and Greeting Card Shop installed the SuperPack templates I downloaded. Unfortunately, the photo card template selections are not very interesting. How You Work After you choose your template, a second window opens with your work area in Preview mode. Click Design in the tool bar and various editing icon options appear across the top. Your creation area includes three main sections in which to work. As you can see below, templates display on the left, the middle is your card in progress, and on the right are your options for your graphic elements. The element categories include Shapes, Artwork, Photos, Text, Address Fields, and Favorites. Beneath the graphic elements lies the Layers palette. Each graphic element when clicked shows an Inspector window that lets you work with the specific object. In the example shown below, I wanted to change the text, but had no way to discern the font used in the template. I created a new text box and in the Font Preview inspector was able to preview all available installed fonts and pick the family, size, and change the color to what I wanted. You can also align text with a free-form or predetermined shape. The program even includes sophisticated typography editing. You can change kerning, inter-line and paragraph spacing, tabs and indents. Color editing options also include gradients. Initially I was frustrated working with the program because I had to constantly refer to the manual to do things that I thought should be simple. The longer I worked with Greeting Card Shop, the more amazed I became at the incredible wealth of available affects I could achieve. For each photo you insert there are numerous affects you can apply, including, as shown below, cropping and masking. You can also add color, blur, distortion, lighting, stylization, tiling and half-tone to your image. Artwork and Kits I am not so impressed with the installed artwork available. Most of it was too cartoonish and seemed more appropriate to scrapbooking than card creation. On the plus side, you can edit most of it for color, size, shape, and more. On the double-plus side, you can go to the Chronos Artwork page and download about nine gigabytes of different iScrapkits for free. I looked for a set of animal graphics, but found that most of kits are holiday, season or location themed, again most suitable for scrapbooking, but I didn't open every kit to see the individual graphics. You could probably lose a day of time just looking through each kit. A Preview button in the right toolbar lets you see each kit, as shown below. Each kit contains a mix of papers, decorations, fonts, letters, numbers, frames and more. You can buy more kits from the iScrapbook site, starting at US$6.00 per kit. Two notes of caution when using the iScrapkits: One, make sure you backup your free downloads, because you cannot download them again. This message only appears once, when you install a kit and is not spelled out in the manual. Two, the search for elements within the kits does not work very well. When I searched for rabbit, I got no results, but there was bunny artwork. When I searched for "bunny," I got no results, but a search for "bun" did show the kit with bunny graphics. Templates When I asked Chronos whether they had templates for popular card stock, such as Avery, InkPress or Red River the response was "we don't have specific greeting card templates .... Our templates are designed for 1-up, 2-up, 3-up, 4-up, and 6-up cards on full sheets of paper. That said, it's easy to create custom paper sizes if you need to." I don't think it is too easy to edit some of their card templates to fit card stock you may have on hand. If you can design from scratch, you should be able to create a custom sized card that will meet your needs. Prints I used an Epson XP-610 to test print my card on regular 8.5 x 11 paper and on card stock. This printer does two-sided printing, so I thought I wouldn't have to fiddle with the paper to print both sides correctly. Unfortunately, the inside of the card printed fine, but the front printed about two inches too low and cut off the bottom of the graphic both times, plus the front was on the wrong side of the sheet. When I printed each page separately (on the same sheet), they came out just fine. The printed colors were muted and muddy on the plain paper, but looked great on the Kodak card stock. Greeting Card Shop also will do mail merge with the Apple Contacts application, so you can generate envelopes. Your address editing must be done in Contacts first. A Good Buy Even though I experienced a few teeth grinding moments while testing Greeting Card Shop, in the end, I was impressed with how many features are packed into the program. As long you do not mind hitting the manual often, you can design a complex masterpiece without any previous graphic design skills. The program never slowed down nor crashed and is relatively easy to use, once you realize that its inspectors hold a wealth of editing capabilities and that the manual is easy to understand. Greeting Card Shop 1.0.5 is available from the Chronos site for $39.99 or you can buy a 5-user, single household family pack for $69.99. You can buy Greeting Card Shop 1.0.2 in the Apple App Store for $23.99. I believe the main difference between the two versions are the installed graphics and that you may have to purchase the graphics that you can download for free if you buy from the Chronos site. I think the direct buy from the Chronos site is a better bet.
Best Mac apps of 2013: Talkcast recap
On this Sunday's TUAW Talkcast, several Mac pundits picked out their favorite Mac apps of 2013. Our own Michael Rose convened the panel, including GeekBeat TV host Benjamin Roethig; TUAW TV Live host Shawn "Doc Rock" Boyd (who hates snow); longtime TUAW contributor, app developer and podcaster Brett Terpstra; and the managing editor of The Mac Observer, Jeff Gamet. The show will be available on iTunes momentarily (and streamable from Talkshoe), but in case you want to speed up your app sampling, we've recapped the app list here. To best highlight these apps, I will list them alphabetically with links and relevant quips contributed by the host and guests. All of these apps are compatible with OS X 10.8 and 10.9, and reasonably priced. Some of them work with older systems, also. Also, be sure to read Brett's own list of his favorite apps of 2013, over at brettterpstra.com. Best Mac Apps of 2013 1Password 4 from AgileBits Inc. (On numerous people's lists.) Jeff called it "magically awesome." Brett notes that it stores your passwords and personal information (including credit card numbers, software license keys and more) and "makes storing and generating [the items] just simple." The popup that used to only work in browsers now works anywhere on your Mac; that way, you don't have to open the main 1Password app nearly as often as before. AirServer 5 from App Dynamic. An AirPlay receiver for Mac and PC. Can mirror your display from iOS devices. "Great for demoing iOS apps, and a more professional feature set than Reflector" -- Mike Rose. Alfred v2 from Running With Crayons. A free, hotkey-based launch controller that also can initiate a quick web search and offers a number of other capabilities (offered by Doc Rock; he referred to it as one of his household servants). This one received a TUAW Best of 2011 for Mac Utility apps. Adobe Edge Code and Edge Inspect Combo. Doc Rock uses these programs with his Creative Cloud subscription. Edge Code is a HTML and CSS editing tool. Edge Inspect is an inline editor of code, which while working on a line, the meta key will open up accompanying files in a modal box, so they can be adjusted without leaving your main HTML file. "It's amazing," according to Doc. Bartender from Surtees Studios Ltd. (Offered up by Brett Terpstra and Jeff Gamet.) "Bartender is a lifesaver." It lets you control which menu items show up on your menu bar, and lets you rearrange them at will. Bartender was also written up on TUAW as a Friday Favorite while it was still in beta. BeamApp from BeamApp UG. Brett noted this Mac and iOS tool for quickly sending phone numbers, songs, maps and more between your devices and your Mac. Mike pointed out DeskConnect, which has some of the same functionality but also allows you to send files (PDFs, presentations, Word docs) between the Mac and your iOS device in a jiffy. BetterTouchTool by Andreas Hegenberg. A free utility for OS X 10.7 and above that lets you configure gestures for your mouse and trackpad. Brett says he uses two Magic Trackpads and can set them up to do just what he wants. CheatSheet from Media Atleier. This free utility uses the command key to show you all available shortcuts for an app. Not available in the Mac App Store because it cannot be sandboxed. See Media Atelier's blog for the explanation. Clarify 1.1.3 from Blue Mango Learning Systems. A great tool for quick and easy documentation. You can capture an image, edit it and add text, all on one place. You can read about Clarify's first iteration in TUAW's Daily Mac App feature from 2011. Clef and Waltz. Mike Rose pointed out this new take on password and authentication management; just point your iPhone at an animated barcode patch and it lets you into the target site, removing your need to remember passwords. Although relatively few sites work with Clef, the new, independently developed Chrome plugin Waltz expands it to work with Twitter, Facebook, Dropbox and more. Clyppan by Ole Morten Halvorsen. It stores all your clipboard clippings, letting you recall them with a quick keystroke. Not new, but very useful. Coffitivity from coffitivity.com. Both Jeff and Mike called out this menubar tool. A certain amount of ambient noise can help stimulate creativity, so folks who work in silence may benefit from running Coffitivity, which adds background and ambient noise from a coffee shop. Downie by Charlie Monroe. Web video and YouTube downloader "that actually works." Downie actually suports 120 different sites, and Mike noted that it's replaced older tools like Grappler and EVOM for him. Everpix. This made the list despite the photo storage service closing shop earlier this year. "It was a fantastic app while it lasted." You can read the story of Everpix's closure from Megan Lavey-Heaton on TUAW. Evernote from Evernote Corporation. It's a note taking app that can do many things and Michael notes that it "keeps getting more useful." Jeff Gamet also notes that the Jot Script Evernote Edition (US $75) is more like writing with a real pen as opposed to a stylus. It's got a hard tip and clicks on the iPad, which is his only complaint. Fantastical 2 from Flexibits Inc. This is billed as "calendars and reminders done right." Jeff notes that additional plain text entry options, multi time zone and dictation support have been added. You can read TUAW's review from Victor Agreda to learn more. Final Cut Pro X from Apple. Listener John Brown suggested Apple's flagship 64-bit video editing application. John noted they've made it quite simple for most people to use and refers to it as "remarkable." Doc Rock also notes that it is "a major step forward" and "a great application." This week's 10.1 update added optimizations for Apple's new Mac Pro desktop. Hazel from Noodlesoft. Doc says this pairs up with Alfred as his "domestic help" and notes that "it does a really good job of keeping icons on desktop organized," plus it can move files around based on a variety of file attributes that you set. MailMate from Feron. An IMAP email client with an impressive array of features. "It does everything I need it to," says Brett, who describes it as "the TextMate of email." Marked 2.2 from Brett Terpstra. We couldn't let the show go by without a hat tip to Brett's own Markdown preview tool, very much improved in the 2.x version. MindNode Pro from Ideas On Canvas Ltd. Both Mike and Brett called out this Mac and iOS mindmapping tool for its speed, easy interface and good-looking output. Mouseposé 3.2.4 from Boinx Software Ltd. Updated in December, it's a useful mouse pointer highlighting tool for demos and presentations. "A lot of my colleagues use tools like OmniDazzle or Zoomit for remote presentations," says Mike, "and whenever I pull out Mouseposé everyone on the call goes 'oooh, ahhh.'" OmniPresence from The Omni Group. For users of OmniGroup's apps. It's a free service and menu bar item that offers file syncing between devices. "It makes all of the changes between your files appear everywhere," says Jeff, but without the limitations and aggravations of iCloud. PollEv Presenter app from Poll Everywhere. SMS-based polling service that works with PowerPoint or Keynote to show live polls in real time. Mike calls it one of his go-to tools. Popclip from Pilotmoon Software. (Offered by Doc Rock and Brett Terpstra.) A $2 app that shows up when you select text with your mouse or trackpad -- simulating the iOS text selection experience.. ReadKit from Webin. RSS reader; Brett says it's "simplistic and powerful, and it supports every RSS system you can think of, and makes my life easy." RocketDocs. This single-session browser tool is specific to the Google Drive/Google Apps productivity tools. Mike says it's often easier than setting up Chrome for Docs use, and keeps your editing sessions away from general browsing. Shush from Mizage. A cough button for your Mac, so that you can mute yucky noises when recording audio. Works in FaceTime, iChat, Skype, Podcast Capture and more. Both Mike and Brett enthusiastically recommend it -- Mike even used it during the show, and blocked every snuffle and cough! We welcome your suggestions for the best Mac apps of 2013 -- let us know in the comments or on Facebook.
A look at common tablet gripes
BGR reports that FixYa has released its December 2013 Tablet Report. This report summarizes problem complaints from over 10,000 posts on the Fixya site. The devices in question include the Apple iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display, Amazon Kindle HDX 8.9, and Microsoft Surface 2. BGR lists the top five problems for each device listed above, but none of those problems are a deal breaker if an iPad Air or iPad mini with Retina display is on your Christmas wish list. If a Kindle (main complaints are browser and apps) or Surface 2 (main complaint is no apps) are on your wish list, well ... you need a new list. Complaints with Apple iPads include Safari instability and crashes, grey lines or a yellow tint on the iPad Air, and display issues on the iPad mini with Retina display. Ghosting, in which you can see a faint image of the app you were using when you switch to another app, seems to be the most common complaint with the smaller iPad. FixYa recommends the fix for an off color tint on the iPad Air is to go to settings and turn off sleep mode. Next turn up your screen brightness to full and let the battery die down. If that doesn't work, either call Apple support or bring the Air into an Apple store. FixYa does not say whether Apple will replace or fix the iPad Air. To fix the ghosting on an iPad mini, Fixya recommends you change the contrast and brightness settings, plus reduce the motion in the accessibility settings. If that doesn't work, again talk with Apple support. FixYa is a troubleshooting site that provides a place for users to post complaints and solutions to a wide variety of products from sewing machines and microwaves to cars and variety of electronic equipment. It's a modern version of our once beloved MacFixit.com site that was solely devoted to Apple products (now owned by Cnet), but Fixya covers every product category. You can see a list of Fixya's summary reports on Smartphones, Mobile Browsers, Fitness Bands, Headphones, and more on the Fixya Blog Reports page.
Researchers find a way into MacBook cameras
A few years ago, while on Skype, I asked a friend why his camera was dark. He replied that he had put tape over the camera light so that no one could spy on him. I wrote it off to paranoid silliness and told him that wasn't possible. Well, turns out I was wrong. Jeff Gamet at The MacObserver tells us in a piece titled Researchers Hacked into MacBook Camera, but that Doesn't Mean They're Spying on You that two researchers have found a way to disable that little green light, which lets you know that your camera is on. Don't despair though; this only works on older Macs. Plus, it requires a firmware hack. Matthew Brocker and Stephen Checkoway from Johns Hopkins University recently published a technical paper, ıSeeYou: Disabling the MacBook Webcam Indicator LED. The paper details their tests in disabling an iSight camera's green LED light in some versions of MacBooks, iMacs and the iMac G5 circa 2008 and before. The 13-page paper gives you all the details on the internal iSight architecture, modifying the various Mac's firmware and defending the iSight against attacks. Our results in this paper demonstrate that, at least in some cases, people have been correct to worry about malware covertly capturing images and video. We show a vulnerability in the iSight webcam that affects a particular range of Apple computers ... that can be exploited to turn on the camera and capture images and video without the indicator illuminating. Newer Macs are not susceptible to this firmware hack, but this does give you food for thought. While no one has published a hack for newer Mac FaceTime HD cameras, one never knows what basement hackers are working on presently. Gamet points out that, "Giving anyone unsupervised access to your Mac ... is a good way to end up with apps you don't want and settings changes that reduce your overall security." If you want to dredge up one of your older Macs, you can add trying out the iSight firmware hack to our list of Twelve things to do with an old Apple computer. If your current Mac in use is from 2008 and before, may we recommend decorative tape from Scotch Products?
Lego Star Wars - Complete Saga available for iOS
For you Lego and Star Wars fans, we offer some great news! As of today, you can download Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga from the iTunes App store. The game offers 36 story modes with more than 120 playable characters. You can even choose the dark or light side characters, but Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Han Solo and Boba Fett must be unlocked to use. There is also unlockable special bonus content, such as Bounty Hunter missions and Arcade levels. Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga also lets you create new character combinations, such as Lando Amidala. Your gameplay is enhanced with switchable "Classic" and "Touch Screen" controls, so that you can play in the most comfortable mode on each device. Episode I (The Phantom Menace) is free, but Episodes II through VI come at a price. The Complete Saga is US$14.99 and individual episodes and characters range from $0.99 to $4.99. The game is compatible with iOS 6 or later and the iPhone 4 and up, the iPad and iPod touch. We recommend you download Episode I to your computer and sync it to your iOS device because the direct-to-iPhone or iPad version is a whopping 1.44 GB, while the synced version uses less space and weigh in at only 735 MB. The Complete Saga had a 9+ rating. According to Apple's Application Ratings, this means it may not be suitable for children younger than 9 due to "infrequent occurrences of cartoon, fantasy or realistic violence... or mild mature, suggestive or horror-themed content." Users who have jumped on this purchase are generally thrilled with gameplay, but not the individual episode pricing. [via the Mac Observer]
Ogio Hampton's women's tote bag review
I have spent the last two months toting around the Hampton's Women's Tote Bag from Utah-based OGIO International. I had not viewed their video before receipt, so was surprised at its hefty size when it arrived. As it turned out the size was not a problem because I had to fly to Florida twice and used it as my personal item–absolutely stuffed to the gills. OGIO lists the Hampton's capacity as 1000 cubic inches and its dimensions as 15"high by 16.5" wide and 4" deep, weighing in at 1.6 lbs, but it felt lighter to me. This 900D Polyester button bedecked tote includes a variety of pockets. The healthy-sized main compartment includes a velcro-tabbed pocket with fleece lining for your 11" to 15" laptop. There's extra padding on both sides of the pocket, plus the bottom is padded, so you have protection against minor kicks and drops. As you can see in the photo below, the outside zippered area fits a variety of smaller items in specialized pockets, including space for an iPad or another tablet. My iPad in its leather Sena case even fit in the pocket, but I couldn't zip the pocket all the way. Thankfully OGIO had the foresight to install two zippers, so I could close each side of the pocket and leave just the top open. The Hampton fit everything I needed to carry and more. Little square tabs with icons on them help you identify which pocket fits what. The outside pocket includes an iPad, a jewelry and pen tab. These cute details add to the bag's appeal. (You can see the tab just above the pens in the photo above.) The inside of the Hampton also has two pockets on the bag's sides, one of which sports a charger tab. Neither is big enough for a water bottle, even though that's what is stated on the site; plus I'm never comfortable putting a bottle of liquid where it can drip onto an electronic device. A medium sized fleece-lined zippered pocket can be used for your iPhone or iPod. You can order the bag in Black, Emerald (looks more like a clover color), Terra (a brownish gray), Red, Tide (a dark aqua), or Yellow. I tested a Tide one and received a few compliments on the color of the bag from strangers. All the bags have a polka dotted lining, even though that is not what OGIO shows on their product page photographs. Polka dots are not exactly fashionable these days, but the fabric has a metallic finish which reflects light. This helps you find things near the bottom of the bag. As one user noted on the site, the dots give it a more sporty look instead of a professional look. The Good Bits Heavy metal zipper tabs, but the actual zipper is plastic, not metal. Even though the handle has no special padding, it was very comfortable on my shoulder. In one airport, I think I walked almost a mile from disembarking to the baggage claim. Even with a good 15lbs of content the bag did not dig into my shoulder at all, that was a pleasant surprise. I crammed the full bag under the airline seat(s) in front of me on four flights and the bag still looks as good as the day I took off the wrapper. The material seems to shed dirt. Felt liners in pockets made for electronic equipment. The Areas That Need Improvement The cloth zipper pulls are simply knotted and one of them fell off the first day I used the bag. The three tab closure pockets on the outside of the bag do not close securely. The longest one has the fleece lining, suitable for a small iOS device, but the device isn't secured. The two smaller pockets on the other side of the bag only seem suitable for business cards. I wish Ogio had made made one of the outside pockets large enough to hold a water bottle, which would have been more useful. The decorative bow/belt that circles the top of the bag is only for show. It would be showy and useful if it was attached so that the belt could be used to slide the bag onto a suitcase handle for easy rolling around an airport. The bottom is padded, but not reinforced in such a way as to make the bag stand upright. It fell over every time I put it down, although I suspect weight distribution impacts this issue. Is the Hampton's Women's Tote Bag worth the $70 price tag? Even with the Hampton's minor design issues, the bag is well-made. The seams are all reinforced and no stray threads appeared on the bag itself. The belt stitching is coming undone, but the belt is easy to remove. I found the bag for a slightly lower price on a number of sites, and I think it's definitely worth the $62 price tag, which is the lowest I found. The lifetime warranty adds that extra bit of confidence to your purchase also. It is always a gamble buying any kind of carry bag or purse for your special friend, because of individual tastes in bags. I do not think I would have picked it for myself on first look, but after using it, I am impressed with its functionality, especially as an airline personal carry-on. The Hampton's Women's Tote is more comfortable for me to carry than computer bags I have with specially padded shoulder straps. So, add a little style to your computer-using friend's life and give it a go!
Western Digital SmartWare software update addresses data loss bug
Western Digital updated its WD SmartWare Macintosh software on Monday to version 1.3.6. This version is compatible with OS X 10.9, 10.8, 10.7, 10.6 and 10.5. When you download and install this new version, it automatically uninstalls the old version. The update addresses a nefarious rare issue in which WD Drive Manager, WD Raid Manager and WD SmartWare software applications may cause data loss or cause a "repartition and reformat of their Direct Attached Storage (DAS) devices without customer acknowledgement." On its community board, Western Digital wrote on November 6 that, "A specific set of conditions and timing sequences between the OS and the WD software utilities has to occur to cause this issue." No other bug fixes were listed in the WD SmartWare v1.3.6 Release Notes. Background In late October, Western Digital advised customers via email and their community pages to uninstall their WD Drive Manager, WD Raid Manager and WD SmartWare software applications before upgrading to OS X Mavericks (10.9). Western Digital also advised customers who had already installed OS X 10.9 to remove those programs due to reports of data loss or a reformat or repartition of direct-attached storage (DAS) without customer intervention. Related Story on TUAW Western Digital warns customers of Mavericks external hard drive data loss issue. [via Macintouch]
iWork apps updated with customization options
Apple has updated the three apps that make up the iWork suite. Pages was updated to version 5.0.1. This upgrade adds the ability to customize the toolbar with the tools you deem most important. In addition, the center and edge guides are now on by default. Keynote is up to version 6.0.1. The update adds the ability to customize the toolbar with the tools you deem most important. A number of slide transitions were added. Numbers* received a bump to version 3.0.1. The toolbar is now customizable. In addition, the window size and placement is preserved when you save a document. You can also set the default zoom in the preferences. The current iWork suite is compatible with OS X 10.9 Mavericks only. The iWork 9.3 update is recommended for OS X Lion 10.7.x and OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.x users. *Typo corrected.
OWC Named Green Tech Company of the Year by BIG
TUAW, and I'm sure the Mac community at large, would like to congratulate Other World Computing (OWC) in Woodstock, Ill., for being named Green Tech Company of the Year by Business Intelligence Group (BIG). OWC shares the award with Betsy's Bricks, a heating pellet manufacturer and Arise Virtual Solutions, a work-at-home call center company. Business Intelligence Group's industry awards program uses a "unique scoring system [that] selectively measures performance across multiple business domains and then rewards those companies whose achievements stand above their peers." Twenty judges from a variety of industries are listed on the site. OWC is committed to reducing its impact on the environment. It has been successful in a variety of ways, starting with its 2008 move to a low-environmental impact headquarters. The OWC campus is 100 percent on-site wind powered. As noted in the OWC blog: "On October 19, 2009, OWC became the first technology manufacturer/distributor in the US to become 100 percent on-site wind powered by switching its daily operations energy needs over to a Vestas V39-500 kW wind turbine." The turbines also provide a unique iPhone case testing environment. You can read Steve Sande's article on how OWC tested their NewerTech's NuGuard KX for iPhone 5 by tossing it off one of their wind turbines (minute 3:35). As part of OWC's green action program they use a comprehensive recycling program that includes onsite paper, plastic and can recycling. According to the company's blog, it rejects "non-recyclable pallets from vendor deliveries, recycles obsolete equipment through electronic equipment recyclers and reuses packaging materials (such as foam peanuts, etc.) whenever possible." In March 2010, the OWC campus was awarded the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum Certification by the Green Building Certification Institute. OWC was one of fewer than 300 companies to achieve this status at the time. You can view a virtual building tour on OWC's "Think Green" site. In an email conversation with OWC CEO Lawrence O'Connor, he told me: Everything we do is about an ongoing evolution. There are always new boundaries to push and not only is that reflected in our products, but in how we operate OWC as well. Team OWC is aware and engaged providing the best to our customers and with respect to our natural resources. Our focus on upgrading and extend the useful lifespan Macs is right in the same vein with maximizing the resources and minimizing waste which drives us. A year ago we took over a building in Austin, TX which is now our Creative Design HQ. Right now solar is being erected on the roof which will be generating for at least half the total requirements of this 3 story facility by December. Be it a Mac or the space we call our own, we're always working to make it better and maximize. OWC's Woodstock site includes more than 20 acres of protected conservation wetlands and in 2012, a pair of sandhill cranes came to the area. The sandhill crane has suffered greatly from a loss of habitat and OWC hopes they continue to visit their bird-friendly wetlands. According to O'Conner, "OWC team members have erected signs to inform and raise awareness for where turtles cross the street" also. According to the press release, "Other World Computing's efforts to reduce waste, recycle materials and use less energy include" the following list of features: On-site Vestas V39-500 kW Wind Turbine Geothermal underground system for heating and air conditioning. High-energy value materials in roofing and walls. Pyrolytic glass to reduce UV rays and cooling costs. Interior lighting enhanced with daylight harvesting technology. Interior wall and floor coverings that reduce emissions of VOC (volatile organic compounds). Groundwater protected by a bio-aquifer storm system. High-efficiency, water-saving plumbing fixtures "Smart room" technology to reduce energy use in unused spaces. In-house water filtration to reduce plastic bottled water use. High-end air filtering for staff health benefits Continual recycling programs with "Zero Waste" goal. Office and warehouse layouts optimized for efficient heating/cooling. Kudos to OWC! [Disclaimer: I used to work for OWC and use their hard drive products regularly, so I'm a tad biased.]
Iconfactory announces AppViz 3 for tracking App Store success
If you publish an app in Apple's App Store, you know how hard it can be to track your sales with meaningful data. The Iconfactory, partnering with IdeaSwarm, announced its solution to this problem with the launch of AppViz 3 today. According to the news announcement, AppViz 3 sports a new interface with a Dashboard that gives you "a bird's eye view of how iOS, Mac or iBook products are performing, with results presented in easy-to-understand charts and graphs." Other new AppViz 3 features include a customizable Details screen that allows you to drill down to see long-term trends, sales, upgrades and more. The new Finances section lets you reconcile earnings with your bank statements and generate month-to-month earnings reports, plus partner royalty payments. If the AppViz site is any indication of how you can visualize everything you need to track your app's progress, then this product is a winner. The site includes everything you need to know about using the app, including a list of the 100-plus features that cover the Dashboard, Statistics, detailed analytical reports, finances and downloads and updates. You can even set up a finance-only user for iTunes Connect. You can sign up for a free AppViz.com account and track your first app for no cost. To sign up, you just download the AppViz app and follow the in-app instructions. (I did find one small bug right at the get-go. When you launch AppViz 3, there is no way to quit the app if you decide to sign up later. You are stuck on the signup screen with no way to leave the app unless you complete the sign up process or do a Force Quit. Ooops!) You can sign up for a free AppViz.com account and track your first app for no cost. The service starts at US$10 per month to track up to 20 apps, but you can save about $60 by paying annually. Iconfactory also notes that "previous AppViz customers who sign up before the end of the year will receive a 30 percent discount for the first six months."
Addressing common Mavericks issues
There are a number of issues with the new OS X Mavericks and the Gadget Lab at Wired.com has published a helpful article on how to fix a few of them. Some problems, as stated in the article, must be fixed by Apple, but you can remedy a few issues yourself. In "6 Known Issues with OS X Mavericks and How to Fix Them," Wired's Roberto Baldwin tells us: 1. How to jump start a stalled Mavericks download. 2. How to make your Gmail IMAP settings work with the changes in Apple Mail. This tip is only for people who have changed their Gmail settings previously. TUAW's Megan Lavey-Heaton has also noted some problems with Mail and Gmail, which you might find helpful in her article, "How Mavericks ruined Apple Mail for Gmail users." 3. How to fix the loss of scroll bars in the Chrome browser and other applications. 4. How to fix Apple Mail forgetting your password each time you log in. 5. How to fix slow or stalled restarts and shutdowns of your Mac. This tip uses the Terminal app, found in your Utilities folder inside your Applications folder. One word of caution, if you don't normally use Terminal, please make sure you copy the lines Baldwin gives us exactly. You don't want any nasty surprises to crop up in your OS. 6. How to fix Shared Links in Mavericks. Shared Links is a new Apple added Safari Twitter/LinkedIn client that doesn't seem to update well. Baldwin shows us how to create a Shortcut to update the Shared Links easily. In another useful tip article, Chris Breen at Macworld explains how to address the problem on Why Mavericks' movies may not preview properly. If you can no longer preview some of your movie files, this article explains the fix. TUAW is producing a number of video tips to help you with your OS X Mavericks update, so don't forget to check our pages for new content and helpful advice.
Glass staircase step breaks at China Apple Store
The latest glass staircase installation in the Shanghai IAPM (China) Apple store broke 23 hours before the Saturday grand opening, according to ifo Apple Store. The site includes photos of the mishap that also damaged the floor underneath. It seems the glass tread fell out of the mounting and ended up in pieces on the stone floor below. Gary Allen of ifoapplestore.com states that "representatives from the glass supplier, Seele GbbH (Germany), worked with local craftsman to retrieve spare glass treads that all stores have ready for such emergencies." Other stores have had minor mishaps with their glass staircases, but no one has been injured by any of the stair problems. Apple's Retail Store page lists nine stores in China, four of which are in Shanghai. ifo Apple Store lists 33 stores with glass staircases, some of which are spiral and some straight. Steve Jobs' name is on the 2002 patent for the Apple Store's amazing glass staircases. An Apple Store Glass Staircases article, also on ifo Apple Store, provides interesting details on the staircases in the different Apple stores. Photo by Henry courtesy of ifoapplestore.com. Related Stories Stores With A Glass Staircase, ifo Apple Store, no date. Gallery of new Beijing Apple Store, TUAW, 10/18/12. Steve Jobs has 313 patents to his name, including some unexpected, TUAW, 8/25/11. The saga of the Apple stair comes to a $9950 end, TUAW, 3/2/10.
Achvr helps you discover and share your life goals
I had the opportunity to speak with Ryan Traeger, CEO of Achvr, last night at the Boston gdgt live event. First, the event is a mini-show that showcases a wide variety of products available or coming soon in the gadget accessory market. Events are held in a variety of cities throughout the year. Last night's event showcased Sonos, SkyDrive, Western Digital, Cobra Electronics, Escort, Flytenow, FormLabs, iRobot, Phiatron, Roku, SKIT!, Tagboard and Withings. Second, while not all the products are Macintosh- or iOS-relevant, there were quite a few that intersect with those markets. Boston-based Achvr, founded last year, is an iOS app and website in beta that is a new social media platform that focuses on things you want to accomplish, such as visit a different country, skydive, see a particular movie or knit a sweater. According to Ryan, folks list what they want to do and share it with their Facebook and email friends who will help to achieve and support the endeavors. You can sign into the site or use the iPhone app using either Facebook or your email address. The Achvr app comes with 15 life categories, including music, vehicles, science & tech, sports and travel. Each category is populated with different activities. The beta launch news released Oct. 9 focuses on the gaming aspect of Achvr. Ryan says that "We were inspired by the idea of gamifying every aspect of life ... by building game mechanics on top of existing social networks, we're finding new ways to motivate people to live happier lives." When I spoke with Ryan, he focused more on how Achvr brings together a variety of different services into one app and site and how it is easier to accomplish something you want to do when you have support from friends. You can also find like-minded friends not only to see what goals you have in common, but also to do things together. When you complete a task, you're awarded points. You can "use" those points as a self-reward or as a competitive measure against friends. I'm not crazy about the competitive aspect of the point system, because I'm not a very competitive person, but you might enjoy that aspect of Achvr. Ryan told me that they hope to include your friends and contacts from Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and other social media-oriented sites as the app develops. Another idea in the works is that the things you want to do that cost money can be tied into discount deals that can appear in your desired activities. It could be links to deals or coupons, but that part of the mix has yet to be added. Achvr is kind of a mix of Facebook, Schemer, Groupon and your bucket list all rolled into one. I think it will be popular because it puts a variety of activities in one place where you can find more information, get support and share your progress with others. It is a more targeted support system for your life. Currently the iOS app only runs on the iPhone (iOS 6 or later), but you can use your iPad or Mac to log into the website. The free Achvr app is available in the iTunes store. The tagline on the site sums up the Achvr intent: "First-time experiences are the key to living a happier, more fulfilled life. Turn 'I want to do it' into 'I've done it.'"
iPhones sold in Hong Kong won't get China warranty
Cyrus Lee at ZDNet reports that iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s units bought in Hong Kong will not be supported by the Apple warranty for China. It seems that the iPhone 5s model numbers for devices sold in Hong Kong are different than the model numbers sold in the rest of China, as are the iPhone 5c model numbers. The prices in Hong Kong are lower than the prices in China, so Lee expects this potential service and warranty problem will not affect where Chinese consumers purchase their new iPhones. This information came through an employee at a Shanghai Apple store and the original source is a NetEase report written in Chinese, a beat covered by Lee. He also writes that the gold iPhone 5s is popular with Chinese consumers, but availability is limited. [via ZDnet]