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User Name grh-svo
Member Since 2005-09-07
Total number of Feedback Posts: 132
Total number of comments: 27
Last 10 Feedback Posts by grh-svo [ Search for All ]
Cinematize 2.07 (Mac OS X)
I see that MPEG Streamclip is being suggested as an alternative to this tool. I have not used either (but will try both, soon.) Reviewers should please take more care. It is not correct to say that they are congruent. Cinematize claims to do something that MPEG Streamclip does not claim to do — receive video from a DVD. MPEG Streamclip only claims to receive MPEG files. I have a need that is not only very specific, I would be very surprised if many others do not want to do the same thing. And I'm wondering if Cinematize will do it (based on the claims, anyway) whereas I'm sure MPEG Streamclip will not. I have a disc-based video recorder attached to my television. I want to be able to move recorded material (it appears on the recorder's hard disc as a VIDEO_TS folder) to my computer for editing in, for example, iMovie, and subsequent burning to a DVD (again as a VIDEO_TS folder) for later playing on any DVD player in the normal way. I'm not interested in producing MPG files for playing in, for example, QuickTime Player. Can anyone tell me if Cinematize or any other tool will do what I want? I've searched long and hard without success so far. [alert admin]
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Wednesday, August 06 2008 @ 01:38 AM PDT
RealPlayer 11 build 884 (Mac OS X)
Is this bit of rubbish still being offered?
Of all the media players around, Real has always been remarkable. For being such rubbish! Beats me why anyone uses it. One aspect that really annoys me — when you launch it, you are confronted with a dialog box that is deliberately deceptive. You are told "To complete configuration, RealPlayer needs to quit your open web browsers." This has nothing to do with "configuration" per se, it's just a sneaky way of making you set RealPlayer as your default player. The correct thing to do would be to ask "do you want RealPlayer to be your default media player?" and, more important, to ask you just the ONE time! On principle, I will never give this company any of my business. [alert admin]
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Friday, June 13 2008 @ 09:31 PM PDT
Avery DesignPro 1.0 (Mac OS X)
But...does it have to be so huge?
I always think twice before downloading such huge apps. In this case, three times. Sorry, Avery, I'll stick with my Quark templates. [alert admin]
Read Comments (1) | More Info | 1 of 1 users found this helpful
Friday, June 06 2008 @ 04:43 PM PDT
Dfine 2.0 (Mac OS X)
I'm confused. i am driving an Intel machine with OSX 10.3. I cannot get the Dfine installer to even launch. Am I doing something wrong or is it wrong when it claims to support Tiger? [alert admin]
Thursday, June 05 2008 @ 02:22 PM PDT
Wallsaver 2.3 (Mac OS X)
I only stopped by to add a comment. I sure as hell won't be trying it out. Screensavers have not been necessary for at least a decade and, in any event, they don't do any such thing. The alleged purpose of a screensaver is to avoid "burning in" an image that remains on your screen for hours. (Actually, years used to be more like it!) So what the hell can the benefit be of a combined screensaver and desktop picture? A desktop picture is one that stays on your screen for...um...how long? A bit like the manufacturers who insult your intelligence by claiming that their product is both shampoo and conditioner is one. What a laugh. [alert admin]
Read Comments (3) | More Info | 0 of 10 users found this helpful
Monday, June 02 2008 @ 03:01 PM PDT
Sparkle 1.5b1 (Mac OS X)
I applaud the developer for what sounds like an honorable undertaking. But isn't this tool sort of an invitation to malicious bastards? Doesn't it make it easy to plant some malware? I won't be using it and I wouldn't like to recommend it. [alert admin]
Read Comments (1) | More Info | 0 of 3 users found this helpful
Sunday, June 01 2008 @ 11:39 PM PDT
Microsoft Expression Media 2.0.1477.0 (Mac OS X)
Some folks have been kind to Monopolysoft and say that, at least, the new version is no worse than when it was iView. Well, my experience is different. There are at least three things about this tool under the MS brand that pisses me off to distraction. First, that goddamned splash screen! I have several apps set to launch at start-up. I do not want to see a bunch of stupid splash screens! (At least, not as bad as Word, which insists on giving me a blank document and a PDF toolbar that simply cannot be disabled!) Second, the moronic construction of preferences has just become worse — the app no longer pays attrention! After much searching, you might find where to set the display prefs. Black background, white text and turn off the idiotic "ratings" system. Choose "set as default if you like, you WILL be ignored. Third, the "show similar" feature, an absolute must in such a tool, DOES NOT WORK! I have a web site featuring about 2,000 pictures. When preparing to add more, I need to be sure I'm not doubling up anywhere. Well, this thing will not tell me. The feature is highly-desirable, the implementaqtion is faulty somewhere. The price is outrageous. This is not a production tool, it's no more than a helper utility. Worth no more than fifty bucks. With the MS brand on it, surely less. The really galling thing is that no developer has stepped up to write anything better. Can't understand it. Is this the best the developer community can do? Sadly, it seems so! [alert admin]
Post a comment | More Info | 2 of 4 users found this helpful
Saturday, May 31 2008 @ 06:53 PM PDT
VisualHub 1.33a (Mac OS X)
Not as good as it claims to be 
I used Handbrake to produce an .avi file from a DVD movie. Like all the avi files I have, the damned thing won't play in Quicktime, I must use VLC Player to watch the movie on my computer. Well, I'm not even half-way happy with this arrangement because VLC has (at least) one damned annoying bug — you can't blithely click ahead and have the movie seamlessly re-start at that new point. More often than not, VLC starts sulking and quits. To add insult to injury, one movie reaches a point very near the end and chokes on something. VLC quits. A re-start brings up that old bug that stops me moving forward to near that point in order to check if it was a one-off or what. To hell with it, I thought, I'll try a different tool. Enter VisualHub. I launched it, pointed it towards the avi movie and asked it to make an mp4 version. I tried several variants. In every case: (a) I could not convince VisualHub to present the movie on my computer unsqueezed horizontally. (Yes, I read the manual. There is passing reference to an anamorphic setting but no way to use it to give what I want.) (b) Way more annoying, VisualHub used only the first few chapters of the movie to make a new file. Yes the output plays in Quicktime but only half-way through the damned movie! Totally useless. For all its simplicity, Handbrake has a much-richer feature set. My only quibble is that the output won't play in Quicktime and I'll wager if I fool around long enough, I'll solve that one. Goddamn. Audio, pictures and so on are so simple on a computer. Why is video so damned confusing? All I want is to copy from a DVD and make the output playable on my computer using Quicktime and in a DVD player. Seems impossible. And don't even mention MacTheRipper. For my money, way less useful than Handbrake. Sigh Guess someone will write something some time fully-featured that works seamlessly, bug-free, usefully. On that day, I'll happily shell out something like $100 for it. [alert admin]
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Friday, May 30 2008 @ 04:57 PM PDT
MovieConverter 1.2 (Mac OS X)
MacBook Pro Intel Core 2 Duo, OSX 10.52 Looks totally un-mac-like. I say "looks" because I can't get it to actually work so I don't know anything about it beyond start-up. Written by a French-speaker. I am not American and, in fact, I spend much time in France and love both the country and the people so there is no "bias against non-English foreigners" here. But any non-English person seeking to release a tool for English-speakers needs to do a much better job. For example, there is absolutely no reason for putting every menu item between <chevrons>. It looks ridiculous. No, it looks ridiculous and unprofessional. Command-O achieves nothing. No dialog box...nothing! The "About" dialog box should be closable with a simple click rather than having to click a special button. All of the text in the second box that opens when you choose "About" is in French. Not helpful! Not even to me, and I can read French! The English in the "Prefs" window is Frenglish. Equally unhelpful. The "Help" is only online. Ok this is a personal thing. I mourn the passing of proper manuals. Big tools (Photoshop, Excel, even OSX) _need_ (but no longer have) proper, written, printed manuals. Small tools like MovieConverter at least deserve a decent written electronic manual with the utility for people who might be trying to use it offline. Oh yeah. In the Prefs window, clicking "OK" produces an error message. Can you believe it? "Bug collecte 'output' DVD" (sic) whatever the hell that might mean! And the <quit> button produces a new error dialog. "Select how to proceed with your background image" Sorry, this app is pure rubbish. Force-quit then plonk. [alert admin]
Post a comment | More Info | 0 of 1 users found this helpful
Friday, May 30 2008 @ 10:23 AM PDT
RecordPad 2.11 (Mac OS X)
Political remarks totally inappropriate
I haven't looked at the app or the developer's web site. But seeing "pty" in the name of the company is all I need, to know the developer is Australian. I'm a Kiwi so no need to defend an Aussie (there is friendly USA-Canada-type rivalry between Australia and New Zealand) but I will, because the political comment by Ancient Boii Tribe is completely out of place. Most of the rest of the world doesn't like Bush either (doesn't mean we root for Obama) but he's not to blame for your opinion of the software. Not only that but, as if you care, I can assure you there is no depression. Not in New Zealand, not in Australia and not even in America. Recession maybe in America but not in other countries. So the developer's software is completely unaffected by political and economic events in America. And we are all unaffected by your take on them. I see you have one supporter, another moron called Paul.I1 who found your remarks "very useful". Well maybe, but here is not the place. I'm with Bozzunter1. VT should remove this idiotic "review" that reviews nothing. [alert admin]
Saturday, May 17 2008 @ 03:08 PM PDT
Last 10 Comments by grh-svo [ Search for All ]
Montage - A review and comparison to Storymill
Planning to write for a living, huh? Don't give up your day job. Your rambling waffle was tough to wade through. Stylistically, your text sucks. Sorry.
Original feedback item : Read More
Friday, June 13 2008 @ 08:59 PM PDT
When submitting comments of this nature, it's best if you also tell us your set-up. For example, I use Toast regularly on a MacBook Pro core 2 dual, driven by OSX 10.53 and I have no such problem. Suggestion: rebuild permissions. Run DiskWarrior. Check your Toast prefs. I'm sure the problem you're experiencing is not caused by Toast.
Original feedback item : Read More
Friday, June 13 2008 @ 04:55 PM PDT
Onyx---not better than IceClean
IceClean is one of the most dangerous pieces of shit it's ever been my misfortune to test. A full flatten and reinstall followed.
Original feedback item : Read More
Monday, June 09 2008 @ 08:15 PM PDT
Kontakt 2.0.1 was released in April
Surely the timing of a mention in VersionTracker is down to the software developer, not VT. VT must merely be a semi-automated database reflecting posts made to it, as and when they are made.
Original feedback item : Read More
Friday, May 02 2008 @ 07:39 PM PDT
...that Adobe is very frustrating and often viciously anti-Mac, and while it's true that they did not put any data in the "What's New" field, this time your criticism is blunted by the fact that what is new with this version is adequately-mentioned in the "Product Description" field. Sadly, on this occasion, they would be justified in pointing out that only moron would've missed this.
Original feedback item : Read More
Tuesday, February 05 2008 @ 12:00 AM PST
Who on earth is running Nutopia?
Link doesn't work (presumably because we go direct there instead of via some other page first)
Original feedback item : Read More
Wednesday, January 23 2008 @ 12:00 AM PST
Skype is owned by eBay which makes it a brother to PayPal, one of the most vilified bunches of assholes on the web. Look at <http://paypalsucks.com/> <http://paypalwarning.com> <http://www.aboutpaypal.org/> <http://www.screw-paypal.com/> <http://switchersblog.com/2006/08/20/paypal-is-an-absolutely-miserable-operation.html> <http://blog.centresource.com/2007/04/25/bad-paypal-when-security-becomes-ridiculous/> Skype can be known by the company it keeps.
Original feedback item : Read More
Friday, November 30 2007 @ 12:19 AM PST
Instead of asking a dumb question in the middle (and the beginning, and the end!) or your "review" why not just search for Growl. You just might leasrn something useful.
Original feedback item : Read More
Wednesday, November 07 2007 @ 01:42 PM PST
The software was developed with Artificial Intelligence. It can detect when you are at work and it disables all sporting broadcasts.
Original feedback item : Read More
Wednesday, November 07 2007 @ 01:37 PM PST
One of the more absurd, illogical posits I've read this year. Just suppose you are unlucky emough to have 120GB of duplicate files and you spend $40 to delete them. Ok. Now you no longer have your duplicae files but you still have the app. Suppose you are _really_ unlucky and you have 120GB of duplicate files on every one of your 200 disks. Now would you argue that you got $800 value from the utility so…
Original feedback item : Read More(1 words)
Wednesday, July 04 2007 @ 10:25 PM PDT
