MemoryMiner

Yup, we did it: MemoryMiner 1.2 is out the door. I think this one’s cool for a couple of reasons: the integration with Google Maps (testers really seem to have loved this feature) and the new, improved MemoryMiner web viewer that’s based on HTML and CSS. With Google Maps, you get pan and zoomable maps, complete with satellite imagery and a marker that lets you set the precise location.

The web viewer is a pretty clever use of so-called “AJAX” techniques for web development. Some people have asked why we switched from using Flash. The main reason is that it’s now much easier for for third-parties to create their own tweaks to the look and feel of MemoryMiner exports. You can now modify the css file and have complete control over the typography, layout and colors.

As always, a complete list of new features and other changes in version 1.2 can be found at this URL (RSS feed with attached screen grabs):

MemoryMiner 1.2 update feed

And now, it’s time for din-din…

Today’s my birthday, and one tends to take stock on such “milestone” birthdays as the 40th.

I can hardly complain: I’ve got a lovely wife and child, working on MemoryMiner makes me happy and life in San Francisco, though insanely expensive, definitely has its charms.

Just need to figure out how to fit more hours into each day.

P.S. Lest anyone think to complain that there’s been no news about the development of MemoryMiner, fear not: 1.2 will be out real soon, and have at least one clever surprise!

Hello:

It’s been a while, but what can I say. I’ve been swamped. Because 1.1 was released in the middle of the summer, it seems like there was a delay in word getting out, but it seems that word has been spreading quickly.

Today, we’re on Cool OS X Apps, a fantastic site I’d never even heard of before:

http://coolosxapps.net/2006/08/30/memoryminer-11/

A few days ago, we got some very nice emails in French from users in Switzerland and France. One guy posted an almost embarassingly flattering piece, the link to which appears below.

http://regis.rostagni.free.fr/terminal/index.php?2006/08/26/17-memory-miner

(If you don’t spead French, the language tools on Google’s site do a pretty good job.)

All these kind words keep us going as we begin digging into our work for MemoryMiner 2.0.

And now, as always, back to the coal mine…

Way back in May, when I was at the MacGathering show in L.A., I got to meet the famous Susan Kitchens (aka “auntialias”). She is the force behind the most excellent familyoralhistory.us web site. The think that I love about Susan is is her ability to humanize technology. She spends as much energy explaining how to ask good questions as she does about explaining the ins and outs of digital tools.

Susan interviewed me at the show, and subsequently produced this very fine podcast, replete with NPR style into. Give it a listen:

http://familyoralhistory.us/news/view/podcast3/

Make sure you have a good look at the site as well.

I’ve always been curious about this cool web site called MacZOT, and so a while back I got in touch with them to see if they’d like to offer our humble little application. And now here it is:

http://www.maczot.com

Well, it took longer than we had all hoped, but MemoryMiner 1.1 is finally shipping. We added some fantastic new features, made plenty of enhancements, and of course fixed bugs. We even added a new localization in Portuguese. We’ve also been busy revamping the web site with new sections on how people are using the appliation.

Our online help center features a new quickstart guide in both Flash (view in your web broswer) format and PDF (download, then view and/or print). Another new section is our Video Gallery which has a series of screen movies showing what’s new in version 1.1:

http://www.memoryminer.com/help/video_gallery.html

Existing users can get the update automatically by choosing “Check for Updates” in the MemoryMiner Menu. Otherwise, if you’re new to MemoryMiner, just visit our downloads page:

http://www.memoryminer.com/downloads

And now, back to work.

PS Happy Bastille Day!

That was quite the interesting game. I watched it with a few thousand of my closest friends in Dolores Park in San Francisco: a nail-biter to the end. While of course I’m happy that Italy won, I can’t help but feel sorry for Zidane, who will surely have to deal with his head butt being being treated as the defining moment of his career.

A real bum-mer, no?

Few things would make me miss the beginning of the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s season. But with an Italian wife (currently in Rome with our son while I stay home and “scrub the kitchen floor”) how could I not have been glued to the TV?

What an unbelievable game.

Back to the coal mine.

This afternoon I saw the movie “An Inconvenient Truth” and I can’t recommend strongly enough that everyone go see it. Simply put, we have one planet to live on, and if we don’t act now, the climactic changes we’ve set in motion will render large portions of the planet uninhabitable within our childrens’ lifetime, if not our own.

That’s the bad news.

The good news is that we have the colllect power as human beings to solve this problem. It’s not a political problem, it’s a human problem, and therefore there’s a human solution.

I urge everyone who’s reading this post to visit this website:

http://www.climatecrisis.net

See the movie, think it over and talk about it.

If you enjoy your life, if you love your friends and family, if you appreciate the planet that sustains us, then there can be no simpler moral imperative than to become radically more efficient in the way we use the Earth’s resources.

I’m about to head to the airport to exhibit our humble little app at the MacGathering. I’ll be previewing MemoryMiner 1.1, which is almost ready to ship. It has some really great new features, some of which I’ve blogged about, some of which are “a little something-something”.

If you’re in the LA area, come on down and say hello. A free drink at the bar this Friday (May 19th) to the first person who mentions this offer.

http://www.macgathering.com