PALADINO  I've just spent 7 days testing Netshade 3.3.2 and found that there are NO 3 star (most secure) proxies available, just two 2 star proxies (moderately secure) and both are so slow as to render them unusable for all practical purposes, but a number of 1 star proxies (the least secure, so why bother), most of them slow, still available.

I'd consider this kind of performance unacceptable.  
(Version 3.3.2)

PALADINO  "The variable zerothoptions is not defined" message appears upon Houdini launch in version 1.5.1 also.

Hey developer, don't ya think it's time to give it up already? You're

obviously in way above your head.  
(Version 1.5.1)

PALADINO  Virusbarrier is $70, but then, as others have pointed out, a year after purchase you'll need to pay $30 for another year's worth of updates, and again a year later.

For some reason, the cost of these updates is not mentioned anywhere on Intego's website, at least I couldn't find it, and I searched and searched.

Hmm, wonder why they're not mentioning the update cost there? (The update cost was stated a while back, but no longer)

A better bet, if you feel the need to pay for virus protection ("Viruses for Mac? What viruses? There are still NO active ones out there") might be the highly regarded "avast! Antivirus" http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/26644/avast%21-antivirus. They just charge a licensing fee, which is $40 for one year, but $75 for three years....which is just $25 per year, not bad at all.

Of course, as has been mentioned by others, here, there's ClamXav. It's FREE and is quite respectable. http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/15850/clamxav  
(Version 10.4.4)

PALADINO  Nope, never have.....but I just took a look, gave it a try, and I DO like what I see!

Seems a bit more sophisticated than Screenium and, so far, appears to work quite well.

Thanks for mentioning it!  
(Version 1.0b3)

PALADINO  I, too, tried to configure iCab to accept log-in info after getting instructions from the developer but no matter what I did could not get it to work. It was a totally exasperating experience.

Until this feature is completely smoothed out and made totally user friendly, iCab won't get much use from me.

Except for this one fly in the Preparation H, iCab is quite good, I do like it. But it IS a deal breaker for me.  
(Version 4.0)

PALADINO  I totally agree; no ability to save log-in info is a MAJOR shortcoming of an otherwise fine browser.

It makes logging in at various sites, using iCab, a pain in the ass...entering username and password manually each time.

Wonder why the developer didn't include such a browser "must have"? Yes, a BIG shortcoming, indeed!  
(Version 4.0)

PALADINO  While a screen capture utility with good video/movie capture ability at $20 would be great(the only other screen capture app that does that{as far as I know} is Snapz Pro X, which works quite well but is $69), Screenium is still in beta and it's video capture is aggravatingly buggy.

Why the developer requires one to purchase a full license before trying all Screenium's features(it's preferences are unavailable and there's no help function), is beyond me. Screenium, still in beta, needs more work.

The standard still image capture seems to work fine, but it's the video/movie capture....the only feature which would get me to pay the $20 for Screenium that has problems.

And I'm just NOT gonna pay for a beta version with all its video/movie capture bugs. Once the developer irons out the bugs, I'll most likely buy it.  
(Version 1.0b1)

PALADINO  There's a version for OS 10.4 also available; look at the bottom of the window above.  
(Version 3.4.3)

PALADINO  Are you running OS 10.5? Quickscale won't open with anything less. It's for Leopard only.  
(Version 3.4.3)

PALADINO  ClamXav, my anti-virus program, found what it says is an infected file; it's the "iTextAsian.jar" file. The path to it is: /Applications/xmind.app/Contents/Resources/plugins/com.lowagie.itext_2.0.4/iTextAsian.jar.

Dunno if it's a false positive or not. If it is an infected file, it's likely a PC/Windows virus....but ya never know.

Check it out.  
(Version 2.1)

PALADINO  Memoires is a really nice, simple journeling app; I'd use it except that it's, IMHO, overpriced...considering it's simplicity. So I'll pass on this one.

A much better bet, I think, might be Journler: http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/18214/journler

It's got some really interesting features, and it's free for non-commercial use.   
(Version 1.1.38)

PALADINO  Schreiben is really sweet....it's simple, well designed and very efficient.

The price is reasonable at €4.95, which in US dollars is, at the moment, about $7.

Schreiben is sure to get more and more expensive since the greenback is on its way to eventually becoming toilet paper, so those of us in the US best get it now.  
(Version 2.1)

PALADINO  Having used WriteRoom for several more months, I have come to appreciate it even more and now feel that it certainly IS worth its $25 price; if I hadn't already purchased it for the MacPromo price of $15, I would unhesitatingly pay the full $25. Five full stars for WriteRoom! β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…!!!  
(Version 2.2)

PALADINO  While it's an ok notepad, it lacks the uniqueness or sophistication to justify its $20 price tag....but then, I question whether any notepad is worth $20.

I MIGHT go for it if it were no more than $10, but at $20....out of the question.

There are developers who put a lot more work into creating apps, and apps that are unique, too, yet charge half of what Mac Notepad goes for.

Anyway, I'll definitely pass on this one.  
(Version 4.4)

PALADINO  Yeah, €15(about $20, currently) for this is HORRIBLY overpriced(I think ALL this developer's software is horribly overpriced).....but "Keyclick" works beautifully and is only $2.50.  
(Version 3.6)

PALADINO  Yeah, support? What support.

HORRIBLE! HORRIBLE! HORRIBLE!

And, of course, there are no secure, usable proxies any more. ARRGH!!!!!  
(Version 3.1.1)

PALADINO  This is obviously designed for children; if you're "all grown up", it will insult your intelligence, so don't waste your time with it.

It's very limited in what it can do, and the little cartoon character that tells you what each function can do is too annoyingly "cutsypoo"....but, then, for better or for worse, I'm not a child; a little kid would probably find it appealing.

And, yeah, you can't just quit this app, it won't let you before all the credits scroll, so you have to force quit....it's a bit aggravating.  
(Version 1.2.2)

PALADINO  I use this for one purpose only, to help create a writing environment that maximizes my creativity.

I set the screen background to a color that suits me best...a dark blue, the page color a lighter blue but still rather dark, and the font color a pale blue...along with the font style and size that I like. This particular combination works for me.

I then keep my room lighting at a very low level. All together it DOES facilitate the flow of my creative juices.

The user can play around with color combos 'till he/she finds the one that feels right for him/her.

After I've got my writing down, I export it to my word processing app.

I really like Write Room, it works for me for the purpose for which it was intended.

I purchased a license when it was at the MacUpdate daily special price of $15, which I think is about right for this app.

At the regular price of $25, I think it's rather overpriced.  
(Version 2.1)

PALADINO  While I'd pretty much agree with the previous reviewer's opinion, I found that the jump in difficulty at level 7 is too great.

Up until then I was doing pretty well; it was challenging yet I could still get my "wins", but at the 7th level I was getting mostly losses with very few wins.

Regardless of how hard I tried, I was getting severely beaten. It rapidly changed from good, challenging fun to a depressing exercise in futility.

It would be great if the developer's would make the increase in difficulty more gradual.  
(Version 1.0.1)

PALADINO  I think that free email providers are most likely to have inefficient spam filtering(or none at all). My three "for pay" providers catch virtually all spam; almost none gets through, although some folks do have spam problems with their "for pay" providers.

Anyway, if you are lucky enough to have efficient spam filtering from your provider, then, of course, something like SpamSieve would be superfluous.  
(Version 2.6)

PALADINO  Just wondering, if one's email servers already have effective spam filtering included, would there be any reason to use something like this with one's email client?  
(Version 2.6)

PALADINO  While I don't get a "corrupt disk image" message when downloading this, the app just won't open for me. It starts to but then instantly quits.

Tried downloading from developer's site as well as MU but Senor Staff doesn't open.

OS 10.4.9.  
(Version 0.8)

PALADINO  Looks interesting but, so far, I see no reason to use this over iTunes. At 111 MBs, Songbird is 4 times the size of iTunes. Bloatware, I guess.

True, iTunes keeps getting more bloated so I'm sticking with version 6.04. Works just fine for me.  
(Version 0.2.5)

PALADINO  "Steal your coworker's paycheck"....nice theme, I like it. Some further game themes the developer could focus on: how about "Burglarize Your Neighbor's House" or"Swindle Your Business Partner". Perhaps, "Snatch an Old Lady's Purse.

For a kid's game, how about "Take Your Classmates' Lunch Money", or "Steal Your Best Friend's Bike".

For a real hoot, how about "Bankrupt the Family Next Door".......force them to go to a homeless shelter. Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!....oh, what fun, what fun!   
(Version 2.0)

PALADINO  Cocktail is fine, but, as others have pointed out, there are a number of other maintenance apps currently available that are at least as fine, and cost less or are free.

I use the excellent Onyx, which is free, and both Tinker Tool(also free) and Tinker Tool System ($7.00), which, IMO,

are truly outstanding.

Try Cocktail, and try the others as well.

I think you'll agree that there's really no reason to pay $15 for something which does what the others do for less and offer more features, as well.

If the developer wants to continue charging $15 for Cocktail and attract more buyers, he'll have to come up with some earth shaking, unique, useful features to justify the price.  
(Version 3.7.5)

PALADINO  I wonder if the developer uses his own program. And if he does, has he won a lotto jackpot yet? If not, why not? Of those who have purchased Lotto Sorcerer, have any of them won a jackpot?

If not, why not?

And of all those who use this app, how many of them have won anything at all?

These are questions that need to be answered before anyone decides whether or not to purchase it, IMHO.  
(Version 6.5.1)

PALADINO  This chronically buggy piece of crap is brought to you by the same folks who bring you Internet Cleanup, another chronically buggy piece of crap.

I've used both, on and off since their inception, and have rarely experienced smooth going. I've now washed my hands of both of them. UGGHHH!!! NEVER AGAIN!!!!

First there was Aladdin which was taken over by Allume, and now it's Smith-Micro that owns these horrible apps. And none of the three had/has a clue how to make SC and IC work well.

Both Spring Cleaning and Internet Cleanup should be given a decent burial, and then, perhaps, rewritten from the ground up by developer's who really know what they're doing.

  
(Version 9.0)