Tagamac

Photonator, a photo manager with tagging capabilities, has been updated to 0.95. This update advances the expiration date (as Photonator is currently pre-release expiring software), and brings cropping/straightening, image enhancement controls, and bug-fixes with code optimizations. Although personally I find the interface to be too much of a hindrance to using Photonator, it may appeal to people who are looking for an alternative to iPhoto. This is one of the pieces of tagging software that I’m tracking because it features tagging, but that I don’t really recommend. Hopefully by release the interface will receive a little more love. (That said, I haven’t really used it much, so it’s quite possible there’s a lot of power underneath its unappealing facade.)

For details about the .95 release, see Photonator’s release notes.

Bookdog, a bookmarks manager for Mac, has been updated to version 5, an update that includes not only a simplified interface but also del.icio.us support and support for tags. The software has been released as beta software due to the extensive changes that have gone into it, but because it fixes several Leopard problems and is just generally more powerful, Sheep Systems recommends that all users upgrade. For more information, see the Bookdog release notes.

Bookdog is probably the most feature-rich bookmarks manager available, but its interface (while simplified and definitely better than version 4) is still very complex and not at all visually appealing. You have to make an effort to learn to use Bookdog, although you will be rewarded by being able to sync a lot more information across your browsers than other solutions provide. It’s pretty unfortunate, but despite its power Bookdog still feels somewhat like an OS 9 application.

Together, the newly revitalized file library (formerly KIT), has been updated to version 2.0.2. This minor update brings a number of bug fixes and performance optimizations, including fixes to tag autocompletion, better smart view performance for tags with “contains” or “does not contain”, and numerous fixes to file importing.

For more details, see the Together release notes.

Many Tricks has released yFlicks 3.0, a movie manager that helps you collect, manage, and watch anything from movies around your Mac to movies off YouTube. yFlicks 2 was alright, but 3 adds “tagging” (which is actually just standard key-value metadata, so it’s not actually tagging), smart groups, automatic metadata assignment via Amazon for full-length movies (including downloading cover images), batch renaming, and many other performance improvements a neat little features. Although the tagging is not what I’d hoped, this is still definitely a worthy piece of software to look into if you would like to enjoy YouTube videos and so forth later without having to engage in fruitless YouTube searches.

Additionally, yFlicks 3 is available today, November 20th, 2007 only for 40% off ($14.95) from MacUpdate Promo. I highly recommend giving yFlicks a spin and considering getting it at the sale price; I’ve enjoyed yFlicks 2, and expect yFlicks 3 to be even more useful. yFlicks 3 is a free upgrade for previously registered users.

Booxter, a tag-friendly Delicious Library competitor that I only recently made aware of, has been updated to 2.0.4. This minor update brings a German localization, fixes a UPC parsing bug and Booxter 1.x import bug, and resolves an issue under 10.5 where Booxter panels would overlap the Dock in some instances. Unfortunately, there are no release notes except through the program’s auto-updated.

Booxter is definitely an interesting product, and worth a second look if you’ve been disillusioned by Delicious Library’s lack of any reasonably powerful way to sort and browse your collection. Although its tag cloud style browsing is fairly useless if you have any middling to large collection, the inclusion of smart views is alone worth the price of admission, even if tagging (via “keywords”) is fairly well hidden within the interface.

In what is turning into the Weekend of GTD, iGTD‘s developer, Bartek Bargiel, has published a first look at the upcoming features in iGTD 2, including a number of short screencasts. Along with a much more stream-lined and understandable interface (at last), iGTD 2 promises tabs for quickly switching between specific task views, a Things-like departure from contexts that uses focuses and tags for sorting tasks, and vastly improved hierarchical project relationships.

This is definitely an exciting teaser for the future of what is currently the top GTD contender (in my opinion; your mileage may vary). iGTD is not without flaws, as I have remarked myself, but iGTD 2 looks like it will be a solid competitor for more polished newcomers to the field like OmniFocus and Things.

PackRat, the desktop Backpack client, has been updated to version 1.5.3. This minor update fixes a bug where PackRat would not display images in the same order as Backpack, and brings the help documentation completely up to date. There aren’t really any more details, but if you want to see it in the developer’s own words you can read the 1.5.3 blog announcement.

In other news, InfiniteNIL has announced that they are pondering upgrade fees and Leopard-only compatibility. If you’ve got any strong opinions on the subject (or desired features that you haven’t requested yet), they’d love to hear from you.

As a major upgrade to KIT (and a worthy upgrade it is), Together 2.0 has increased slightly in price from $24.95 to $39. People who bought a KIT license in the last three months (after Aug. 15, 2007) will get a free upgrade; just go to the Reinvented Store, choose the “upgrade” option for Together, and enter your old serial. Other KIT owners will need to upgrade for $14.95, roughly the difference in price.

The developer has stated that he wants to make the upgrade as smooth as possible, and because KIT and Together have incompatible file libraries Together’s library now lives in a new home (your documents folder) and it will offer to import your KIT library the first time you run the program if it finds it. If you just want to try Together but may still use KIT for a while, then just refuse the import; you can always do it later from the File menu.

Reinvented Software has just released Together 2.0, a Leopard-only update to Keep It Together (KIT) that breathes entirely new life into the program. Although I was never tempted away from my beloved EagleFiler by KIT (and would, if I wanted a database-driven file library, probably have used Yojimbo before KIT as well), Together 2.0 provides a number of features that make it a solid contender in the file library market.

The most obvious new feature is the Together Shelf, a little black tab that hovers over the side of your screen (which side is up to you) and allows you to quickly drag and drop files into Together’s library. Together still provides tags (in a tag cloud), but now also automatically provides “system tags” based on labels, folders, and so forth to help augment tagging for those who are not yet used to it. A portrait layout takes advantage of widescreen monitors, Quick Look and its own powerful previewing are fully supported, and the addition of smart groups and folders add an additional level of hierarchical organization. Together’s library of files has also moved into the documents folder, and although I have yet been able to test this fully (due to problems importing files) it appears that Together stores files in a Finder-friendly format based on the same folder structure that you use within the program. [read more...]

Keyword Manager, one of the quintessential pieces of tagging software for iPhoto users, has been updated to version 1.4. This version brings Leopard compatibility and two crash fixes.

For more information, see the Keyword Manager release notes over at its website (you have to click the “Release Notes” link; no direct link available).