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YouControl app STILL works! – UPDATE

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When I upgraded to Yosemite (I know, El Capitan is newer, but I have some older hardware and software I’d rather not upgrade yet), I had several concerns, not the least of which was whether one of my most-used apps would still run under the new OS.

YouControl was last updated in 2009, and it’s currently abandon-ware (the company closed, there’s no support, and there will be no upgrades).

I’d tried to do a lot of research, and all I read was that when doing a fresh installation, YouControl could no longer connect to the developer’s server, so would not authenticate, so it wouldn’t run.

I’m posting this, in case anybody else has the same concern – instead of doing a fresh installation of the OS, I did an upgrade installation (after thoroughly backing up on 2 different media, of course), running utilities and cleanup, and doing extensive preparation beforehand. I’m here to tell you – it STILL WORKS!

All aspects – hotkeys, multi-clipboard, stock checking, system monitoring… I run the gamut (only thing that died was the weather function, which had died years ago).

So, for those of you who don’t know of this app, I’m sorry for the interruption – nevermind – you can’t get it. But for those of you who have the same concern as I, who can’t find a real answer anywhere – I’m writing this to let you know that if you maintain your installation – YouControl will continue to work. Unfortunately, I can’t speak to it’s use in El Capitan, but I would assume upgrading instead of reinstalling would do the same thing.

Last thing – this should also work with a clean SYSTEM installation, and migration – since YouControl never has tried to check in with the server when I’ve done that in the past.

UPDATE 2/23/16 – it seems I may have spoken too soon. While YouControl DOES work, it’s not very stable. Apparently, the application makes a call to a command that was deprecated after OS 10.8. Since the developer isn’t available to fix the code, the application occasionally mis-identifies the Operating System on the computer (thinks it’s 10.9) and gets confused, causing the need to force quit. I will continue to work on finding a fix, but please do note that this application isn’t as stable as I’d hoped. The worst part is that in order to do even part of what i’ve been doing with this great app, I’ll have to run at least 4 other background applications. Sad.

Deal on On1 Plugin for Photoshop

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Hi guys. As you know, I love Photoshop, use it extensively and work intensively with almost all of it’s features (certainly not all on one project, since it’s so very vast.

Long ago, I won a silent auction for OnOne Perfect Effects. I hadn’t used plugins in a few years, but the ease of use and functionality of this set of controls made what I usually did in Photoshop SO much faster, and gave me so many options, that I quickly became addicted. For any photo, we can run our entire workflow while only using On1 (they changed the name) and it’s functions. Please note, this set is for photo enhancement and adjustment – with very powerful features, but it’s not a replacement for Photoshop, since it’s not a program “about” compositing, 3d, video.

On1 is on their version 10 right now, and they’re offering a great deal: On1 Photo 10 (Photo editing, effects, masks, organization, state-of-the-art enlargement), a Training set, Presets (which, by the way, they send you new ones monthly for free), and a magazine – all for $80!

I now use quite a few sets of plugins (there are some really great deals out there, if you watch for them, or meet them at a trade-show), but On1 gives me so much functionality, it’s become a strong part of my go-to package.

Take a look: On1.com

NOTE – there’re only 2 days left on this promotion

 

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Adobe’s Email “Take 10 Free Images On Us” – Beware

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Today, many Adobe Creative Cloud subscribers (and subscribers to other sites who do business with Adobe) got emails with the subject line “Take 10 free images on us”, with a link to the Adobe Stock site.

While this is a great offer for those who want access to very good Stock Imagery, please be aware that this offer is not anything new or interesting – it’s simply a “First Month’s Free” offer.

In order to get your “Free” images, you need to sign up for their basic 10 images/month plan, with recurring payments of $29.99/mo. Then, they’ll credit you the first month. At that time, if you don’t cancel your plan, you’re going to continue to be billed $30/monthly.

Adobe Stock is a great plan for those who need these images, and the pricing is reasonable as far as the market goes. But it’s important to make sure that you know what you’re signing up for.

 

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PhotoshopUser has Changed, and KelbyOne is Changing

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And it may not be in, what I consider, a GOOD way!

MAJOR changes going on at KelbyOne (formerly PhotoshopUser). If you’re considering signing up, you may want to hold off until they’re more clear about what they’re actually doing. They just laid off their “Photoshop Guys” and announced their magazine will no longer be offered in print.

I’ve been a member forever, and I may not renew, unless they give some answers. Just a head’s up to my students to whom I’d recommended this site, recently.

I upgraded myself to Yosemite, finally!

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So, those of you who who know me from my technical background or been my students or clients know that I’m not one to jump on things like operating system changes and such, with great enthusiasm. So, I’ve been on the MacOS 10.9.5 Mavericks OS, which, by now is a couple of years old. This weekend, I moved, NOT up to El Capitan (10.11), but finally at least to Yosemite 10.10 (TOO much of my old stuff just won’t work in El Capitan without me spending a fortune).

I’ve already upgraded many of my clients to both Yosemite and El Capitan – but as you all know, I’m very particular as to whether an operating system is appropriate for each client’s needs.

WOW, does this look DIFFERENT! Acts the same – just looks… so flat!

Adobe is transitioning from Revel app for Devices

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Today, Adobe released the announcement that the free Adobe Revel app for devices is being replaced with the Adobe Lightroom App. While the device app is free to use, it’s suggested use is with the Adobe Creative Cloud (for which, I understand, the price will be going up next year), or with the Photoshop/Lightroom CC subscription.

If you’re a user of Adobe Revel, please be sure to download your photos from your device and your Revel Cloud space prior to the switchover in February.

Here’s Adobe’s message:
This is a friendly reminder that Adobe Revel will no longer be available after February 23, 2016. This is the last day you’ll be able to sign in to the Revel app or access your photos and videos.
Members tell us that the Creative Cloud Photography plan — which includes access to Adobe Photoshop CC and Lightroom CC — is the best solution for organizing, editing and sharing their images. Lightroom works on your iOS and Android mobile devices, so you can access all your images anywhere you are — just as you could with Revel.
To get started with the Creative Cloud Photography plan, download your Revel photos and videos and import them into Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
If you used Revel exclusively on your mobile device and still have copies of your files in your camera roll or gallery, download Lightroom for mobile to get started.
If you no longer have copies of your Revel files on your device, use our Download tool to download them to your computer.

No More ROBOCALLS!

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I wanted to thank my friend, Lora? for introducing me to NoMoRobo.com. This free service blocks robocalls – and I get a TON of those – and I HATE them! I signed up for the service on Thursday (it’s limited as to who has access to the service – mostly VOIP and Digital Phone accounts – no cellular or landline holders – I have FiOS Digital Voice). The only notification you get is that the phone rings once, then stops ringing.

Of course, I was concerned that it might be blocking legit calls, but I’ve checked Fios, and all the calls seem to be real junk.

I haven’t yet checked if it’s gonna block things like Kaiser’s machine calls, but in my comments here, I’m going to attach a link to an article that talks about the technology behind the service. I feel confident that this is gonna work just fine. Check them out! They’re FREE!

Adobe is discontinuing it’s Edge Tools

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According to an Adobe Blog, Adobe is about to cease support and updates for it’s Edge tools, including Edge Reflow, Edge Inspect, and Edge Animate. Some of their functionality will be implemented within Adobe Dreamweaver and Adobe Muse – and will also be covered in Adobe’s upcoming Flash Pro replacement, Adobe Animate – which is due out in January.

Creative Cloud members cans till download and use the Edge products, , and security updates will still be implemented

Please see their original blog post at: http://blogs.adobe.com/creativecloud/update-about-edge-tools-and-services/

About Apple and Mobile Ad Blocking

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On LinkedIn, I read an interesting editorial piece about Apple’s encouragement of developers to enable ad-blocking for their mobile apps. It’s really quite worth the read, whether you’re an Android user or an iPhone user, content advertising takes up great amounts of space on our smaller devices, are often hard to dismiss, and if you’re zoomed in, might leave you stuck with no access to the option to close it. Annoying!

According to this article, Apple’s fight against enabling ad blocking from within content reading apps means “Publishers are screwed. – Google is really screwed. – Consumers win. – Apple really wins.”

I agree with all but the idea that consumers really win. You see, Apple hopes that this will move publishers to use their iDevice NEWS app, to make up for the loss in income from the advertising. Apple has found a new way to monetize, and this time, the focus is the news. So, the “Consumers win.” quote may depend on what kind of consumer one is. If a person really wants to read the news under this new model, they’d have to pay a fee to view the news in their app – perhaps a subscription fee (isn’t EVERYTHING going to monthly payments, nowadays?!)

As a person who reads The LA Times, what I’ve been stuck with is the option to pay a bundle of money every month to view just the online version, or pay a smaller amount each month, but be forced to receive a printed paper (at least I can just stick to Sunday) – but online viewing comes with that fee! The idea is – they want to ensure that I get those advertisements!

So, under Apple’s new model, a news consumer like me – one who doesn’t want to pay a subscription to read additional content, I wouldn’t be happy paying through iTunes to read a paper with no ads. I’ll deal with the ads, so I can occasionally read a variety of news sources and periodicals – if I can deal with those ads for free.

What do you think? Would you rather pay a subscription to view your periodical and news content online, or would you rather dismiss ads for free?

The editorial worth reading: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/apples-brilliant-assault-advertising-google-jason-calacanis