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User Name pginc
Member Since 2007-06-26
Total number of Feedback Posts: 9
Total number of comments: 1
Last 10 Feedback Posts by pginc [ Search for All ]
NovaMind 4 Express 4.0.6 (Mac OS X)
Unless you love the Windows experience and embrace unintelligent design, run for your life! [alert admin]
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Sunday, August 05 2007 @ 10:49 PM PDT
QuarkXPress 7.3 (Mac OS X)
Adobe has become so convoluted that their bloated suite even includes it's own cumbersome application for help documents. Apparently Adobe figured that not even the Acrobat (or Reader) monstrosities were up to the task of handling their grandiose (not!) help system. The constantly swelling Adobe ego wouldn't dare miss yet another branding opportunity by relegating it's support literature to the OS X help system (a help system which will soon grow even more seamless and elegant with the inline spotlight search field included in Leopard). Instead it is important to Adobe that we all have to open yet another oversized application in order to complete the simplest of tweaks and tasks. (as noted elsewhere, stay tuned for future Adobe solutions including groundbreaking applications like Adobe® MouseClick CS4 which will take extensive advantage of their new RapidRedundancy Engine (patent pending)). While I don't expect the ability to edit photos inside InDesign like it was Photoshop, or go pedal to the metal on a vector graphic like it was Illustrator, a solid feature set enabling the most fundamental of these types of tweaks would be absolutely terrific—Thank you Quark. Thank you. ps - The non-spinning beachball of death performance is outstanding. Thank you Quark for not making it seem as if though I were undertaking desktop publishing from within RenderMan. [alert admin]
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Sunday, August 05 2007 @ 04:41 PM PDT
iCalamus 1.09 (Mac OS X)
has potential, but convoluted paradigm is frustrating 
InDesign is yet another bloated, beachball ridden, Adobe-ego product. (Need proof? Consider Adobe's need to implement yet another entire application for their cumbersome help system. So can iCalamus save me from Adobe convolution with a more intelligent, lighter weight (appropriate weight) solution? Maybe someday. While I wouldn't expect any alternative desktop publishing tools to mimic competitors (unless from Microsoft), it is very preferential that alternatives commit to a fundamental model of the problem domain. Doing so enables users to more quickly experiment with the alternative process of the tool. Otherwise it's likely that potential customers will grow irritated (and possibly give up) due to the need to translate standard terminology for familiar layout concepts, tools and activities into "iCalamusian." In an attempt to understand the approach to resizing content within a frame, or crop content by adjusting a frame, I finally threw my hands up in the air as the only reference to the term "crop" in the iCalamus help section is under the print preferences section. It is my understanding that the product is developed in Europe and hence there possibly exists a language barrier between the developers and the English (US) marketplace. My hunch stems from some of the website's marketing copy, which includes, "layouting text in iCalamus is so easy," (something I always find immediately puts me on guard for subpar-ware). So it might be that the only hurdle remaining is hiring translator who is also versed in usability that can help produce a succesful English indoctrination experience. As of version 1.0.9, iCalamus isn't even worth your time beta testing, much less actually purchasing in order to waste time deciphering. [alert admin]
Post a comment | More Info | 1 of 5 users found this helpful
Sunday, August 05 2007 @ 04:06 PM PDT
yFlicks 2.0.1 (Mac OS X)
A recent addition to this little app nearly had me hook, line & sinker. The Apple Remote integration is just what I needed. For whatever reason, Apple's FrontRow capabilities for accessing "sets" or "playlists" of videos is zilch, as far as I can tell it just groups every single video file into one big blob. Enter YFlicks, Yay! or at least almost. My biggest gripe with YFlicks is that it beachballs (sbod) on me after every adjustment, tweak, or file organization I make. And I mean EVERY time (on all of our Macs): SBOD Insanity • YFlicks startup = 60-240 seconds every time • I hit ⌘N to create a new folder = 20-45 second sbod before the folder shows in the navpan (every time. • Initiate (click) the renaming of a folder = 5–20 second sbod, every time. • Immediately following the renaming of a folder = 50–80 second sbod after every single rename. • Move (drag) a folder to a new location or level in the hierarchy = 60–180 second sbod, every time. • Adding video files to a folder = 120-180 second sbods. To compound these frustrating wait times, there exists a set of small but equally frustrating YFlicks nuances that turn me off. The process of creating and organizing hierarchies inside of YFlicks, while by itself is only a small annoyance, often requires unecessary steps that consist of the aforementioned sbod triggers. (Ahhhhh!) e.g. After creating a new folder (20secs), the name field of the new folder doesn't activate the name field by automatically focusing the name as a selection. A step in the right direction is the fact that you can hit the Enter key to edit the name field, but again, why not just focus the new field upon creation? It would also be nice not to have to remove hands from the keyboard in order to drag and drop new groups into lower level hierarchies (60secs). Instead (a la itunes), upon hitting ⌘N, it would be nice if a new group/folder was created underneath the selected, existing group/folder. One more little one, any reason why empty folders exhibit a disclosure arrow? I hope YFlicks is optimized in the future, such an advance would keep it in serious running for adoption! [alert admin]
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Monday, July 30 2007 @ 04:28 PM PDT
DEVONthink Pro Office 1.3.1 (Mac OS X)
I've been a DEVONthink customer for a couple of years now, and I must say the honeymood was great. Unfortunately as time marched on my Mac technology evolved and in turn so did I—DEVONthink did not. I'd imagine if I were still utilizing Mac OS X version 10.2 that DEVONthink Pro Office would be of quality help. Anyone who is still using Jaguar should definitely give this application a test drive. Not only does this application look and feel like a rusty old Jaguar bundle, the overall experience has made things worse as I've witnessed two years of sad attempts to pass off lateral improvements as "updates" and "upgrades". Frankly I'm tired of the whole folder hierarchy thing, which DEVONthink basically adds another entire layer of on top of existing structures. Most everything in DEVONthink is to redundant to warrant any claims of sophisticated and/or optimized info management. It doesn't tap into the OS X Spotlight functionality at all, so there is no saving a search after constructing it once. Nope, zilch on the Smart Folders. You have to run the same search again and again every time you need similar results. Wanna save your place in a PDF file so next time you fire open your database you can pick up ready where you left off? Sorry, can't help you there. OCR capabilities are limited, hence requiring extra applications and steps to break apart longer files into smaller ones for full doc recognition. The worst wax job is pawning off the searchable/shared database proclamation as an actual "feature". Wrapping a static web server experience into the execution is a glorified hack at best. So I can't actually read the contents of a pdf file in another database from the acual imported or indexed pdf itself, instead I have to download the damned thing in a browser window which is such a clumsy clutter-glut that takes up more hard drive space every time it's done. When an application is as stuck in the folder hierarchy paradigm (as DEVONthink definitely is), one feature that can assist in blowing the dust off said antiques is powerful search functionality. While DEVONthink's main search tool is borderline sad, it can hardly compare to the pitiful document specific search. I won't even go into specifics about the scrawny one at a time snailfest search involved with document specific queries. I can't even imagine this thing running on top of Leopard, it'll look and feel like a horse & buggy runnin' NASCAR. DEVONthink is a digital toad. [alert admin]
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Friday, July 27 2007 @ 12:43 AM PDT
NovaMind 4.0 (Mac OS X)
2007 sees the return of the Edsel
If you enjoy the Windows experience then this is the mind mapper for you! Novamind's approach to design put's the u and the i in the word unintelligible. If you're seeking an Edsel for OS X, look no further than Novamind. [alert admin]
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Saturday, July 21 2007 @ 01:37 AM PDT
Apple Safari 3.0.2b (Mac OS X)
For years I've wanted to love Safari and oh how I've tried. The world's "best browser" a.d.f is supposedly one of the most standards compliant as well, which is where my experience with the browser meets the ultimate disconnect. Hence either "web standards" are overall horrendous, or the status quo of web development is exceptionally lame when it comes to "standards compliance" (especially Google, Yahoo, etc), or webkit is simply rubbish. I wish I had the answer. In my experience it's easier for one entity to get their act together than it is to expect the entire world to come around to that single entitiy's point of view. Soooooo… For those of us that find Firefox exceptionally "Windows-esque", Camino a bit of a wannabe, Opera a bit of a pig, and Omniweb's side drawer ridiculously obnoxious… Apple? Are you listening? Let's get it together please. [alert admin]
Post a comment | More Info | 1 of 3 users found this helpful
Friday, July 20 2007 @ 01:06 PM PDT
Adobe Illustrator CS3 13.0.1 (Mac OS X)
One of an entire suite of CS3 winners for pucker and bloat of the year award! [alert admin]
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Sunday, July 15 2007 @ 10:01 PM PDT
Adobe Creative Suite 3.0 (Mac OS X)
If I had to sum up CS3 in one word it would be "Tired." Very, very tired. And I'd trace it with the tip of my finger into the thick filth layering their tired windows if it were possible. If it weren't for the Intel upgrade I'd sit out Adobe CS upgrades for a decade or more. And during those 10 years I'd be crossing my fingers that alternatives developed by a company with vision would become available. Photoshop is the industry standard simply because no one seems to have the unique combination of gusto, innovation and understanding of the problem domain. Like Microsoft, Adobe seems to be satisfied operating 3-5 years behind the curve. Of course their complacency would be short lived if customers would actually demand the high level of quality reflected by the prices but not by the product. I'm not sure when it happened but at some point Adobe's mission evolved to encompass product overextension (my god how many bloated apps can you break your base apps into!?), feature creep ,and a narcissism that demands that all of their solutions be large and in your face, that their means should supplant the users goal as the end. I can't stand using Dreamweaver any more, it feels so bulky, cluttered, slow and above all ugly. Even with Intel Macs, loaded to the hilt, workflow consistently reveals that apps like Maya, Motion, Logic Pro, modo, Poser, C4D, etc., absolutely trump all the CS3 applications in overall performance. It has become customary around here to start Illustrator or InDesign right before going to lunch or going home in the hopes that they'll be finished booting upon returning. I wish I was joking, but I'm not. In five minutes Dreamweaver will toss more beachballs around the screen than Daytona Beach would see during all of Spring Break. All Adobe products (and unfortunately now Macromedia to) have come to feel like Windows apps. I suppose that can be attributed to the bottom-line undertow that has made Adobe the dancing monkey to the market shares meow, which happens to be the Ford Tempo drivers of the PC World: the WIndows base. In other words, as focus determines reality, it's not hard to see why CS3 feels like Win95. What's fun is that independent Mac developers are continuously pumping out very powerful, sleek and attractive developer tools that outclass the likes of DW almost across the board! While Adobe has crucified themselves to the cross of convention, the little guys are thinking outside the box and streamlining digitial workflows in new ways that make much more sense now that the need for 100% metaphor has past. Adobe, once possibly a shining star, has begun to expose it's event horizon, a telltale sign of the current quality collapse which is greatly underway. While the droves of expectation impoverished will fiscally keep Adobe alive, product quality has much more than one foot in the grave. [alert admin]
Post a comment | More Info | 7 of 9 users found this helpful
Tuesday, June 26 2007 @ 11:26 PM PDT
Last 10 Comments by pginc [ Search for All ]
Launchbar? Yikes! Have you actually read any of the documentation or watched any of merlin mann's quicksilver tutorial videos?
Original feedback item : Read More
Friday, July 20 2007 @ 03:16 PM PDT
