Buds Biased Utils Report, 30

Bud's Biased Utils Report #30 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This week I was *GOING* to bring you a few exclusives, including an official statement from Harvest as to the 3DSMAX happenings... but since I didn't recieve it in time, it's not here... gee tough one to figure out. I have included a brief bit on the situation from one Harvest member, and hope to have more next week... but it's becoming old news now... So Rise are gone from the review this week. TRPS are gone. 2000AD are gone. Premiere looks to be on its way off. That will make the list fairly slim and trim... and before adding any new groups, there will be a few minimum requirements... several months of activity, and/or proven ability to produce some high end titles, amongst other criteria. More happenings in the games scene involving busts and civil actions... keep and eye out and hope it doesn't spill over to the utils side. My sympathies, for what they're worth, to those affected... but we all know the rules when we step on the field. Cover your ass, end of story... oh and that doesn't mean rat everyone out to save your own skin. Also, condolences to the family and friends of Nitro, who passed away last week in a car accident, You'll be missed buddy. Disclaimer: It's BIASED moron. My opinion. So don't send me a bunch of mail & messages bitching about this or that. If you don't like it... SCREW YOU =] Rankings: Groups get a score out of 10. Points are given for amount of releases, but QUALITY titles will give a group a much higher score. Nukes for duping, broken releases and just plain CRAP will lower a groups score. However on the occasion that a title is nuked which I don't feel should have been, MY OWN JUDGEMENT TAKES PRECEDENCE. Cuz I'm writing this. Groups can also get points for any other reason I see fit. Week: Week is based from 08/03/99 to 08/09/99. I'm in the EST time zone so dates/times run according to it. Groups: (In no particular order) ▄ ▀▀██▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▀█▄ ▀█▌▀█▄ ▐ ▄█▀ ▄▄██▌ A Group ▐█▌ ▐▌ ▐█ █▌▐█▌ ▄█▀ █ That Gives ▄██▌▄▀ ▄██▌▀██▌ ██ ▐▌ Slightly ▀███ ▀███ ▀█ ▐███▄▄ █ Less Than ▐█▌ ▐█▌ ▐▌ ▀██▀ ▀▄ A Fuck. ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ -XeN PIRATES WITH ATTITUDE: Releases: DigiTech.DataFlow.v2.11-PWA DigiTech.PaperFlow.v4.22-PWA DigiTech.PaperVision.SQL.v8.7-PWA DigiTech.PaperVision.v8.7-PWA BinaryIO.Xtra.v1.09.for.Director-PWA Popup.Xtra.v3.2.for.Director-PWA RavWare.WinShaper.Xtra.v1.1.for.Director-PWA Extensis.PhotoFrame.For.Photoshop.v2.0.FINAL-PWA Not quite the amount of previous weeks, but some decent releases here, including some good plugins, most notably Extensis' PhotoFrame 2 for Adobe Photoshop. Including the Xtra's for Director, the plugins are actually more appealing (to me anyways) than the standalone offerings from PWA this week, which began and ended with the DigiTech product hiearchy. Total: 7/10 ▄───── ▄▄▄ ────────── ▄▄█▓▄ ─── ▄ ─ ▄▓▄ ░ ▀ ▄█████▓ ▄▄███▄ ▄▀▀████▌ ▄█████▄ ▀ ▓███▀ ▀▄██████▄▀█▌ ▐████▐▓▀ ▀███▓ ▓███▌ ▐▓█▀ ▀██▌▐▓ ▀ ▀▓▀▓▌ ▐███▌ ▐█████▄▄▀ ▀█▄ ▄▓█▓ █▓▄ █▌▀▄▄████▓ ▀██▓▀▀ ▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀ ■▄ ▐▓ ▀▀▓█▀ ■▄──────+ The Corporation +─ ▀▄ ─gas!─■ THE CORPORATION: Releases: Cisco.Interactive.Mentor.IP.Routing.Protocols-CORP Cisco.Works.2000.v2.4.Maint.NT-CORP Patrol_IP_Optimizer_95-CORP Patrol_IP_Optimizer_NT-CORP Windows_2000_RC1_Debug_Support_Tools-CORP Windows_2000_RC1_Retail_Support_Tools-CORP Not much of a variety from Corp, with a few Cisco releases, Patrol IP Optimizer, and an early look at some M$ stuff which the average user will never bother with. Corp also took a nuke on many sites for Cisco IP Routing Protocols being bookware. Total: 6/10 ──────────────────────────────────[XX/XX]─ ▄██ ▄▄▄ ░ ▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄ █▓█ █▓█ ▒ ██▀ █▓█ █ █▓█ ██ █▓█ █ ███ ██ █▓ █▒█ █▒█ █░█ ▀▀ ▄█ █▒█ ██ █▒█ █ ▄▄▄ ██▄▄ ▄██▀██▄ ▀ █▒█▀▀▀ ██ █░█ ██ ▄▄█ █▓█ ██ ▄▄ █▒█ █▓█ ▓ █▓█ ░ █▓█ █░█ ██ ░ █▓█ █▒█ ██ █▓ ███ █▒█ ▒ ███ ▬▀█████▀▄██ ▒ ▀█████▀ ▀████ ─── ██▀ ░ ──────────────── ▓ ───── sikos ─ X-FORCE: Releases: INFORMATIX_MICROGDS_PRO_V6.0.0-XFORCE NEMO_DEV_V1.0_WIN9X-XFORCE Two decent releases from XF this week, nothing else. After loosing on 3DSMAX, the prospects of an anticipated title from XF coming anytime soon aren't great. Total: 5/10 /\______/| ___/\_ _/ ______ :|; . __/\ ____/\ __| // %%%\____ \ |__:_\__ \/ ~~ :\_ | __/%%%% iii_/ :| \\_ \ ;| \_ |____/ \iiiii :::\__ ; _/ | \\_ : // | \\_ | \\_::: \____/---|____/____/_______/-|____/kaz SHOCK: Releases: Apex.True.DBGrid.Pro.v6.0.VC.Plus.Plus.SDK-SHOCK CGI.Expert.Professional.v5.0-SHOCK Shockmachine.v1.00-SHOCK PC.Nanny.v1.01.3-SHOCK Split.to.Fit.v1.0-SHOCK Adrem.Server.Manager.v3.0-SHOCK Cognos.NovaView.v2.0.Administrator-SHOCK Cognos.NovaView.v2.0.Client-SHOCK Pervasive.SQL.2000.SDK-SHOCK Crescent.Internet.Toolpak.v4.11-SHOCK Global.Star.Family.Tree.v2.0-SHOCK People.Manager.v2.0-SHOCK Web.Image.Guru.v2.0-SHOCK The Shock crew managed a wide variety of apps, including store, web, and cracked apps. Quite a few good middle of the road titles including Pervasive's Software Development Kit for their SQL 2000 line, the new NovaView series from Cognos, and CGI Expert Pro 5, a small but usefull CGI app for C++ Builder and Delphi. And if you're really into surfing the web (go shoot yourself) try out ShockMachine from Macromedia, a plugin for Shockwave allowing you to save Shockwave games and other Shockwave media to your HD to play later. Total: 7/10 . ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ .▀████▀▀▀██▄ ████▀▀██▌▐██▀▀▀▀ --- .------. : ████ ███ ▐███ ███ . | ████ ▐███ ███▀ ███ : | ████ ███ ▐███ ▄███ ███▄ . : | ████▀▀▀▀▀ ██▓█ ▀███▄▄██▓▀ . .▄▓███▄ ▀███▌ ▀▀ PRESENTS : | : : [xx/xx]. '---.-------PENTIUM FORCE TEAM-- ---- - -' PENTIUM FORCE TEAM: Releases: OnTime.Enterprise.4.71.WinNT-PFT Code.Wizard.3.0.for.C.Plus.Plus-PFT Legato.Networker.5.51-PFT SurfCONTROL.for.FireWall-1.R1.1-PFT Omniguard.Enterprise.Security.Manager.5.0.WinNT-PFT Adobe.Photoshop.5.5.FULL.RETAIL-PFT Armor.Advatage.Supreme.Accounting.System.2.5-PFT Lotus.CCMail.8.5-PFT Media.Cleaner.Pro.4.0-PFT Baan.Front.Office.2000.Customisations.1.0-PFT VERITAS.Exec.View.2.3-PFT F-Secure.Antivirus.v.4.05.REGGED-PFT Lots to talk about from PFT this week, as they put out a slew of good titles for the first time in quite a while. Definately the best week they've had this summer. First, they win of PhotoShop 5.5 standalone, after PROS released the upgrade last week. They also get the newest version of Legato Networker, although they overlooked the Netware edition and other platforms. F-Secure is based on the F-Prot engine, and is decent for those running networks. The PFT release includes Win 3x, 9x, NT Client and Server, making it a tad bulky, but allowing PFT to sneak in some extra megs. In the end it's a decent package but I still prefer the intuitive, easy to use interface Norton AV provides. Lots of other goodies in a nice week for PFT. Total: 8/10 ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▓▀▀ ▄ ▄▄█▀▀██▓▄ ▄▄▄█▀▀▓▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄ ▐██▓▌ ▄▄▄▄ ▐█▓█ ▐▓██▌ ▐▓██▌ ███▓ ▓██▌ ███▓ ▓██ ▓▄ ▓██▌ ███▓ ▓██▌ ▐██▓▌ ▐██▓ ▐█▓▌▐██▓ ██▓▌▐███▓ ████▓ ▀▀▀▀ ███▓ ██▓ ▐█▓█ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▄██▓▀ mg ▀ ▀▀▀▀████▓▌ ▀▀ ██▓▀ ▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▓▀ ▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀ :: <LEGENDS NEVER DiE> ::: <o4 * 2880> :: ▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄ LEGENDS NEVER DIE: Releases: N/A Total: N/A Microsoft Money 99 release is a re-up... when will people learn. .__________. [xx/xx/98] \_ ___ ) Da ToP oF Da LiNe! .___. ===/ _/ /=======================/ /===== .:/ _____/__./(___.____/\.______./ /_____. :/ /__/ . ) . )____ ) _ ) / __ ) /__/ / / / / // __ / /__/ / /___/: .:/ /__/__/__/__/(______\____ /__/_____ /MO =/__/========================\/========\/=== = THE PINNACLES OF RELEASING (C) PNC 95-98 = PINNACLE: Releases: DataMiner.3D.for.Access.v1.2-PNC DataMiner.3D.for.Excel.v1.2-PNC ASPLightning.v1.0-PNC Conversa.Web.v2.0.1-PNC Jaws.Xmail.v1.0-PNC Unravel.2000.for.Oracle.Reports.2.5.and.3.0.v2.0.57-PNC Unravel.2000.for.SQL.Report.1.0.v3.0.37-PNC OmniFleet.Pro.v6.01-PNC Spatializer.StreamFX.v1.0-PNC Didn't really check out too much of Pinnacle's stuff this week... ASPLightning and Conversa Web stand out, as does OmniFleet Pro. PNC has a habit of late for finding some decent web stuff, so give 'em a chance. Total: 6/10 ─ ▄▄ ── ▄▄▄ ─────────░──────────── ─── ── ─ ░▀ ▀█▄ ▀▀ ▀▌ ▀ ■ ▐▄ ■ ▄ ▀ ■ ▀ ▀ ▄▄▄ ▀ █ ▐█▌█ ▀ █▄▀▄ █▀█▄▀██ █ █▄▀▄ ▀▀ ▄▌ █▄▀▄ ▐█▌▄█▀▐█▌ ▐█▌▄ ▐█▌▐█▌▐█▌▐█▌▐█▌▄ █ ▐▀▀▐█▌▄ ▀▓▓ ▀▓▓ ▀▓▓ ▄▀▓▓ ▀ ▓▀ ▀▓▄▀▓█ ▄▐▓▌ ▀▓▓ ▄ ── ▀ ─── ▀ ─ ▀▀ ── ▀ ▀ ──── ▀ ▀▀ ▄▀▀ ─░─ ▀▀ PREMiERE 1998 RELEASES WITH STYLE [xx/xx/98] ──────────────────────────────────────────── PREMIERE: Releases: N/A Total: N/A Unless PRM shows some activity next week I'll remove them... I'm thinking of simply creating an "Other" category for the occasional good release the idle groups get out... _______________ ____________ ____________ \_ ___ \_ ___ \ ___ \_ _/ l/ / l/ / l/ / \______ / / / /____ / /| ======\________/\__________/[om]\________/== d(*)d D r i n k O r D i e 1 9 9 8 d(*)d ===================== [ DOD * xx-xxx-98 ] == DRINK OR DIE: Releases: N/A Total: N/A _______________________________[xx/xx] \_ _ \_ ____/_ _ \_ ____/ |_\ ___/ / _/ ___)/ _/ ___) | \___ \ / | \_ | \ | \ | \ : \ : \ \___| /___ \____ \___ \___ \___ \ ====|__/===\__/===\__/==\__/==\__/==\__/ REBELS: WE MAKE ALL DAYS PARTY DAYS >> RELEASING WITHOUT PERMISSION << REBELS: Releases: BOM.EXPLORER.v2.5.2.CRACKED-RBS Hot.Docs.Professional.v5.1.REPACK-RBS Real.Time.Labor.Guide.v5.31-RBS Stingray.Objective.Chart.v6.01-RBS Hot.Docs.v5.1.FINAL-RBS HDCOPY_v.2.01.04_Registered-RBS Denali.Soft.Memory.Modeler.Version.2.008-RBS Integra.Management.Systems.STAR.Pro.VII-RBS MyEureka.Cube.Explorer.v4.5-RBS Parts.And.Vendors.Version.3.1.41-RBS Requisite.Pro.Version.4.0.Win9XNT-RBS Veritools.Undertow.Version.1.2-RBS Exemplar.Leonardo.Spectrum.V1999.1d.build.6.60.licensed-RBS FlexGen.99.Version.2.0-RBS Rebels made some noise this week, offering v2.0 of their FlexGen app to give GlobeTrotter (makers of Flexlm) a headache. Still working out the bugs I guess... Undertow is an unimpressive niche app, I'm assuming RBS used the gen on it, being a flex app, features aside, I experienced a few crashes with it... not 100% sure if it's a problem with the license or not however. On the plus side we see the newest Objective Chart from the Stingray division of RogueWave, as well as Hot Docs final. Total: 6/10 _____ ____________ ____ __________ / __/_ ___/\_ \ ___\_/ __/\ ___\_ \ \ / _/ /_ /___ / \ ___ / \___/\_____/___\ ____/______/_____/pn \_/ VERSUS: Releases: Actuate.End.User.Desktop.v3.2.2.1-VERSUS Avesta.eWatcher.v1.3-VERSUS CDH.Image.Explorer.Pro.v4.0-VERSUS Just three apps to start the week for Versus, and that was all... Most notable is Image Explorer Pro 4, a nice viewer package that does a lot more than just view. Good crack, on the downside the program is a bit hefty in size for what it offers. Total: 5/10 ..._______________________.___ ____.____... ::/ _______/ ____/ | \/ | \:: _/\____ \/ /___/ | \ \: \ > \ \ \/ \ \ :\__________/\________/_________/|_____|___/ ::.. .:[ SCUM ]:. .:[SCUM]:. .:[SCUM]:. ..:: ```````````````````````````````````````````` SCUM: Releases: N/A Total: N/A _______________________ ____________ __\ _______/ ______/______/__ / \ __/ / / \/ / / /_______\ /______________\____ /________\ -------------------------------\/----------- (*) F a t i g u e - Couriers Network (*) ___________________________________________. ________________________________________wK!. FATIGUED COURIERS NETWORK: Releases: AnetHelpTool_v5.0.0.13.FINAL-FCN MKS_NUT_CRACKER_v4.2_SDK-FCN TRichEditEx.For.Delphi4.v1.7-FCN A slow week for FCN, but Delphi 5 is on the horizon, and you know these guys would love to bag that one. Total: 4/10 _____nnn_____ <$$$$$$$$$$$$$b »»»»»»»»»»»)$$ |$$$$$$$$$$$$$' |$$T```X$f''' |$$$ '$$$L |$$! '9$$$i. |$$ `'$$$$> r a d i u m »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» RADIUM: Releases: Sonic.Foundry.Vegas.pro.v1.0.134-Radium While I finally did some extra testing this week, I skipped over Radium due to just one app... come on guys, give me more stuff to check out! Total: 2/10 ____________________________________________ __________/\________/\______/\_______/\ \ __ / __ / __ \ _____/ / /__/ / /__/ / /__/ /\___ \ / _____/ ____/ / ) /____/ /___\ \\________/_________/ -s8RO-- -the.\_____\.professionals-- - ____________________________________________ THE PROFESSIONALS: Releases: L.And.H.Simply.Translating.Standard-PROS PhonePad.99.5.User.License.v1.0-PROS Professor.Franklins.Instant.Photo.T-Shirt-PROS L&H (Lerhaut & Hauspie or some award spelling similar to that) are one of the rising stars in the voice recognition field, now they offer a translating app... good pickup for PROS, rest is sort of iffy... PhonePad is cheesey, and well... isn't Professor Franklin some character off a kids show??? Total: 4/10 HARVEST: Releases: EXTENSIS.PLUGIN.PACK.FOR.ADOBE.PHOTOSHOP5.5-HARVEST Only one release, a full suite from Extensis supporting Photoshop 5.5, good pickup for the Harvest crew, but they should try to work on the consistancy... lots of plugins and graphics apps to be had, and PWA got the other Extensis app of the week. Total: 3/10 New this week: N/A Idle this week: PRM, LND, DOD, SCUM. Quote(s) of the Week: Nothing much of note this week, seems all the action was in the games scene... gee wonder why :P. Photoshop standalone is outstanding, but worth the ISO if you can manage it. PFT takes the week with a boost from that and some other nice apps... F-Secure says I don't have any viruses... (yay!)... that's about it... except... Harvest's Reasons for the 3DSMAX release. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well I had hoped to have a full length piece involving Harvest, but since I was away most of the week I kept missing them... anyways maybe next week, I did include a brief explanation Rhodan gave me... my apologies to him and Harvest for not being around to meet them. <Rhodan> DODs addons were just a bunch of copied textures <Rhodan> missing essential plugins <Rhodan> Harvest gave ppls a complete with addons installable version Not much you didn't know... but anyways... Seems NWR will be sticking to the Tuesday deadline, so I don't need to change anything... which is just fine with me. If dates look a little off this week it's because I wrote last weeks report early expecting the switch to the Monday night release date, so any releases from Monday night of last week were missed and I included them here... all back to normal now... for at LEAST a week :). - Bud