Mister, Let’s Play Cards Against The Mac. Who Will Win?

There’s just something about swarthy, cosmopolitan Italian men that makes me want to use their software. Provided they’re Mac programmers, of course.

So it is with Francesco Vinci and Mr. Scopa, the card game for Mac users. He’s Italian. He’s a Mac programmer. He developed Mr. Scopa.

Would you invest $10 in a Mac card game that hails from Italy and has instructions in Italian? Sure, why not? It’s a good diversion from my life of diapers and Gerber baby food feedings for my carpet climbing rug rats.

To be honest, I was just looking for another Sudoku game for my Mac. I figure that if I beat myself senseless trying to use a game that I don’t understand, it will dull the pain of daily drudgery from Mr. Clean and trips to Wal-Mart for more Huggies and Pampers.

Instead of an online Mr. Clean, I came upon Mr. Scopa, the card game for Mac users, and Mr. Francesco Vinci, Mac software programmer. This is a man who needs his own infommercial program on television.

Why hasn’t Francesco been on Oprah? Is Oprah a Mac user? Probably not. That explains the oversight.

Mr. Vinci, as it turns out, has an even dozen Mac applications that, on the surface, appear nifty, useful, in a foreign sort of way. Mr. Scopa is a card game. Mr. Architect is a 3D CAD utility.

Mr. Diary is a place for notes and calendar items. Mr. Briscola looks like another card game. Mr. Drum is a drum and bass utility which uses QuickTime to let you play drums. It doesn’t look like an onscreen drum kit, and I’m reluctant to let my two year old near my Mac’s keyboard.

Wait!! There is a Mr. Clean. Francesco developed a little Mac utility which searches your Mac for duplicate files and moves them to the Trash. See? Mr. Clean.

Wait!! There’s more. Francesco must live the life of leisure. Perhaps he’s an Italian Count, or deals in fine Italian marble. That’s why he would create Mr. Texture, a Mac utility which lets you create, well, onscreen textures which you can use… to do… something.

Apparently Francesco has clients, and he uses Mr. Presentation to present his drawings to his clients. That’s it. He’s an artist. I hope he’s not a starving artist. They’re so clingy.

Remarkably, despite the weak Dollar and stronger Euro, Mr. Francesco Vinci’s prices are reasonable. About half are free, which is sort of the ultimate reasonable, huh? The other half are either $10 or $20. That’s Dollars. Not Euros.

Oh, and how’s the software work, you might ask? I tried the two card games, and if I understood what was going on I might report that the games were fun. Or not. Mr. Diary is quaint, in a sort of 1998 kinda way.

Still, Mr. Vinci is obviously a Mac user. He’s probably a hunk, too, which certainly qualifies his software for at least a sneak peek, no?

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