Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, Spotlight, and GEDCOM files

A user emailed us and mentioned that they received their copy of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and installed it (there were a few stores that got their copies in from Apple last week and turned around and sent them out to the users early, much to Apple’s chagrin).

After letting Spotlight index their drive, several hours later they typed in a few family names, and GEDCOM files that had those names popped up in Spotlight, and were correctly associated with their Mac genealogy applications, and the GEDCOM files were identified as documents.

If anybody else has received their copy of Tiger, and have noticed that their GEDCOM files (and any other genealogy files) have been indexed, please let us know.

It was a very welcome surprise – the GEDCOM format was not listed as a supported file type under Spotlight, although it makes sense, since GEDCOM files are basically text files.

Software: theConcept 1.2

theConcept 1.2 has been released. theConcept queries your favorite search engine, visits each search result and analyzes the text from each linked page � leaving you with time for more important matters. When it’s finished, theConcept presents you with the key words and phrases defining the very essence of your search � and an intuitive interface to explore each one: generate reports on important citations, cross-reference and distill your sources….theConcept uses data mining technology to summarize hundreds of web pages into something more manageable, allowing you to focus on important topics and content.

Requires: Mac OS X v10.2 or later.

Cost: $39.95 (academic discount available).

Update: LibraryBooks 2.2

Library Books is a free Mac OS 10.3 application for keeping track of the library books you have borrowed. At this time it works with libraries that use the SIRSI, Dynix or Spydus catalogue systems. The developer, Harold Chu, is dedicated to making it work with many libraries (for a full list of supported libraries, see the above link). If your library is not listed, you might send him an e-mail and see if he can add it. If your library uses SIRSI, Dynix or Spydus, and you know the settings/URLs, it is possible you can use this by manually putting in the settings for your library.

It also ties into iCal, and will automatically remind you when books are due, along with a listing of just which books are due. It looks like it will allow you to renew them online, as well as browse the catalog.

Changes:
* Added generic support for the Bookit/OPAC catalogue system.
* The due date is handled properly for generic Dynix systems.
* Minor bug fixes.

Added these libraries:

* Brantford Public Library, ON, Canada
* Toronto Public Library, ON, Canada
* Palo Alto City Library, CA, USA
* Santa Clara County Library, CA, USA
* Salt Lake County Library Services, UT, USA
* Torrance Public Library, CA, USA
* Hawaii State Public Library, HI, USA
* New Orleans Public Library, LA, USA

Library Books 2.1

Library Books is a free Mac OS 10.3 application for keeping track of the library books you have borrowed. At this time it works with libraries that use the SIRSI, Dynix or Spydus catalogue systems. The developer, Harold Chu, is dedicated to making it work with many libraries (for a list of supported libraries, see the above link). If your library is not listed, you might send him an e-mail and see if he can add it. If your library uses SIRSI, Dynix or Spydus, and you know the settings/URLs, it is possible you can use this by manually putting in the settings for your library.

It also ties into iCal, and will automatically remind you when books are due, along with a listing of just which books are due. It looks like it will allow you to renew them online, as well as browse the catalog.

Software: FTLCtimelines X

FTLCtimelines has been updated to version 0.9.5.4.03 (for both Mac OS X and MacOS 9). FTLC stands for “finite time lines and circles”".

A program to automatically generate timelines across a range of time intervals (from seconds to years [AD & BC]).Timelines may include points in time and spans of time.Includes the generation of “time circles”.Events may be grouped according to user defined categories.