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Leech 2.0.1 now available

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

Today we released Leech 2.0.1, the first minor update for Leech 2. If you have Leech set to check for updates automatically, you should see it as an available update. If you’re checking manually, now would be a good time to check! Alternatively, you can download it directly if you wish.

This release includes a revised and expanded help section (in English only as of now); a New Folder button on the ‘Download To’ dialog in the Rules pane; and fixes for a couple of issues: Firefox downloads will now route properly when affected by a rule, and deleting in-progress downloads now actually deletes them (and no longer triggers a Growl alert).

There are a couple of other minor changes as well; you can read about them on Leech’s Release Notes page.

Posted in Leech, Products | 5 Comments »

Announcing the Usher limited public beta

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

What is Usher, you may be wondering? Usher is the new name for yFlicks. The name yFlicks never really captured the real mission of the application; we think Usher is a much better fit: Usher is your personal movie assistant.

There are a ton of new and/or improved features in this update to yFlicks, which is why we’ve also chosen to reset the version counter: this release will be Usher 1.0 to reflect the scale of the changes. Due to the sheer number of changes, there are also probably some 1.0-type issues in Usher…and that’s why we’re releasing it now as a limited public beta. We’re looking for people who are willing to really help us test Usher and find all those little glitches–so we can remove them before we ship Usher.

We’re looking for 25 to 30 testers for Usher’s limited public beta, but we’re interested in people who can really help stress test Usher. To that end, we’re looking for people who meet at least one of these three criteria:

  1. Existing yFlicks users with between 1 and 3,000 movies in their collection.
  2. Existing yFlicks users with over 3,000 movies in their collection.
  3. Non yFlicks users who are looking for a tool to help them manage their collections.

If you’d like to participate in this public beta, please send me an email, with the subject set to Usher beta. Important: In the body of the message, please let me know which of the above groups you fall into, and include the (approximate) number of movies in your collection. If you’re selected for the beta, you will receive a copy of Usher to test, along with further instructions on how to go about helping us test Usher.

As an incentive to help test, the top three testers–based on reporting the most (confirmed) issues–will receive a free license for all of Many Tricks’ products. So what are you waiting for…drop me an email and get your name in the hat for one of the limited testing spots!

Posted in Products, Usher, yFlicks | 7 Comments »

Leech 2 free upgrade window extended

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

There’s some feedback on Leech 2’s MacUpdate page from purchasers of Leech 1 who feel ripped off by the upgrade fee for Leech 2. They’re upset because Snow Leopard’s release basically broke Leech’s Safari integration (Safari had to be used in 32-bit mode to use Leech with it). Users who purchased Leech close to the Snow Leopard release date feel they didn’t get a fair value for their Leech purchase, because the program essentially stopped working soon after they bought it.

And you know what? They’re right. I wasn’t here during that time period, of course, but I should have realized that there was a specific Snow Leopard/Leech issue that I should have accounted for in the free license timeframe. I didn’t; I messed up. As such, I’m going to try to fix that problem now, with this offer:

If you purchased Leech 1 any time after March 1st, 2009 (long before Snow Leopard’s release), and feel that you did not get your money’s worth out of the program before it stopped working for you, please write to me for a free upgrade.

All I need is your proof of purchase of Leech 1 and a brief explanation as to why you feel you didn’t get your money’s worth, so I can make sure we don’t screw up again in the future. With those two things in hand, I’ll send you a free Leech 2 license.

For those of you who have already purchased a Leech 2 upgrade and feel as though you deserved a free upgrade due to the timing of your original Leech purchase, please write to me for a refund and we’ll get it taken care of.

(I need your proof of purchase because Many Tricks has lost its customer records prior to March 17th, 2010, which is why that was the cutoff date we chose as we worked on the new version.)

I should have thought this through more carefully before we released Leech 2 (as it was more impacted by Snow Leopard than our other programs), but I didn’t. So all I can do now is try to make it better by doing the right thing.

Posted in Company News, Leech | 1 Comment »

Witch 3.0 released

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

Today we’re thrilled to announce the release of Witch 3.0. This version offers many improvements over Witch 2; you can read the full release notes to get a sense for all the changes. Some of the most interesting new features, though, are these:

  • Witch 3.0 now allows you to use Command-Tab and Shift-Command-Tab (or Command-`) for activation. This means you can use Witch to completely replace the OS X Command-Tab application switcher.
  • Like the Command-Tab switcher, Witch now reacts to the window management keys (H for hide, Q for quit, etc.) instantly, instead of when Witch closes. (If you prefer the old behavior, you can set it in the preferences.)
  • You can now save and load appearance settings, so you can save your favorites for easy switching, or trade appearances with others. We’ll have a bit more to say about this feature in the near future.
  • A width slider allows you to control the width of the Witch window (say that five times fast!). In other words, web pages with horrendously long title strings will no longer result in a Witch window that’s as wide as your monitor—unless you want it to, of course.

There are lots of other changes, too, including full 64-bit support (no more System Preferences panel restart) and Sparkle integration, for easy in-app updates.

One thing not in Witch 3.0 is support for switching to windows in other Spaces; this is the number one item on our to do list, and assuming we can get it working in an acceptable manner, we’ll release Spaces support as a free Witch upgrade in the future.

Witch 3.0 costs $19, or $8 if you own a Witch 2.x license. For those who purchased Witch after March 17th of this year, you’ll be receiving a free upgrade to Witch 3.0; your license will be arriving in your inbox in the very near future. Update: You should now have received your license; if you did not, please let me know!

As always, you can report bugs, request features, and ask for help with Witch 3 on our support site.

Posted in Witch | 16 Comments »

A look at our 2010 product release timeline

Monday, April 5th, 2010

Many users have been asking me about our plans for products we haven’t yet updated, namely Witch, yFlicks, and Butler. In response, I offer this generic timeline of our plans for the rest of 2010:

Please note that this is a rough timeline, and subject to change based on our workload, customer demand, the phase of the moon, and the price of soybean futures on the daily spot market. However, it should provide a bit more detail on what our priorities are, and the approximate timeframe in which we hope to ship each of our apps. (It doesn’t show minor releases, which may include bug fixes and/or new features; those will be ongoing for each product.)

Read on for a bit more detail on each of the products in the timeline.
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Posted in Butler, Company News, Leech, Name Mangler, Paddock, Products, Witch, yFlicks | 19 Comments »

Announcing Paddock for iPad

Friday, April 2nd, 2010

Announced today, Paddock is Many Tricks’ newest product, and it’s headed for the iPad in the near future. What exactly is Paddock, you may be asking? Paddock is a program that lets you use your iPad to do many things at the same time.

Paddock does this by loading separate modules into one workspace. You can then choose to see one module at a time, or work with many at the same time. Confused? Head on over to the Paddock page to watch the preview video to get a better sense for exactly how it works. (If you’d like to see the iPad at a near-native resolution, download the 38MB 1920×1080 version instead.)

What you won’t see in the video is exactly which modules Paddock will include; the video shows only notes and a web browser. We have a nice set of modules under development that we’d like to get out with version 1.0, and a longer list planned for the future.

But we’re also interested in what modules you’d like to see in Paddock. So after watching the video, please feel free to drop your suggestions in the comments. Our 1.0 list is pretty much set, but we’re very interested in hearing what modules you would find most useful in a program like Paddock. (Note that some things, such as a movie player, aren’t possible due to what information Apple allows third parties to access.)

Posted in Paddock | 7 Comments »

The terms of the Many Tricks software license

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

I’ve had a few questions on how Many Tricks’ programs are licensed: is it per computer, per user, per user per computer, or something else? Given the confusion, I thought I’d explain here so it’s (hopefully) clear. I’ve posted this same information to our FAQ pages. And yes, we do have a full, legalese-filled software license, which covers what’s below and adds some required legal terminology.

The objective in our licensing is to keep things simple and fair. To that end, all of our products fall under one general usage license. Here’s how the licensing works: It’s basically a “buy only one” license model, except in the case of possible simultaneous usage. These situations should help clarify that basic rule:

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Posted in Butler, Company News, Leech, Name Mangler, Products, Witch, yFlicks | Comments Off on The terms of the Many Tricks software license

Leech 2.0 released

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

Hot on the heels of Name Mangler 2.1 comes the release of Leech 2.0. Leech is a lightweight download manager that puts you in control of your downloads, regardless of your browser usage. Version 2.0 has some exciting new features, including:

  • Downloads can be selected and acted on using a contextual menu; this makes it simple to move, pause, or resume large number of downloads
  • You can set certain domains and file extensions that Leech will not intercept when running in browser-integrated mode. (Works in Safari, Camino and OmniWeb; use FlashGot to fine tune Firefox’s exceptions.)
  • URL ranges allow downloading sequences of files. For example, http://some.site.url/file_{1-3}.txt will download file_1.txt, file_2.txt, and file_3.txt
  • Reveal currently-downloading files in the Finder by double-clicking on their entries in the window
  • Retry All contextual menu item for faster retries
  • Automatic updating via Sparkle
  • Drag-and-drop support for depositfiles.com. (You must have a valid depositfiles account that is currently logged in using Safari or any other WebKit browser.)

In addition, there are some important bug fixes and operational improvements:

  • Browser integration now works in 64-bit mode for users running OS X 10.6
  • Leech no longer interferes with other Safari plug-ins that use the Sparkle updating framework (e.g., older ClickToFlash versions)
  • Leech no longer interferes with Safari AdBlocker‘s data feeds (requires Safari AdBlocker 1.8.2 or newer).
  • Dock icon progress indicator is now more accurate
  • Download queue position information is more accurately shown
  • In accordance with Mac OS X 10.6’s Finder, file sizes (using units such as KB, MB, etc.) are now calculated using the multipler 1000, rather than 1024. (The latter should only be used for binary prefix units like KiB and MiB, but prior to Mac OS X 10.6, it was customary to describe 1024 bytes as 1 KB in the Mac world)

The price for all this goodness is unchanged from the prior version (except for minor rounding changes in going from prices in Euros to prices in US Dollars): $14. Even better, if you’re a Leech 1.x user, you can upgrade for only $5 (you must have a valid license file to purchase an upgrade license).

If you’re one of those who purchased Leech after March 17th, 2010, you’ll be getting your free Leech 2.0 license via email in the very near future.

As always, you can report bugs, request features, and ask for help on our support site.

Posted in Leech | 16 Comments »

Name Mangler 2.1.1 released

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Please check for updates in Name Mangler (in Prefs > Updates), as we just released version 2.1.1 with one new feature and one important bug fix:

  • New ‘shuffle’ mode (Command-S in Sort pop-up) to sequentially but randomly modify filenames; useful for images for a picture frame, for instance.
  • Fixed permissions issues for users running on non-admin accounts. Thanks to Fr. Augustine Hoa Tran and Neil Massello for reporting this problem.

Thanks to Sparkle, you should be able to update quickly and easily from within the app. If this doesn’t work, please let me know. Alternatively, you can still use the download link on the Name Mangler product page, of course!

Posted in Name Mangler | 5 Comments »

The future looks all Sparkle-y

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

As I noted in the Name Mangler 2.1 announcement, all future Many Tricks products will include support for in-app updates via Sparkle.

If you’re not aware of Sparkle, the reality is you’re probably aware of Sparkle. If you’ve ever run an app that let you download and install an update directly within the app, chances are good it’s using Sparkle to do that behind-the-scenes magic.

This amazing tool is open source, and supported by donations—and we’ll be doing some stuff in the future to support the project, as we think it’s a great addition to our code base.

Because you do lose some control over your machine in Sparkle-enabled apps (when they automatically download an update you didn’t ask for), all of our apps will include a simple on/off toggle for automatic update checking. If you’d rather check manually, just turn off the automatic updates. Personally, though, I leave Sparkle enabled in all the apps I use that include it; it makes product updates incredibly simple.

I’m thrilled we’re taking this step, as it simplifies what was a too-complex task for our programs—clicking a couple of buttons beats going to your browser, downloading and expanding an archive, quitting the original program, finding the original and new versions on your disk, and replacing old with new. Instead, Sparkle does all the heavy lifting ; you just click a couple of buttons and your app is up to date.

So thanks, Sparkle, for making our users’ lives simpler!

Posted in Butler, Company News, Developer, Leech, Name Mangler, Products, Witch, yFlicks | 12 Comments »

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