Internet Tools

CalDAV support comes to Google Calendar

I’m a pretty big user of Google Calendar, because I like how I can automatically sync it with my BlackBerry. The problem for me has been that on my desktop, I really prefer iCal’s interface. Syncing the two can be cumbersome. We’ve written about third-party programs that can sync iCal and gCal together in the past, and although those are great — I have still wanted a native way to sync the two calendars together.

Well, fortunately, Google has just quietly introduced CalDAV support to Google Calendar. CalDAV is the protocol that iCal uses to transmit data over the web. Although some other mail and calendar programs support CalDAV, right now Google Calendar is only compatible with iCal. Finally, iCal and Google Calendar can sync without having to use third party programs!
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Popularity: 7% [?]

MarsEdit hits 2.2

MarsEdit, the blogging client we’ve written about frequently in the past, has just been updated to version 2.2. MarsEdit is a favorite for many of us at TUAW (myself included) and supports a variety of publishing platforms.

The newest version adds support for AtomPub, which like XML-RPC, is a protocol for connecting blog software to your blog itself. Daniel Jalkut, MarsEdit’s developer, says to consider AtomPub support “introductory” — but if you are using a custom blogging platform that uses AtomPub, you can now use MarsEdit to create content.

MarsEdit 2.2 also adds customizable image markup in addition to the built-in macros for image alignment. So if you frequently like to have images aligned in a certain way, you can create your own custom macro.

MarsEdit 2.2 is also significantly faster (I was pleased to see this myself, as start-up time was much quicker than the previous version). There is also now support for removing media items from the media catalog, a pul down editor for selecting the date, and improved MIME type generation for uploaded files.

Mobile fans take note — Daniel is working on an iPhone version of MarsEdit, and it will be releaed as soon as he is satisifed with the quality of the final product.

MarsEdit requires Tiger or Leopard. The update is free for current users. You can try MarsEdit for free for 30-days or buy it for $29.99. [red-sweater]

Popularity: 6% [?]

Sandvox 1.2.8 adds MobileMe Compatibility

Karelia Software announced the availability of Sandvox 1.2.8 this week. If you’re unfamiliar, Sandvox is a very nice and lightweight WYSIWYG web editor for Mac OS X (we’ve written about Sandvox before) that makes publishing easy. With iLife integration, attractive themes and more, you’ll be happy to use it for that quick and easy site you want to publish with a minimum of fuss.

Karelia has always offered .Mac integration, and version 1.2.8 offers compatibility with MobileMe. Other changes include an updated iMedia Browser which supports iPhoto Events and multiple Aperture libraries.

Sandvox requires Mac OS 10.4 or later, is universal and comes in both pro ($79US) and standard ($49US) versions. Version 1.2.8 is a free upgrade for registered users. [karelia]

Popularity: 6% [?]

DomainBrain 1.1

The Iconfactory’s Anthony Piraino has just released the latest version of his domain management tool, DomainBrain. If you aren’t familiar with DomainBrain, it is a really, really slick way to keep track of all of your domain information, like various logins, directories, passwords, in one nice and tidy place.

We’ve covered DomainBrain in the past and although I initially rebuked the idea of a program for domain management, I can honestly say it has turned out to be incredibly useful. Instead of sifting through e-mails or keychain files to find the specific login for something that has a common username, I have a nice looking repository for all my information.

The newest version of the software introduces the ability to make duplicate domains, which is really helpful if you are anything like me and have 12 domains associated with the same account. DomainBrain makes it easier to just change the necessary details and not have to recreate the whole template.

My favorite new feature is the integrated WHOIS information, which will show you what nameservers your domain is on and when the domain expires. This makes it super easy to check when all of your domains are up for renewal, without having to manually do a WHOIS search for each address.

I better make sure my domain is on auto-renew!

DomainBrain is free for up to four domains. If you need to store the information for more than four domains, it’s $14.99. DomainBrain is compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 and up.

Popularity: 5% [?]

WordPress: our iPhone app is coming soon

Just a little while ago I wrote about Typepad’s native iPhone app, which I quite liked. Many folks thought it looked neat, but they were either running their own WordPress blogs, or using Wordpress.com’s hosted service neither of which are compatible with the Typepad app (for obvious reasons). Luckily for them, the good folks at WordPress have posted some information about the forthcoming WordPress iPhone application.

The app is ready, and pending addition to the App Store. It will work with both self hosted WordPress installs and blogs hosted on WordPress.com. You can do all the things you would expect: upload pictures, write blog posts, and edit existing posts.

The app should be available soon on the App Store for free. Once it is available I’ll be taking it for a spin and posting my thoughts. Thanks to everyone who sent this in. [wordpress]

Popularity: 8% [?]