User Profile for kyle_skrinak

Simple CSS 1.2 (Mac OS X)

Fantastic for the price if quirky  

Thanks to Dreamweaver's user authentication scheme, I have been forced to fire up BBEdit to create some quick and sloppy web pages. BBEdit's CSS editor is a curious monster, so I decided to see what else was out there. The open source cssed is another curious monster which I found unsatisfying. The Nvu open source editor is better thought out but pales compared to DW's CSS editor. I checked out "Simple CSS" and was very pleasantly surprised. It provides a robust and comprehensive interface comparable to DW's yet it doesn't hog the CPU or require restrictive licensing checking. The quick preview pane is nice, only it doesn't talk to I.E. on Windows previewing. I do have some nit-picks (especially since it's free) • I don't run the Finder. Yet, Simple CSS requires the Finder, so I'm quitting the Finder after every export. • The whole import/export css into a project interface leaves me lukewarm. I suspect that's a design for further implementation. I would prefer where Command-S would do the same as 'export css' • I wish it availed an "inline" style builder • CSS validation would be nice. Having said that, Simple CSS is definitely worth the look. [alert admin]

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Tuesday, October 04 2005 @ 07:41 AM PDT

Cepstral Voices 3.2.1 (Mac OS X)

Finally; usable Text to Speech for Macintosh  

I have long been using Windows Text to Speech (TTS) for several years now. I've favored the Win solution over Mac, given the poor implementation that had been available under Mac OS X (or 9 for that matter). The speaking voices were poor, the CPU usage was heavy and the time to rip TTS was too cumbersome. It's not easy for me to concede to the Win platform but I'm not that dogmatic about my choice of tools. Today, I stumbled upon Cepstral quite by accident and found myself with a solution that now surpasses my Windows TTS solution (which was using TextAloud, a competent TTS application and NeoSpeech Voices) by way of rip speed. The Cepstral voices are on par with NeoSpeech but rip times are remarkably quicker. I don't know if this has anything to do with Apple's new Core services, but I like the result. I'm currently using Books2Burn for TTS to aiff but I expect I'll exploit OS X's more robust scripting interface to roll my own workflow. Cepstral integrates seamlessly into Apple's TTS via the System Preferences panel. The demo has an appropriately annoying reminder to buy the full version but it is sufficient for your personal review before you select the best voice. Pricing is the same on all platforms (and on par with Window's commercial voice packages), which I find fair (especially since commercial developers typically penalize Mac ports with higher costs for the same ware.) [alert admin]

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Sunday, June 26 2005 @ 08:51 AM PDT

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Fantastic solution to lack of AvantGo conduit  

This is a brilliant piece of freeware. It incorporates the open source work done for AvantGo synchronization (I presume) and effectively brings it to Mac OS X. It's so good that you should by the programmer's other programs, since he won't take payments on this. This synchronizes at speeds comparable to the old AvantGo / OS 9 conduit -- and much faster and more convenient than my older VPC solution. The only improvement I'd suggest is more feedback via the sync dialog but you can watch progress via the console window. [alert admin]

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Saturday, May 08 2004 @ 06:31 AM PDT

Sync Entourage-Address Book (Jaguar) 1.2.11 (Mac OS X)

I highly recommend Sync E -> AB  

This product is definitely greater than its constituant parts. While I didn't give any category a high rating -- "Sync E -> AB" does what the developer set out to do. Additionally, thanks to Paul B.'s excellent tech support (THAT should be it's own category!) I received what really was computer consulting advice as I had data integrity problems that didn't stem from this product. I do advise that you should carefully read the documentation -- don't just "do" this, or you could really muck things up. I do recommend using Paul B.'s "Import / Export X" to a) verify your Entourage's data integrity (especially high-ascii chars that cause problems with Address Book) and b) create a backup of your contact info. For those of you complaining about Panther compatibility, check out: http://scriptbuilders.net/category.php?search=Sync+Entourage-Address+Book+2 [alert admin]

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Tuesday, December 16 2003 @ 06:25 AM PST

OmniGraffle 2.0.8 (Mac OS X)

I am very…  

pleased with OmniGraffle. Handsome design, intelligent operational feedback for quick learning. It has a few issues but the feedback menu gives me the means of passing these along. Best $60 I spent on software recently. [alert admin]

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Wednesday, August 14 2002 @ 05:52 AM PDT

Does it work with 10.3.3?  

I just upgraded my Palm software to v.4.2.1 (the three managers are at 3.2) and MAL Conduit continues to work just fine (10.3.3)

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Tuesday, May 11 2004 @ 10:38 AM PDT

Does it work with 10.3.3?  

Anecdotal experience: works fine for my 10.3.3. I'm using version 3.1 of "HotSync Manager" "Conduit Manager" and "Transport Manager" Maybe a conduit conflict? Maybe a bad prefs file?

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Tuesday, May 11 2004 @ 08:28 AM PDT

Welcome Venerable GifBuilder!  

It’s been years since I ran GifBuilder (say, OS 8.5.1) I was almost teary-eyed as I ran my Fireworks MX broken animated GIF through the old-again-new-again magic that is GifBuilder -- and it fixed it! (Granted, I tweaked specific settings -- it's magic but it ain't a mind-reader. You hand-holding types might need to RTFM) Perhaps animated GIFs are the scourge of W3C fanatics everywhere -- but it sure is quick and easy for a…

Original feedback item : Read More(1 words)

Wednesday, July 02 2003 @ 05:51 AM PDT