From linda at omnigroup.com Fri Jan 23 16:33:34 2004 From: linda at omnigroup.com (Linda Sharps) Date: Thu Nov 3 13:04:59 2005 Subject: OmniNews - Issue #13 Message-ID: OmniNewsletter www.omnigroup.com - 1/23/04 Issue #13 In honor of Jack Sparrow, Coolest Movie Character EVER, today's newsletter will be written ENTIRELY in Pirate-ese. "'Ello, luvs! Apologies for the delay in communications lately - it's a bit tricky comin' up with new material all on my ownsies, savvy?" ... uh.. Hmm. Boy, the pirate talk thing just doesn't work unless it's coming from a guy with gold teeth, you know? Let's try Smarmy, Vaguely European, But Mostly Unidentifiable-ese. "Eet has been so long, zhoo know? Seence I have sent you ze newsletter. Perhaps choo deed not miss me hatall. If zat ees ze case, do not tell me - eet breaka my heart." ... Wow. Just - wow. This intro has truly gone from suck to blow. I'm...I'm sorry. Let's just move on, together. WHAT'S NEW -------------------------------------------------------+ So, if you stopped by our booth at Macworld earlier this month, you may have heard this conversation: Customer: "Are you the one that writes that newsletter?" Me (wary) "Yeeess?" Customer: "You really go on and on and ON in those things." Me: "Uh. Yes, yes I do." Customer: "It's kind of annoying." Me: "Um. Yeah, I can see that." But here's the deal - have you EVER, and I mean *think* about this one now, have you EVER met anyone in marketing that WASN'T annoying? HMMMMM? Anyway! You may have also seen a sneak preview of OmniWeb 5. FIVE POINT OH. With the upgraded bookmarks, history, Search Shortcuts, AutoFill, and a whole new way to work with browser preferences. Plus, you know, tabs. Finally! I've been using OmniWeb 5 for over a month now, and I am *positive* you are going to love it. Unless you are weird. (No, I am totally not saying you're weird. Well, maybe you, the guy over there in the Members Only jacket.) Check out the cool new features at , or experience David the Booth Monkey firsthand at . Stay tuned, a public beta of OmniWeb 5 is coming February 2nd. And hey, if you license OmniWeb 4.5 now, you get a free upgrade to 5. Plus, you know, the undying love and all. ADD-ONS UPDATE -------------------------------------------------------+ You know about our add-ons project, right, where we "periodically" (technically, "when we've had lots of Red Bull") release extra resources for our applications? I'm certain you do, because it's actually sort of my job to make sure you're aware of stuff like that, and if you DIDN'T know, then I'd be, ha ha, *fired*. Thaaat's right. You know aaaaall about the add-ons. There's a couple OmniGraffle add-ons we posted a while back to that you might find useful: the Create An iTunes CD Cover add-on and the Address Book ChartBuilder add-on. Look, I don't name them, okay? The iTunes CD Cover add-on comes with some OmniGraffle templates and associated AppleScripts. When you run the scripts, they build an insert for a standard CD jewel case, with a track listing based on your selected iTunes playlist. Fancy that! And if you've got attached artwork in your iTunes tracks, the pictures will be used to build a cover design. You could _totally_ build a custom CD cover for a track listing that includes 19 copies of They Might Be Giants' "Robot Parade". You know, if you wanted to. The Address Book ChartBuilder utilizes Panther's new options for contact information within Address Book. We built three scripts that automatically build charts based on Address Book information in, not surprisingly, three different ways. The new version of Address Book includes a field which lets you define relationships among your contacts such as "parent", "child", "friend", or "manager" (sadly, no "jerkweed" option yet); the scripts automatically build charts in OmniGraffle which visualize those relationships. Also, each person's entry in the chart will show their picture from Address Book and link to their email address. Map out your own six degrees of separation! Show off your dating pool to your buddies! Create a big creepy document that earns you a restraining order! Or, make a cool family tree or org chart based on your contact information. Whatever you like. UNSOLICITED USER LOVE -------------------------------------------------------+ Recently, Michael wrote us to say: "I would be so screwed if OO didn't exist. Just thought I'd pass that on. I've forgotten how to think without it." That's awesome, Michael! We're really glad you're enjoying OmniOutliner and haven't, for instance, stumbled onto our diabolical plot to infuse the world with software that eventually removes the ability to think independently, therefore allowing us to disable all licenses on March 22nd and commandeer an international force of mindless drones! Ha ha, just kidding. You should get a license, NOW, at . See you in March. ACTUAL EMAIL FROM ACTUAL OMNI EMPLOYEE -------------------------------------------------------+ From: An engineer Subject: slept in Date: December 29, 2003 10:50:29 AM PST To: everyone "I'll be in shortly. Well, hopefully I'll be as tall as I was before. But... you know." THANK YOU, THANK YOU VERY MUCH -------------------------------------------------------+ Thank you, as always, for your interest in Omni. Drop me a line (linda@omnigroup.com) with ideas, comments, ways to use caramelized onions, and Eddie Izzard jokes. To subscribe (woohoo!), unsubscribe (d'oh!), or change your settings, use the following link: http://www.omnigroup.com/mailman/listinfo/omninews From scott at omnigroup.com Tue Mar 30 21:31:17 2004 From: scott at omnigroup.com (Scott Maier) Date: Thu Nov 3 13:05:00 2005 Subject: OmniWeb 5.0 beta 4 Message-ID: Hello everyone! I just wanted to post a note to let everyone know that we have posted OmniWeb 5.0 beta 4 to our website. This release features bookmark synchronization using .Mac iDisk or any WebDAV server to keep your bookmarks in sync between multiple machines. The usual bug fixes and stability improvements are included as well. We encourage users to read the full release notes at for details on all the changes made for this release. Sincerely, Scott Maier Product Manager, OmniWeb The Omni Group From linda at omnigroup.com Fri May 7 10:44:23 2004 From: linda at omnigroup.com (Linda Sharps) Date: Thu Nov 3 13:05:00 2005 Subject: OmniNews - Issue #14 Message-ID: <2D2B57B0-A04E-11D8-824E-003065A0E444@omnigroup.com> OmniNewsletter www.omnigroup.com - 5/7/04 Issue #14 Hello, Omni newsletter list recipients! I hope you are enjoying the May weather, wherever you are. Seattle is notoriously fickle this time of year. On one hand, you've got lovely fresh-scrubbed sunny days with heartbreakingly gorgeous mountains popping up all over the place. And on the other hand... ...you've got different fingers. BWAH HAW HAW HAW HAAA!!! ... .. Um...hello? *taps mike* Is this thing on? Yeaaahhh. Anyway, sometimes it rains to beat the band goshdarn Northwest spring and hey let's just get right down to business and forget all about this lousy intro, shall we? Okay then! WHAT'S NEW -------------------------------------------------------+ We're working...endlessly...to release updates to our products. ENDLESSLY I TELL YOU. If you've been following the OmniWeb 5 process, we released beta 6 on May 4. This new update is available at . Apparently we've made a number of improvements to the application! And made some fixes! Also, it smells like vanilla! I *think*. Actually, the engineers never tell me anything. If by chance you downloaded it, only to find that it expired, like, INSTANTLY, please go grab it again. Sorry. We are tools sometimes. It's entirely possible that you don't enjoy using beta software, because it's all, you know, BETA-Y and stuff. I can understand that. But if you're feeling your oats (what _does_ that mean? Bueller?) please give the OmniWeb 5 beta a try, if only to check out some of the super cool new features we've added. Or hang tight and grab the final version, coming early June. Try it, you just might like it! OMNIWEB 5 STUFF, AND LOTS OF IT -------------------------------------------------------+ I can hear your clamoring pleas now - "WHAT super cool features, O Marketing Weasel?? Why should I be all in a lather to try OmniWeb 5??" Far be it from ME to ignore your heartfelt requests, so here's the scoop on the new stuff, and this is gonna be LONG, so grab a refreshing beverage. Or three. *** Tabs When you're viewing a bunch of web pages in a single window, you need to be able to differentiate between them easily. Because hey - no one wants to open the wrong page in front of their boss. Right? Yeah, most web browsers have tabs. It's just that ours kick more _butt_. In your tab drawer, thumbnail graphics make it easy to identify several web pages at once. You can quickly switch back and forth between them, change their position in the drawer, create new tabs on the fly, and even drag and drop tabs from one window to another. And when you have a whole boatload of pages in one window, you can change to a list mode so you don't have to scroll. Scrolling's for chumps. *** Workspaces Let's say you have 263 different web pages open. You're browsing away. You're on FIRE. But wait - what's this? You need to restart your computer? What about all the pages? Won't SOMEBODY think of the pages? Calm down! OmniWeb 5 to the rescue, all gallant-like. With our styling new Workspaces feature, you can save your individual browsing sessions in one handy location. When you create a workspace, OmniWeb saves information like which web pages you have in your tabs, your history, and even the location of the windows on your screen. You can drag and drop the contents of one workspace to another, and you can even email workspaces to other OmniWeb 5 users so you can share that Britney Spears collection. Not that you, um, have one, or anything. *** Bookmarks There's more to our bookmarks than just being able to save your favorite websites. Oh yes. MUCH more. We'd tell you, but then we'd...uh...have to kill you. Or...something. Anyway, ahem - bookmarks. So! OmniWeb's bookmarks are more awesome than ever, with filtered views of bookmarks and history that lets you see your most visited web sites or all the bookmarked pages that have been updated since you last visited them. Using Rendezvous, OmniWeb allows you to share your bookmarks with other OmniWeb users on your local area network. Plus, you've got special bookmarks for viewing XML/RSS feeds - you can stay on top of news sites and blogs now without having to use an external application. (Blog. Heh. I just like saying that. Blooooog.) *** Shortcuts We know what it's like to be working away when all of a sudden, it pops in your head: WHO WAS THAT GUY IN THE MOVIE ABOUT THE THING? You need to know, stat. Sometimes you just need to search a particular website on the fly. Maybe you're in a tiramisu-recipe-finding contest! Um, or maybe you just need to find a stock quote or DVD review. With OmniWeb, you can build shortcuts to any searchable website, like Google or the Internet Movie Database. You can save space on your toolbar by typing your shortcut keywords into the location field, or you can create a Search Shortcut field where all your shortcuts are available from a drop down menu. Either way, you get what you're looking for on the double, and bonus: you look all Smarty Von Smartypants! ("Oh, Crom was played by Peter Jurasik. Duh.") *** Site-specific preferences Repeat after me: your web browser should not be a television. It's a software program. It should let you control stuff. I mean, who's in charge around here? The internet - or YOU? The web is chock full of annoying things like pop-up windows, text that's difficult to read, cookies that invade your privacy, and blinking banner ads that are apparently designed for the sole purpose of giving us all monstrous headaches. What if you could control all of that? Enter OmniWeb, and Site Preferences. On each individual domain you can customize how you interact with the content; change the text size, tell OmniWeb where to save downloads for a particular site, even specify which sites you want to allow pop-up windows and advertising on. You're the one who should be in control, so get out there and wield your newfound power! Fly my pretties! Fly! We put a lot into OmniWeb, and we hope you'll like it. And remember - if you don't, please tell us why. But be nice. We're sensitive. OTHER STUFF THAT ISN'T ABOUT OMNIWEB -------------------------------------------------------+ I rattled on and on so much about OmniWeb that I'll keep this short. I asked our OmniOutliner product manager to give an update on the status of Outliner 3.0, and he wrote: "We're hard at work on version three, to be released later on this year. New features include an expanded style system, more control over printing, and a customizable export system that makes us all tingly when we think about what it'll let customers do once they get their hands on it. More than that, we cannot say at this time, lest the Omni Secrecy Squad come to our homes in the middle of the night and wipe our brains, "Total Recall"-style." Um. Tingly. Sorry about that, folks. UNSOLICITED USER LOVE -------------------------------------------------------+ Esteemed user Bruce writes: "I don't know how many of these gushing emails I'm going to have to write your team - plenty I'm sure. I'm a licensed user of OmniGraffle and OmniOutliner - eventually OmniWeb based on the way it's taking shape. I'm delighted to see how well the programs work together. I have this huge Outliner file - I noticed it was available as a filetype from the open dialog in OmniGraffle, gave it a shot - voila, instant flow chart - a thing of beauty! Not only do Omni programs work well together, I've also thrown Pyramid and Notebook into the mix - it's like a freakin rock band!" Omni products = Freedom Rock! TURN IT UP! WOOOO! Sorry. Ahem. What I mean to say, without all the spraying saliva this time, is that _surely_ you would like to be a veritable font of gushiness too, right? There's just something about being the proud owner of an Omni product that will turn you into a testifying MACHINE. And here, of course, is the obligatory online store link: (Please, like you were going to get a break for even ONE SECOND from the shameless hawking.) ACTUAL iCHAT TRANSCRIPT FROM ACTUAL OMNI EMPLOYEES -------------------------------------------------------+ I am deeply annoyed. Why dear? I just realized that sitting under the solarTube means sunburned head. Being bald sucks. and I can hear you laughing all the way up here. can you hear my mirth? maybe we should stock sunscreen for you. THANK YOU, THANK YOU VERY MUCH -------------------------------------------------------+ Thank you, as always, for your interest in Omni. Drop me a line (linda@omnigroup.com) with ideas, comments, choice Warren Ellis quotes, and suggestions for iTunes downloads. To subscribe (woohoo!), unsubscribe (d'oh!), or change your settings, use the following link: http://www.omnigroup.com/mailman/listinfo/omninews From linda at omnigroup.com Wed Aug 11 15:16:08 2004 From: linda at omnigroup.com (Linda Sharps) Date: Thu Nov 3 13:05:00 2005 Subject: OMNIWEB 5.0 IS HERE! ALL CAPS = IMPORTANT NEWS! Message-ID: <0B61A2AC-EBE4-11D8-8B04-003065A0E444@omnigroup.com> Hello, revered mailing list recipients! I certainly hope you're doing well and enjoying your summer. So, hey, remember when I said OmniWeb 5.0 was coming soon? You don't? Are you SURE? Fine. It's POSSIBLE it may have slipped your mind, because apparently when I said "coming soon" I really meant "many, many moons from now". Listen, it's harder than you think to engineer a web browser, okay? You've got features to build, compatibility issues to address, and from what I'm told the whole darn thing involves, like, MATH and stuff. Well, today I am saliva-sprayingly excited to tell you OmniWeb 5.0 has FINALLY been shipped and is available from our website right now. Go download it! Kick its tires! You get 30 whole days to fall in love. . We are actively encouraging you to test all the features and decide whether you like it enough to license it. After all, OmniWeb 5.0 is a commercial product and comes with a price tag - but we don't want you opening your wallet until you're ready to. If you'd prefer a boxed package, OmniWeb will be shipping to resellers like the Apple store in the next few weeks. Psst: here's a sneak preview of our snazzy new packaging: It's shipped! It's shipped! O frabjous day! And now for the tear-choked acknowlegments: Massive kudos to our top notch development folks who have been slaving away on this release for months. A major shout out to our support ninjas who have been answering your questions and relentlessly filing bugs. Big thanks to our QA team whose job it is to savagely break our applications apart. All in all, I want to extend - well, by virtue of this email - painfully tight, Lenny-style hugs to everyone at the Omni Group who's been working towards getting this product out the door. And to YOU, dear customer - you have our undying love as always. And if you decide to license OmniWeb 5.0, we shall worship you as a DEITY! We'll build you alters crafted entirely of gouda cheese! We'll perform "La Bamba" in your name! We'll mail you packets of official Omni cat furballs! We'll, uh... Ahem. *cough* Sorry, I'm just a little wound up today. Whew. ONWARD TO THE OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE: Seattle, WA --August 13, 2004 -- The Omni Group has shipped OmniWeb 5.0, a major update to the web browser designed to make your browsing experience more productive, more efficient, and more fun. The eagerly awaited new version can be downloaded from The Omni Group's web site, and soon will be available in most retail software outlets. Highlighted new features include a tab drawer, saved browsing sessions, greatly enhanced bookmarks, page marking, improved search shortcuts, site-specific preferences, and more. Additional information is available on . "I'm really excited about the 5.0 release of OmniWeb, which adds features never before seen in any other web browser," said Ken Case, CEO of The Omni Group. "Now that we're based on Safari's fast and compatible WebCore engine, we've been able to spend our design and development effort thinking of new ways to save you time! For example, OmniWeb 5.0 is able to remember all of your open windows and tabs, so you can pick up exactly where you left off after upgrading your operating system. It remembers different settings--such as ad blocking--for different web sites, so you don't waste time switching your preferences back and forth as you browse. And that's just the tip of the iceberg: I encourage you to visit our website and give OmniWeb 5 a try for yourself!" OmniWeb 5.0 is available as a 30 day trial from . Note the trial period includes 30 separate days, not just 30 launches. OmniWeb 5.0 sells for $29.95. Upgrades to OmniWeb 5.0 from previous versions are $9.95. About The Omni Group: The Omni Group develops productivity applications exclusively for Mac OS X. The Omni Group is the developer of OmniWeb, a web browser offering far more than standard browsing features; OmniOutliner, an outlining and organizational tool which was awarded first place, US category, in O'Reilly's Mac OS X Innovators Contest; and OmniGraffle, a diagramming application that won both a Macworld Eddy Award and a MacUser UK Maxine Award in 2003. Founded in 1993, The Omni Group is located in Seattle, WA. From linda at omnigroup.com Fri Oct 22 15:07:34 2004 From: linda at omnigroup.com (Linda Sharps) Date: Thu Nov 3 13:05:00 2005 Subject: OmniNews - Issue #15 Message-ID: OmniNewsletter www.omnigroup.com - 10/22/04 Issue #15 WHAT TIME IS IT? Why, it's time for the Omni newsletter, that 100% objective, unbiased, thoughtful dispatch from the fine people at The Omni Group! Also: stop! Hammer time. WHAT'S NEW -------------------------------------------------------+ We've been working diligently to get a final version of OmniWeb 5.1 out the door and into your docks, by golly. It should be shipping Real Soon Now (ahem), but if you'd like to get your hands on the beta, give this a try: . Version 5.1 integrates the latest Apple WebCore rendering engine, which means we're up to speed and as standards-compatible as we can be. If you were all horked off because you couldn't access your Gmail account in OmniWeb, fret no more, that's been fixed with the WebCore update. OmniWeb 5.1 beta also gives you the ability to tab between form elements (text fields, buttons, popups, checkboxes, radio buttons, etc.), and has improved Java compatibility and performance. Plus, we made a number of other updates that are incredibly thrilling to read about, such as this item from our release notes: "Fixed a thread-safety issue with plug-ins and a memory leak with text rendering". Boy, if THAT doesn't make you want to run right out and buy about fifty copies, I just don't know WHAT will. Even though 5.1 is still in beta, it's already getting some rave reviews. Check out what Tera Patricks has to say over at Mac 360: . TIPS & TRICKS -------------------------------------------------------+ Let's say you're at a fancy revolving restaurant and you need to visit the restroom. When you attempt to return to your dinner, do you: A) stride purposefully back to your table, pausing only briefly to ogle the dessert cart B) follow the trail of crumbs you shrewdly left behind C) slump to the ground and begin sobbing like the giant directionally challenged wuss you are Did you answer "C"? Then you and I are in the same boat, my friend (the S.S. Duhhhh, and don't go asking which side is starboard, because I don't have a dang clue). Even if you're one of those annoying types with a GPS built into your head, you probably use mapping websites at least some of the time, right? Here's a nifty way to build a shortcut in OmniWeb for looking up locations: Open up Mapquest.com's front page, and if it's not already visible, show OmniWeb's status bar (under the "View" menu). Fill out the "City" and "State" fields with the values for your home town. Do not fill out ZIP code field. Click (but do not type) into the "Address" field. At the bottom of the window, click the magnifying glass icon in the status bar. In the sheet that appears, click "Add Shortcut". You're done! From now on, you can type "mapquest " and hit enter to pull down the map for that address. Cooooool. And HEY, while you're taking a break from all that MADCAP address-finding action, why not check in on Netflix's new releases? You can use OmniWeb to subscribe to lots of different movie newsfeeds at - once you do so, you can just right-click on OmniWeb's icon to see what's new. Oh look, "Van Helsing" came out this week! Barf. So, there you go - a couple of ideas to save you time in your everyday browsing. And if time is money, then OmniWeb actually can MAKE YOU RICH. In, um, theory. UNSOLICITED USER LOVE -------------------------------------------------------+ Since I've been blathering on about our web browser today, let us cast our gaze upon the words from some satisfied (and RICH! maybe!) OmniWeb customers: "Omniweb 5 feels like something magically sent back in time from some advanced future civilization!" - Paul "Cripes, man... It's like you upgraded the whole internet." - Mark "I discovered OmniWeb today and downloaded the demo. What a fantastic piece of software! As a computer-science-turned-art-major, I'm a sucker for software that's pretty to look at in addition to being rokken (as in Dokken!)." - Ryan Listen, we fixed some kind of thread safety thingie, we've got the time-saving, rich-making thing going on, people think it's rokken - your course of action must be clear: buy OmniWeb today! Dooo eeeet! WHAT ABOUT OMNI'S OTHER PRODUCTS, HMMM?? -------------------------------------------------------+ Well, let's see, if you haven't checked OmniGraffle's Extras page recently, you might want to take a gander - we've amassed quite a collection of stencils from our amazing users. There's even one called "Bathroom objects" which will address almost all of your toilet-paper-roll placing needs. Grab that one and more at . Coming soon: updated software! Engineers are slaving away on OmniOutliner 3, which is currently being tested by a brave group of private beta folks. Unfortunately, I can't tell you much about it yet, but I can say it will be a ma-aaajor new version, with lots of new features that you've been asking for. We're also working on OmniGraffle 4, OmniDiskSweeper 2, and some entirely brand NEW apps. Stay tuned! SOME RANDOM LINKS, JUST FOR YOU -------------------------------------------------------+ Random links! Why pay for the full seat in THIS newsletter when you'll only need the EDGE? ? Check this crazy bike! ? Fun viewing for this time of year - Ben and Jerry's ice cream graveyard: (how, HOW did I miss out on Coffee Coffee Buzzbuzzbuzz?) ? And this - well, this is just possibly the best thing I have ever seen in my entire life: . THANK YOU, THANK YOU VERY MUCH -------------------------------------------------------+ Thank you, as always, for your interest in Omni. Drop me a line (linda@omnigroup.com) with ideas, comments, and Day of the Dead recipes. To subscribe (woohoo!), unsubscribe (d'oh!), or change your settings, use the following link: http://www.omnigroup.com/mailman/listinfo/omninews From linda at omnigroup.com Fri Dec 3 17:16:52 2004 From: linda at omnigroup.com (Linda Sharps) Date: Thu Nov 3 13:05:00 2005 Subject: Hey look, brand new software from Omni! Message-ID: <2DF7E294-4592-11D9-BBEE-003065A0E444@omnigroup.com> Folks, this is just a quick announcement - we _just_ released a beta version of our INSANELY COOL update to OmniOutliner. OmniOutliner 3.0! It slices! It dices! It makes...outlines! Seriously, it is very very awesome and you should definitely give it a try. There are *tons* of new options for styling and editing, support for attachments, new export options, inline notes, improved AppleScript support, batch find, and, you know, LOTS MORE. You can download it at: . If you don't already have OmniOutliner 2.0, YOU ARE IN LUCK! Anyone who purchases (or has purchased) OmniOutliner 2.0 between November 3rd and the day the final version is released qualifies for a free upgrade to OmniOutliner 3.0. Buy now, because supplies are limited!* *Limited in the sense that I just made that up to create false urgency. What? Enjoy, and don't forget to send us all your feedback. You can email , or use the "Send Feedback" option under the Help menu. Stay tuned, more OmniOutliner 3 news coming in the next couple weeks! Linda Sharps Marketing Weasel The Omni Group