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Forrrest Friedrich

Downloads: 12

Posts: 11

Smile Score: +16

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Member Since: 15 Feb 2008
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VLC Media Player 2.0.1
(Free)

PDF Browser Plugin 2.4.4
(Demo)

Apple Safari 5.1.7
(Free)

DeepSleep 2.0
(Shareware)

Battery Health 2.3
(Free)

Battery Health Monit... 1.5
(Free)

Apple iPhone Configu... 3.5
(Free)

Media Center Safari... 1.4
(Free)

TRIM Enabler 2.1
(Free)

Adobe Flash Player 11.2.202.235
(Free)

Pacifist 3.0.2
(Shareware)

Apple Java for Mac O... Update 8
(Updater)

Forrrest Friedrich's Posts

Average Rating from Forrrest:

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Mac App Blocker

Fhf reviewed on 19 Feb 2012

A friend who is switching from Yahoo mail to Apple's Mail app asked me if there was anyway to password-protect Mail so that roommates, who have access to his Mac, can't easily peruse his mail. After poking around the web I stumbled upon MacAppBlocker, and installed it on my MacBook Pro to test it. I've only used it a short time, but it does exactly what the developer says: keeps anyone who doesn't know your password from opening protected apps.

The app is very easy to configure and use, and you're alerted if someone does try to access one of your protected apps: MacAppBlocker's menu icon turns red. Oops, busted.

MacAppBlocker is not a high-security app; a computer-savvy intruder can access documents other ways than thru the app which created them. But in a casual setting (family computer use, roommates, etc) it might be a fine solution.

And no, I have nothing to do with the developer; I'm just fairly enthusiastic about the app, which seems to be well done.

[Version 1.3]

iBackup

Fhf reviewed on 29 Dec 2010

My MacBook Pro just had a system issue which affected Finder window display and IPhoto albums. No amount of tinkering would fix the issues, so I decided that an OS reinstall was in order. After erasing the volume, re-installing 10.6.5 and my files via Migration Assistant, the problem was still there. Aak!.

I finally used iBackup to back up just my core Apple apps: Safari, iCal, Address Book, Mail, and Keychains. These I really wanted to be right, as losing or manually replacing them would be a complete pain. Erased the HD, reinstalled the OS, but did not take up the installer's offer to import my user settings. Basically, the computer was back to factory-new state. Gulped, ran iBackup 'restore', and bingo! All my mail and mailboxes, Safari bookmarks and history, Address Book contacts, and iCal calendars were just the way I had left them before wiping the HD. Very cool. Oh, and the problems that had prompted me to do the clean install were finally gone; everything works properly.

Five stars and a donation to the developer from me!

[Version 7.1]

iTubeX

Fhf reviewed on 14 Dec 2010

I recently had a minor licensing issue with iTubeX, so I emailed the developer, who responded in minutes with a solution. Ya gotta love that kind of responsiveness.

[Version 8.1]

App Tamer

Fhf commented on 30 Sep 2010

One of the side benefits (for me, at least) of App Tamer is that my MacBook Pro will now sleep if left unattended. Whatever app that prevented my laptop from sleeping is now 'paused', allowing the sleep function to work normally. I went ahead and paid for the App Tamer utility, as this one feature alone is worth the price of admission.

And in case you were wondering if there was a lag 'waking' apps, not to worry. When switching to a background app that's paused, there's zero lag; switching is instantaneous, and the switched app is wide awake and ready to go.

[Version 1.0.1]

-2

SpeedBit Video Accelerator

Fhf reviewed on 02 Apr 2010

Wrote the above review a couple of months ago. I just got a new MacBook Pro, and running 10.6.3, SpeedBit Video Accelerator now works flawlessly. YouTube videos download in a few seconds, and Activity Monitor shows no additional load on the system. Highly recommended.

[Version 3.0.9.9]

SpeedBit Video Accelerator

Fhf reviewed on 31 Dec 2009

Speedbit Video Accelerator does seem to work; video downloads are defininitely quicker. But, at least on my old G4 Powerbook, it can take over the CPU pretty completely. After charging all night I unplugged the computer, noticed that the menu bar said that I had just over an hour of battery time left. WTF? Activity Monitor showed Speedbit Video Accelerator using 89, then 90% of the CPU. Turned off SVA from the menu bar. CPU usage stayed at 90%. Quit SVA from Activity Monitor. A few seconds later it popped back up (but this time at a reasonable ~1% CPU usage). I'm not real fond of apps that, A: hog your CPU, and/or B: can't be turned off without a complete uninstall.

[Version 3.0.9.9]

1 Reply

+16

Fhf commented on 02 Jan 2010

UPDATE: Discovered that the raging CPU problem was due to some sort of unhappy interaction with ClickToFlash, which is a flash-blocking app. ClickToFlash has an option to 'Play H264 videos in Quicktime'. If that is checked, SpeedBit Video Accelerator would have a problem, at least on my computer. Now that I've unchecked that box in ClickToFlash, SpeedBit Video Accelerator seems to work fine, with no CPU issues.

DVDRemaster Pro

Fhf reviewed on 10 Dec 2009

I updated to 6.0 pro from V5; only USD $9.95, not that big a deal. A new feature is 'no compression', handy when you want to grab the movie only but don't need to compress (and possibly degrade) the movie.

Used DVDRemaster 6.0 to compress a 6.8 Gb movie to fit on a single-layer DVD disc; using 'Fast Transcode', 'movie only', it took about twelve minutes on my four-year-old PowerBook G4. I'd say that's pretty fast.

[Version 6.0]

SuperDuper!

fhf reviewed on 07 May 2009

SuperDuper! just saved my bacon. After finally deciding to get a little more modern OS, today I spent hours upgrading my G4 PowerBook from 10.4.11 to 10.5.6. After doing the install and then all the updates I finally got ready to use my PB. Opened Safari, realized that it was v.3.2 instead of the v.4 beta I had been using prior to the update. Went to the Apple website, tried to download the v.4 beta. No go. Would not download. Hm, that's strange. Ok, let's try Mail. All right, all my mailboxes are there, but where are the messages? All. Gone. I can see that there are lots of messages in User>Library>Mail>Mailboxes, but damned if Mail can see any of them. 'Rebuild' a mailbox. Nada.

Searched for 'Leopard...upgrade...lost...mailbox', found a few other people who had had the same problem, but no solutions. Crap.

Screw this. A new flashy OS is not worth this kind of headache.

Restarted from my SuperDuper! backup volume, told it to 'restore' and in about ten minutes I was back where I had started this morning. Whew! That's gotta be the best $28 I've spent in a long time.

[Version 2.5]

Flip4Mac WMV Player

fhf commented on 04 Feb 2008

This version of Flip4Mac WMV Player brought my Aluminum PowerBook to its knees. For weeks my computer randomly crashed at least once a day. In addition, it would often refuse to sleep, or had a dark screen (and was unresponsive) when awakened from sleep, or went dead during sleep. Occasionally got the 'gray screen of death' ("This computer must be restarted"). And when it was working, internet access was very slow ("contacting xxxx"). Extremely frustrating.

Re-installed OS 10.4.11, ran disk permissions, DiskWarrior, nothing fixed the problem. Started removing any system modifiers one by one: Quickeys, SafariBlock, EarthDesk, Perian. No better. Stopped using my wireless USB mouse. No better. Finally removed the very last non-stock item: WMV Player. Bingo. I can now put the computer to sleep as often as I want, it wakes normally, internet access is satisfyingly zippy. My PowerBook is born again, and has been working fine for several days.

One by one I re-installed Quickeys, SafariBlock, and my wireless mouse. No problems whatsoever. I'm not about to re-install WMV Player to relive my misery; there's no doubt in my mind that it was the source of my difficulties.

[Version 2.2.0.49]

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