Stuff that matters for Mac OS X users
Clickable Bliss have offered a public beta of their new app, ProfitTrain, to users.
ProfitTrain is the successor to Billable, a invoicing/accounting application.
A screencast is available that shows the app in action. Additionally, you can download the betas and help out with testing.
Category: Software
Use SimpleNote on your iPhone? Want a free, easy way to review and update notes on your Mac? Resen answers the call with DashNote, a free Dashboard widget that connects to your SimpleNote account, and allows you to edit and create new notes.
Category: Software
Annoyed that the menubar doesn’t extend to your second monitor? Peeved that your new Magic Mouse doesn’t support a middle click like the old Mighty Mouse?
These two utilities might help.
First off, SecondBar does exactly that – add a second bar to your extended monitor.
BetterTouchTool allows you to set gestures when using the Magic Mouse. Using gestures, you can re-enable a middle click.
Both apps are somewhat experimental, and offered free of charge here.
Category: Software
Yet another Twitter client (YATC) has bubbled up for Mac users. Called “Kiwi“, this Twitter client has an emphasis on simplicity and theme customization.
I’ve been using Kiwi most of the day, and I am quite impressed with it. How impressed? It’s replaced Tweetie in my dock for the time being.
Developed by YourHead Software, Kiwi is $14.95 and comes highly recommended from OS X Factor.
Category: Software
Looking for a serene writing experience? Tired of being distracted by outside applications and windows? Do you need the sounds of nature to inspire your writing? If you answered yes, you’ll probably dig Omniwriter, a new writing application that aims to remove distractions (ala Writeroom).
Omniwriter is currently in beta, and has no affiliation with the Omni Group.
Category: Software
This is becoming way too frequent. Is anyone at Apple listening?
Category: Software
The Camino browser team has released version 2.0 of the Gecko powered web browser. Version 2.0 brings a number of new features to the table for the browser, including…
There are a number of other smaller improvements and bug fixes to the browser as well.
I have a soft spot for Camino. Back in the early days of OS X, Camino (then called Chimera), was the best browser, hands down available for the platform. As a web developer, using Mac OS X in those days was a difficult task. The included web browser, Internet Explorer 5, was a big steaming pile of shit. It was slow, buggy, and its rendering engine was nowhere near as robust as the Gecko rendering engine. When the first builds of Chimera appeared, it was like seeing the Marines appear on the beach with reinforcements. By the time Chimera 0.2 was released, it was my default browser. I stuck with Chimera/Camino until Safari hit the scene in 2003.
But I’ve always appreciated what Camino offers Mac OS X users – a small, fast, lightweight browser built on top of a rock solid rendering engine.
Congrats to the Camino team for shipping version 2.0!
Category: Software, Web Development
Facebook Developer Joe Hewitt has written his last iPhone app. Or something like that. In protest of Apple’s well publicized AppStore approval policies, the iPhone Facebook Application Developer has handed the project off to another developer and is moving on to “more open” pastures.
Joe had this to say to TechCrunch:
“My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies. I respect their right to manage their platform however they want, however I am philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process. I am very concerned that they are setting a horrible precedent for other software platforms, and soon gatekeepers will start infesting the lives of every software developer.
The web is still unrestricted and free, and so I am returning to my roots as a web developer. In the long term, I would like to be able to say that I helped to make the web the best mobile platform available, rather than being part of the transition to a world where every developer must go through a middleman to get their software in the hands of users.”
I can definitely sympathize with Joe on the nebulous (at best) and nefarious (at worst) review process. Hopefully, Joe’s defection will cause someone at Apple to finally fix the problem once and for all.
Safari 4.04 is available via software update. No word yet on whether the recent improvements to the webkit inspector landed in this update.
From the release notes:
This update is recommended for all Safari users and includes improvements to performance, stability, and security including:
Improved JavaScript performance
Improved Full History Search performance for users with a large number of history items
Stability improvements for 3rd-party plug-ins, the search field and Yahoo! Mail
For detailed information on the security content of this update, please visit this site: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.
Update: The Webkit Inspector improvements noted above are not included in Safari 4.04.
Update: It appears the keyboard shortcut for Top Sites, Command-Shift-1 has been removed from Safari 4.04. If you use this keyboard shortcut, you may want to hold off on upgrading.
Update: Looks like the shortcut has been changed to Alt-Command-1. That’s the sort of change you would expect to be detailed in the release notes, if your release notes had any meaningful, detailed descriptions.
Category: Software, Web Development
The cat is out of the bag (excuse the pun), and yes, Snow Leopard will be shipping on Friday, August 28th.
If you haven’t ordered your copy yet, you can help us out by using the link below to order Snow Leopard from Amazon.com.
Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard
Mac OS X Snow Leopard Family Pack (5-User)
Of course, if you bought a new Mac after June 8th 2009, you can get Snow Leopard through Apple’s Up-To-Date program for $9.99.
I bought the Mac Heist bundle. 7 Top apps worth $260+ for just $19.95 and got 3 cool bonus apps free! http://bit.ly/heist-it
3 days ago
A user of Macs since they had silly names like Performa and Centris, Theodore Lee is a techie who prides himself on his vast knowledge of all things Apple. OS X Factor was started in 2001 (originally as macosxcentric), and continues to churn out tips, tutorials, reviews and commentary on the tech sector.
WWDC is fast approaching, and I'll be attending my first conference, courtesy of the Apple Student Developer Scholarship program...
Waterfall Software (makers of Wallet, the best password storage utility available), are soliciting beta testers for a new application they have developed...
Steve Jobs will once again be passing on the Apple Expo. Last year the keynote was presented by Apple VP Phil Schiller. This year, however, the keynote has been canceled all together. Steve Jobs will still apparently be attending the Expo, but we are unable to confirm this...
