Yojimbo widescreen view hack

Having tried just about every notebook, organiser and outliner app over the last 3 years, I’ve become an eager convert to Yojimbo. Here’s a little hack that makes the main window use a 3 vertical pane view, like the letterbox plugin does for Apple Mail.

There is a wee bug to be aware of. when you resize it too small, the list pane jumps right and covers up the preview. Clicking the splitter bar (the bit inbetween the 2 panes with an indented dot) brings it back though.

Download

Yojimbo.zip

Installation

This hack is for Yojimbo v1.4. Please make sure you update before installing this hack.

Backup Yojimbo first. Nothing bad should happen, but belts-and-braces, you know? Also, if you get sick of this view and want the old one back, just replace it with the backup.

To install, ctrl-click on Yojimbo in the Finder, choose ‘Show Package Contents’ from the context menu. Navigate to /Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ and replace the OGMainWindow.nib file with the one in the download.

Tags: hacks, osx, software, yojimbo

I want to hear from Parallels users

Is anyone out there using Parallels on either a MacBook or MacBook Pro? Hard disk and RAM needs aside, do you find that it works as a testing environment for Windows and Linux? I’ve been burnt by previous experiences with sluggard Virtual PC, so for the last 3 years I’ve been using a PC Laptop. It was this dual-computer usage that led Leigh to call me “Web Design’s Rick Wakeman”.

Tags: intel, osx, parallels, software

Happy old man

To balance the curmudgeonly talk of the last two posts, here are a few things I’m really happy about:

Kilts! I wore a kilt for the first time last weekend, and I am smitten. For a start if you have a rather more portly frame (such as myself) its quite forgiving. Also, while it was a freezing weekend, I can confirm that underneath all that tartan, there is a zone of warmth. AND, you get to put a dagger (Skean Dubh, sorry) in your sock. AND you get some where to put your camera at last (in the Sporran of course).

Tags: hosting, osx, software

Ideal OS X Text Editor?

That last post got me thinking. My ideal text editor for OS X is out there, but all the elements I want are in different apps! If I could somehow melt these bits together (like melting 4 chunky kit-kats together and pretending they’re the old style kit-kats), these are the ingredients I would use.

• SubEthaEdit’s collaboration ability, split-view, web preview (just prefer it to Textmate’s), code navigation and general cocoa feel. Textmate allows you to navigate the code, but its a separate window. skEdit puts its navigation menu in the toolbar (where it should be), but SubEthaEdit’s implementation includes icons that find easier to scan.
• skEdit’s code hinting, colour blender and project management. Its code hinting makes writing CSS and HTML so quick and painless, and its the only one that allows you to create a list of projects to open. In Textmate, I’ve got around this by keeping a folder of aliases to ’.tmproj’ files in my dock for quick and easy project opening.
• Textmate’s project drawer, code-folding, bundle editor and CSS & HTML validator. skEdit has snippets, but Textmate takes this much further with its bundle editor. Unfortunately, Textmate doesn’t use a standard cocoa textfield, so services items such as lipServiceX’s Generate Lorem Ipsum aren’t accessible.

With the exception of a built-in Textile filter (which can be added in Textmate, as Drew shows), this would do me nicely thankyou!

Tags: code, osx, software

10 Mac Apps

Om Malik has started a meme, and as much as I try to fight it, I can’t resist butting into this one.

Tags: memes, osx, software

A list of typography things

• I love shopping for type, and have just started a de.licio.us tag for typeIwanttobuy, a kind of Amazon wishlist. As you can see – they’re mostly from Veer. The experience of browsing, previewing and puchasing type from Veer is the best I’ve found anywhere, its a joy to use. The fact that you can preview your own text, and download a gif image (with no watermarks) is so much mo Read the rest…

  Tags: osx, software, typography

Using things for other things

A few ways of using OS X apps for other purposes. NetNewsWire as a browser anyone?

Tags: organisation, osx, software

Jeremy is right! Tiger underwhelms, except for...

How I’ve come to love Safari RSS. No more browser hopping for me?

Tags: osx, rss, safari, software, tiger

Looking for a MYOB replacement

I’m fed up with the crappy carbonised MYOB for doing my accounting, and I can;t help but think there is a more native OS X app out there that would suit my needs better.

Tags: osx, software

Tiger theme for Omniweb

Screenshots

Please note, I am using Nathan Skinner’s Tiger Theme, in these screenshots:

Overview (click for full sized image)

Toolbar (click for full sized image)

Tags: browsers, omniweb, osx, software, themes, tiger

FTP files from skEdit using Transmit 3

Here’s a quick tip for skEdit users who prefer Transmit 3 for their FTP needs. With Transmit 3’s new ‘Dock Send’ feature, you can send files directly from skEdit. As long as your site is set up to use Dock Send, just drag the file directly from skEdit’s file view onto Transmit’s dock icon, and it will upload it where you need it! This cuts out a few steps and makes the whole process a lot quicker.

Tags: ftp, mac, osx, software

Omniweb wishlist II

Since my first Omniweb Wishlist, 2 of the wishes have happened, RSS feeds now open in new tabs, and its merged with the latest webcore. Since then, 5.1 has been released, and the list has grown somewhat.

Tags: browsers, omniweb, osx, software, wishlists

Textile previews in Ecto and MarsEdit

I’ve had problems getting Textile previews to work in these apps, and wanted to share here the solutions in case anyone else has been in the same boat.

Tags: code, software, textile, textpattern

Hicksdesign theme for Omniweb 5

For that <1% of the Hicksdesign readership that use it, here is the Hicksdesign theme for Omniweb 5.

Tags: browsers, omniweb, osx, software, themes

Lists of 2004

It’s that retrospective time of year again. Looking back over all the highlights of the year and recording them for posterity.

Tags: lists, music, osx, reviews, software

Optimized Firefox for G5's

Last week, I linked to a guy who was producing optimized builds of Firefox specifically for Powerbook G4’s. These unofficial builds were noticeably faster, almost blinding. Now, Neil Lee has gone and cooked up a build just for G5’s too.

Grab the build from here, which also includes Kevin Gerich’s pretty widgets as standard!

Tags: browsers, firefox, g5, osx, software

Red Channel

When I use Photoshop, I want apple-1 to show the file at 100% (or ‘actual pixels’), just like every other adobe application I use. I don’t want to look at the red channel.

Photoshop CS has a nifty feature allowing you to customise its keyboard shortcuts, but guess which command isn’t listed?!

I beg of you, has anyone found a way around this?

Tags: osx, questions, rants, software

Textmate - first impressions

A new OS X text editor is in town called Textmate. Its been hyped up, with bold claims, presenting it as the editor to end all editors. I’ve given it a spin, and offer here my initial thoughts.

Tags: osx, reviews, software, texteditors

Some Omniweb 5 tricks you might not know

Some slightly hidden features of Omniweb 5 that might be worth knowing about. In particular the easy way of clicking ‘next’ links!

Tags: browsers, howto, omniweb, osx, software

Newsfire 0.1 beta

A new RSS reader is in town, that takes a slightly different approach to the others, positively dripping with OS X beauty…

Tags: osx, reviews, rss, software

New Safari Stand features

The free Safari plug-in ‘Stand’ is updated to work with v1.2.3 (v125.9), and has added some rather nice new features.

Tags: browsers, osx, plugins, safari, software

Omniweb 5 wishlist

Omniweb 5 is finally out, and is an excellent browser, but I have just a few niggles that bug me when I use it.

Tags: browsers, omniweb, osx, software, wishlists

Extending Safari 3: Stand

I’ve recently discovered another plug-in for Safari, called Stand. I can’t tell you a whole lot of detail about it, as the site is written in Japanese. What I can tell you is that its free, and it allows you to do the following slick actions:

• Allow syntax colouring in viewed source (no control over colours used though)
• Specify a font and size for viewed source (I like this – I have a thing about using Lucida Grande for source view).
• Search your bookmarks and history (very nice, although I tend to use Quicksilver to find bookmarks quickly, this is even faster).
• Specify that all links to a ’_blank’ target open in a new tab instead of a new window. This is nice.
• Save tab layouts as workspaces alá Omniweb.
• Assign categories, colour labels and comments to new bookmarks
• Create search shortcuts (as in Sogudi and Saft)
• ‘Site Alteration’. This allows you some basic preferences on a per site basis, such as what encoding to use, and whether images, pop-ups, plug-ins or javascript are to be allowed.
• Remove favicons.
• Set a time delay for auto-closing the downloads window after completion.
• It also seems to add ‘Copy Link HTML Tag’ command to the context menu when ctrl-clicking links. (I’ve only just noticed this though, so it could’ve been there all along!)

This is a beta, so although I could save windows as workspaces, I couldn’t find a way of reopening them. There is also a window called the ‘Stand Bar’, which includes searchable bookmarks and history again, plus 2 other menus which haven’t been ‘hooked up’ yet.

Tags: browsers, plugins, safari, software

safari sidebar - beta screenshots (updated)

That’s right. I’ve just received a new Saft beta, with the sidebar that I’ve been bellyaching about for months! To be honest, alhough I pestered Hao for this feature, I never really thought it would be possible, but hey, it never hurts to ask. Hao seems to like a challenge however, and he’s been kind enough to allow me to post screenshots here.

This version works the same as other releases of Saft. The plug-in goes into the Library>InputMangers folder replacing the previous version. Once launched, Safari then has the ‘Show Sidebar’ command in the Safari menu (this is a temporary position).

Tags: plugins, rss, safari, software, themes

I fear the iChat

I’ve had rather a lot of complaints in the last month or so that I don’t open iChat often enough. In fact – I’m never online – period. I don’t want to play the whining “Busy freelance designer with a young family” card yet again, but I’m going to have to. Every time I open iChat, about 4 messages pop up, inquiring “Are you there Hicks?!!”. Then I get embroiled in some gentle chit chat, and another 5 pop up – “Instant message from ToastMan27072”, etc. Before I know it, a day has passed with no work done. At the moment I have SO much work on, I shouldn’t even be writing this, let alone indulging in fripperies such as iChatting. Its not a nice feeling though, I feel as if I’m missing out.

Tags: ichat, im, software

Shiira

As if I didn’t already have enough choice in OS X browsers, along comes another. Shiira is an open source browser, built using Safari’s webkit, that the Japanese developers intend to be “a browser that is better and more useful than Safari”. As it uses the latest verson of webkit, it will only run on 10.3.

The interface, at first glance, looks a lot like Safari. The tabs implementation are almost identical (although tab labels aren’t bold), and the preferences window layout shares many similarities. However, unlike Safari’s interface, Shiira uses a fully customisable Aqua toolbar and bookmarks/history are displayed in a sidebar drawer instead of replacing the window, just like Camino 0.7. Most importantly, it doesn’t have Safari’s elegance or good looks in the toolbar icon department. Take a look at this screenshot and the various icon options being offered. The Jade stone set is the default.

Tags: browsers, osx, reviews, shiira, software

Quicksilver for OS X

Having just read about Quicksilver on What do I know? I did as I was bidden by Todd Dominey and ran to download it, but trying to keep my ‘balanced view’ head on.

Quite simply, I am absolutely stunned. If you have Panther, you need Quicksilver. Truly amazing.

Tags: osx, quicksilver, software

extending Safari 2: saft!

One of my niggles about Safari is that I’ve always felt it’s a little short in features. As mentioned before, Pith Helmet (Advert blocking), Sogudi (Address bar searches) and Safari Enhancer go someway to improve it. I want to use Safari – I love its clean, elegant interface and speed, but sometimes it feels a bit lacking.

Tags: osx, plugins, reviews, safari, saft, software

Adobe vs Greenwich Mean Time

I’m posting this in the hope that I can prevent someone else from losing their mind. The shiny new Adobe Creative Suite ran fine on my G5, but when I tried to install and run it on my G4 Powerbook, the dock icon would bounce for a few seconds then quit. I tried a variety of fixes – re-installation, trashing preference files, repairing permissions, installing under a different log-in. I even rebuilt the Powerbook from scratch in case that might help. Still no cigar.

Finally, after having a Damascus Road experience on a MacUser forum, I found the fix, and you’ll never guess what it is. Go into Date & Time>Time Zone and change the setting from ‘GMT’ to ‘London’ (or anything other than GMT). Suddenly, everything opens and works fine.

Tags: adobe, bugs, osx, software

Playing iPods via iTunes

My ‘working away from home’ kit consists of just 2 things. My worn but trusty G4 Powerbook and my iPod. The iPod means I can play music in the car, as well as backup work to it. I’ve been trying to find a way of playing the music on my iPod through the Powerbook, without losing the link to my G5 where the music library is kept. There are plenty of apps that enable you to copy the iPod library onto your computer (such as PodWorks) – but I just don’t have the HD space for such a task. It also seems a little overboard – why copy everything when I should be able to just playback from the iPod?

Tags: howto, ipod, itunes, mac, music, software

OmniWeb 5

For the past year I’ve been dithering between Camino, Safari and Firebird as my default browser on OSX, unable to settle with one. They’re all really good, but each one has something that niggles me or leaves me wanting. In Camino its the lack of autofill and its centered tabbed browsing. In Safari, it’s the lack of toolbar customisability, its icons and non-configurable pop-up blocking. Firebird is the one that comes damn close, but at the end of the day, its not a cocoa app, so no native form widgets and (more importantly) I can’t use the funk in the services menu like ‘subscribe in NetNewsWire’ or ‘Encode into HTML’ (Character Convertor).

Tags: browsers, mac, omniweb, reviews, software

Extending Safari

Just wanted to share with you my favourite apps for extending the capabilities of Safari – There might be one here you haven’t tried…

Safari Enhancer – Does a whole variety of tasks, but I use it to enable the debug menu (contains a spoof user agents menu), remove the metal skin (looks great in Panther!) and deactivate the cache.

Sogudi – creates search shortcuts to use in the location bar. For instance, to search for ‘skEdit’ on Versiontracker, just type ‘vt skEdit’ into the location bar. Comes with some preset searches, and the ability to add your own.

Tags: browsers, mac, osx, plugins, safari, software

InDesign CS

Adobe recently updated their main product range as the ‘Creative Suite’ (CS), and with it, what would’ve been called InDesign 3 – InDesign CS. InDesign is their flagship desktop publishing/graphic design application, created as a rival to Quark Xpress, which had been without competition for years. I’ve been using v3 (sorry ‘CS’) for a few weeks now, and I offer here my initial thoughts.

Tags: adobe, indesign, osx, print, reviews, software

OS X web tools

Firstly, BBEdit 7.1 is out and has a rather nifty addition. If you have Safari installed, you can preview your pages live within BBEdit, all thanks to Apple making the WebKit Framework available. I’ve just tried this out, and it works like a dream! As edits are made to the code, the preview gets updated. You don’t have to save or hit ‘refresh’ as in Dreamweaver. BBEdit 7.1 is a free upgrade for users of 7.0.

Then there’s a relative newbie, xScope from Artis & Iconfactory, a veritable swiss army knife of 6 useful tools for measuring and visualising screen measurements, positions and colours. Artis have been pushing these tools for a while, but now they’re revamped with an iconfactory-designed interface, and is all the better for it. In particular, I like the fact that you can access tools by a discreet menu bar icon, as well as hot keys or the dock. Tools can also be hidden in the same way. I’m such a sucker for Iconfactory applications – they know how to create software with eye candy.

Tags: osx, software

multiple versions of IE

Everyone’s linking to this, and normally I stay away from repetition of other blogs, but this is far too useful.

As you all know, one of the biggest problems with testing sites on a PC, is that Windows only allows one installation of IE. However, a recent tutorial explained how the patent-friendly version of IE 6 inadvertently provided a way around this. By altering the installation files for IE 5 and 5.5, you could have the 3 last versions of IE on the same PC!

Tags: internetexplorer, software, windows

skEdit

I’ve just been trying out a piece of Mac OS X shareware that will be of interest to anyone who hand codes HTML and CSS. Although Dreamweaver 2004 finally allows code-hinting in CSS, it runs SO slow on my mac – I just can’t bear it. Until a G5 becomes a possibility, I’ve been using BBEdit and Transmit to do the same job, but I’ve missed the advantage of code hinting.

Just out of interest I did a search for ‘OSX’ and ‘code-hinting’ and found something called skEdit, a cocoa text editor created by an 18 yr old student in Cleveland. The more I use it, the more I love it. Here’s why:

Tags: os, software, texteditors

the entourage experience

For ages I’ve been trying to work out why my mac has been running so slow. Its a better spec than my powerbook, and yet that runs much faster and zipper. Last week I felt I’d tried everything else (Disk Doctor, Disk Utility, repairing permissions, defragging, system optimiser etc) and all that was left was a clean install. OS X shouldn’t need this in the way that 0S9 used to. And lo, it made no difference apart from gaining some HD space back.

Today I found out what was wrong. I use Microsoft Entourage, a fantastic application which organizes my life, stores my notes and contacts, keeps track of my jobs, as well providing my email. It started going very wappy. I rebuilt the mail database (start up Entourage while holding down the option key). ‘Rebuilding and compacting 8457 messages’ said the window (I hadn’t done it for a while). Once it had finished (and old database files trashed), not only was Entourage back to normal, but my whole mac was zippy and responsive again.

Tags: email, osx, rants, software

welcome the new kid

Another day, another new OS X application. Pixadex is the ‘iPhoto for icons’, and it really is that intuitive. Store, organise and drop icons on to files and folders (no get info/copy and paste). Its a Panic and Iconfactory co-production, so you know its good!

Tags: osx, software

camino lives!

The good news from Mike Pinkerton is that Camino development is still carrying on. Things have been a little quiet of late, but he reports:

“I’ve got a couple people working on the download manager as well as a full bookmark infrastructure rewrite in progress by someone else.”

Now that the hoo-haa has died down after Safari’s 1.0 release (which crashes at least 3 times a day – my latest nightly build of Camino hasn’t crashed once!), hopefully Camino will get a chance to shine. Mike also reported CNETs comparison of Camino and Safari with glee. I hope it continues to cheer him up…

Tags: browsers, camino, osx, software

we have found a witch! can we burn her?!

I’ve playing around with a lot of wee OS X software recently. There seems to be far more independent software developers for OS X than there ever was for OS9. A lot of it is downloaded, used once, and then never again. Some however, are just so darn useful that they might get a position on my dock.

Steven f (from panic) has created Web Desktop. This bizarre app, using the WebKit rendering engine from Safari 1.0, allows browsing on your desktop! I felt very strange using it, as if I was doing something naughty, but its great. Give it a go.

Tags: osx, software

new camino metal theme!

Finally, I’ve finished (for now) the new theme for camino. Intended for use with a metal interface, it contains new icons, buttons and splash screens for nearly the entire camino set.

Click here for information, previews and download…

Tags: browsers, camino, osx, software, themes

NetNewsWire

I’ve become addicted to NetNewsWire for OSX from Ranchero software – a few months ago I’d never heard of ‘RSS News Feeds’, now its become as important as email. Its fast, clearly designed (clean cocoa interface) and it also lets me edit this weblog. There is a Lite version that you can try, but before long you’ll want the full deal. If I’m preaching to the converted, you can subscribe to hicksdesign here.

Tags: osx, rss, software