A new version of Menu Extra Enabler was released yesterday. You can download it here. It was released to fix a bug in SystemUIServer (and not a bug in MEE).
If the login time delays the launch of SystemUIServer long enough, the Bluetooth Menu Extra will not load if Bluetooth is enabled. In fact, it "erases" all menu extras to the right of the Bluetooth menu item. However the user might not know their items are erased as the SystemUIServer doesn't read back the prefs it saved until it launches again. So we got a lot of reports blaming this on ShapeShifter since it optionally kills the SystemUIServer when a theme is applied. A few blamed it on Cee Pee You as well since it killed the SystemUIServer on install. Neither were the cause of the problem. In fact, the "problem" could have occurred days before you did either of these since it only happens when logging into OS X and at no other time. It also happened whether or not any third-party menu extras were in use and even if MEE wasn't installed at all. It is very likely to happen after installing a Mac OS X update. Simply because they force a reboot and applications take longer to launch after they've been modified do to Mac OS X having to create a new cache for the applications. The sad part is that after installing this version of MEE, if the bug was previously triggered but the SystemUIServer has not been quit yet, then all your menu extras will disappear. But they'll never disappear again as long as MEE remains installed. You can prevent this by moving a menu extra in the menu bar to a new location by holding down the command key on the keyboard. Just move one to a new position. This makes the SystemUIServer write out new preferences. Again, this disappearing was not cause by MEE.
My first attempt at fixing this was to prevent the saving of menu extras if the new list only contains items to the left of the Bluetooth menu extra and the BT Menu extra itself. This had a problem if the user manually removed menu extras to the right of it (since prefs are saved on a timer, the user could remove multiple menu extras before the prefs were saved). It was also a problem as it seemed extremely hackish and required a lot of code (about 50 lines). I was not happy with this at all. Not only did it not fix the problem (just the outcome) since the BT menu extra still wouldn't load in these cases, it also would break depending on the user's actions. It annoyed me so much, it even woke me up from sleep after I had done the horrible hack I just listed. So then I tried it again, from scratch, when I woke up.
As far as I can tell, this is the course of events.
1. User enables bluetooth and the bluetooth menu extra.
2. User Logs in with a bunch of login items (iChat, Extensis Suitcase, TextEdit, Console, Word, whatever) just enough so that it delays the initialization of SystemUIServer.
3. The SystemUIServer registers for notifications. It calls -[[SUISDocklingServer alloc] initWithController:docklingServer] in -[SUISStartupObject init].
4. -[SUISStartupObject applicationDidFinishLaunching:] is called. Which then places a call in a timer to -[SUISStartupObject _loadMenuBarExtras] after a 2 second delay.
5. the Dockling Server issues a notification/calls a callback in SystemUIServer.
6. Callback calls -[SUISStartupObject addMenuExtra:position:reserved:data:] on the Bluetooth Menu Extra
7. -[SUISStartupObject addMenuExtra:position:reserved:data:] calls -[SUISStartupObject createMenuExtra:atPosition:write:data:] on the Bluetooth menu extra.
8. -[SUISStartupObject createMenuExtra:atPosition:write:data:] calls -[NSMenuExtra initWithBundle:] on the Bluetooth menu extra.
9. SUIS then saves the menuBarPlugins array to the preferences (now only containing the Bluetooth.menu).
10. -[SUISStartupObject _loadMenuBarExtras] is called.
11. All subsequent calls to -[SUISStartupObject createMenuExtra:atPosition:write:data:] with the Bluetooth menu extra return NULL as _alreadyHasExtra: returns true so the BT menu extra isn't loaded (via _loadMenuBarExtras) when this bug hits. It is never loaded since there was no valid NSMenuToolbar available when addMenuExtra:position:reserved:data: was called.
I figured out all of this after 5 hours of straight debugging. The new fix that uses this information is only 5 lines of code and it is future proof and doesn't depend on the user doing something.
In other news, I had time so I've made a version of Menu Extra Enabler and Cee Pee You for the Intel DevKits. And the people from Rogue Amoeba made a version of MemoryCell for the Intel DevKits as well. MEE and Cee Pee You are, for the most part, direct recompiles of the PPC versions. There have been no changes to the code at all.
Menu Extra Enabler for x86 and PPC(FAT)
Cee Pee You for x86 and PPC (FAT)
MemoryCell for x86 (FAT) (from Rogue Amoeba)
For another note, yes, this only took about 2 mintues to convert for Cee Pee You and MEE. However, Xcode is very lame in that I can't set the SDK on a per target basis... only once per project. And I *really* hate native targets. So very much. In fact, for MEE I am using a legacy target for MEE PPC and a Native Target for MEE x86 then via a script in MEE PPC, I instruct lipo to join them.
It's all good.
I have been wanting a new phone for a long time. I have been hesitant about switching from Verizon to another carrier because pretty much all of my friends and family are on Verizon and the IN minutes help a lot. Also, the Verizon coverage is so much better in my relatively rural area than other providers.
After almost two years of waiting for the idea phone to come along, I finally gave up and settled on a phone that at least meets my basic requirements. That is, it has bluetooth and is NOT a PDA.
Verizon finally offers a few choices for bluetooth phones. It didn't take me long to decide on the Motorola E815. This phone has all the features I want and after a quick google search or two, I found that the ridiculous crippling of bluetooth features that Verizon does can be undone with a bit of hackery.
So I finally have my phone that will allow me to have DUN on my laptop while I'm on the road. (hah Rosyna! ....I've been jealous of Rosyna surfing the net in a keynote or session each time we have attended conferences with poor wifi for a couple years now)
As I'm sure you tech toy addicts can understand, when I get a new toy, I immediately take notice of all things related to it. This morning I happened on Google SMS. Wow. Wow! This service is amazingly cool! I had no idea it was available and I am amazed at the genius of it. If you haven't seen it, check it out. You can get just about any information you need SMS-ed to your phone with a simple quick txt to GOOGL. This service would have been so handy for me on so many occasions.... or at least I'd like to think so. (I tend to get very excited over new tech toys and the possibilities, but my real world usage of them sometimes is... well, not quite what up to the same level. :) )
Anyway, for those of you looking for that perfect phone from Verizon, good luck with the wait. But if you're like me and got sick of it, the E815 seems to be a decent phone after the first 4 days of use. It lacks the quality build/construction that my previous Samsung phone had, but does improve on features in many other ways. (using the speaker phone with the phone shut is cool)
Someday maybe someone will release a small light phone with bluetooth that doesn't have stupid features, a crappy camera, and a horrible charger plug. Then maybe Verizon will pick it up.
...yeah, looks like I'll be using my new E815 for a good long time to come. ;) At least Google came through to make my cell using experience more fun.
Heya guiKliquers!
Just a quick note to mention that ShapeShifter 2.1.2 has been released. This fixes a last few glitches under Tiger - 3rd party menu statusbar items now display more cleanly and can be clicked as you are accustomed to clicking them (not just on the dark parts, whee!).
This also removes an incompatibility with Snapz Pro that could cause the menu statusbar items to appear unthemed, and it resolves a somewhat rare issue that caused window moving/resizing to slow down on certain video cards.
Hopefully it's time for me to go back to coding new features now! Making all of this stuff work properly in Tiger that already worked properly in Panther was draining!
Thanks much to all who helped test WindowShade X 4.0! The final version has been posted today, so those who were not comfortable playing with a beta, grab the final and let us know how it works for you. Do you like the new features?
Do you like the interface for adding custom shortcuts to invoke WSX? (modeled after System Prefs->Keyboard & Mouse->Keyboard Shortcuts) Got a better idea?
Grab it here:
WindowShade X 4.0 is the next free major upgrade to one of our most popular haxies, and it is almost ready for public release. The major thing we have added this release is support for arbitrary hot keys to invoke certain window behaviors... So if you'd want Command+F1 to make window transparent and, say, Command+Option+U to minimize in place, you can have it now.
What we miss is a bit of feedback from you, our users. Do you think the GUI is good and easy to use? Do you see any abnormal behavior? Is everything working smoothly? This is why we post this beta online for you to try.
Usual disclaimer applies, this is a beta software, it may contain bugs, so if anything goes wrong, you can uninstall it (and let us know what happened). Please do not post links to it to software tracking pages such as VersionTracker and MacUpdate (and if you're a staff member of such a site, please don't link to this beta).
Please post all bugs to 
. This way we can properly file and handle the incoming issues from you.
Full version notes:
- Now you are free to assign any hotkey combination to any action WindowShade X provides - no need to limit yourself to a set of pre-defined events! Choose Shift+F1 to make a front window transparent, Shift+F2 to minimize in place, and anything else your heart desires.
- Minimized in place windows now properly update their titles if they change.
- Float on top action now properly brings up the drawers of the window too.
- Various adjustments in the preference pane interface.
- Added a hidden option to enable logging to aid debugging.
- Fixed a bug that could cause WindowShade X minimize in place feature to not work correctly under Mac OS X 10.4.
- Other fixes and improvements through the code.
- Spotlight search results window works with WindowShade X now.
- Float-On-Top stalled icon bug fixed.
And, finally, the file:
WindowShade X 4.0b3 (The final version is available now!)