That criminal software thing [Mc]

Trudi said something the other day about "that criminal software thing you posted about." She was talking about a status update I had on Facebook concerning the latest MacHeist.

If you don't know, MacHeist is a promotion involving a number of Mac software developers who are offering there software at a greatly reduced price as part of the MacHeist 3 Bundle. This version of the Bundle includes a wide variety of utility and specialty applications. Some of them are very useful, such as photo editor Acorn and recording utility Wire Tap Studio. I was really excited about Kinemac, a professional 3D animation app, which regularly sells for $299.

At present there are nine applications with a total value of $601.80, available in the Bundle for only $39. That's the price for all nine together, not the price for each one. That's an incredible value, especially if you have a need for a few of these applications.

And the catch? Actually, I wouldn't call it a catch - just a bonus. As I said, at present there are nine applications in the Bundle. When the Bundle was released (a few days ago) there were only eight. The catch is that when total sales of the Bundle reach a certain pre-determined point, they unlock more apps. Currently, we are waiting for the next unlock point, which is $400k. When sales hit that point, BoinxTV will be released.

That's why I'm writing this post, because I really would like that program. It's actually something I looked at for the church, but at $199, it was a little too much. But it looks great. So, if you have a Mac, and you like really good software at insanely cheap prices, go take a look.

The other thing about MacHeist is that 25% of every sale is donated to charity. You get to pick, from a list of 10 charities, where your donation will go.

Of course, if you've never heard of MacHeist, then you probably have never heard of the MacHeist controversy. In a nutshell, the people don't like MacHeist think it's unfair to the developers, that they are being robbed, and by purchasing the Bundle, consumers are being mean and dirty and cheap and favoring the big, bad marketer over the innocent, pure developer.

One blogger actually said, "Put it this way: would you rather pay $10 to Universal Music Group for a music album, or $15 directly to the band in question?"

This might not be obvious to you - as it wasn't to me - but his answer is that we should spend more because the creator would get more.

Um...whatever.

So...I'm not going to link to that blogger, because he offered that piece of advice to me for free. Instead I'll link to Apple, since his blog is hosted on their servers and they paid a lot of money for those servers so that he would have the ability to post idiotic, link-bait, gibberish like that. (And I'll also link to John Gruber, where I got the link to the blogger's blog.)

In the meantime, I'm going to download SousChef and see how Trudi likes it.

[Update: I should also mention that the applications in the Bundle aren't trial, demo, or previous versions of the software. They are full, up-to-date versions. In fact, SousChef is a new version as of the release of the Bundle, as are a couple of others.]

Keep Walking [Rev]

Here's an inspirational piece from ESPN, brought to my attention by Curtis Vass. It's about 10 minutes long, so I wasn't planning to watch all of it, but after 5 minutes I couldn't stop. Enjoy.

Breakneck speed [Mc]

Ever have somebody say, "You'll break your neck doing that!"? Ever travel at "breakneck speeds"? Ever tell someone that you were so mad you wouldn't mind "breaking somebody's neck"?

Of course, all those are metaphorical and no one's neck ever really gets broken.

So, it was odd to hear my dad telling people that my mom "broke her neck" this week. Specifically, she broke the C1 and C2 vertebrae. Surgery went well and she is now in a neck brace for about 3 months. There was no nerve damage, therefore, no paralysis or other things that can happen when vertebrae and the spinal column get messed with.

Healing will be a slow process, but we are thankful for the prayers and love of many, and the healing and power of God.

But for $3.99, it's not bad [Mc]

The best thing that I can say about U2's new album,No Line On The Horizon, is that I paid less than four bucks for it. It's not that it's bad. It's not, not bad at all. That assessment would be sure to get any U2 fans riled up (if they read this blog).

But really...if you didn't know who made this collection of songs, would you like it that much?

With any established artist, the fan base will hope that it's the best thing since...well, since their last album (thank you, Tim Hawkins), and they will love it - LOVE it - even if it's only mediocre.

Not saying this effort is mediocre. But maybe it is. Or maybe it's one of those albums that will grow on me and over time I'll really like it. But if so, then it won't be any different than a lot of music I own.

The first Switchfoot album I heard - that was great, and I had no idea who they were. Sanctus Real - same thing. Nevertheless, The Afters, Britt Nicole...I could go on, but I think you get the idea. All had albums that made you go, wow.

But they also had albums that made you go, ehh. That's this one from U2. Ehh. S'okay. Not great.

Et tu? [Mc]

Let's just say, for the record, that I'm no U2 fan. Don't dislike them either. Ambivalence would be the best word to describe my attitude towards them.

But they are the biggest band going at the moment, and I've never found anything I've heard from them to be outright objectionable. (Okay, I haven't heard much, so you might set me straight about that.)

So, I've given into culture-pressure and purchased their latest release, partially because it's cheap on Amazon right now.



I'll let you know what I think after I listen to it.