AAUG Reviews

by Gary Miller ,AAUG Member

I saw this new Cork case for my iPhone, and smiled to myself. I wanted it NOW. Now that I have it, seems everyone’s eyes glance, then ask where I got it from…. Griffin Technology. On their website or at a dealer!

Griffin’s Elan Form line starts with a hard shell case that simply snaps in place, after you install the included static peel screen protector. You’ll be amazed and how perfectly the cork adheres to the case, bends around it perfectly, and works great. It’s a 2 part case, so can be removed easily too.

With an eye toward earthy materials, cork is a winner, tactile feel to it, yet, doesn’t get dirty or soiled in any way. I put in my pockets, or not, and no problems after a few weeks of use. I highly recommend it! And at only $ 29.99, a deal. protect your iphone in style! Easy access to cover, volumen, on and off, etc. well made….

Product compatibility is iPhone, 1st generation. New version coming out will have a new case design.

by Chris Tofteberg ,AAUG Member

Sometimes the seemingly simplest of applications can make the most difference in your life. Usually they are applications that automate some process that you either do repetitively or need to use two or more applications to complete. TypeIt4Me is one of those applications.

TypeIt4Me automates text entering using abbreviations that invoke whatever application you’re using to type the entire word or phrase for you. Think of it like Microsoft Word’s Autocomplete on steroids. TypeIt4Me is not actually an application, it installs as a preference pane in System Preferences. This is convenient because it doesn’t need to launch like an application and it can work in multiple applications.

In the preference pane, you add abbreviations and their associated clippings (this is what TypeIt4Me calls the complete word or phrase you want it to autocomplete) for use in your text entering in other applications. There are a host of trigger keys that can trigger TypeIt4Me to complete a clipping. They work quite well although I found that using certain keys as a trigger in some applications could cause the application to perform not only the text expansion but also the command, like tab or return. This was a minor issue. (more…)

by Randy Brandon ,AAUG Member

There are probably as many laptop bags as there are laptops, and laptop backpacks are almost as common. The reasons for this are numerous, but as with laptops, there is really no one size fits all

A college kid doesn’t use a backpack the same way that a field researcher does. So finding that perfect bag for your specific uses is always a tough job. There is no perfect choice. But having said that, is no reason to give up trying.

And so enter this new Contour Traveler by Kensington.

The exterior appears similar to many other brands of notebook backpacks that I had previously looked at. It has a smooth exterior finish on it material that seems like it would be fairly spill, and stain resistant which is a big plus for any case as with any use, a spill will occur no matter how careful the user is. The manual touts its waterproof bottom, and water resistant material features to keep the contents dry. Now I will admit that I did not actually immerse the case in a tub of water, but it certainly looks like it was tightly put together, and no doubt will survive most wet floor contacts as a water resistant case, but not a waterproof case as such.

Handles are a very important feature on any case, and the Contour has what they call a “Lay-flat” top handle that is a wonderful feature in that it resists (more…)

by Rob LeFebvre, AAUG Member

robotjunky.com. This site took me all of 20 minutes to create. Back in the day, when I still did most of my web design in Dreamweaver, the same site would have taken me at least 8 - 10 hours. I think I’m in love with Rapidweaver.

I’ve used iWeb, and trust me, it’s kind of a mess. Not intuitive at all. Rapidweaver opened, made sense to me, and I started using it. That simple.

The application runs in a window with 2 panels to start. It echoes most websites you’ve seen, with the navigation to the left in a horizontal column, and the editing to the right. Right on first opening, you see the editing panel. Across the top are several buttons, including Add, Edit and Preview, Themes Snippets and Media Inspector, and Setup, Publish and Page Info. I clicked on the Add button, and a dialog came up, asking if I wanted to add a blog page, a contact from, a styled text page, or a photo or media page. I chose blog, and a new page came up in the list to the left. It was denoted by a little home icon. I assumed (and was correct) that this meant that the current page would be the home page of the site.
(more…)

by Ron Schoedel ,AAUG Member

Roxio is the company behind the long-standing champion of media burning on the Mac, Toast. Toast, now in its 9th version, burns data, audio, and video to CDs, DVDs, and images, as well as numerous specialty subformats. It was natural a few years ago then, that Roxio introduced a subset of Toast’s features in a program called Popcorn, which works solely to take uncompressed DVDs, and compress them onto a single DVD-R, while giving users the ability to strip unneeded languages, menus, special features, soundtracks, and the like. For archiving home movies or making back up copies of your commercial movies, Popcorn does the trick.

But, in the last couple years, since the proliferation of video iPods, iPhones, iPod touches and Apple TVs has become a major part of the home entertainment and Mac scene, a product was needed that would allow one to back up their movies to these new devices. So, once again, it was only natural for Roxio to evolve a new product out of their previous experiences in similar fields. Crunch is the result of this history. Crunch takes your DVDs or DVD images, or DVD Video_TS folders ripped from DVDs, and outputs these numerous formats into files you can watch and play on your video iPod devices including iPhones, in iTunes, and on your AppleTV.

If you have ever used Toast, and if you’ve ever burned a CD or DVD on a Mac anytime in the last decade, chances are you have used Toast, the interface of Crunch will look familiar. A selection drawer gives the user the opportunity to specify the source for video conversion. Any video file, for the most part, will do: Video_TS folders, AVI, MOV, MPEG, etc. If you are converting video files as opposed to DVD contents, you can drag a whole bunch of video files (more…)

by Bob Thomas ,AAUG Member

Minimum requirements for Palm: Palm OS 4 or OS 5, Native USB, WI-FI (802.11) or Bluetooth connection, an SD or MMC expansion card or Memory stick for desktop mounting
Mac: Mac OS X Tiger v 10.4.9 or later, or Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard or later; ITunes 5 or later; IPhoto 5.0.1 or later, for IPhoto conduit

If you have a Palm TX and are operating the MAC OS Leopard and have had or are having syncing problems, either using Palm’s or Apple’s sync you’re in luck as you can now acquire Mark/Space’, The Missing Sync for Palm OS.
I was having issues with syncing my Palm TX pda since upgrading to Leopard. I found that Palm had not as yet updated their software for Leopard. When syncing my Palm TX to my PowerBook G4 I was receiving a message which stated, “This installer is not compatible with your device. Please contact the manufacturer for a compatible installer.” Interestingly, during a search of the Palm forums I read that the Missing Sync by Mark/Space was the answer to resolving MAC OS Leopard conflicts that people were experiencing when syncing some of their Palm PDAs.
I initially had difficulties in getting The Missing Sync for Palm OS to work and sync with my Palm TX. However, after reading their various online data base help and obtaining the assistance of another AAUG member who had a Palm device we were able to get The Missing Sync for Palm OS software to work.
You can synchronize your address book, iCal, Entourage (including 2008) In addition to this you can synchronize a particular folder on your Mac to a designated folder on your PDA device. Additionally, you can download your ITunes and Photos to your device. (more…)

by Gary Miller ,AAUG Member

I reviewed this product because I needed a dependable audio and video conversion program that would be up-to-date, work with batches of files and provide options along the way. Roxio Easy Media Creator Suite 10 does it hands down with a simple reliable menu and even more options than I could dream up. I had used several other programs but each had limitations of content or required multiple conversions to get to the end product that I wanted. Features here that are especially welcome and available from the conversion screen are the ability to review the file content, trim a source file, change stereo to mono or visa-versa, and an undo feature. Once reason I need a conversion program was for my genealogy hobby and the audio recordings that I do need to be edited and sometimes cleaned. Creator 10 however lets me record any sound right off of the sound card and re-work it immediately. Considering that I get many many more creative programs along with what I basically needed, this is a gem than could replace at least six other programs on my computer.

However, this Suite also takes the space of at least six other programs and about the same time to load and bring it up-that is if you load all of the functions. Creator 10 does give you the option to customize the features that you want to load. (more…)

by Elaine Robinson ,AAUG Member

The Griffin RoadTrip with SmartScan allows you to play your iPod in your vehicle through your car’s stereo system. Griffin touts that it was “fully redesigned from the ground up to be easier to use than ever”. The SmartScan™ technology searches your car radio for the 3 clearest broadcast frequencies and automatically selects the best of the 3 for in-car broadcast.

I always comment on the packaging first and I am happy to say that the product was not encased in an impenetrable plastic pod. The plastic box was easily opened from the top flaps. The box contained the RoadTip cradle and charger, 7 iPod adaptors and a User Guide. The 8 page guide contained very adequate instructions with many illustrations. Identifying the correct adaptor to use was another matter. They are labeled on the underside and were difficult to read without squinting into a magnifying glass as the identifiers were tiny and imprinted into the plastic black on black . A touch of white would have been nice. The attached adaptor was for the iTouch and the remaining were labeled for Nano, 30GB, 60/80GB, 3G Nano, 80GB, and 160GB.

The RoadTrip plugs into your car’s cigarette lighter and will charge and power your iPod as you use it. I plugged the RoadTrip in and it (more…)

by Carlene Brown ,AAUG Member

Image Doctor 2 from Alien Skin Software is a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop. Its purpose is to restore, retouch, remove and repair digital photos with ease.

I installed Image Doctor 2 on my G5 Power PC running Leopard OS X 10.5.3. I had recently installed the new Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 and was a little hesitant about trying out Image Doctor 2 as I thought it would be a bit advanced for my photo editing skills. Then I read the electronic manual that comes with the software and found the instructions easy to understand and easy to follow.

Image Doctor 2 installs directly into your Photoshop program and is accessed by pulling down the Filter Menu.

Image Doctor 2 is a set of five filters:
• Smart Fill
• Dust and Scratch Remover
• Blemish Concealer
• Skin Softener
• JPEG Repair

SMART FILL
The first filter I tried was the Smart Fill. I took a photo that had a stranger in the background, used the Lasso Tool to circle the unwanted object. clicked on the Smart Fill filter, and quickly the person was removed and the space filled with the background texture, resulting in a perfect picture. (more…)

by Ron Schoedel ,AAUG Member

The Kensington QuickSeek FM Transmitter for iPod seems to have a couple things going for it that set it apart from the well-established genre of iPod transmitters. That this one includes an integrated, but optional car charger, is possibly almost justification for the steep price tag. Most transmitters that clip onto the iPod seem to be stand-alone devices, that draw their power from the iPod battery. Kensington’s QuickSeek can do that, if you want the most portability, but it also includes a car charger that plugs in and powers your QuickSeek while also charging your iPod’s battery. Given that car chargers tend to sell from anywhere between $20 and $40, and transmitters from $20 to $50, it is conceivable that the $90 price point on the QuickSeek is justifiable. But it still comes off sounding a bit expensive.

Using the QuickSeek is quick and easy. Simply pop the transmitter into the dock icon on your third generation or newer iPod or any iPod nano, and push the little button on the side of the device (which sports a broadcasting tower icon). Moments later, the iPod screen displays what the QuickSeek has decided is the best frequency. You then tune your FM radio to the same frequency, and in theory you get crisp, clean FM stereo sound.

The theory worked well most of the time, but the QuickSeek is limited by the inherent limitations of low power FM transmitters as are all such devices. Interference from outside sources, including interference produced by parts of your own automobile, may disrupt your signal. (more…)