Spam is an incredibly annoying problem for me on my Mac, and I get several hundred junk emails a day. For a while, Mail’s inbuilt spam filtering did a great job and caught the vast majority of my junk mail. However, recently it seems that more and more emails are getting through - to the extent I’ll find myself deleting around 10 junk mails per 1 valid one. I’d resorted to living with that for a while, unaware that another solution existed.

I stumbled across SpamSieve a few days ago, and haven’t looked back. It took about 15 minutes to set up and install - and I’ve tweaked a few settings etc since installing it - but on the whole it’s a very user friendly program. It integrates really well with Mail, and after filtering a good few thousand messages so far it’s only come back with 5 or 6 false positives. To be that accurate from the word go is very impressive.

I’m still using the trial version at the moment, but $30 will be a tiny price to pay for the time it will save me filtering through my inbox through all the junk and rubbish.

It also lead me to discover another Mac app called Growl. This is a system wide notification system, which basically means lots of applications use it to tell you when things are happening. SpamSieve notifies you of new emails, Transmit tells you when file downloads and uploads are complete, Skype notifies you of people logging on and off. I can’t believe I hadn’t come across this before, and it’s certainly being added to my list of incredibly useful Mac applications.

Growl in action

This is, without a doubt, some of the best interior design I’ve seen recently. What a fantastic idea to make a functional wall of sticky notes, which alters the design of your wall as you progress through the layers. Sure, over time you’d need to ’start again’ (and no doubt this wallpaper comes at a price) but regardless it is a fantastic idea.

It looks so contemporary and swish, something every office I’m sure would benefit from!

A wallpaper consisting of four layers of varying grey tones on a bright primary backing. Each layer is perforated in a grid format and backed with a tacky adhesive similar to ‘post-it’ notes. Pixelnotes is inspired by the way we work within a space. The walls become functional, an integrated noticeboard that documents our activity within the room. Pixelated formations and shapes develop according to our patterns of use.

Winner: 2nd Prize, ‘New Walls, Please!’ competition

January 2004

From Duncan Wilson

Living in Manchester certainly has its advantages. Not least is the number of concert venues around - MEN, Academy, Apollo and more. I bagged two tickets to see the The Magic Numbers a few weeks ago, and was very impressed with their performance last night.

They are a unique band, not really falling into any particular category. Whilst their style is a fairly generic popular one, they are by no means what you would expect from a standard group. They have their quirks, differences and individual characteristics meaning they don’t fit into the generic mould. Most notably is their apperance, looking shaggy and fairly dressed down.

They played some tracks from their self titled debut album - The Magic Numbers - and also several from their new offering, Those the Brokes. All of these were catchy and well performed. The only negative was their finale song, a strange mix of country and rock called ‘The Beard’. Decidedly strange! It was at that point we left a little early in an effort to grab a taxi rather than walk back in the rain!

As with Zero 7, they’re another band I’d recommend and someone I certainly enjoyed seeing. Their tour is continuing for a good few months yet, Manchester was only their second date, so have a scout around and see if they are playing near you!