Steve's Ravin' Reviews
~~Steve Mills

In the Internet age, writing a monthly software column is somewhat difficult. There are terrific sites that update software daily, so by the time you read a monthly column it is frequently old news. We also have several sites we regularly peruse for the latest updates on exciting new stuff. In no particular order: 

• WebAttack - Marco Gransee’s excellent site for shareware and freeware. Not since the BBS days of Exec PC has there been a site so well constructed, Personally, I spend the 20 bucks a year and buy the premium service at MyWebAttack. Drop by sometime and see what I mean.

• NoNags – NoNags is actually a series of sites, somewhat like TuCows I presume, that specializes in “no nag” free ware. I use them often when I need a quick program with little hassle. Their ratings have been consistently well considered, even though I find myself disagreeing at times.
• Lockergnome – Chris Pirillo’s Lockergnome daily is required reading for anyone interested in computers. He frequently mentions programs you won’t find anywhere else, although I find the quality somewhat uneven.
• NeoWin – My favorite site to get a look at what’s coming. Not real practical, but for geeks, like me, it’s interesting.

My approach to the monthly column is to review and highlight programs which get the job done. Programs I personally find are part of my working system and make things a little bit better by being there. When possible, I feature programs where the authors are responsive to changing needs and bug killing. If it’s free – that’s great! If it’s fairly priced Shareware, I try to make sure you get your money’s worth. I saw a GREAT plug in for graphics programs this week, but it just wasn’t worth the money, from my perspective. There seems to be something wrong with a $100 plug in for a $60 program! In looking at recent months I feel we’ve reasonably accomplished that goal. Feedback has been non-existent, so I have little to go by. If you have a thought, pass it along. I would love to hear from you. 

THIS MONTH'S REVIEWS

• Copying Machine ... 5 geezers

• UltraEdit-32 ... 6 geezers

• SmartFtp ... 6 geezers

Money Saver – Not software actually, but if you use Priority Mail, go to: http://www.usps.com/cgi-bin/api/shipping_label.htm and use the form there. By creating your label on the web you get free Delivery Confirmation service. One tip – full page labels are expensive, so if you right click and say “Print Picture” you only use ½ a page. 

Your suggestions are welcome and encouraged. (steve@inil.com) 

Take Care…..
Steve 

Program: Copying Machine
Version and Date: 1.24
Author: Meusesoft
Web Site: http://www.meusesoft.com/
Freeware
Rating: 5 Geezers 

I recently reviewed a similar program, but found that I like this one better. Our small office doesn’t justify a real copy machine and this program is perfect. It does everything any commercial program does and seems to have been tweaked to a mature, quality product.

Copying Machine works just like any real copying machine, but has some additional capabilities. For example you can save the images to disc so you can make copies of them in the future without having to scan them again. You can also make a selection on a page in order to zoom in on a particular part. Another feature is that you can align an image so it is perfectly centered when printed. 

Program: UltraEdit-32
Version and Date: 9.0C     4/30/02
Author: Ian David Mead
Web Site: http://www.ultraedit.com
License: Shareware ($35 1^st Year – Upgrade $17.50 In Subsequent Years)
Rating: 6 Geezers 

Old Friends! Nothing like them. I would guess that Ian’s editor is the program I’ve been using the longest. Anyone who does any programming or plain text editing realizes how intensely personal the choice of a text editor is. UltraEdit supports Plug-ins, one of which is HTML Tidy – a nice little HTML verification program. Last week, I saw that Tidy had been updated and a new dll was needed. I contacted Ian and the update was complete in less than 24 hours. That’s service! Every time I want a new feature, it seems to be there. The depth of this program is unbelievable!

The list of features goes on and on. Here’s what Ian calls Key Features:

• UNICODE support

• Disk based text editing - up to 2GB file size, minimum RAM used even for multi-megabyte files

• 100,000 word spell checker, with foreign languages support (American English, British English, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Swedish)

• Syntax highlighting - configurable, pre-configured for C/C++, VB, HTML, Java, and Perl, with special options for FORTRAN and LaTex. Multiple wordfiles available for download

• FTP client built in to give access to FTP servers with multiple account settings and automatic logon and save. (32-Bit Only)

• Project/Workspace support

• Configurable keyboard mapping (32-Bit only)

• Column/block mode editing

• Hexadecimal Editor - allows editing of any binary file, shows binary and ASCII view

• Named Templates

• Multi-byte Support with Integrated IME Support

There are some great Freeware Editors around and I use them on other machines for simple configuration file editing and othe simple chores, but for anything non-trivial, this is the tool.

Program: SmartFtp
Version and Date: v1.0.968    05-09-02
Authors: Mathias Berchtold & Mike Walter
Web Site: http://www.smartftp.com/
License: Freeware
Rating: 6 Geezers 

I don’t have to Ftp very often, but when I do, I want to get on, make the transfer and get off. SmartFtp totally fills the bill. In addition to filling my somewhat primitive needs, this program has some very sophisticated features:

• Windows XP / IE like user interface.

• XP Theme Support

• SSL (Implicit/Explicit)

• Drag & Drop within internal windows and from Explorer

• Multi Connections (remote and local)

• FXP support

• Transfer Queue

• Scheduling

• Uploads/Downloads/FXP

• Up to 16 simultaneous threads

• Ultra-Fast-Queue-Directory-Contents-Speed-Feature

• Favorites as used in IE

• Global History

• Recursive Downloads / Uploads / Deletes

• Resume for broken Transfers (ul/dl/fxp)

• Background Transfers

• Proxy / Firewall support

• SOCKS5, SOCKS4, SOCKS4A, HTTP Proxy

• Wingate, Winproxy, CSM, Checkpoint FW-1, Raptor

• Passive Transfer Mode (PASV)

• Bands

• Local Folder Browser, Transfer Queue

• FTP URL (ftp://user:pw@ftp.host.net:port/path ) support

• URL Watcher

• Cache Remote Directories

• ASCII and Skip Lists

• Commandline FTP commands

• Active Log Control and Logging to File

• Quick / Recent Folders

• Custom Commands

• CHMOD (Properties)

This is another program that shows great maturity, sophistication and usability. Put this in your quiver. It will be ready when you are. 

Final Thought: 
The South - Where you can say anything about anybody as long as you follow it with "Bless his heart". 

Steve Mills has been reviewing software in different capacities for many years.  He has recently left his job with a search engine consulting firm and is looking for a new adventure.