Back on August 27 of this year I stated the release of Mori 1.7 was imminent due to the acquisition of an encryption utility which would provide the core of the reworked 1.7 feature list. That has now been four months. So once again I failed to deliver on the expectations I’ve set before you, and for that I apologize. I’ve just uploaded a new alpha test release (code-named Oneill) for your inspection, but before I list the specific features it contains I’ll explain why it’s taken so long, and why it’s only an alpha.

After I announced the changed development plan, one forum member wrote,

Most of the announced features [ie, "LinkBack, customized labels, font settings for source & entry views, better keyboard navigation, outlining improvements, self-downloading updates, and now encryption"] have either been tried to some degree in the failed versions, or are of marginal usefulness.

In my response I outlined the terrible decision I made to replace Mori’s view system with a more advanced, revamped one and how it was important to get new features (including encryption) into users’ hands now. I also disagreed with his characterization of the new feature set as trivial and tried before. However, I also offered to let you, Mori’s users, decide whether to include encryption in Mori and whether I should delay Mori 1.7 to get the new view system working or continue with the new course I had set to produce a new version quickly.

Although only 11 votes were cast on whether to delay, it was overwhelmingly pro-delay (even with my 1-star vote). So I decided to compromise and add some of the new view system and the originally promised features to Mori now, and continue making piecemeal changes afterwards.

Of course I should’ve mentioned my decision to you before, and for not explaining it to you I’m sorry. Once I made the decision, however, I just withdrew and set about getting the job done. (Although I hadn’t entirely withdrawn. As some have noted on the forum, I am far more communicative on Twitter as it limits content to 140 characters, which is very lightweight as a conversing medium. Unfortunately, I’m only aware of one Mori user who’s on Twitter and has made his presence known. Hi, Dale!)

So now that I’ve put out a new Oneill release, what does it actually contain? To quote from the release notes:

• Multi-line rows is in operation. There is a speed issue (not having it), and a horrible display bug when adding characters to a multi-line row, but the text displays correctly once edits are done.
• Users can now set different font styles for source and entry lists. Currently this setting affects all docs being displayed.
• Notes can be zoomed in and out either via a pop-up menu on the footer, or through the new “View > Zoom” menu (and corresponding shortcut keys).
• Users with MacBook Airs, and late 2008 model MacBooks and MacBook Pros can use gestures to zoom in and out as well.
• Users with a 3Dconnexion SpaceNavigator can use it zoom in and out as well.
• Various internal changes.

That’s right, you can adjust the font sizes for the source & entry lists, and zoom into your notes to make it easier for you to work with your info.

Multi-line entries for those extra-long topics or more complex outlines, as a start for the type of formatting you’ll be able to have in your Mori notebooks.

Support for gesturing and alternate input devices, starting with the multitouch trackpads on all the current Mac laptops and the 3Dconnexion Space Navigator.

So that’s where Mori’s development is now. I have more changes coming shortly, but I have a long drive ahead of me: Silicon Valley and Macworld 2009.

Just a simple reminder, if you’ve got questions or suggestions regarding any Apokalypse products, I invite you to post them at the forums if they’ll be of benefit and/or interest to the communities which use the products.

Post feature requests and bug reports so I keep track of what needs to be done to keep these products relevant to the work you do. The issue tracking system even has a polling feature which allows you to vote on the most important issues for you.

For any communication which doesn’t apply to the community of users here, I invite you to contact me via private correspondence or iChat/AIM/IRC (huperniketes).

However, if you just want to know what’s currently transpiring, and what’s going on in-between the lengthy times between my irregular posts (I’ve got a huge backlog of unfinished posts, I do apologize), there’s another way to see what I’m up to. That technique is through the Twitter service.

Here’s a simple description of how Twitter is useful for me to keep you aware of what’s going on:

Ed Yourdon, whose Techniques of Program Structure and Design revolutionized my thinking and methods in developing software, has written a great example of why I use Twitter.

I invite you to follow my tweets, or those for Mori and Clockwork product info. I also invite you to sign up and send your own message to any of those accounts.