Maria’s Guides

• Mac users’ Web 2.0 affinity seen driving Apple share gains
  An excellent article confirming something I had been suspecting for a while: that Mac users are more active than their PC counterparts in creating and shaping the Web. On AppleInsider.com.
  (tags: Apple Mac web)
• The 50 Most Innovative Companies
  For the third year in a row, the design-driven masters in Cupertino, Calif., lead the pack of creative firms on our list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies. Read the entire report on BusinessWeek.com.
  (tags: Apple business Innovation)
• Twitter Style Guide
  Ah! Grammar Girl has written a style guide for Twitter users. Now if only they’ll find it and use it! On Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.
  (tags: twitter writing reference)

A few good widgets.

I’d planned to do a Widget Watch article a few times a month, but, as usual, I got caught up in other things. In an effort to catch up, here’s my latest capsule reviews of a few widgets I think are useful.

Mighty Monitor 1.2

Mighty Monitor is a simply widget that monitors the battery status of a wireless Apple Mighty Mouse and wireless Apple keyboard. The battery level is shown in a colored gauge-like graphic like the one shown here. You can elect to display the status for both the mouse and keyboard (as I show here) or just one or the other. You set options on the widget’s back. In this illustration, the keyboard is shown with a dead battery because I don’t have one attached; normally, I simply wouldn’t display the status for the keyboard. A recent update to the widget added support for old Apple wireless mouse models (”non-mighty”). This is the kind of widget that you want to leave open on your Dashboard so you can quickly check the status each time you access the Dashboard.

Mighty Monitor is by John Starmer.

Delivery Status 3.2.3

Delivery Status enables you to track shipments from a wide variety of shippers, including Adobe.com, Amazon.com (and various other Amazon.com international sites), Apple.com, Canada Post, DHL (US and Germany), FedEx, UPS, and USPS.

You configure Delivery Status by choosing a shipper and entering your login and package ID information. Delivery Status prompts you for a password if it needs one. Then, the package status appears on the front of the widget. To best use the widget, open it and set it up with package information when you’re expecting a package. Then, each time you access the Dashboard, you’ll see the current status. When the package arrives, you can close the widget to reclaim Dashboard real estate until you need to track another package. Of course, you can also open multiple copies of the widget to track multiple packages.

Delivery Status is by Mike Piontek

Secret NotePad 1.0.3

Secret NotePad is a securable notepad widget. You can use it to store information you want to keep secret, yet be accessible when you need it.

When you first install Secret NotePad, you’re prompted to enter a widget locking key of four or more characters. That becomes your password for the widget. Once unlocked, the widget displays a standard notepad interface, reminiscent of Apple’s old Notepad desk accessory (if you can remember back that far). You can enter as many notes as you like; just click the + button to add pages. When you click the lock icon in the title bar, the widget closes up, displaying the just the password field. You’ll have to re-enter your password to display the notepad’s contents.

There are a few options on the back of the widget to configure it. Set it to automatically lock after a certain period of time. Change the font and font size. Indicate that you want to lock your keychain when you close the widget. There’s built-in help — just click the ? button — if you need more information about using the widget.

Secret NotePad is by Ninja Tools.

TV Forecast 2.1

TV Forecast displays the upcoming date (and time, if today) of your favorite television shows. This makes it dificult to miss an episode.

Configure the widget by adding your favorite shows on the back of the widget. It comes preconfigured with a handful of popular shows, but you can delete them to make room for other ones. Just enter the show name in the box and press Return. The widget looks for matches on the Web and displays them in a menu. Choose the correct show to add it to the list.

TV Forecast is by Matthew Comi.

mondo solitaire 1.3

mondo solitaire is a collection of over 50 versions of solitaire, all in a Dashboard widget. Once installed, you flip the widget over to pick the type and variation of the solitaire game you want to play. You can also set options like the color of the table and the cards and read instructions for the game you’ve chosen. Then flip the widget back and start playing. The screenshot here is reduced to fit in the content column here; the actual widget display size is about 80% larger.

mondo solitaire is by gandreas software

Information from the Microsoft Web site.

This update contains several improvements to enhance security and stability, including fixes for vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer’s memory with malicious code. In addition, this update includes all the improvements released in all previous Office 2004 updates.

System requirements

To install this update, your computer must meet the following minimum requirements:

Operating system: Mac OS X 10.2.8 (Jaguar) or a later version of Mac OS

Improvements for all Office 2004 applications

• Security is improved
  This update fixes vulnerabilities in Office 2004 that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer’s memory with malicious code.
• Performance is improved when dragging objects to application windows
  This update fixes an issue that causes an increase in utilization of system resources when you drag a file or object to an Office application window.

Improvements for Word 2004

• Version numbers display correctly
  This update fixes an issue that prevents Word from displaying its complete version number in the About Word dialog (for example, 11.3.5).

Improvements for Excel 2004

• Reliability is improved
  This update fixes one issue that, when you open Excel, causes the application to unexpectedly open workbooks or other files.

Improvements for PowerPoint 2004

• Stability is improved
  This update fixes an issue that causes PowerPoint to quit unexpectedly when opening presentations.

Improvements for Entourage 2004

• Performance is improved
  This update fixes an issue that caused Entourage to stop responding for several minutes during ordinary use.

More information

If you have technical questions or problems downloading or using this update, visit the Microsoft Support page at www.microsoft.com/mac/support to learn about the support options that are available to you.