You are right sodipodi hasn't been updated for a long time, the last update was in 2004 but still it's a nice freeware program. Inkscape is better but I mentioned Sodipodi as an alternative.
Check out www.thelogocreator.com (not my product, and obviously not an affiliate link.) It's easy to use and designed specifically for creating logos.
i've got the Logo Creator by Laughing Bird Software and like it. It's chimp-simple compared to Photo Shop, Gimp, or Illustrator. You can have a very cool looking logo within 5 mins.
I bought AAA Logo and it is very easy and you can make some cool logos, just does not support transparent background, kinda frustrating.
I recommend photoshop. Imho, this program is worth learning even if you don't have much time but eventually it will pay off. In about two months I was able to do almost all of my projects including logos and custom templates myself. Get Photoshop + goodtutorials.com = any logos and templates you want.
I went and checked out, Logo Creator by Laughing Bird Software as recommended in this thread and the it looks pretty cool. Anyone here can comment on how useful it is, I did notice they have tons of add-on packs at 19.99 each, will I need to purchase many?
i ended up buying a couple of the logo packages and they've covered most of what i need. the other ones are strange looking characters that i wouldn't ever use.