MarsEdit 2.2.1 is now available as a free update for MarsEdit 2 users.

This release addresses a number of bugs and enhances the support for AtomPub-based blogs that was added in 2.2.

A detailed list of changes since 2.2:

• Restore slight indentation to Title column in blog posts list
• Fix a crash that could occur when typing Thai and other characters that use more than one glyph per character.
• Fix a bug that prevented using categories with single quotes in them on Blogger.
• Fix a bug that prevented adding new categories to a freshly configured blog.
• Fix a bug where selecting category could undo category choice from toolbar popup
• Fix bugs that caused the upload and insert buttons in media manager to stay enabled inappropriately
• AtomPub-specific fixes
  • Support nodes that have namespace prefixes
  • Be sure to properly strip
    markup child from xhtml content nodes
  • Eliminate obsolete attribute behavior for and
  • Fix resolution of relative URLs in service document
  • Support “Excerpt” field for AtomPub, mapping to the “Summary” attribute.
  • Recognize a blog’s category list when embedded inline in service document.
  • Fix a bug that caused inappropriate UI fields to show on AtomPub blogs.
  • Show correct error message if AtomPub disabled on a WordPress blog.
  • Enable support for adding categories if the categories are not fixed

Hope you enjoy the update!

I was honored this week to be invited as a guest host on the excellent MacBreak Weekly podcast.

MacBreak Weekly 108: Pull My iTunes

I listen to the show regularly so it was a bit strange to record with the guys I’m normally listening to passively. Every so often I had to remind myself that I could actually open my mouth and add something to the conversation!

A particularly well-timed (or poorly-timed, depending how you look at it) topic was that of the iPhone developer NDA, which we discussed a bit, carefully tip-toeing around any actual violation of the NDA, which was still in effect when we recorded, but was lifted a day later.

Developer Austin Meyer of X-Plane fame was also on the show, and one of the points we disagreed upon was whether or not it is productive for people outside Apple to present dissenting opinions or otherwise make a fuss about the inner workings of the company.

Austin tended to believe that we should trust Apple to work its magic in secrecy and with autonomy. I believe those of us on the outside can offer a unique perspective which Apple is itself sometimes blind to. A number of positive changes have happened in the past few years only after the public collectively agreed that Apple was taking the wrong course. It’s possible that Apple’s decision-making process has always been completely independent of outside influences, but I prefer to believe that they value the collective wisdom of their customer base, and are at least taking it into consideration as they develop their products and services.

I really appreciate Leo Laporte’s letting me take part in the show this week. If you haven’t given MacBreak Weekly a try before, this would be a great week to start!

Apple made the right choice today, in choosing to publicly lift the non-disclosure agreement which has, for the past several months, prevented iPhone developers from discussing specifics of the platform and development process.

I’m sure most of you have already heard the news, it’s being shouted from the rooftops on venues such as Twitter, but I wanted to make my own announcement, as I think many developers should do.

Why? Because as much as we cry and whine in the face of Apple’s misguided actions and policies, we should be prepared to turn around and laud them when they do the right thing. Today, Apple deserves to be lavished with praise from all corners of the iPhone developer world.

You go, Apple.

Apple’s statement, reproduced here in entirety because the page has a temporary look to it:

To Our Developers

We have decided to drop the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for released iPhone software.

We put the NDA in place because the iPhone OS includes many Apple inventions and innovations that we would like to protect, so that others don’t steal our work. It has happened before. While we have filed for hundreds of patents on iPhone technology, the NDA added yet another level of protection. We put it in place as one more way to help protect the iPhone from being ripped off by others.

However, the NDA has created too much of a burden on developers, authors and others interested in helping further the iPhone’s success, so we are dropping it for released software. Developers will receive a new agreement without an NDA covering released software within a week or so. Please note that unreleased software and features will remain under NDA until they are released.

Thanks to everyone who provided us constructive feedback on this matter.

No longer any need to ask forgiveness, now that we’ve got permission to productively discuss the development process. Thanks again, Apple!

Manton and I sat down to record another episode of Core Intuition, speaking as usually on a variety of topics including the C4 conference, Android, and Apple’s “elevated user experience.”

Hope you enjoy the show!