Sunday, December 31, 2006

The Year in Review: 2006

Well it's that time again, a time when I like to look back at the year that was and take stock, and gaze out at the coming new year a bit.

2006 was a big year for me, seeing two major updates, SQLGrinder 2, and MacGourmet 2. SQLGrinder 2 was released in June after a lengthy beta and has seen 3 minor updates with another coming after the first of the new year.

MacGourmet 2 finally saw the light of day in the forms of both closed and public beta releases, and the official MacGourmet 2 release will come just after the first of the new year as well.

Two major product updates in the one year, wherever did I find the time?

What about Stephan? Well, he's been busy too. Among other things he's been working on a new Mac app, something he hasn't taken the wraps off of yet, and he's also been working on garnering support for a MacXword rewrite.

So, what can be expected in this new year, 2007?

Well I don't like to talk in terms of vapor, because mentioning things that aren't ready for release, things what will HOPEFULLY be ready before too long are vapor to me, but it's a really good bet that in 2007 MacGourmet will see the addition of nutrition support, and menu planning. I've already done most of the work for an import/export release which will add many new formats and options, including recipe and shopping list export to your iPod. .Mac syncing is also a safe bet, as is more blogging support. Additionally, there are a lot of wheels in motion for some really cool things down the road, things I can't talk about yet, so it should be a great year.

On the SQLGrinder front, it will continue to see improvements to things like the schema browser, editor and SQL statement library, as well as some new tools.

Finally, I'm also hoping that the Advenio and product sites will get a complete makeover in the new year, as that's been LONG overdue. Welcome 2007!

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Friday, December 22, 2006

First MacGourmet Release Candiate Now Available

The first MacGourmet 2 candidate for release is now available.

Just head on over to MacGourmet.com to get the full details...

Thursday, December 21, 2006

MacSanta Now up to 100 Developers

MacSanta now includes great Mac applications from 100 developers. Act now before time runs out, and save 20% off of that software you've been meaning to pick up. I've already added a couple myself, like CSSEdit, something I've been meaning to register for a while now. This is a great time to fill in those "gaps" in your arsenal. You can also find apps from other great companies like Rogue Amoeba, Flying Meat, Bare Bones and many more.

Through December 25th, save 20% off hundreds of great Mac software applications (including MacGourmet and SQLGrinder) at MacSanta.

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Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Save MacXword!

Apple made some changes that prevent MacXword, Stephan's app for doing crossword puzzles on your Mac, from running properly as a universal binary without a LOT of work on Stephan's part. He's looking for support to essentially rewrite large parts of it and update it to the current version of OS X for PowerPC and Intel. Your donation can get help get it done.

Read more: Save MacXword!

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See You At the Leopard Tech Talk Boston!


It's official, Stephan and I will be representin' and keepin' it real at the Leopard Tech Talk in January. We look forward to maybe seeing some of our fellow developers there.

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Monday, December 18, 2006

MacSanta Can Make Your Favorite Mac Fan Happier this Holiday!

MacSanta sounds like a great way to save money on Mac software this holiday season, and I've added MacGourmet (buy now, get version 2 for free when it's released) and SQLGrinder to the list of deals. My thanks to the Rogue Amoeba guys for setting this up for all of us.

Via Rogue Amoeba:
MacSanta is here, bringing great savings on great Mac software. Now through December 25th, you can save 20% on tons of great Mac software, at www.macsanta.com...

The deals end on December 25th, so act quickly - get yourself to macsanta.com now. And be sure to check back, as we'll be adding new companies throughout the week!

Visit MacSanta before it's too late!

[Update: The MacSanta promotion is now up to a list of over 70 developers!]

Feel like giving it a Digg?

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Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Sixth MacGourmet 2 Public Beta Now Available

The fifth MacGourmet 2 public beta is now available.

One of the main things of note at this point is that MacGourmet 2 will officially require Mac OS X 10.4 or later. While developing the new version, I was conscious of my own use of features to maintain backwards support, but unfortunately, some of the external libraries used to build the new version do not support anything earlier than 10.4. My only option at this point, and I looked into it, would be to pull out or code around all of this new functionality, but I felt that this would essentially cripple the application, not to mention, it'd be a lot of work to pull out these features, time that a lot of people want me to be spending on new things (nutrition, menu planning, etc.) instead. It'd be nice to be able to easily support all the way back to say 10.2, but with the way Apple pushes developers and new versions, it's really hard to support more than the last 2 versions, and with 10.5 on the horizon, support for 10.3 was slated to be discontinued anyway.

Just head on over to MacGourmet.com to get all the info...

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Saturday, December 02, 2006

Fifth MacGourmet 2 Public Beta Now Available

The fifth MacGourmet 2 public beta is now available.

Just head on over to MacGourmet.com to get all the info...