NCIANCA  I sure hope "Avian" makes an appearance soon, which is supposed to be free to registered users. Alan, I'm sure that most TM2 prospective users would be filling to pay a reasonable upgrade fee if that gets it into our hands faster.

Software doesn't age well like a good wine, but rather becomes vinegar when the underlying APIs of its foundation evolve, thus broadening the time curve gap.

And I really hope that my next comment on TM will be singing the TM2 praises.  
(Version 1.5.9)

NCIANCA  The latest version (2.10) of iPulse has a huge problem.

"You are now prompted for a password each time you launch iPulse on Snow Leopard"

Why can't it remember the setting? Why do I need to enter a password every time I start iPulse? Apple's "Activity Monitor" does not prompt the user for a password every time it is started.

If it can't be fixed because there are inherent problems with the way that iPulse is implemented, then that security vulnerability should be addressed and fixed rather then creating a huge inconvenience for the users.

This change means that I can no longer have iPulse as a startup item has I have for years.   
(Version 2.1.10)

NCIANCA  $80 bucks to basically change the file extension and fix time code breaks and still requires the MPEG-2 codec?

A .VOB file on a DVD is nothing more then an MPEG-2 file.

Assuming you have the Apple Quicktime MPEG-2 codec ($30 or included with Final Cut) all you have to do is copy the VOB file(s) to your drive, rename the file's extension to .MPG or .m2v and use MPEG Streamclip (free) to fix the timecode breaks and optionally convert it to any other format such as DV or H.264 or whatever.

MPEG Streamclip can also be used to split the video using in/out points so that you do not need to post process the entire file.

Note that this does not work with VOB files that are encrypted with CSS but works perfectly with any CSS free DVD.  
(Version 1.089)

NCIANCA  I like TextMate as a general text editor and registered my copy when it was still in pre-release way back in the day. Coda, with its workflow, superb UI, project tools, auto-completion, editors and other tools has become my tool for web sites, I still use TextMate for all my other text needs, such as shell programming and general text manipulation.

However, I'm disappointed that its been a year now since the last release. I understand that the next version will be a complete rewrite, but there are a number of small "issues" that would have benefited from an interim release. The lack of releases also give the appearance that TextMate has been abandoned, though I'm sure it hasn't.

While Allan is very responsive to emails, there is nothing on the TextMate site about the future of TextMate or its progress. The blog is updated every now and then, but mostly announcing a new bundle.

Overall TextMate is an excellent editor and I hope that it will continue to be part of my daily tools in the future.  
(Version 1.5.7)

NCIANCA  I'm a registered user of Fruitmenu, WindowShade and FontCard. However, I had to remove the 10.5 compatible versions (and APE) because one of them was causing a problem with Mail that resulted in my having to reimport my mailboxes. Hopefully these issues will get sorted out soon.  
(Version 3.7b2)

NCIANCA  This is a great idea. I have usually used the commandline pmset to set the mode, but it's a pain to manage it this way, particularly if you forget to turn hibernation back on when the battery is running out and you have to swap it.  
(Version 1.0b1)

NCIANCA  OmniGraffle Pro is without question the best diagramming tool available for any platform. The new version 5 is a great update to this amazing tool.

The new features are welcome and well executed. Here is a quick list of some new or updated features:

The updated interface, designed to reflect the Leopard design direction, incorporates user interface elements well onto the window, giving the entire application an updated, modern & refreshed look.

Some common tools have been added directly onto the ruler eliminating the need to use the corresponding inspector to get to them (they are still in the inspector though). There is also a new Tool Palette similar to what many other programs have which should make it easier for Visio, Illustrator and other users to transition to OGP.

The new Stencils manager fixed numerous usability issues with the old one.

Expanded Variables support (but none yet that will display the foreground and background color values, useful when making a visual style guide).

Leopard QuickLook Support.

Shared Layers which replace the old Master Canvas. This one will take some getting used if you use Master Canvases, but it's really an awesome solution to something many have wanted for some time - the ability to add multiple master canvases to a single canvas. It also makes it very easy to adjust the items on the Shared Layer so that they show up everywhere.

Subgraphs allow you to group a collection of objects into a single entity very easily.

There are some big changes with OGP5 and this includes having to update your documents (QuickLook only works with OGP5 format files).

A slight issue is with documents that are larger then a printed page and where sized using the "Fit To Page". These will open with the page size reset to the standard page settings. The new scaling features should eliminate the prior issues with having documents that had more vertical or horizontal pixels then a standard printed page would hold.

You will also need to update any custom templates you are using.

OmniGraffle will you marry me?  
(Version 5.0 beta 1)

NCIANCA  Incredibly useful and functional utility. I've added it to my Finder's toolbar for quick access.  
(Version 2.0)

NCIANCA  I agree that the Application Support folder is where things should go. However, when I hear the term kernel extension I think of something that goes in /Library/Extensions or /System/Library/Extensions (where some programs will put them).

Thanks for adding the clarification to the docs.  
(Version 1.3.3)

NCIANCA  I should have been more specific in my comment.

I never did ask the developer, it was more of a "refusal" from a documentation and/or program point of view rather then the need to actually ask the question from the developer.

IMHO any software that installs something outside of the scope of the application bundle should automatically provide full removal instructions in the documentation or application and have an uninstall option (if possible) for said software.

I also think that software should ask before installing additional software, which I don't think Insommia did.  
(Version 1.3.3)

NCIANCA  Why is it that software authors who install kernel extensions refuse to provide information regarding where they install these and/or provide uninstall/removal information?  
(Version 1.3.3)

NCIANCA  Looks pretty and definitely more functional then iCal.

But it would be better if it actually used the new Calendar Store API in 10.5 which eliminates the need to have to "Sync" the calendar data since any application can view, create and edit calendar data from a single data store.

The price seems high as well.  
(Version 2.0.8v65)

NCIANCA  Tables is constantly improving and the developer has been very responsive to issues. In just a few months it has gone from usable to excellent. Tables is also very stable for me. The last crash I had was due to an Input Manager and not Tables.

Excel compatibility has been pretty good, with no problems sharing files with Windows Excel users.

Like many, I bought iWork 08 as soon as it came out. Numbers is a slick application (reminds me of an old Mac Spreadsheet called Trapeze) and overall I like it. But Tables is much faster when using lots of data and overall feels more responsive. I often use Tables with data extracted from databases as CSV files to "massage" and analyze the data and assorted other such needs. Tables is better then Numbers for actually crunching numbers and data. Try importing a 23401 row / 33 column CSV file into Numbers and hear your MacBook Pro fan kick into overdrive for a while...

Numbers is great for presentations, where you have a limited amount of information that is usually going into Pages or Keynote. In some cases I will crunch data in Tables, and then copy/paste results of that into Numbers for use in Keynote.

Oddly enough, Tables also has more control over the formatting of cells, particularly numbers.

In my toolbox, there is a place for both and I for one am super happy to never use Excel again. The cost of Tables and iWork together is still cheaper then getting MS Office and provides a much better experience for the user.  
(Version 1.3.7)

NCIANCA  Tables has really improved since it was first released. Over the past couple of months, it has become my spreadsheet of choice. It's fast, starts instantly and works great with MS Excel documents.

Excel workbooks, formulas, formatting, etc all appear just fine. Most of the Excel documents I use and share are not terribly complex, but I haven't had any issues with other Excel (OSX and Windows) users.

Tables development is moving along well and continuously getting better and worth the price. The developer is also very responsive to his users.  
(Version 1.2.6)

NCIANCA  Tabs, the selector "thingamabob" (right click a selector) and a few other improvements make CSSEdit 2.5 the best version yet.

Throw in Milestones, Validation, Live Previews/Real Time Editiing, Groups and a great interface with intuitive editors and auto-completion and it's clear why CSSEdit the tool of choice for anyone who has to work with CSS.  
(Version 2.5)

NCIANCA  I've only been playing around with this for a short time, but I find the interface to be confusing and distracting. Too many things moving around, and way too much going on visually. I do like the side tab metaphor which is well executed in other programs such as Notetaker and Notebook, but I don't like the way the selected tab moves to the vertical top of the application. Other things just make no sense, such as "Burn To Disc" in the file menu.

The application itself is very modal in some respects and it's not clear how to change things (for example the backgrounds) with out having to consult the documentation. A common palette/inspector that contains all the setting for tasks and pages would be better then having separate modal dialogs.

I also don't like how it's always going on the net to download backgrounds, categories and other items and the progress windows float above all other windows in the OS.

Virtually note of the Apple Interface Guidelines are followed by this application which more feels like a flash/apollo application then a regular cocoa app. The application seems stable and hasn't crashed.

It's also expensive for the limited functionality that it provides. Users are either going to love this application or hate it.  
(Version 1.1)

NCIANCA  The best little decompression tool out there. Blows BOMArchive out of the water and doesn't do stupid things when you drop 20 .tgz files on it.  
(Version 1.6)

NCIANCA  There is no information regarding the author, publisher or anything else about this program. The included "Information.rtf" is also sparse in details.

With a complete lack of identifying information I'd be skeptical as to what this tool really does.   
(Version 1.0)

NCIANCA  Extremely useful service - accessible from any cocoa app and now universal to boot!  
(Version 1.2)

NCIANCA  A new program is being released for connecting to Blackberry devices which works *much* better. Missing Sync for Blackberry -- http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/24211

I have no affiliation with Missing Sync.  
(Version 4.0)

NCIANCA  I have been using WebLight for 6 months or so and find it to be a great tool with a number of useful tests. I have run WebLight against complex sites, in some cases with thousands of pages and urls.

The ability to setup rules for checking url's, defining different user-agents, and having different starting points allows you to test the specific portions of the site. With huge sites those features save us a ton of time.

You can also save the reports as a tab delimited file, which can then be imported into Excel, a database, bug tracker, etc.  
(Version 4.0.10)

NCIANCA  Works *MUCH* better the PocketMac though it took me a couple of tries to get this working correctly (I had to reset iSync first). But it's been working just fine, and transfers my data in minutes rather then hours.

Cracked me up that the first thing it does is remove PocketMac from your system (it asks first).

For Notes it includes it's own notes manager, Mark/Space Notebook, which is a fairly decent notes organizer and I like it better then using Stickies for keeping my Blackberry notes on. It did sync all my notes from the Blackberry so nothing was lost.

I also like the profiles, so that you can quickly transfer data that matches a user created profile, such as Calendar & Tasks only.

I haven't found any licensing information on the site yet, but I would imagine the price will be comparable to that of the other Missing Sync programs. The Blackberry PocketMac should work like this - with speed and without crashing. I think RIM should cancel whatever deal they have with PocketMac and buy this for it's Mac users.

If you use a Blackberry and you want to sync your data frequently or want more reliable operation then PocketMac, then it's worth getting this.  
(Version 1.0b12)

NCIANCA  The flexibility that Fuse provides and the potential is huge.

Already the sshfs module is changing how we work with files on our linux servers. There is no longer a need for a separate sftp client and using the command line to mount works well with ssh-agent. It's also a plus to be able to use TextMate's project drawer with remote file systems.  
(Version 0.2.2)

NCIANCA  This software is very slow and buggy. The prior version worked better on PPC but not on Intel. This one does, but it's not a universal binary - all the connection software is running via Rosetta.

The calendar sync is always getting confused, and often just stops working. It's necessary to reset the device to a first sync state. I've never been able to get the iCal tasks to sync.

It also takes it almost 2 full hours to sync my contacts, yet if I use the Blackberry Desktop (Windows) software, the same thing takes less then 5 minutes. Syncing my Sony Ericsson phone using iSync (via Bluetooth) also takes a few minutes (for phones, calendars, tasks, etc).

It also makes no difference if you are only updating the device (1-way sync), which takes just as long as a 2-way sync.

It's too bad that the only way we can use a Blackberry with OSX is using this lame, lame software. RIM (and Information Appliance / pocketmac) should be ashamed of themselves.  
(Version 4.0)

NCIANCA  This program doesn't do math very well. 100 + 23 was 123 last time I checked, not 24 or 100.23...

>> 100 + 23

=> 24.0

>> 100+23

=> 100.23

>> =100+23

=>

>> 100+23=

=> -:1: syntax error

include Math; print 100.23=;  
(Version 1.0.2)

NCIANCA  Now that Tables is no longer a preview release, I'd say the biggest problem is a lack of interoperability with Pages and other programs.

At a minimum, one should be able copy a range of cells and past into Pages as a PDF. Instead it's pasted as unformatted text, and doesn't even add the tab stops. The pasteboard format should probably include RTF and PDF types in addition to the text only version.

Of course, if it could actually paste into Pages as a Pages Table that would be the best.  
(Version 1.0.3)

NCIANCA  You accountant should be able to use the "backup" files that Quickbook creates. File->Backup->To Quickbooks for Windows...

Never had a problem sending my accountant files this way and I'm currently using NUE 2006.   
(Version 2007)

NCIANCA  SubEthaEdit's unique feature is it's ability to work in a collaborative way with other users editing the same document. Sure one can upload/download the file and work with it using any number of ftp/sftp clients, but the ability to have 2 or more people working on the same document that is stored on the server would be lost.

Ideally, SubEthaEdit would have a built in client that allows editing of a file stored on the server and establish a connection with other users so that the unique functionality could then be used.  
(Version 2.5.1)

NCIANCA  Thanks! I lived on Acta for a long, long time. It's nice to see it come back and have a way to open up some of those old files.  
(Version 1.0a4)

NCIANCA  I needed to do some collaborative editing with some other users and am very surprised that SubEthaEdit has no support for working with either an sftp or webdav server.

Seems that SubEthaEdit is "collaborative" only when you are working on a local document and the other user can actually reach your machine (which won't happen behind most corporate firewalls).

This potentially useful tool has boxed itself into a small environment. Please add support for working with documents stored on a server using sftp or webdav.  
(Version 2.5)

NCIANCA  Very well done and useful utility. Easy to install and use, for things like this nothing is simpler then a PreferencePane. No strange kernel extensions to install. Perfect!  
(Version 0.9.7 (pr3.7))

NCIANCA  This tool rocks! Not only does it work but it's easy to setup and very flexible. If you are stuck at a clients or behind a corporate firewall that blocks your access to the outside world, you can use this to get your email, filesharing, etc.  
(Version 0.9.15)

NCIANCA  holy smokes! A real cocoa spreadsheet that even opens excel documents! It seems to do all the basic stuff a person needs.

Been playing around with this for a few minutes and it looks good. There are issues that I'm sure will be fixed as it moves out of public preview and to release. For example, entering $100 is treated as a text value and not a number. It doesn't export to an XLS format (yet). Or allow you to copy something and paste into another app as a table (for example as a PDF of the pasteboard)

This has been such a big missing piece in the OSX software world that I'm compelled to give the developer 5 stars!  
(Version 0.16b)

NCIANCA  An Information Architects best friend.  
(Version 4.1.2rc1)

NCIANCA  Nifty idea. Really needs a way to remove apps that you don't want in there though and some better filtering as it also shows all the utility apps that might be found inside an application bundle and that's largely a useless use of real estate on the panel.  
(Version 1.5)

NCIANCA  Version 1.2.2 fixes the intermittent mail hanging problem that I had with the prior version. MailTags is very useful.  
(Version 1.2.2)

NCIANCA  Interesting idea and really more of a proof of concept at this stage. Needs more file manipulation functionality.   
(Version 1.0b1)

NCIANCA  This is potentially an interesting development app. There are quirks with this beta, such as problems opening files that have been added to the project. Look forward to future releases to be able to give it a more in depth look.  
(Version 1.0pr1)

NCIANCA  try iTerm

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/10301  
(Version 1.4.4b1)

NCIANCA  This is a potentially a great plugin for Mail. The tagging is useful, but for me the ability to attach an email to a Task in iCal is really useful. Unfortunately MailTags seems to occasionally hang Mail. One time, Mail's preference file got corrupted as a result of having to Force Quit Mail.  
(Version 1.2.1)

NCIANCA  Nicely done! Would be great if it retained the last drag size so that it doesn't have to be redrawn every time.  
(Version 2.1)

NCIANCA  Version 2.1 still will not start, displaying the same error message "An internal error has occurred during the startup."  
(Version 2.1)

NCIANCA  I got that from their website where I was directed to when I first launched the application. I don't seem to have a way to start the program in demo mode without purchasing a 30 day trial license.  
(Version 1.9)

NCIANCA  $19.95 for a 30 day trial? Are they kidding?  
(Version 1.9)

NCIANCA  Seems ok except for one big thing: there is no way to import bookmarks into this program.  
(Version 1.13)

NCIANCA  Here is a company that listens to it's customers and continous to improve this great program. Curio 3.0 is add features that are welcome and make using this excellent program an even better experience.   
(Version 3.0)

NCIANCA  I love how this program interacts with my phone. I use my cell as my main phone and now I don't even have to take it out of my pocket to use it (I use a headset). I use it with a Powerbook and haven't had any problems with it.

The integration with AddressBook is excellent. One thing I wish it allowed me to do is to start iSync directly from BluePhoneElite.  
(Version 1.0.7)

NCIANCA  The idea seems good, I like the screenshots, but it needs to work.

Everytime I start this program I get an alert that says "Application cannot start. An internal error has occurred during the startup." I got this alert with the previous version and with this 2.1b1 version

I have emailed the developer but haven't received a response.  
(Version 2.1b1)

NCIANCA  Congratulations to the CocoaTech Team for getting PF4 out! Once again they have put together a better Finder with some much needed new features and I really like the tabs and the new window organization. Having been part of the beta cycle I have found PF4 to be very stable.  
(Version 4.0)

NCIANCA  Could have a lot of potential, especially if it worked. The lack of support for IMAP is the biggest thing against this program. The second is the lack of calendar integration with either iCal's calendar database or even more important, with MS Exchange calendar. If this app could integrate with Exchange for IMAP and Calendar it would be a real hit. Unfortunately it still has a way to go. English usage is also poor, and should be updated.

(this is with the new Jan 2006 release)  
(Version 2005.3)

NCIANCA  SiteOrbiter is a useful program to use when analysing a website structure, finding links that are broken and reviewing work that is being performed on a site. Excellent reporting tools. A must for anyone who works with web development.

This program has improved consistently since it was release, each version getting better then the last.   
(Version 4.01)

NCIANCA  The interface is very poor, and not very mac like. I'd suggest that the developer read up on the Apple Interface Guidelines. Lasted about 1 minute on my machine.  
(Version 2.06)