menubar
Latest
Delibar goes Universal
Delibar, what I consider to be the missing link of social bookmarking, has been updated as a Universal Binary. No other major new features have been added, but this is a welcome update to my favorite tool for accessing del.icio.us bookmarks from the menubar.Delibar is donationware and available from Matteo Rattotti's site.
Menulicious
Menulicious is a utility like Delibar that allows you to access your del.icio.us bookmarks right from your menubar. One nice option of Menulicious is that it can display a bookmark count for each of your tags. An annoying quirk, however, is that your tags are listed under a "Tags >" menu; not directly under the utility itself.Regardless, Menulicious is a Universal Binary, so it'll run a little faster on your Intel Mac. Menulicious is free and available either from Versiontracker or Kainjow's iPod-like website - surf to Software > Freebies > Menulicious.
Delibar 0.8 update adds tag bundles, auto-reloading, more
Delibar, my favorite little missing link for social bookmarking, has received a great update to version 0.8. In case you aren't familiar, I'll summarize my previous post: Delibar turns your del.icio.us bookmarks into a bookmark menu that's accessible from your menubar. New features go a little something like this: Improved Interface Support for Bundles and recent Post Auto detection of system proxy Auto reload Bookmarks Tag sorting (alphabetically or by frequency) Tag scraping (show only tag with more than 1/2/5 post) New icon and overall better user interface Delibar is donationware and available for 10.4 (v 0.8) and 10.3 (v 0.5.1), though I believe the version for Tiger is the only one being updated from now on. You can pick up a copy of either from Matteo Rattotti's site.
Delibar - the missing link of social bookmarking?
I love the concept of social bookmarking sites like del.icio.us and Shadows. When we found Safarilicious I immediately used it to upload all 1050 of my bookmarks to del.icio.us, and I use it to help organize bookmarks for all sorts of projects I'm working on with friends.My one complaint about these services is that, aside from Flock "getting it" and actually building support for del.icio.us (and Shadows) right into their browser, social bookmarking feels very one-way in its interactivity: there hasn't been any way to access them as easily as your favorite browser's bookmarks menu (and no, Cocoalicious doesn't quite get there). Further, the problem is compounded if you're like me and you either want or have to work in more than one browser.Fortunately, I just found the utility that solves these problems and brings all your socializing bookmarks back home to your desktop: Delibar. Fitting into the "do one thing, and do it well" category that we at TUAW love so much, Delibar (as you can see) is a free menubar app that serves as a "universal bookmarks menu" for all your del.icio.us bookmarks, sorted into folders by the tags you've assigned. This, my friends, is exactly what I've been looking for. To the del.icio.us crew, if you're listening: you need to help this guy out in one way or another. If I may be so bold: you guys should have offered something like this the day that you flipped the switch on your services. To the developer of Delibar: thank you! Finally, to you TUAW readers: I highly recommend you check out this most useful of utilities, and I urge you to donate if you wind up finding it even half as useful as I have.
New Menuet skins available
Menuet, the menu bar add-on that lets you control iTunes, view album art and more, has been updated to version 1.0.1. The update includes several new "iPod" skins in six colors. I registered a copy soon after Scott found it at Macworld in January and now I use it every day. Other changes in 1.0.1 are: Improved Growl song information bezel Fixes for the high-resolution album art grabber Fixes to and improvements for the registration and demo process Various squashed bugs Plus, this version is a universal binary. Menuet requires Mac OS 10.4 and a single license will cost you a worthwhile $12.95.
Get your digg.com fix from your menu bar
Sure, there are digg widgets for Dashboard, but for all the menu bar nuts out there, it doesn't get much better than DiggUpdate, a free menu bar app that provides instant access and update notifications for new digg front page stories. When new stories pop up that you haven't seen yet, the icon's lamp turns yellow. Clicking the icon offers a drop down list (pictured) of the most recent front page stories, along with a brief description. Pretty handy for those of you (TUAW traitors!) who just need that digg fix.DiggUpdate is free and distributed under the GNU GPL (General Public License).[via digg]
What would you change about the menu bar?
This time around the "What would you change" topic I thought I'd forgo an actual app and post on a part of OS X; the menu bar, in fact. While I really dig the menu bar and how it works, it leaves much to be desired in the customizability department. For example: I don't know of a way to increase its width or the font size, and it would be great if there was some kind of a power-user option to make it easier to hide the menu bar altogether, instead of only some apps (like Photoshop) being able to do it. Or how about the image I have here: a comparison to XP's system tray, which includes a crude icon management system of hiding 'inactive' system tray icons. Fellow TUAW blogger Scott is quick to point out, however, that this hiding of inactive icons on XP is a great way of allowing all sorts of unwanted software to install itself and run right under your nose. Nevertheless, if you have a lot of icons up in the menu bar, it would be great to have some way of managing all the clutter besides simply dragging them around manually with the command key.So what say you, TUAW readers? Since we can't even get Macworld press passes I'd say it's a safe bet that Apple won't be taking notes, but a good UI conversation might be a nice way to pass the slow-news holidays.
