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TotalFinder beefs up Finder
A new "hack" for Finder is in the works, and it's pretty darn cool. TotalFinder adds tabs, Visor-like functionality and a few other goodies (with more on the way) to your plain, vanilla Finder setup. If you're skittish, though, don't jump just yet. TotalFinder is alpha, and not in that way that developers label software just to be safe. It's really, really alpha. TotalFinder runs as a SIMBL plugin, too, which can (in some cases) cause some system instability in and of itself. However, if you've got the apples for it, it's a very cool new way to soup up your Finder. In its current state, it does a few simple -- yet amazingly useful -- things, starting with adding tabs to Finder. Honestly, we got tabs in Terminal before Finder? This catches us up a little bit. The Visor feature (which is optional), assigns a hotkey that makes your tabbed Finder window slide onto the screen and disappear when you're not using it. It's take-or-leave for me at this point; it's cool, but it takes a lot of getting used to, especially for window-to-window file dragging within Finder. You can't currently drop files onto other tabs, so some problems arise in that situation. The other features include preventing .DS_Store file creation and sorting file listings with folders grouped on top. For now, I'm sticking with Path Finder for my souped-up Finder needs, but TotalFinder has the potential to bring Finder into its own after years of relatively few improvements. You can grab a copy to try out (for free) at BinaryAge, and note that it comes with an uninstall script that will wipe it clean off your system if you don't like it. [via Smoking Apples]
Dell and Envision Solar refashion parking lot into clean energy farm, EV recharge station (video)
Dell has added a shiny new feather to its cap today with the announcement of a freshly completed Solar Grove renewable energy installation. The system is composed of 512 solar panels, which provide shelter for 56 cars, and are capable of harvesting 131,000 kWh of energy per year. This power will be primarily used in the adjacent Round Rock HQ, but CleanCharge stations will also be available should you wish to juice up your electric vehicle on Mother Nature's finest. No matter how much Dell might have splashed out to bring this integration together, we can't help but suspect that the smug satisfaction of getting free energy -- both in pecuniary and ecological terms -- must be priceless. Video awaits after the break.
Google Chrome run natively (most of it, anyway)
After much lamenting and a few attempts, Google Chrome can finally be run natively in OS X. Kind of. Don't get us wrong, it works: it starts up fast and runs one process per window, just like the Windows version. But there are a few glaring holes, the lack of plugins (and therefore Flash, which means no YouTube) being one of them. The History, Bookmarks Bar, and Preferences screens don't work either, which makes this not much more than a proof-of-concept still: it can run natively, but you wouldn't really want to.It's too bad Google hasn't gotten this working themselves sooner. Maybe they've just been too busy lately taking care of panda-obsessed AIs.
Safari 4 beta, a closer look
After waiting a day for the dust to settle -- and for developers to catch up -- since Apple's release of Safari 4 beta, it looks like there are relatively few show-stopping bugs to talk about. Just about every problem we've heard about at TUAW, and every issue I've had personally, has been an issue with a plugin. Fortunately, for those of us who really depend on hacks plugins for surfing productivity, most developers have been preparing for the release using nightly builds and have already come through with updates. Yes, plugins break when software is updated, when the software is beta, and when -- due to the lack of a genuine plugin architecture -- plugins are, in fact, hacks. The developers of our third-party goodies have our backs, in most cases, and I expect the ripples on the water to die down completely over the next week. In the area of search plugins, I switched from Inquisitor to Glims a while ago because of the extra features Glims offers. I haven't seen an update to Inquisitor yet, but Glims came out with build 13 this morning. Unfortunately, my search-as-I-type functionality still isn't working, but the plugin loads and the additional functionality is there. It's quite possibly a conflict with another plugin ... not that I'm running that many.
Understudy plugin offers Hulu and Netflix in Front Row
I think one of the coolest features in Boxee, the XBMC-based media center software for Macs and Apple TVs, has been the relatively recent addition of Hulu and Netflix streaming. Now Understudy offers similar functionality for Front Row users.The plugin adds an Understudy menu item to the Front Row interface. You can use it to add feeds from those two streaming services (e.g. most popular, etc.) or URLs from the clipboard. Frankly, if it were me I think I'd go whole hog with Boxee, but if you're happy with Front Row but want to add a little streaming content, Understudy is worth a look.Understudy is a free download from Google Code.[via Macworld]
ProjectPlus for TextMate
It's been a while since TUAW talked about TextMate, and fans of the venerable text editor will want to check out ProjectPlus, Ciarán Walsh's latest contribution to the TextMate community. It provides a set of features compiled from several of Ciarán's other plugins, and then some, such as: SCM status badges for SVN and Git, displayed in the project file list and the window proxy icon Swapping the project drawer for a panel, ala MissingDrawer (can be disabled if you prefer MissingDrawer) The project panel can be placed on either side of the window Maintains support for ?????????D and ??????R shortcuts Support for Finder color labels in the sidebar panel Color labels can be set through the context menu Preserving the project tree state on re-open QuickLook preview of files in the project file list through the context menu (or ???? when the file list is focused) Sorting options in the project file list context menu Display folders at the top of the list Sort by file extension "Open With" option Subversion users might also want to take a look at SVNMate, also by Ciarán. Also check out some of the great contributions from Thomas Aylott, a.k.a subtleGradient. TextMate is an amazing text editor, but the contributions of the TextMate community are what make it my favorite text editor.
Afloat 2.0 returns window floating to Leopard
Afloat from Infinite Labs was one of my favorite SIMBL plugins, until it was broken by Leopard. It adds some clever features to windows in Cocoa applications, including a mode where the window remains always visible, "floating" above all other windows, an overlay mode where the window floats but clicks fall through to the windows below, and adjustable transparency (including a very nifty mode in which a window will be translucent until you mouse over it and then it pops into an opaque mode).Thankfully, Afloat 2.0 now works with Leopard. In fact, it works so well with Leopard that OS X 10.5 is now required to run Afloat. The free download includes the Infinite Labs PlugSuit SIMBL plugin manager, but it is not necessary to run Afloat if you already have SIMBL installed.[via Infinite Loop]
PlugSuit: legacy plugins in Safari 3 for Leopard
I have to be honest, as a browser, Safari, on its own, does very little for me. In my pre-switcher life I loved Firefox, in large part because of its plug-in structure - and although Safari is certainly more stable than FF (on my system at least) - it's not the same. Luckily, a number of good plug-ins for Safari DO exist. Unfortunately, many of those plug-ins have not been updated to be fully compatible with Safari 3 (which was previously in beta) or Leopard. In fact, because of the way Input Manager was changed with Leopard, there was a lot of speculation that plug-in development for Safari would become obsolete.That's where PlugSuit from Infinite Labs comes in. PlugSuit is a Leopard compatible plug-in manager that will work with many popular Tiger plug-ins like Inquisitor and SafariStand without changing a thing. Infinite Labs also makes the great free plug-in, Twicetab (that allows users to open up a new tab simply by double clicking on the tab bar, a la FireFox or Opera), and users even have the option of downloading and installing PlugSuit and Twicetab together. Plus, it's free! It's important to note that that plug-ins that were not designed with Leopard in mind may still have some problems or not function correctly. Infinite Labs says that most that were developed for the latest Safari 3 beta should work, but double-check with the plug-in developer to ensure compatibility.My favorite non plug-in Safari hack, J.Y. Design's Full Screen script, works just fine with Leopard.
Inquisitor updates, and is doomed?
Inquisitor, a bee-you-tiful Safari plugin that allows you to get instant, Spotlight-esque search results, has updated to 3.0 v43, adding "aesthetic tweaks" (always nice) and slightly better output from Google. The new version is available for free download right now.And unfortunately, it may be the last version-- Dave Watanabe, the creator, writes on his blog that the rumors say Input Manager, which is the construct that Inquisitor uses to work the way it does, may be eliminated in Leopard. And that would leave a lot of plugins, including Inquisitor, out in the cold. It's not guaranteed yet-- some say that while Input Manager may be disabled by default, it'll still be allowed to be enabled when a plugin tries to use them-- but Watanabe says that if Apple ditches it completely, it would mean the end of Inquisitor.Supposedly Apple claims Input Managers are a security risk, but Watanabe is asking Inquisitor fans to send them feedback asking to keep the construct in Leopard. Then again, Apple isn't really a company that takes advice on how to update its software, but losing plugins like Inquisitor would definitely be a shame.Thanks, Space Taker!
Facebook Exporter updated for iPhoto '08
Attention all ye Facebook and iPhoto users: you may feel free to begin using iPhoto '08, now that Facebook has updated their Facebook Exporter plug-in. We first found this plug-in back in March, and while I'm definitely not the most active Facebook user or photo uploader, I don't think anything else is new. However, I just noticed a really cool feature that allows you to click anywhere on an image in the well on the right to create an outlining box around it, allowing you to name or tag whatever you're highlighting. Facebook Exporter for iPhoto is provided for free by Facebook.
iPlace: Image download helper for Safari
Considering the graphical nature of the web, I'm surprised more features and plug-ins haven't appeared to solve the problem of downloading images from sites as well as iPlace does. Operating as a SIMBL plug-in for Safari (including the 3.0 beta), iPlace allows you to specify multiple locations on your Mac for downloading images, but that's not all. It then gives you a contextual menu item when right-clicking an image or a web page that will allow you to instantly download any image to one of your specified locations, or - and here's the kicker - bring up an image downloading window that shows you each image on the page, along with your download locations provided as drag and drop wells in a sidebar on the left. Opening this window on I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER, for example, brings up the long list of images you see above, all ripe for efficiently dragging and dropping wherever I want.In a word: iPlace is awesome. There are of course enhancements I would like to see, such as the ability to scale these images up and down to make it easier to view more from the page at once, but for a spankin' new product straight out the gate, this is a really handy plug-in. iPlace is provided as donationware from Tekuris.
More ecto 3 details, a screenshot and roadmap revealed
Adriaan Tijsseling, developer of the Mac OS X version of the ecto blogging client, has been teasing us with sneak peeks and development details for some time now, but he's just posted another more revealing screenshot of ecto3, along with more details and a basic roadmap. Adriaan has touted ecto3 as a complete rewrite from v2, ushering in a new plug-in architecture that should make the app far more extensible. Also on the notable changes list is the replacement of the rich text editor by Editable WebKit, a new, more WYSIWYG feature of the engine that is used to power Safari, many other browsers on Mac OS X and even HTML rendering in Apple Mail. While Adriaan doesn't have any kind of ETA for a shipping version or even a beta just yet, it does sound like development is wrapping up well. Since support for different blogging platforms has moved to the plug-in format as well, he still has to build support for the latest Blogger (yes, it'll be in ecto3) and WordPress. As a final note, it's always nice to hear a developer using their own product, as Adriaan is using ecto3 "heavily" to try and catch as many bugs and problems as he can before unleashing it in one form or another on the masses.
Apple Mail plug-in roundup
Since I solved a number of the issues plaguing my Mail account setup - including a workaround to kinda use Gmail over IMAP (more on that soon) - I have sunk my teeth back into Apple's excellent email client. Now I'm pretty happy with using a few plug-ins like Scott Morrison's stellar MailTags 2 and Stefan Schüßler's Mail.appetizer (which we have previously mentioned at length here and here), though I am continually surprised by the number of plug-ins that endow Mail with everything from better support for Windows Office attachments, to creating events from messages and even more fine-toothed Smart Mailboxes for your Address Book contacts. One only needs to run a search for Mail at MacUpdate to see what I'm talking about, but I figured I could round up a few of these plug-ins just to give you an idea.
iConcertCal updates with iCal exporting, better listings and more
This must have slipped under our radar back in March, but iConcertCal, the both clever and useful iTunes plug-in that scans your artists to find local concert dates, has updated to v1.2. In addition to "greatly improved" concert listings in both the US and UK, iConcertCal can now export calendars to an iCal format (note: this isn't exactly 'iCal syncing.' Hopefully that's on its way). For those shows that might still slip through iConcertCal's fingers, the plug-in allows you to edit its calendar and add shows you just gotta keep track of.Also on the list of changes is the ability to chose which iTunes library to monitor for artists and show dates, an "easy way" to list shows from artists that aren't in your library and city + date venue info now placed in the header information. Amazingly, iConcertCal is still free and available for both Mac OS X and Windows.
FlickrExport Lite for Aperture, new versions all around
First there was FlickrExport for iPhoto, and it was good. Then its developer, Fraser Speirs, asked us whether we wanted him to make a FlickrExport for Aperture, and the answer to that question was also good. Now there is FlickrExport Lite for Aperture, and as a free product, it looks pretty sweet. Previously known at Flickr as the Flickr Plugin for Aperture, Fraser has re-named the plugin and brought it home to be displayed alongside its bigger brothers, complete with a feature-comparison page that breaks down the major features of all three FlickrExport products. If you've been on the fence between using iPhoto or Aperture and want to upload to Flickr, these plugins are where it's at, and I actually learned a few things from this feature comparison page, such as the fact that the Aperture plugin can add geodata before uploading, add tags after uploading and even replace existing photos on Flickr. Looks like this blogger is going to have to give Aperture a more thorough run-through.Oh, almost forgot: all the FlickrExport plugins have been updated with bug fixes and one big new feature: the ability to set the moderation level on the photos you upload.
Your browser's next plugin: Silverlight?
At this year's NAB, Microsoft has revealed Silverlight (né Windows Presentation Foundation Everywhere, WPF/E), its new cross-browser, cross-platform video plug-in. This new plug-in supports Safari and Firefox as well as MSIE and was written using .NET technology. TUAW reader Neil points out that this means that at least some of the .NET framework must have now been ported over to the Mac. You can read more about the introductory post here on Tim Senath's Microsoft blog and Neil's .Net on Mac analysis here.
Found Footage: Apple TV Plugin Loader
AwkwardTV has just posted this video demonstrating a new Apple TV 'meta plug-in' that retrieves and installs other plug-ins from around the net. Developer Alan_Quartermain built this brilliant tool that displays a list of third party items from the AwkwardTV site and allows you to select which one you want to install. It's currently in a private beta. If you'd like to test it, you may want to hang out over at the #awkwardtv IRC channel.
Found Footage: Custom Apple TV plug-ins debut
Awkward TV has posted this video showing a custom Apple TV plug-in in action. The post mentions that this is the second known custom plug-in (you can see the first in action here), and that it allows you to play .AVI files located on the main disk (rather than the iPod-esque Media library). For now those files are hardcoded in, as this is primarily a proof of concept. They did not provide a link for downloads, and there probably won't be a public release for a while.
Automator Action: Upload to Box.net
We mentioned Box.net, an iDisk-like online hard drive service, back when we could begin mounting them on our Macs. To simplify uploading files to your Box.net account, Daniel Ryan has created an Automator action that not only lets you upload with a simple right click, but it also takes care of changing any spaces in file names to underscores, making them much more web-friendly. It isn't difficult to set up or use, but be sure to read Daniel's instructions at Automator World, as the action depends on you having mounted your drive with Mac OS X (which creates a Keychain item to store your password). If Box.net isn't much more than a file repository for sharing (perhaps via their blog-friendly widget), this action should streamline your efforts.
On TextMate extras
Like me, there are probably a lot of fresh new TextMate users out there in the audience thanks at least in part to MacHeist, so I thought it would be pertinent to point out a few helpful resources Allan Odgaard (TM's developer) maintains at macromates.com. Of course the searchable mailing list and IRC channel are handy for getting your discussion on, over which TM user Brett Terpstra just shared a WordPress templating bundle he's created - quite possibly a good addition to that theming workflow we just blogged. Another powerful resource is the TextMate wiki, which houses a plethora of learning tools and resources such as a bundle repository if you're looking for some features or a language not included by default, as well as an RSS feed for bundle changes. Of course, what text app would be complete without user submitted themes? Last on my resource roundup (but by no means the end of what's available) are a few TextMate plugins, including a WebMate plugin that turns TM's Web Preview into a full-fledged WYSIWYG HTML editor based on WebKit. There's a lot more from where all this came from, so dive in or simply get your feet wet with this swiss army knife of text editors.
