AAUG Reviews

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ByRobert Arrington, AAUG Member
Reviewed 4/06

Years ago when I first heard about Earth Browser I eagerly downloaded a demo version of the program with the hope that I would be able to drill down deep enough on the globe to catch my mom watering her lawn in Texas, count the number of cars crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, and see if Noah’s Ark is partially visible this week atop Mt. Ararat. It didn’t take long to realize that this type of technology is something one might see in the latest Sci Fi flick but it is definitely not something that presently exists for the general public. No, Earth Browser will not allow you to spy on your girlfriend catching rays on the beaches of St. Tropez. But it will allow you to track current weather conditions that threaten to rain on her parade.

And what Earth Browser does, it does well.

Earth Browser by Lunarsoft is an interactive model of a 3-D globe of the earth which comes with an incredible array of features that allow the user to gain up-to-the minute weather forecasts, view satellites, cloud animations, earthquakes, volcanoes, storms, and even icebergs. Links on the globe point to web cams all over the globe, active volcanoes through the Smithsonian’s global volcanism program, Antarctic sea ice courtesy of NOAA, and much more.

Accessing the program as a weather enthusiast or a geographic researcher will prove to be an exciting adventure. But I was surprised that with a stated resolution of up to 2 km I was not able to hover my zoom tool over a major urban center and see the slightest signs of a city. When I tried that over Sydney Australia, at 2 km, Sydney looked like an unpopulated topography void of human existence. If an alien civilization consulted Earth Browser to survey our planet they might head straight for earth, convinced that our planet was a vast wilderness ripe with undeveloped real estate.

The closest thing I got to “drilling down” to civilized places was through clicking on several of the hundreds of webcams peppered throughout the globe. These numerous cams allowed me to witness a traffic jam in Downtown Sapporo Japan, the harbor lights of Papete, Tahiti, a whiteout at South Pole Station, Antarctica, and the fabulous 4th Avenue Theater in Downtown Anchorage.

Mind you, Earth Browser is a ram hog and that I know well. This was the first program I used that made my feel like my ibook G4 was truly a slow horse in the computer race. Earth Browser would at first hum along nicely and then it would suddenly get snagged in a fog of memory loss, freeze and crash or display the spinning beach ball of death. I quickly learned that Earth Browser is a jealous suitor and wishes to be viewed completely alone with no other programs running, in order to perform at its peak. I am sure that the exalted G5 user would have no such trouble!

I highly recommend Earth Browser for the weather and geography enthusiasts, and for teachers and students alike wishing to expand their geographic and meteorological horizons….

just leave your spying to the FBI.

Requirements:
• Mac OS X 10.1 or later.
• 128 MB RAM / 60 MB Disk
• Internet

Features:
• Innovative 3-D Earth simulation globe that can be rotated, zoomed, tilted and magnified to a resolution of up to 2km/pixel.
• Active internet connection allows user to view worldwide weather conditions and forecasts for over 17,000 locations.
• View satellites, cloud animations, earthquake locations and magnitudes with links to USGS website
• View volcanoes with links to Smithsonian Volcanism Project
• View hundreds of webcams from all over the globe; add and share your own webcams.
• View Political borders/Tectonic plate boundaries
• Dynamic screen saver
• Current time of day in cities worldwide

AAUG Members: Wanting to know how to login and edit your articles? Go here for a quick overview.

Reply to a member’s review

The cool thing about posting a review, is that other members, or anyone registered on our site for that matter, can reply to your review. Do they agree? Do they disagree? Do they want to add another cool feature that they found out on their own? (more…)

Originally posted on Possi. Written by Esther Schindler.

The essential steps to writing an effective review.

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By Sean McPhilamy, AAUG Member
Reviewed 4/05

I love my Airport Express for many reasons, but one of the best is that I can hear my iTunes with excellent audio quality (and still stay portable in my apartment!)

So, it wasn’t hard to jump at the chance to download Airfoil, by Rogue Amoeba, with the ear-catching phrase “Airport Express - It’s not just for iTunes anymore.”

You can choose any application to send to an Airport Express “in just three easy steps.” And it is easy indeed. The latest revision allows drop and drag application use (in version 1.0.5, released April 21st. And on another note … there have been two updates since I began this review.)

Install was clean. And I recommend using the feature to also install “Instant Hijack” (free, and also by Rogue Amoeba); this feature allows open applications to shift their audio output without the normally necessary restart of the application (such as wanting Safari to output to the Airport Express’ speakers, and not needing Safari to restart.) (more…)

By Yolanda Meza, AAUG Member
Reviewed 4/05

I recently found myself needing to acquire a bulk email program. When I read “MaxBulk Mailer is very fast, fully customizable and very easy to use”, I decided it was the software for me. I quickly learned that, easy, like beauty, is in the eye or in this case the mind of the beholder.

Downloading and installing the software was quick. A User Guide comes with the download and includes instructions on how to get started, compose messages, and send messages. Being a complete novice in bulk mailing and HTML format, parts of the instructions didn’t register. Finally after reading through the directions several times and working with the examples that were furnished I literally got the picture. I now can confirm that MaxBulk Mailer is, indeed, very fast, customizable and easy to use!

The MaxBulk Mailer window is divided into five parts; (more…)

By Gary Miller, AAUG Member
Reviewed 4/05

Visual Thesaurus is very cool, it’s a way to see and hear a word; a visual display of any word in the English language. Imagine seeing a word in an interactive web with the word in the center and connected to related words and their meanings, then you can click on these words to explore further, it’s endless and fun!

This 145,000 dictionary and thesaurus with 115,000 meanings, audio pronunciations of words, and it will spell check for you, print it all out, and best yet, it’s very easy to understand, and use.

I like words, and sometimes wonder about them, you know, their derivation, history, so with Virtual Thesaurus, I don’t have to be smart, but just have a sense of adventure. I type in a word, say touch, up comes my word, plus choices of other words that are similar. I see the interactive web form with my word in the center, with meanings fanning out from my word. I can use my cursor to explore the meanings, click on them to see more words, or look to the right of the screen to see nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs of the word ( all or some of those parts of speech can be turned on or off ). Their is a help feature that will display more information when your cursor goes over a word, or feature of Visual Thesaurus. (more…)

By Gary Miller, AAUG Member
Reviewed 4/05

How do you make an iPod even better? A quick and easy way is to quickly install Griffin Technology’s EarJams; they fit right over your earbuds earpiece, come in 3 sizes of pads, and with a case that will hold your earbuds and other sizes of EarJam pads. And best yet, total cost is only $14.99, amazing price for such a big boost in bass, and volume increase of up to 10 decibels.

I opened the EarJams outer cover, found the size of EarJams pads that fit my ears, slipped them onto the white adapter that fits over your iPod earbuds pieces, and you’re ready for sound. I turned on a funky track, and WOW. Boy did I notice immediate increase in bass, and loudness. So I thought, well, maybe I was just hoping they’d be better, or one of my ears wasn’t working, so I tried, with/without, and again, I was smiling, much better sound.

Good things to know are that the EarJam pads are washable, the 3 different sizes allow perfect fit for your ears, you’ll hear less outside noise, but still know that there is an outside world, and the case fits the additional pairs of pads, and your earbuds when not in use…

Earpads are compatible with the latest version of the Apple Earbuds. Earpads that came with first and second generation Ipods won’t work. sorry, guess you gotta pony up for a new iPod just to blow your mind…

By Gary Miller, AAUG Member
Reviewed 4/05

Ever wondered what magic you could do to give yourself more room on your desk, and still keep your sanity? Well, I think I’ve got a good one for you, and yes, you can keep your iBook on your desk, give up? Ok, meet Griffin Technology’s iCurve, a beautiful plexiglas support that makes your iBook or PowerBook or any laptop at eye level, saving you a visit to your chiropractor…

I am a proven sucker for devices that save me time, money, and add to my computer’s enjoyment, and this one fits the bill. You open a larger box, with photos of the iCurve printed on it, showing how it looks supporting your PowerBook with your portable keyboard and mouse below it. Since I use a bluetooth mouse and keyboard, it’s even easier, just sit them down, and the find the computer, and I’m off and running. I liked finally being able to look my computer’s screen directly, like on my iMac. That alone saved me eye strain, back aches, and gave me more productivity!

My wife liked using the iCurve on her desk’s return file so that she could have nothing on her desk except papers, and quickly turn to her right, and voila… her iBook was sitting high enough to type away. Perfect! or you could use the iCurve to position your portable to act as a second monitor.

There are no requirements for using the iCurve, just the need for a ergonomic working environment. It comes with add’l cushions to use. That’s it, get one…