User Profile for jchayes369

iDefrag 1.7.1 (Mac OS X)

A warning about iDefrag  

Something you might want to consider: iDefrag will not run on a Mac that is running from a cd or dvd. In order for iDefrag to run it must be able to write its licensing key to a specific location in the copy of the Mac OS you booted on. It can't write to a cd or dvd and consequently it can't run when you boot from a typical cd, dvd, TechTool eDrive, etc. Consequently, the only way to iDefrag your normal boot disk is to create an additional bootable partition and start from that or create a "special" boot cd using Coriolis' CDMaker app. That's probably why CDMaker exists at all. That's a lot of garbage to deal with when the real problem is Coriolis System's excessively restrictive licensing scheme, which can prevent legitmately licensed users from performing legimate activities permitted by Coriolis' own license agreement. Another thing to consider: iDefrag "optimization" really doesn't optimize that well. iDefrag "optimizes" by cramming all your system files together, app files together, data files together, which is a step in the right direction but not true optimization. True optimization involves putting all your Photoshop files together, all your iTunes files together, all your Final Cut files together, so that each application has the files it needs located nearby on the drive. iDefrag just doesn't do that. "Copy/format/copy back" processes do. [alert admin]

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Sunday, October 11 2009 @ 11:27 AM PDT

Retrospect 8.1.526 (Mac OS X)

Wanna make backups you can never use?  

Every - and I do mean EVERY - backup I have ever made using Retrospect is unreadable. That's going all the way back to 1998. Apparently no version of Retrospect is able to read an encrypted backup produced by a previous version of Retrospect. "Unknown media" is the error message. Dantz's reply is the usual "oh, it shouldn't be doing that - there must be something wrong with your machine..." All eight of them? I have eight Macs from the latest Pro to a vintage grape iMac and none of them can read any Retrospect backup produced by a previous version of Retrospect. Avoid this software, well, unless you want to make backups you can't actually read... [alert admin]

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Wednesday, October 07 2009 @ 07:47 AM PDT

Blue Crab 4.9.0 (Mac OS X)

Freakin' AWESOME!  

Not one, not two, but FIVE different page grabbers in one application. One gives you full control and a detailed progress report as it crawls and grabs as much or as little as you want. One does the same thing but has a simplified display. One grabs only the page or two at the url you give it. One grabs images only, displaying them as they are grabbed. The fifth crawls pages or sites from urls in a text document you import, like a list of downloadable files contained in an email. Easy to use. Even does a thorough job of creating a browser-friendly copy of database-driven websites on your Mac. All that "whatever.php" server-side silliness is no problem. Blue Crab has more useful features than any two other similar apps combined. And to top it all, there's a friendly, responsive, knowledgeable person answering your support emails. Blue Crab is a bargain at twice the price. [alert admin]

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Friday, June 15 2007 @ 02:05 PM PDT

Audio Hijack Pro 2.7.1 (Mac OS X)

THE "gotta have" app to record audio on a Mac, period.  

Rock solid. Records audio from ANY Mac software or any device that will connect to a Mac and has audio - even camcorders and analog video converters (I use it via iMovie). Splits clips automatically when there's a gap between songs (easily customized) and does it seamlessly. Never crashes, never pops. Supports all the major file types. Comes with a couple dozen useful plugins. This plus GarageBand (for editing) and you're all set and at only $32 it's a steal! [alert admin]

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Friday, March 09 2007 @ 09:33 AM PST

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