Victor Agreda, Jr.

Editor in Chief

Victor's introduction to technology was the Apple ][ his dad bought in late 1978. Since then he's used Amiga's, Commodore's, Tandy's, even a PC and a Mac or two. Victor's background includes 3d animation and filmmaking, a bit of web development and programming. He taught multimedia and game design for 5 years at a technical college. His favorite artifact: a cassette tape with Applesoft BASIC on it, copyright 1979, by Microsoft.

Victor Agreda, Jr.'s Latest Posts

Poser 10 and Poser Pro 2014 available, bringing new characters, physics and more

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (May 21st 2013 9:40AM)

Poser has come a long way from the last time I used it, right around version 4. We're now at 10 for the basic edition (retail US$299.99) and Poser Pro 2014 (retail $499.99) has become a powerful animation tool in its own right. I got to look at some of the new features rolling out today and they ...

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Origin Stories: Victor Agreda, Jr.

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (May 17th 2013 5:30PM)

I was lucky. My mom and dad had me while they were finishing up their graduate work in the 1970's at North Carolina State University. My dad was, at the time, a bit of a gadget nut. Of course, back then "gadgets" were more commonly found in the kitchen and came from companies like Ronco. My dad ...

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Productivity Tip: When and how to use paper vs software

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (May 14th 2013 9:15PM)

One of the problems with giving people advice is that certain topics are so... personal. Our previous experiences, current technology and outside pressures inevitably corral us into a particular line of thinking or acting. So it is with the debate over paper vs. software solutions. Personally, ...

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Origin Stories: Saul Mora, developer

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (May 13th 2013 7:00PM)

While the Origin Stories series has typically focused on products, in the coming weeks we're going to focus a bit more on the people and personalities behind the products. In this episode I spoke to Saul Mora of Magical Panda during the MacTech Conference in 2012 to learn about how he got started ...

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Productivity Tip: Using specialized lists for specific use cases

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (May 7th 2013 1:15PM)

It's time for this week's Productivity Tips column. While I use OmniFocus for just about everything, there are times when I prefer other task managers to handle certain things. Many productivity gurus advise against using more than one tool to list tasks, but I don't like putting short-term list ...

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Origin Stories: Naturespace

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (May 3rd 2013 3:00PM)

I've always been a sucker for soundscapes -- those looping sound effect CD's that whisk you away to the beach, or a rainforest or whatever. As I have a hard time "shutting down" my brain, these sounds give me something to get lost in and focus on, helping relax me. I think it's the same way for a ...

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Origin Stories: Index Card helps organize your notes like its real world namesake

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (May 3rd 2013 2:00AM)

If you've ever used index cards to organize lots of notes or ideas, take a look at Index Card by Dennis Vogel. Available for iPad and iPhone, Index Card is ideal for researchers and fiction writers who need to put cards on a wall, but need that wall to go with them. A good example of skeumorphic ...

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Origin Stories: Graze is an alternative browser for iPhone

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (May 3rd 2013 12:00AM)

Why create a browser for iOS when Safari ships with every device? Creator Dave Wilson explains the numerous features in Graze, a browser for iOS. It has a very different user interface, and adds gesture controls and additional browsing oomph for iOS that has yet to be seen in Apple's Safari. While ...

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Origin Stories: Tango Remote allows you to control music using iOS devices only

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (May 2nd 2013 10:00PM)

I've run into this issue a number of times while producing comedy shows: I want to play intro music for a comedian, but I don't have a staff available to sit there and punch buttons on my iPad. Enter Tango Remote, a handy tool which allows you to remotely control your playlists from iOS to iOS ...

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Origin Stories: Vectrex offers nostalgic gameplay

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (May 2nd 2013 8:00PM)

If you were a kid in the 1980's you may remember the oddball consumer gaming console called the Vectrex. Notable for it's use of vectors instead of bitmapped graphics (like every other console), the Vectrex never quite took hold but before it was discontinued a number of fun retro games were made ...

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