Adventures In MacPorts: Installing MPlayer 1.0rc4 and Myst Online: URU Live Again

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MacPorts is only for advanced Mac users. Even advanced users will find MacPorts diabolical at times. My experience today was a very frustrating adventure. Its goal: To install the new MacPort of MPlayer version 1.0rc4.

I've been playing with MacPorts for a few years and am pleased to see the list of available ports continually growing. They have afforded me some terrific UNIX functionality that does not ship with Mac OS X. But learning about what MacPorts are, how to install them and how to use them is difficult. The learning curve is steep, the documentation is minimal, the help you'll find online is flaky and MacPorts itself can be imperfect and daunting. I am loathe to tell the tale of my adventure today because it will cause many to run away screaming with fear! But MPlayer is a big deal program and someone has got to publish on the net how to install it in spite of MacPorts HELL! So let me be your guide:

Porticus

A couple months back I installed the very latest version of MacPorts. To access the ports listing and install them I use a clunky but useful free program called Porticus. There is a paid shareware alternative, but it has fallen into disrepair and is too expensive. The one thing wrong with Porticus is that you have to force it to "Reload Ports" after every installation. It pretends to do so by itself but FAILs. This sort of annoyance is entirely typical at the hacker level of users. But I got used to forcing Porticus reloads and otherwise enjoy it.

MPlayer

Knowing the new version of MPlayer was available, I checked Porticus and joyfully found it available as a MacPort. However, it had a couple prerequisite installations. When this occurs, the ports you don't yet have installed are listed in red. Therefore, I set about installing them. Unfortunately, the first of these ports was impossible to install! It consistently FAILed with errors that said what was at the source site was an HTML file and that the MD5 check didn't match. Therefore, I looked around in the MacPorts directory and what I discovered blew my mind. Someone had tossed in a bizarro HTML file that essentially said the equivalent of "Sorry sonny! You can't get there for here!" Check this out:

[html stuff...]
This space is managed by SourceForge.net. You have attempted to access a URL that either never existed or is no longer active. Please check the source of your link and/or contact the maintainer of the link to have them update their records.
[html stuff...]

This note was included at part of the MacPorts installation and the note was WRONG. Because this stupid note was tossed it there, I could not install the prerequisite port and therefore could not install MPlayer! There was no way around it!

Except I am used to developers and hackers being a PITA. I went looking for what I wanted on the net anyway and sought out a way to install it in spite of the MacPorts bungle. And I succeeded. And yes kids, garbage like this proves that we remain in The Stone Age Of Computing. (0_o)

The impossible-to-install port file was libmad-0.15.1b.tar.gz. I Googled it. I found it. Here it is:

MAD (MPEG Audio Decoder)

Despite the dumbass note stuck in MacPorts, the file is at SourceForge, is downloadable and is installable, dammit!

After downloading the file, I tried a couple ways to install it myself. First I used the Terminal, using the instructions in the included ReadMe. Then I tried the same thing using the X11 CLI. But I was a dope to bother with it because the installation was put into the wrong location, not into MacPorts where I wanted it. Therefore, I went looking around. At first I thought I'd have to post a ticket to the MacPorts group about the problem. I went over to the MacPorts Guide and checked the tickets section. There I read about the Problem Hotlist page and checked it out. Skimming down the page I found this section:

Fetch failures

If fetch failed for a port, you can still get the distfile from anywhere else. For example, the  main MacPorts distfiles mirror contains most ports' distfiles, or maybe the homepage of the software lists alternative download locations for source tarballs. Just download the distfile and save it to ${prefix}/var/macports/distfiles//. Make sure you get a file with exactly the same name (watch out for .tar.gz and .tar.bz2!) If a port clean --all has been done the distfile directory will have been removed. The directory for each port is created at the beginning of the fetch phase.

Note: Checksum failures after a fetch are typically a separate issue. See the FAQ.

Yeah well, I knew that libmad was NOT at the MacPorts distfiles location on the Internet. Beats me why. However, I was pleased to see that I could bypass the idiotic note about libmad and replace it with the actual file. After searching for the correct directory, which is NOT clear from the documentation quoted above, this is where I successfully put it:

/opt/local/macports/distfiles/libmad/

Having trashed the moronic (am I out of derisive adjectives yet?) MacPorts note, I replaced it with the libmad-0.15.1b.tar.gz file.

I then went back into Porticus and successfully performed the installation of libmad. That then allowed me to successfully install MPlayer. I then verified that MPlayer was there and started in reading the man page. Consider me happy-smiley-shiny and ready to play with MPlayer. :-)

Nightmare much? I run into ridiculous chaos like this regularly. It is part of hacker level work on any computer platform. Code developers are brilliant. My lame skills only let me bludgeon through code writing. But much as I envy great coders, they are not necessarily good at other organization skills. To succeed as a hacker level user you have to be patient and tenacious at overcoming other-people organizational deficits. You have to learn to out-think the software and the developer.

Myst Online: URU

I had a similar nightmare last month getting the Myst Online: URU Live Again MacPort installed and running on my Mac.

As an early Myst adopter, I have been a fan of the sequels ever since. Cyan create my kind of games. Sadly Cyan succumbed to the biznizz anti-ethic of focusing on money rather than the customer experience as the bottom line. This is consistently how great companies become derelict. (Apple have been a success, even in hard times, by keeping the customer as priority #1). This lead Cyan to focus only on the Windows PC market for their final project in the Myst series, the online game entitled URU. Considering that the original Myst was developed using Apple's Hypercard, this was a huge slap in the face of Mac users! Eventually a barely working Mac version was offered. Then URU rolled over and died. Thankfully, a transition was created to make URU a free public game. A new server was found and so URU lives again.

Thank kind people for providing a way to play URU online via MacPorts. There are two options for installing and running URU, one using WINE and another using Cider. I was unfamiliar with Cider, which is a Windows gaming engine for Macs from Transgaming. You can read about Cider HERE and HERE.

I installed the WINE version but totally FAILed to get it running. Yes kids, WINE is another one of those flaky, annoying, tweeks required, poorly documented hacker level technologies. If you pay for it via CrossOver, it can work very nicely. But installing WINE via MacPorts and getting it to work can be very infuriating. I ended up deleting the URU WINE installation by hand.

Then I installed the Cider version. URU now works beautifully! Then, since URU takes up over 3 GB of disk space, I used symbolic links (NOT aliases!) to move the whole thing over to an external USB drive with total success. Since I am running on a MacBook 2GHz, I don't have the best of graphics hardware. In particular, the roving 3D wire-frame characters, most of whom are real players, resolve poorly. But everything else in the game is incredibly beautiful and fun to use. I'm enthralled. If you're into the Myst series, I highly recommend the Cider URU MacPort.

. . .

If you found this article useful, I'm pleased. If it made your hair stand on end, I'm not surprised. There is a temperament one has to develop in order to deal with today's level of hacked together software. If you can't get there, then don't worry about it. Instead stick with the more user-friendly software, of which there is plenty. Some day The Stone Age Of Computing will transition into something much more humane, or so we hope.

:-Derek
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When Apple Support FAILS: How To Calm An IRATE Part 2

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Going back a few weeks and a few articles, I discovered that there is no way to actually talk to anyone at the Apple iTunes Store. Therefore, if your email pleas for help go unresolved, you're left out in the cold. But there are further steps to take if your are willing to spend the time, money and patience to pursue them.

Apple has always had an excellent Customer Support department. It's a toll call. There's a firewall of operators you have to get through, but if you stick to your guns you can make it through and talk to someone nice, sane and incredibly helpful. Here is the protocol:

1) Go to the Apple.com site, go to the bottom of the page and click on 'Contact Us'.

2) Skip everything else and look in the upper right area of the "Apple - How to Contact Us" page where you will find the "Corporate Address" including the corporate office PHONE NUMBER. (Today Apple Corporate's number is 408-996-1010).

3) Deal with the fees and make the toll call...

4) When an operator answers, say only one thing: "Customer Support Please!" That's all. Do not ask for 'tech support'. Do not chat with the operator. Do not tell the operator about your situation. Never mention 'iTunes'. As soon as the operators hear 'iTunes' they blurt out a rant that there is "NO PHONE SUPPORT FOR THE iTUNES STORE!" I had one particularly nasty operator hang up on me when I attempted to talk reason with her. Don't bother! They're pre-programmed. You only only only ask for "Customer Support Please!"

5) You will then be connected in short order (or you should be!) to a kind, friendly, helpful and compassionate human being. I love these folks. Explain in detail your situation. Explain why this is important to you. As ever, be entirely honest and patient. Their job is to help you and to resolve all Apple customer problems.

Note: The call may take a lot of time. When I spoke to Customer Support they had a difficult time themselves getting anyone at the iTunes Store to talk to directly. If the call drags on longer than you'd like, simply ask that Customer Support call you back when they have solved the problem. Also ask them for their direct number. They will give you their toll-free direct number. They will call you back. They have never let me down.

In my situation, Apple were eventually able to talk to a human being at the iTunes Store. Sadly, that person blundered the situation yet-again(!), and I had to call back my Customer Support representative for further assistance. I get the impression that the iTunes Store has been contracted out to a bunch of minimum wage kids. IOW: pray for patience.

Once it was evident that the Level 1 kids at the iTunes Store were incapable of resolving my simple problem, one of their Supervisors contacted me via eMail and we sorted it out right away, the way it should have been solved in the first place. The Supervisor was intelligent and thoughtful. Problem solved, case closed. I was delighted.

Remaining Question: Why-oh-why was it so excruciatingly hard to interact with anyone competent at the iTunes Store? It took me 2.5 WEEKS to solve my very simple problem.

Sad to say, Apple does NOT run the iTunes Store like they run the rest of the company. "ALL SALES ARE FINAL" and "THE ONLY SUPPORT IS EMAIL SUPPORT" are IMHO rude and ridiculous walls put in the way to prevent what is typically the best-in-class Apple customer experience. BOTH of these impediments must be removed or competent Level 1 people must be provided. Polite and friendly dimwits are not acceptable.

CONCLUSION:

When you interact with the iTunes Store, you are NOT dealing with the Apple you know and love. You're dealing with a polite but deranged organization that damages Apple's reputation by way of blatant user-hostility. The Level 1 kids there could not have been more polite! How nice. But they also could not have been more obtuse and difficult. That I had to go all the way up to Corporate Headquarters to have a very simple problem solved was, let's be serious, completely INSANE.

I know the argument that Apple make very little money via the iTunes Store and I expect that is correct. But professional businesses don't let polite but incompetent minimum wage kids loose on their customers. The state of iTunes Store support is horrific. I wish you a far better experience than I had.

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Sleepimage: How To Remove Gigabytes Of Unwanted Fat

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Mac OS X 10.5 & 10.6 brought with them a new feature called the 'sleepimage' file. You can find it here:

/private/var/vm/

You can get there in the Finder by using the Go menu: Go to Folder: Then type in the above path.

Inside this folder is all your vm or Virtual Memory. It includes all your 'swapfile's, which you should at this point leave be, and your 'sleepimage' file. The sleepimage is as large as the amount of RAM you have installed on your Mac. In my case, using my MacBook, it is 3 Gigabytes in size. What if I could removed that file 'forever' and have 3 GB more of freed space on my boot volume? For app addicts like me, that means a lot more room and a lot lower chance of banging my free space for virtual memory to zero, which in turn forces a reboot to free up the VM, which is annoying.

Before I tell you how to perform the undocumented tricks, let's find out what the sleepimage file is for, because you might well want to keep it! I'm quoting here from Apple's online PDF manual "Mac OS X, Security Configuration For Version 10.5 Leopard, Second Edition."

When your computer goes into hibernation, it writes the content of RAM to the /var/vm/sleepimage file. The sleepimage file contains the contents of RAM unencrypted, similar to a swap file.

The document then goes on to tell you how to turn on "Use secure virtual memory" in order to encrypt what is saved into the sleepimage file. And that's all Apple says about the sleepimage file.

Thanks to information provided by Jeremy King over at the MacRumors Forums (Apple Hardware : Notebooks : MacBook Pro : Sleep Image???) I learned one way to empty the sleepimage file by turning off Hibernation Mode. It requires using the CLI via the Terminal. If you are not yet well versed at using the Terminal, please do your homework first. I'm not going to explain the meaning of these commands.

Hibernation Mode Settings:

Disable

sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0

Enable

sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 3

Always Use

sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 1

If you disable Hibernation Mode then reboot, you should find that your sleepimage file is empty.

But there is another method that may be helpful for the CLI averse, which includes me. You must follow my method exactly or die. I've never had trouble with it, ever. However, I've heard hearsay reports that someone or other did something sort of like this and blew their system, resulting in the inability to boot into Mac OS X. This sounds like BS to me. But never underestimate the 'wetware' factor. Having said that, I provide no guarantee of anything at all if you follow my method. Just know that it works perfectly for my purposes. Here goes!

1) Go into the Finder Preferences, under the Finder menu, and check ON "Show all filename extensions". You may have already done this. I have it on all the time.

2) Open TextEdit and create at new document.

3) Save the document file with the name 'sleepimage'. I like to save to my Desktop. Note that TextEdit will put an extension, such as ".rtf", on the end of the file.

4) Go to this saved file and REMOVE the .Extension from the end of the file name. For example, ".rtf"

5) Verify in the resulting finder box that you do indeed want to "Remove" the file extension.

6) Go into the 'vm' folder using the path I provided above.

7) Click on the 'sleepimage' file inside the vm folder and send it to the Trash. You will have to provide both your Administrator ID and Password in the resulting Finder window in order to do this.

8) Drag into the vm folder your 'sleepimage' text file. You will again have to 'Authenticate' this action by providing your Administrator ID and Password.

9) Click once on your new 'sleepimage' file and Get Info for it, IOW Command-i.

10) Check ON 'Locked' in the sleepimage Get Info window. The purpose here is to prevent Mac OS X from changing or removing this file. You are the boss-of-it.

11) Empty the Trash to remove the obese old 'sleepimage' file.

You're done.

Instantly you have back ALL the disk space that was eaten up by the sleepimage file. And it won't come back. Well, probably not. There are always the random ghosts, cosmic rays, or karmic fates that make computing strange at times. I have had the sleepimage return from the dead on one occasion and I have no idea why. I put my MacBook to sleep one night and it woke up with a live sleepimage file back again. Thus the term 'Ghost in the machine'. So I killed it off  again, replaced the sleepimage file, and was back in business.

LOGIC:

I'm a quirky gizmologist who enjoys breaking things, playing with them, then putting the back together again. I'm a trained hacker and geek. If you are not, then I'd suggest taking the more logical approach,  using the CLI method for turning OFF Hibernation Mode in order to clear your sleepimage file. It's short and simple and follows proper protocols. My method is a hack. If you want to play around and are confident you know what you are doing, try my hack for fun.

Share and Enjoy,

:-Derek

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Why Adobe Flash Is Naughty and Requires Spanking

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There is a phrase among We-The-Technos that has been coming up in conversation a lot more often lately. That phrase is "TechTardiness". For Mac users, TechTard inspired anti-Apple hate is nothing new. By design or by error, the Macintosh platform has consistently been misrepresented in the press for decades, thus the extended phrase "TechTard Journalists". Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal used to be among them. But like so many others, he got a Mac, tried it and found that it really is superior to the alternatives. I'm always pleased and full of praise when any of us cures our ignorance and moves beyond a regrettable  past.

Recent among opportunities to cure ignorance is coming to terms with Adobe Flash. Despite a shocking amount of published data regarding Flash's incredibly poor performance and its blatant dangers on the Mac platform, TechTardiness remains in full force. This past week there was an amazing addition to the chorus of ignorance from Patrick Lo, the Chairman and CEO of Netgear. His bizarro, crude and insightless comments are covered here:

Closed Apple headed for trouble as Jobs's ego bites: Netgear CEO

Patrick's obtuse slamming of Steve Jobs , (who is currently out ill from Apple, how brave of Patrick), includes this gem:

What's the reason for him to trash Flash? There's no reason other than ego.

For everyone's benefit, here is a list of reasons why Mac users trash Flash:

1) Adobe Flash eats the Mac's CPU alive.

2) Adobe Flash inexplicably continues to chew on the Mac's CPU after each Flash file has stopped playing.

3) The more open Flash files, running or not, the more the Mac's CPU is devoured.

4) Adobe Flash bombs Mac web browsers, particularly Apple's Safari browser, due to memory leaks.

5) Adobe Flash is the most dangerously insecure software for Mac. This is according to top Macintosh security experts such as Dr. Charlie Miller. (The #2 and #3 insecure software for Mac are Apple's QuickTime and Adobe's PDF format).

6) Adobe maintains an unrealistic quarterly 'band' system for providing Flash Player security updates. Every month during this summer, extending into October of 2010, a new 'out-of-band' security patch was required for Flash Player.

CONCLUSIONS:

All of the above Flash problems are verifiable by anyone with Google and the willingness to do their homework.

There are reasons why Flash blocking add-ons are extremely popular for Mac web browsers.

The next time someone denies or ignores all of the above, just laugh at them. There's FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt); And then there's DOS (Denial, Obfuscation and Stupidity). Neither are good for your health.

And Further More: 

For smirkers who like to brag that their PDA/Smartphone can play Flash, don't forget to tell everyone the following:

A) How well does Flash play on your gadget?

-and-

B) How well does its battery survive playing Flash?

The answer at this point in time is: Poorly.

I personally am open to Adobe repairing all these problems and making Flash a friendly member of the computer community. However, Adobe has consistently been in denial mode, despite a mountain of easily verifiable evidence to the contrary. IMHO Adobe is strangling their own baby. That bodes poorly for Flash's future. I wish it were not so.

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*The Worst App Developer Award* Candidate: xhumans

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[...While I wait for Apple to fix my very simple iTunes Store problem, now entering day #14...]

Introduction: I'm not interested in a libel suit. But I have to say there are some very shady developers at the iTunes App Store. Today I ran into one astounding developer I have to share. Judging from everything I have seen about these guys, they are my candidate for The Worst App Developer, the makers of 'Chatroulette! ~2.0':

xhumans

eMail address to contact them:

staff@xhumans.com

How to find ALL their Apps at the iTunes App Store:

• Search for 'xhumans' inside the iTunes Store

-OR-

• Follow this link:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtist?id=304320852

Why am I picking on xhumans?

The main reasons I consider them a candidate for "the worst app developer" are the remarkably consistent one star reviews they receive for their various apps. I've provided several at the end of the article for your amusement. Here are a few one star user reviews from one of xhumans' more poplar apps, NarutoTube costing $2.99. These reviews are in chronological order from the past year:

Don't download you will only get a blank red screen
by Dvcyr - Version 3.0 - Apr 28, 2010
If you buy this app you will not be happy. It's a blank red screen. No videos to watch. No upgrade to fix the problem.

This app suks balls
by J krazy - Version 3.0 - May 11, 2010
Yea good job making a app that doesn't work douche bags...

Videos never change
by Obamaslama spaceburrito - Version 3.0 - Jan 22, 2011
U find these videos on u tube n there's only 4 vids it's a scam

According to the iTunes App Store, xhumans have 847 Apps. Most of them have bad reviews, but not all of them. I did find a few apps where a third of its reviews were positive, hovering between three stars and 2.5 stars. The developer claims that their 'TubeWorks' series of apps has an award winning interface. From the graphics, I would guess that xhumans won the 'Double Tap Grand Prize' in the 'Mobile Video Awards category'. Apparently not all of their apps FAIL.

Most xhumans apps are offered within a few categories. Let's visit the most prolific category:

THE TUBEWORKS APPS

If you read descriptions of the TubeWorks, Apps they are nearly all identical. However, each description contains one unique word, the name of the 'Tube'. Here is a general transcription. I use '[ ]' in place of the each app's tube name:

[ ]Tube - best [ ] videos!!

Description

Kick back and watch some of the best [ ] videos on the App store.

[ ]Tube is the premier place for [ ] videos. We hope you like it!

We hang out in the chat room a lot... Drop in and let us know if you need any help with anything or you just want to chat. [chill.]

Also, follow us on twitter to see what we're up to:
twitter.com/xhumans

Features:
- enjoy a spectacular selection of [ ] videos
- suggest your favorite videos to [ ]Tube and make [ ] history
- chat with other [ ] fans
- TubeWorks' award-winning interface
- exceptional application graphics and professional sound production

download now if you're a real [ ] fan!

NOTE: A Wi-Fi connection is required to watch videos.

The graphics on the TubeWorks pages are nearly all identical as well. The result is a profound sense of the generic.

Then there are the scattershot names. Here are my favorites:

SodiumTube

HeliumTube

UndertakerTube

NymphTube

MothTube

CougarTube

ToadTube

ArmadilloTube

WeaselTube

CERNTube

GPSTube

PHPTube

CandleTube

BadmintonTube

SleepTube

OldTube

TubeTube

When you apply these names into the xhumans generic description you get lines like this:

Kick back and watch some of the best sodium videos on the App store.

UndertakerTube is the premier place for undertaker videos. We hope you like it!

Tube is the premier place for nymph videos.

 - suggest your favorite videos to OldTube and make old history

- chat with other weasel fans

download now if you're a real sleep fan!

... The dangers of lazy marketing. In all fairness I must state my pleasure at finding they do not offer JarJarTube, CelebrexTube, or CelebrityRehabTube, indicated a molecule of taste.

MORE APP CATEGORIES

Fans of [ ]: Designed for fans of such things as Drinking, Sloths, Rumpelstiltskin, Badminton, Bunnies, Crows, Gophers, and of course Sodium.

iCodes for [ ]: For those who seeking input codes for games such as Girl Wars and Epic Pet Wars.

THE ODD PRICES:

You can either have:

1960sTube for $0.99

-OR-

1960Tube for $1.99 

Your choice!

Then there's this gem:

 ChearleadingTube @$2.99

(0_o)

THE LEGENDARY BARGAIN 

I've saved the best xhumans app for last! Its name is 'A5000•HD Radio by Gatsby'. The cost is $59.99. That is not a typo. Here are a few lines from its description:

A magnificent radio with the finest music for your iPhone. A radio made for the few. You know who you are. You lead a life of privilege and luxury. It is your way. You are one of the elite. One of the chosen, the few. In a world of commonality, you soar high above the crowd in your private jet. You relax on your private beach far from the masses, your magnificent yacht anchored just offshore. A bevy of impeccable sports cars await you at your estates around the world. The world's most beautiful people obey your every command. Because this is who you are. Now. Leave the others far behind. Make your mark. Own a legendary radio that defies the expected. Download the radio that others only dream of. Yes, you deserve the best. Gatsby. Find Luxury Radio.

Here is what you get for $59.99, you impeccably privileged person you!

=======ABOUT THE RADIO=======

12 High Definition Digital Streaming Stations - featuring Gatsby approved content.

12 International audio experts - our panel of exceptional judges.

A team of renowned software developers.

==============================

Gatsby

Paris London New York Los Angeles Tokyo

Before you buy your luxurious 12 station Gatsby radio, I have a stunningly elegant bridge in Brooklyn I'm willing to part with for a mere pittance of its true aesthetic worth...

Needless to say there are no reviews at the iTunes App Store for the A5000•HD Radio by Gatsby, inferring perhaps that no one has yet purchased it. I wonder why?

FINALE

As promised, here are further one star xhumans app reviews. These are all 100% real, direct from the iTunes App Store:

AirTube:

Waste of $

by twilight0900000 - Version 3.0 - May 29, 2010

Don't buy it because when I opened it. Blank screen and freezed my iPod. It's a virus

PokemonTube:

It don't work

by Macoleny - Version 3.0 - Jun 8, 2010

u get 1 star for takeing my money

WTF

by B-rad-g Indiana rox - Version 3.0 - Aug 21, 2010

I paid for this app and nothing happened

RunescapeTube:

Weak sauce
by 80s Nut - Version 3.0 - Mar 2, 2010
Good idea but it doesn't work it just crashes

doesn't work

by lalfjhrhjhdjhdhdhsh - Version 3.0 - Mar 30, 2010

I try to open the app but all I get is a red screen with a black bar on top

this is stupid I want my dollar back lol

Don't buy

by Bbdbsdjdi - Version 3.0 - Apr 23, 2010

I want my money back it won't work do NOT buy this app

Horrible App

by Crusada - Version 3.0 - May 4, 2010

The videos have NEVER been updated and the chat is always empty. Waste of a dollar.

BollywoodTube:

Rename it to Bollywood porn hub!!!

by Anonr - Version 9.0 - Aug 10, 2010

My gosh, I was hoping to catch some movies this app, but it's useful, it has snippets of adult rated porn!!! The makers should not mislead users like this. The description doesn't even say anything about the content.

Chatroulette! ~ 2.0:

Don't get this app!

by Britatit - Version 2.0 - Apr 8, 2010

I'm glad I wastes my money on staring at a white screen, yup cool. Needs an update asap.

White screen

by Fun dude - Version 2.0 - May 14, 2010

Loaded toched the screen and still nothing

Bull

by Sulio - Version 2.0 - Nov 10, 2010

How can you just take away the pictures. It' like all of a sudden no pics and no users. When people purchase something they generally want what they paid for.

ScaryTube:

Major bug

by Christian Duncan - Version 9.0 - Feb 15, 2010

It keeps quitting on my... Don't wast ur money

iCodes for Racing Live:

This app is garbage

by Sikmade - Version 2.0 - Nov 13, 2009

All it does is give u codes from a website.... When u add ur code u don't get any invites!! Wish I could get my dollar back but at least it's only a dollar! Don't waste ur time buying it....
Read the reviews cuz one review gives the website to go to for all the codes.. Add me though 21S1U

~~~~

A finalé word to the 'team of renowned software developers' at xhumans: You have got to be kidding guys. Keep it up and I venture you'll get yourselves 'expelled' from the App Store.

--

When Apple Support FAILS: How To Create An IRATE!!! Part 1

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Consider me IRATE and disgusted with Apple today. When you learn why, you'll be disgusted with Apple as well. Get this:

THERE IS NO WAY TO TALK TO A HUMAN ON THE PHONE AT THE iTUNES STORE.

It is entirely impossible.

Apparently there is also no way to interact with a human via eMail at the iTunes store either. All I have received back from them is ROBO-EMAIL. IOW: Everything I have heard back from them has been 100% mechanical in nature. Their iTunes Store email support FAILS the Turing Test.

I went through the usual three levels of tech support at Apple today in a vain attempt to talk to anyone who could solve the simple issue I had at the iTunes Store. Every single level of support told me exactly the same thing:  

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO TALK TO ANYONE AT THE iTUNES STORE.

Therefore, if their mechanical email support at the iTunes Store FAILs you, there is NO RECOURSE except to call Apple Corporate: 408-996-1010, open 8 am to 5 pm Pacific Time.

And so I shall. Consider me a crusader in ending this insanity. More to follow...

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Grand Opening Deal Heaven, Grumbles and Gratitude At The New Mac App Store

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I own RapidWeaver version 4. Recently I looked into upgrading to version 5. The cost is $39.00 from the Realmac Store.

Today, January 7, 2011, I checked out the Mac App Store via the niffy kewl App Store app that is installed with Mac OS X 10.6.6. Wow. RapidWeaver 5 for people that don't already own it is $39.99. Such a deal! The regular price at the Realmac Store is usually $79! They call it their "Special Introductory Pricing". So for $0.99 more than the upgrade price, you can own RapidWeaver 5 ! ! !

Another deal: Apple's iWork costs $79 for the whole show in one go. At the Mac App Store you can buy each of the three pieces for $20. The grand total is $60! That's nearly $20 in savings!

There are other such deals at the Mac App Store. If you've upgraded to Mac OS X 10.6.6 then run, do not walk, to the Mac App Store, via the App Store app sitting in your Applications folder and on your Dock, and check out the bargains. Yeah, the timing sucks because it's immediately after the holidays, (mine is Christmas), and we're all dirt poor. But you'll be tempted!

GRUMBLES:

• I'm running into Mac App Store errors where I can't download certain items. "We could not complete your request. There was an error in the App Store. Please try again later. (@@errorNum@@)". Well doesn't that just suck. The iTunes App Store has similar intermittent problems.

• In order to rate or review any application at the Mac App Store you have to have BOUGHT it at the Mac App Store. Compared to the policy over at MacUpdate and VersionTracker/CNET, this is not good, at least not for a newbie store. I found this very disappointing. Therefore, expect to see me still hanging around at the usual Mac app sites.

• I enjoy the layout and features of Apple's App Stores, both via iTunes for iDevices as well as the Mac App Store. However, there really is nothing to help you find all the BARGAINS. Maybe a bargain will be featured in the store interface, but probably not. That's not good. I'd like a specific DISCOUNTS section directly on the front page of both App Stores. Therefore, expect to see me still hanging around the usual bargain alert Mac app sites.

• There are some gotchas as well that are important to avoid. One example is Apple's iLife application collection. There are five components: iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand, and iWeb. However, at the Mac App Store you can't buy the whole set. There is no such thing as iWeb or iDVD at the Mac App Store. That's not good. And the à la carte prices for the three available pieces do not impress me. The full suite goes for $49. The three available pieces from the whole go for a total of $45. So for $4 less you get gypped out of iDVD (which I consider essential) and iWeb (which admittedly may not be worth $4). Gotcha.

• The Mac App Store has no 'Wishlist'. Why?! I love that feature on the iTunes App Store and use it regularly when I don't have ready cash or I want to research an app's functionality as well as reviews. I want to do exactly the same thing with Mac apps. So add the functionality Apple!

• Apps that are $0.99 for my iPod Touch are typically marked up to $4.99 for the Mac, much like the price difference for iPad app versions. There are cost concerns when writing for a much larger size screen. But $4 worth? On the other hand, I could be paying $4.99 for the iPod Touch versions. So maybe I'll just shut up.

GRATITUDE:

• Unlike at restaurants, where a la carte equals price gouging, at the Apple App Stores à la carte usually (with one exception noted above) means price savings. iWork is a great example. Everyone I know loves Keynote and Pages. But no one I know likes Numbers. Therefore, paying $40 by dropping Numbers out of the suite is a nice deal for many people compared to having to pay $20 more to have Numbers included.

• I like having prices for apps provided right up front. The sad Marketing Moron approach to application sales is to bury the price to the point of unobtainable, unless of course you hit a 'BUY' button, which is entirely insane and counter intuitive. You just want the bloody price man! But Apple's approach gives you what you want right where you want it when you want it. The price is right there with the name of the app AND the star rating. Killer.

• Apple's à la carte approach in the App Stores is inspiring developers to think à la carte. Therefore, we are starting to get web apps you can download from the Mac App Store, just like at the iTunes App Store! An example is the Twitter app. It's free! Download it and run just it, not a whole freaking web browser. That's a good thing. I know this approach is going to eat up more disk space in your Applications folder, but face the convenience factor and enjoy.

• The influence of the iTunes App Store means that lots of formerly iDevice-only apps are arriving for the Mac! That means lots of the kewl games like Angry Birds. Thanks to Apple devices like the Magic Mouse and the Magic Trackpad you can use the same gestures as on iDevices to operate these applications. Yes, the Mac really is becoming another iDevice. I like it.

SUMMARY:

This is a nice start to the Mac App Store. This is a very welcome addition to the Mac universe. It does not actually kill off the alternative app sites like MacUpdate and VersionTracker/CNET, which I still highly recommend. It also extends the à la carte and smaller app approach of iDevices over to the Mac, which is terrific for both pricing and functionality.

The Mac App Store has got the expected version 1.0 syndrome. But Apple have the successful iTunes App Store as a model with which to clean up problems. Other grumbles are going to have to catch Apple's ear before either of the App Stores are perfection.

These are the days when even the most lead-headed Windows box user has Apple-envy. I'm a board member and presenter at the local Windows PC user group. I've seen it. People come up to me and talk about it. Apple envy is real. Keep that in mind the next time you run into a misery mongering anti-Apple troll. They're just as envious as the rest. This is how the computer community evolves beyond Microsoft.

:-D
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