The Ship's Wheel

Mariner Write nominated as Best Word Processor!

2010-01-31T20:16:00.000-08:00

About.com, which is one of the internet arms of the NY Times, has alerted us that Mariner Write has been nominated in the Best Word Processor category for the 2010 Readers Choice Awards. We are going up against four other Mac word processors, Word, Nisus, Bean, and Pages. Some stiff competition to say the least. :-) This is a reader awarded contest so your vote counts! Voting starts February 1 and runs the entire month. Winners will be announced in March. There are 7 other categories to vote for in Mac software if you want to vote for those too.

Here's the voters link.

A vote for Mariner Write is a vote for Mariner Nation worldwide!

Thanks!

Mike

Contour Scores High Marks on Appletell

2010-01-18T07:52:00.000-08:00

Contour, our script development app, just got a nice review posted on the
Appletell news site (one of our favorites). I like this review because Kirk Hiner
breaks down the review in layman's terms and makes it understandable for
the readers, especially those that are not screenwriters. Check it out!

Mike

MacJournal for iPhone update

2010-01-15T07:10:00.001-08:00

For those of you that have an iPhone and have been waiting patiently for us to release MacJournal for iPhone
I can tell you we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We still don't have an exact date on when you will see it in the App Store but we are hoping it won't be too much longer.

Hang in there!

Mike

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T17:41:00.000-08:00

Here's wishing all of you a great holiday season and a phenominal 2010.

Best,
Mike

Ever have one of those dreams?

2009-12-09T13:57:00.000-08:00

Hey Folks-
Ever have one of those incredibly outlandish dreams but find that you have forgotten most all of it come morning? I'm not much of a dreamer but faintly remember a dream a few months ago where I was in the Olympics as a pole vaulter (no I've never pole vaulted in my life!) and instead of landing on the landing pad, it was filled with raccoons (please don't flame me PETA)! I know there was much more to the dream and I have a sneaky suspicion it was even more bizarre but unfortunately I was too lazy to write it all down. Needless-to-say, I'll never know if I won the gold or just squashed a few mammals. The point to this very odd rambling is that if I would have walked down to my Mac and started documenting my dream in MacJournal, I would have record of it to analyze (or laugh at it) when I was in more of a conscious state.

Apparently others think recording their dreams in MacJournal is a good idea too.

Mike

Foodies - looking for a great Xmas gift?

2009-12-04T04:50:00.000-08:00

Hi folks-
I don't know about your household but the holidays always seem to bring out the cook in me. I especially like trying exotic sounding/tasting dishes on some of the big recipes sites. Fortunately, I have a copy of MacGourmet Deluxe that can not only import these creations into a organized, digital form, but I can also track the nutritional content of said recipes. MacGourmet Deluxe can even help with organizing that special wine you paired with your masterpiece. It's truly a helping hand in the kitchen. But don't take our word for it. TUAW, one of the better Mac-based ezines on the internet, also also agrees.

Have a great holiday season!

Mike

2009-11-09T12:37:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone-
Just a short note to mention that from this point forward Mariner will
*not* be developing to support Mac OS X version 10.4. Although we
will not be preventing users from launching the apps on 10.4, we will
not be testing with 10.4 or offering support for new releases running
on 10.4. New releases will indicate 10.5 or higher in the System
Requirements sections of the ReadMe files.

So why are we doing this?

That's easy. In a nutshell, bandwidth. Supporting numerous products
on two platforms with numerous OS versions is a bear! Not only does
it tax our Quality Assurance team, it's doubly difficult to develop a
product with various OS versions supported. All this being said, every
one of our Mac products currently work on 10.4 (if not with the latest
version, the second to latest version). Will they a year or two from
now? Maybe. But hopefully by that time the last remaining folks will
have updated to Leopard and this will be a non-issue.

Thanks!
Mike

StoryMill vs Scrivener

2009-11-03T16:20:00.000-08:00

I'm always on the lookout for posts in our forum that could help people make informed decisions about our software. George the Flea, one of our more active forum contributors, posted this great comparison between StoryMill and Scrivener. While some would say it isn't very intelligent to promote the competition on your web site, George's breakdown of the two products is quite good. StoryMill isn't the ideal tool for everyone, neither is Scrivener, but if you take a few minutes and read this review, you'll be able to make the choice between two great solutions that's right for you.

Paperless & ScanSnap Bundle

2009-10-27T13:59:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks-
Effective this week, we are now bundling our Paperless app with two Fujitsu ScanSnap models (S1500M, S300M). If you are in the market for a scanner it is definitely worth doing a Google search on reviews of both these models. They are truly impressive pieces of hardware and work great with Paperless (which we like :-). It also should be noted that we have a great partnership with Fujitsu and with this great partnership comes great perks we can pass along to you, the customer. We've been able to reduce the price of the models to near our cost. The Paperless/ScanSnap Bundles give you one of the best document management solutions on the Macintosh platform. If you are looking to eliminate the paperwork clutter from your desk, our bundles might be the solution for you!

Thanks,
Mike

1.) Paperless-ScanSnap S300M Bundle
The Paperless/ScanSnap S300M Bundle combines the best of both worlds! The ScanSnap S300M scans up to eight pages per minute (up to 600 dpi!), both sides, and in color. It even runs on battery power for emergency situations! Paperless integrates seamlessly and efficiently making the Paperless-ScanSnap S300M Bundle one of the most affordable document management solutions on the market. Mariner Software is an authorized Fujitsu partner.

The Paperless-ScanSnap S300M Bundle contains:
-1 new Fujitsu ScanSnap S300M scanner
-1 boxed version of Paperless from Mariner Software
Price: $ 295.00

2.) Paperless-ScanSnap S1500M Bundle
The Paperless/ScanSnap S1500M Bundle is the super bundle in document management for Mac OS X. The ScanSnap S1500M scans up to 20 pages per minute (up to 600 dpi!), both sides, and in color. It even runs on battery power for emergency situations! Paperless integrates seamlessly and efficiently making the Paperless-ScanSnap S1500M Bundle one of the most powerful solutions to help cut through clutter. Mariner Software is an authorized Fujitsu partner.

The Paperless-ScanSnap S1500M Bundle contains:
-1 new Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500M scanner
-1 boxed version of Paperless from Mariner Software
Price: $ 495.00

Mariner Calc for iPhone Review

2009-10-15T13:57:00.001-07:00

Hi folks-
A few days ago Mariner Calc for iPhone got reviewed on the iPhone App Test Lab site and scored a B+ rating.
For the most part the reviewer seemed to appreciate the power and functionality of the app but did get hung
up on it not having enough tutorials or help. Overall, a pretty fair rating.

Mike

Paperless 1.0.1 ships!

2009-09-25T06:37:00.000-07:00

We finally got Paperless 1.0.1 out the door. We are calling this an interim release as there are
still a few bugs we are knocking off. If you have Check for Updates active you will be notified
by the app that there is a new version. Look for Paperless 1.1 soon.

and yes, work has begun on Paperless 2.0!

Mike

Mariner Calc 2.0 for iPhone Hits the App Store! (and a note to what's coming)

2009-09-17T06:31:00.000-07:00

Last week Mariner Calc 2.0 for iPhone was finally approved by Apple (after 16 days in the approval process - can you say...slow?!). Included in the release is the following:

• Cut, Copy, Paste (system wide)
• Named range support
• Email a file (outgoing)
• Find and replace
• Sort ascending or descending
• Password protected WiFi web based file server
• Settings for user info
• Settings for email options
• Settings for startup behavior
• New temp file sytem for quick saves of large files
• Plus a ton of bug fixes and smaller features

This is a free upgrade for all Mariner Calc 1.x customers so no need to dig in your wallet for that credit card.

So what's next in the App Store for Mariner?

MacJournal for iPhone and Contour for iPhone are now in development. MacJournal is closing in on beta so that should probably be released first.

Stay tuned. Mariner's Mobile Device Division is just ramping up!

Mike

Montage 2.0 finally hits beta!

2009-09-16T06:16:00.001-07:00

Hi All-
After what seemed like decades in alpha (ok, I'm exaggerating a hair), Montage 2.0 finally reached
the beta stage. Here's a list of what we have added to this upcoming major release.

• Added Script Locking & Revisions Tracking
• Added 'WYSIWYG" on screen Pagination: MORE/CONT'D now display on screen
rather than only in print, on screen page count reflects what will print
• Added an Annotations Navigator
• Added a Timeline View for story development
• Added a Names Database
• Added more export formats: Word 2007, HTML, XML, Plain Text, Web Archive
• Added greater functionality to Headers with ruler control and additional variables
• Added a tabbed view for the Notes area in Outline, Character, Location, etc views
• Added picture fields to Notes areas
• Added contextual menu functionality to the keywords box in the views pane
• Added the ability to import Contour files, added a template for importing Contour content
• Elements can now be assigned by right clicking and selecting from a contextual menu
• Added Insert > Page Break
• Page numbers and other header information now displays on screen
• Keyboard shortcuts are now available in popup menu at the bottom of the editor window

It's hard to put a date on when we will release 2.0 but hopefully by the end of the year. For all
those that purchase 1.5.3 now, the upgrade path to 2.0 is a freebie. All 1.x owners will be looking
at a reasonable upgrade charge.

Best,
Mike

StoryMill Screencast - very cool!

2009-09-09T06:34:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks-
We ran across this screencast for StoryMill on jkontherun, a great
site dedicated to technology. Good stuff...check it out!

Mike

Snow Leopard is out!

2009-08-28T05:34:00.000-07:00

After months of waiting, Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6) hits the streets today. You won't see many smoke and mirror features in this release as most of the improvements are behind the scenes in the architecture. Being Apple developers, some of us here at Mariner have been on Snow Leopard for a little while now and have been thoroughly impressed. The speed and stability are probably what will stand out the most. Our apps have held up for the most part as well. While we won't take the company line quite yet and say all of our apps are 100% compatible with Snow Leopard (multiple product companies usually don't this early on), we haven't run across any major crashers or show stoppers. If in testing the next few days we discover any issues we'll be sure to post an update as quick as we can.

Mike

Attention foodies!

2009-08-20T07:30:00.000-07:00

Our development partner, Michael Dupuis from Advenio, was interviewed last night on Your Mac Life. Some good conversation regarding MacGourmet and MacGourmet Deluxe - check out the show!

Mike

Blake Snyder - RIP

2009-08-06T08:40:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, Blake Snyder passed away. Now, if you aren't a screenwriter, you probably haven't heard of Blake. If you are, then more than likely you knew of his name, and maybe even met the man. Blake was the face behind the brand called Save the Cat. I call it a brand because Save the Cat is a script development system built around Blake's theory of how a script should be written. He has software, books, videos, and even conducted seminars behind his theory. Needless-to-say, Save the Cat competes against our Contour app. And while we did occasionally butt heads with our respective systems, I did hold Blake in high regard when it came to his passion ~ improving the way writers write.

Our condolences to Blake and his family. May he rest in peace.

Mike

Another day, another bundle!

2009-08-06T08:30:00.001-07:00

The fine folks over at themacsale.com in the UK included our Mariner Calc in the latest bundle to hit the Mac community. It's a great assortment of apps - all for $50! If you are in the market for some great software, check them out!

Mike

Part of the gang out for dinner!

2009-07-24T14:48:00.000-07:00

Today capped off a week of strategic meetings here at Mariner HQ.
Here are a few of the Mariner gang after a nice dinner in Minneapolis.
(Left to Right - Teresa Matuska, Bill Paar, Corey Johnson, Steve Hokenson,
Mike Wray, Mary Rooney, Dawn Messerly)

Another Contour Presentation

2009-07-10T05:09:00.000-07:00

Contour guru Jeff Schechter was once again hard at work earlier this week at another presentation in Toronto showcasing the Contour system of script development. Entertaining the masses with his easy-to-understand logic and first-hand experiences in Hollywood makes Jeff a natural at this kind of stuff!

Mike

MacGourmet Deluxe on MacUpdate this Friday

2009-07-02T09:28:00.000-07:00

My mom is a fabulous cook. One of those "a little bit of this, a little bit of that" kind of cooks.
I finally got her to record some of her favorite recipes and ultimately got them into MacGourmet
Deluxe. Now, instead of calling her and writing down her directions, I can look in my MGD and
start cooking! One of these days I plan on creating "Mom's Cookbook" in MGD too. It's one of
these no-brainer things I need to do. Maybe for Christmas?? :-)

Anyway, if you are in the same boat I was, head over to MacUpdate tomorrow and snag a copy
for yourself at a huge discount. Your mom will be impressed.

Mike

StoryMill Promo Extended Until July 5th

2009-07-01T07:56:00.000-07:00

Have you always wondered if you have a novel in you? Most everyone has, either in
passing or seriously. StoryMill helps you get your ideas out of your head and onto your
Mac. Don't get me wrong, you still need to supply the creativity and discipline to write,
but StoryMill makes the first step all that much simpler.

Still unsure?

Check out our online video tutorials, or better yet, download a trial copy to see for yourself.

And if all that doesn't convince you, how about this? Until July 5th, purchase StoryMill for
less than $35!

Happy writing!

Mike

MacGourmet Deluxe

2009-06-23T12:11:00.000-07:00

Nice!

Shortly before its first year anniversary (this Thursday), we were alerted we finally got
MacGourmet Deluxe into the Apple Stores (not all, just some for now). This is fabulous
news and will hopefully expose MGD to thousands of potential buyers that weren't
familiar with the product.

Mike

My Story Can Beat Up Your Story!

2009-06-16T19:43:00.000-07:00

Our pal Jeff Schechter, the heart and soul behind Contour, recently held a screenplay development seminar in Toronto called, "My Story Can Beat Up Your Story!" This was sort of a "dry run" before an all-day seminar to be held in Los Angeles toward the end of August. In his seminar, Jeff breaks down the Contour system of writing a screenplay and shows anyone from newbies to seasoned writers how incredibly impressive this process is (and our software isn't too bad either :-) I'll blog about Jeff's upcoming seminar a little more once we get closer to August but if you are serious about writing a screenplay and you happen to be in LA in late August, Jeff's seminar is a must.

Mike

Mariner Write in themacbundles.com bundle!

2009-06-01T10:53:00.000-07:00

Greetings!
Mariner Write, our popular word processor for Mac OS X is one of several apps in the first bundle of themacbundles.com. If you are in the market for some first rate apps, check out the list below (and all for $50!)...

Cover Stream – Enjoy desktop Cover Flow. Pick a song from your favorite album or playlist. Control, browse, and search your music without leaving your work.

Default Folder X – Award-winning system-wide enhancement that makes Open and Save dialogs and Mac OS X easier to use by adding hierarchical pop-up menus and keyboard shortcuts.

Drag Thing – The award-winning original dock designed to tidy up your Macintosh desktop. Put all your documents, folders, and applications just a click away.

GraphicConverter – More than 1.5 million users worldwide swear by award-winning GraphicConverter — from amateur photographers to professional designers.

HoudahSpot – Houdah Software's bestselling file search tool for the Mac. Unleash the full power of Spotlight to find, manage and clean up your files.

iPrint – Allows you to instantly and easily selectively print just the text that you want in any program — pays for itself by saving ink, toner, time, and money!

Mariner Write – From award-winning developer Mariner Software, Mariner Write is a powerful yet streamlined Mac OS X word processor designed for the masses.

Spell Catcher – A powerful, award winning all-in-one spell checking and writing software solution — a program that's so much more than a spelling checker, its name only hints at its capabilities.

All the best,
Mike