Archive for December, 2005

I have reached as much of the 1.2 roadmap goal as I can/am-going-to at the moment, so here’s the release. I have added support for iChat in this version.

In terms of support for Fire, MSN IM Client, Yahoo IM Client, and others, I have been unable to find AppleScript support for these applications. I have decided for now, that I will be relying wholly on AppleScript (I am at a lack of time to explore other options at the moment).

So until other IM applications add AppleScript support, or unless someone can offer tips, suggestions, advice on other ways to control these applications, Presence will only be able to integrate with iChat, AdiumX and Skype.

Downloads and more information about Presence 1.2 here.

I have met the simple roadmap goals (goal) for Presence 1.1 so I have released it.

Read more about the changes (change), and download Presence 1.1 here.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Just downloaded Flock 0.4.10!

Nice little application. A bit of a twist on your average web browser.
If you are familiar with Firefox you will be right at home with Flock. Since they used the Mozilla codebase, there are even many Firefox extensions that will work fine in Flock.

The twist of Flock is that it integrates seamlessly into popular web services like bookmark sharing, photo sharing and blogging (in fact I’m writing this post in Flock right now ).

It may actually get me to start using Flickr and del.icio.us after all!

Give Flock a try… it won’t bite

PS The number of Flock blog posts titled Flock Me or a variation on a similar theme is truly astounding. I thought about changing my post name, but I think its almost obligatory, so it can stay

Here’s my dilemma:
I use multiple IM and Skype, and I need to keep my availability status accurate. I use Adium to keep all my IM accounts in order, and gives me global status control in a few clicks, but I also use Skype, so just to get up and leave my computer I have to perform a complicated navigation of applications, menus and clicking to keep my presence accurate.

I have a solution… enter Applescript…

I have embedded some simple AppleScripts in an Automator workflow and exported the result as applications. There are 2 applications, PresenceAway sets all Adium accounts and your Skype account status to “away”, and PresenceAvailable which sets all your accounts to “online” or “available”.

Using these applications means just a single-click to leave and a single-click to return, while keeping your Online Presence up-to-date.

Download Presence 1.0

I have released these little apps under the Mozilla Public License 1.1 (see the included README.txt). You can download the latest Presence release from here.

Presence 1.0 is really only an “alpha” type release, its under-featured, and buggy. But improvements will follow. If you like the concept, let me know.

Known Issues

There are a couple of known bugs that I will look into correcting for future releases:

• Will not work when Skype and Adium are not open (will launch both applications, then Skype may crash)

Let me know if you find any more problems.

Room for Improvement

As a first release, there is room for improvement. Any ideas or code to contribute, let me know

Road Map

• 1.1 - Fix problems that occur when one of the applications is not open
• 1.2 - Add support for iChat, Fire, and possibly other IM applications (MSN for Mac mabye).
• 2.0 - Redevelop as a single application with hot keys
• 3.0 - Add support for different states other than just “available” and “away”

The speed with which these features are implemented will depend on how much time I find I have, and how much feedback I recieve about the concept and which features people would like to see.