Another day, another Name Mangler release

April 27th, 2011 by Rob Griffiths and Peter Maurer

We’ve just released Name Mangler 2.4.4, which contains an important fix for an issue introduced in yesterday’s 2.4.3 update: under certain conditions, renaming wouldn’t actually work, despite the filename preview showing correctly within Name Mangler. Version 2.4.4 fixes this problem, and that’s the only change in this release.

If you bought Name Mangler directly from us, the update has been released, and you can get it via in-app updating or by downloading Name Mangler again from our site. We apologize for two releases in two days, but we felt it was important to get this fix out as soon as possible.

If you’re using the App Store version, we’ve submitted 2.4.4 for approval, which we hope will take only a few days. If you find that version 2.4.3 won’t work for a certain renaming task, you can (temporarily) use the demo version from our site until the App Store update is approved. Continue reading to see how to do that.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Touching things up on a Tuesday

April 26th, 2011 by Rob Griffiths and Peter Maurer

Yes, it’s another installment of Touch Up Tuesdays…this time out, Butler, Moom, and Name Mangler are getting the update treatment.

Butler 4.1.10: There are some nice fixes in this release, including making Butler work properly with Address Book’s Smart Folders feature, and pasting clipboard items as plain text into Mail. (Full release notes)

Moom 1.2.1: Mouse users can Option-click the full screen icon to center windows, Moom now works properly when running Dreamweaver and/or HyperDock, and we’ve reduced Moom’s CPU usage through a smarter activation algorithm. (Full release notes)

Name Mangler 2.4.3: You can now use Command-Z (multiple times) to undo changes in Advanced mode, and you can use the forward slash character in renaming actions. (Full release notes)

As always, you can get the new versions via in-app updates, or by downloading a fresh copy from our site. App Store users: the updates for Moom and Name Mangler should be available very soon, if not already, from the App Store application.

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Usher 1.1.3 update features temporary 50% price cut

April 19th, 2011 by Rob Griffiths and Peter Maurer

Today we released Usher 1.1.3, a minor update that addresses a few issues (release notes). The release of 1.1.3 comes just days after Usher’s six month anniversary (it was released on October 14, 2010). As such, we’ve decided to celebrate this milestone by putting Usher on sale for a week—and on sale in a big way:

Usher will cost only $17.99 until Tuesday, April 26th, 2011.

We think Usher is an amazing tool, and at 50% off, now’s the time to bring order to your collection of movies and videos. You can purchase Usher directly from us, or via the App Store; the choice is yours, as it should be.

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

Moom 1.2 cheats its way onto the grid

April 15th, 2011 by Rob Griffiths and Peter Maurer

Moom, our newest app, takes a big step forward today to version 1.2, which introduces a couple of very useful new features and improves Moom’s interactions with a number of programs. The update is available now (or very shortly) for both direct (via in-app updating or from our site) and App Store (via the App Store application) customers .

So what’s new, and why is Moom cheating its way onto the grid? Well, the cheating bit refers to a new cheat sheet for keyboard users—the cheat sheet displays the currently-assigned shortcut keys. This feature is off by default, and can be enabled on the Keyboard tab of Moom’s Settings window. The grid bit refers to a very cool new feature for mouse users that lets you easily move and resize windows to custom sizes and positions. Also off by default, enable the grid (and set its size) via the Mouse tab of Moom’s Settings window. (If you want more information on how the grid works, read the help file for a detailed look at this cool new feature.)

Moom 1.2 also resolves an issue that was causing crashes in LibreOffice and OpenOffice. For the record, this crash was not due to anything Moom was doing, but rather, in how those apps respond to requests via Apple’s Accessibility API. We’ve found a good workaround, though, and Moom 1.2 now works properly with these apps.

There is another class of applications where Moom doesn’t work properly—as with LibreOffice/OpenOffice, this is due to problems with those programs and the Accessibility API. Moom now ignores these applications, so such problems are avoided. You can see a list of these programs, along with the other changes in Moom 1.2, on the release notes page.

If you haven’t updated yet, we strongly recommend you do so now—between the new features and the bug fixes, this is an important update for all Moom users.

Posted in Moom, Products | 3 Comments »

Witch and duplicated TotalFinder windows in the switcher

April 13th, 2011 by Rob Griffiths

With the release of Witch 3.6.3, one of the described fixes was:

A problem causing TotalFinder’s windows to appear twice in Witch has been fixed.

Unfortunately, due to the length of time between when we submitted the 3.6.3 update to the App Store and its approval, both Peter and I forgot that this fix is disabled by default, and that it must be enabled via a hidden preference. I’ll explain why in a bit, but for now, here’s how to get Witch 3.6.3 working with TotalFinder:

  1. Disable Witch (uncheck Enable Witch) and quit the app (App Store version) or close System Preferences (independent version)
  2. Open Terminal (in Applications > Utilities), copy and paste the following text, then press Return:
    defaults write ~/Library/Application\ Support/Witch/Settings "Work Around TotalFinder" -bool YES
    (That’s one long line; just select it and copy, and it should paste fine.) You won’t see any response from Terminal (other than a new command prompt), but Witch is now set up to work properly with TotalFinder.
  3. Restart Witch.

So why did we make a bug fix a hidden preference, and disabled by default? Because of the way we had to code this particular workaround, we were concerned about possible other issues with TotalFinder windows. We tested as best we could, but we still weren’t confident that we’d tested everything possible, so we decided to ship with the setting disabled.

Now that Witch 3.6.3 is out, we can ask all TotalFinder users to try this fix, and let us know if they experience any other issues with it. If none are reported, then we can enable it by default in a future bug fix update.

Posted in Products, Witch | 4 Comments »

Witch 3.6.3 released

April 12th, 2011 by Rob Griffiths and Peter Maurer

Witch 3.6.3 is a minor bug fix release, available now via in-app updates for those who purchased directly from us, and soon (if not right now) via the App Store application for those who purchased through that channel.

Not a lot of big news about this minor update. It resolves an issue with double entries appearing for TotalFinder windows, and it works properly with Xcode 4’s new window structure. There are a couple other minor fixes which you can read about on the release notes page. Oh, and if you happen to be a developer running Lion, you’ll find that Witch works much better there now, too.

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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.

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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 »

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