Sanitys Limit

Roxio Steps Up and Supports Users

The maker of Toast 7 Titanium, Roxio, has decided to step up and will be offering a patch for current users who have noticed after upgrading to OS X Leopard that their Toast 7 software no longer works. That’s right… Toast 7 does not function well in Leopard. I was asked by my wife to burn a DVD she made last weekend, I planned on it being a quick process. Simply export it from iMovie, and burn it with Toast. Nope. OS Error. Couldn’t complete. Strange… That’s never happened before. Let’s try it again. Nope. OS Error. Hmmm. Now we have a problem. So on my way to work, I was complaining to my co-worker who carpools with me. I had found the error on a few message boards. It turns out all the people having that particular error recently upgraded to Leopard. Many were very upset that Roxio would not be fixing it, because it was a non-supported version. Out of date. I knew they didn’t support old software, but Toast 7 isn’t very old. Doing the right thing would be to create a patch. So, do I abandon Roxio for a inferior product just because I wanted to make a point?

When I arrived at the office, I had a chance, during lunch, to search Roxio’s support site. In their Message board was the following: (Read the full post)

… It is important to note here, although Toast 7 will not be officially supported under Leopard, we WILL be releasing an updater that should allow you to continue using it under the new operating system.

THANK YOU ROXIO for doing what is right and keeping your customer base satisfied. Doing what is right creates long term customers that will purchase their product to support good practices such as this. Nice Job!

Of course, Toast 8 Titanium is shipping now. You can never go wrong with Roxio. But I am really happy they decided to do the right thing.

A little about Toast 8 Titanium from Roxio’s website.

Did you know that Toast 8 Titanium is now available? Toast 8 takes TV to a whole new level, so you can burn TV shows to DVD from TiVo® DVRs, EyeTV, or set-top DVD recorders.

Get your copy today!

Mac Trojen Discovered in the Wild

Our days of worry free computing may shortly be history. Many people have asked me what they can do so they don’t have to worry about all the spyware and viruses. The easy answer has always been, “get a mac!” But now, with the discovery of a trojen in the wild targeted at apple computers, I may shortly have to alter my answer.

The trojen, titled OSX.RSPlug.A, changes the system’s DNS settings with the intent of hijacking web-browsing. The trojen was first reported by Intego. According to their security alert,

The Trojan horse also installs a root crontab which checks every minute to ensure that its DNS server is still active. Since changing a network location could change the DNS server, this cron job ensures that, in such a case, the malicious DNS server remains the active server.

Well, that’s impressive. It will never cease to amaze me at the amount of effort people will put into destructive means. But with the increasing popularity of the new iMacs, it was sure to happen. Our sanity was to be encroached upon. Our life of apple bliss was sure to be soured by someone…

So as a good practice, do not download and install software from untrusted locations, no matter what movies they say you can watch. In fact, just don’t click it, don’t download it, don’t trust it, unless you know where it’s coming from.

Daylight Savings Time Changes Kill Pedestrians

Getting an extra hour of sleep doesn’t seem to help too much when driving. Studies are beginning to show that changing the clocks back an our each fall increases vehicle-pedestrian accidents by 37% compared to the month before, according to the Associated Press. Although in the spring there are fewer deaths after the clocks move forward, they don’t offset each other. They say that in the last 7 years, 250 people have died due to the time change, and in the spring 139 fewer in the spring. Who knew it would cause such a problem? Maybe those guys in Arizona have something…

VOIP In the real world

Voice Over IP, commonly known as VOIP has been the buzz word in communications and technology. It allows people to divorce themselves from their big bell companies and communicate over the internet.

There are many well known companies treading a path through the rough new terrain. Verizon, Vonage, Packet8, and many others. Being a bit of a geek myself and after hearing the FCC approving a regulation allowing me to take my phone number with me, I thought I would dive right into the latest fad. I ordered Vonage just over two years ago. I could not have been happier. Unlimited local and long distance, caller id, voice mail… the works! And I was saving a significant amount of money each month, only spending $25.00 for all of it. Although the e911 issue was still unresolved, it didn’t bother me. I was satisfied.

Then came ViaTalk who boasted full service VOIP for $200 a year. That’s just $16.67 each month (plus tax, bla bla bla). BUT if you act now, you get a free year when you pay for the first. Wow. How could I pass that kind of deal up? Vonage was working perfectly right? Could it be that difficult? So I made the switch. My home number transfered over perfectly, and that was the end of the dream. They dropped calls, didn’t ring when we dialed a number, not good. My friends would talk to me later to tell me they tried to call, but my number had been disconnected. So, I guess you get what you pay for? After hours of the phone with tech support, I was sent a new adapter which they promptly reprogrammed, and I haven’t had an issue since.

The final recommendation? VOIP is wonderful. You will love it once you have it. But, please, be paitent. VOIP isn’t for the faint of heart. It does take a little time for it to be tweake, but at least ViaTalk support is all U.S. based. I had an English speaking technician who actually knew what they were talking about. Can you get better than that? Vonage can’t claim it. ViaTalk does proudly. Although, Vonage has been around longer had has been through the wringer a few times and has come out kicking. I shouldn’t say too many bad things about their tech support. I only had to call twice. Once when setting up the system for the first time, and the other, when I canceled. You can’t go wrong with that.

If you are looking to abandon ma-bell and would like more bang for your communications buck, VOIP may be the answer for you. I would gladly recommend either Vonage or ViaTalk to you.

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The Golden Compass Anti-God? Time for a Sanity Check

Recently, my wife received an email with a strong warning to parents about The Golden Compass, a new movie by New Line Cinema. The email stated, “Apparently it is based on a book series about killing God with heavy anti-Christian and anti-religion themes.” It goes on to warn all parents to not take their children to the movie and support such a series.

Normally, I would ignore all such emails. My favorite type are, “… if you send this email to 10 of your friends you will immediately get…”

This time, my wife asked me why they picked this particular movie? What was it about this particular film when there are so many out there that are so much worse? So I decided to do a little research.

The Golden Compass, originally titled Northern Lights, is the first book in the series His Dark Materials written by Philip Pullman. One I have not yet read, but plan to shortly. But here is an excerpt from his own website.

FAQ: His Dark Materials seems to be against organized religion. Do you believe in God?

Answer: I don’t know whether there’s a God or not. Nobody does, no matter what they say. I think it’s perfectly possible to explain how the universe came about without bringing God into it, but I don’t know everything, and there may well be a God somewhere, hiding away.

Before listening to some random email or blog post, do a little research. He has some interesting feelings about C.S. Lewis and his series The Chronicles of Narnia.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

As a proud owner of a Nintendo Wii, we had to pick up the new Guitar Hero™ III: Legends of Rock, now available for the Wii. RedOctane has officially outdone themselves this time. This game has a knockout list of new songs dating back to the 70’s and includes new hits as recent as 2006. New online play allows the user to compete with anyone and offers endless gaming possibilities. I did miss the cooperative quick multi player, but the multi player carrier mode makes up for it.

What do I love most about Guitar Hero III? I love that I can spend 15 minutes and turn it off withougt feeling bad. I am not required to play for three hours before I pass the next level.

All in all, Guitar Hero III: Legends of rock is a great game with high points.

Sanitys Limit Launches Its Blog!

Sanitys Limit is excited to announce the launch of this new blog. Commentary on News, Technology, Music, Reviews and more. You should find a little sanity, but don’t expect too much. It is in fact Sanity’s Limit.