Just a quick note to let everyone know that I just updated Status Screen Saver to version 1.4. I added four new modules: one for iChat and three for Things. The update can be downloaded from the product page. Full release notes below.

• New Features
  • Added module for iChat .
  • Added three modules for Things .
  • Added ability for modules to know when the screen saver started.
• Fixes
  • Fixed the iCal To Do module for use in Snow Leopard.
  • Fixed the speed of the scrolling.

Apple has added some new functionality for mail plugins in Snow Leopard that requires us to have a whitelist for each version of Mail that is known to work with our plugins. Unfortunately, this means that I need to release an update to Mail Unread Menu pretty much every time there is a Mac OS X update, like there was today with 10.6.1. Unless there is a very major change to Mail, the Mail Unread Menu plugin doesn’t need to be changed in order to maintain functionality, so it’s not difficult for me to release these updates, just tedious.

All of that said, there is a new version of Mail Unread Menu available now, version 3.2.2. All it does is update the Info.plist in the mailbundle file, to provide compatibility for Mac OS X 10.6.1 and Mail 4.1. You can download it at the Mail Unread Menu website.

Just a quick note to mention that I’ve updated Mail Unread Menu to version 3.2 and Status Screen Saver to version 1.3. These changes have been made to provide support for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Both of these versions of the applications require Snow Leopard to run, which will be the case for all versions of the applications going forward. The FAQs for each application contains details about Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard compatible versions.

All other applications and widgets should already be compatible with Snow Leopard.

Mail Unread Menu 3.2

• New Features
  • Added the ability to show each account in the mailbox list.
• Changes
  • Changed how return values are received from Applescripts, ensuring more stable execution of scripts.
  • Changed the mailbox selection script to improve functionality with mailboxes contained within multiple accounts.
  • The unread count is now updated when a message is opened in a separate window.
  • Built application requiring Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.
• Fixes
  • Fixed a handful of small memory leaks.

Status Screen Saver 1.3

• New Features
  • Updated the screen saver to build in 64-bit mode, requiring Snow Leopard to run.
  • Added module for Skype http://www.skype.com.
• Changes
  • Replaced the one Time module with two modules, for 12 hour and 24 hour time.
  • Updated the icon for the NetNewsWire module.
• Fixes
  • Fixed a handful of small memory leaks.

Just a few days ago, Marco Armet made some great updates to Instapaper. Included with these updates was a change to the structure of the “Read Later” URL, which makes the URL much shorter and much easier for Marco to update. As a result, my “Read Later in Instapaper” NetNewsWire script needs a bit of an update in order to work properly. You can still follow the steps at http://www.loganrockmore.com/blog/?p=169 , but use this AppleScript file instead of the old one.

In July 2005, I needed a hobby to keep myself occupied during my first summer home from college. I put out an ad on CraigsList for a cheap iMac shell and decided to make an iMacQuarium, using the directions available from imacquarium.cool-mac.com. I even decided to update a blog (using Blogger) with the status of building my own aquarium. (Oddly enough, designing the blog was my first experience with the latest amazing web technology: CSS) After just three posts and about halfway done with the project, work stopped and the empty shell and assembled pieces of plastic were put into the closet.

Just two weeks ago, after moving the pieces around to three different homes, Christine casually mentioned that we should finish up the project and I wholeheartedly agreed. (I now live about 5 blocks from where I first bough the shell, which was 30 minutes away from where I lived at the time.) Fortunately, the tank was already waterproof and it was just the final touches that were needed to finish the product. I finished fitting together the tank and the iMac shell, added a small IKEA lamp and a Whisper brand air pump and filter, added some plants and gravel, and we were in business. The final piece of the puzzle was an aquarium stand, which I quickly threw together with a 2′ square piece of plywood and three IKEA desk legs.

There are now three lovely goldfish swimming around inside of a blueberry iMac in my living room. And it only took four and a half years to complete.

I just went ahead and released an update to the MLB Schedule widget. The largest change is that the widget is now using an alternate data source if the primary source doesn’t have any information. This is crucial for Spring Training information, since the primary source doesn’t have exhibition games. So, you should now be able to see Spring Training games for your favorite team in the widget.

You can download it at the MLB Schedule website.

• Added in an alternate source for information, which includes Spring Training games.
• Updated the look of the team names.
• Fixed issue when there is no game channel for a future game.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve posted a couple separate versions of Assignment Planner to fix some bugs. The first release was to fix a bug in the calendar view, since February of this year only has four calendar weeks in it. This release introduced a couple new issues, due to a new development environment, so 2.3.5 and 2.3.6 have been released to fix these errors. I believe that everything should be taken care of now, but if you still see any problems with the application, please let me know.

Version 2.3.6 can be download at the Assignment Planner website.

I’ve just released version 1.2 of Status Screen Saver. The biggest new feature is the addition of an Adium module, that shows how many new instant messages have been received. There is also the addition of an iCal module and an inbox-only Mail module.

The update can be downloaded from the Status Screen Saver page.

• New Features
  • Added module for Adium .
  • Added module for iCal To Dos.
  • Added module for Mail that only shows the count of the inbox.
  • Modules can now specify an application in the Info.plist, so a different module name can be used.
• Changes
  • Renamed Mail module to “Mail – All Mailboxes”, to separate it from the other Mail module.
• Fixes
  • Fixed an issue with the Battery module showing an incorrect value.
  • Fixed an issue with the Battery module when no battery is connected to the computer.

One thing that I’ve really wanted recently is a way to post an article to Instapaper directly from NetNewsWire. A while ago, the developer of NetNewsWire Brent Simmons linked to this blog post by Bruce Walker, which provides an Applescript solution to this problem. It’s a good start, but I don’t like that it relies on Safari for the functionality.

So, here’s my solution to the problem. It takes a little bit more work to set up, but I think that it provides smoother interaction when rifling through your RSS feeds. Here’s how you do it:

• Download this Read Later in Instapaper AppleScript. Place it in the NetNewsWire scripts folder, which is located at ~/Library/Application Support/NetNewsWire/Scripts/ or can be found by going to the Scripts menu in NetNewsWire and selecting “Open Scripts Folder”.

  

• In your favorite browser, get the URL from your “Read Later” bookmarklet that was provided by Instapaper.

  

  Open the “Read Later in Instapaper” AppleScript via the Finder. Copy the URL from your bookmarklet and paste it between the quotes on the very first line of the script. Also, about half-way through the URL, you’ll need to find (.*\.) and replace it with (.*.), by removing the slash, in order for the script to work. (I apologize for this mess, but I think it’s the easiest way to get the Instapaper key specific to your account.) Save and close the script.

  

• In NetNewsWire, open up a new browser tab by selecting Tab > New Tab or hitting ⌘T. Visit instapaper.com and sign in. Doing so will store your user credentials with Instapaper and does not require signing in again.

• If you would like a keystroke for the command, open up the System Preferences and go to the Keyboard preferences. Select the Keyboard Shortcuts tab and click the + button in the bottom left corner. Select NetNewsWire from the applications list, enter “Read Later in Instapaper” in the Menu Title field and the keystroke you would like (I use ⌘I).

  

And that’s it! After all of this setup, it should be very easy to save a page to Instapaper directly from NetNewsWire. After selecting the “Read Later in Instapaper” menu item or hitting your custom keystroke, you’ll see the Saved page from Instapaper show up in NetNewsWire’s browser and then disappear, much like the standard Instapaper functionality.

Enjoy!

I’ve just posted updates to both of the Major League Baseball widgets. They both provide a handful of upgrades, but the biggest new feature is the ability to minimize the MLB Schedule widget. If you want to follow a team, but don’t want to be bothered with details like starting pitchers and TV networks, this will be perfect for you. I’ve found it useful for following other teams in my favorite team’s division, so I can see how they’ve been performing.

You can download the new versions at the MLB Schedule and MLB Standings websites.

MLB Schedule 2.4

• Added the ability to make the widget smaller, which includes less information about each game.
• Added a drop shadow to the widget, so it fits in better with all others.
• Fixed an issue with today’s games which are delayed.

MLB Standings 1.7

• Changed the look of the background image.
• Moved the update notifier to the front of the widget, so that it’s more visible.
• Changed all URLs from burgundylogan.com to loganrockmore.com .
• Fixed the height calculations when viewing the Wild Card standings.
• Fixed spacing when using widget on a Leopard system.