User Profile for TheMuse

Capture Me 1.2.1 (Mac OS X)

A real gem, and does just what it says.  

I've been using ver. 1.2.1 of CaptureMe to capture screen images from DVD (the Mac's builit in DVD player doesn't allow this). I'm using OS 10.3.9, and this software does just what it says it will do -- quickly, cleanly, and easily. I didn't realize that there had been two updates in the meantime -- ver. 1.3.x and ver. 1.4.1 -- and that ver. 1.4.1 can now capture one minute of video in QT. It requires OS 10.4 (I'm holding out for Leopard so I'm still using OS 10.3.9), but I'm perfectly happy with its screen capture ability alone. I'm almost disappointed that CaptureMe offers video capture because it was just so intuitive and streamlined at capturing still shots that I don't want it to get complicated with extra features, as some shareware is wont to do. Why? Because users expect to see shareware "updated" regularly. If they see that the developer hasn't updated the program with a new release since 2 or 3 years ago, they assume that he's no longer involved with the software. But in some cases, it means that the software works! That's why it doesn't need tweaking or updating (just an update when a new OS comes along). So developer, if you're reading this, I encourage you to develop your video capture software as a separate product. CaptureMe screen capture was perfect as it was. It's rare to find such a lean program that includes customization options and doesn't hog system resources. I like it that CaptureMe is small and does what it does well, which was to supplement something that's missing in the native OS. [alert admin]

Post a comment | More Info

Friday, July 20 2007 @ 08:20 AM PDT

KrossWordz 1.7.2 (Mac OS X)

This is a superb program. I'm torn between this and Crozzword.  

If you are a Mac OS X crossword junkie, there are two excellent products out there that are both solvers AND clients (they download puzzles from the net for you to play offline): CrozzWord and KrossWordz. Both can open puzzles in the Across Lite .puz format, which is the standard format for crossword puzzles found online. KrossWordz has the more elegant, Aqua interface and easier navigation (using the spacebar to change direction is super convenient because you never have to take your hands off the keyboard). Plus it has two nifty features CrozzWord doesn't have: (1) a timer, and (2) a menu option to connect to the web site One Across, which is a crossword helper site. Currently KrossWwordz can download puzzles from 20 online sites (USA Today, LA Times, Washington Post, New York Sun, Boston Globe, etc.) You can download the current daily puzzle plus puzzles from past dates. CrozzWord does not have the clean intuitive interface of KrossWordz, but it offers more appearance tweaks. Appearance is customizable through the Preferences, allowing you to set the grid size, colours, placement, and fonts (for both clues and puzzle entries). Saving screen space, CrozzWord places only the current cells' clue along the top (in a drop down menu), whereas KrossWordz shows all the clues in a re-sizeable floating window. Both are equally convenient. With CrozzWord, I found that a few of the keys that I read could be used for navigation -- like PageUp, PageDn, Home, and End -- didn't work (but the tabs and arrows worked, so all was not lost). Where CrozzWord is REALLY robust is in the sheer volume and sources of puzzles you can download. The demo version alone has at least 400 archived puzzles, plus it includes sources online from which you can download daily puzzles. I found that the USA Today Puzzles would not download because the date range allowed was 2001 to 2003 (!!) -- but maybe that's normal for the demo version. According to the documentation, registered users unlock many more hosts and sources whereas demo users have initially a small selection to choose from. CrozzWord also has an edge over KrossWordz in giving you the choice of which puzzles you wish to download. You pick the dates or titles you want in CrozzWord, whereas KrossWordz automatically downloads the next (or prior) puzzle sequentially (by date) if it does not see that puzzle on your hard drive. A lot of people delete puzzles that they've already completed, so this method can lead to unnecessary downloads. In addition, CrozzWord can open many more puzzle types besides the Across Lite format, including puzzles created with CrossWord Express (a Mac puzzle creator), CrossWord Compiler, CrossWord Construction Kit, CrossWord Wizard, etc. KrossWordz costs $8.00 and has a 30 day demo. CrozzWord costs $15.00 and has a 60 day demo. According to this site, CrozzWord hasn't been tweaked since 2004; but I see it requires OS 10.3.9, so I assume the developer updates it when a new OS requires it. KrossWordz, on the other hand, just had a release in March, 2007. KrossWordz is wonderful; but if the developer is reading this, I'd like to suggest the ability to choose your own past puzzles to download (you pick the date of the puzzle you want instead of KrossWordz automatically downloading the next sequential date). Plus, CrozzWord allows the user to download puzzles from the MacNamara's Band web site, which is where it gets those 400+ puzzles in the demo. (And these puzzles are listed by title, so it's easier to recall which ones you've done before.) I don't know if CrozzWord has a special deal worked out with them, but if KrossWordz can download from these puzzle archive sites then they will really be competitive with CrozzWord. [alert admin]

Post a comment | More Info  |  4 of 4 users found this helpful

Friday, July 20 2007 @ 07:26 AM PDT

KrossWordz 1.7.2 (Mac OS X)

This is a superb program. I'm torn between this and Crozzword.  

If you are a Mac OS X crossword junkie, there are two excellent products out there that are both solvers AND clients (they download puzzles from the net for you to play offline): CrozzWord and KrossWordz. Both can open puzzles in the Across Lite .puz format, which is the standard format for crossword puzzles found online. KrossWordz has the more elegant, Aqua interface and easier navigation (using the spacebar to change direction is super convenient because you never have to take your hands off the keyboard). Plus it has two nifty features CrozzWord doesn't have: (1) a timer, and (2) a menu option to connect to the web site One Across, which is a crossword helper site. Currently KrossWwordz can download puzzles from 20 online sites (USA Today, LA Times, Washington Post, New York Sun, Boston Globe, etc.) You can download the current daily puzzle plus puzzles from past dates. CrozzWord does not have the clean intuitive interface of KrossWordz, but it offers more appearance tweaks. Appearance is customizable through the Preferences, allowing you to set the grid size, colours, placement, and fonts (for both clues and puzzle entries). Saving screen space, CrozzWord places only the current cells' clue along the top (in a drop down menu), whereas KrossWordz shows all the clues in a re-sizeable floating window. Both are equally convenient. With CrozzWord, I found that a few of the keys that I read could be used for navigation -- like PageUp, PageDn, Home, and End -- didn't work (but the tabs and arrows worked, so all was not lost). Where CrozzWord is REALLY robust is in the sheer volume and sources of puzzles you can download. The demo version alone has at least 400 archived puzzles, plus it includes sources online from which you can download daily puzzles. I found that the USA Today Puzzles would not download because the date range allowed was 2001 to 2003 (!!) -- but maybe that's normal for the demo version. According to the documentation, registered users unlock many more hosts and sources whereas demo users have initially a small selection to choose from. CrozzWord also has an edge over KrossWordz in giving you the choice of which puzzles you wish to download. You pick the dates or titles you want in CrozzWord, whereas KrossWordz automatically downloads the next (or prior) puzzle sequentially (by date) if it does not see that puzzle on your hard drive. A lot of people delete puzzles that they've already completed, so this method can lead to unnecessary downloads. In addition, CrozzWord can open many more puzzle types besides the Across Lite format, including puzzles created with CrossWord Express (a Mac puzzle creator), CrossWord Compiler, CrossWord Construction Kit, CrossWord Wizard, etc. KrossWordz costs $8.00 and has a 30 day demo. CrozzWord costs $15.00 and has a 60 day demo. According to this site, CrozzWord hasn't been tweaked since 2004; but I see it requires OS 10.3.9, so I assume the developer updates it when a new OS requires it. KrossWordz, on the other hand, just had a release in March, 2007. KrossWordz is wonderful; but if the developer is reading this, I'd like to suggest the ability to choose your own past puzzles to download (you pick the date of the puzzle you want instead of KrossWordz automatically downloading the next sequential date). Plus, CrozzWord allows the user to download puzzles from the MacNamara's Band web site, which is where it gets those 400+ puzzles in the demo. (And these puzzles are listed by title, so it's easier to recall which ones you've done before.) I don't know if CrozzWord has a special deal worked out with them, but if KrossWordz can download from these puzzle archive sites then they will really be competitive with CrozzWord. [alert admin]

Post a comment | More Info  |  2 of 2 users found this helpful

Friday, July 20 2007 @ 07:26 AM PDT

CrozzWord X 1.4 (Mac OS X)

This really is a fantastic program  

If you are a Mac OS X crossword junkie, there are two excellent products out there that are both solvers AND clients (they download puzzles from the net for you to play offline): CrozzWord and KrossWordz. Both can open puzzles in the Across Lite .puz format, which is the standard format for crossword puzzles found online. KrossWordz has the more elegant, Aqua interface and easier navigation (using the spacebar to change direction is super convenient because you never have to take your hands off the keyboard). Plus it has two nifty features CrozzWord doesn't have: (1) a timer, and (2) a menu option to connect to the web site One Across, which is a crossword helper site. Currently it can download puzzles from 20 online sites (USA Today, LA Times, Washington Post, New York Sun, Boston Globe, etc.) You can download the current daily puzzle plus puzzles from past dates. CrozzWord does not have the clean intuitive interface of KrossWordz, but appearance is customizable through the Preferences, allowing you to set the grid size, colours, placement, and fonts (for both clues and puzzle entries). Saving screen space, CrozzWord places only the current cells' clue along the top (in a drop down menu), whereas KrossWordz shows all the clues in a re-sizeable floating window. Both are equally convenient. I found that a few of the keys that I read could be used for navigation in CrozzWord -- like PageUp, PageDn, Home, and End -- didn't work (but the tabs and arrows worked, so all was not lost). Where CrozzWord is REALLY robust is in the sheer volume and sources of puzzles you can download. The demo version alone has at least 400 archived puzzles, plus it includes sources online from which you can download daily puzzles. I found that the USA Today Puzzles would not download because the date range allowed was 2001 to 2003 (!!) -- but maybe that's normal for the demo version. According to the documentation, registered users unlock many more hosts and sources whereas demo users have initially a small selection to choose from. CrozzWord also has an edge over KrossWordz in giving you the choice of which puzzles you wish to download. You pick the dates or titles you want in CrozzWord, whereas KrossWordz automatically downloads the next (or prior) puzzle sequentially (by date) if it does not see that puzzle on your hard drive. A lot of people delete puzzles that they've already completed, so this method can lead to unnecessary downloads. In addition, CrozzWord can open many more puzzle types besides the Across Lite format, including puzzles created with CrossWord Express (a Mac puzzle creator), CrossWord Compiler, CrossWord Construction Kit, CrossWord Wizard, etc. KrossWordz costs $8.00 and has a 30 day demo. CrozzWord costs $15.00 and has a 60 day demo. According to this site, CrozzWord hasn't been tweaked since 2004; but I see it requires OS 10.3.9, so I assume the developer updates it when a new OS requires it. The puzzle part of CrozzWord is wonderful; but if the developer is reading this, I'd like to suggest a tweak to the interface to make it more Aqua-like (or more "OS X-like") and maybe add a couple of those neat features that KrossWordz has (the timer, the link to One Across). [alert admin]

Post a comment | More Info  |  0 of 1 users found this helpful

Tuesday, July 17 2007 @ 09:07 PM PDT

xPad 1.2.5 (Mac OS X)

Making Bulleted and Numbered Lists  

As for the person who said you can't make bulleted or numbered lists in xPad, there is a work-around (though it's not automatic; you still have to type the bullet or number on each line):

• Press alt-8 (makes a round bullet in most fonts) or enter the first number.
• Set a tab where you want text after bullet/number to begin.
• On the next line, move the left margin triangle (the lower part of the margin guide) to the same distance that the tab was set. This is a hanging indent, and subsequent lines of text will wrap to that point.
• You can apply this throughout the document with "copy ruler" and "paste ruler" or you can save it as a style: (1) Select (highlight) the line where you made the hanging indent. (2) Press "Styles" in the drop-down menu at the top, then select "Other." (3) Click on "Favourite Style." (4) At the prompt, enter a name for the favourite style (call it "Hanging Indent"), and from then on it will appear in your "Styles" menu.

[alert admin]

Post a comment | More Info  |  1 of 1 users found this helpful

Thursday, July 05 2007 @ 10:29 AM PDT

xPad 1.2.5 (Mac OS X)

I love this app! It's just the right type of notepad.  

The xPad notepad is the best of both worlds. It has a TextEdit interface that is unobtrusive and that opens as quickly as stickies, yet it allows you to organize your notes by titling them, assigning a user-defined colour-coded subject to them, and providing a sortable index of them. If you're a student, a writer, or anyone who grabs snippets of info or quotes from the web, you will love this. It also makes a great scratch pad for jotting down ideas when they come to you so you can place them in their proper file/directory later. Or you can save it as a repository for all notes for which you need a quick reference. For instance, I have one note that shows keyboard shortcuts and quick tips for OS X (things I would otherwise forget, like how to access the menu without the mouse), another note keeps track of my contest entries.

• The database of all your notes is stored in your home Library/Application Support, which makes backup easy.
• Another bonus is that you can give each note a distinct appearance by choosing fonts, font colours & sizes, highlighting, paragraph formatting, etc., just as you would in TextEdit.
• A brilliant and most convenient feature is the "Copy Ruler" and "Paste Ruler" in the Text menu, which allows you to easily copy paragraph formatting (indents, tab stops, spacing, etc.) to other areas.

However, I'd welcome the following in future updates:

1. search and find across all notes and note titles.
2. automatic bullets and numbering.
3. ability to sort note titles in any order by dragging and dropping in the title drawer (a good alternative to hierarchical notes).
4. hierarchical notes (just 2 levels) but only if custom sorting (above), which I prefer, can't be implemented - an expandable triangle next to main notes in the title drawer; anything the user designates as a sub-note to a main note would appear underneath it (e.g., user can create a main note named "Contests" and sub-notes named "Publishers Clearing House" and "Lottery" under it)

However, the last three are just "wish list items" that I would only like to see IF they don't add to the current free price and IF they don't bloat or slow down the app. xPad as it is now is pretty darn near perfect. Many compliments to the developer for a job well done. [alert admin]

Post a comment | More Info  |  1 of 1 users found this helpful

Thursday, July 05 2007 @ 09:08 AM PDT

Remember? 4.2 (Mac OS X)

Remember? 4.2 is the level of excellence all shareware should aspire to  

Remember? is worth much more than its shareware price. At $20, you're getting a piece of software that will never give you any trouble, does exactly what you bought it for, and is highly customizable. The appearance, alarms (alerts), printing layouts, and event categories are loaded with options that are well thought out; yet with all the features, the program remains lean. I've used it since OS 8 right up to my current OS of 10.3.9 and it's worked seamlessly at all times. It doesn't include contact management or integration with email, but those are for other programs (like Mail & Address Book). If you want a superb reminder/calendar that's intuitive and a snap to set up and use, then Remember? is your program. This software is 99% perfect, but if I could wish for one tiny little thing that would bring it to 100%, that would be the ability to START and END a recurring event at a particular point in time. For instance, suppose I have an appointment the 15th of each month but only from March to November. The way Remember? is now, that appointment will show up on the 15th of every month. I can delete it in December, but that deletes ALL instances of that appointment, past and future... unless there's a way around this that I'm missing. But that's a minor wish list item. This software is so good it's spoiled me. Now I expect all shareware to be just as impressive. [alert admin]

Post a comment | More Info  |  1 of 1 users found this helpful

Monday, June 18 2007 @ 09:24 PM PDT

No user comments.