Macheist gives out free Linkinus IRC program!

"For anyone interested, up to 20,000 limited licenses for Linkinus through versions 1.1.X will be distributed for free on this page over the next few days. Just put in your name and email, and they'll email you back within about an hour with your license code."

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Still time to get that Drobo Discount... 21 days left!

So, if you've taken the time to check out the advantages of having a Drobo of your very own, you still have a few days left to grab an instant $25 discount on your purchase at the drobostore.

Just use the code REFJENL and start storing and protecting all that cool video, the photos and the docs that you are accummulating daily. (-:

The discount is good until July 31st.

Check out current news, questions about the Drobo at www.drobospace.com. It's a great place to get a feel for how other folks are using it and to help you decide if it's the right choice for you.

Another Bundle Deal, Some Useful Apps... MacHeist & MacUpdate

MacUpdate Promo and MacHeist have a "deal" going that might be of use to folks who don't already have a majority of the apps. It could be pretty nice deal for $49.99 for 7 apps if you have use for them, or not, that's for you to decide once you check it out.

The line up looks like this from MacUpdate:

SRS iWow 1.1.8
GarageSale 3.2.2
Cocktail 3.8.1
ProfCast 2.1.3
Amadeus Pro 1.0.3
Fetch 5.2.1
GraphicConverter X 5.9.5.

Three more apps will be unlocked when the appropriate bundle sales have been achieved (2,500, 4,000, 9,999) and they are:
Little Snitch 1.2.4
Intaglio 2.9.5
TechTool Pro 4.5.2.

MacHeist has sweetened the deal by adding BrowseBack & Exces, an additional unamed app, as well as private beta access to Pixelmator & Flow .

Check it out to see if it's a deal for you. Inevitably there is a swirl of controversy. My take on the whole thing is this: Decide if the apps (most or all) will be useful to you. Decide whether you can afford the $50 bucks. Decide whether getting the additional group of things from MacHeist adds value and jump on it — or don't.

Really, truly, no-one is forcing anyone purchase this. But, enjoy some nifty apps if you decide this bundle is for you.

iPhone, want one but knew I should wait

...knew I should wait, but not for the same reasons that a bunch iPhone naysayers will bandy about. I definitely don't doubt the functionality of the device or what Jobs says it's capable of delivering.

But, Wow! Consumers can be really harsh. Of course, the tech industry as a whole has somewhat let themselves in for this by training us to expect "plug and play", instant services, etc.

I'm an existing AT&T customer. I've been an avid Mac user since 1985 and evangelize the benefits of Mac to people nearly daily. Even if I did have the budget to have gotten a couple iPhones last night I wouldn't have done it (except maybe for the atmosphere that is only avaialable at an Apple "event" like this. The people make the event as much as the opening, gadget, etc.).

With the convoluted mess that is a cell phone plan (pick your company, it isn't exclusive to Cingular/AT&T), did existing customers really think it would be instantaneous activation? That's a bit naive! When I do have enough saved to get a couple iPhones I intend to go to an Apple Store or AT&T store near my home, laptop in hand. I hope to work out all the sordid details of what I have to do with my family plan to make the iPhone usable before I buy the phone and try to activate it.

I have no faith whatsoever that I'll be able to get myself an iPhone to replace my existing phone and just be able to tack $20 per month onto my family plan. The online explanation was too simple, devoid of details for the myriad plans that exist among millions of current Cingular/AT&T customers to give me any confidence that it would be an easy move.

On the flip side, I'm not surprised at all that folks transfering a phone number from another service or setting up a new number were activated within minutes. There were no issues of traversing an existing contract, potentially incompatible existing service plan etc. They were coming to a fresh contract. Of course they were activated and up and running on the iPhone within minutes. This is still a milestone in phone activation processes. For a new number or transfer the iTunes activation is streamlined and utterly consumer friendly - pure Apple!

I feel for acquaintences who are still waiting for AT&T activation as an existing AT&T customer. I'm glad, as much as I'd like to have one of these cool phones in my hands at this moment, that I'm waiting until it makes sense to replace my existing phone. Maybe it'll be just a little smoother transition then if they're able to learn and apply anything from the intial AT&T buyer experience. (-:

Rethinking Machine Distribution. The Drobo ripple effect...

I've been slowly moving video content onto the Drobo. I'm finding that it's playback over wireless is quite good throughout our house. Of course, I can't quite do with a Drobo what can be done with an AppleTV, so I'm still considering one of those at some point in the future. Specifially for the iTunes movie playback that would be so convenient now that we're buying now and then.

So now I'm thinking of putting flat panels in locations I hadn't considered before. See, we live in a 210 year old stone house with a 204 year old frame addition. Shiny aluminum (or titanium...) isn't the most historically accurate thing to put into most of these rooms. But, I think I can get away with a carefully placed flat panel here and there.

This would enable a really great way to do slide shows, watch movies, etc. with family and friends.

Bravo Drobo... PCMag Editors' Choice as well!

It slipped by my attention until today but, the Drobo had also garnered a PCMag Editors' Choice back on June 13!

Drobo wins CNET Editors' Choice

Those of us evangelizing know the cool things our Drobo's are doing for us. Others are noticing as well.

CNET gave the Drobo an Editors' Choice award. Check out their review

Don't forget you can still get a $25 discount direct from the Drobostore using the code REFJENL!

App Reviews... check out iAppblog.com

Just thought I'd let you know that I'm keeping busy between postings for app comparisons (I know, I know... I need to get another one posted, and soon ;-).

If you head on over to iAppblog you'll see a great bunch of reviews by a group of dedicated Mac users.

Be sure to check out my latest postings. You'll find a really nifty app for Intel Mac owners who are "feeling the heat"!

Drobo Evangelist Discount available here...

Well, they've decided we've done such a good job for them in the beta test period that they'll trust us to offer you a discount through July 31st!

You got it. All you have to do is go to drobostore and use the discount code REFJENL and you'll still be able to get $25.00 off the $499 price. This discount code is good through July 31st courtesy Data Robotics and yours truly. (-:

I've been steadily filling up my Drobo and they've put out a really nice icon to replace the generic desktop icon. I've actually managed to stay ahead of the accumulation of videos and photos that have been proliferating over the last 12 months around here.

Take a look at gadgetell, MacNN or PCWorld for some recent reviews.

Also, check out the lastest TWIT podcast 100th Episode with Leo Laporte. In the midst of all the celebration of posting their 100th episode they fit in a discussion of the Drobo.

The Drobo is available from other retailers but you can only get the Evangelist Discount by ordering directly from the drobostore.com with the discount code listed above.

Btw, I know a bunch of folks are clamoring for interfaces other than USB 2.0. I get it, I do. But this is one convenient combination with an Airport Extreme! It was the simplest way to add networked storage to our set up and make it available for use while providing truly easily expandable storage.

Before the Drobo I'd accumulated 3 USB/Firewire cases with drives and then a set up with 3 swappable trays. None of those even comes close to the ease of using the Drobo and none has the ability to safeguard my data they way the Drobo does. It's worth giving it a look!

Software updates, did I say software updates?

Wow, little did I know when I wrote the previous post just how many updates there were recently. Did someone somewhere designate this week of May as Macintosh Software Version Update Week?
Here's what I know of, just from apps I'm using or testing, for which updates were released this week:

1Password
Adium
DiskCatalogMaker RE
FotoMagico
GarageSale
iSale
KIT (argh, another from my first comparison)
MacFamilyTree
Mac Pilot
Mailings
Media Indexer
RapidWeaver
SOHO Notes & Organizer

Or, maybe May is update Month because earlier in May the rest of these saw updates:

Assignment Planner
BookPedia
BookDog
Cha-Ching
Coda
Google Earth
iForm
ImageBrowser
iPod Access
Lego Designer
MacJournal
Mail Archiver X
Microsoft Office
NoteMind
TeXshop
Video2Go
Xslimmer
Yep

Yikes! 31 apps updated from around May 3 through May 25. Darned glad only a couple are major updates for me or I'd have to start looking for a 2nd job to pay for the Mac software addiction I'm suffering from at the moment.

The Inexorable March of Software Updates...

No sooner do I complete the comparison of organizer applications for the Mac than one of the developers puts out a major upgrade. And here, I thought I was actually receiving standard notification emails from Chronos as I'm a registered user of their SOHO Notes. Nope, this one just popped up in my VersionTracker as not the current version.

I'm in a quandry. Should I try to come up with the $25 to upgrade to v6.0 (and $25 to upgrade RapidWeaver and money for other pending upgrades) or should I really stretch it and try to come up with $49 to upgrade to SOHO Organizer?

I was actually hoping to test out SOHO Organizer in comparsion to say, DEVONthink Pro or Pro Office and a couple others. Man, I just start to get comfortable with the software I have only to have more features made available if I upgrade. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for improvement and progress but, I'm almost afraid to add up the potential outlay for software on an annualized basis.

I have to make sure I'm keeping enough in reserve to afford my Family Pack of Leopard when it comes out too!!

Time to go update my comparison chart already. Sheesh! What have I gotten myself into? (-;

The Discount Countdown - Get Your Drobo Soon!

Okay, folks. Last post on this as we approach 5 days left on the discount code REFJENL. If you need more info to convince you just check out the forums at www.drobospace.com or articles at Gizmodo or engadget.

Though obviously, as a true Mac enthusiast, I'd suggest you get one of these to put on your Airport Extreme... it does actually work with Windows too. (-;

Ah, the confusing categories we place software applications into

Thanks to a kind reader who provided quick feedback to me regarding my maiden attempt at comparison reviewing I’ve already made a few changes to the table.

The crossing of boundaries for strict categorization is going to be an interesting issue going forward with this venture. It was pointed out to me that Midnight Inbox is really a GTD* application. As such, it probably shouldn’t be in the running as a prime candidate for an “organizer” software review.

Here’s my sticking point, and why I’m leaving it in the chart (for now), it covers enough of the features of some of the others I compared that I still see it as a possible contender as an organizer too. I guess you could call it's task management capabilities a bonus in that case. Ultimately it will depend upon the direction of app development by Midnight Beep Softworks whether I pull it when I finally take on a review of time/task management applications.

I hadn’t really been aware of the “Getting Things Done”** action management method before this and certainly hadn’t associated any Mac applications I had seen with it. However, amusing to me — at least eventually — was that when I was testing out Midnight Inbox it kept popping up the default “are you shaving a yak?” dialogue box, Wha? a yak? — it drove me nuts for a bit! My husband can attest to this, I was talking back to it after the 6th or 7th time it popped up. "Yes, blast you, I'm on task, go... away...!!" [click on Yes! um, er, NO! ...again!] d-:

I was flitting off to websites, opening the other apps to compare features, moving over to Dreamweaver to edit the HTML table and all the while this silly box was popping up asking me whether I was doing what I was supposed to be doing or had I gotten distracted from my active task. Obviously none of the other apps were doing this, they weren’t designed to keep the user on task. Now I get it!

To finish working on my review I eventually dug into the preference settings on each of the programs and, lo-and-behold, there was the toggle for “remind me I might be straying off task” or the "Two-minute yak timer".

Ah, sweet relief. I shut it off. Now, don’t get me wrong. I can certainly see the appropriate use of this being very effective under the right circumstances or for the right type of person. I, however tend to multi-thread when I work. I have lots open, I switch between projects and I get a lot done that way too, and usually done well. That warning box just became a fly I had to swat to keep doing what I was doing (on task too, ironically ;-). I was glad to see that it was an option not an unrelenting “feature”.

I may have opened up Pandora’s box for myself with this first review. Now I want to do the next level of organizers such as SOHO Organizer, DEVONThink Pro or Pro Office, and any others that fit that category. I want to review a plethora of other “categories” of software that deserve comparison reviews to enable better choices based on our own needs, wants or work styles.

If there’s a category of software that you think is crying out for a comparison review with 5 or more apps that seem to handle the same task(s) let me know. If it isn’t already on my growing list for future review I may end up adding it as well.

Btw, having now looked into more of the “time/task management” offerings that follow on David Allen’s methods I’m actually going to steer clear of a comparison at the moment. I’ll save that for a couple weeks when I really have the time to focus on such broad a category of potential candidates for review (apps, plugins, add-ons — this will need some sorting out).

*abbreviation trademarked by David Allen & Co.
**also TM David Allen

Organize those thoughts... um, files... um, docs...

In the loosely defined category of “thought organization” there are programs like DEVONThink, EagleFiler, Journler, KIT, Midnight Inbox, NoteBook, NoteMind, SOHO Notes and Yojimbo just to name a few — and to name the nine apps I chose to do my first comparison review of. These applications are mostly database oriented for gathering files of various types together enabling you to tag, label and organize to your hearts content.

I’m trying hard to plumb the depths of this category of applications and in the process I found myself putting together a rather extensive table of comparisons. I just couldn't find a suitable comparison online anywhere. I haven’t yet taken the plunge to contact the developers to determine some of the less obvious things people may want to know — for example, I couldn’t always figure out just what tool they built on to create the application’s features ("what database is it anyway?", -type questions...) – but I’m about to. (-:

So, here is the first version of my foray into comparison software reviewing. As I mention in my rather long article about it on jennsBLOG, my goal was not to declare an outright winner of the category but rather to enable a more informed choice between a group of rather useful applications. Take a look at my comparison table and let me know what I got right, what I got wrong and if I missed an outstanding app that you use regularly!

Airport Extreme -- Whoa!

Modern computing. What a blast!

I’m sitting here on our back porch listening to a “symphony” of birds and lawnmowers, enjoying the sunshine and mild temperatures of a Spring day in Western Pennsylvania. I received an Airport Extreme for Mother’s Day, as I mentioned in my previous entry. Installation was a snap.

On our previous router (not Apple brand) I had been using MAC addresses but hadn’t enabled anything more as security. I knew this wasn’t the best of ideas but we don’t appear to have an extremely active neighborhood for this type of thing -- I know, not a good excuse. I had a heck of a time figuring out what would work, some clients could log in and some couldn't and the security options were woefully out of date as the rounter has to be at least 5 years old, possibly older. Well, setting up security and getting all the clients back onto the network was extremely easy as well. It just worked. Just what I expect from Apple engineering.

So, would it really put out a stronger signal than our old “g” router. You bet’cha. We have a variety of vintages of Macs, not to mention we live in a 210 year old stone house — not stone veneer, mind you, this is whopping thick stone walls — with a nearly equal sized frame addition. Now the signal from the main wireless router, the Extreme, reaches through the entire house, into the back yard and likely across the street as well. I haven’t had the opportunity to see just how far I can go out into our acre and still be online, but I’ll be trying that in warmer drier weather to be sure.

Now I can probably just dedicate the two Airport Express routers we have to serving music to different portions of the house. Very cool indeed. Time to research speakers, I guess.

Time is running out - get that Drobo discount!

Well, there are 12 days left for "friends of beta testers" to take advantage of the discount on the Drobo.

I've hooked mine up to an Airport Extreme that showed up for Mother's Day and I couldn't be happier (yes, believe it or not, some Mom's really DO want electronics, computer stuff and we can be -- dare I say it? -- just a bit geeky too ;-).

Now I have networked storage on a unit that protects my data in the event of a hard drive failure and so far the results have been great with transfers over the network. I've managed to clear a chunk of data off the laptop and make it readily accessible when I log onto the home network. Setting up the Extreme was a snap and adding the Drobo was just as easy.

If you accumulate photos, music or much in the way of video this is really a solution you should check out! If it looks as appealing to you as it is to me then take advantage of the discount code REFJENL and get one to put on your network too!

Joost Invites... just ask me. (-:

I've been beta testing Joost for a while now. If you don't quite know what it is, click on the banner below and get some background info. Then feel free to ask me for an invite if you'd like one @ macmuse at gmail dot com. (-:

You'll need to send me a first & last name and a valid email address for the invite to be sent to.

A milestone, of sorts...

Wow, so I officially started this blog in 2005. I posted a whopping 8 posts from April through August that year and I only managed 7 posts for the entire year in 2006. I just posted my 8th post for 2007 (and with this one it's 9!) and it's only May. There's hope yet. Nothing like late-bloomers, eh? (-;

MacHeist, what hath you wrought?

I’ve pretty much been a DreamWeaver web developer since the meager beginnings of a few static pages I put up for myself and a couple of non-profits I work with. I’ve never really had the time to delve deeply into web development, I do too many other things besides that. The web development I had done years ago stemmed from the need to put some information online that we were publishing in physical form, newsletter content & event calendars.

The pages looked fine. Not cutting edge, they didn’t need to be. Clean, crisp, usable. I periodically looked for simpler software to use that would still give me WYSIWYG (mostly). Nothing really managed to give me as much flexibility as I’d like with enough WYSIWYG to be useful. Adobe brought out an HTML editing app, and I can’t actually remember the name of it as I never used it. Some touted it to be the “DreamWeaver Killer”. Hmmm, then Adobe ended up buying Macromedia, so much for dethroning DreamWeaver. Market share and product popularity do count for something (which can be a hard thing for 22 year Mac user to admit ;-).

Then a new generation of applications came about. RapidWeaver, Sandvox, CoffeeCup, etc. There is a wonderful comparison section on the Wikipedia page for HTML Editors. I confess, I tried RapidWeaver in the very early stages when it was made available and I just didn’t get it. I was too steeped in DreamWeaver and too confused by something that was trying to be an easier editor.

Enter MacHeist. A friend of a friend invited me to participate. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. I had a great time solving the puzzles, completing heists, “earning” free shareware apps. Then came the Bundle. For a ridiculously reduced we got an interesting selection of full licenses for 10 applications, including RapidWeaver.

Wow, RapidWeaver has developed into a wonderfully useful editor. Version 3.5 is proving to be a flexible and much more powerful version than the early iterations I had tried. I still have DreamWeaver if I need it but I’m currently in the process of revamping all but one site I work on and using RapidWeaver to do that. Seems some people are chomping at the bit for v3.6 but I’m quite happy getting used to 3.5.

Btw, part of the discussion that happened in the MacHeist forums was centered on the “if you discount like this people will only look for discounts” vs. “if we sell some useful apps at a really great price we may get some lifelong users who pay for upgrades”. I’m now firmly in the second camp (I was leaning there to begin with). In addition, with an application like RapidWeaver they didn’t take into account all the other small developers that would benefit from getting such a modularly expandable app into people’s hands. I’ve just plunked down for plug-ins & templates to extend the usability of the app and mostly at the full price the developer has them listed for.

Drobo - A Beta Tester's Thoughts (and a deal...)

I had the pleasure of beta testing a nifty piece of hardware over the last few months. The Drobo, by Data Robotics, which does some amazing stuff with your data deceptively simply.

I've been bitten a few too many times in the last 12 months or so by failed drives. Yes, I do backups. Not as frequently as I should for sure. However, I've had two, count'em TWO backup drives fail on me in the last 6 months alone. Mind you, this was not my main drive (I've had two of *those* fail in the last 12 months too) but it was painful none-the-less because there were things on the backup drive that weren't on any other drives at the time.

The designers & engineers have put a lot of thought and effort into this product. The current unit can hold up to 4 SATA drives. I'm not going to go into spec details here, those can be had at www.drobo.com . They've managed to bring down the price from $699 to $499 even before their “official” launch June 1. A much better price point that should help them move even more units based on the current configuration of the box.

If you know a beta tester — and if you are reading this, now you do — you can get an instant $25 rebate off the new price through May 30th. For those of you lucky enough to see my blogs just use REFJENL at http://www.drobostore.com to get that discount. Be sure to use all caps.

The cool thing about testing this hardware was simulating the drive failures. Seriously! We were told to pull a drive, randomly... just pop one out of the unit. Voilà! The unit flashes lights at you to tell you that there's a problem (okay, it's a bit more specific than that but they explain it pretty well on their own site). Then it begins to manage the problem by redistributing your files over the remaining drives. No loss of data. Wonderful!

If you have their software installed, which I find useful and reassuring even though you can use the Drobo without it, you will be given even more feedback about the status of the device and your remaining drives. As beta testers we were a pretty merciless group. We tried, and succeeded, breaking it many ways and engineering at Data Robotics was a great group to work with. They were responsive and willing to communicate. Some of us were a little thick regarding some of the technology and they patiently worked through it with us to understand the advantages — and some limitations — of the unit.

Way back when, I tested the first bit of software for them. It was Windows only at the time. Then the call came asking if I was still interested in beta testing as they were about to enter the hardware phase. “Sure”, says I, thinking all the while “Man, I really wish I could do this on my Mac(s) instead of the Windows box“. Lo-and-behold, the beta unit arrive with a CD to install their software and the few pages of instructions that came with it included, yes, Macintosh installation notes! Yay! WooHoo!

I promptly chucked the Windows machine back to it's dusty corner, back to idle status and loaded the software and the unit on my Mac. I've never looked back. I'm currently awaiting my commercially available version of the unit (unfortunately, I have to give up the beta unit to do this as it was too rich for my budget to keep both). I'm hoping my boys (that would by my husband and my 5 year old son) will forgive me for buying my own Mother's Day present in a few days — an Apple Airport Extreme — so I can plug the Drobo into our network and get all those kids shows (Scooby, Avatar, Jimmy Neutron) OFF my main drive at home. (-;

Take a look at www.drobo.com and see if you find the backstory on this product as compelling as we beta testers did. With the price drop and an additional discount you may find yourself less likely to be in a “lost my data” scenario in the near future.