Mothers Ruin Software

Release Notes for iMedia

This page describes the known problems in the current version of iMedia, and gives a history of iMedia releases.

We are aware of the following problems in iMedia 2.1.3:

If you encounter other bugs in iMedia, please contact us.

The table below summarizes the released versions of iMedia, and what fixes and enhancements were made to each version. You can determine the version of iMedia you have installed by selecting About iMedia from the iMedia menu.

Note that iMedia will notify you when an updated application is available. If you have turned off automatic checking, you can always choose Check for Updates... from the iMedia menu.

Release History for iMedia
Version Changes
2.1.3 Released on April 2, 2006
  • Upgraded to Universal Binary, supporting Macs with PowerPC or Intel processors.
  • Fixed problems with content from The Progressive.
  • Fixed various display oddities.
2.1.2 Released on October 22, 2005
  • Added new action button to Preview Pane: click on this button to display a pop-up menu with various page-related actions.
  • When you position the cursor over a link in the Preview Pane, iMedia now displays the URL of that link in the navigation bar area.
  • Fixed a problem where the Section List was not always updated after editing a Smart Section.
  • Fixed a problem where navigating the Section List using the arrow keys did not work properly.
  • You can now use the Command-1 through Command-9 keyboard shortcuts to select any of the first nine sections.
  • Added Progressive Radio segments to Programs section.
  • Removed UnderReported articles from the Headlines section, because the site has not been updated in many months.
  • Dropped support for Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar). In fact, iMedia may still work fine on 10.2, but we have stopped testing on Jaguar.
2.1.1 Released on June 10, 2005
  • Added Automator actions for Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger). After installing this version, you should see the iMedia actions the next time you start Automator.
  • Fixed a problem where iMedia would crash if you click on an audio or video link in the Preview Pane.
  • When started from AppleScript, iMedia no longer gives an error on the initial script command.
2.1 Released on April 23, 2005
  • New Media Watch section, with updates and action alerts from media reform organizations.
  • AppleScript support, for integrating iMedia with other scriptable applications. Scripting guidelines are available in iMedia Help, and example scripts are posted on the iMedia AppleScripts page.
  • Fixed problem with Play Audio and Play Video on Democracy Now!, where the web browser would be opened. Real Player should now be opened directly once again.
  • Support for Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger).
2.0.1 Released on December 15, 2004
  • Added two new sites to the Headlines section: truthout and UnderReported.
  • When you select an item in the Section List, keyboard focus will now shift automatically to the Preview Pane, once the item has loaded. You can then use standard navigation keys — Up and Down arrows, PageUp and PageDown, Space and Shift-Space — to scroll the preview, without clicking the mouse to shift focus. However, if you don't like this behavior, it can be switched off in Preferences.
  • The Tab key will now cycle keyboard focus between the Section List and Preview Pane. (However, see this FAQ entry.)
  • The new Email Item URL option on the File menu will copy the selected item's URL and title into a new email message (in your preferred email application), ready for you to address and send. This is also available via a new Toolbar button (choose Customize Toolbar from the View menu if you don't see it).
  • You can now enter a web address into the navigation bar of the Preview Pane, and press Return to load it.
  • Fixed a handful of minor but annoying bugs.
2.0 Released on October 3, 2004
  • iMedia is now a stand-alone Mac OS X application, and no longer runs inside Watson.
  • Items are now organized into sections (as in the sections of a newspaper). These can be selected from a Finder-like sidebar, or from the Sections menu. The built-in sections match the tabs of iMedia 1.x, except that Audio has been renamed to Programs (since video is available for some programs).
  • New Smart Sections (akin to Smart Playlists in iTunes) allow you to customize which items are displayed. You can filter on such criteria as your favorite authors, and whether or not you've already read the item. The Favorite Authors and Unread Favorites sections are examples of Smart Sections; you can edit these or create new ones.
  • When you select an item, the actual web page is loaded in the iMedia preview pane. This gives you the option of reading directly in iMedia, without opening your browser. The 1.x text-only preview can be restored through Preferences, for those who prefer it.
  • For radio programs, access to the streaming audio link is now more direct, with a Play Audio button on the toolbar. For TV programs, there is also a Play Video toolbar button.
1.1.5 Released on August 13, 2004
  • Fixes a problem that caused Common Dreams content to disappear from both the Headlines and Columns tabs.
  • Fixes a problem that caused AlterNet content to disappear from the Columns tab.
1.1.4 Released on June 30, 2004
  • Fixes a problem that caused In These Times content to disappear. It now all appears on the Columns tab, since the previous classification into Headlines was a bit tenuous anyway.
  • Fixes other minor problems, including the failure to find direct RealAudio links for Democracy Now! headline segments, and missing first paragraphs from the detail window for The Progressive.
  • Adds iMedia-related news items to the Headlines tab. This is primarily to solicit feedback on the future of iMedia, in light of Watson's "end of life" plan, and to make announcements about that future.
1.1.3 Released on March 9, 2004
  • Adds better control over when unread indicators get removed: either when the URL is opened (as before) or when the selected item is viewed in the detail drawer. Use Tool: Show Settings to set this preference.
  • Allows the unread indicator on a specific item to be toggled, by Option-clicking in the unread column for that item.
  • Fixes a problem that caused Independent Media Center content to disappear from the Headlines tab.
  • Fixes sundry formatting problems with various sites.
1.1.2 Released on February 4, 2004
  • Fixes a problem that caused Common Dreams content to disappear from the Columns tab. No, this isn't a cut-and-paste error: it really did break again.
  • Fixes a problem that caused Your Call Radio to disappear from the Audio tab.
1.1.1 Released on January 27, 2004
  • Fixes a problem that caused Common Dreams content to disappear from the Columns tab.
  • Working Assets Radio had disappeared from the Audio tab, because the show was renamed and moved to a new site. It now appears under its new name,Your Call with Laura Flanders.
1.1 Released on January 2, 2004
  • New "unread" indicator column, akin to Apple Mail, on all tabs. A story is considered "read" when the URL is opened. (This definition of "read" may need some work.)
  • When clicking on a RealAudio URL in the detail drawer, RealOne Player should now start directly, instead of opening up the web browser to do it. The actual application launched here is whichever one is bound to the ram or ra file extensions via the Open With pane of Get Info.
  • Displays articles from current issue ofThe Progressive, as well as recent web-only content from same.
  • Displays three most recent Free Speech Radio News casts.
  • Fixes problem that caused Common Dreams content to disappear.
  • Fixes problem that caused Independent Media Center content to disappear. The global IMC site has been undergoing some trauma, so this may not stay working long.
  • Fixes problem where the same two-month-old Working Assets Radio segments kept appearing. This was actually the result of the WebActive site going into stasis. The segments are now retrieved from the WorkingForChange site. (Pacifica's Peacewatch had also been retrieved from WebActive, but it is no longer being produced in any case.)
  • Fixes some display problems with Democracy Now! segment names.
1.0.0.4 Released on November 29, 2003
  • Fixes problem that caused Common Dreams content to disappear.
  • Fixes problem that caused Free Speech Radio News content to disappear.
  • Handling of audio segments where the RealAudio link cannot be found is a bit better: you can now open the relevant web page at least.
1.0.0.3 Released on October 26, 2003
  • More consistent sorting. For example, sorting on Posted On column no longer yields essentially random ordering of items from the same source.
  • Fixes problem where blank items would sometimes appear.
  • Fixes problem that caused Common Dreams content to disappear.
  • Validated on Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther).
1.0.0.2 Released on September 18, 2003
  • Fixes problem where Columns tab would not get properly updated with newly-loaded items in Display Options: Favorite mode.
  • Stories are reloaded from a site 60 minutes after the initial load. It had been reloading after 15 minutes, which was way too soon (and really an oversight).
  • Fixes problem that caused In These Times content to disappear.
1.0.0.1 Released on August 27, 2003
  • Displays articles from In These Times.
  • Fixes problem that caused WebActive content to disappear.
  • Fixes problem where an blank document icon would sometimes appear in the detail drawer, and do nothing when clicked on.
1.0.0 Released on August 25, 2003
  • Initial release of iMedia.

Mothers Ruin Software