Breevy Review

Breevy ScreenshotUntil a few years ago I used a text expander program for Windows, but gradually stopped. The program I was using had increasing conflicts with other software I used, and after awhile I realized I just didn’t have much need for that sort of program.

Recently, though, I started a project where I had to repeatedly update information in a textbox based on the same template. After a week or so of copying and pasting the template, it dawned on me that a text expander might save me a ton of time.

A few quick searches later and it looked like Breevy was the best such utility on Windows. After a couple weeks of using it, I have to agree.

Breevy does basic text substitution without a hitch. For example, I set up an abbreviation so I can type .date into any text window and when I hit the space bar, it insert the date in the format I prefer. It does so extremely quickly and has yet to crash despite invoking different text substitutions literally thousands of times.

It also has a lot of features I will probably never use. It can launch programs. For example, I have it set up so if I type .mail, it launches Thunderbird. But I can’t really see myself using that very often.

It can also do complex substitutions, where it asks you for input and then dynamically uses that input as part of the substitution, etc.

Breevy also gives the user fine-grained control over how abbreviations launch. I want to make certain I never invoke a text substitution accidentally, for example, and Breevy makes it trivially easy for me to control the conditions that will trigger a text substitution.

It also makes it easy for me to work on the 5 or 6 computers I typically use in the average day by using Dropbox to update and sync all of my settings and abbreviations across multiple computers.

The only downside to Breevy is the price — $34.95. In a world of $2 apps, I was a bit taken aback the first time I saw the price. On the other hand, by my calculations I saved more than $34.95 — and a good deal of sanity –in just the first week of its free 30-day trial. So, I had no problem justifying paying for the full license.

Funko’s Skyrim Legacy Collection

Funko’s got a licensing deal with Bethesda to release Fallout and Skyrim action figures. These Dovahkiin and Daedric Warrior 6″ figures look awesome and feature 20 points of articulation. They’re also reasonably priced, showing up at Amazon and elsewhere for ~US$22.

They should have added sound effects, though, so the Dovahkiin figure can shout.

 

Skyrim Legacy Collection - Dovahkiin
Skyrim Legacy Collection – Dovahkin

 

Skyrim Legacy Collection - Daedric Warrior
Skyrim Legacy Collection – Daedric Warrior