GAOSHAN  MAMP is free and plays a role similar to xampp. The primary difference is that MAMP is Mac specific while xampp is not.

MAMP Pro is a commercial product that offers enhancements to MAMP but it is not a contemporary of xampp. For comparison purposes you need to stick to MAMP (the free version) and xampp.  
(Version 1.0.1)

GAOSHAN  RapidoWrite is discontinued and has been replaced by Presto (comes out Apr. 4) which is a paid app. Costs about the same as the rest of these type assist apps so... I'm sticking with Typinator.  
(Version 3.4.1)

GAOSHAN  I always do mine in Photoshop and print them on my cheapo Epson printer. If you follow the rules posted on the government's web site there is no trouble. I've done about 6 peoples pasport photos like this and never had any trouble.  
(Version 1.4b1)

GAOSHAN  This is really nice. Finally a modern MySQL administration program that works AND is so very Mac-like. Love it!  
(Version 0.9.3)

GAOSHAN  I see I commented a year ago ago on this. I have used both XAMPP and MAMP extensivly since then and can say, without hesitation, that MAMP is the way to go. I use XAMPP on my windows machine (which is pretty much only used for testing and a version control app) but am not especially fond of it even there. MAMP is easier to use, has a much cleaner and simpler interface and is simply easier to deal with on the whole.  
(Version 1.0)

GAOSHAN  When the latest version of VLC started causing my Mac's fan to go into overdrive I installed Perian so I could watch the videos (.avi format) in Quicktime. I immediately noticed that the playback was slightly choppy. In the end, I converted the videos to the .mp4 format using iSquint and playback is smooth once again.

I just did not find the quality offered by Perian to be sufficient.  
(Version 1.1.3)

GAOSHAN  The PHP only version of Netbeans 6.5 is my primary IDE for building web sites and applications. I have used Eclipse, Zend Studio and Aptana (based on Eclipse) amongst others and Netbeans is my hands down favorite. It has everything an IDE should have and is easy to use. Really head and shoulders above the rest.  
(Version 6.5)

GAOSHAN  Be aware that the WebKit (the engine behind Safari) nightly is far and away the fastest browser available for the Mac. That someone else has created something even faster seems highly doubtful to me.  
(Version 0.7b)

GAOSHAN  In its day Amaya had a useful purpose. Anymore, however, it seems extraneous.  
(Version 10.1pr5)

GAOSHAN  That is neat! What a fun, season specific thing. It is almost like a mini cartoon what with the music, sound affects and scene changes. My kids will love this.  
(Version 2008)

GAOSHAN  I LOVE this application. Since the first native betas came out I haven't opened Microsoft Word once. I know they say don't use it for production things but I use both Writer, Impress and Calc regularly and have not had any major problems. In a couple of instances, powerpoint files that were displaying screwy were handled properly by Impress... love this thing!  
(Version 3.0rc4)

GAOSHAN  This is THE all in one web serving environment for the Mac. Don't waste time with xampp (it's clunkier to use) just use MAMP. I have a each project I work on set up as a local environment (likt http://twc:8888/). It speeds development hugely and lets me make fewer version control checkins which is always a good thing.

Yes, you can setup your own dev environment by hand or with fink/macports but this is even easier than that!   
(Version 1.7.2)

GAOSHAN  Finally, a SWORD I can really use on the unbelievers (it's not as useful as a real sword but of course that would be illegal). Go Jesus!  
(Version 1.4)

GAOSHAN  Now that I have had a chance to use a working version, new review.

I like it. The cocoa interface is better than much of what is available in other chm viewers. Tabs are nice to have as well.

What does the "Locate" button do? Clicking it doesn't seem to do anything.  
(Version 0.9.1)

GAOSHAN  Intel. I'm on a recent model MacBook.  
(Version 0.9)

GAOSHAN  Crashes on launch each and every time. Not ready for primetime.  
(Version 0.9)

GAOSHAN  When viewing flash videos in VLC or any other viewer I kept running into difficulties (crashes or lockups when trying to rewind of fast forawrd to a specifc spot, etc). This program was the only one that allowed me complete control over these flash videos. Worked like a charm.  
(Version 1.1)

GAOSHAN  I'm interested in something like this but need to know how it works before I'll download it.

For example, I want to keep my kids away from christian and other religious web sites, churches, prosthelytizing web sites, creationist sites, that sort of stuff. Will this help me to block that sort of objectionable content? If so, I may give this a whirl.  
(Version 3.2)

GAOSHAN  If you are choosing a bit torrent client be sure to check out Transmission.  
(Version 3.3.0.1)

GAOSHAN  Using this application results in its developer earning ad revenue from sponsored search results. Normally I'm all for something like this (though I'd like it made clear to me that that is what is going on... in this case it is a quit, behind the scenes thing) but THIS particular developer, David Watanabe, is a jerk and should not be supported.  
(Version 3.1v55)

GAOSHAN  Whenever I see a for pay application that has a solid, free alternative I feel like I should point out the alternative. If you need a man viewer this app may be perfect but you also owe it to yourself to check out the free ManOpen ( http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/6408/manopen )  
(Version 1.0)

GAOSHAN  It probably isn't his router that is the problem. It could very well be his ISP throttling P2P connections. I used to use Transmission no problem, lately it no longer works. Azureus worked a while longer and now it no longer works. Downloads will start and then get cut off. Seeding doesn't work at all.  
(Version 3.0.5.2a)

GAOSHAN  Ugh. Go back to the Windows environment you surely were spawned in. Don't need people who comment like this soiling our reputation.  
(Version 1.40)

GAOSHAN  I am someone who has donated to the Cyberduck project so I'm a fan of this app.

That out of the way, I just spent an hour where I was moving files from a testing server on one host to a production server on another and it was not fun. Cyberduck crashed completely 4 times and dropped my connection a handful of times. The client even called me mid-transfer to ask why his brand new site was broken. Not good. Also, why can't I drag from one window to another? Not convenient.

I hate to say it but I'm here on Macupdate trying to decide if I should pay for Transmit... costs as much as I donated to Cyberduck but man, I need something I can rely on.

I'm not using the beta, btw. I'm on the latest stable version.  
(Version 3.0b1)

GAOSHAN  No complaints with this application. The whole BMI thing... not buying it. It says I am overweight and need to lose 25 pounds (I'm 6'5", weigh 235lbs and am strong). Well, I am not in the least fat, I bike regularly (a 10 mile ride over the hilly terrain around my home does not leave me winded) and when I told my doctor that, according to the BMI, I was fat he laughed and said that while I am clearly not overweight I should also note that BMI was so imprecise as to be mostly useless.

Seriously, your BMI is not something to pay attention to. BTW, if I lost 25 pounds I would weigh less than I did in high school and I was a scrawny, brittle, human twig back then.  
(Version 6.0)

GAOSHAN  You said it. This is really an outstanding example of this sort of application. It gets better and better as they move along in developing it. Development is consistent and steady, changes are always for the better, not for the bloat. I love this game!  
(Version 1.4)

GAOSHAN  If you REALLY want to feel like a chump. Ask the developer (Dave Watanabe) for a refund. His response (if he deigns to give you one) will surely be the icing on the cake.  
(Version 1.5v72)

GAOSHAN  This app was good when it was free. Since it now costs it has to face off against other for-pay applications like it. Given that, Awaken is about half the price and better (better looking, easier to set up, cheaper, etc.).  
(Version 4.0.5)

GAOSHAN  I suspect it is because making a simple webkit based browser is so easy. Like in this link: http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2004/01/23/webkit.html

Too bad these devs don't realise that when the barrier of entry is so low, the product becomes almost pointless without extensive extras added.  
(Version 1.0.2.1)

GAOSHAN  Thanks for the info. I suppose I will give it a try on your suggestion. Thanks!

No apologies for the English, most native speakers can barely do it correctly and they only speak 1 language... you speak at least two so... no apologies needed.  
(Version 3.1)

GAOSHAN  Anyone care to compare this to Vienna? I've been satisifed with it and used it for some time because it is free as well. However, I've always wondered about the full version of NetNewsWire and how good it really is. Yes I could download it and compare myself but I'd rather see if anyone has already done that and could save me a test drive.  
(Version 3.1)

GAOSHAN  Why is that? I use MAMP myself but that is because xampp didn't work on non-intel Macs. Now I am on a MacBook and can use either one so I'm curious as to why you think MAMP is better than xampp? Is it just more "Mac" feeling or does it have more up-to-date components or what?  
(Version 0.7.1)

GAOSHAN  Hi Hany, thanks for your work on this and WaterRoof. I'm sure many people around the world have benefited from your work.

Can you do a brief comparison of WaterRoof and NoobProof? Is it simply that the latter is a simplified version of the former?   
(Version 1.0)

GAOSHAN  I used Transmission for a long time but recently found my download and upload speeds to be awful or even non-existant. I suspect my provider is throttling (well, completely stopping would be more accurate) bit torrent bandwidth.

I switched to Azureus (fugly piece of goods but what other options do I have) which offers transport encyrption/obfuscation, not to mention the SafePeer security plugin, and my speeds are back to what they were. I'll stick with Azureus until Transmission can offer a similar solution.  
(Version 0.96)

GAOSHAN  I was about to make a similar comment and also won't use it. I wonder what the inspiration for the name could possibly be?  
(Version 0.71)

GAOSHAN  The only change is that PHP has been upgraded from 5.2.3 to 5.2.5. Everything else from Apache and MySQL right on down to phpMyAdmin and the littlest library is the same.   
(Version 1.7.1)

GAOSHAN  You should also delete the other files that Schoolhouse installs in order to get a fresh start. These files include:

~/Library/Preferences/com.alteredaxis.Schoolhouse.plist

~/Library/Caches/Schoolhouse

~/Library/Application Support/Schoolhouse

Delete all of those in addition to the application itself and you will have totally removed it from your system. You can then reinstall and everything should work fine.

The problem you are having is most likely caused by the new application trying to use the old, corrupted data.  
(Version 2.1)

GAOSHAN  Best lobster petting program on the market today, bar none.

May I suggest that you charge something for it? Say $39.99? It is certainly worth much, much more than that but you should have a low threshold of entry for new lobster petting devotees. Maybe paying users could get a moan to go with the squeak.  
(Version 1.5)

GAOSHAN  Colloquy looks very nice but it lacks some basic features.

As one example, you should be able to type in: /help somecommand and get help with whichever command you like but in Colloquy, nothing happens. /help doesn't work!  
(Version 03.25.07)

GAOSHAN  Super, powerful, pro-level tool. As a long time professional photojournalist I can attest to the remarkable quality of noise removal that this too provides. I use it on almost everything I shoot at 400 ISO and higher. Really smoothes things out!  
(Version 2.2)

GAOSHAN  In the interest of promoting open source, check out Porticus for a free MacPorts GUI tool.

http://www.macupdate.com/search.php?arch=all&keywords=porticus&os=macosx  
(Version 2.4)

GAOSHAN  Perhaps there is something "off" with my setup but Jolly doesn't seem any faster than Chicken on my machine.

I'm running the server on a 867mhz PowerMac G4, the client on a 1.2Ghz iBook G4 and the network is my wireless LAN. Running Jolly in a small window versus Chicken in a much larger window they both appear equally slow. Perhaps my setup has something to do with it? Jolly is perfectly good but to my eye it is no better than Chicken of the VNC.  
(Version 0.86a)

GAOSHAN  The one the admin's comment points to is full screen.  
(Version 1.0)

GAOSHAN  I spend most summers working in mainland China. Tor was invaluable to me for circumventing the Great Firewall. I used it as part of Vidalia ( http://vidalia-project.net/ ) and found it to be THE best way to access blocked sites from within China.

I also tried using HamachiX as a way to use my server in the U.S. for a VPN. The authorities caught on very quickly and within 2 days had blocked my access. Tor, however, was never spotted and I used it over a 2 month period. Go Tor!   
(Version 0.1.2.17)

GAOSHAN  Used it for a long time but now, when trying to launch a session with iTerm, JellyfiSSh will launch iTerm, iTerm will promptly hand and crash and then JelllyfiSSH will hang and become unresponsive. Works fine with Terminal, just not with iTerm.  
(Version 4.5)

GAOSHAN  This is a very nice app. Great way to squeeze space out of the ever shrinking available pool. However, if you are a command line kinda person you might like to know about the command line program lipo which will also "slim" universal binary files and is built into your Mac.

Check the man file for how to use it (and if you don't know how to do that you should stick to using Xslimmer... trust me). It isn't nearly as convenient and informative as Xslimmer but for us do-it-yourself types it's the only way to roll.  
(Version 1.2.5)

GAOSHAN  Same with me. It locked up partway through the scan process. This earned it a quick trip to the trash.  
(Version 1.0.2)

GAOSHAN  I have long viewed VLC as being really good. However, I was just watching a movie on my iBook (Hot Fuzz... very funny) and the video froze.

I checked memory (VLC was the only app running and I have 768mb of RAM) and found... I was out! Restarting VLC solved the problem.

The current version (0.8.6c) must have a memory leak. I've watched a number of full length movies before and had no trouble so it seems to just be this version. Too bad. I'll try MPlayer or Miro next time.   
(Version 0.8.6c)

GAOSHAN  The app is identical to VacuumMail ( http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/24410/vacuummail )

You can also open Terminal and type:

sqlite3 ~/Library/Mail/Envelope\ Index vacuum;

SpeedMail and VacuumMail are wrappers for simple, one-line terminal commands. Nothing more.  
(Version 0.9b)

GAOSHAN  Hmmm... I just hit the download button to give this a try but this comment made me take a look at the Dev's comments. I'm with the parent... I won't use a product from someone who is rude or immature. I'm trashing it without opening.  
(Version 1.70)

GAOSHAN  Gotta agree with you. The tools look slick and query browser would be great... if it actually worked. It can handle super basic stuff but the things you'd want to use it for (i.e. more complex queries with joins and whatnot) just don't seem to work. perhaps they work as advertised on Windows but the Mac version just doesn't cut the mustard.  
(Version 5.0r11)

GAOSHAN  NeoOffice is a better user experience than OpenOffice(OO) mainly because its interface (Java based) is more Mac like than the X11 based interface required by OO. Since NeoOffice is OpenOffice in a Java wrapper you get basically the same functionality.

So, if you like X11 (and let's face it... who does?) you will be fine with OO. If you really prefer your apps to feel like Mac apps stick with NeoOffice.  
(Version 2.2)

GAOSHAN  This has come so far from the first version I used (probably a year or more ago). I have always used Safari's built-in RSS feed reader but one day with Vienna and I switched.

Probably my favorite thing about it (and the reason I like it better than other free, standout RSS readers, such as NetNewsWire Lite) is the built-in browser for viewing articles. There is a basic web browser with back, forward, refresh and since it is based on webkit it functions and feels very much like a stripped down Safari.

Additionally you can send a link to Safari for viewing, if you like. Another thing that beats Safari's RSS reader is the ability to check individual feeds for updates rather than the whole collection.

There are also a number of built-in css styles that you can apply to your feeds, you can flag articles, use smart folders, etc. All of this for free! What a great product!  
(Version 2.1.1.2109)

GAOSHAN  Generally I expect version 1.x software releases to be ready to roll. If you have a bunch of features/bugfixes/etc you should make them all and then release.

There is a reason why such frequent releasing is: a. uncommon, and b: disliked. You would give the appearance of a better product if you made your changes over time and then released less frequently. Just some advice for you.  
(Version 1.1.3)

GAOSHAN  3 Words: Aw, esom, e.  
(Version 1.1)

GAOSHAN  Very useful, thanks (Hi Admin)!  
(Version 2.0)

GAOSHAN  Great cutting edge type of browser. Especially good if you are a blogger, what with its integration with various blogging platforms and tools (like flickr).  
(Version 0.7.11)

GAOSHAN  If you like this be sure to try Quinn. Quinn has very Maclike graphics, is networkable and is free.  
(Version 2.6.6)

GAOSHAN  As an exercise I wrote my own lottery number picking software. I incorporated basics like frequency of selection (i.e. hot or cold numbers) and then tried various statistical models like autocorrelation, binomials, etc. Fact is, certain numbers come up much more often than others. Additionally certain numbers occurr in relationship to each other with odd consistency and there is an somewhat consistent period of activity versus inactivity for various numbers. Selecting a range of numbers that have been filtered for various statisical models (and then optimally organizing that range around, say, 20 tickets). Will absolutely result in more hits than simple random choice.

The odds of winning were still verrrrry (very, very) long, but are cut down significantly. Have I won the lottery? Nope, but I went from getting 1 winning number every x number of draws to getting 4 times that result. Over a period of months, I've actually won enough to cover the costs (Yahoo, all that effort to break even... I know it's kind of pointless but playing with the statistics and finding unexpected relationships has been quite interesting).  
(Version 6.4)

GAOSHAN  I realize that the warning about "Use at your own risk. I am not liable for any damage or loss of data." is standard for beta software but putting in your description is not a good idea.

Makes it seem like your software is so extra risky and dangerous that you felt the need to make the warning extra prominant. Not a good idea. It is certainly stopping me from trying it out so who knows how many others you have scared off.  
(Version 0.7b)

GAOSHAN  From the developers site: http://www.born-again-christian.info/aboutus.htm

"And eight Lisu demon-worshippers have their lives to Jesus on the spot"

He calls Mormons and the Church of Jesus Christ "cults": "...we do warn new believers to avoid the cults, such as ... Mormons, 'Church of Jesus Christ..." Now, I don't necessarily disagree with him but I'd say he forgot to include himself in that list.

and for examples of general nuttiness, read the above linked page. The guy claims he can heal people through prayer: "...once I prayed for a crippled teenager...the girl was healed and threw away her crutch.", battle demons and at the end, he begs for money "If the Lord is nudging you to donate some money..."

I'm sorry but to most regular folks, this is a crazy person. MacUpdate refuses to host software that is political in nature (at least, liberally political. I assume you are even handed and extend that to all sides of the spectrum) so you really shouldn't being hosting such nutcase stuff as this.  
(Version 1.1)

GAOSHAN  Against my better Judgement I gave this a shot. It links to ignorant, insane-sounding blatherings that are loony at best, offensive at worst (the author's website calls some native Thai people "demon worshipers" for crying out loud). Yuck.

MacUpdate blocks potentially inflamatory politically oriented software and, frankly, I wish they'd extend that blocking to offensive religiously oriented things (like this widget).  
(Version 1.1)

GAOSHAN  Thanks for the warning. I, for one, appreciate it and will certainly not use this thing because of it.  
(Version 1.1)

GAOSHAN  The Bible is a book of love (as you say) and Islam is the religion of peace (as many Muslms say). Both statements are technically true. Both statements are equally pointless.

The bible can be a book a love but that doesn't mean a damn thing when a screaming christian fundamentalist is shouting that God Hates Fags or Loves IED's (those Phelps followers) or is telling you that you if you don't follow that book of love you will spend eternity roasting in the pits of hell. Kind of negates all the "love" stuff (and please don't say that "real" christians don't think like that because plenty of them do).  
(Version 1.0.5)

GAOSHAN  Yup. I agree.  
(Version 1.3.1)

GAOSHAN  I just downloaded it and now, each time I launch it, it tells me there is a new version available. I download the new version, install it and then, after launching, it tells me there is a new version available, etc., etc.

Seems too flaky for use to me. Sorry.  
(Version 1.5.2)

GAOSHAN  The developer has a point. Going to answer him? I'm hoping to hear as well.  
(Version 1.5.2)

GAOSHAN  What do you expect? It's not like you paid for Omniw... oh, wait. You did pay for it. Hmmm, maybe just switch to one of the awesome, free browsers that is available.  
(Version 5.5.4)

GAOSHAN  What in the world is "jitter" and why would I want to measure it?  
(Version 0.14)

GAOSHAN  Wow! Taskman didn't get angry at Leo's tone, answered his questions with honest, direct answers and then released a new version of 7zX that addresses Leo's very valid concerns.

I'm impressed! A mature developer who listens to his users even when they don't pay for his product. I wish there were more devs like you, Taskman.  
(Version 1.6)

GAOSHAN  The application crashes on launch. I cannot get it to open under any circumstances.  
(Version 0.3)

GAOSHAN  How does it differ from, say, Onyx or maintain?   
(Version 1.1)

GAOSHAN  Oh, I agree with you entirely. I am happy to see things like Kimai on Macupdate.

It's just that users of "traditional" Mac programs often get confused when they download what appears to be nothing more than a folder full of files. Some extra explanation helps them to understand what it all is.  
(Version 0.6.1)

GAOSHAN  One very important note about this software. It is not a Cocoa app and thus requires very special installation instructions.

It is made using PHP and MySQL and consists of a number of files in a folder... not a one-clickable icon like a cocoa app. You can only access it through a web browser and you really should understand how to properly secure an apache directory before using this or your data will be available for anyone on the web to see. This also means you will need to have PHP, the MySQL database and a webserver (Apache) running.

You will need to follow the installation instructions carefully and be able to:

- run the files from your webserver's doc root (don't know what that is? Don't download this app)

- edit php files (to set the configuration)

- understand how to change file permissions (if you don't know what the unix commands chmod or chown do, you may want to read up on that)

- you must remember to delete the install.php file after installing and before any attempts to update the app.

I'm surprised the author doesn't mention all of this as this application is quite different from most of what you find on Macupdate... more like something you'd find on sourceforge.com  
(Version 0.6)

GAOSHAN  The package manager formerly known as DarwinPorts is the best thing out there for easy installation, compiling and management of all sorts of unix based stuff.

Super app! Better than Fink, in my opinion, as it seems to have more up to date packages, in general.  
(Version 1.3.2)

GAOSHAN  Thanks alot... not importing functions is a big deal for me as well. I love how Zend Studio handles that, among other things. I am really 100% happy with Zend Studio (and excited to make use of the integrated Zend Framework that they have deployed with 5.5) but I have seen Komodo around for ages and always kind of wondered.  
(Version 4.0b3)

GAOSHAN  I let Xtorrent run for about an hour and it never did connect to begin downloading. Tried the same torrent file in Transmission and it connected instantly.

Xtorrent is pretty but I'll stick with Transmission.  
(Version 1.0b2v25)

GAOSHAN  How does its PHP handling compare to Zend Studio? Eclipse? Anyone know?  
(Version 4.0b3)

GAOSHAN  This is by far the best holiday tree program available for the Mac. In fact, it is why I became a switcher... there just isn't any other holiday tree program that is nearly as elegant and functionally astonishing as this. To be fair, there is a pretty slick Kwanzaa candelabra for the Commodre 64, but I digress.

Of course, I have come to expect this from J. Schilling as he has a history of producing best of breed apps (see MacBarfX, BinClocken, Power Orgasm and Poop Alerts for examples of his genious (Power Orgasm in particular caused quite a stir on my parent's church's laptops).  
(Version 1.4)

GAOSHAN  Seriously! This is the first real mahjong I've seen for the Mac.

Just so you all know, most of the so-called "Mahjong" games are tile matching games with mahjong pieces. About like playing Go Fish and calling it Bridge because it uses the same cards.  
(Version 1.2)

GAOSHAN  Read the comments more carefully. This has been done. The author took the original icons (very nice ones) and dumped them for these ugly ones. People asked that he reinstate the old ones. He refuses to do so. Thus the complaining. We, the users who have complained, have indeed gone ahead and made an entire replacement set of icons. They are available here:

http://www.shinze.com/index.php/post/2006/09/18/142-a-new-set-of-icons-for-smultron  
(Version 2.2.5)

GAOSHAN  Oh, a quick tip/hint. If you are totally stuck on a certain level and cannot defeat the enemy, using a hex editor like HexEdit (available here on MacUpdate) pop open the saved game file (it will be in ~/Library/Preferences/Wesnoth/saves), do a search for the amount of gold you currently have and change the number to something greater. This will give you the boost you may need to get past a particularly sticky spot.

I personally only do this when my adventure will be over because I cannot advance due to being overwhelmed by the enemy.  
(Version 1.1.12)

GAOSHAN  What a fun game! This is my current game addiction and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes the fantasy genre.   
(Version 1.1.12)

GAOSHAN  What in the world does Onyx have to do with Xslimmer? Your comment is like pointing out that Photoshop is faster than Google Earth.  
(Version 1.0.8rc2)

GAOSHAN  Well, the icons used to be nice and then the developer changed them to the current ugly. Thus the complaints... why make a great product uglier? Happily we are free to make our own icons for Smultron and once made, can distribute them so that others can use them (or not, in your case).

It's all about choice my friend.  
(Version 2.2.1)

GAOSHAN  I'm running it on a G4 iBook 1.2Ghz with 768mb RAM and it runs fine. I'm not pushing it but just futzing around and there is no delay for redraw at all.  
(Version 5.0.305)

GAOSHAN  The creator of these replacement icons has put out his own package that now works with Smultron 2.2... might as well use his as it has a few icons I did not include.

http://www.shinze.com/index.php/post/2006/10/19/Smultron-icons-11  
(Version 2.2)

GAOSHAN  Well, unless you knew that Yahoo owns del.icio.us (which I now do) wouldn't you wonder? Without knowing this, it didn't make sense that you would access yahoo rather than del.icio.us.

Uhm, thank you for clearing it up.  
(Version 1.0.1)

GAOSHAN  Little Snitch says that dead.licious wants to connect to: s47.del.re4.yahoo.net

Why?  
(Version 1.0)

GAOSHAN  This latest release breaks the icon replacement set that I linked to earlier. Thus, I took the liberty of making a new package of those replacement icons. You can get it here:

http://sandhill.homeunix.com/NewIcons.mpkg.zip

Download it, unzip it, double click and it will replace the default icons with a much better looking set (created by the original icon maker for Smultron... not me). If you want to preserve the original icons, make a copy somewhere as this replaces them.  
(Version 2.1.5)

GAOSHAN  $49!! Yikes! That is pretty expensive. For $30 more you can get the entire iLife suite of applications. This IS a very nice app but $49 is still too much. I personally think $29 would make this an excellent buy.  
(Version 1.1)

GAOSHAN  Midgard is way difficult to deal with. If you are looking for an good open source CMS check out http://www.opensourcecms.com for demo installs of dozens of PHP/MySQL based Content Managament Systems. You can try them out yourself without having to download or install anything.

The systems mentioned earlier, Mambo and Joomla, are both available.  
(Version 1.8b2)

GAOSHAN  Thanks for the tip. I was about to downoad this but now I will avoid it.  
(Version 1.4.1b2)

GAOSHAN  Smultron is a solid text editor that now suffers from "developer who thinks he can create icons" syndrome.

Sadly, he is mistaken. Fortunately for us users the original icon developer has created a selection of replacement icons that are far superior to what the developer has munged together. You can get them here:

http://www.shinze.com/index.php/post/2006/09/18/142-a-new-set-of-icons-for-smultron

Install these and turn your Smultron interface from cartoonish to professional in one click.  
(Version 2.1.4)

GAOSHAN  That is what it was. I had entered some text in the search field. Thanks for the help.  
(Version 4.0b1)

GAOSHAN  I was excited to see PTHPasteboard back but it doesn't seem to work well. Copies are simply not showing up in the window that appears when you call up the pasteboard (the one with the pink eraser icon). It remains empty and I cannot add anything to it.  
(Version 4.0b1)

GAOSHAN  If VLC offers functions to adjust smoothing or video enhancement while Perian does not, why use Perian?  
(Version 0.5)

GAOSHAN  Safari uses Quicktime and installing Perian did not enable me to view .avi files inline. Shouldn't it work?  
(Version 0.5)

GAOSHAN  This is nothing more than a front-end for the unix command bzip2 (which is painfully simple to use without paying a penny):

To compress a file:

1. open Terminal

2. type: bzip2

3. drag the file to be compressed and drop it onto Terminal

4. Hit the return key

To decompress a file:

1. open Terminal

2. type: bunzip2

3. drag the file to be decompressed and drop it onto Terminal

4. Hit the return key

If you are seriously low in memory, for step 2 type: bzip2 -s

To vary the level of compression, for step 2 type:

bzip2 -1

bzip2 -2

" "

bzip2 -9

these set the level of compression. -9 is used by default (i.e. if you don't set anything, that means -9 will be used) and, frankly, the best choice. The other settings don't really have much affect worth noting.

Never pay for an application that does not offer any significant convenience or ability.  
(Version 1.0.2)

GAOSHAN  Why in the world weren't these released with Smultron? They are much better than the slightly goofy ones that are the default now.  
(Version 1.0)

GAOSHAN  Dui. Zhe ge app zhende hao. Bi vijournal hao.  
(Version 2.0.2)

GAOSHAN  Being a "collection of php scripts" is a bad thing? I don't follow.

The MySQL Admin app is a collection of frameworks, and XML files.

They both work as a coherent whole. phpMyAdmin just happens to be more powerful and bug free.   
(Version 2.9rc1)

GAOSHAN  I suspect the artwork suffers from "super smart, young developer who doesn't realize that art is more difficult than it appears" syndrome. i.e. He's used to being able to do anything he sets his mind to and is unaware that with things artistic, it just doesn't always wotk that way. You often simple either can or cannot. No middle ground, no way to learn it no matter how brilliant you are.  
(Version 2.1.2)

GAOSHAN  Neat! The graphics of this beta's user interface are beyond anything else available (except for certain elements of WebKit nightlies). The shelf, pagedock, privacy features and HUD panels (click on the History button to see a HUD panel) are really cutting edge. Love it! Aside from Safari it is the only other real web browser that has the cocoa/aqua feel to it. Really feels like a Mac program.

Be aware that this is a real beta. Many things don't function or don't function like they should. If you want a smooth browsing experience, get the stable version. However, if you want a sneak peek at your birthday present, check out this beta.

Note that in my review, the only reason this doesn't get a solid 5 stars is because it is a beta and simply cannot have a 5 in Stability.  
(Version 2.0b1)

GAOSHAN  Cute! My kids love Mater (You know, like Towmater but without the Tow) so I made him my hard drive icon. Well done.  
(Version 1.0)

GAOSHAN  Fantastic app! I use it with Cyberduck quite often. Now, about those new icons. They have GOT to go. They are really, really (really) ugly and distracting.

I know this is a free app and you can do what you like but why build a Ferarri and then paint it turd brown?

Take your inspiration from the icons used in Apple's own cocoa apps. They've thought long and hard about it and done a great job.  
(Version 2.0.1)

GAOSHAN  I use Smultron in conjunction with CyberDuck. As a pair, they work marvelously together.  
(Version 2.0)

GAOSHAN  At last! Something I can browse the web with. Now if I could only find applications that would let me take notes, browse fonts and something to convert currency.

In all seriousness creating a simple browser with web kit is a great way to learn some of the basics of programming for the Mac. There are simple tutorials for this at Apple's developer website. However, if you want to release an app for the public to use why not spend your energy creating something people need or something that is not in an already crowded, well-served field?

Some good examples? Witch, Quicksilver, AppZapper, Brickhouse, Smultron, Xyle Scope, ManOpen, JellyfiSSH, Cyberduck, MacBarfX ;) , etc., etc.  
(Version 1.1.2a)

GAOSHAN  Nothing wrong with this app but it is not nearly as usefull as ManOpen.  
(Version 1.2)

GAOSHAN  "...not compatible with tons of web sites."

Some examples?   
(Version 0.7.1)

GAOSHAN  Exactly what I am wondering. Digital Color Meter does the same thing, works great and is already installed, free, on all Macs.

For those interested it is in the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder.  
(Version 1.6.2)

GAOSHAN  It is free. Let the guy ask for money if he wants to. He has created this wrapper, implemented drag and drop and figured out the various setting and configurations for you. That isn't the same as actually creating the compression program he is using but it isn't trivial either.

His program is a wrapper for the actual compression program 7z (specifically p7zip which is the version that will work from the Mac command line. You can find it here ).

Just install it and you can compress away without nag screens. However, it isn't as convenient as drag and drop so there you go. 7zX is the best implementation of 7z in a drag and drop GUI for the Mac.   
(Version 1.3.3)

GAOSHAN  If you are researching server stats packages take a look at AWStats. It is free and powerful.  
(Version 3.0b3)

GAOSHAN  Great! The best thing about this version is the ability to point it at my own installation of nmap. Makes it much more flexible and useful.  
(Version 3.0)

GAOSHAN  I am asking this question without having used this application because the output in the screenshoot looks familiar. Is this simply a frontend for the unix command fs_usage?

If it is, $20 is a pretty ballsy ripoff for a simple gui to someone elses application. If it isn't, what can it do that fs_usage can't?

For the curious, your Mac comes with fs_usage. To try it out, here is a sample command:

sudo fs_usage -e -f filesys|grep -v CACHE_HIT|grep -v grep|grep -v mds

The -e prevents fs_usage from monitoring itself, the -f filesys make it monitor only filesystem activity (as opposed to network activity), the various grep -v foo parts tell fs_usage to ignore those various things (i.e. grep, mds, whatever else you don't want to monitor).

Why would you want to use it? If you have an app, say Safari, that is giving you the spinning pinwheel of death, fs_usage would be able to tell you what was going on when that lockup was happening. Might point to something you can fix (like a cache file that should be deleted). Of course, fs_usage has to already be running when this happens.  
(Version 1.2.1)

GAOSHAN  Five months after the previous comment the warning about SIMBL, in the console, is still appearing and no fix has been made for Taboo. I, for one, am suspicious about recent Safari crashes and this message so I am going to delete Taboo for the time being.  
(Version 0.3)

GAOSHAN  Sounds a lot like Font Book.  
(Version 1.0)

GAOSHAN  This product has the potential to be very educational for MySQL newbies and useful to experienced users who have to put together complex queries.

Unfortunately, this version (1.1.18... which has actually been available for at least a few weeks now) seems to be buggy on the Mac. You should be able to drag tables over to the query window and drop them on the desired command but it just doesn't work on my iBook (10.4.5). It DID work on previous versions.

Lotd of potential here, just not trouble free.  
(Version 1.1.18)

GAOSHAN  Pirx, I was trying to assist you. You seem to have taken it as an attack on you and responded childishly. Next time just take the advice for what it is and try to chill.  
(Version 0.9.13)

GAOSHAN  "...avoid the ridiculous, total waste of time..." As I said, it requires some minor technical knowledge to use proxy servers effectively. For anyone reading this, you can find and switch proxies in a matter of seconds.  
(Version 0.9.13)

GAOSHAN  Do what everyone in China does and use a proxy server. It is simple to set up and it's what practically every internet savy person there does. You can also try Tor... worked great for me last time I was in China.

The Great Firewall, while unfortunate and a bad idea, isn't all the Great, it's more of an inconvenience.  
(Version 0.9.13)

GAOSHAN  Thanks for checking this out and pulling it. I would certainly have downloaded and tried this one out otherwise. You saved me from a bad experience!  
(Version 1.0pre2)

GAOSHAN  I'm not reviewing this as I has trouble getting it to work properly.

I AM going to comment on the amount of "stuff" installed and changed on my computer. Zimbra needs to make a number of fundamental changes to your system. For example, it created it's own user and group without asking. I understand that it needs to do this to work but if you install this you need to be aware that uninstalling it will be much more complicated than your average OS X application. There are files and logs and configurations that are changed all over the place. If you have some skill with unix and the command line, you will be able to track them all down... eventually.   
(Version 3.0)

GAOSHAN  Uhmm... because it is free?  
(Version 1.32)

GAOSHAN  Super neat! I have used Brickhouse in the past (like, 10.2 past) and this pref pane looks to be a simple, powerful, convenient way to have more detailed management over my firewall. It certainly beats what Apple has built in and it is not as intimidating as editing the raw firewall tables. Very nice!  
(Version 2.0beta)

GAOSHAN  Neat (but with 1 problem)! I have used apachebench for some time to test tweaks to my servers, code optimizations and databases. Having it available with a gui isn't really a necessity but it is nice to have, nonetheless.

Some differences with the command line version and this gui... the gui somewhat confusingly asks you for a path and has it separated from the hostname/ip/url field. If you try to input the entire url, including the path, into the hostname field, this gui will NOT work. This is a problem, in my opinion. The command line version allows you to input all of that in one string (i.e. http://www.macupdate.com/mommy/macsurferx.xml rather than :http://www.macupdate.com in one field and /mommy/macsurferx.xml in a different field). Additionally, while causing no harm, you really only need to designate the port when it differs from 80.

For those wondering how to use it, here are some example command line usages to demonstrate figures you could plug in to this nice gui:

ab -n 1000 -c 100 http://the.site.to/test

ab = the unix name of apachebench

-n 1000 = perform 1000 requests

-c 100 = run 100 requests simultaneously

Be aware that anything taxing your server when the test is run may skew the results.

I was able to use apache bench to test tweaks to a cms installation and bump it from a default of 6 requests per second up to a nice 43 per second! Quite useful.  
(Version 0.1)

GAOSHAN  I'd heard that 7z was a good compression method so I tested this implementation of it against OS X's built-in archive method (zip), gzip and bzip2 (my usual compression method). Here are the results:

File to be compressed contains:

1 installer package

3 small rtf files

2 folders each containing four 50k gif images

Total size 528k

104k - Archive (zip)

80k - gzip

64k - bzip2

52k - 7zX (preserve resources)

48k - 7zX (without resources)   
(Version 1.1)

GAOSHAN  Well, it sure sounds better than ButtMonkey 1.0.  
(Version 1.0)

GAOSHAN  The games that fall under "Mahjong" on the computer are not Mahjong. They have as much to do with actual Mahjong as playing checkers with playing cards would have with Bridge (i.e. nothing but the cards themselves).

I just found that Wikipedia seems to have a really solid description of Mahjong here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong  
(Version 1.0)

GAOSHAN  My first thought was "Ooooh! Finally something I can browse the web with... and for only $10"

However, I gave it a fair tryout. Here are the results:

On launch it tells me there is a newer version available. I click the download button, it crashes.

I do this again, it crashes.

I decide not to upgrade and on the third launch I am able to use DeskBrowse.

It is pretty neat! The browser is super fast, compact and I really like how it slides in and out from the side when needed. It also seems very quick. It uses very little memory (was using 36mb after 10 minutes of use).

My overall feeling (ignoring the repeated crashes)? Convenient, slick little browser. Too bad it costs money. I can't imagine paying for a web browser so I will never switch to DeskBrowse. If you can, however, you may like this.  
(Version 1.0b4)

GAOSHAN  This is a comment, not a review.

These mahjong stacking games are quite fun but I have always wanted to play a real game of mahjong.

In case you aren't aware, Mahjong is actually a four person game that normally involves gambling. It is very popular in China amongst (usually) older people and seems to bear little resemblance to the gameplay of games like this one (beyond the stacking bit, anyway. I don't actually know the rules, I've just seen it played). Some of the tiles are similar to the sort you see in these stacking games but many are not.

So... anyone know of any real mahjong games?  
(Version 1.0)

GAOSHAN  Excellent advice. For those who don't know, your Mac has TONS of useful, free, unix programs available.

However, tcpflow isn't one of them (at least not for the client versions of Tiger). To get a copy for yourself visit: http://www.entropy.ch/software/macosx/#tcpflow  
(Version 1.0)

GAOSHAN  The screen capture you worked with is a very inaccurate comparison. The developer most likely was working with a high resolution image to begin with. You were working with a screen capture that would have been several generations removed from the original image.

Put another way, comparing what you achieved with your screen capture to the developer's original is about like comparing day old bread to a fresh loaf.   
(Version 1.1.18)

GAOSHAN  Ask and you shall receive... RsyncxAnd here is how to use it: http://www.labf.org/~egon/mac_backup/.Note that this backup option (which I use) costs $99.95 less than Synchronize Pro. Also note that the directions on making use of Rsyncx clock in at about 9 pages. Synchronize Pro's directions are over 70 pages.  
(Version 5.0b3)

GAOSHAN  "...support for OSX 10.3.9. Domo Arigato!" Mr. Roboto.  
(Version 1.2.1)

GAOSHAN  Kind of like a tarted up, dumbed down second cousin of Limewire. Only not free, like Limewire. No contest... get Limewire.  
(Version 125.1)

GAOSHAN  Best FTP client I've ever used. Period. Does everything the commercial clients do but does it for free.  
(Version 2.5.3)

GAOSHAN  This is very nice! It does everything the Finder "could" do but doesn't. As for it being slow, are you running it off of a floppy using a TRS-80 emulator? 'Cause it seems pretty fast on my G4 1.2Ghz iBook.

I especially like being able to do a tar and bzip right from within Path Finder. Neat!  
(Version 4.0)

GAOSHAN  I've tried it out and it is basically a very simple, web site creator based on pre-made templates. You can customize the text and can add images, pages, links.

Think of it as a tool for people who want a small, extremely basic, website but don't have the faintest idea how to make one. My grandmother would find it useful for her nursing home bridge club's website (if they actually had one).

If, like me, you are experienced with creating websites you will have no use for this application.  
(Version 1.0b11 build 283)

GAOSHAN  Wow! Peter Maurer makes great Mac software. Like Peter's other products Service Scrubber is a gem. It makes getting rid of excessive service menu items a snap (and putting them back just as easy).  
(Version 1.0)

GAOSHAN  Really a neat thing! Too bad the app was pulled from circulation (at least I got mine). It works fine on my G4 867mhz with 1gb RAM, btw.  
(Version 3.1.0371)