Existing users, 
User Name Obee Juan
Member Since 2005-01-19
Total number of Feedback Posts: 35
Total number of comments: 20
Last 10 Feedback Posts by Obee Juan [ Search for All ]
CNET TechTracker app 1.0 beta 4 (Mac OS X)
Retracting my review... 1 star at best... found a MUCH better alternative 
My initial posting was overly generous in retrospect, after having some new "experiences" with it, and having tried another app that worked in nearly every way better than TechTracker does. First thing that ticked me off was how, a week or so after updating 30+ apps, I got 30+ emails from CNET requesting that I post a review of the apps I updated. That was 30+ emails/spam that I had to whack out of my inbox. I wasn't happy about that at ALL! Secondly, there were a number of suggestions I had that TT is sorely lacking in, most especially the lack of an exclusions list and addressing the tediousness of updating more than a couple apps. As someone else mentioned, TT also only scans for apps in /Applications, and it certainly does not check Preference Panes. Today, I was trying out an app called AppFresh. It isn't listed here on VersionTracker, presumably because they use the database from a competing website (osx.iusethis.com). AppFresh is EVERYTHING that TechTracker should have been. It scans for apps no matter where they are; widgets; plug-ins; pref panes; even system updates. All these items are listed inside the app; you can check for updates within this app; exclude items of your choice (either permanently or for the current available version); it will even update the apps for you, or help you find the updater if it can't do it automatically. AppFresh, like TechTracker, does occasionally show updates available for some apps that may really be upgrades or new versions, rather than a "update", and sometimes shows an app needs updating even though you have the current version. This is NOT a deficiency in TT or AF. These apps get their version info from the embedded plist inside the app they are looking at, and the developer of that app is at fault for failing to update the list properties correctly. At least with AppFresh, you can exclude such apps. No such option with TechTracker. I've also found that AppFresh has a large number of apps it can't assess because osx.iusethis doesn't have those apps in their database... a failure of their developers to list them there. Hopefully more developers will pick up on this and start listing them there as well. I've exorcised TechTracker from my system because I just don't see it getting much better, and certainly not to the level AppFresh is at now. [alert admin]
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Saturday, November 14 2009 @ 01:21 PM PST
MPlayer OSX Extended rev12 (Mac OS X)
I've long been using VLC for its incredible support for a wide variety of types of video formats, but today I decided to give MPlayer Extended a whirl after getting frustrated over how VLC was taking an unusually long time to exit after having a large video loaded. I've also long been a bit disappointed that with many larger videos, VLC has trouble skipping ahead a significant portion into the playback. It is often very choppy when doing so for a few seconds before smoothing out and playing normally, though at times it has outright crashed. In these respects, MPlayer absolutely shines for me. No stuttering when skipping ahead, and it opens/closes very smoothly. MPlayer has supported everything I've thrown at it with ease... mkv, m4v (with AC3 audio no less), mov, and more, and it doesn't even break a sweat with 720p. It does seem to be a bit lacking in some advanced options available in VLC, but that doesn't bother me in the least. It plays what I have and exceptionally smoothly with no hassles. I do believe this will not only be replacing VLC for me, but Quicktime as well. [alert admin]
Saturday, October 31 2009 @ 04:55 PM PDT
CNET TechTracker app 1.0 beta 4 (Mac OS X)
Additional comment/feedback...
In addition to my review, I'd like to add that the app could REALLY use an exceptions option to hide apps of our choice from indicating updates are available. Case in point: TT said there was an update for Quicktime 7. I thought it was odd that Apple didn't alert me of this update, so I tried to install it. As it turns out, that update was specifically for Leopard-only (I have Snow Leopard). Unfortunately, barring an exceptions list for updates, I will see this as an available update for all eternity. If Apple ever does provide an update for Snow Leopard, then I can get that via Apple's updater anyway. Another example was persistent reminders of updates for apps from iLife '09, for example, even though I have iLife '08. If I had iLife '09, I could have actually utilized these updates. Since I haven't upgraded and not planning to, these updates are useless to me. I had the same problem with a game. I have the original Wingnuts game, but it insisted that Wingnuts 2 was an update for me. It's not... it's a new game. I don't entirely fault the TechTracker app on this... it's just pulling the version info from the embedded plist in these apps. But an exceptions list will go a long way to addressing this. [alert admin]
Friday, October 30 2009 @ 08:38 AM PDT
CNET TechTracker app 1.0 beta 4 (Mac OS X)
I approached this with a health bit of skepticism. Cnet's continuing failure to update the Versiontracker site with a category for Mac OS 10.6 has become something of a joke at this point. So surely this app would suck. Right? Right? Actually I was quite surprised over how many apps I had that were outdated, a few by quite some months. So I set out to get the updates. Getting the updates was a bit more laborious than necessary. The TechTracker app launches the Cnet website from which you can download the updates that the app found were needed. First thing that annoyed me was how the site was non-functional for as long as Safari AdBlocker was active. Whitelisting the site didn't work, so I had to resort to disabling it. I'm not sure what the problem is just yet... I'm guessing Cnet detected it and loaded a useless version of the site. So okay... I'll humor them and disable it. But MAN what a load of ads. Yuck! Okay, so that all aside, telling TechTracker to get the updates gives me a webpage listing the apps I have installed, the status of what is in need of updates, and what versions are available. Clicking each app for an update resulted in a pop-up window that would tell me I was about to download a file, then the file download progress window would open. So then I had to close the other window and go back to the window with the apps list to get to the next app needing downloading, and repeat. Additionally, there were a few apps that didn't auto-download, but rather I got re-directed to the developer's site and had to go find the update myself. So anyway, with some 30+ updates available, this was a LOT of window opening and closing. Ideally, I'd like to just click a link on the page with the full list of my apps and start the download, not get a pop-up window as a bonus. I guess Cnet is pretty determined to shove a bunch of ads at me. Since this is a free service, and a rather convenient one, I guess that's the price to pay. Anywho, the updates were largely very successful. I did encounter a couple issues with some updates. Despite having the most recent version of a few apps, TechTracker continued to insist that I didn't have them yet. The "About" page of these apps showed the version number that TT said I needed to update to, so what the heck? Well on opening the package contents of these apps, I found that the embedded Info.plist file in each of these had the wrong version number as an entry. Editing those files myself to show the correct version number finally silenced TechTracker. This is NOT a problem with the TechTracker app, I should say. It is getting the version info from these plists, and the developer is the one who is at fault here. So overall, I have to give a big thumbs up to TechTracker. Yes, if you have a lot of updates, it will be tedious to get them, though admittedly far less tedious than checking each app manually. Once you get past that hump, it will be much less annoying to grab an occasional update. [alert admin]
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Thursday, October 29 2009 @ 11:47 PM PDT
Simple Comic 1.7b233 (Mac OS X)
With the recent update and the revision note of the fix to error with filename encoding, I had hoped that this meant the problem with some pages being displayed out-of-order was resolved (see prior review). Alas... it has not. This is really disappointing since there are a few other comic book readers that don't have this problem. Comic Reader Pro and Comical both do it correctly, though both are flawed in other ways that make them less desirable than this app would be. Heck, even RadicalCodex gets it right, and the guy who wrote that is a complete jerk. [alert admin]
Saturday, September 26 2009 @ 11:56 AM PDT
BombDunk 1.1.2 (Mac OS X)
20 bucks? For a Minesweeper clone? You have GOT to be kidding me! [alert admin]
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Friday, September 25 2009 @ 09:22 AM PDT
Mailsmith 2.2.2 (Mac OS X)
When I first switched to OS X several years ago, I quickly latched on to Mailsmith (despite its rather exorbitant price tag) because it simply had no comparable peer on the Mac. It was easily the most powerful email client available and remained so for some time. Unfortunately, it had gone years without updates, and lack of support for Intel Macs and IMAP service eventually rendered it a has-been. That meant for folks like me who now have iPhones and are using MobileMe or other IMAP services, Mailsmith is dead to us. I've since moved on to Postbox and while I had remained hopeful that Mailsmith would win me back, this release and its continuing lack of IMAP support has dashed those hopes. [alert admin]
Wednesday, September 23 2009 @ 10:35 AM PDT
Mah Jong Solitaire 2.41 (Mac OS X)
Sorely in need of updated graphics
As far as tile-matching Mah Jong games go, this is pretty pleasant with the music and variety of board layouts, and it's nice to see the developer is keeping up with changes in the OS and platform. It makes for a somewhat competent alternative to the popular but aging Kyodai Mahjongg on Windows. However, in playing this on my Mac with a Cinema Display, I find myself constantly distracted by the low resolution of the game's graphics. The tiles are fuzzy, the graphical scoreboard/toolbar has pixellated graphics, and the included backgrounds (at 1024x746 pixels) are really pretty low in resolution, especially when you consider than an entry level 13" MacBook has a native resolution of 1280x800. Even the smallest iMac today does 1680x1050. Sure, it allows you to use your own backgrounds, but it appears to scale them down judging from the sample I tried. I'd also like to see the ability to allow custom tiles. Mahjongg games are very popular, judging from how many developers have their own versions. With a bit more effort, this one has the potential to stand out above the others. [alert admin]
Saturday, September 05 2009 @ 08:57 AM PDT
VideoDrive 1.9.6.03 (Mac OS X)
In my prior review, I neglected to compare VideoDrive's options to CONVERT videos to an Apple TV-compatible format. In that review, I was referring to the option to COPY videos into an Apple TV-compatible container, which is a different beast entirely. In actual conversions of video material, VideoDrive actually doesn't do anything but pass the video to Quicktime and Quicktime does the actual conversion. What VD does do extra is allow you to set up batch conversions by monitoring a designated folder for new videos that need converting and auto-queueing them up. Very handy for mass processing! As for the quality of the conversion.... I converted a XviD AVI file using VideoDrive and Handbrake, resulting in files sized about 500mb and 700mb respectively. The two videos were very similar in quality, the most obvious difference when directly compared was that the one acquired using VideoDrive had less color... it seemed a bit more washed out. It should be noted that Handbrake has available presets that are considered optimal for use with Apple TV... you could probably get identical results using VideoDrive by modifying Quicktime's settings for MPEG conversions (Quicktime Pro required, I do believe). VideoDrive did fail to convert (ok.. pass to Quicktime) an mkv video, even though I can play those and convert them using Quicktime. In the case of the mkv files I've worked with though, Handbrake is easily my choice. While Quicktime technically can pass through the video in mkv files for a perfect conversion to m4v format, the 720p files I've used don't play well on the Apple TV (too choppy). Additionally, Quicktime will not pass through AC3 (Dolby Digital) sound tracks since they are not technically supported in the mp4 standard. In practice, I've found that using Handbrake's Apple TV preset along with using its own AC3 passthrough option allows me to convert to an m4v video that Apple TV can play with very minimal loss of video quality while keeping the AC3 track. Bottom line? VideoDrive can do mass conversions a bit more easily than Handbrake can, but will require some manual tweaking of the settings in Quicktime to get comparable results to Handbrake's optimized presets. And you'll have to stick to Handbrake instead if you have an AC3 sound track and want to keep that for surround sound. [alert admin]
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Sunday, April 26 2009 @ 08:07 AM PDT
VideoDrive 1.9.6.03 (Mac OS X)
VideoDrive's Metadata importer is second to none!
I've been experimenting with VideoDrive among a variety of other media converters and utilities in an attempt to find what works best in managing my iTunes Library for use with my recently-purchased Apple TV. While its Import Videos function certainly serves as a very fast way to make a video compatible with Apple TV regardless of what type of video it is or codec used, I've found that the video quality pales in comparison to doing a true conversion in Handbrake using .h264. Additionally, sometimes the audio is slightly out of sync when using VideoDrive. I've also found that some videos, particularly .mkv videos in 720p, simply play much too choppily, if not outright freeze up, when using VideoDrive to make them Apple TV-compatible. Where VideoDrive REALLY shines though is its Metadata import feature. This is second to NONE! It will automatically search the Internet Movie Database for movies or TV Shows, add tags and episode descriptions, attach the movie poster (or let you attach an image of your own choosing), and so on. You can also manually edit any field. Sometimes you may have to manually adjust the show name to its "correct" spelling (since the file name it uses automatically may not be exactly accurate) to get the results you expect. I've tried using MetaX, which is an alternative Metadata editor that is intended to work with Handbrake, and when it comes to auto-importing the data, it just doesn't work well. VideoDrive as a Metadata editor is just outstanding! It works directly with videos in iTunes and will move any bona fide "TV Shows" that are in the Movies section to the TV Shows section once correctly tagged. In summary, while VideoDrive as a video importer leaves a lot to be desired in quality when compared to a true converter like Handbrake, it is very fast at what it does and may be sufficient for videos with lower resolutions or for people with smaller TVs (I'm reviewing using a 50" Pioneer Kuro 720p) on which the video quality differences I mentioned may be less noticeable. Additionally, its Metadata Editor is without question the best out there, easily worth the shareware fee for this functionality alone if you intend to manage a large library. [alert admin]
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Sunday, April 26 2009 @ 05:37 AM PDT
Last 10 Comments by Obee Juan [ Search for All ]
What's with the Font Cache rebuilding?
It doesn't rebuild the font cache for me every time I run it. It did so only the first time, as it is supposed to.
Original feedback item : Read More
Saturday, October 31 2009 @ 04:34 PM PDT
Of course it needs admin privileges. That was just so ignorant, I don't know what else to say.
Original feedback item : Read More
Saturday, October 31 2009 @ 06:10 AM PDT
There's just no excuse for cnet to not have a category for 10.6. I mean really... how long would it take to add it? 5 minutes? 10? This site is becoming increasingly irrelevant. Might be time to move on.
Original feedback item : Read More
Sunday, October 25 2009 @ 10:15 AM PDT
So what's the problem with that?
Original feedback item : Read More
Saturday, October 24 2009 @ 02:06 PM PDT
Worth Waiting for Snow Leopard Compatibility
Ok, nevermind me. I finally got 1P to work with Safari. I missed the link provided to the blog that details getting Safari to run in 32-bit mode.
Original feedback item : Read More
Monday, August 31 2009 @ 08:22 PM PDT
Worth Waiting for Snow Leopard Compatibility
I hate to break it to you, but 1Password hasn't been working in Safari for me either since upgrading Friday night. I just tried today's 1P update and it still doesn't show up in Safari. However, it DOES show in Firefox.
Original feedback item : Read More
Sunday, August 30 2009 @ 05:13 PM PDT
Clarification: "Copy to container" vs. actual video converting...
I should mention that when I talked about VideoDrive's importing feature, I'm referring to the option to "Copy videos in an Apple TV container". This is quick and dirty, but subject to the problems I mentioned. I hadn't given the other option... to truly convert videos using h264 (much like Handbrake does) much of a shakedown since Handbrake is free and is widely regarded as the best, but that's not really fair to…
Original feedback item : Read More(1 words)
Sunday, April 26 2009 @ 05:58 AM PDT
It's pretty pathetic when a developer resorts to creating a fake id just to tout their product as being far better than it really is. :/
Original feedback item : Read More
Friday, September 19 2008 @ 10:21 AM PDT
Very promising, but not quite "there" yet...
Gaaah! Sorry for the duplicate posting... got some "table error" message and assumed it didn't go through.
Original feedback item : Read More
Monday, April 07 2008 @ 08:58 AM PDT
Your statement that this opens up OS X to Windows viruses is insanely inaccurate. Paragon NTFS only lets OS X read/write to Windows volumes. It does NOT let Windows (and all its viruses) read or write to OS X's volumes.
Original feedback item : Read More
Friday, April 04 2008 @ 06:13 PM PDT
