HeySage

Finally a widget with value (excluding the silly countdown widgets that I create using Apple’s Dashcode). Ambrosia Software’s EasyEnvelopes 1.0.5 is amazing extremely useful. EasyEnvelopes allows you to simply and quickly create envelopes addressed to any contact within AddressBook. All you need to do is enter the adressee’s address into the search bar, select the address, and click print (the stamp in the upper right corner).

In the information pane there are a number of options. You can change the return address, envelope size, font and more. One of the best features is the ability to print USPS barcodes. This application is proof that dashboard actually does have some value. You may download the application from Ambrosia’s website.

Technorati Tags: easyenvelopes, OS X Software

One of the problems with long url’s is that, when you paste them into an email message, the url can be broken by a line break. There are two solutions to this problems. The first is using the edit link feature in apple mail. To use this method highlight any text within the body of your email message, right click (⌃click), and choose edit link from the contextual menu. In the edit link dialog box paste the obtrusively long URL. The text will appear to the recipient as a hyperlink (assuming they accept HTML formatted email).

The second answer to this problem is tiny urls. You can take any long and complex url and enter into the tiny url conversion tool at tinlyurl.com. The site will output a url that looks something like http://tinyurl.com/2t6wrs. The only problem with this approach is that it is inconvenient. In comes tinyURL.service from RiverDark Studios. When you download and install tinyURL.service three menu items will appear in the services menu.

1. Shrink URL
2. Shrink URL and copy to clipboard
3. Shrink URL to clipboard

You can highlight any url and choose Shrink URL to clipboard from the services menu and paste it anywhere you would like. Take it a step further, you can add a keyboard shortcut to Shrink URL to clipboard. In doing so you can copy, convert, and paste with two keyboard shortcuts and a pear tree.

Technorati Tags: TinyURL.service, TinyURL, Edit Link, Apple Mail, Long URLs

MenuCalendarClock is an iCal compatible menu bar calendar and clock developed by Objectpark Software. This application is invaluable for those who are constantly forgetting the date. The MCC icon provides a constant reminder of the day’s date in the menu bar. MenuCalendarClock can be configured to display one of three different calendar icons and a myriad of different time formats.

Of course the killer function is the instant access to iCal. Clicking the menubar calendar icon displays a small calendar with your scheduled items and To-Dos. Double clicking any day will launch iCal.

Realistically, The Sage finds it much easier to monitor his calendar by launching iCal via Quicksilver. This way there is no need to leave the keyboard and start clicking with a mouse. Regardless, whether you use the iCal functionality or not, MCC is a welcomed addition to the menu bar.

MenuCalendarClock is shareware. The basic feature set is free while the advanced feature set is $19.95. You may download MenuCalendarClock from ObjectPark Software’s site.

Technorati Tags: MenuCalendarClock, OS X Menu Bar

One of the things that has always bothered The Sage about iCal is the inability to share your calendars without a .Mac account. Well, Joe over at pknet.com has offered a donationware solution called CalTalk.

Caltalk makes it easy to share, browse, and subscribe to iCal calendars. All you need to do is

1. Install CalTalk on your computers
2. Open the app
3. Check “Share my calendars” and…
4. Double-click the names of other peoples’ calendars you would like to subscribe to.
   • If the calendar is password protected you will be prompted for a password

You can set the refresh rates via iCal and can choose to omit or include alarms and To-Dos. Since version 1.1 Joe has enabled password protection of calendars.

The Sage finds the functionality invaluable. He uses CalTalk to share calendars with his wife so as to prevent from scheduling conflicting events. You to might find the ability to share iCalendars useful too. If so, you can download CalTalk from Joe’s website

Technorati Tags: CalTalk, Software Review, Share iCal

IMAP-IDLE is a plugin for Apple Mail developed by Michael Rothwell.

But what does this gem do you ask? Well, IMAP-IDLE provides IDLE support for IMAP accounts in Mail.app. But what does that mean? A simplified way of explaining it is that any new mail received by the mail server will be immediately delivered to your inbox, rather than waiting for your email client to ping the server every X number of minutes.

You might find yourself asking, why would I want this? Well, you might not. If you find yourself continually distracted by email, RSS feeds, and the thingamablob, this may not be a good idea for you. The Sage started using this plugin when testing a PHP mail script on one of his many websites. With this plugin mail will simply arrive in your inbox rather than you having to press ⌘⇧N to check for new mail.

Anyways, The Sage has been using this plugin for almost six months now and he has not had a single problem. This current build appears to work flawlessly. The only drawback (if there are any) is that this plugin will not work if your mail server does not support the IDLE command. Also there is no UI at this time but the README file clearly explains how to install via the command line.

In the end, if you feel that you need your email immediately download IMAP-IDLE. Now!

Technorati Tags: IMAP-IDLE, Apple Mail, Apple Mail Plugin

On a recent episode of The MacRoundtable Ray Slakinski, founder of PopCurrent, mentioned a wonderful blog publishing plugin for TextMate called BlogMate. BlogMate is a free, graphical plug-in for TextMate that allows creating and editing blog posts for some types of blogs (Wordpress most certainly) from a floating palette within TextMate. BlogMate is developed by Todd Ditchendorf.”

Now for the review. The Sage was able to download the plugin, install it, configure it, and publish a post with it in just a few minutes. As previously stated the plugin offers a free floating palette and has a very straightforward UI. Once configured any open HTML or Markdown document can be published by simply clicking the “Send Post” button in the BlogMate pane. This will bring up a dialog box which prompts you for the title of the post and allows you to configure the time stamp. To set the category of the posting, all you need to do is check the Categories that apply in the Categories pane of the BlogMate window.

The only downside The Sage could find is that the uploading of images or other media is not streamlined as it is when using the TextMate blogging bundle. When using the TextMate blogging bundle the image is uploaded to the location specified by the user in the WP-Admin configuration panel and the appropriate link (in HTML or Markdown) appears in the text so that when you post, the image will display properly. When using BlogMate you must manually upload the image.

The Sage found a simple work around so as to get the best of both worlds. All you need to do is create a document from the blogging bundle template and then remove the “Title:” text at the head of the document. Then you can post the document using BlogMate. This is currently The Sage’s preferred method of posting although he may choose to incorporate MarsEdit in his future work flow.

All in all, BlogMate offers a free, quick and easy way to post to a supported blog using TextMate.

Technorati Tags: BlogMate, TextMate, Bloggin Tools

While The Sage is waiting for Episode 1 of The HeySage Podcast to render he felt it necessary to write a quick review/tutorial on the TextMate Blogging bundle. The blogging bundle in TextMate only takes a few minutes to configure and you can configure the preferences file for one or multiple blogs. There is a screencast on the TextMate site which clearly demonstrates how to set things up and use the bundle. For those who prefer reading the steps are as follows:

Read the rest of this entry »