GREG RAVEN  It's wonderful having a new version of MAMP Pro. I'd stopped using the old version because the developer seemed to have abandoned it, and between the built-in Apache server with Mac OS X and the new, easy-to-install MySQL, it was easier to roll my own local development server.

But now I'm back with MAMP Pro, not only for the ease of use, but for the little extras that are difficult to do when rolling your own. As opposed to using the built-in server, MAMP Pro also allows you to keep most of your development server files outside of the /etc/ folder, which makes them easier to work with, back up, keep track of, etc. -- especially through the OS upgrade process.

So far, I've come across only a couple of gotchas.

First, even though there seems to be an httpd.conf file in the conf folder inside the MAMP directory, it's not the one that controls the behavior of MAMP Pro. For that, you have to go into your /Library/Application Support/appsolute/MAMP PRO/conf folder. Because MAMP Pro puts all the NameVirtualHost and VirtualHost info inside the httpd.conf file, you'll have to take a step back from doing it the new Apache way, but it's not that big a deal. I have just over a dozen virtual hosts on my machine, and I set them up in what seemed to be a few minutes.

Second, MAMP Pro isn't really ready out of the box to run a local instance of Movable Type. WordPress is just about a no-brainer, but with MT, you can wander into blind alleys that seem to have no exit. I finally got mine to run by setting up my SQLite databases under the cgi-bin directory, rather than in the /db/sqlite section of MAMP Pro. Of course, even once you get it running, there are perl modules missing so MT throws error messages all over, but you can work through them ... at least to get your development instance working.

About the only thing on my wish list is that it would be nice to be able to store the MAMP and MAMP Pro files someplace other than the /Applications directory, because that's not the way I have may files arranged.

Bottom line: If you need a development server environment and don't feel like fighting with BitNami or xampp, or rolling your own, or making do with the lesser utility of a VirtualHostX-based system, MAMP Pro is just about the shortest way of getting there.  
(Version 1.8.2)

GREG RAVEN  Well for one reason, some of us need ImageMagick because Movable Type virtually requires it.  
(Version 6.5.5)

GREG RAVEN  These icons may be great if you view your icons at huge sizes, but when viewed at what I feel is a normal size, you can barely tell what differentiates one icon from another. It doesn't help that a large percentage of each icon is consumed with the same "chrome," which lends nothing toward legibility. Nice looking, but useless.  
(Version 1.0)

GREG RAVEN  Well, it is free to download (unlike on the JumpBox site, where you have to be a payable subscriber to download this box, and you can install it in your VM (I have it set up in VirtualBox), but after it loads and gives you the IP address, that's it. The IP address doesn't respond, and neither does the "admin" https page at port 3000. Fortunately, it's pretty darned easy to set up an instance of WordPress, even if you have to install MySQL, MAMP, XAMPP, etc.  
(Version 1.1.16)

GREG RAVEN  The last two updates (1.08 and 1.09) have performed perfectly for me on a couple of different Macs. The only thing I don't like is that the features of the Mac version lag behind the features of the Windows version. Still, the new versions do everything my original version did, and the set-up for remote (Internet as opposed to intranet) viewing is now seamless.  
(Version 1.0.9)

GREG RAVEN  I hate to say this, Steve, but I agree with Paladino. I can do many of these data-clean-up tasks with my copy of Excel (only $229), Filemaker (only $299), Panorama (only $299), or some combination of the three. When the data are really bad, I can always fall back on BBEdit to start getting the data in shape in the form of HTML tables (only $125), and then open the resulting file in Dreamweaver (only $399) to continue the with manual labor. Of course, after manually manipulating the data, I need to open the file with Excel in order to get it into Filemaker or Panorama. Even though this can take hours and hours of my irreplaceable time, and I have to remember GREP and various commands and syntaxes in Filemaker and Panorama, at least I'm not paying $80 -- $80!! -- for R10Clean Professional.  
(Version 2.2.1)

GREG RAVEN  While MAMP Pro on the surface seems easier to use, it hasn't been updated in almost a year, and support for it seems to have ceased for all intents and purposes. From what I can tell, to set up virtual hosts in XAMPP you have to edit httpd.conf to allow virtual hosts, and then edit the virtual hosts file in the extra folder. This is more difficult that simply adding a line to your hosts file, which MAMP Pro recognizes, but it is also the new standard for managing virtual hosts. It's also nice that XAMPP has the more recent versions of Apache, MySQL, PHP, etc. Last but not least, XAMPP is free, where you have to pay for MAMP Pro.  
(Version 1.0.1)

GREG RAVEN  We discovered SlingBox and SlingPlayer by accident several months ago. Since then, we've been completely happy with it. We can watch TV at any computer in the house, and when we travel, we can watch our home TV on my Powerbook. Once the Mac version of the software catches up to the Windows version, SlingPlayer will be even better.  
(Version 1.0.6)

GREG RAVEN  After using an IBM Selectric II for many years to write screenplays, I thought MS Word 3.0 was a tremendous step up. Then I switched to FrameMaker, but Adobe stopped Mac development. That dumped me back into Word, but the newer versions are weird for screenplays, despite the power of the program. I've tried other screenplay-centric programs, but Celtx has been my favorite for the last few versions. I've converted each of my old and current screenplay projects into Celtx, and I'm almost completely happy. About the only thing I'd change about the program is the way it handles (V.O.) next to the character name. First, it capitalizes it, which is not the Universal Studios format I learned many years ago. Second, when it builds lists of names from your screenplay, you will see (for example) CARL and CARL (V.O.) as separate entries. I can kinda see how some might find this a feature, but it bugs me. Still, this is a tremendous program, and it is free, AND you can sign up to share and discuss your projects on the Celtx website, which could be really nice if you're collaborating with others. By the way, the HTML files Celtx generates are very clean, code-wise, so posting your work on-line doesn't involve 30 minutes of code munging as with MS Word.  
(Version 1.0)

GREG RAVEN  You can do a lot of this without any hassle by simply putting Project Gallery Launcher in your Dock. It's already on your disk at MS Office -> Office -> Project Gallery Launcher.  
(Version 1.8)

GREG RAVEN  I was going to create a spreadsheet in Numbers to track my weight and fitness goal, then I came across this program. It's almost as small as a very basic spreadsheet, but it does a lot more.

Adding data points could be more intuitive, but once you understand how it works, it's a snap.

My only real beef is that I wish it would track my body fat index, too, as I have a scale that measures this.

Fabulous little program.  
(Version 1.0.1)

GREG RAVEN  The files I have within folders are structured -- day folders within month folders within year folders. It would be great if BMFM would append the year, month, and day from the enclosing folders to the filenames, when putting everything into one big folder.  
(Version 1.0)

GREG RAVEN  AWStats pales in comparison with Summary. I've used Summary for years, and every time I have to use some other stats program, I wince. Summary not only tells you the most, it makes it easy to find what you're seeking. I combine Summary with one of Jason's free software products, DNSTran, for even better reports. Even with large log files, DNSTran zips right along, especially if you're using OpenDNS.  
(Version 3.0.4)

GREG RAVEN  OpenTerminalHere.app does the same thing, so I don't consider this unexpected behavior.  
(Version 2.0)

GREG RAVEN  The new version is even better than the previous, and as you can see below, I really liked the previous version. The two main improvements as far as I'm concerned are the addition af a search box on each results page, and the link to the "index" page. Fabulous stuff!  
(Version 2.0)

GREG RAVEN  This is certainly a better way of removing localization files than searching for them and then deleting them by hand. However, after running Monolingual on my system, the Spotlight input field is unusable because it is mapped to some utterly alien keyboard arrangement. As far as I can tell, only the "a" key is in the same place it should be. I'm using the Dvorak layout, and everything else seems to be working okay except for Spotlight.  
(Version 1.3.3)

GREG RAVEN  I've seen several other ways of reading man pages that don't involve going to Terminal.app, but Bwana is far and away the best method. I virtually always have Safari open, so man pages are seldom more than a click away. Bwana formats the man pages very nicely, and adds links to other man pages. As nice as Bwana is, it's a shame that most man pages are so poorly written. Bwana deserves better!  
(Version 1.9)

GREG RAVEN  I haven't given this a complete work-out, but I tried importing a screenplay from MS Word in RTF format. It lost all the formating, which isn't too surprising, but it really, really resists holding even its own format. I can see how it might be useful if it worked as advertised, but for $99, I'll continue to use Word to get almost the same results with about the same level of effort.  
(Version 1.0b7)

GREG RAVEN  I downloaded the file, unZipped it, and double-clicked on the WebTide icon. It appears to start to launch, but then nothing.  
(Version 1.2)