Welcome to my shareware! Up to now I've devoted most of my time to my flagship product, PatchDance, which is still my biggest creation. If you have a PowerMac or are interested in 3D modeling, you should check that out too!
So what do I do after a hard day working on high-end 3D software? I write computer programs, of course! These are small, cheap (I think) utilities that you may find useful. Most are fully functional: paying gets you 1) a warm feeling at having done the right thing; and 2) rid of those !@#$ shareware messages when you start up your computer, and 3) the ability to save preferences between restarts. It also increases the time I can spend writing cool stuff, as opposed to getting a real job.
I have in fact gotten a real job, and can no longer spend the time required to keep these utilities up to date and support them. In particular, most do not work with OS X, and never will.
I can't very well charge under these conditions, so I don't: email me for a free registration for anything you can use that needs a license key.
Some of these projects use unusual techniques to accomplish what they do, including large amounts of 680x0 assembly language. If you're interested in their internals contact me for a copy of the source code. All I ask is credit for any use / publication of the code, and that you be reasonably qualified to understand what I am taking the trouble to send you (be convincing in your email.)
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LaunchControl - NEW
RELEASE |
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ClippingNamer 1.3.5 |
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Zoomie |
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WindowMinder |
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NudgeMouser 2 |
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MenuSnap - freeware menu utility. |
NudgeMouser 2 is a Control Panel that lets you move the mouse pointer very precisely using the arrow keys and or numeric keypad. It also has a mouse lock feature, and allows you to click the mouse from the keyboard. Why is this good, and why is it better than Apple's free Easy Access? MouseNudger:
NudgeMouser 2 is the long awaited and much requested Control Panel that lets you change many settings and turn key repeat on and off. It's a free upgrade to all registered NudgeMouser users. There is one known conflict with NudgeMouser, involving a shareware extension named Apollo. It may have trouble with absolute pointing devices (like graphics tablets), since they try to hold the mouse in place while NudgeMouser tries to move it. This can usually be managed by lifting the stylus away from the tablet. NudgeMouser 2 also includes 2 extra files that should let it work with at least some versions of System 6.
UPDATE: v2.0.2 fixes a minor conflict with certain applications that recognize keystrokes while the mouse button is down (notably Animation:Master.)
UPDATE: v2.0.1 fixes two problems with NudgeMouser 2: Apple Data Detectors did not work with some applications that do not fully support Contextual Menus (such as SimpleText), and NudgeMouser stopped working on G3 PowerBooks (at least) after they had been asleep.
PatchDance has some of NudgeMouser's capability built in. If you find it useful there, NudgeMouser 2 adds more stuff (like adjustable sensitivity and button lock) and it works with everything.
NudgeMouser 2 is only $10, and you can
download it here (41K) and try it out for free.
Finder clippings are a wonderful idea that most people don't use because they're such a pain to deal with. Ever tried to find the right clipping among a bunch of "Text Clipping 1", "Text Clipping 2", etc? It's not too bad with one clipping, but more than a couple leads to long sessions in the Finder assigning useful names, wasting the time you saved.
ClippingNamer helps you manage clippings. Without leaving your current program, you can:
You can set any of these modes (or none) as the default, and invoke any of the others with modifier keys (completely customizable). There are several other convenience options as well.
The biggest request I've had lately is for the ability to save the Mac clipboard to a clipping. Several utilities are available to do this, but none worked with ClippingNamer until now. I've added a Contextual menu that does exactly this (it can save the current selection too, with applications that support it) and a Clipboard-to-clipping FKEY as well. You can use either or both, depending on your taste and System, and both work without registering or ClippingNamer even being installed.
UPDATE: Version 1.3.5 is now available! This fixes a bug in v1.3.4. ClippingNamer now supports Internet Location Files, and has improved compatibility with MacOS 9. Internet Location Files are the new clipping-like files created by dragging email addresses, URL's, etc. to the Finder. Currently the FKEY and CMM don't support this, but I'm working on it (as well as an Apple Data Detector Action to create clipping/location files.)
ClippingNamer is only $10, and you can download it here (37K) and try it out for free.
I've got several more requested features in the pipeline: making the
dialog moveable is harder than it sounds, but might happen. I'm
working on a feature that allows dragging a clipping to the Desktop
and having it move to a designated folder. Let em know what you need,
and stay tuned.
Ever need to set an application's memory size higher to open a large document? You'll need to find the application, do a Get Info and change the size, then change it BACK when you quit.
Or, do you have several large programs that are set to use a lot of memory? Whenever you need to use two of them at the same time, you go through the same process to keep the first one from using the memory the others need.
LaunchControl can do all this for you, and more, whenever you open an application (even by clicking a document icon - you'll never need to locate the application itself again.) Just hold down a hot key when opening, and you'll get a dialog with buttons that let you:
NOTICE! I've gottem several reports of trouble with MacOS 9.1. Apple has tried very hard to block the sorts of things LaunchControl does, and I've often had to put in special fixes for new OS versions. Unfortunately, I don't have access to OS 9.1 and no time to work on it, so I can't promise an immediate fix. If you're using 9.1, try LaunchControl out carefully before paying me, and stay in touch. I'm interested in problem reports (a few specific programs seem to have more trouble.)
NEW! Version 1.3 is now available. This fixes a couple of (unreported) bugs, adds support for locked files/disks, and a new, smaller dialog. Free upgrade.
LaunchControl 1.3 is only $10, and you can download it here (18K) and try it out.
Zoomie is small extension that makes window Zoom boxes more convenient.
Normally zooming a window causes the zoom box to move as well. If you want to immediately zoom the window back, you have to re-find the box to click it. With Zoomie, the mouse pointer moves WITH the window, staying inside the box where it's ready to immediately click again.
This sounds like a very small thing, but I discovered when I tried it that Zoomie is a very nice feature! And besides, it's only 7k and it's free! Give it a try and let me know if you like it.
Update! Version 1.0.3 let's Zoomie work with non-standard windows (especially Kaleidoscope). This feature requires Appearance 1.0.1 (MacOS 8.1, or installed separately) and isn't really necessary unless you use Kaleidoscope.
Zoomie 1.0.3 is FREEWARE, and you can download it here (7K).
MenuSnap is a small freeware extension that uses NudgeMouser's technology in an unusual way: you may not like it at all, but if you do you'll like it a lot. MenuSnap was briefly known as Menuette, until I discovered via InformINIT that the name was already taken.
When selecting items from menus, MenuSnap causes the mouse pointer to snap back to the original click location. This can be convenient if you need to make several menu selections in a row, particularly from the same menu. It can also be confusing at first. Feel free to try it out, and if it doesn't help, trash it! I wrote MenuSnap to kill a few hours one morning, and decided to share it with the world.
MenuSnap may conflict with other utilities that involve the menubar or popup menus.
MenuSnap 1.0 is FREEWARE, and you can download it here (6K) and try it out.
WindowMinder is a pair of AppleScript applications that perform a small but useful function. Normally collapsed windows return to normal when the computer restarts: if this behavior has ever annoyed you, you'll probably like WindowMinder. It makes a list of collapsed windows before restarting/shutdown and restores them at the next startup.
The package also includes a pair of scripts that save/restore window status while the computer is running.
WindowMinder is another piece of software that I threw together one evening. It seems to work well, but it has only been tested on OS 8.1: there is a good chance it won't work right with System 7, and I don't have 8.5 to test with yet. (It should be much quicker with 8.5: it's a bit slow under 8.1.) I am not an Applescript expert, so I left the actual scripts readable. Feel free to modify/learn from them and let me know if you find problems or know better ways of doing it.
WindowMinder is FREEWARE, and you can download it here (27K) and try it out.