New Ministry Tech Articles: Olive Tree Bible Study 6 for Mac

It's always worth checking on what Kevin Purcell is covering in Ministry Tech. This month he has a positive review of Olive Tree's Bible Study 6 for Mac. Olive Tree has been around since at least 2000 and have consistently upgraded there software into a highly capable system. The app is actually available for Windows, Android, iPad, iPhone, Kindle Fire, and Mac. The app is free, and you can get caught a few free resources to get started including the NIV, ESV, HCSB, NET, and more.

While you're at Ministry Tech, keep scrolling to see Purcell's article on Android Bible apps running on Chromebooks. He includes both hardware recommendations and pointers to the Bible apps.

Laridian PocketBible for Mac OS Kickstarter

I'm not a Mac user, and I can't keep up with all the Mac developments in the biblical software area, but Laridian does fine work, and Craig Rairdin is a good person... so, if you're interested help them get this kickstarted!

SBL 2012 Session: Using SBL Fonts

Using the SBL Fonts 

This session was led by Chris Hooker who is the font person for SBL. He has been doing this for about five years for SBL, both providing support and serving as an advocate for the implementation and improvement of the SBL fonts. His work can largely be accessed at SBL fonts page. (The SBL fonts themselves are designed by John Hudson of Tiro Typeworks.)

I blogged about Hooker's presentation last year, and some of what he did was repeated. Hooker provided a quick history of ASCII, the disadvantages of the old TrueType 'hack' fonts, and the advantage of Unicode fonts. I also have been a long-time advocate of Unicode and have blogged about it and its implementation regularly.

The new SBL fonts are fully Unicode compliant, downloadable and free for personal use. He indicated that they are hoping to release the SBL BibLit soon. (However, this is the same thing he said a year ago...) This is the font set I've been waiting for. It does exist, and Hooker actually used it in his presentation. Basically it's a combination of SBL Hebrew, SBL Greek, and a comprehensive Latin set of characters that might be used by biblical scholars.

He then walked through downloading and installing fonts and keyboards. For Windows, he recommends using the built-in Greek Polytonic keyboard. For Hebrew, he recommends using the SIL Hebrew keyboard. One issue with typing in Greek using that standard Greek Polytonic keyboard is that you need to enter the vowels and diacritics in a specific order in order to get the correct character. Personally, I still recommend using Tavultesoft Keyman (but it does have a minimal cost). (Do note my suggestions here . Hooker noted that there have been some possible problems occasionally with Hebrew.)

Issues with Windows8: Apart from the overall interface, the main difference involves the installation of the Unicode keyboards. Using the Regional settings, you need to add a new input method (and remove the default Hebrew=Israeli keyboard). It looks like in Win8 that keyboard switching uses a "WinKey + space" instead of the "Left-Alt + space" used in Win7 and earlier. With Unicode, he showed how it knows how to work with right-to-left input, final forms, vowel placements, etc. Using WinVista, Win7, or Win8, it also helps to use the onscreen keyboards built-in to the operating system. (Note that in Win7, to get the onscreen keyboard, use Start, and search for "onscreen keyboard." In Win8, you use the Charm bar and search for it.) Also note that if you are looking for a specific character (e.g., a dead key character or some special editing mark), the free BabelMap program is very useful.

From a question that arose, if you have trouble in MS Word when typing with Hebrew and your line spacing changes, go in to the Word paragraph options and set line spacing to "exactly" instead of "multiple."

Hooker pointed to this website in response to another question. If you are trying to update files using the older fonts, I've accumulated a list of converters of which I am aware.

• Greek Legacy Fonts to Unicode Converters
• Hebrew Legacy Fonts to Unicode Converters

Hooker also went through the process for working with Mac OS10. Go to the SBL fonts page to download the fonts, and install the keyboards. Again, he recommends using the SIL keyboards. Adding diacritics to Greek is more flexible on a Mac. Using Word for Mac poses problems because it does not support right-to-left languages. This has been a problem for years. It's possible that you can copy/paste in Hebrew, but results are not predictable. Some people use Pages, but Hooker recommends using Mellel. ($35 for an academic license.) Unfortunately, few publishers can directly use Mellel's file format. (The workaround solution is to export the file as RTF, but it might break footnoting formatting. Accompany the RTF with a PDF file is the solution. Or, someone suggested exporting to a Word DOC file BUT never open that file in Mac Word!) Hooker did indicate that Outlook in the newest Microsoft Office Suite does work correctly, so perhaps there is hope for Microsoft Word for Mac in the future.

BibleWorks on a Mac - Update!

BibleWorks has just announced that after several months of work with the developers at CodeWeavers they have released a "Public Preview Mac Installer" that allows you to run BW on a Mac natively. It has been previously possible to run this Windows program either in a virtual machine on your Mac or by using a dual-boot setup, but for each of these, there was the extra cost of getting a Windows license and/or the VM software. 

The new Mac installer is free, but it does require that you have BibleWorks 9, rev. 3 or better. (If you have an earlier revision of BW9, you can order the DVDs needed for $25. If you have BW8 or earlier, then you should either upgrade or check out Matt Day's very helpful guide to make BW work on a Mac in the most effective and economical way.) Below is a chart indicating the relative dis/advantages.

 

Be sure to check out the system requirements, and then check out your options and download the new free installer from THIS PAGE. 

UPDATE: This installer is free until 10/15/2012. After that it is $6.

 

BTW, if you are interested, my recommendations for a customized installation are HERE.

UPDATE: Be sure to check this post on the BibleWorks Forum for more info about the new installer. It also includes directions on how to install BW9 if you don't rev. 3.

Logos for Mac now shipping

Logos is officially now shipping its Mac version.

Logos for Mac ready for pre-orders

Logos has just announced that the Mac version of their Bible software is now available for pre-ordering with anticipated shipment by Christmas. Check out the video on the linked page.
Though built from the ground up as a Mac program, it certainly looks similar to the Windows version. Pricing is the same as well. Note on the bottom of the page that users can crossgrade simply by buying the Mac engine. (There is also a way to get it for free.) Your current library of resources can be transferred over without additional cost.

Stuff for the Mac

I'm a PC kind of guy, but I'm trying to stay aware of what's going on in the Mac world as it relates to tools useful for biblical studies. Today I defer to someone who actually knows what they are doing with a Mac. Check out this post on My Favorite Mac Software by Susan Pigott, an OT professor. She doesn't mention any Bible software, but she does describe a number of programs related to library management and word processing. Especially note the Bookpedia program she describes. I've posted quite a few times about library management stuff. I'm using Zotero mostly, but the Libra program (free, but now orphaned apparently without further plans for development) lets me easily post some of my collections. (E.g., some of my books on the parables or my music collection [the cheesy stuff is my wife's, and I haven't included my fine collection of LPs yet...])

New Mac Unicode Polytonic Greek Keyboard

In light of some comments generated by a previous post, Rodney Decker has just updated his Unicode Polytonic Greek keyboard for the Mac. Check it out here. For much more on Unicode in general for use in biblical studies (both Mac and PC), also check out his Unicode Resource Page.