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User Name marmaladewanker
Member Since 2001-12-17
Total number of Feedback Posts: 19
Total number of comments: 2
Last 10 Feedback Posts by marmaladewanker [ Search for All ]
1Password 2.5.12 (Mac OS X)
A Fantastic App, But It Needs to Change Focus
This commentary will get buried.
But I'll share my thoughts for the few hours that they remain front-and center. 1Password is an outstanding app. I bought it. You should, too. But its development is headed in the wrong direction. Here's why:
My1Password
- Ugh! This is their new thing. It's a "secure" Web site where you can store all of your passwords and data and have access to it anytime and anywhere. But guess what? Nobody trusts their personal data with some sweaty teenagers playing Quake DM on some machines in Duluth, Iowa! Do you think I want someone else to know how many pron DVDs I bought over the past six months? Or how many orders for online prescriptions I place at my local pharmacy? Nobody does. And I don't care how "secure" or "private" you claim it to be. Someone will crack it. Someone will figure things out. And I don't want my data to be there when they do. Nothing's as safe as my own data on my own machine, blocked from incoming or outgoing connections. The market for My1Password is slim.
- 1Password should have a "cracking contest." The purse is $5,000 and every geek from here to Gujarat, India gets a chance to try to break your encryption, your software update process. Everything. I want to know that your development is bomb-proof. I want to see if any of my data can seep out during a software update or other activity. But I'm not smart enough to crack your code myself. So, give the nerds a chance to break it. Then, announce the results of the contest (even if you have egg on your face), tell everyone you'll fix any problems and then make 1Password even better. I'll even PayPal a few bucks for the cause.
- Selfishly, I'd like to see a way to access my own personal 1Password encrypted keychain data (that I upload to my own Web server via FTP, thankuverymuch) from my Blackberry. From Opera would be great. But an integrated app that just works on the Blackberry as well as it does under OS X? A dream come true, baby! But there's a snowball's chance that that will happen anytime soon.
I love 1Password. Turn the ship around. Thanks for reading. [alert admin]
Read Comments (4) | More Info | 4 of 9 users found this helpful
Thursday, April 24 2008 @ 08:26 AM PDT
Carbon Copy Cloner 3.0.1 (Mac OS X)
Wow. Take a Look at History. CCC Back On Top Again. 
This is a biased review. I have an axe to grind. I'm pissed off at what happened with SuperDuper (and its flaky support of Leopard). Truth be told, I would have left CCC in the dust had SuperDuper not dropped the ball on Leopard. But I had to come back, because SuperDuper just plain doesn't work right under Leopard. Look at history? Remember OS X Panther? I was using CCC back then to clone my drives and loved it. Then something awful happened. Apple upgraded its OS to Tiger. And guess what? CCC dropped the ball. It didn't support Tiger, so I grudingly had to switch horses and go to SuperDuper. I thought to myself, "How stupid! CCC had me as a customer and now they lost me. If only they had been compatible with Tiger, I would have stayed with them." Ain't it funny how history repeats itself? When Leopard came out, I was happy as a clam with SuperDuper, but guess what? They don't work with Leopard (yet). I couldn't believe it! In fact, I cloned some drives with SuperDuper (not knowing about its incompatibilities) and nearly lost all of my data. How easy would it have been to tell their users, "We don't work with Leopard yet?" But the app didn't tell me, so I kept on cloning. Finally, I learned I had to switch horses again and go back to CCC. I'm glad they're "back" and hope they continue to make kick-ass software. Look, I'm a paid and registered owner of both CCC and SuperDuper. They are both outstanding apps, but SuperDuper just plain dropped the ball (just like CCC did back in the Panther-->Tiger days). I'm pissed off at SuperDuper. It would have saved a lot of us dedicated users a lot of grief if you coulda just told us that you didn't work with Leopard (through a Software Update sentence?). Long live CCC. It's not just important for what I do every day. It's essential. Data is life. [alert admin]
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Wednesday, December 26 2007 @ 09:32 AM PST
1Passwd 2.4.6 (Mac OS X)
Essential for OS X Users, Mandatory if You're Over 40
(Full-Disclosure: I've had a few email conversations with the developers and I find that they are both responsive and interested in improving this product. In short, they seem like good guys. And just so you know, I don't work for them or any competing product. )
1Passwd is the best password manager out there. The best. You should definitely buy it. Think of 1Passwd as a one-stop secure location to put all the info that you value on your machine. So, it's perfect for everything you don't want available for prying eyes.
To give you an idea of what type of 1Passwd user I am, I currently have 58 Web forms and 49 secure notes stored. I'd call myself a medium user of this software. I'd say I buy about 5 things online every month, for which I try to use 1Passwd to help me out.
Improvements needed? A few:
- There's no other way to say it, 1Passwd is still a little too "geeky" for some. I've been in the tech world for over 20 years, and I still had trouble using it for the first few weeks. In fact, I tried to turn others on to 1Passwd, but they couldn't figure out how to use it. It's clear: 1Passwd needs some improvement in the usability department.
- An even better form filling routine: 1Passwd is sometimes unable to fill in areas where there are multiple "pull-down" options. For example, it may be able to fill in your credit card number, but it might not select the right card type. It rarely enters your card security code properly, I've found. It also sometimes chokes on your City name if the City part of the Web page is a "pull-down" option, too. Obviously, bad coding on Web pages may be partially to blame.
- A software serial # template that includes username, serial #, etc...
- A banking template for all of your banking information
- A credit card template for all of your card info
I use 1Passwd at least a dozen times every day and I hope it continues to evolve into an even more effective password/form filling/serial #/credit card/personal info utility. Judging by the developers, they are well on their way. [alert admin]
Post a comment | More Info | 9 of 9 users found this helpful
Monday, July 02 2007 @ 09:25 AM PDT
Prey 1.0 (Mac OS X)
"Prey" Team tries to Reimagine the 3D Shooter
I'm neither affiliated with this developer/publisher, nor any competitor. This is my subjective opinion. Full disclosure: I worked in the gaming industry many years ago and had a chance encounter with a "Prey" producer (whom I found to be a complete and total pompous wanker.) It's gotta suck being a first-person shooter developer. On the one hand, everyone wants you to "break new ground" and introduce fresh new ideas into the tired genre. On the other hand, the same crowd beats you up if you so much as *tweak* a genre that's a core foundation of gaming. ("Where's the rail gun?" "How come there aren't more bosses?" "Where's the BFG?" etc.) Equal parts The Karate Kid, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Alien, and all the usual movie influences, "Prey" has some nice attention to detail: mirrored surfaces, puzzles, portals, character interaction, voiceovers, the "spirit walk," etc... It's nice to see level design that is this advanced. Highs: Fun gravity effects, great level design, a wonderful help system intregrated into the game, nice interactions with talking 3D characters, plus some fun puzzles (when they're not frustrating you). I also like that they bought the rights to some fun music (Heart, Ted Nugent, Judas Priest, etc.) for the bar scene. Very fun. Lows: Cliches abound: "Save the girl in peril." "The White man's world is evil." "Indian folklore/ancestry has all the answers." This game is still a regular shooter at heart (which isn't necessarily a ding), but the genre is beyond tired. Overall: When I want entertainment, I still fire-up "Prey" on my MacBook Pro. That says a lot about its quality. (Did I mention I haven't had a single crash--yet?) And even though the plot in "Prey" is rather cliche, it does what it's supposed to do: it drives the action. I've always found the "Quake" games boring in single-player cause you're just blasting baddies. There's no inherent plot to drive you do any shooting (other than the cooked-up plot du jour). You know, the thinly veiled plot that says that space-aliens-have-invaded-a-martian-colony-and-you-must-step-in-and-save-the-world type of stuff. Although I've only played this for a few hours, I look forward to more entertainment from "Prey." Remember, games like this don't just "happen." It looks like it was an insane amount of work to createit. Stuff like this takes years to create (and tons of $$), so my hat is off to the folks behind "Prey." It's an extraordinary accomplishment. [alert admin]
Post a comment | More Info | 1 of 1 users found this helpful
Thursday, May 10 2007 @ 01:59 PM PDT
Close Combat: First to Fight 1.0.2 (Mac OS X)
Close Combat: First to Fight. One Great Game
Close Combat: First to Fight is an absolute joy to play on the Mac. I'm not afraid to say that this is the best action-shooter on the Mac--probably ever. If you tire easily of the boredom of Quake 3 or Halo, you'll rejoice at CC:FTF. The "approved by the Marines" marketing angle is cute, but who cares if it isn't fun? And this game is fun. The most important thing you should know is this game is designed well. Very well! The whole game bespeaks quality, from the high quality 3D engine to the in-game cinematics, to the sound effects and UI. If it sounds like I'm gushing about this game, it's because I am. I hope they will release many expansion packs with new, unique missions and challenges. I wrote a similar review on CC:FTF on Amazon.com as I'm writing here. This game is amazing. When was the last time you kept coming back to your first-person shooter? Quibbles? A few. Once you're done with single-player mode, you're really done with the game. Playing on the higher difficulty doesn't give the game any new life. Also, some of the missions are also on the boring side--like an arcade shooter. Finally, the game color palette of grays, blacks, whites, and a few colors, gets old. The game could really do with some more visual eye-candy. MacSoft! Destineer! Please work on expansion packs and other well-designed 3D games like this. Well done! [alert admin]
Friday, December 16 2005 @ 11:29 AM PST
PasswordMaster 1.6.3 (Mac OS X)
Help Me Get My Data Out of Here! PassWord Master Is Dead.
I'm a proud *paid* owner of PassWord Master. And as previous reviews have noted, this app is tired and old. It hasn't been updated in two years. So, basically, you're using a password application without any sort of ongoing development. That means the developer hasn't fixed some glaring bugs, nor added any key features that would make this an even better app. For me, that means I have almost 200 passwords and about 30 serial #s stored in this app with no where to go--but to start over again with another app. But, guess what? You can't get the data out of PassWord Master in any elegant fashion (Tab-delimited file, perhaps? No.) So, if you want to go to another password/serial # storage utitlity, you're forced with *manually* copying all of your data over to the new app. That would take me about a week of work, I'm guessing. If anyone made a password and serial # storage utility for OS X, that was robust and stable (and was interested in continuing their development over time), I'd dump PassWord Master in an instant. In the meanwhile, this is the best out there. I'm not pissed at the developer, because they could have stopped development for a whole host of reasons. I'm just bummed because I jumped on board a utility that now verges on the antiquated. Please, someone make a password/serial # storage utility that works seamlessly with OS X and is at least as good as this! I would buy it in an instant. And if you could help me get my data out of this app, I would pay you double! [alert admin]
Read Comments (1) | More Info | 3 of 3 users found this helpful
Friday, November 04 2005 @ 05:57 AM PST
Freeway Pro 3.5.15 (Mac OS X)
Freeway Pro: Robust, Great Support, and Lacking
I'm neither affiliated with this developer nor affiliated with any competing developer. I have no axe to grind in this review, that I'm consciously aware of. So, I grudgingly bought Freeway Pro for the ~$300 (grudgingly, because of the high cost) plus the two expansion packs that are pretty much essential to use the app to its full ability. I realized that I needed to buid a Web site and although the price was steep, I didn't see a competitor that was cheapter. About me: I'd call myself a light-to-medium techy sort of guy. I'm an advanced OS X user, know FTP and QuickTime, but not much else. And since I couldn't hand-code, a WYSIWYG editor was essential. ROBUST Freeway Pro is a very stable application that has crashed once or twice on me in about forty hours of use. An incredibly helpful Knowledgebase on their Web site (on topics like QuickTime, Web colors, font usage, pop-up windows and tons of other subjects) is at your finger tips, too. This is where you'll find lots of practical tips for questions you will undoubtedly have when building your site. This seriously feature packed software. I found the menus largely intuitive, and the features to work as advertised. I really liked the Preview function (to show your work in Safari and IE) as well as the Upload feature that lets you get your whole site uploaded without a hitch. GREAT SUPPORT The double-whammy of having both an incredibly well-crafted on-board Help system plus Softpress' own online Knowledgebase is powerful. I've consulted both dozens of times on dozens of different topics. I find it clear and well-written. LACKING This is a major nit. You can't get to the HTML code for your pages in Freeway Pro. Ever. That's right. Know a Web gal who you'd like to tweak your page or make an adjustment ot it? Well, she can without Freeway Pro...but you'l never be able to bring your page back into the program again. Of course, if she has Freeway Pro, she can mess with it as much as you want. You see, they don't let you touch your own HTML, so that creates a system that forces anyone in your production path (and involved in your Web site), to buy Freeway Pro as well. It's an unfortunate thing, of course, but it's designed to sell more copies of their software. The developer is entitled to develop anyway they want, but this makes going from HTML Code-->Freeway Pro impossible. This is a minor nit. The templates they provide for building your site look just awful. Most uf us wouldn't be caught dead with the gross stuff that they pass of as "boilerplate" Web site fare. They could really use a graphic designer to beef up their templates. How about ones for online portfolios, ecommerce sites, doctors, students, etc.? They're just plain ugly. Another nit is that when you upload your Web site using Freeway Pro's tool, I don't believe it's intelligent enough to do a "diff" and tell what files it needs to replace on your Web server and which ones it can leave alone. Right now, my uploads take around 20 or 30 minutes for my tiny Web site, even when I make a minor change. That's just not right and should be fixed. I'd recommend Freeway Pro. This is quality software. I've used a lot of apps, and you can tell how much time they've put into it. A lot! I've used Dreamweaver in the past and found it more difficult to use. If you're equivocating, I'd say get Freeway Pro. Remember if you don't support the "other" developers, how will they have the resources to make better software in the future? [alert admin]
Read Comments (4) | More Info | 4 of 4 users found this helpful
Wednesday, April 06 2005 @ 02:02 PM PDT
BR Perfect Moment 1.0 (Mac OS 9, Mac OS X)
Beta Software, Poor Developer Support, Hard to Use
Occassionally, you'll run into a piece of software that performs as advertised and works without crashing. This is not one of those cases.
The premise behind providing iMovie users with a more robust titling system to address a current iMovie shortfall is prescient. The reality, however, is that BR Perfect Moment is unstable, hard to use, and has poor developer support. In short, you could call BR Perfect Moment the product "...that almost was."
I've found BR Perfect Moment unstable and have witnessed it cause iMovie to crash to the Finder on dozens of occassions. Contact with the author has provided useless solutions like "...try re-installing the software" which did nothing--other than waste my time. I've waited for updates to this software and again, nothing to report.
I'm very supportive of independent software developers so it pains me to pan this product. But pan, I shall. This is Beta software, at best, and that combined with an unresponsive author makes this a terrible choice for iMovie titling. To be fair, I will continue to use this product for iMovie knowing that re-installation of the software every few hours will be part of the necessary work on my project. When BR Perfect Moment works, it works well, so that's a good thing.
I wouldn't hesitate to check back on this product in a year or two's time. Maybe the author will have fixed the program's glaring problems and decided that customers really are important to his business. [alert admin]
Tuesday, October 05 2004 @ 05:32 AM PDT
Unreal Tournament 2003 1.0b (Mac OS X)
From the crusty codger of action gaming
(Ahem) The Marmalade Wanker usually does not make public his opinions on pithy and pedestrian pursuits such as gaming on Mac OS X, but the quality of workmanship on Unreal Tournament 2003 impressed even this old, crusty codger. Since the Marmalade Wanker has actually set down his tea, and placed his aging hands on the keys to share his impressions, he urges your full attention for the remainder of this paragraph. The Marmalade Wanker is no randy rascal anymore, so the computer he used was "old" by comparison: PowerBook 667mhz with 768MB of RAM. Indeed, even on his "old" system, the Wanker was able to get decent quality gameplay by reducing many of the quality options (including sound and video settings). Sure, he occassionally had to push his glasses back up on his nose to take in the quality visuals, but he was--how do you Yanks say it?--"blown away" by what he saw. Your attention please: the Marmalade Wanker, clad in his traditional red sweater and courdoroys, stands up from his chair with some difficulty. He stands up straight, faces east, bows slightly and tips his hat towards the developers for whom deserve the credit. "Cheers!" he finally says, in a craggly crackle. A job well done, indeed. [alert admin]
Post a comment | More Info | 1 of 2 users found this helpful
Thursday, May 15 2003 @ 03:45 PM PDT
()
my Ti Book. Finds 802.11b networks with aplomb, and tells you important things like signal strength and whether or not the network is WEP-encrypted. Through the app's audible cues (mine's a female voice), any wireless net that's found is read aloud when it's encountered. Perfect for (white hat) wardriving. No more endangering other drivers or pedestrians while looking down at your laptop screen! Plus, I selected MacStumbler's audible "ding" to tell me when a non-WEP wireless network is encountered and the "bonk" sound to tell me when a WEP-encrypted network is nearby. So, when you hear a "ding" from MacStumbler, you pull over and hop online! If this had support for Wirelessdriver and external PCMCIA wireless cards (to help Ti Books get better wireless range), it would be indispensible for wardriving. I...LOVE...THIS...COMPANY. [alert admin]
Post a comment | More Info | 1 of 1 users found this helpful
Tuesday, January 21 2003 @ 10:34 PM PST
Last 10 Comments by marmaladewanker [ Search for All ]
The huge irony of this particular capsule review from 2003 is that it's 2008 now and yet this review is still strangely TRUE! The app is buggy as - - - k! It's slow. It crashes. The UI is beyond pathetic. No "tool tips," and the extra libraries are a total rip. But, yet, as stated, when it works, it's very useful. I'm a total non-artist so the pencil-and-paper route isn't even an option for…
Original feedback item : Read More(1 words)
Sunday, February 10 2008 @ 12:00 AM PST
Confirming data disaster using SuperDuper under Leopard
Well, it was really a combination of errors on my part.
First, I backed up my 10.4 system using SuperSuper. All went well. Then I upgraded to 10.5. I launched my SuperDuper application (again) to backup my new (updated) system and made sure I had the application check with the server for "Updates." There were none. SuperDuper said it was up to date.
So, I presumed SuperDuper was compatible with Leopard. I started copying over my old…
Original feedback item : Read More(1 words)
Tuesday, January 08 2008 @ 06:48 PM PST
