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Breakfast Topic: To Addon or Not to Addon?
I spent a while on the test realms yesterday checking out all of the new goodies in the 1.12 client. Some of these, like the new floating combat text feature, have come directly from popular community-created addons. I think, in may ways, I prefer the addons that are integrated game - that way, come patch day, the features I use regularly simply work, without need to tinker or download new code. However, custom addons provide a level of flexibility that's not present in Blizzard's own UI. With floating combat text, specifically, I may continue to use the original addon - Scrolling Combat Text - because I prefer being able to customize a little more than Blizzard's addition allows me to. And what about all of you? Do you like to use addons - or even the sort that can't play when their addons aren't working right? Or do you prefer the low-maintenance of the default UI? And, whichever side you're on, do you like or dislike these new additions to the default UI?
A collection of all available QuickPicks for Backup 3
Wishingline, a web design studio, has done .Mac members a favor and collected most of the QuickPicks that are available on the web for Apple's Backup 3. There are quite a few QuickPicks out there for everything from ecto to PDF documents, Photo Booth pictures to Shiira bookmarks, OmniOutliner documents and much, much more. Wishingline went so far as to list a number of the QuickPicks individually, or simply offer an encompassing package of everything they could find (scroll down about midway on the page for these goodies).The QuickPicks package is offered free from Wishingline, but remember: they didn't have anything to do with creating these (as far as I know); they just tracked them down and zipped them. If you want a QuickPick for one app or another, you should probably consult the app's author or check out these resources for creating your own.[UPDATE: Scott from Wishingline dropped us a comment to let us know that the QuickPicks linked from Wishingline are, in fact, home grown. Thanks for some rockin' QuickPicks Scott!]
iVideoMail and iVoiceMail plugins for Mail
Here's a novel idea: being able to easily send something besides text and pretty pictures in email. iVideoMail and iVoiceMail are Mail plugins that take the legwork out of recording video and audio clips for easy emailing. They install as preference panes within Mail, and once you customize a message's toolbar to add a button for either plugin (there doesn't seem to be any other way to use them when composing a message), you're ready to start emailing your beautiful mug and American Idol-worthy voice to anyone who can handle it. Just don't blame us if your friends and colleagues begin removing you from their address books.I only briefly tried out the iVideoMail demo and it works pretty well, although the resulting 6-second 320 x 240 video in MPEG4 was 376 KB, which might be considered a little large by some. By why not judge for yourself? Demos are available via a rather annoying submit-your-email-for-a-customized-download-link process, and a license for either plugin is a mere $10 USD.[via Hawk Wings' plugin list]
Three-pane Mail.app turns into a plug-in
Well that was quick. First Mail.app received a widescreen, three-pane face-lift, and now it's been morphed into a plug-in. The author provides two different sets of instructions for installing: drag and dropping into your ~/Library/Mail/Bundles/ directory or using a couple of commands in Terminal. Go nuts ladies and gentlmen.
Application Enhancer v2.0 goes Universal, with other enhancements
Unsanity has released a Universal Binary version of Application Enhancer, their software preference pane (and set of frameworks) that enables their various handy system hacks and UI additions. Along with Intel Mac compatibility, this update also includes enhancements like: Redesigned the preference pane to be simpler and more accessible. Now follows the precedent set by other Mac OS X services and disables itself if the shift key is held down while booting. While Application Enhancer and some of their products are Intel-friendly, you should check their full compatibility list for details on exactly which apps have made the leap, as some are in a public beta testing phase.Application Enhancer is free and available from Unsanity's website.
Quicksilver plug-ins for Google Calendar and Gmail
While tinkering in Quicksilver's plug-ins panel this morning I came across two new plug-ins that should fit right in with my new Borg Google-infused daily activities: a Gmail Module and a Google Calendar Module. Both are actions that allow you to type in a string of text, then select either of these modules as an action, and off you go.The Google Calendar module seems to use their Quick Add syntax for adding events. For a quick tutorial on this: invoke Quicksilver and then hit period so you can begin entering plain text. Enter something like "Apple Store Opening Saturday 10 am," then hit tab to move to Quicksilver's second pane to chose an action. If you have the Google Calendar module installed, the action is titled "Google Calendar Event" (using 'gcal' works just fine for me). Hitting enter will send the event, and for bonus points, if you have Growl installed and Quicksilver using it to give notifications, you'll receive a Growl alert upon successful completion.The Gmail module (pictured) allows you to compose a message (or at least part of one) using the same method as both the Google Calendar and Mail.app compose actions. Once you type some text, tab over to chose the Gmail action, you'll receive a 3rd pane that allows you to specify an Address Book contact to send to. Hitting enter will create a Gmail compose window with all the information you chose from Quicksilver already inserted. Awesome.
Chax 1.4.1 released
One thing I love about Chax, the vital iChat plug-in, is that its developer has been reliably rolling out a good handful of new features and fixes, even with a .0.x update like this one. New features in 1.4.1 include: Growl notifications for when a user comes online, goes offline, goes idle, goes away, and becomes available Options to have the tab window come to the front when receiving a new message Option to disable the close buttons on tabs Option to have the contact lists automatically resize to fit the number of visible contacts Contact list row height will now adjust itself according to the size of a custom font as long as user icons are hidden (the two line view will not resize) Default iChat floating window notifications now work with tabs Clicking on a Growl message notification will bring iChat to the front and select the originating message window You can check out the full list of new features and bug fixes in Chax's release notes, and grab your own copy from Kent Sutherland's site.
Saft 8.3.0
PimpMySafari noticed that Saft, a vital Safari plug-in, has been updated to version 8.3.0. New and updated features include: New feature: AutoComplete always on New feature: Tab thumbnails (like Shiira’s Tab Expose, not Omniweb style) Improvement: Also restore tab history when undoing closing tab Improvement: Undo support for closing other tabs Saft is available from haoli and sells for $12 for either Panther or Tiger, though the Tiger version is the only one being updated. A demo is available, but if you're already an owner, you can snag the 8.3.0 upgrade from haoli's Saft for Tiger download page.
Path Finder 4.1 released with Universal Binary, other enhancements
Path Finder, the powerful file browser/manager (pseudo-Finder) from Cocoatech, has been updated to version 4.1. Along with Universal Binary status and the typical round of bug fixes, this update also includes: Improved Go To Folder with autocomplete Smart Folders – Path Finder can now read Finder-created Smart Folders New Size Browser for quickly viewing total file sizes of folders, bundles, etc. Added rotate buttons to the integrated PDF viewer Path Finder can now preview PDF bundles (often found on OS X install disks) Added preview support for Help Viewer bundles Path Finder now displays if an application is PPC, Intel, or Universal Binary in the info panel Path Finder can now previews NEF files Added preliminary “email to” support for Microsoft Entourage and Eudora Updated Chinese, Japanese, Russian, French, and German localizations Check out Cocoatech's changelog for the full list of improvements and fixes, and scroll to the bottom of Path Finder's product page to download the new version. A 21-day demo is available, while a full license costs $34.95.
iWeb Enhancer 1.0
Awesome: Chad Brantly has created a small add-on app for iWeb that can insert all sorts of blogging goodness into your sites such as Flickr pics, AdSense, YouTube videos, blogrolls and more.I haven't tried this out yet, but one word of caution: due to what I would assume could be iWeb's unfriendly plugin architecture, the process for inserting any of these little addons is a little wonky. Don't fear it though, as Chad walks you through the short operation on his site.All things considered, iWeb Enhancer still seems like the easiest and most feature-enabling iWeb addon I've seen to date. Go check it out if you've been looking for a few of those blogging extras to complete your iWeb-powered sites.
Creammonkey is great - but where are the scripts?
I found a Safari plugin by the name of Creammonkey, which is more or less an attempt at bringing Greasemonkey's abilities to Safari's side of the fence. For those unfamiliar with Greasemonkey: it's a Firefox extension that allows savvy javascript ninjas to add functionality to websites and services, such as enabling colored labels in Gmail or displaying in-bound links for a site you're visiting.It's hard to argue that the idea of adding functionality to websites isn't cool. Even in its infancy, the promises of Creammonkey sound really slick, but my one problem so far is: where are the scripts? Creammonkey is more or less a platform, and I'm having a really hard time tracking down any scripts to plug into it - including those pictured in this screenshot I borrowed.So, to the devs of Creammonkey (or the fantastic folks at PimpMySafari): could you put together some links to scripts that'll help make Creammonkey shine? Also, to you TUAW readers: does anyone care to link scripts they've found or created? Let's get this javascript party started.
Chax 1.4 - iChat now has tabs
No, that headline is not a typo: at long last, after hoards of OS X users have cried out to Apple in vain for a feature to be added to iChat that other clients have had for what seems like a millennia (I'm Irish. I exaggerate. Sue me) - iChat now has tabs, thanks to the latest Chax update to v1.4. You have the option of placing tabs at the top or bottom of a chat window (or not using them at all, of course), and you can also chose colors for the text in the tab based on whether there is a new message, the user is typing or they've gone offline. I know I speak for many, many iChat users when I say: thank you, Kent Sutherland.Another handy new feature in the update is a set of (optional) Chax menu badges to designate which iChat menu features belong to Chax. Of course, there are various bug fixes and tweaks, but what are you waiting for? Go grab the latest Chax update for tabbed iChatting goodness, and while you're at it: leave a donation for Kent's hard work.
Spice up iChat with Chax
Chax is one of those addons that makes you go "ahhh, at least someone's listening." This is a powerful, feature-packed and altogther necessary preferences plugin for iChat. The developer's site offers a lengthy list of features this fantastic plugin brings to the table, but for now, here's a short rundown to get your mouses clicking: Save and restore window positions for individual screen names (To Kent Sutherland, the developer: I cannot thank you enough for this. The fact that iChat doesn't already do this is just plain silly.) Display Address Book nicknames instead of full names Option to auto-accept text chats, skipping new message notification window Option to open images sent through direct connect directly in Preview (thank you!!) Unread message notification in the dock Change the delay of or disable auto-away (thank you!!) New message windows cascade properly instead of always appearing on top of each other Built-in log viewer There are over 25 features that Chax enables, all wrapped up in its own clean, easy to use preference pane that is simply added to iChat's preferences. Kent also offers a list of upcoming features on his site, but I'd like to echo one of his requests: please don't ask him for tabbed chatting. Developers like him are (usually) under enough pressure as it is, which brings me to a request of my own: this plugin is free, but please consider donating if you wind up appreciating it even half as much as I do. Great stuff like this really deserves some love, and PayPal for some reason doesn't do hugs yet.[via MacOSXHints]
Saft updates to 8.2.5, goes universal
Add Saft to your list of universal binary apps, as a recent update to version 8.2.5 can be run on those smokin' new Intel iMacs and MacBook Pros. In addition to UB support, Saft has also gained a few new features such as creating dated folders for organizing downloads, reversed tab order (anyone know what this one means?), a shortcut for Look Up in Dictionary as well as a Danish localization.As usual, version 8.2.5 is a free upgrade for registered users.
Patching blues?
Are you a heavy custom UI type of player? I know I am, and the day is patch is release is probably one of the most frustrating days. I usually end up with all the major addons needing new updates before they will work right. Here are a few things I found to be broken in some form: Bibmod (unusable), Titan Panel (now follows the UI scaling), and Discord Unit Frames (same). Oddly enough, auctioneer still seems to work, which really surprises me!Which UI mods do you use, and are they broken with the new patch? I will update this post with a running list of mods.
