Shareware Hits

Shareware Hits

BY EDEN MAXWELL

Jan | Feb 2004
Issue No.14

Here are three shareware apps that I use every day. All come with excellent documentation, tech support, and are updated with improvements on a regular basis. Download a trial version of each and put them to the test.

SPEED DOWNLOAD 2
Speed Download 2.2 ($20) from YazSoft is the fastest and most technologically advanced utility for downloading and managing files from your browser under Mac OS X. Speed Download offers breakthroughs in download innovation, ease of use, and reliability that you will not find with any other download manager. This app makes my DSL line hum when downloading huge updaters or trial application programs. It greatly enhances dial up downloads, too.

A Panther optimized engine provides vastly improved features, functionality, and performance as well as one-click access to all your downloaded files no matter where they are on your hard drive. I set up Speed Download to save my downloads to one of my hard disk partitions. In addition, Speed Download 2.2 introduces built-in integration to the Internet's fastest growing Mac software site, MacShareware.net. Now, you can stay up-to-date on all the latest Macintosh software out there and download what you need directly within Speed Download 2.

Who would think a download manager could be so convenient and exciting to use?

speed download

The Speed Download 2 user interface is intuitive and you can view all pertinent information at a glance.

SPAMFIRE
Having tried several other Spam prevention apps, I have grown to rely on Spamfire from Matterform.

I launch Spamfire, which then connects to my server and begins sorting through my emails to determine the real messages from the hordes of spam-generated sales pitches. After filtering through my messages, Spamfire lists the messages (along with an appropriate good, questionable, and definitely downright spam icon for quick visual reference), and then launches my email program, which is Entourage. I scan the emails in Entourage that Spamfire decided were legitimate. I keep those that are good and delete the spam that got through, which are usually but a few here and there. I go back to my Spamfire list and scroll down through each email to confirm that an important message didn’t get filtered out. You can double-click any message to read it in the Spamfire list. All this may sound like a lot of work, but it’s fast once you set up your system. You can also click on any message in the Spamfire list and rescue it from deletion—Spamfire then places the message back on your server and you can then read it in your mail app.

Spamfire runs each message through hundreds of fuzzy-logic filters. If a message violates a few important filters—or many less important filters—Spamfire will trap the message. Spamfire won't throw out a message simply because it contains a single suspicious keyword. Spamfire filters (which are continually updated) check for addresses of known spammers, common spammer techniques, spam keywords, pornographic keywords, spam message characteristics and more. You can edit any of the built-in filters or create your own with Spamfire's flexible filter editor.

Get Spamfire’s Pro version ($39.95) as it includes one year of filter updates subscription for free. Filter subscription renewals are regularly $12 per year. You can purchase extra years in advance and save. There is a Spamfire Lite version ($24.95), but it Filters only one account; and there are no filter updates.

Spamfire is fast, reliable, and will keep you dry in the deluge of spam. Spamfire also has a well thought out Spam Revenge dropdown menu with options for those inclined to fight back. Once you use Spamfire, you won’t ever want to read your email any other way.

spamfire

With “Show All Types” selected, Spamfire displays a filtered list with all (the good, the bad, and the ugly) my email (22 of 124 are shown), beginning with those it thinks are “good” emails.

IPASSEPARTOUT
Passe-partout (pronounced "pass-par-two") is a French word meaning “the universal key that opens all the rooms in a Hotel.” And iPassepartout carries the metaphor through to your Mac with elegant simplicity and power.

iPassepartout ($35) from Softobe is a powerful Cocoa application for Mac OS X that allows you to inspect the content of any kind of file either by dragging a folder/file or by searching for files. With iPassepartout, you can see / read / play / select / crop / copy / drag instantaneously, in a unique resizable window, the content of each file in list, no matter if it is a graphic, audio or movie, text, html or pfd file. Note: There’s also a iPassepartout Lite version ($20) that lets you sort through text only.

iPassepartout lets you quickly inspect [all types of files such as] pdf, jpg, png, tif, pict, icns, bmp, photoshop, gif, tga, mp3, aif, wav, mpg, mov, avi, txt, rtf, rtfd, doc, html and more.

Also, iPassepartout lets you perform special actions on the file list, like exporting all the images with custom size, resolution, graphic format (BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG, TIF) and background color, or like exporting all the unique icons from the selected files.

iPassepartout is a great tool for searching and browsing within large archives like pictures, email, newsgroup, source code, common text, articles, movies, and songs—and is ideal for searching works requiring intensive interaction (search/select/copy/paste) with text, graphics, audio and movies. This app can replace the Find command in the Finder and the application Preview of any Mac computer.

iPassepartout

With iPassepartout you can browse, text, music files, and image files; holding down the option key and clicking, you can crop, copy & paste or drag the selection to documents in other applications.