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MarsEdit 3 adds rich text editing, enhanced media browsing
In the "send an email, post a blog entry" fun and fast-paced world of tomorrow, services like Tumblr and Posterous make it exceedingly simple to prepare and post to your blog; meanwhile, Twitter, Facebook and AOL Lifestream push past the article metaphor to 140-character status snippets. Delightful as they all may be, sometimes it's nice to have a well-rounded Mac app that supports more reflective and considerate writing for your online outlets -- not to mention one that saves your drafts in case your browser picks that particular moment to crash. For a lot of bloggers, including many TUAW veterans, Red Sweater's MarsEdit (US$39.95) is that app. It allows you to write, edit and schedule posts offline at leisure, with full preview capability so you know what you're getting when you hit the Publish button. It will happily upload your images and files alongside your posts, and it works with scores of popular and obscure blog back-end systems (WordPress, TypePad, Tumblr, Squarespace, etc.). If you prefer to edit elsewhere but still want the uploading savvy MarsEdit delivers, it plays nicely (via the ODBEditor scritping suite) with other text editors like SubEthaEdit and TextMate. MarsEdit has just hit version 3.0. At long last, WYSIWIG rich text editing is included, alongside the traditional HTML/text edit window that has cheered experts but may have intimidated novices. Other new features include better syntax highlighting in HTML, support for WordPress static pages, media browsing from iPhoto/Aperture/Lightroom libraries, and more. You can download a 30-day trial of MarsEdit and see for yourself if it works the way you do. Upgrades for previous owners are free if you bought MarsEdit in 2010, and $14.95 for all earlier purchasers.
Live chat tomorrow: Application Development for the (mythical) Apple Tablet
From a developer's point of view, what do these rumors mean? Is it enough to assume that App Store products will "just work" out of the box on a new device class? Will adherence to Apple's resolution independence design principles allow well-built iPhone applications to adapt to new window sizes? Or are there greater concerns of memory, processor, and the overall user experience that need to be taken into account? On Friday, TUAW will chat with Craig Hockenberry and Daniel Jalkut. Hockenberry is the senior software engineer for the Iconfactory, a software and design house that ships both Macintosh and iPhone products. Jalkut, formerly of Apple, is the founder of Red Sweater Software (aka the "MarsEdit" people). Both Hockenberry and Jalkut bring multi-platform Apple development expertise to the table for our discussion of possible hardware directions and how developers can proactively prepare their place in a new market. Please join us at 10AM Pacific/1PM Eastern for this live chat. There's a reminder widget in the continuation of this post. Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/takomabibelot/ / CC BY 2.0
Red Sweater releases Black Ink 1.1.3, promises Tumblr update for MarsEdit
Daniel Jalkut over at Red Sweater Software has updated crossword puzzle software Black Ink to version 1.1.3, which adds new puzzle sources and fixes some bugs. The Little Rock Daily Record stopped publishing its crossword puzzle online, but Jalkut added crosswords from the Chicago Reader, Onion AV Club, and Chronicle of Higher Education to replace it. The update also addresses bugs with puzzle opening and printing. The update is available from Red Sweater's website, or from within the application. Also, on his blog, Jalkut mentioned forthcoming updates to MarsEdit, after working with Tumblr to improve their API. He plans to release an update, version 2.3 with Tumblr support, "as soon as possible."
Microsoft airs second ad, campaign makes sense
Microsoft aired the second in its series of new ads featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates, and unlike the first ad, we finally discover that the pair are trying to find out what life is like for the average person. Since Gates "lives in a moon house over Seattle" and Seinfeld "has so many cars he gets stuck in his own traffic," the pair are living with a stereotypically average family in order to "connect with real people." Thus the theme of the campaign: "perpetually connecting." PC. Get it? Mac developer Daniel Jalkut thinks the ads are genius: "They are so random, indeed so touchy-feely, that the universal reaction among the 'smart-asses' I know, is to declare them ridiculous, not-funny, and utter failures. [...] So if you think the ads suck, don't worry, you're not the target audience." You Look Nice Today's Adam Lisagor adds a salient point: "If you smile even once, the Windows brand wins." Thus the heart of the matter: The ads are not intended to sell Windows: They're ads to sell The Windows Brand. Think of it as The Soul of Windows. If, by the end of this campaign, we only think of Microsoft as the company with the weird ads, then Microsoft will have saved Windows' soul.
Red Sweater updates Black Ink
If you enjoy "the crosswords" (as my uncle says, singular or plural), Daniel Jalkut at Red Sweater Software has updated Black Ink to 1.1 (and then again to 1.1.1). Black Ink helps you download, print, and solve crossword puzzles from a variety of internet sources. The new version dramatically improves puzzle printing quality, and includes general fixes and stability improvements. You can view release notes on the Black Ink website. Black Ink is $24.99, and is available as a free 30-day trial. It's universal binary, and requires Mac OS X 10.4 or higher.
