How-to: Use Butler for real-time Google searches

April 11th, 2011 by Rob Griffiths

For those who aren’t aware, Google has a real time search engine that can find up-to-the-second results across sites and social media services for topics of interest. Here’s how to set up Butler to search via this real time search engine.

  1. Open Butler’s main window (via Butler > Customize in the Butler menu, for instance), and go to the Engines tab.
  2. Click the plus sign at the lower left corner of the Butler window, and select Search Engine (or just press Command-N.)
  3. Name your search engine (in the box near the top right of the Butler window). (Press Tab when done.)
  4. On the URL tab, enter this for Prefix: http://www.google.com/webhp?btnG=Search#q=. Enter this for Suffix: &tbs=mbl:1&fp=1&cad=b.
  5. If you’d like to use real time search via Butler’s input box, click on the Triggers tab and enter an abbreviation. (Press Tab when done.)
  6. Click the Configuration tab, then click the plus sign at the lower left again. Scroll down and choose Smart Item > Web Search.
  7. Drag the newly-added Web Search entry to your desired section of Butler’s interface—I do all my web searching via keyboard shortcuts, so I have it in the Hidden section.
  8. Title your newly-added search, using the box near the top right of the Butler window. (Press Tab when done.)
  9. Click the pop-up in the Search Engine tab, and select the newly-created Google realtime search entry from the list.
  10. If you’d like to search via the keyboard, click over to the Triggers tab and set a Hot Key.
  11. Optionally set any other options.

I’ve been using this for a few weeks now, and it works quite nicely (at least using the USA version of Google; I’m not sure about international real time searching).

Posted in Butler, How To | 7 Comments »

Make Command-S useful in Lion

April 1st, 2011 by Rob Griffiths

Today marks a milestone in Many Tricks’ history: the release of Lioness, our first app targeted at Lion, the next version of Mac OS X. (Technical details: Lioness isn’t really released in final form today, but in public beta form. That’s because Lioness is a Lion application, and Lion isn’t out yet.)

So what is Lioness, and why should you want it?

In case you weren’t aware, Lion will allow applications to auto-save their data at regular intervals, making repeated use of Command-S unnecessary. But Mac users have been forcing themselves to press Command-S over and over for decades, so we figured we’d take advantage of that muscle memory by creating a set of useful functions around Command-S.

Under Lion, Lioness will intercept those potentially-worthless Command-S keystrokes, and do the following: auto-save the frontmost document, copy the autosave document to any number of online backup sources, and display a Growl alert noting how much potential data loss you’ve averted by pressing Command-S.

More details can be found on the Lioness page, where you can also download the free public beta. Final Lioness pricing has not yet been set.

Posted in Products | Comments Off on Make Command-S useful in Lion

Moom 1.1 goes quarterly

March 31st, 2011 by Rob Griffiths and Peter Maurer

No, that’s not how often we’re going to update Moom…it’s a reference to a cool new feature that lets you create corner-anchored quarter-sized windows—using either the keyboard or mouse, of course. This was the most-requested addition to Moom, and now you’ve got it.

The other big news in Moom 1.1 is that it now works with multiple displays. Using the keyboard or mouse, you can move and zoom windows across displays. Keyboard users can also move a window between displays, keeping its size and position (as closely as possible) when moved onto the new display. We’ve also got a snazzy new product page for Moom that better demonstrates how it works, so check it out.

Current customers can get updates via in-app updating (or by downloading a new copy from our site); App Store customers should see updates in the App Store application shortly.

Posted in Moom, Products | 4 Comments »

Time Sink 1.2 slides into existence

March 23rd, 2011 by Rob Griffiths and Peter Maurer

Today’s update to Time Sink adds a feature to give you more control over Time Sink’s CPU usage: a slider that controls Time Sink’s update interval. At its default setting, Time Sink checks for changes in window status roughly twice a second. If you’ve got a lot of windows open, and a lot of collected history, Time Sink can take a fair bit of CPU power to update all this info at that interval.

Using the new slider (in the General tab of Time Sink’s Preferences), you can lower Time Sink’s CPU usage by reducing how often it checks for changes in windows. The default setting is “Often,” while the other extreme is “Seldom,” which is about once every five seconds. You can find a value along the slider that works for your needs; just keep an eye on Activity Monitor to find a CPU usage level you’re comfortable with.

Of course, there’s an accuracy tradeoff involved—the less often Time Sink checks for window changes, the more likely it is to miss some of your activities. For instance, if you’ve got the slider all the way over at “Seldom,” you’ll miss that quick trip to Mail to check for new messages, or that glance at Twitter for recent tweets. But such tradeoffs are now in your control with Time Sink 1.2. (You can read the release notes page to see the other changes in this release.)

Direct purchasers can get the new version via in-app updating, or by downloading a fresh copy from the Time Sink page. App Store purchasers should see the update available shortly in the App Store application—we’ve released the update, but it will take a bit of time to reach all of the various global App Stores.

Posted in Products, Time Sink | 2 Comments »

Name Mangler 2.4.2 offers expanded views

March 22nd, 2011 by Rob Griffiths and Peter Maurer

It’s only fitting that, on today’s one-year anniversary of the company’s relaunch, Name Mangler receives an update: Name Mangler was the first product updated on our relaunched site back in March of 2010. One year later, version 2.4.2 adds one very useful feature, and one bug fix.

The very useful feature is that Name Mangler’s text fields will now auto-expand to show text that overflows the available display space. So if you’ve got a long text entry in a field, you won’t have to use the cursor keys to scroll through its contents (or, even worse, miss the fact that there’s more text there at all). Instead, the field will simply expand to show all the text:

The single line Prefix is what you see in older versions of Name Mangler; the bottom Prefix is what you’ll see in Name Mangler 2.4.2. (If you don’t need the space, the text box will still take up only one line, as it does in older versions; it only grows when necessary.) Read the release notes for details on the bug fix, if you’re interested in the gory details.

Direct purchasers of Name Mangler can update via the in-app updating (or by downloading a new copy from our server); App Store customers should see the update available in the App Store any time now. (The update has been approved and released, but it may take a bit of time to propagate to the various countries’ App Stores.)

Posted in Name Mangler, Products | Comments Off on Name Mangler 2.4.2 offers expanded views

A short year, indeed

March 22nd, 2011 by Peter Maurer

On this day in history, one short year ago, Many Tricks re-opened for business with Rob firmly in control of public relations and the business side of things. Rob already looked back at his first year as an indie software guy recently, and since he usually does things very thoroughly, there’s not a lot I can add to that. That’s a good thing, too, since I’ve been having slight difficulties with typing recently. So I have two excuses to keep this short, but I still want to make a couple of remarks.

Work has never been more fun, and it’s never been more economically sound than during this past year. Although Rob’s and my discussions about both important decisions as well as negligible matters of taste can be exhausting, there hasn’t been a single instance when I wasn’t convinced that the energy spent there would ultimately yield a better result. It’s downright comical how different we are in almost every aspect of daily computer usage, but this helps us keep an open mind and come up with solutions that work not just for us, but for lots of users as well.

Speaking of users, what more could we hope for than customers who consider our support life-affirming? If anyone benefits more from Rob’s work than I do, it’s you, the customers. And you seem to be very aware of it, judging from the amount of positive feedback I see in the occasional support ticket I read.

So in case any fellow indie developers read this, here’s my advice: If you haven’t done so already, find yourself a Rob. (No, you can’t have mine.) Even though you won’t be able to act quite as spontaneously as you did before, you’ll find that you’ll actually feel more independent. Your customers will be happier. You’ll be able to move faster when confronted with somewhat unexpected events like this year’s pre-Lion Mac App Store opening. You’ll be more efficient, because you can concentrate on things you’re good at. And just in case you like money, you’ll make more of that, too.

Anyway, it’s been a great year. Rob already said so in the anniversary blog post I linked to above, but it bears repeating: Thank you everyone! And thank you Rob, for making a career choice that must have seemed incredibly risky to a family man. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve never felt better about being an indie developer than I do these days, and I can’t wait to see where we go from here.

Posted in Behind the Scenes, Company News, Developer | 1 Comment »

Witch and Key Codes updated

March 3rd, 2011 by Rob Griffiths and Peter Maurer

Today we released updates to Witch (version 3.6.2) and Key Codes (version 1.1). Both of these are minor updates, and here’s what was changed:

  • Witch now properly treats the backtick/tilde key on US keyboards as a ‘cycle backwards’ shortcut (just like Mac OS X does with the Command-Tab switcher). We also fixed a problem that was causing double entries to appear for certain programs, most notably Path Finder.
  • Key Codes now lets you ‘unfloat’ its window (via the Window menu), and contains (for the App Store version) our In App news module, to provide updates to users of the App Store version of the program.

Witch users can update via the App Store or in-app updating (depending on which version you use); Key Codes doesn’t support in-app updating, so you’ll need to download the new version if you got it from our web site. (The App Store version will, of course, update via the App Store program.)

Posted in Key Codes, Products, Witch | 2 Comments »

Simplify move-and-zoom with Moom

March 2nd, 2011 by Rob Griffiths and Peter Maurer

So what could possibly be more exciting than the iPad 2 launch today? How about being informed that your brand-new application has been approved for sale in the App Store, during the actual iPad 2 launch? Yes, that’s exactly what happened to us today with our newest app.

So with apologies for stealing the limelight from iPad2 (right…), we’re thrilled to introduce Moom, Many Tricks’ newest tool to improve your productivity.

Moom simplifies a task that most of us do many times a day: moving and sizing windows. Whether it’s wanting a full-screen view while working on a project, or wanting to arrange a couple windows with each taking up half your screen, Moom makes those tasks as simple as a mouse click or keyboard shortcut.

In mouse mode, Moom’s interface appears when your mouse enters a window’s green zoom button; click the desired window size/position, and the window moves there. Change your mind? Hover over the green button again, and click the arrow to return the window to its original size and location. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.

For even more power, though, try Moom in keyboard mode. You assign a global hot key, and which actions you’d like for various combinations of the arrow keys and modifier keys. Press the hot key, and the overlay image at right appears; you can then use the keys you’ve set up to move your windows around.

Using the keyboard, Moom also gains the ability to center a window; something you can’t do using Moom in mouse mode.

Moom is available directly on our site for $5, or via the App Store for $4.99. If you’d like to try Moom before buying, download the free demo from out site—you can “Moom” 100 windows before the trial expires, so that’ll give you a good sense for how it works.

If you have any questions about Moom, please post them here, or contact me directly; I’ll do my best to answer them.

Posted in Moom, Products | 3 Comments »

Happy Anniversary to me!

March 1st, 2011 by Rob Griffiths

One year ago today, I started working at Many Tricks. It’s astounding to think a year’s gone by already, as it seems like it was just a few weeks ago that Peter and I were working on getting the web and support sites up and running. But the reality is quite different, and time has been flying due to everything we’ve done in the last year:

  • Relaunched the main site.
  • Added a new support site.
  • Released one entirely new product (Time Sink).
  • Released major updates to four products (Desktop Curtain, Leech, Usher, Witch).
  • Released 47 minor updates across all our apps.
  • Rewrote help in all apps (except Butler, which will happen with Butler 5).
  • Created video walkthroughs for many of our apps, with more in the works.
  • Posted 70 items to our blog.
  • Managed to get six programs in the Mac App Store, with a seventh (a totally new app) pending.
  • Sent 5,057 emails

So much for the numbers…what this post is really about is what the last year has been like for me, personally.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Behind the Scenes, Company News | 9 Comments »

How-to: Five tips for using Witch (video)

February 17th, 2011 by Rob Griffiths

In conjunction with the Witch 3.6.1 release today, we’ve created a video that discusses five things you can do with Witch:

  • Basic window switching (really basic!)
  • Creating global hot keys for certain window-related actions
  • Fast toggling between windows without seeing the Witch panel
  • Using shortcuts to see window info, switch to windows, and perform actions on windows
  • Setting up Witch for use with a mouse or trackpad

The video runs just under 10 minutes in length, and is available in two sizes: 640×480 [31MB] or 1024×768 [73MB]. (Both versions are also available in the sidebar on the Witch page.)

Posted in How To, Products, Witch | 1 Comment »

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