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TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 2 June 2014

TextExpander 4.3.1 — Smile has released TextExpander 4.3 with improvements to search performance and cursor positioning accuracy. The update also fixes an issue where Return no longer worked as a delimiter, adds support for snippet creation hotkeys in applications where expansion is disabled, fixes an auto-capitalization error involving accented characters, improves abbreviation replacement in Mail’s address fields, and now allows typing to select snippets in the list. Shortly after releasing version 4.3, Smile updated TextExpander to version 4.3.1 to fix a hang when launching TextExpander with no settings.
($34.95 new with a 20 percent discount for TidBITS members, free update, 10.2 MB, release notes, 10.7+)

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Microsoft Office 2011 14.4.2 — Microsoft has updated Office 2011 to version 14.4.2 with just a few improvements. The release fixes a nagging bug that always required product activation after restarting a Mac with a Fusion Drive (though you may have to enter your activation details one final time after installing this update). It also provides two PowerPoint-related fixes — one for an issue that made the Undo button disappear after saving a presentation to a local drive, and another that caused YouTube link data to disappear after saving a presentation. (Free update from the Microsoft Download Center or through Microsoft AutoUpdate, 114 MB, release notes, 10.5+)

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ScreenFlow 4.5.1 — Telestream has released ScreenFlow 4.5.1, a maintenance release that doesn’t scrimp on the fixes. The screencast recording app improves audio waveform rendering, fixes a problem with optimizing very large MPEG-4 files, ensures layers in the timeline are consistent, fixes a bug with signing into Facebook after signing into Dropbox, squashes another Dropbox bug related to uploading files with spaces in the filename, and fixes an issue with previewing when using multiple monitors. For a complete rundown of the new features, read the PDF release notes from Telestream’s support page. Note that as of this writing, the Mac App Store version of ScreenFlow remains at version 4.5. ($99 new from the Telestream Web site or $99.99 from the Mac App Store, 39.1 MB, 10.7+)

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iFlicks 2.0.3 — Jendrik Bertram has released version 2.0.3 of the iFlicks video encoding and metadata management app (see “iFlicks Improves iTunes Imports,” 10 January 2013). The maintenance release adds a season description field (in addition to the episode description), adds support for importing and exporting both rules and chapters, improves AppleScript support and search results for movies, enables you to keep the original audio track, fixes problems encoding some audio tracks, and adds support for absolute episode numbers. ($24.99 new from the Mac App Store, free update, 11.3 MB, 10.7.3+)

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iTunes 11.2.2 — Apple has released iTunes 11.2.2, a quick follow-up to last week’s release with tweaks to the Podcasts user interface (see “iTunes 11.2.1 Fixes /Users Folder Bug, Improves Podcasts Library,” 19 May 2014). The update fixes a problem where podcast episodes would download unexpectedly after upgrading to the previous version, and it includes Apple’s usual “unspecified stability improvements.” iTunes 11.2.2 is available as a direct download from Apple’s iTunes Web page or via Software Update. (Free, 224 MB, 10.6.8+)

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Mellel 3.3.3 — RedleX has released Mellel 3.3.3 with a number of user-requested enhancements and bug fixes. The word processing app now displays recent fonts in the Font menu (found in the Character palette), adds an option to control the resolution of converted vector images when exporting to RTF, improves the display of Auto-title, reduces the height of bibliography style mapping window to fit better on smaller screens, fixes a problem that prevented reference elements in the text from being found, and squashes a bug that caused a hang when exporting documents with large PDF or PICT images to an RTF file. ($39 new from RedleX and
the Mac App Store, free update, 101 MB, release notes, 10.6+)

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Postbox 3.0.10 — Postbox has released version 3.0.10 of its eponymous email client, with support for Retina displays. The update also automatically resizes images to fit the message pane window, adds the capability to whitelist an entire domain to load remote images, fixes a slowdown issue with Yahoo IMAP servers, fixes an issue that prevented some preferences from being saved, stops Address Book notes from overflowing, and improves French, Italian, and German localizations. ($9.95 new, free update, 22.9 MB, release notes, 10.6+)

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Audio Hijack Pro 2.10.10 and Nicecast 1.10.10 — Rogue Amoeba has released Audio Hijack Pro 2.10.10 and Nicecast 1.10.10, both of which receive many of the same improvements and fixes. The two audio utilities update the Instant On component to version 7.2 to improve latency, improve how Application Source selector displays which apps can be captured, fix a Safari audio capture bug that occurred on non-English systems, and improve audio capture from the Citrix GoToMeeting VoIP app. The Nicecast audio broadcast utility ensures track titles are no longer sent if a
broadcast is Off Air and stops the NSURLConnection log from needlessly pinging the Console. Audio Hijack Pro also prevents a crash from occurring when saving large artwork files in AIFF and WAV files. If you’re a TidBITS member, you can purchase both Audio Hijack Pro and Nicecast at a 20 percent discount (as well as other Rogue Amoeba products, including Airfoil, Fission, Intermission, and Piezo). ($32 for Audio Hijack Pro, 9.0 MB, free update release notes, 10.7+; $59 for Nicecast, free update, 7.9 MB, release notes, 10.7+)

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KeyCue 7.2 — Ergonis has released KeyCue 7.2 with a new feature that makes it easier to find all available shortcuts for an application. The keyboard shortcut utility now merges visible keyboard shortcuts collected from the current application with invisible shortcuts that come from KeyCue’s custom shortcut descriptions into one block view when the headers match. (Previously, these two sets of shortcuts were displayed in separate blocks.) The update also adds an option for excluding menu shortcuts, system-wide shortcuts, and/or macro hotkeys from keyboard activation; squashes a bug that prevented KeyCue from
displaying shortcuts for Digital Performer; and fixes a problem that prevented certain FileMaker Pro 13 shortcuts from displaying. (€19.99 new with a 25 percent discount for TidBITS members, free update, 3.5 MB, release notes, 10.5.8+)

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DEVONthink/DEVONnote 2.7.6 — DEVONtechnologies has updated all three editions of DEVONthink (Personal, Pro, and Pro Office) and DEVONnote to version 2.7.6, with improvements in sharing documents as a Web site. All editions of DEVONthink and DEVONnote can now create a table of contents and index documents for export to the Web, and the Send by Email command is easier to find. Additionally, DEVONthink’s Web browser extension and bookmarklets support Markdown, and dragging data from Safari to your database is more reliable. DEVONthink’s
preview panes now display thumbnails for missing files, and the information manager also improves VoiceOver support, speeds up conversion of rich text documents to HTML or formatted notes, and fixes a bug with Google SketchUp files that caused them to be imported as text files. (All updates are free. DEVONthink Pro Office, $149.95 new, release notes; DEVONthink Professional, $79.95 new, release notes; DEVONthink Personal, $49.95 new, release notes; DEVONnote, $24.95 new, release notes; 25 percent discount for TidBITS members on DEVONnote and all editions of DEVONthink. 10.6.8+)

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Yojimbo 4.0.3 — Bare Bones Software has released Yojimbo 4.0.3, a maintenance release with fixes for reported issues. Most of the changes to the information organizer relate to improvements in sync reliability, including a fix for stopped syncing after a change to the sync account password and resolution for a problem with internal sync handshaking that led you to believe an item had successfully uploaded (when, in fact, it had not). The release also makes clear in the sync account signup panel that you don’t need to sign up for an account to sync to Yojimbo for iPad (only if you want to share data between multiple Macs), and works around WebKit hangs by disallowing execution of JavaScript and plug-ins such as Flash when displaying Web archive items internally. ($30 new, free update, 7.9 MB, release notes, 10.8.2+)

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Pixelmator 3.2 — The Pixelmator Team has released version 3.2 (nicknamed Sandstone) of its eponymous image-editing app with a revamped Repair Tool that should make it easier to fix imperfections and remove unwanted objects from your images (here’s a video sample of the Repair Tool in action, uploaded by Pixelmator). According to this blog post, the new Repair Tool comes with three repair algorithm options (Quick, Standard, and Advanced), which also use a quarter the
memory of the previous version. Pixelmator 3.2 also adds support for 16 bits per channel, the capability to lock layers, and a Convert Selection into Shape feature. Additionally, the release makes numerous fixes and improvements, including a Color Depth dialog that can convert images to 16 bits or 8 bits per channel, a fix for ensuring the Info Bar updates after restoring an image to its previous version, and improved performance of the Stroke and Fill layer styles. Pixelmator 3.2 now requires OS X 10.9.1 Mavericks or later. ($29.99 new from the Mac App Store, free update, 35.7 MB, release notes,
10.9.1+)

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Safari 7.0.4 and 6.1.4 — Apple has released Safari 7.0.4 for users of OS X 10.9 Mavericks and Safari 6.1.4 for users of 10.8 Mountain Lion and 10.7 Lion, both of which fix multiple critical vulnerabilities associated with WebKit. According to the security note for these updates, both versions of Safari fix a swath of memory corruption issues within the rendering engine that could lead to arbitrary code execution after visiting a maliciously crafted Web site. They also deal with a problem with handling Unicode characters in URLs that could enable a maliciously crafted URL to send out an incorrect postMessage origin. Both
updates are available only through Software Update. (Free, 10.9+/10.7–10.8)

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OS X Server 3.1.2 — Apple has released OS X Server 3.1.2, which improves the Calendar Server’s importing, invitations, and group scheduling. OS X Server, which installs on top of OS X 10.9 Mavericks, also improves the stability of its Messages Server when using Chat Rooms. Additionally, it tackles several issues with the Profile Manager, fixing a bug related to managing Device Enrollment Program systems with long descriptive names, improving how it sends Volume Purchase Program invitations, and fixing problems with deploying profiles that contain variables when code signing is
enabled. ($19.99 new, free update, 179 MB, 10.9.3+)

TidBITS members can learn more about OS X Server via streamed “chapticles” of Charles Edge’s “Take Control of OS X Server” (see ““Take Control of OS X Server” Streaming in TidBITS,” 12 May 2014). The first two chapters of the book-in-progress — “Take Control of OS X Server, Chapter 1: Introducing OS X Server” and “Take Control of OS X Server, Chapter 2: Choosing Server Hardware” — can be read by everyone. TidBITS members will also get full access to the subsequent pre-release chapticles and can provide feedback or ask questions. Consider joining the TidBITS membership program, which also includes a 30 percent discount on all Take Control books and discounts on leading Mac apps, a full-text RSS feed, and a banner ad-free version of the TidBITS Web site.

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NoteBook 4.0.1 — Circus Ponies has released NoteBook 4.0, a major update to the note-taking and text-collection utility with a newly streamlined user interface, and support for 64-bit processors and Retina displays. The release improves diagram building with shortcuts like Option-dragging from a shape to create a new line, and it brings back the Clip and Annotate panel — great for editing selections before clipping them to a page or adding a quick note. NoteBook 4 adds support for full-screen viewing and gestures for changing the zoom level and scrolling through tabs. It also uses the Mac’s AVAudioRecorder to record voice
annotation audio, which makes it compatible with voice recordings made on NoteBook 4 for iPad (note, however, that the Mac App Store version of NoteBook 4 does not support voice annotation). Speaking of NoteBook 4 for iPad, Circus Ponies warns that it is very similar to the previous 3.1 release, and promises a future update with iOS 7 support and an interface overhaul. Be sure to read the full list of over 100 changes and improvements delivered in NoteBook 4.

Shortly after the unveiling of NoteBook 4.0, Circus Ponies released version 4.0.1 with numerous fixes, including for a NoteBook window toolbar display glitch on non-English versions. NoteBook 4 is priced at $49.95 from the Circus Ponies Web site ($59.99 at the Mac App Store), and you can try it free for 30 days. If you purchased a NoteBook 3 license on or after 6 May 2013, you are eligible for a free upgrade; purchases made prior to that date can upgrade to NoteBook 4 for $19.95 directly from the Circus Ponies Web site. ($49.99 new, free update, 18.3 MB, 10.6.8+)

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