AAUG Reviews

by Zach Z ,AAUG Member

The problem: you’ve upgraded the original hard drive that came in your computer and, while the new drive is fantastic, you’ve got the old one that wasn’t big enough or fast for your needs. What to do?

Solution ONE: bury it at the back of a drawer and forget about it.
Cost? Free.

Solution TWO: purchase an enclosure to park the new drive in to use for time machine backups / pictures / music / stuff. Not a bad solution, and there are some cheap drive cases to be had on ebay or from elsewhere, but are they any good? (from experience, I can say maybe, but likely not) A good enclosure a from reputable seller present a multiple questions:
Do you want USB 1 or 2?
Firewire 400 or 800?
eSata?
Multiple connections?
Do you have room on your desk for another box and another plug on the wall to power the drive and enclosure?
Are there bus-powered options?
Final cost: $10 - 100+

Solution THREE: purchase the Newer Technology USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adapter (more…)

by Randy Brandon ,AAUG Member

Mystical Tint Tone and Color is a suite of 38 color effects that are easy to use and produce provide professional results. The effects are applied by brushing on or removing the effect from the desired area, or by using some of the numerous Layer presets available. Mystical Tint Tone and Color has an unique workflow for combining multiple editing steps into stackable effect layers and hundreds of instant one-click effects.

Mystical Tint, Tone, and Color(which will be referred to as MTTC) is both a stand-alone, and a plug in special effects program for Photoshop. And normally , the majority of special effects programs are only offered only as plug-ins, and having the option of using the program as a stand alone is a nice feature.

First off, I like the overall look of the user interface. It is fairly neutral, and easy on the eyes.
What I dislike most is that when the program launches, all you can see is the default full screen menu window. And I discovered that you can use the green menu button to shrink the MTTC window, and locate the desktop window again. And another feature that I found missing is the ubiquitous Amber button on the apple menu, that allows users to drop the MTTC window into the dock. Why this feature is left out puzzles me?? It is such a common Apple feature, and yet it is simply not available in this version of MTTC? The Amber button is there, but I just could not get it to work? (more…)

by Dave Enders ,AAUG Member

I have tried other task manager programs and outliners and although they do the job of getting the tasks down on paper they didn’t help me organize them. In the end , I never got the things done that I wanted to get done.

Enter OmniFocus, to get started they introduce three concepts Action, Project and Context. They describe an action as anything that can be physically done as a single step ie: buy milk. A project contains multiple actions, as an example , buy milk , buy bread and buy lettuce. A project can also be a goal that you want to accomplish. A context is a physical place, person or thing that you require to complete the action. Once you have an understanding of these concepts your life has just begun to get easier. They state that OmniFocus is based on the book by David Allen titled Getting Things Done I plan to buy this on audiobook from iTunes. They also recommend Merlin Mann website for productivity methods. Be sure to check out the Zero Inbox article.

So you have to get all those actions that in your bouncing around in your head organized into OmniFocus. Omni Group calls this Collect, Organize and Do. They have a great video that takes about 10 minutes to complete. At the end of this video you should be more than on your way to using Omni Focus. There is also a tutorial on Perspectives. (more…)

by Randy Brandon ,AAUG Member

Mystical Lighting is a suite of 16 Lighting, and shading special effects.

These special effects are the following: Edge Highlight, Ethereal, Fairy Dust, Flare, LightBrush, LightCaster, Mist, Mottled Background, RadialLightCaster, Rainbow, Shader, ShadingBrush, ShadowPlay, Spotlight, SurfaceLight, and WispyMist.
These are great names for a group of effects that really constitute an amazing bunch of creativity.

Users can start creating immediately from the Special Effects button, and directly to a variety of presets via a fly-out menu. Given that there are 16 main categories to start out with, and numerous additional preset effects available, there is a lot of amazingly creative effects to experiment with.

With its layer styled palette, Mystical Lighting has come up with an efficient, built in method for combining multiple editing steps into a simple dynamic interface with unlimited undo and redo, stackable effect layers and hundreds of instant one-click effects. This feature is named the Smart Layers, and it rocks!

Mystical Lighting, like several of the other products from AutoFX software is both a stand-alone, and a plug-in special effects program for Photoshop, and Photoshop Elements. And usually the majority of special effects programs are only offered only as plug-ins, (more…)

by Guy Okada ,AAUG Member

Fisheye photos are great as they allow a wider field of view and sometimes interesting effects. However, some photos created by using a fisheye hemispheric lens can appear distorted, especially when subjects are at close range. People and objects can appear bent into unnatural shapes, although sometimes that may be the intended effect. However, for those fisheye photos that need to be adjusted to make the subjects appear more natural, Fisheye-Hemi by Image Trends is a great solution.

Image Trends is a company that produces plug-ins and other applications to enhance digital images and their motto is: “The Science of Imaging.” Image Trends’ strategy is to “license and incorporate innovative imaging technologies embedded in original equipment manufacturers (OEM’s) products. Simone Lange from AAUG reviewed another Image Trends plug-in, ShineOff, a few months ago and gave it high marks.

Fisheye-Hemi is a plug-in that works with either Photoshop or Aperture and in either the Mac or PC environment. Image Trends offers a full free trial version on their website although the trial mode watermarks the image. (more…)

by Nicole Goodyear ,AAUG Member

This guide conquers any sense of dread about your investment in the new digital SLR (dSLR) camera and the additional technology of photography that is now available to the neophyte and amateur photographer.

The guide is well written and well illustrated covering the subject in depth with a presentation that progresses logically.
You will learn more about the technical terms and concepts of photography in general and digital photography. This will result in a better understanding of the camera and how to achieve the best results. You may even become aware of and in exploring avenues of photography that haven’t occurred to you before.

I chose to use the guide in the following manner: first I would read the chapter, then with camera in hand I went through the chapter addressing each feature by locating it and/or trying the function. Don’t skip Chapter QT, Quick Tour (a fast familiarization with your new camera) that precedes Part I.

The method I chose in using this guide worked well in Part I. This consisted of 3 Chapters on Exploring, becoming familiar with the essentials of and Setting Up the Nikon D40/D40x The first reference to the Info button was confusing to me. It was introduced only in a photo diagram as Shooting Information/Reset (#1) button. And the reference did not remain in my memory. I was able to get the same result by pushing the Menu button (more…)

by Bruce Herman ,AAUG Member

I have my entire music library on my iPod, but have rarely listened to it in my car because my only technique for using it there was with an FM transmitter. The sound quality was noticeably degraded compared to a CD made from iTunes. So I carried a lot of CD’s with me; until now. The Kensington LiquidAUX is Kensington’s latest entry into the iPod to car radio accessory market and has allowed me to use my iPod in my car without compromising the audio quality.

The concept is quite simple. The main component is a power source that plugs into the cigarette lighter or auxiliary power outlet. It has two cables. One has a dock connector that attaches to the base of the iPod. The other cable attaches to the auxiliary audio port of the car radio. Note that most older car radios will not have an auxiliary audio port. You control your iPod with a small, wireless remote control that attaches to the steering wheel. The remote allows you play, pause, skip forward and backward and initiate shuffle.

The good news, and it’s very good news, is that the sound quality in the radio in our Honda CRV is excellent. It is as good as CD’s made from iTunes. This is most noticeable when the car is idling at a stop. At highway speeds, the road noise diminishes the effect somewhat, but that is not the fault of the LiquidAUX. (more…)

by Rob LeFebvre, AAUG Member

The first thing that I noticed about Freeway Pro is the packaging. It’s a nice thick DVD-style case, holding a pretty, spiral-bound users manual, the disc with the program and documentation on it, and a little circular sticker that lets you proclaim your love for the application on whatever item you wish to stick it.

The window that appears upon insertion of the disc shows the same kind of care and attention to detail. It has a beautiful moonscape over which the application hovers. As is typical of many apps these days, the window shows that a simple drag and drop will install Freeway Pro to your Applications folder. The application weighs in at a gentle 83.5 MB, so it won’t impact your hard drive as much as a program like Dreamweaver, which can be in the hundreds of MB to install.

No review would be honest without a comparison to the 800-pound gorilla of HTML design programs, Adobe (formerly Macromedia) Dreamweaver. Adobe’s flagship web development and design tool is the industry standard, and for good reason. It is powerful, elegant, and shows many years of development.

This review will focus on Freeway 5 Pro, the latest from softpress. My first test was to open the application, and see what I could do without reading the manual. This shows me how intuitive the application design is, and how well it works with my brain, which has experience with web design and Dreamweaver.
(more…)

by Zach Zaletel ,AAUG Member

(Editor Note: Reviewer rated the game 4.999995, but I think strictly in integers, LOL)

You remember Plinko, right? Quite possibly the best of the mini-games on The Price Is Right? After guessing the correct price for an Oster blender ($45, not $35!!) and other fabulous prizes in order to win slider tokens, the contestant would get to go up to the big board and carefully drop their sliders down the Plinko board and watch it bounce and ricochet toward a money-lined grave, somewhere at the bottom. My childhood memories of Plinko may be somewhat rose-colored (or else otherwise altered by CocoaPuffs), but Peggle Deluxe captures the same fun that drew me to Plinko in the first place, throws in a flavor of the Japanese parlor game Pachinko and puts it in an addictive, challenging package that anyone can pick up and play in seconds.

The concept to Peggle Deluxe is quite simple - a board of blue and orange pegs is presented, you have to hit all the orange ones, and you’ve only got ten balls to do it with. The mechanics of the game are simple and addictive - aim a ball toward the pegs, pull the trigger and see what happens. Since most of the levels have more than ten orange pegs, it’s going to take some careful aiming and luck to clear a level. But fear not, you can earn free balls in a variety of ways - rack up enough points during a shot, drop the ball into the moving ‘free ball’ bucket at the bottom, hit one of the two special green pegs in a level. The green pegs can also offer other powers - explosions, fireballs, multiball, pyramids and more, brought to you buy a colorful cast of cartoon characters. Once you’re down to the last orange peg, things start to ratchet up-the screen will zoom in and go into slow-motion as the ball nears your remaining quarry, with much celebration ensuing if you manage to knock it off. The ‘fever round’ starts where the Ode To Joy breaks out, extra points aplenty are earned and things get even crazier on the screen. Right - there is a catchy-enough sound-track with stereo-sound effects which suit the game well. Let me put it this way, finish the first level and you’ll not be able to help the broad smile that breaks out as you finish the second and subsequent levels.

Peggle Deluxe runs on any machine running 256MB Ram, Tiger and a G4, G5 or Intel processor; it contains more than 125+ bright and colorful levels - some tricky, some easy, all fun. I had to take off 0.000005 points for the fact that Green Apple Games chose to have a box pop up exhorting you to try their other games immediately after opening and quitting the program - not a big thing, but annoying.

That one minor quibble aside, I’ve nothing but praise for Peggle Deluxe, with its casual, addictive, colorful gameplay that is a great way to kill a few minutes and can easily kill a few hours. A demo is available that is good for an hour of gameplay - be careful, though, it’s enough to get you hooked!

by J Robin Donaldson ,AAUG Member

First of all, I do not own an iPhone thus I had no way of comparing the book with real world use. However, the authors were a group of iPhone users and both Apple professional and recreational users. Their experience, likes and dislikes are evident.

That said, I found the guide well organized and covering all the FAQs I could think of. It is written for the layperson and takes them easily through the set up and use of the iPhone. It points out useful “hot” tips and tricks just like the vintage Mac Handbooks.

The authors utilized graphics well to tell the story and allow the non-iPhone owner to visualize and therefore understand the explanation more clearly. They point out pros and cons of each application allowing the reader to take an informed approach in formatting utilities and make an educated choice in adding new ones.

It offers websites for downloading helpful utilities in all the basic categories. It covers the most widely used accessories and offers the author’s favorites and time tested choices.

However, the iPhone has a 124 page User’s Guide in PDF format, which can be downloaded for free. The User’s Guide has both a thorough Table of contents and Index.

At $12.95 for the iPhone Superguide e-book, $15 for a CD-ROM or $24.95 for the printed book, I feel the Superguide just may be overpriced. To really feel the benefits of the type of advice found in the Superguide, (more…)