AAUG Reviews

by David Enders, AAUG Member

iSpeak It is an application that allows you to take literally any text or files and convert it to an mp3 or AAC file for playback through iTunes. So for those long commutes or plane flights you can take the spoken word with you instead of having to read. It does this by using the built in Text to Speech Services (TTS) in OS X. Also, in the latest version it uses XGrid processing. This is a cool feature when converting the text to speech files if you have additional macs in your household. Xgrid is located in the Sharing foldfer within System Preferences. By enabling and configuring XGrid, iSpeak It can split processing across multiple macs for quicker processing. If you didn’t think OS X was cool before, what do you think now ?

iSpeak It is as simple to use and configure as the other products offered by Zapptek. There is not a big learning curve here and the preferences are very simple and intuitive. (more…)

by Zach Manzella, AAUG Member

Avanquest Publishing USA’s Smart Office Pack bundles four business oriented software programs - Invoices, Mail Lists, Labels, and Business Cards - into one office package. The Smart Office Pack might be best suited to the start-up, small business or an established business looking to streamline its information and add a little style to its image.

The software package comes with an install disk and a Getting Started Guide. Installation was easy. The Getting Started Guide needs to be supplemented with the User’s Guide provided on the install disk in PDF format. Each of the guides is approximately 100 pages in length. All of the guides are necessary in order to get the most out of the product.

The product box boasts “3 easy steps to: . . . creating great looking business cards . . . managing your billing & cash collection . . . customizing your labels . . . managing your mail list.” While those might be defensible claims, “3 easy steps” oversimplifies the process. All four programs host many templates for consumers to use “as is” or to customize to fit the consumer’s needs and tastes.

For purposes of testing out the software I created a fictitious law firm as the business that needed the support of Smart Office Pack programs.

Business Cards

The business card software creates a business card with a lot of graphics and color or a traditional black and white card. Entering business data is straight forward. The program has many templates for the background of the card which enhances (more…)

By Marcia Templin, AAUG Member
Reviewed 5/06

The New Living Translation of the Bible formatted for the iPod with Mike Kellogg narrating is excellent. The back of the product box claims that “this multi-voice recording of the entire New Living Translation is like listening to the Bible in full color” and I would have to agree with that. Mike Kellogg’s voice is warm, relaxed and clear; he uses inflection and emotion well. The other voices used are also clear and appropriate to the setting.

This recording incorporates music as well as multiple voices to give a fuller sound and added interest for the listener. The music is well balanced and fits with the subject matter; other recordings I have listened to have been overly dramatic with crashing thunder and sounds of wind that did more to detract from than enhance the text, but this is not. The music is not constant, which is nice. Each chapter usually begins with some music which then fades away at some point, but not in a way that is distracting or makes it seem like something important is missing. The music serves to draw the listener’s attention to the words being spoken.

The text/audio options are confusing for a non-power user who is not familiar with all the ins and outs of iPod use. Text and audio are installed separately; the iPod (regardless of memory capacity) is capable of holding only 1000 text files which is slightly more than half of the Bible at any one time. Functionally this means that if you have an iPod with 1G memory you will have more text files than you will have audio available at any one time; likewise, those who have iPods with enough memory to hold the entire Bible in the MP3 format only have access to 1000 text (more…)

By Peter Porco, AAUG Member
Reviewed 5/06

With their speed and ability to retain and arrange copious quantities of data, computers may be the most productive aids a student could ever want. Their great promise is to put information readily at hand, whatever we need, whenever we need it. Backed by a small box of the right discs, our little machines aim to place entire libraries in our laps.

Such a goal seems truly closer with publication of the Encyclopedia Britannica 2006: Ultimate Reference Suite, a DVD issued by Avanquest USA and said to offer more than 100,000 articles suitable to three levels of education. I’ve read only a few dozen, but I take the publisher’s word that the software includes 75,000 articles on the adult level, 15,000 articles in the student encyclopedia section and 2,000 articles on the grade-school level, plus a “Year in Review” segment for the years 1993-2004, containing an additional 9,000 articles in several categories - disasters, biographies, world affairs, religion, sports and others.

The readings vary in length from a paragraph to thousands of words. They are often shot through with cross-references and accompanied by photographs or drawings. I was particularly enthralled with an animation that showed the initial steps taken by Archimedes, the ancient mathematician from Sicily, to discover the value of pi.

The collection links to more than 160,000 magazine articles online, with free updates available when necessary. The dictionary, meanwhile, contains 215,000 entries; the thesaurus, 340,000. There are timelines, a world atlas, games, study guides, and something called the Brainstormer, (more…)