Buds Biased Utils Report, 26

Bud's Biased Utils Report #26 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our first full post-SGE week. Most of SGE has gone in two directions, with many to Harvest, and others to PWA. Rumors have been abundant as always, and there's still plenty of them regarding who will go where... but who cares, lets check out the releases! 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 06/22/99 to 06/28/99. 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: Breeze.Way.Cal3qhc.v1.0-PWA Altiris.RapidInstall.v1.0-PWA Autocad.Architectural.Desktop.Pre-Release.R2-PWA Autocad.2000.Express.Tools.Volume1-6-PWA Canon.WebRecord.2.1.Pro-PWA Goback.v2.1-PWA Password.Administrator.v1.01.REGGED-EViL DigiSHOW.Scripted.Video.Player.1.26.REV.A-PWA NTI.Backup.Now.v1.1-PWA Oncenter.Quick.Bid.99-PWA DIGISHOW.Virtual.Laser.Disk.v1.26.REV.A-PWA Ixla.Web.Easy.v.1.4-PWA ArcLogistics.Route.1.0-PWA Extensis.Portfolio.v4.1-PWA EZ_Legal.Corporate.Secretary.4.3-PWA Norton.For.Your.Eyes.Only.v4.12-PWA So could this be the summer that PWA comes back with an attitude? With several top SGE members moving to the old favorites, the results are already showing, with PWA having a ton of activity. Not everything is great, and a couple of betas (good ones however) as usual make an appearence... PWA has stated that it will not focus on any one niche in particular, a wise move given the influx of talent and potential... expect increased output in the next few weeks. Total: 8/10 ▄───── ▄▄▄ ────────── ▄▄█▓▄ ─── ▄ ─ ▄▓▄ ░ ▀ ▄█████▓ ▄▄███▄ ▄▀▀████▌ ▄█████▄ ▀ ▓███▀ ▀▄██████▄▀█▌ ▐████▐▓▀ ▀███▓ ▓███▌ ▐▓█▀ ▀██▌▐▓ ▀ ▀▓▀▓▌ ▐███▌ ▐█████▄▄▀ ▀█▄ ▄▓█▓ █▓▄ █▌▀▄▄████▓ ▀██▓▀▀ ▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀ ■▄ ▐▓ ▀▀▓█▀ ■▄──────+ The Corporation +─ ▀▄ ─gas!─■ THE CORPORATION: Releases: MS.Visual.Basic.for.Applications.v6.0.SDK-CORP Only the VB6 software development kit this week, very quiet here again as TK4 does some more group hopping and winds up in DOD. Total: 2/10 . )\_______)\__)\_______)\_______ . . __/ __ _/ _/ ____/ ___/ . . \__ / _\ \_____ \ ___/__ : . :/ \ \ / \ / \| : |\___/ /___/_____ /___ /| : | \_/_____/\____ /_____/___/_____/ | :...`---\_____\/----/_flr_/---/_p^D_/--' RISE: Releases: METACREATIONS.INC.OFFICE.ADVANTAGE.V1.02-RiSE DECAFE.SOFTWARE.DECAFE.PRO.V3.4.CRACKED-RiSE Members seem to be streaming out of Rise now, although they did get one good app out in the newest edition of Office Advantage from Metacreations. Remaining members are grumbling about the lack of crackers left in the group (read: no active crackers). Total: 4/10 ──────────────────────────────────[XX/XX]─ ▄██ ▄▄▄ ░ ▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄ █▓█ █▓█ ▒ ██▀ █▓█ █ █▓█ ██ █▓█ █ ███ ██ █▓ █▒█ █▒█ █░█ ▀▀ ▄█ █▒█ ██ █▒█ █ ▄▄▄ ██▄▄ ▄██▀██▄ ▀ █▒█▀▀▀ ██ █░█ ██ ▄▄█ █▓█ ██ ▄▄ █▒█ █▓█ ▓ █▓█ ░ █▓█ █░█ ██ ░ █▓█ █▒█ ██ █▓ ███ █▒█ ▒ ███ ▬▀█████▀▄██ ▒ ▀█████▀ ▀████ ─── ██▀ ░ ──────────────── ▓ ───── sikos ─ X-FORCE: Releases: C_FORGE_V1.2-6_LINUX-XFORCE SNIFF_PLUS_CROSS_V3.1-XFORCE AQUA-PACK_FOR_LIGHTWAVE-XFORCE DIRTY-UP_FOR_LIGHTWAVE-XFORCE IFW_LW_INSPIRE_SHADERS-XFORCE On top of three Lightwave plugins, XF puts out Sniff+ 3.1, not a bad app off the web for Source Code Engineering. And a linux app... kinda of a user survey here, I'm curious to know what you feelings are on linux/unix releases. I'll leave an email at the end of the report, feel free to send any ideas regarding this. "Should I score them?" if you want a formal question to consider. Total: 4/10 /\______/| ___/\_ _/ ______ :|; . __/\ ____/\ __| // %%%\____ \ |__:_\__ \/ ~~ :\_ | __/%%%% iii_/ :| \\_ \ ;| \_ |____/ \iiiii :::\__ ; _/ | \\_ : // | \\_ | \\_::: \____/---|____/____/_______/-|____/kaz SHOCK: Releases: Internal.Web.v2.3.for.Java-SHOCK Internal.Web.v2.3.for.Win9xNT-SHOCK Medical.Drug.Reference.v4.3-SHOCK SITEFORUM.Communications.v2.5.for.Java-SHOCK SITEFORUM.Communications.v2.5.for.Win9xNT-SHOCK Chart.FX.98.v4.0-SHOCK SourceOffSite.Professional.Export.v2.0-SHOCK CGI.Expert.Professional.v4.6.1-SHOCK Black.and.Decker.Everyday.Home.Repair.v1.0c-SHOCK DBDiff.v4.0-SHOCK DBScripter.v4.0-SHOCK DBSearch.v3.0-SHOCK IRIS.Antivirus.Plus.v22.21-SHOCK A kind of ho-hum week from Shock, with only one CD rip, a budget title (Home Repair), although there are a few decent web apps. And DOD missed another AV release <g>. Total: 6/10 . ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ .▀████▀▀▀██▄ ████▀▀██▌▐██▀▀▀▀ --- .------. : ████ ███ ▐███ ███ . | ████ ▐███ ███▀ ███ : | ████ ███ ▐███ ▄███ ███▄ . : | ████▀▀▀▀▀ ██▓█ ▀███▄▄██▓▀ . .▄▓███▄ ▀███▌ ▀▀ PRESENTS : | : : [xx/xx]. '---.-------PENTIUM FORCE TEAM-- ---- - -' PENTIUM FORCE TEAM: Releases: Action.Request.System.v4.0.1-PFT Informix.Visionary.v1.1-PFT SureCast.v1.5.for.Win9xNT-PFT BridgeVIEW.Development.System.2.0-PFT HP.NetMetrix.Site.Manager.A01.02-PFT JTest.3.0-PFT Advantage.Concepts.Inc.Official.Disability.Guidelines-PFT Applix.Enterprise.Client.7.4-PFT Applix.Enterprise.Server.7.4-PFT EDA.Client.4.21-PFT EDA.Servers.4.21-PFT Virtual.Bench.2.51.WORKING-PFT PFT were a little more active this week, although they died off towards the end. A working copy of Virtual Bench, a new Informix app, and the Applix titles stand out. As usual PFT remains dependent on the web. Total: 7/10 ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▓▀▀ ▄ ▄▄█▀▀██▓▄ ▄▄▄█▀▀▓▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄ ▐██▓▌ ▄▄▄▄ ▐█▓█ ▐▓██▌ ▐▓██▌ ███▓ ▓██▌ ███▓ ▓██ ▓▄ ▓██▌ ███▓ ▓██▌ ▐██▓▌ ▐██▓ ▐█▓▌▐██▓ ██▓▌▐███▓ ████▓ ▀▀▀▀ ███▓ ██▓ ▐█▓█ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▄██▓▀ mg ▀ ▀▀▀▀████▓▌ ▀▀ ██▓▀ ▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▓▀ ▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀ :: <LEGENDS NEVER DiE> ::: <o4 * 2880> :: ▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄ LEGENDS NEVER DIE: Releases: SOLIDVIEW_V3.21-LND PTC_PRO_ENGINEER_2000i_WIN9X-LND PTC_PRO_ENGINEER_2000i_WINNT-LND ME10_REVISION_9.0-LND MSC_WORKING_MODEL_V5.0-LND MSC_WORKING_MODEL_V5.0_DIZFIX-LND PRIMAVERA_EXPEDITION_V6.3-LND PTC_CADDS5_REVISION_9.1-LND Could this perhaps be the first week LND actually deserves its self-titled utils scene dominance? They send out some excellent CAD/CAM apps which, in comparison to other apps this week, remain at the top. Specifically, PTC Pro Engineer 2000i, which boasts an improved interface, Working Model 5, and Soldview 3.21 give LND a strong week. However, Scum releasing SolidView 3.3 soon after took some of the shine off. Expect to FINALLY see them recieve some competition, from PWA/SCUM, in the near future. I didn't deduct for the DIZ fix... too minor a problem. Total: 8/10 .__________. [xx/xx/98] \_ ___ ) Da ToP oF Da LiNe! .___. ===/ _/ /=======================/ /===== .:/ _____/__./(___.____/\.______./ /_____. :/ /__/ . ) . )____ ) _ ) / __ ) /__/ / / / / // __ / /__/ / /___/: .:/ /__/__/__/__/(______\____ /__/_____ /MO =/__/========================\/========\/=== = THE PINNACLES OF RELEASING (C) PNC 95-98 = PINNACLE: Releases: Digital_Dj_Music_System_v1.6.8-PNC Wintegrate98.v4.0.3-PNC Synopsys.FPGA.Express.v3.2-PNC Not a whole lot to talk about, no major titles. I'm not into these DJ programs either so... :P Total: 5/10 ─ ▄▄ ── ▄▄▄ ─────────░──────────── ─── ── ─ ░▀ ▀█▄ ▀▀ ▀▌ ▀ ■ ▐▄ ■ ▄ ▀ ■ ▀ ▀ ▄▄▄ ▀ █ ▐█▌█ ▀ █▄▀▄ █▀█▄▀██ █ █▄▀▄ ▀▀ ▄▌ █▄▀▄ ▐█▌▄█▀▐█▌ ▐█▌▄ ▐█▌▐█▌▐█▌▐█▌▐█▌▄ █ ▐▀▀▐█▌▄ ▀▓▓ ▀▓▓ ▀▓▓ ▄▀▓▓ ▀ ▓▀ ▀▓▄▀▓█ ▄▐▓▌ ▀▓▓ ▄ ── ▀ ─── ▀ ─ ▀▀ ── ▀ ▀ ──── ▀ ▀▀ ▄▀▀ ─░─ ▀▀ PREMiERE 1998 RELEASES WITH STYLE [xx/xx/98] ──────────────────────────────────────────── PREMIERE: Releases: Cost.Xpert.v2.05.547-PREMiERE eShopper.v2.0.CRACK-PREMiERE Impulse.v4.21-PREMiERE EShopper.v2.0-PREMiERE Pluckit3.v4.1-PREMiERE Will PRM ever escape this hole? They did manage a crack this week, nice of them since they forgot to include it in the original release! I dropped a point for the obvious error. Total: 4/10 _______________ ____________ ____________ \_ ___ \_ ___ \ ___ \_ _/ 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: Link_View_Pro_v6.1_WinNT4_with_Examine_Distributed_Collision.Expert_and_Token.Ring_License-DOD Hard.Info.Pro.v1.5-DOD Norton_2000_v2.0_Win9x_NT_RETAIL_EDITION-DOD JSB_SurfCONTROL_For_MS_Proxy_Server_v2.6_WinNT4-DOD Sophos_AntiVirus_3.22_DOS-DOD Sophos_AntiVirus_3.22_NetWare-DOD Sophos_AntiVirus_3.22_Win9x-DOD Sophos_AntiVirus_3.22_WinNT-DOD EmuLive_Producer99_v1.1_Win9xNT-DOD Norton_2000_Corporate_Edition_v2.0_Win9xNT-DOD Norton_System_Center_v3.11_WinNT-DOD Norton_System_Center_v3.11_WinNT_Ooops_DIZFIX-DOD DOD is making a bit of a comeback, and picks up TK4 from... well a lot of groups of late. Should he stay put, he's a nice pickup. Still, it's mostly Symantec apps and antiviral tools, although they prove they can do something more with Hard Info Pro and Emulive Producer, plus a few more. Expect this to continue next week. Total: 7/10 _______________________________[xx/xx] \_ _ \_ ____/_ _ \_ ____/ |_\ ___/ / _/ ___)/ _/ ___) | \___ \ / | \_ | \ | \ | \ : \ : \ \___| /___ \____ \___ \___ \___ \ ====|__/===\__/===\__/==\__/==\__/==\__/ REBELS: WE MAKE ALL DAYS PARTY DAYS >> RELEASING WITHOUT PERMISSION << REBELS: Releases: Predator.CNC.Editor.v5.0.REGGED-RBS Predator.Virtual.CNC.v3.02.Beta-RBS Excosoft_Documentor_2.1.2_SGML_XML-RBS Mediahouse.Enterprise.Monitor.5.0.NT.Regged-RBS DST.TESTPRO.FOR.NETWORK.v2.1.REGGED-RBS Package_For_The_Web_2.05_registered-RBS MyEureka.Report.Designer.v6.1.310-RBS NetTools.Network.Informant.v3.0-RBS Webtrends.Enterprise.Suite.3.6.4327-RBS TRADOS.Translators.Workbench.v2.2_and_TRADOS.Tageditor.v1.0.Build78-RBS CADint.PCB.v3.12.CRACKED-RBS FuzzyTech.Version.5.12.Professional.cracked-RBS Marketing.Plan.Pro.v3-RBS Another fairly active week from RBS, although a few too many minor titles for my taste. A build of Web Trends (which is released what, every week it seems?) and a build of MyEureka Report Designer (same deal). MediaHouse Enterprise Monitor is a nice little tool though. Overall, not too bad, but could have been better. Total: 6/10 █▄▓▄■▀░▄ Teknorage and Pirasoft Present: ▄░▀■▄░▄█ █ ▐▄ ▌ █ █▓▀cH/SAC ▄▄▄▄ ▄▄█▄▄ [xx\xx] ▀▓█ ▀ ▄▄█▄▄▄▄ ▄ ▄██▌▐████▓ ▄▄█▓█████▓▀ ▄█▄▄████▄ ▀ ▄▄████▓ ▄▄▄ ▀████▌█████▌▐████▐████▌▐████▐█████▌ ▐██████▌▐█████▄ ▓███▀█████ ████ ▀████ ███▌▐██████ ██████ ███████▌▐███ ▐████▌▐███▌▄████▌ ▀█▄ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▐████▌▐███████ ████▄████▀ ▄████████▀ ▄▄ ▐█████▄ ▄▓███▓▄▓██████▌▐████▌▀▓█▄ ▀███▓▀▀ ▄████▌▓██████▌ ▀▀██████▀ ▀████▀ ▀▀▄ ▀█▀ ▀██▀▀██████▀ █▄▄▄▓▄▄▄ ▀▀▀ ▀ ▀ ▀▀▀ ▄█ ▀▀▀ ░▒▓█▄ xx/xx/98 ······ Ratzhole WHQ ▀ ▀▓▀▀▀ Teknorage & Pirasoft: Releases: WinHack.v2.00-TRPS Advanced.Ident.v1.1-TRPS JSB.SurfCONTROL.v2.6.RC1.for.MS.Proxy.Server-TRPS Intelligent.SMTP.Gateway.v5.1.0.5.b-TRPS Voodoo.Movie.v1.4-TRPS TScaleForm.Component.v1.0.For.Delphi4-TRPS Advanced Ident and SurfCONTROL were nuked (SurfCONTROL only for being a release candidate however), Voodoo Movie is my favorite app here, and TRPS needs to get their act together. Total: 3/10 _____ ____________ ____ __________ / __/_ ___/\_ \ ___\_/ __/\ ___\_ \ \ / _/ /_ /___ / \ ___ / \___/\_____/___\ ____/______/_____/pn \_/ VERSUS: Releases: Macromedia.Flash.SWF-Unprotect-VERSUS 3M.Post-it.Software.Notes.v2.0.2-VERSUS CCS.Mini.Phone.Book.v4.99.0617.Incl.Keygen-VERSUS Visual.Dataflex.v5.1-VERSUS Some action out of Versus finally... although Post-It Software Notes is the ugliest looking reminder app I've ever seen... I'd rather just put an actual yellow fucking sticky note on my monitor... Mini Phone Book wasn't really worth it either, very minor... Macromedia users check out the work on Flash they've provided. The SWF Unprotect tool allows users to capture protected SWF files from the web and load them into Flash... great job keeping the end users in mind! Total: 6/10 ..._______________________.___ ____.____... ::/ _______/ ____/ | \/ | \:: _/\____ \/ /___/ | \ \: \ > \ \ \/ \ \ :\__________/\________/_________/|_____|___/ ::.. .:[ SCUM ]:. .:[SCUM]:. .:[SCUM]:. ..:: ```````````````````````````````````````````` SCUM: Releases: Solid.View.v3.3-SCuM Segue.Silk.Performer.v3.0-SCuM Bluestone.XML.Server.v1.1-SCuM Scum beats out LND on the new Solid View, and raids intraware.com for the Segue and Bluestone apps... but good work on all three. Some users have complained about Solid View, others say it runs fine... so we'll have to wait and see, but for now full points. Total: 6/10 Only one more byte to crack before... ____._____ ____ _____ _____ _ _____ __ ._____ :::_|_ / _ \/ _ \/ _ \__\_ \___| / ::/ __/_ / / / / / / _ / _ /: :/ / / / / / / / / / / / /:: :\_______\___/\____/\____/\______/________\:: : \\\\\\\ \\\\ \\\\\ \\\\\ \\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\ -----------------------------------------wk!- 2000AD: Releases: GETRIGHT.4.0.B2.FOR.WINDOWS9X-NT-2000AD TimeReporter.2000.Edition.3.10.00.3002.For.Windows9x-NT-2000AD DiskJockey.Slim.2.0.2.For.Windows9x-NT-2000AD PerfectDisk.2.3.For.WindowsNT-2000AD DNSBoss.1.7.For.WindowsNT-2000AD Windows.Media.OnDemand.Producer.4.00.72.For.Windows9x-NT-2000AD Double.Take.3.0.4.For.WindowsNT-2000AD Velocis.Database.Server.2.1.361.For.WindowsNT-2000AD No comment... really. Something like 4 or 5 of the 2KAD titles this week were nuked for various reasons... hope they shape up soon, they're becoming to much of a dumping ground for what other groups pass over. Total: 3/10 _______________________ ____________ __\ _______/ ______/______/__ / \ __/ / / \/ / / /_______\ /______________\____ /________\ -------------------------------\/----------- (*) F a t i g u e - Couriers Network (*) ___________________________________________. ________________________________________wK!. FATIGUED COURIERS NETWORK: Releases: CHANT_SPEECHKIT_SUITE_v2.1-FCN Game_Commander-FCN This is about as idle as I've ever seen FCN. Nothing to mention really so lets move on. Total: 2/10 _____nnn_____ <$$$$$$$$$$$$$b »»»»»»»»»»»)$$ |$$$$$$$$$$$$$' |$$T```X$f''' |$$$ '$$$L |$$! '9$$$i. |$$ `'$$$$> r a d i u m »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» RADIUM Releases: Fhg.Radium.MP3.codec.v1.263-Radium Radium.External.Codec.Converter.v1.50-Radium Ok I know I said I'd be doing an in-depth review of some RDM releases, but seeing as how they didn't do much this week I figured I'd delay that a bit. Total: 2/10 .--------------------------------. | | | ▄█ [xx/xx] ▄█ | ` ▄███ --------------- ▄███ -----' ▀██▓█ ▄ ▀▀██▀▀████▀████▀▀████▄ ██▓█ ███▄▄▄ █▓█ █▓██ ████ ██▓█ ▐████▀ ░ █▓█ █▓██ ░ ▀▀▀▀ ██▓█ ███▀ ▄█ ░ █▓█ █▓██ ░ ████ s ██▓█ ▐█▀ ▄███ █▓█ █▓██ ████ q ████▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀███ ▀▀▀▀▀██████ z▄▄▄▄▄▄█▀▀▀ ████ ░ ███ ▀▀▀█▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ████ ░ ███ ████ ███ ████▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ VENGEANCE: Releases: Cyrious.POS.v6.0-VGC VGC is no more, he group which many had high expectations for bit the dust after loosing several key members. Hope all the members meet success where ever they may go. Total: 2/10 ┌─────────██────▄▄─▄▄────██─────────┐ │░ ░ ▀▄ ███████ ▄▀ ░ ░▒│ │▒░ ▐█·███·█▌ ░▒▓│ │░ M U T ██▌▌███ i N Y ░▒│ │▒░ ▄▐█████▌▄ ░│ │█▓▒░ ░ ▄▀ █▄▄▄█ ▀▄ ░░▒▓█│ └─────────██─────▀▀▀─────██─────────┘ MUTINY: Releases: N/A After some disputes regarding the group's monikor, Mutiny has renamed itself to PROS, and I will start reviewing them as of next week. Total: N/A New this week: N/A Idle this week: N/A Quote(s) of the Week: "Poultry producer Cruddy Intl. has today announced a $1 Million drop in first quarter profits" <--- perhaps it has something to do with naming their chicken company "Cruddy"! Since this is a double issue (of sorts, report #27 will follow this one immediately if you're reading this in NWR... and where else would you be!), I'll leave most of my thoughts till later. For this week I gave it to LND and PWA... LND were dominate in the usual areas, and PWA well... PWA has benifited more than any other group from the disbanding of SGE, several key members have gone there, and it shows, with a wide variety of quality titles. Expect them to show some real releasing power in the weeks to come. Next week, I'll start reviewing Harvest, home to some other ex-SGE members. Some interesting art apps could head our way from them, and they should be decent competition for PWA. More and more it seems that the more mature groups still hold the power, while newer challengers aren't making the cut... how many decent utils groups are less than 3 years old? Just blabbing here... but with the resurgance of PWA and possibly DOD, you have to wonder <g>. - Bud