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Daily Mac App: WriteRoom
It seems every writer, coder or GTD aficionado has a favorite plain text editor on the Mac these days. For everyone who starts each day with a screenful of untitled TextEdit windows full of different short notes (that would describe my dear spouse, for the record) there's a TextMate guru, an Elements fan, a Scrivener loyalist. It's a golden age for the .txt file. One of the strongest contenders in the "distraction free writing" category is Hog Bay Software's WriteRoom, which comes in both Mac and iOS flavors. The Mac version saw an update to version 3.0 on Halloween, adding a NaNoWriMo-essential feature: dynamic word counts. Each file now shows a running count, and with a new session tracking engine you can easily track your output to a .csv spreadsheet file. The new build also adds themed display options, better handling of long documents and Lion-friendly Versions and full screen mode support, in addition to the "classic" blackout approach that hides other active apps. You might not need the full anti-ADHD power of a single-window UI for your writing, so WriteRoom works just fine with traditional document windows. WriteRoom for Mac is $9.99 whether you pick it up in the Mac App Store or directly from the Hog Bay site. Those who bought it within the last year are entitled to a free upgrade; older licenses (including those received in a previous MacHeist software bundle) are entitled to a half-off discount; you can upgrade for $4.99. Note that WriteRoom 3.0 is 10.7-only, so if you're still on Snow Leopard you'll want to stick with the older versions. The iOS version of WriteRoom, which of course cooperates nicely with its Mac cousin via Dropbox sync, is available on the iOS App Store for $4.99; it's a superset of Hog Bay's ad-supported PlainText app, with more visual control and other advanced features (disabling autocorrect, extended keyboards, etc.). One compatibility note: the iOS version does not edit .rtf rich text files, but the Mac version can. If you intend to work on your magnum opus from your iPad, stick with basic plain text files. For myself, I haven't quite found the perfect iPad writing app yet. I love Elements' scratchpad for side notes, while I crave the research power, inboard browser and speedy Markdown formatting of Writing Kit -- but the unchangeable paper background gives me itchy eyes. WriteRoom iOS is among the most comfortable and aesthetically pleasant editors I've tried, though, and for narrative work without a lot of links or Markdown syntax, it's a winner.
NaNoWriMo: Some helpful hints and tools
This morning, I noticed a tweet from @rvbelzen that said, "As a NaNoWriMo veteran, do you have any tips for this NaNoWriMo newbie, maybe an article you wrote about it?" Most of the posts that I've done about National Novel Writing Month for TUAW have focused on the tools, not on the technique. Based on the tweet, I thought I'd give you some hints from a three-time NaNoWriMo winner (that means you wrote a 50,000-word novel in the month of November) about how to prepare for the writing marathon. Helpful Hints For Writing Your NaNoWriMo Novel 1) Make sure you have a broad outline of your plot and characters in your mind or on paper. This was the hardest part for me the first two years I did NaNoWriMo, as I had a story in my head but didn't spend the time to think of characters or how the story was going to evolve. As a result, those first two novels were only about halfway through the total plot line when I got to 50,000 words. What I suggest is sitting down with your favorite writing tool -- whether that's TextEdit, Word, Storyist, Story Mill, Scrivener, or another other writing tool, and just write a quick outline of how the story is going to unfold. Come up with character names and a rough description, locations, etc., and write them down as well. 2) At some point on November 1st, sit down for an uninterrupted spell of writing. In order to write 50,000 words in a month, you'll need to average 1,667 words a day. I find that setting aside time to write in a place where I'm not going to be interrupted by talk, TV, or tweets is essential. If you're enthusiastic about your story, that 1,667 words is going to flow out of you, and you'll find that some days you're writing 2,500 words. Go for it on those days, because you'll have other days when you need to take a break. My favorite place to write NaNoWriMo novels? The kitchen table. The chair is uncomfortable, so I need to write quickly so I can get out of it ASAP. 3) It's all about words, not about tools. I've noticed over the last few days that I see more and more tweets about "which tool should I use?" There are debates going on about the merits of Storyist versus Scrivener, or using one of the many minimalist writing tools. Here's my take on the writing tools: don't go out of your way to buy a new app that has lots of bells and whistles, because they'll get in the way of writing your novel. Many of the novel-writing apps have ways to write outlines, build character cards, etc. I found these tools to be so incredibly distracting that I finally just started using minimalist tools. You can easily write a NaNoWriMo novel in Pages or Word -- you don't need an "author's tool" unless you really think it will help you. My second NaNoWriMo novel was actually written in TextEdit. 4) Have fun writing. If NaNoWriMo turns into a chore, you're not going to make it. For me, writing fiction ends up being so much different from blogging and writing tech books that it's an absolute joy. I love thinking up characters, putting them in odd situations, and then trying to get them out of those situations while moving the plot forward. Are they well-written novels? Probably not. But it's been a blast writing them. To make writing fun, think about something that either excites you or makes you laugh, and then use that as a key launching point for your novel. This year, I'm resurrecting a character from last year. He's a private detective in the near future (about 10 years from now) who gets involved in some rather bizarre situations like a locked-room murder on a space station and (this year) being injected with nano-particles that cause him to grow. 5) Start fast. Seriously, try to beat your 1,667-word goal every day for the first 10 days. That way, you might be halfway done with the novel by the time November 10th rolls around. What does that mean? You can take a break from writing if you absolutely feel like it, or take more time focusing on a key point of the plot. My wife was a NaNoWriMo winner last year and she totally amazed me by writing almost half of her novel in the first five days of November. I like to start fast and finish at a comfortable pace. 6) Don't focus on spelling or grammar. Once again, this is all about word count. It doesn't have to be perfect. You just want to get the story out of your system and onto the screen (or paper, if you so desire). When you're done at the end of the month, you have a working rough draft that you can then spend time cleaning up. So turn off the spell and grammar check, or ignore the red underlines that mean you misspelled something. Chances are very good that you're not going to publish your book anyway, so who cares if it is filled with misspellings and lousy sentence structure? As long as you're happy with it, that's what counts. 7) Keep your writing to yourself. There's nothing worse than thinking that you're doing a bad job when you're writing. It will absolutely defeat you from getting your novel completed. One of the biggest mistakes you can make during NaNoWriMo is to let somebody else read what you've written. Why? Well, everyone's a critic these days, and the reader will have no hesitation telling you that what you've written is horrible or pointing out mistakes. Wait until December 1, 2011, and let them read it then. Don't even talk about your novel with other folks, unless you're just telling them how much fun you're having and how far along you are. 8) Work through writer's block. Here's something I had issues with the first year I did NaNoWriMo. I was about one-third of the way through the novel and just lost focus. I had thought a lot about the beginning of the book, but didn't have a clue where I was going. Preparation (see hint #1) will help this, but realize that you're going to have days where you just can't get the brain to wrap around writing! What do I do on these days? Try to write anyway. If I need help, I pick up a favorite good book and read parts of it, carefully noting the way that the writer crafted certain phrases or created a twist that caught my attention. That's usually enough to motivate me to write more. Also consider taking a walk or doing something to clear your mind. I find that walking is a great way to get my mind to focus on developing plot points or thinking about dialogue. 9) Back up your novel every single day. I've been lucky -- I've never lost any of my writing. But can you imagine how depressing it would be to get two-thirds of the way through your novel and then lose the file? It would be enough to make you never want to write again! I highly recommend doing multiple backups of your novel file every day. My base document is always sitting in a folder on Dropbox, which means that it's also downloaded to the Dropbox folder on both of my Macs. That's three copies right there, plus I always have a Time Machine backup going. That's four. Am I paranoid enough? Probably. 10) Keep your eye on the goal. That's going to motivate you more than anything. Thinking about getting to that 50,000th word is a daunting thing, but you'll be surprised just how quickly your words will add up. Take the writing one day at a time, try to stretch your daily total over the required 1,667 words, and you'll be a winner before the end of the month. I have to admit that there's no better feeling than wrapping up a NaNoWriMo novel, even when I know that nobody will probably read it. Having done this three times, I'm confident that I can write another novel, and I'm looking forward to that sense of accomplishment at the end of November. Tools Of The NaNoWriMo Writer When you're thinking about which tool to use to write your novel, keep hint #3 in mind -- it's about writing, not about tools. I really do get irritated with the annual debates over which app is better than another, but then again I'm an antisocial curmudgeon. I've tried 'em all, but the two apps that I find work the best for me are TextEdit and Microsoft Word. Get a blank piece of digital paper and start writing. I haven't tried Pages, although I'm sure it would work swimmingly in the "typewriter" Lion full-screen mode. Maybe this year? Most of the writing tools that people spend their money on before tackling NaNoWriMo fall into two camps -- the "Swiss Army Knife" apps that have all the bells and whistles, and the "Minimalist" apps that just give you a blank page and a word count. Here are some examples of both types. "Swiss Army Knife" Writing Apps I think I've tried each and every one of these apps at one point or another, and even though I've used them to start NaNoWriMo novels, I've always just transferred my text to another app within a day or two. Your mileage may vary, and you may make use of all of the many features of these apps. I won't go into a lot of detail about each of the apps; the developers have info for you and in many cases will let you download a trial copy: Scrivener (US$44.49) Storyist ($59.99 for Mac, $9.99 for iPad) StoryMill ($49.95) Manuscript ($39.99) Ulysses ($19.99) CopyWrite ($24.99) DEVONThink ($49.99): Actually more of an outlining tool, but can be used for writing. OmniOutliner ($39.99): Once again, an outlining tool that is perfect for writing. Also available on iPad for $19.99. Minimalist Writing Apps WriteRoom ($24.99): available for both Mac and iOS ($4.99) Ommwriter Däna ($4.99): available for both Mac and iPad at the same low price! Byword ($9.99) Clean Writer ($0.99): available for Mac and iPad Writer ($2.99) Grandview ($4.99) iAWriter ($9.99): also available for iPad ($0.99) I'm sure there are a lot more tools available, but I'll leave this as an exercise for TUAW readers to go out and do some research. If you find any, please let us know in the comments. Also, if you're a NaNoWriMo winner and have some additional hints and tips, be sure to write a comment. By the way, in case you're wondering how long this post is, it's 1827 words. That's more than a person needs to write every day to be a NaNoWriMo winner. YOU CAN DO IT!
WriteRoom 3.0 expands support to iPad
In a move that I'm surprised took so long to happen, Hog Bay Software has released version 3.0 of WriteRoom for iOS, expanding it into a universal app with several iPad-specific features. Improvements include an updated UI with custom color tinting for highlights, cursors and more and the ability to print and email documents from WriteRoom. The app can now sync to DropBox and iTunes' document sharing. iPad-only specific features include an optional extended keyboard row with customizable keys and tapping margins to move individual words or characters. WriteRoom is US$4.99 on the App Store and requires iOS 4.0 or higher.
Lots of App Store sales going on this weekend
I can't think of anything really special about this weekend (though GDC is coming up next week), but quite a few app developers have put their apps on sale for some reason. Here are some of the deals in Apple's App Stores this weekend: 148Apps has a list of free apps, including an interesting card game called Shadow Era. Gameloft has put its whole library on sale, more or less, for just 99 cents each. iSlash is completely free over the weekend. The great Lemmings-like Spirits (and its iPad counterpart) are on sale for 99 cents as well. The minimalist writing app, WriteRoom, is on sale on the Mac App Store for just $4.99. It's usually $24.99, but this sale is a great deal, designed for those who already have a WriteRoom license to transfer their purchase over to the MAS. An app called FX Photo Studio has dropped its price to 99 cents, and Translation Fire, which will do a variety of translations for you, is free for the next few days. Finally, Grokion, which does a pretty good impression of a Metroid game on iOS, has also gone free for GDC. Here's one more late arrival: Battleheart is on sale for the amazing price of 99 cents. That's a must-buy at that price -- here's why. Some great deals in there for sure. As always, stay tuned to our Twitter and Facebook pages, as we tweet and share great App Store sales and deals all the time.
Is my iPhone making me dumber?
I love my iPhone. It goes with me everywhere. Leaving my house without my iPhone would feel just as unnatural as leaving without my pants (although I'd probably get fewer stares). There are so many things my iPhone is able to do that it's become an indispensable part of my daily life... and that's actually beginning to worry me. Sometimes I wonder if my iPhone is making me dumber. This didn't start with my iPhone; it started with my first cell phone (and the only phone I owned before the iPhone), a monstrous Sanyo SCP-7200. Suddenly, once I was able to store all of my friends' and family members' phone numbers in my phone and dial them with just a couple of button presses, I became virtually incapable of remembering their phone numbers on my own. That was just the beginning of my cognitive downslide, though. Since getting my iPhone, it seems like it's been getting exponentially worse. Read on to find out how the iPhone may be damaging my brain. Hint: it's not the cell phone radiation.
Notational Velocity, Simplenote, and Dropbox bring child-like wonder
The phrase "game changer" is no doubt cliché and overused, but every now and again it just fits. I had heard about Notational Velocity when Merlin Mann posted about it on 43Folders. It changed how I use my iMac, MacBookPro, and iPhone, bringing them all together in a very cool way. The app has been around for awhile (we talked about it five years ago!) but some new features and new technologies make it well worth another look. It took me a minute to understand why I'd want Notational Velocity, it because it sounded like yet another "everything box" like Yojimbo, which I was already using. Notational Velocity does save notes, either in ASCII, RTF, or HTML, but with the latest version, Notational Velocity syncs with Simplenote or WriteRoom for iPhone. It also easily syncs via Dropbox if you follow the important configuration notes here. Imagine if Apple had created an over-the-air method of syncing Notes and it all Just Worked. That's what Notational Velocity has achieved. Notes on my iPhone, my iMac and my MacBook Pro. Edit a note anywhere, and the changes are synced nearly instantly and appear everywhere. It's fast, it's seamless. Thinking about getting an iPad? That's only going to make this setup even sweeter.
Buyer's Guide: 33 things you don't need if you have an iPhone
Every time I walk through Warehouse Stationery (New Zealand's equivalent to Office Depot) or Dick Smith's Electronics (pretty much Best Buy), I'm struck by how probably half the products in each store are pretty much useless to me since I've got an iPhone. Thanks to the apps that come pre-packaged with the iPhone and the more than 100,000 third-party offerings now available in the iTunes Store, the iPhone has gained functionality that might have seemed hard to fathom under three years ago when Steve Jobs first announced the device. "A widescreen iPod with touch controls... a revolutionary mobile phone... a breakthrough internet communications device... these are not three separate devices. This is one device." So Steve Jobs told us all back at Macworld Expo 2007. But since then, the iPhone has grown to be much more than just those three concepts. What follows is a sort of anti-buyer's guide, a list of products and devices that you may never need or even want to buy again (or receive as a gift) if you have an iPhone. Some of these are certainly open for debate, but more than a few of them are products that, for all intents and purposes, are completely unnecessary if you have an iPhone. (Items in bold also apply to the iPod touch).
The loot from the recent MacHeist
As Kevin pointed out on Wednesday, MacHeist has a new bundle for us at the moment -- but this one is what they consider a "nanoBundle" and it's free. I can't speak for everyone here at TUAW, but when I see the word "free" next to software, I horde it. They've decided to just give away this bundle of apps in what appears to be a move to encourage their users to come back for more. 6 great mac apps for zero dollars. That's my kind of deal. There are only 6 more days to download this bundle, so go grab it after checking out the loot: Shove Box -- An awesome reminder, organization, gotta-get-it-done application that sits in your menu bar. You can then drag things like text, URLs, images... possibly anything to the menu bar app and it'll save it for later. When you get some free time, you can go back through and see what you have. There's an iPhone companion app as well. WriteRoom -- A simple writing application that removes all of the typical distractions from your writing sessions. It makes the text window full screen, completely cutting off the rest of the world from your mind -- if you so choose. It still has simple tools like word count, background/text color adjustments... but definitely keeps you focused. We've covered it quite a bit. Twitterrific -- One of my favorite apps on my iPhone as of late. The desktop version is similarly simple. Set up your Twitter account and tweet away with the easiest solution imaginable. TinyGrab -- Is a screen capture maniac's dream. It allows you to use the standard command-shift-4 and select part of your screen or hit spacebar to capture a specific window. The kicker: it uploads it directly to your own FTP server and puts the URL in your clipboard so you can paste it in Facebook, Twitter, email, IM... whatever your pleasure. Hordes of Orcs -- I'll admit, this is the real reason I'm downloading the bundle. I've heard nothing but great reviews about this game even from our own Mike Schramm. It's one of the most innovative desktop tower defense games I've seen. Everything is in 3D, there are 6 different game variations and let's not forget tower defense. Mariner Write -- This is a word processor with features you need but none of the "bloat" found in other applications *cough* Microsoft *cough.* Of course, it will open and save Word documents, as well as other formats. While I was writing this, the download total went up 5,000 downloads but it'll take 500,000 for all of us to get the full benefit. MacHeist says that Mariner Write is the unlockable application, so I'm hoping to get a serial and really try it out. Head over to Macheist, and download your nanoBundle. For the first time, I'll be using all of the apps in it -- and it's free!
TextExpander touch on sale to celebrate WriteRoom for iPhone integration
When TextExpander touch for the iPhone was announced, one of the exciting aspects was the SDK to allow other developers to integrate TextExpander's technology into their iPhone apps. The new version of WriteRoom for iPhone now includes TextExpander support. With this announcement, SmileOnMyMac has announced that they will be selling TextExpander touch for $1.99 until September 30 at 12 noon Pacific Time, a 60% discount off the regular price of $4.99. WriteRoom for iPhone 2.1 includes other updates as well, as noted on the development blog: TextExpander support. Optional startup password. Settings are now accessed within app. New option to lock screen orientation. Sync service is out of beta and is open sourced. If you purchase WriteRoom for iPhone ($4.99 on the App Store), you'll get a $5 off coupon that can be used to purchase either WriteRoom ($24.95) or TaskPaper ($29.95) for Mac.
Just one more week to get in on The Mac Sale, with discount for TUAW readers
I don't know about you guys, but I can't get enough of these Mac software bundles. Between MacHeist, the MacUpdate bundle, Mac Bundle Box, and even iPhone software bundles, I've got more unused software licenses than I'll ever need or want. Even though I rarely want every piece of software in the bundle, there's almost always 1 or 2 that make it more cost effective to buy the bundle than buy the software separately. The Mac Sale (noted by Christina over at DLS) is the latest bundle out there and, like the others, has some hidden gems and a few applications I know I'll never use. Some of these may be perfect for back to school season. The rundown of applications: REALBasic Personal Iris Interarchy Flux Scribbles TaskPaper WriteRoom Stuf Mariner Calc HoudahSpot Your $49 will buy you $450 worth of applications, but only until August 18. As a bonus for TUAW readers, you can get a 5% discount by using coupon code TUAW at checkout.
Writer's tools: WriteRoom wreally wrocks
As you've probably gathered by now, I'm on a search for the perfect writing tool. I did a short blurb about Ulysses 2.0 a few weeks ago, I read Megan Lavey's Friday Favorite review of Scrivener with interest, and I'll have a detailed review of Storyist v2 soon -- if I can get over the writer's block I seem to have picked up with regards to that post. There are two main schools of thought when it comes to writing tools. The first type is the do-everything tool, complete with project management and storyboarding, bulletin boards to pin notes on, even places to write up biographies of your characters. Storyist is a perfect example of one of these tools. The second genre, of which Ulysses and WriteRoom are members, is the minimalist school. These type of writing tools pare the user interface down to a minimum and are designed to give authors an environment in which to concentrate on putting words on paper. The analogy is sitting in front of a typewriter and writing. WriteRoom [US$24.95] was last covered by TUAW back in 2007, and it is has been interesting to see the evolution of this product and its siblings over the past two years. It's currently in version 2.3.7, and there's a free trial download available on the website.
myTexts, yet another way to reduce writing distraction
myTexts, a new app from MOApp, caught my attention recently. It's another "distraction-free writing" app with some nice touches and a reasonable price tag. This genre of apps basically time-warps you back to the days of full-screen, menu-free, plain text word processing. The most popular of the comparable applications would be WriteRoom, which is in active development and, I believe, the original app in this category. myTexts adds some great touches to the idea. First, myTexts uses a database to store your documents, with auto-save and auto-backup. Your entire document library can be searched, including the title, full text, document notes and user-assigned tags. Documents can be exported in a variety of formats, ranging from plain text files (.txt) to Word documents (.doc). You can even export XML/HTML. Tags assigned in the app are written to exported documents as OpenMeta tags, making Spotlight searching more efficient, if you're a "tag" kind of user. Fonts and colors are customizable, although you only get two choices (shades of grey) for the background. There's a sidebar containing your document list, as well as notes and tags for the current document. Notes for the current document can also be popped up in a floating, always-on-top window which you can quickly paste to from other applications and which dims when not active. The sidebar automatically hides and can be triggered with a mouse-over, or you can disable the mouse trigger and call it only with a keyboard shortcut. There aren't a lot more features, but everything is keyboard-navigable and quite well-polished, especially for such a young application. Like WriteRoom, myTexts is a Cocoa application and its editing area is fully-compatible with System Services, the OS X spell-checker and third party applications such as SpellCatcher X. myTexts is available as a free trial, and can be purchased for 12 Euro (about $17US), making it slightly cheaper than WriteRoom (also downloadable as a free trial). If you're in the market, I'd suggest giving both apps a try, as they both have their own feel and features. The WriteRoom wiki lists a few other apps in this category, and I'm pretty sure WriteRoom 1.0 is still available as a freeware app if you don't want or need the frills.
Create a clutter-free writing environment for free
When WriteRoom debuted, many of us were impressed with the software and the idea of a focused interface that just lets you write. WriteRoom allows you to write on a screen of nothing but text, and the default view mimics the way many of us used with our first word processor (myself included): green text on a black screen. Still, if all you want is a screen of text with very little interface, here's a free and quick solution.Start with Backdrop, a simple application for obfuscating your desktop or other applications. You can get fancy and include something like Spirited Away for auto-hiding applications you aren't using, but that's not the point here (and I don't think that app works in Leopard). I am assuming you're settling in to "just write." I find the default gray works fine, but you can customize the color and make it black if you are ready to zone out on your text.Next, fire up TextEdit. While you can zoom the TextEdit window, I find the wide view of your text is distracting. WriteRoom is nice because you have big margins on a wider screen, making it easier to read what you write. To simulate this, just resize your text edit window to mimic a page of paper in front of you. Go to Preferences in TextEdit and alter the default font settings (for rich or plain text, depending on what you prefer). You can also change the default window size, or text area. I found a height of 45 with rulers turned off went from the top of the screen to the bottom on my 15" MacBook Pro. I use 18-pt Helvetica, but if you prefer Marker Felt, go for it.That's it! You can't customize TextEdit as much as you can Terminal, but if you want a universal text tool that can serve as a distraction-free environment, this works in a pinch. You could just as easily pare down your browser view and pop Google or Zoho Docs over Backdrop -- or for collaborative editing, open a free Etherpad page. If you do a lot of writing, you may want to look into WriteRoom. There's also an iPhone app for WriteRoom, which includes a mechanism for editing docs on your Mac (sort of).
First Look: WriteRoom for iPhone
Just like its Mac counterpart, WriteRoom for iPhone gives you a simple application to create a document in. When you open WriteRoom you are presented with a black screen -- all of your documents are located here. Clicking on a document name will place you in editing mode.To create a document, just tap on the "+" button at the top right of the screen and a blank document will show up with a subtle blinking cursor against a black background.WriteRoom's developer has created a neat way to retrieve documents from your iPhone and get them on your computer. You can browse, edit, and even create a new document on your iPhone from Safari. All of this is dynamic, so as soon as you create a document in Safari, it appears on your iPhone and vice versa (a web page reload is necessary in your web browser). The main problem with Bonjour sharing over Safari is that it only works with Safari's Bonjour bookmarks. Overall, WriteRoom for iPhone is solid, just works, and is completely worth the $5 (US). WriteRoom is simplicity at it's best, and has a very nice user interface without distractions and fancy addons. You can purchase WriteRoom for the iPhone from the iTunes AppStore for $4.99 (US). Be sure to check out our gallery of WriteRoom screenshots.%Gallery-31897%
MacBundleBox: 15 apps for 50 bucks
MacBundleBox is offering 15 Mac applications for $49.95: an 85 percent discount (compared to buying each app individually). The apps included are: Headline - A full-featured RSS/ATOM feed reader with an ultra-minimal UI. Mac Pilot 3 - A system optimization and customization utility. iConquer - A game not unlike Risk. Mahjong Forests - A traditional mahjong game. Shoebox Express - A solution for organizing all your photos by content. Caboodle - A way to collect random snippets of text or images on your machine. Narrator - A program that will read out stories in multiple voices. WriteRoom - A distraction-free word-processor, and possibly the most popular app in the bundle. Scribbles - A simple drawing utility. Money - An accounting app. Operation - A simple project management application. Aurora - An iTunes-integrated alarm clock. Compositor - A CoreGraphics-based image editor. Sofa Control - Allows you to control your applications remotely, using an Apple Remote. MacBundleBox is available directly from their website.
Last day to buy MacHeist Bundle
Today is the last day to buy the much coveted MacHeist application bundle. MacHeist has decided to sweeten the deal by unlocking SoundStudio early and offering $5 off any Insanely Great Tee. If you are a registered member of the MacHeist site you can also get early access to Headline (an RSS reader).The MacHeist Bundle currently includes the following Mac apps: VectorDesigner DEVONthink XSlimmer CoverSutra Awaken iClip Overflow Cha-Ching WriteRoom Enigmo Bugdom 2 Nanosaur 2 TextExpander SoundStudio The MacHeist Bundle costs $49 and 25% of your purchase will be donated to your choice of charity. Currently, MacHeist has sold over 4,000 bundles and raised over $50,000 for charity. You can purchase a bundle at the MacHeist website.
Software bundle offered for school-bound Mac users
If you're on your way back to school this year, or you know someone who is, a new MacToSchool software bundle could save you some cash. Featuring twelve apps ranging in appeal and actual usefulness, this bundle offers $300 worth of software for $49.95. Included in the MacToSchool package are apps like Clockwork, a simple desktop timer, WriteRoom, the popular full-screen text editor that helps you focus on your writing, a family history app, a calendar-based financial planner and more. Pencils Down - a test building app for teachers - is even included, making this package appealing to the other side of the education fence that, as the husband of a high school English teacher can attest to, often doesn't get the attention and discounts it deserves. The typical price you would have to pay for even a few of these apps could easily add up to $50, so this could certainly be a valuable package. Each app at the MacToSchool.org site has a simple description page and a demo download so you can try everything before you buy, and there are also links to the orignal app developers' sites in case you need more info. Interestingly, this bundle was organized by the developers themselves in an effort to help spread the word about the utility of 3rd party software and to do something good for the education community.The press release we received says 'limited time only' but makes no mention of when the deal will end, so my advice would be to act sooner rather than later if you're interested.
WriteRoom 2.1 is available
WriteRoom, the application for "distraction-free writing," reached version 2.1 today. Changes include: Generate word counts for any part of a document. "Typewriter scrolling" setting is more flexible. Many squashed bugs Some call it gimmicky, but I've been using it since version 1.0 and enjoy it. WriteRoom requires Mac OS 10.4, and a single license will cost you $24.95US (though you can use it for free).
WriteRoom 2.0 goes official
We reported a WriteRoom 2.0 beta from Hog Bay Software early last month, and the company has now announced an official release. Version 2.0, as you might remember, brings with it rich text editing, a live word count, saving documents wherever you please and a standard text/rich text storage format and more. In addition to an official version release, WriteRoom's price is now $24.95 (up from its previous 'free' and $14.95-while-in-beta prices).WriteRoom 2.0 is a Universal Binary, and a free demo is available.Thanks everyone who sent this in.
Distraction reduction for your Mac
Ah, the holidays: a time for reflection, relaxation, and finally getting your GTD feng shui into proper order. Who better to give you some leverage over the incredible source of distractions and detours that is your Mac than Merlin Mann? The 43Folders productivity guru gets focused with Leo Laporte on the most recent edition of MacBreak, covering additional ground after an October episode on desktop de-cluttering.My favorite attention-enhancing power tool is currently WriteRoom, which has made it much easier for me to take notes in meetings without getting lured away by the siren call of unread emails and projects in progress. What do you use to help clamp down on the tangents and procrastination?[via Lifehacker/43folders]
