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Advanced SearchUser Name bwickens
Member Since 2000-07-18
Total number of Feedback Posts: 141
Total number of comments: 23
Last 10 Feedback Posts by bwickens [ Search for All ]
Peggle Deluxe 1.0.1 (Mac OS X)
Another fine game from Pop Cap. On the surface, this is a completely hypnotic game with the usual hallmarks of ascending difficulty, master challenges, terrific visual and audio feedback, and FUN! Underneath, you can't help but feel that the game designers know some deep s**t about game theory and what really makes people tick. Beware if you have a family - they will take second place to "Peggling" once you're in the zone! [alert admin]
Wednesday, July 30 2008 @ 09:27 AM PDT
Intuit Quicken 2006 R6 (Mac OS X)
Oh dear lord, this Shantyware has lingered on for far too long. The mysterious release of '08 for Windows and nothing for Macintosh has me seriously thinking about running Quicken for Windows under Parallels. However, the instructions on the Intuit site for converting Mac Quicken data into Windows Quickens date are hilarious. Not only are they dated 1997 (!) and run to about 200 lines of arcane maneuvers, but there is - honest to god - one line of instruction that says: "Insert a PC-formatted floppy disk in the Macintosh's disk drive and copy the Export.qif file to it." Guess I'll have to pick up an old LC off eBay... oh wait... that won't run OSX or Parallels... Quicken. The most ironic brand name in history.™ [alert admin]
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Thursday, May 29 2008 @ 10:24 PM PDT
Intego FileGuard X5 10.5 (Mac OS X)
Knox. $29.95. Have used it for a year. Flawless and secure. Menu accessible. [alert admin]
Thursday, May 08 2008 @ 10:35 AM PDT
DxO Optics Pro 4.5 (Mac OS X)
Mac-users left in the dust, again.
DXO sent me an exciting email announcing the immediate availability of v5 last November. The only problem was that it was for the Windoze version. There have been four posts on their Web site (or by email) since then stating the a 'public beta' of v5 for Mac would be coming on xxxxx. The last promise was in February. Well, today on their Web site, they are now stating that we might see a public beta in April: ---- March 31, 2008 - An update on DxO Optics Pro v5 for Mac Our engineers are working diligently to ready the DxO Optics Pro v5 Public Beta for Mac. You can expect to be able to download it from our website starting in mid-April. The Public Beta for Mac will function on the Tiger-Intel/PowerPC and Leopard-Intel/PowerPC platforms, and will allow you to benefit from the support of the Canon EOS 40D, Nikon D300 and Nikon D3 cameras. We’re eager for you to try this release and thank you again for your patience! ---- I suppose I can conclude three things: 1) most of DXOs customers are windows based (which seems odd for pro-photography) 2) developing for Mac is harder, despite Apple's switch to the Intel chip-set 3) Lightoom and Aperture must not make any money because of their Mac-centric audience! I love DXO. I am sad that Windoze users have been able to do something with v5 for almost 6 months now, while our dollars and time just seem to fritter away to more timely products. [alert admin]
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Monday, March 31 2008 @ 10:28 PM PDT
DxO Optics Pro 4.5 (Mac OS X)
Mac-users left in the dust, again.
DXO sent me an exciting email announcing the immediate availability of v5 last November. The only problem was that it was for the Windoze version. There have been four posts on their Web site (or by email) since then stating the a 'public beta' of v5 for Mac would be coming on xxxxx. The last promise was in February. Well, today on their Web site, they are now stating that we might see a public beta in April: ---- March 31, 2008 - An update on DxO Optics Pro v5 for Mac Our engineers are working diligently to ready the DxO Optics Pro v5 Public Beta for Mac. You can expect to be able to download it from our website starting in mid-April. The Public Beta for Mac will function on the Tiger-Intel/PowerPC and Leopard-Intel/PowerPC platforms, and will allow you to benefit from the support of the Canon EOS 40D, Nikon D300 and Nikon D3 cameras. We’re eager for you to try this release and thank you again for your patience! ---- I suppose I can conclude three things: 1) most of DXOs customers are windows based (which seems odd for pro-photography) 2) developing for Mac is harder, despite Apple's switch to the Intel chip-set 3) Lightoom and Aperture must not make any money because of their Mac-centric audience! I love DXO. I am sad that Windoze users have been able to do something with v5 for almost 6 months now, while our dollars and time just seem to fritter away to more timely products. [alert admin]
Monday, March 31 2008 @ 10:28 PM PDT
Apple iPhone SDK 1.0 (Mac OS X)
Accessing and download problems.
Since the announcement yesterday, I signed up for the 'free' download, received the email with the link/token, and clicked on it to access the page at developer.apple.com. I ALWAYS get a page that says "We are processing your request. Please wait a few moments then refresh this page.". Of course, I wait a few minutes, then refresh the page, which refreshes to the same message about. For hours on end. I am still trying this morning, and I am still getting the above message - and now download. Have tried Firefox and Safari, and no dice. Last night, for a brief period, I was also getting the message that the server could not be found. My guess is a vast overload of download requests, but does anyone else have any suggestions? I emailed Apple Dev support but have heard nothing. [alert admin]
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Friday, March 07 2008 @ 10:17 AM PST
()
Welcome update, but lingering bug… 
This update finally fixes the inability to search for DVDs! However, a bug remains which causes your last DVDs rented (and returned to Netflix) to appear at the top of the "Not Yet Released" queue. I have been in contact with the developer about this, and they are still trying to figure out a fix for this bug. However, all in all, an indispensable interface to the Netflix service which I have been using for many years. [alert admin]
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Friday, February 22 2008 @ 11:01 PM PST
Apple Aperture 2.0 (Mac OS X)
Confirming failed serial number
Eagerly downloaded my trial version (ordered the retail version from the store today). The trial serial that Apple emailed me is not accepted by the v2 trial version. Unexpected sloppiness. [alert admin]
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Tuesday, February 12 2008 @ 12:00 AM PST
Shimo 1.0.4 (Mac OS X)
I love this program. It connects my VPN reliable, faster and more conveniently than launching CISCOs VPN client. However, 1.0.4 seems to have introduced a problem. Now, when I wake my MacBook Pro up, and it reconnects to my wireless, Shimo fails to esablish a VPN connection on demand, citing an error. I have to physically turn Airport off from the menu, turn it back on, then select my network again, then launch Shimo - then it connects perfectly. This problem didn't happen with 1.03, so I assume it was something introduced in 1.04. [alert admin]
Sunday, January 20 2008 @ 12:00 AM PST
iView MediaPro 1.0.8076.0 (Mac OS X)
sad that I will keep it as brief as possible. The Mac "service pack 1" download takes you to a typically cumbersome MS Web page with about a hundred links too many, then gives you instructions on what to do with the download as if you were running Windows. And, as far as I can tell, no support has been added for any camera raw formats that were introduced in 2007, even though this update is supposedly dated September 2007. Of course, the Nikon D300 RAW hoses the program (error!). I am not sure what slice of the Mac market this tragic refurbishment of iView Media Pro is aimed at. Aperture and Lightroom have the photo cataloging market pretty much sewn up. I wish I could get a refund for the CONSIDERABLE money I doled out to the iView folks over the years - the years that they made good and useful Mac software. [alert admin]
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Sunday, December 30 2007 @ 12:46 AM PST
Last 10 Comments by bwickens [ Search for All ]
Flaky programming of the VT site and obscure error messages resulted in a double posting. Sorry. Blame the Web master here.
Original feedback item : Read More
Monday, March 31 2008 @ 10:30 PM PDT
Downloaded and installed the latest version (the one with the GUI). Works like a charm. Found an obscure virus lurking in an old Entourage email and was intelligent enough to NOT quarantine my whole Entourage database. BTW, I received two follow up replies from Symantec, one asking if my problem was solved (No), the other a customer satisfaction survey. I responded to both with some choice words and I vowed NEVER to buy another Symantec product…
Original feedback item : Read More(1 words)
Tuesday, December 18 2007 @ 09:07 AM PST
The "9.0.2" seems to me misnamed. The updater (which takes a VERY long time, but eventually completed successfully) only seems to update certain files, but not the main Flash.app itself. Most of the stuff updated seemed to reside in and around /Applications/Adobe Flash CS3/Players/Flash Player.app.
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Wednesday, December 12 2007 @ 11:04 PM PST
Update: After sending an email to Symantec Customer Support, I received a response which was more nonsense about the order being submitted but not processed, hence no download button (um, hello! What about a purchase screen that says "your order is in process and we will send you an email when it is ready for download" instead of a screen asking you to click on a download button that doesn't exist). Anyway, they claim to have…
Original feedback item : Read More(1 words)
Wednesday, December 12 2007 @ 12:54 PM PST
On the contrary. My wife is a publicist (and a longtime Mac user). She takes receipt of MANY documents produced under Windows, some of which contained virii, and she has inadvertently passed those on to other Windows users, except when she was using anti-virus software. So the issue is not simply one of 'are there any virii for Macs', but can the Mac be a conduit for Windows nastiness... and the answer is, yes it…
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Tuesday, December 11 2007 @ 04:55 PM PST
Update: the developer told me via email and phone (after I had purchased it) that it does not work with video iPods. It might be nice if that warning were posted on their Web site alongside the 'it does not work with Nanos' warning already there.
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Sunday, April 15 2007 @ 10:09 AM PDT
Thank you for the three responses with incorrect information. An Intel-based Mac can (and does) boot from USB media.
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Friday, March 02 2007 @ 09:51 PM PST
Are you using Speed Download? I was, and had exactly the same problem. Speed Download created multiple simultaneous download streams and part way through the download maxes out the 20 maximum downloads Digital River (Roxio) allows. I got DR to reset my counter, then downloaded it without Speed Download and it worked fine. Of course, it's stupid that a limit is placed on how many times you can download a piece of software you just…
Original feedback item : Read More(1 words)
Wednesday, January 10 2007 @ 05:26 PM PST
I got it for $59 through the Roxio Web site, not through their spam. Just logged in, selected which version of Toast I have (7), and v8 was in my basket for $59.
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Monday, January 08 2007 @ 03:36 PM PST
I also run Tivo's own Tivo To Go software under Windows on my MacBook Pro, and it downloads every program I throw at it, including the two I mentioned in my review. So the bug is clearly not hardware related, it's software. It's not at all unfair to raise a serious flaw with this software - and I am not the first reviewer to report this issue. Earlier versions had the same problem. I hope…
Original feedback item : Read More(1 words)
Monday, January 01 2007 @ 06:04 AM PST
