Software Reviews

Hands on: xScope

Mike Hudson Leave a comment

Back in October this year a StackSocial bundle offer landed in my mailbox. Since I started receiving these bundle mails they have never ceased to amaze me with some of the software they contain.. Most of the bundles include a piece of popular ‘flag ship’ software, and all of them contain smaller pieces.. Generally pieces I have never heard of before, and often on first glance I look at them and think – “I’m not sure I could make use of that” however I generally install them anyway, because … Hey – you should never judge a book by its cover!

One such item was xScope by Iconfactory .. xScope is a collection of 8 tools in one easy to use utility, primarily aimed at developers – the tool makes it unbelievably easily to achieve the perfect design and layout of pretty much anything on-screen. It’s ideal for aligning and measuring images, divs, tables, forms, controls and much much more.

The tool floats on top of all other applications and uses a simple “grab and drag” control on the ruler to make measuring as easy as possible.

xScope

But it doesn’t stop there.. You can also use xScope to check out what your design/application/site will look like on screens of various sizes with a simple click of a button!

xScope Screen Size

When I first downloaded the tool, I didn’t think I’d ever really use it.. How wrong was I, it soon became an important part of any design and development tasks! It even sports pride of place on my super clean minimalistic dock!

So to recap:

The good:

I am a big fan of anything that makes tasks around design and development easier and more streamlined, this certainly goes a long way to help with this. I think the price for such a powerful little utility is just right, even more so if you manage to bag it in a bundle.

The bad:

This is a tough one, as the tool doesn’t really have any downsides.. When I first started using it, reading the ruler correctly was a bit of a challenge – but once I got used to over stretching it slightly I quickly worked out that quirk.

The bottom line:

I am really please StackSocial decided to include this in their bundle, and I am pretty positive I will be upgrading to later versions as and when they arrive. This tool easily bags a 5 star rating from me.

Rating:

5.0 star big Hands on: xScope

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MacKeeper v2.61 Review

Mike Hudson Leave a comment

MacKeeper

MacKeeper v2.61

As a daily OS X user, I know just how important it is to keep your Mac running as good as new. There’s nothing worse than having to sit and wait for your Mac whilst it processes the most basic of commands and requests.

OS X is a complex beast, and if you don’t do regular maintenance you’ll soon find it grinding to a halt. Sure, there’s hundreds of terminal commands and finder tweaks you can do to clean things up. But with applications such as MacKeeper available to download there’s really no need to fumble around in the terminal.

Launching MacKeeper automatically starts the ‘Fast Cleanup’ scan, which even on my packed 500GB ‘spiny disk’ hard drive takes about 3 minutes to complete. Once done the fresh, easy to use GUI outlines everything MacKeeper is able to clean using it’s “one click” clean process. During the fast cleanup, MacKeeper cleans unused application binaries, empties system and user cache locations, removes unused language files from applications and clears down log file locations.

So what does this mean

By default, when you install applications they also install the required language files to service every possible language. (Which have been packaged with the app) So for example if your Mac OS X is installed with only the UK language packs, chances are you are not going to need the bulk of German, French, Spanish etc language files in each of your installed apps. As you can imagine, these can quite rapidly start taking up storage space.

Equally the cache locations can also become packed out with cache files for each of your used applications. Sure, cache’s are great for speeding up the launch of often used apps. However, no doubt your frequent app use changes every now an then. So it’s always a good idea to regenerate the cache now and again.

Also – log file rotation is often set quite low with some applications, so some log files can be kept for weeks, months or even years. Generally when investigating an issue you would only need a hand full of log files, and would rarely need to go hunting through older logs.

I generally run clean up operations (after a full system backup of course) on a monthly basis and generally clear down between 500mb to 1GB’s worth of accumulated ‘junk’. So imagine if you’ve never performed a cleanup on your two-year old mac!

But wait! There’s more..

Where MacKeeper stands out from the crowds of other system maintenance tools is with its plethora of other built-in utilities and tools. Such as; Duplicates file finder, Disk Usage mapper, Smart Uninstaller, update tracker, data encryptor, file shredder, deleted file recovery, Internet security and theft recovery to name but a few!

That’s a total of apps worth £410.00, that you get bundled with MacKeeper for only £34.95!

The Good:

MacKeeper makes it extremely easy for even the mac novice keep their mac running as good as new, and utilise as much space as possible on the stock hard drive. The utilities are easy to use, and give excellent feedback and detailed instructions of what’s going to happen when you push the buttons etc. Whats more, each tab of the application has the ability to connect you to the MacKeeper support team.

The Bad:

MacKeeper performs tasks that could be done using terminal (if you are brave enough, and have to time to research and practice the commands) although that could be dangerous if you are not a confident terminal user..

The Bottom Line:

This app get’s 5 out of 5 for its ease of use and all round collection of system utilities. With this installed there’s nothing more you will need to keep your mac in ‘tip-top’ condition.

Rating:

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Hands on: AfterShokz Sportz 2

Mike Hudson Leave a comment
Bone Conduction Sport Headphones
AfterShokz Sportz 2 – Bone Conduction Sport Headphones

AfterShokz Sportz 2 Review

AfterShokz Sportz 2 are a pretty impressive set of bone conducting sport headphones, which differ from normal in ear headphones as they actually sit in front of the ear, and deliver sound via your cheek bones.

These headphones have been designed with the open air sports fanatic in mind, leaving the ear canal unobstructed the user is not at risk of not hearing on coming traffic etc. The build quality is good, and the headphones claim to be sweat resistant which is important when using during exercise.

However, I do feel the sound quality suffers from not being a complete in ear solution. They are certainly not a patch on my Sennheiser PMX 685i Sports In-Ear Neckband Headphones.  As one of my colleagues Philip Gardham pointed out they do sound a little like holding a normal in-ear earbud to your cheek and turning the volume up. On more base intense tracks the headset actually vibrates on your cheek bone, this headset is actually better with a medium volume track. They do also seem to suffer from quite a bit of sound leak too, which is another reason not to have them too loud.

The headphones use a lithium ion battery to power their bone conduction technology, and boast a massive 12 hours of constant use between charges. Headset charging is via the included micro USB cable, and takes approximately 2 hours before fully charged.

The headphones also have an ‘inline’ volume/play/pause/power functionality, which you can see below, the black box with the orange power button.

AfterShokz Sportz 2

The box also contains a ‘tough’ storage case for keeping your headset and charge cable neat and tidy. However, the case is quite bulky in size – so would take up a considerable amount of space in your gym bag.

So to recap:

The good:

I am a big fan of up and coming technology, and think bone conduction is quite frankly amazing, although the sound quality wouldn’t satisfy the most savvy audiophile, I’m sure day to day users would be more then happy. They are also reasonably priced at £59.95.

The bad:

I am not a big fan of standing out from the crowd, and think that the look of these on your head will turn heads in the wrong way.. They look a little like either I’ve missed my ears trying to put on normal headphones, or I should be wearing a star trek outfit.

The sound quality leaves a lot to be desired, and they are not as comfy as you might think.

The bottom line:

Although I certainly wouldn’t rush out and buy a set (I won my set) I do like the concept, and hope they pave the way for many more advancements around bone conduction. Until then, I’ll stick with my Sennheiser’s

Rating:

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Kensington KeyFolio ‘hands on’

Mike Hudson 1 Comment

20121011-205710.jpg

What’s it all about….?
So… With thanks to Free Virtual Servers, I recently became the happy owner of a brand new Apple iPad. Something I have toyed with the idea of purchasing for sometime now. Thos who know me will know just how much of an Apple fan I am. With a home that represents the store-room of a local Apple dealer.

Would Steve like it….?
Despite my love of the design an build of the iPad, I’ve never truly bought into its on-screen keyboard. An yes, I have an iPhone, typing on which is natural. Holding the iPad and typing for extended periods of time just leads to aching hands. Don’t get me wrong, in the right environment, the iPad on-screen keyboard holds its own.. However, I am a sucker for a hardware keyboard.

Let the shopping begin….
So out I went into the marketplace, looking for something which would protect my shiny new Apple device, whilst increasing its usability all in one purchase. Now, there are many variants of iPad case with built-in bluetooth keyboard on the market. Ranging from the entry-level £20 unit’s, to the insane £170 top of the range models.

As I already knew my iPad keyboard would not get immense amounts of use, I wanted something that worked well, and didn’t look like I’d made it myself. Which is when I started looking into the Kensington range.

Kensington sit in the mid to top of the range price bracket. With cases between £30 to £70. Each of the cases with keyboards are designed to look like portfolio type books, loved among businessmen the world over.

The KeyFolio has a couple of variations in its range, which include angle adjustable screen rests and more keyboard features etc.

The winner….
I opted for the original KeyFolio, which sports a soft to touch moulded rubber keyboard. With a synthetic leather outer case.

The keyboard took a little getting used to at first, some of the keys are not where you expect them to be, but then I am sure I will get used to that..

The divider….
One thing is for sure, it the case truly does divide the crowds. Much like Marmite, some of my friends like it and the idea of it, where others hate it and everything it’s about.. I for one love it, and think it’s going to serve me well for many a blog post to come..

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Don’t pick any host, pick the RIGHT host

Mike Hudson 3 Comments

If you’ve checked out the looooong long list of web hosting providers across the planet, you may have noticed there’s nothing much that differs between their offerings; massively competitive pricing models, easily accessible control panels, unlimited space and bandwidth (on some offerings), 24/7 support, 99.99% uptime, super fast servers and many many more…

However, much like any service provider it soon becomes apparent who offers the best customer service, who views you as a small fish in a big pond and those few who view each of their fish as equal sized fish.. Offering unparalleled support and advice no matter how much money you spend with them.

Some of the biggestglobal firms truly offer dreadful customer service support. I won’t start naming them here as without the full context it would be unfair.

At the opposite end of that scale, are those few who go the extra mile.. Those with the correct vision, morels and goals.. The ones who treat each customer in just the same way, regardless of your hosting package or your site’s traffic.

One that has truly stood out the crowd for me, and has stepped up on many occasion over the last 7 years of my blog posting and ‘web development’ career, is one who I make sure I recommend to anyone who asks when they are just starting out or when their hosts are consistently disappointing them.

This company proved to me that my business means a lot to them, and nothing is ever too much to ask. During which time my site has gone from strength to strength and my hosting package has rapidly worked its way up to where it is now.

6 years hosting with them would make you think I must have paid an absolute fortune for such service. Well you couldn’t be further from the truth. Although I am enjoying the benefits of a pro package today, I once was a very small fish in a somewhat large pond. Back in the day when I’d post every few weeks, and the only visitors where my friends and family. At that time I was more than happily using their free hosting offering. Giving me all the power I needed to really get my teeth into web development, allowing me to dabble with many a CMS, forum, e-commerce solution, development language and more.

For all the time I was a small fish in a big pond I never once felt that way, the cPanel made me feel like I had control over every aspect of my personal space.. Sometimes too much control! To which the helpful team came to my rescue to rectify my mistakes. With never a derogatory comment passed!

From there my site has gone from strength to strength and today has 60+ unique hits in a month, from all corners of the globe. Serving up downloads, blog posts, media content and more… Non of which have ever been an issue on my super fast web host.

Since then I have migrated several of my friends sites over to the host, and can often be found plugging them during mind map stages of young entrepreneurs.

Now to put you all out of your misery…. The host who has looked after me since day one, and will continue to do so until something better than the internet comes up, is FreeVirtualServers

I chose FreeVirtualServers on the back of a recommendation from another one of their customers. All I can say is, I am so pleased I did. They’re pricing model is extremely competitive, and where most in the market scrimp and save on the customer friendly side of the business FreeVirtualServers really beat expectations.. Not many hosts would aid getting your site back online over the christmas period, one year FreeVirtualServers did that, just for me… Just for a blog that received few visitors and had little content. All that from their UK-based support centre!

I seriously can’t recommend them enough, and urge you to check them out. Even if you just want to dabble, you’ve nothing to lose with their completely free hosting packages, and for those of you who are more serious about your online presence…. I’d highly recommend you check our their Pro hosting packages.

I see my relationship with FreeVirtualServers and who knows, maybe one day I will be on their reseller package! If you do decide to sign up with them, be sure to mention my name Mike Hudson, and the URL of my blog!

Why put up with the rest, sign up with the best…..

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