Software updates are falling out of the sky. I bumped up to Max/MSP 4.5.5 and Jitter 1.5 simultaneously yesterday. The elves at Cycling '74 are so deserving of fame and fortune.

Max/MSP 4.5.5: The utility update from stratospheric reaches of the firmament, this is the one I've been waiting for. My patching efficiency has just been improved half again, and I'm already a fast patcher.

Templates - Just what it sounds like: save a patcher as a preset starting point. I do this already with a specific workbench file, but my command/ctrl-s enthusiasm has overwritten it on more than one occasion. No longer a worry.

Shortcuts - User-editable shortcut text allows me to create small text names which expand to commonly created objects with very long names.

Clippings - I can paste the contents of often-used patchers directly into my current work from a contextual menu. I will never again recreate sfplay~ with a loop message plus bang.

Prototypes - Customized gui objects can be saved as prototypes and recalled without all the cut and paste craziness. It's library development time. Can I get an "Iya Cthulhu" here?

Encapsulate/Decapsulate - Select your grouping for a subpatcher, hit command-shift-E and watch in wonder as your selection transforms into a subpatcher with its connections preserved. The reverse is flawless, as well.

New from Clipboard - Copy the text of a patch from email, the many back and forths on the Cycling '74 Max list or the web, flip to Max and hit command-shift-N. There's your patch, in all its reconstituted-from-ascii glory.

mxj~ - Signal processing externals in Java. This is going to be a blast.

Jitter 1.5: Multiprocessor support, compressed RTSP streams and Java/Javascript support. I've been working mightily with js externals of late, and am thrilled by the promise of the Java/Javascript addition to Jitter.

Perhaps because I'm currently deep in the wilds of Max/MSP/Jitter land this update hits me with the power of one thousand years. Yesterday I sorted out the license for the tools release as a variation on the Creative Commons Share-Alike with a twist. With hard work and luck, daevlbox will pop at Daevlmakr's relaunch along with everything else.