Tagamac

PackRat, the desktop companion to Backpack, has been updated to version 1.7. This update fixes image update issues for all users (including PowerPC folks), and improves page rendering time thanks to a change in the libraries powering the software.

For slightly more information, check out the blog announcement.

For any of those not aware (which is probably a small crowd thanks to this update being noted by Gruber and elsewhere), Things touch (the iPhone/iPod Touch version of the Things task manager) has been updated to 1.1. The big addition to this version is that Things can now sync the Things desktop and touch versions over your local wireless network. At long last, Things on my iPhone isn’t going to be a worthless placeholder! Version 1.1 also includes improvements to task entry, an app icon badge, the ability to customize the automatic logging behavior, and localizations into Spanish, French, and Japanese.

Although I haven’t had a chance to try it yet (thanks to the aforementioned trip to San Francisco), I’m really excited to finally be able to hook up Things on my computer (which I use constantly) and Things on my iPhone (which I have launched once when I downloaded it). Unfortunately, Things touch still does not support tags or areas, but Cultured Code is promising those in the near future. For more information about Things touch 1.1, see the Things touch 1.1 announcement.

Thanks to attending An Event Apart I’ve been in San Francisco the past few days and have fallen slightly behind on updates. There have been three minor updates in the somewhat recent past: Default Folder X is now at version 4.0.8 (some minor bug fixes), Together bumped to 2.1.6 (also minor bug fixes), and Pukka 1.7 was released (minor feature improvements to improve compatibility with the new Delicious).

For more information about the updates see the Default Folder X release notes, Together release notes, or Pukka 1.7 announcement.

As you may or may not be aware, StoryMill is one of my favorite tagging applications (I love writing fiction, and for years StoryMill has been hands-down the best solution for keeping myself and my writing organized). Since its update to version 3.0, however, StoryMill has been a bit more pricey, which makes it harder for me to recommend to Average wanna-be-a-novelist Joe.

However, from now until August 18th, 2008 StoryMill is on sale for $29.95 through the Mariner Software online store (both boxed and digital download versions). This is about a 60% discount (reg. $49.95 for boxed, $44.95 for digital download), so if you’ve been thinking you need a better tool for getting your fiction out of your head and onto the page give StoryMill a look-see.

Both Yep and Nifty Box received very minor updates late last week. Yep 1.8 adds Italian localization and resets the trial period (even if you’ve run through your free trial before you can try it again). Nifty Box 1.2.1 fixes a bug in 1.2 that would sometimes cause Nifty Box to use 100% CPU on Leopard.

Neither software offers release notes, although if you’re interested in details about the Nifty Box bug you can find those in the 1.2.1 blog announcement.

Leap, possibly the best file system tagging solution around, has been updated to version 1.1. This version introduces an Italian localization, the option to search everywhere (including Library folders), better file name searching, better searching for partial tag matches, speed improvements, improved Spaces support, support for Services (you can select an item in Leap and it will be available to items in the Services menu), a new “Search in Leap” service, a “only show these documents” menu item, better handling for pasting into the tags field, and “other bug fixes”. Ironic Software’s descriptive release notes strike again.

Personally, I’d just as soon take my Services menu out back and put it out of its misery, but hopefully the generically described speed improvements and bug fixes will make Leap that much more useful despite the new features not being all that exciting. For more information about Leap or to download the software, head over to the Leap homepage.

Nifty Box, one of those pieces of software that straddles the line between file system tagging and a file library, has been updated to 1.2. The big addition to 1.2 is Applescript support, allowing you to access items in the Nifty Box library or tag files automatically (there’s even an extremely helpful rundown of examples available; wish other developers were so kind).

Although I haven’t played with Nifty Box much, my impressions of it are that it’s not a terribly robust system, but offers a far superior searching speed to Spotlight when it comes to file system tagging. Nifty Box is in many ways a precursor to Leap, but one with an interface more inspired by file libraries like EagleFiler or Together.

A freeware utility called Tag Folders was released today. Tag Folders, which is essentially a complex Applescript bundled as an application, allows you to create smart folders that apply tags to files that you drop on them based on their rules. So for instance, if you have a “work” tag folder and you drop a file on it, that file gets tagged with “work”. Open the folder, and you’ll find the file you just tagged (along with any others tagged “work”). Tag Folders works with all of the major tagging solutions (including Leap, Punakea, TagBot, and the Quicksilver tagging plugin), and offers a Finder-centric way to both assign and find tagged files.

Although I haven’t played around with it much, the application itself is fairly awkward (thanks in large part to being a complex Applescript), but what’s promising about it is the place that it can play in current tagging workflows. Tag Folders provides an interesting meeting place between something like FileSpot and whatever file system tagging solution you prefer, wrapped in a familiar, Finder-like package. Definitely worth checking out for anyone trying to tag their file system.

MarsEdit, the trimmed down blogging software from Red Sweater, has been updated to version 2.2. This version introduces AtomPub support, customizable image markup using MarsEdit’s standard macro language, and significant performance improvements for launch time (along with a few other minor changes). The image markup in particular is a godsend; no more deleting width and height tags for every image and adding a custom class or two. Set it up once, and you’re good to go.

For more details about the update, see the blog announcement.

EagleFiler recently underwent several updates in quick succession recently. 1.3.6 improves memory usage and speed when using Capture with Options, fixes some small memory leaks, improved the French localization, and included a number of other small fixes. 1.3.7 fixed a faulty bugfix in 1.3.6 that was causing memory leaks and crashes. 1.3.8 fixes a regression that was keeping Firefox from working.

For more details on 1.3.6 (the only release with much going on), see the blog announcement.