Plano MUG

Archive for August, 2008


Posted on August 30, 2008 - by brian hamm

BBEdit Reaches Version 9

Bare Bones Edit, affectionately known as BBEdit, has now arrived at version 9. The release notes are pretty long, as you might expect for a full point release. More about key features in a minute..

BBEdit has long been one of those products that make it a joy to build sites on a Mac. While I consider myself a fan, competing applications like Panic Software’s CODA have been quickly closing in on BBEdit, even exceeding it in areas like auto-completion, overall interface and price ($79 vs. $129). That said, Bare Bones Software has an extensive history and huge installed base.. a base who has practically grown up with the product. This full point update will go a long way toward keeping them happy.

Notable improvements:

  • Improved multi-file grouping into ‘Projects’
  • Better auto-completion and syntax coloring, to speed development
  • You can now work with/edit the search results without opening up another window
  • Application preferences and ‘Application Support’ folder can be synced over .Mac/MobileMe
  • New Scratchpad allowing quick edits and batch copy/paste prior to inserting code into your document
  • Improved autosave (every minute)
  • VM Ware ‘Fusion’ users can now preview pages in Windows versions of Firefox, Opera, Safari and IE

Upgrading to BBEdit 9 from any prior commercial version is $30. If you bought BBEdit after Jan 1, 2008 your upgrade looks like it will be free.


Posted on August 27, 2008 - by brian hamm

Things & Things Touch

Cultured Code, who is already off to a great start with their GTD desktop application Things, has released their highly anticipated iPhone version.

You can use either of these apps on their own, but if you have a Mac and an iPhone, your life is about to get a lot simpler.. or at least more organized.

In either Things app, you can add individual tasks, combine those into multi-step projects, tag items with keywords and set due dates. Tasks uncompleted by their due date are automatically rolled into your ‘today’ list, so they don’t simply get lost. There’s also a hot-key preference, so you can quickly call up the ‘new task’ window from anywhere on your Mac and commit something to your to-do list.

The interface (for for both apps) is minimal, but quick and efficient and helps you get information in/out with a minimum of fuss. And with the latest update, this all now syncs via wi-fi (no ‘push’ though.. yet).


Posted on August 27, 2008 - by brian hamm

Panic releases CODA 1.5

How many of you out there use Panic’s Transmit as your FTP application on the Mac? Lots of you, probably. Most folks who need an FTP program are uploading HTML pages and/or PHP scripts to web servers. If that sounds like you.. then you likely have need for a powerful text editor to create those files. I bet you’ve been using something like Dreamweaver or perhaps BBEdit.. arguably two of the best damn editors in existence. Fair enough.

For some though, Dreamweaver is just too deep of an application (not to mention expensive). BBEdit users may swear by their editor of choice, but wouldn’t it be nice to have features like split pane live previews, excellent code completion, code folding, and a built-in FTP app on par with Transmit? I’ll answer that for you.. yes, it would. :) You can thank your friends at Panic Software - the same folks who make Transmit - because they have a product called CODA, and it’s what I always wanted BBEdit to.. be.

CODA has a super text editor, file transfer (Transmit is built in), svn support, css editing (raw or GUI), terminal support and integrated HTML, CSS and Javascript references.. all for well under $100. Check it out.


Posted on August 26, 2008 - by brian hamm

Adium 1.3 adds support for Facebook chat

If you use Apple’s iChat, but have friends on other services like Yahoo, MSN or GoogleTalk (among others), you should take a look at Adium. It’s free, and supports pretty much every messaging platform on the planet. And, starting this week, you can add yet another.. Adium now supports Facebook, as part of its recent v1.3 update.

Users of the ‘new’ Facebook lately have likely seen the new status bar located at the bottom of the page. It show friend updates and other notifications, as well as allowing chat between users in a pop-up window. It works, but it also keeps you isolated (by design?) from your other messaging services, where you’re likely to have a lengthy history and buddy list. If you’d rather keep all of your buddies in one place, Adium is the answer.

The beloved Mac-only messaging application has a lively developer community as well, where fans create and alter themes both for buddy lists and messaging windows. With various colors, alignments and transparency options, you can easily find a theme that will blend in with your existing desktop and other apps.

Adium requires Mac OS X 10.4.. get the v1.3 update here


Posted on August 25, 2008 - by brian hamm

New Plano MUG site!

Thanks for everyone’s patience as I was readying the new Plano MUG site. It’s been a long time coming, but I think we’re ready for prime time! I built this using Wordpress 2.6 and based it on a theme called ‘Papercut‘ from Woo Themes.. and hacked at everything until it turned out the way i wanted.

There’s not really anything on the archive page yet.. in fact, there may not even be a post for EVERY category for the first week or so. This will change quickly. I wanted to get the show on the road. I’ll be publishing 2 or 3 ‘real’ posts a week. Other sections (’Freshly Picked’, Twitter feeds..) will be updated daily.

Launching a blog that doesn’t suck is a lot of work, but I’ve built - and torn down - a number of them over the past few years, and learned a great deal about how to do it. I promise the content here will be useful, and crafted with love and dedication to our favorite fruit company ;)

Enjoy ~


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