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The multi-purpose Near-Time Current 1.5 integrates several useful tools to handle the kaleidoscope of web technologies OS X users confront daily. Instead of launching separate applications for text editing, or web browsing, page building, archiving and publishing, Current's integrated toolkit creates, organizes and manages that disparate content under one roof. Doubling as a blogging client, you can also create, organize and post text pages to blog servers like Blogger (www.blogger.com). Plus, it functions as an RSS and Atom feed fetcher and reader, allowing you to view, gather, store and sort RSS/Atom feeds (these are formatted data files used for content syndication).
Current's tools treat local Desktops and remote cyberspace as if they belonged to one common area. A Getting Started window opens at startup to provide one-click access to options such as authoring new documents, opening RSS feeds, searching the web for RSS feeds, posting to a blog or publishing a website. You can use the built-in text editor to create new documents complete with stylized text, images, QuickTime movies, MP3 audio files, active URLs and links to RSS/Atom feeds or other pages. There's a built-in spelling checker, and every time you revise a file, the older file saves to a time-stamped archive for comparison or reference. Revisions appear in one neatly organized personal space, selectable in a document's Timebar.
In addition to basic word processing, Current has a built-in browser for viewing live webpages without exiting to an external browser. If you see something you like, direct Current to archive the page for viewing offline. Archived links remain active, so you'll need an Internet connection to follow them or view updated content. A Comments button on the Toolbar lets you annotate any page stored in Current's file cabinet.
Current's appeal lies in its ability to organize and archive different types of content in a Drawer organized into four types of space: Personal, for your eyes and use only; iDisk, for content you want to post to your iDisk; Web, for content you want to publish on the web; and Weblog, for content you want to post as blog entries. Support for drag-and-drop allows you to move items from one space to another. Current also supports Clip Text, so you can Paste text copied from a source page, then click the link inserted along with the Pasted text to go to that source page.
We could create a blog page for posting to a Blogger space. Regrettably, we were unable to publish content to a web server, despite the fact that Current could send its own RSS files and images to that same web server during the FTP transmission. Step-by-step instructions available in the program's online Learning Guide proved inadequate to troubleshoot the glitch. In fact, the Learning Guide is one of the weakest areas of the program, lacking visual aides and sufficient detail.
Thanks to RSS/Atom support, you won't have to install a separate feed reader to view RSS/ Atom feeds. Current's RSS/Atom aggregation capabilities make it easy to subscribe to a feed and have information update automatically either every four hours or at a designated interval. The utility gives you a choice of several feeds, such as Reuters news, Yahoo! News and Apple. Or you can locate a news feed you want in the browser and then click its XML icon to subscribe. The link then appears on your Feeds Home page as an icon.
Web publishing glitches notwithstanding, Near- Time Current provides a streamlined environment for viewing, manipulating and authoring webbased information in a familiar Home page format, thus contributing to the ever-expanding dominance of the web as our workspace of choice.
-CAROL S. HOLZBERG
Near-Time Current 1.5: 
Curious Labs | www.near-time.com | 919-612-8003 | $50
Pros: Can store, manipulate and sort a variety of file formats in one central location for personal use or sharing with others, support for several web technologies, 30-day free trial.
Cons: Tutorials in the electronic lesson guide offer limited step-by-step instructions, troubleshooting help minimal, crashed several times while testing.
Requires: G4/500 MHz, 256 MB RAM, OS 10.3 or higher
macHOME recommends: 512 MB RAM, OS 10.3.9 or later
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