Unfit For Print

The mirror looks back

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 21:40:07 +0000

Or at least we all do, at some point over the next 12 hours, voluntarily or not. Like the poor Zune owners who woke up today to an unpleasant surprise.

I haven't posted much this year. Blogo has taken up more of my time than anything else, and the release last week marked the end of a long, difficult stretch. Hopefully next year will be easier.

Good luck to all of you.

Launching Blogo 1.2 beta

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:22:41 +0000

Yesterday Brainjuice launched Blogo 1.2 beta 2 (a release candidate, or preview of the final version), the new version of our blog editor for the Mac. After a low-profile launch of version 1.1 (due to it being less stable than we would have liked), with this version we've gotten much closer to what we planned for the application.

Together with the launch, other good news: a new site with a lot of new content, including a series of 8 screencasts to be launched together with the final version. And this time, we've (finally!) taken the leap and translated our site for international audiences (Brazil and Portugal will be the first to benefit). We've also earned another mention from Apple, this time in the development area, and have maintained our status as the only blog editor included in the official "staff picks".

But then, you didn't come to hear about us. On to the new features:

Stability and performance
We received more than a few complaints about instability in the first version, many due to problems with third parties (RubyCocoa still has some bugs to work out and is slowly but surely being overshadowed by MacRuby on Leopard, and Twitter's server crises took their toll on Blogo as well). With those issues resolved, and our application performing well, Blogo can finally live up to its potential: to be the definitive solution for Mac bloggers.

Interface redesign
Definitely one of the most important changes. We refactored the entire interface, redesigning all of the buttons and freeing up 20% more space for the editor. We also added a quick access button for the categories list, making the process even easier. And we opted for the black interface as a default, giving a more professional look to the application and making it fit in better with Leopard (though the blue version is still available in the preferences for those who miss the old style).

New Rich / HTML editor
Blogo now has new formatting controls, along with more options in the Format menu: change case, citations, and lists among others. And for the career nerds, a much-requested function: an HTML view in the editor. Now you can directly edit the code, inserting scripts, styles and anything else you'd like to include in your post. We've also included an interesting footnotes system popularized by Gruber, which is simple and easy on the reader, including backlinks to return to the source of the footnote.

Improvements to the image editor
The goal is that the user will never have to open up an external image editor. Just drag, set the size (including different sizes for thumbnails and full-size images), adjust the crop and you're done. Not to mention the fact that Blogo now accepts almost every type of image file you can throw at it, from raw image formats to TIFF, PSD and even EPS and PDF, including recognizing transparency. Drag, drop, edit and post. It's as easy as that.

Optimized fullscreen
The idea is for the user to be able to write an entire post without leaving the fullscreen mode, with nothing else interfering in the process. Now the interface allows the user to edit the title and tags and browse for files, as well as being more "ergonomic" and comfortable on different size monitors. And the new black background makes this editing mode look even sleeker.

Twitter Support
Inasmuch as we intend to make Blogo a multi-platform blogging client, the inclusion of Twitter (the most popular microblogging platform) is an obvious addition to the application. And with this version, we worked hard to bring even more value to the medium, with an interface which—while simple and intuitive—allows the user to take full advantage of what the service has to offer. With Blogo, not only can you keep tabs on your friends and followers, you can also send direct messages, generate microURLs (using services like the popular tinyURL and twurl), and even post images through Twitpic by dragging the files onto the editor.

Ping.fm: spread the word
Ping.fm is an aggregator where you can register the social networks which you are a member of, and then post to all of them at once. With the new support for Ping.fm, Blogo now indirectly supports around 25 new platforms through the service, including the well-known Tumblr, Pownce, Plurk, Facebook among others. If you want, you can also merge your Twitter and Ping.fm accounts in Blogo, guaranteeing that your posts will be linked automatically on all of the networks supported by Ping.fm.

Support for new weblog platforms
In spite of its focus as a content management platform, Drupal has the third largest audience, losing out only to Blogger and Wordpress, and we would be remiss to ignore its relevance to the future of blogging. So with this version, we've added support for posting to Drupal through Blogo: all that's needed is a short permissions setup in the site's administration panel. We've also added support for Expression Engine, another much-requested platform. We'll be adding more systems soon, so keep an eye out for more news on this front.

Integration
By adding our "Send To Blogo" bookmarklet to your favorites bar, you can post to your blog or Twitter directly from your web browser with one click. Even better: Blogo will recognize services like YouTube, Vimeo, Blip.fm, Flickr and Picasa and offer to post a video or slideshow instead of the standard link. You can also post directly from our favorite RSS client, NetNewsWire, if you prefer. No complications.

Monetize your blog easily
And now, a welcome addition for the pro-bloggers: Blogo now recogizes ads from AdSense, boo-box and others just like any other snippet or embed: just paste the code into the editor. Now it's even easier to compose your ads within your post.

Introduction of the offline mode
Another much-requested function, offline editing is now possible in Blogo. No internet connection? Write, edit and preview your post, then save a local draft to publish when you get back online.

Bye Bye, Tiger
This may be the least welcome news, but on the other hand will allow us many, many more options as we move forward with Blogo's development. This will be the last version (after all of the requisite bugfixes) which will have support for Tiger. In other words, by version 2.0, Blogo will be Leopard Only, opening even more avenues for us to make the application better.

We hope that a week of beta testing should be enough for us to tie up any loose ends and get all of the bugs fixed. For this to happen, we need your help, by testing our software and giving us your feedback. In order to get our friends moving, we have decided to do a promotion: anyone who tests during the beta period will have a discount of 20% off Blogo, either before or after the launch.

Just add your email with the form on the download page before launch and we'll send your coupon when we launch.

Do your own goddamn work.

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 20:25:26 +0000

What should show up in the Brainjuice referrer logs today but the website of another company taking credit for the design?

I'm flattered, but more importantly incredibly pissed off. I only hope that this ~~scumbag~~ amateur reads my email before I have to call a lawyer.

God save the queens.

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 00:58:30 +0000

This has been making the rounds of the internet lately, but still deserves a mention if for nothing else than the fact that it's a perfect mix of outrage, timing, and a group of pissed off comic geniuses.

Unspilled milk

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:29:09 +0000

Get Satisfaction! has a great example of the law of undoability: Never use a warning when you mean undo.

Users have 15 minutes to review, edit or delete their comments before they're carved into stone. Great for those with long winds and short tempers.

An Authentic Pain in the Ass

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:42:17 +0000

Just figured out the answer to a problem which was driving me nuts. Consider the following code. Can you see what's wrong?


def register
  if logged_in?
    self.current_user.forget_me 
    cookies.delete :auth_token
    reset_session
  end
end

Neither could I. Even when the ActionController::InvalidAuthenticityToken exception notifications started flooding in.

Looking through the Rails docs and the mailing lists for the exception revealed little. I was setting my secret key for protect_from_forgery, and all of my forms used form_for which already sets the authentication token in the form.

It turns out that I had committed a simple, fatal error: resetting the session without redirecting.

When you reset the session, the session key changes. Redirecting after this will clear the user's session token, and a new one will be generated for the new session.

If you do what I did, however, the session gets reset, but the token will not. The next time your user submits any form (or POST link) your app will go batshit.

So the lesson: ALWAYS REDIRECT AFTER RESETTING THE SESSION. You'll be happier for it.

iMac Hardware Experts: A Call for Help

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:14:00 +0000

Hardware is complicated.

Hard drives corrupt. Power units short out. Pixels die. Time marches on.

But every now and then, a mystery comes along which makes one question whether or not the electrons shooting around underneath the shiny brushed aluminum have some sort of sinister, vengeful will of their own.

Case in point: one iMac G5 PPC. The machine in question is a bit more than two years old and is under Applecare. Over the last 4-5 months, it has begun to go into hibernation mode whenever the CPU is taxed above a certain level.

We took it to the helpful folks over at the Macstore Ipanema. After a matter of days, we received the machine back with a report that the techs were unable to reproduce the problem in the lab.

After some electrical problems with our Mac Pro, we did a complete restoration of the electrical infrastructure of the house. The Mac Pro which was shorting out its surge protector returned to its normal, functioning state, but the problems with the iMac continued.

Confused, we brought the machine back to the Macstore, which was again unable to reproduce the issue but proceeded to change the logic board and power management unit to eliminate them as potential problems.

The machine returned and almost immediately began acting up again.

At this point we sent the machine back to the techs and immediately called Apple in the US, who directed us to Applecare Brazil. We opened a case with them to replace the machine, and were informed after 4 days that the machine could not be replaced as the techs could not reproduce the issue and therefore could not determine which part was at fault.

Determined, we took the machine to another shop to have it looked at: Mac Business Experts in Copacabana. After 4 days of testing they reported that they, too, were unable to reproduce the problem. The only fault they found was a broken wire in the cooling system, which they seem to think is not a likely cause. ~~After it was replaced and returned today, the machine has already died.~~ We're still waiting on the replacement part.

We have tried plugging the machine into other wall sockets, and the other Macs are all running fine. We are pretty damn sure that the problem is not in our electricity.

If anyone reads this and can suggest what else might possibly be wrong, we will be very, very appreciative. Feel free to leave any ideas in the comments.

Update: We've uploaded a video of the machine crashing to YouTube for the record.

Second update (Aug. 28): We are still waiting on the cooling wire to arrive at Mac Business Experts. My blood is beginning to boil. The Mac can now no longer sustain running even just the HP scanner's software (with nothing else open) without going into hibernation.

Microsoft Australia distributing iPods?

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:40:53 +0000

From the Brisbane Times:

But in what is perhaps a sign of desperation given Google's growing market share dominance, ninemsn is running a new Live Search promotion - Secret Search - offering surfers the chance to win prizes including the iPod Nano, Shuffle and Touch just for conducting searches. … Ninemsn's head of Live Search, Alex Parsons, said if the Zune music player was sold in Australia it would have been offered as a prize instead. "Where we don't have a great product or we don't have a product at all there's no internal edict that says we're not allowed to use competitor products," he said.

Could set off a trend in the other companies if it goes well (which it should).

Via macmagazine.

Blogo: Windows Version

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:56:51 +0000

Update: Thanks to help from Trevor Johns and Jeff Scudder, the error mentioned in this article has been fixed. We owe both of them a favor for jumping in to help.

We've had more than a few requests for a version of Blogo for Windows. Rest assured that we are considering it, but we're holding out for a little while we evaluate the development platforms out there and wait to see if Apple releases any of the dev tools I know they have stashed away in Cupertino (fingers crossed).

For now, at least Blogger seems to think we're good enough to include in the Windows software section of their Third-party Apps page. So much so, in fact, that they didn't even include us in the list of Macintosh clients.

Before you direct me to the Google group, I've been there (+1 to Gatsby for responding my first post on the same day, sorry for not being clearer about the platform when I first requested the listing), and bumped the thread twice now. After it became clear that I was irritating some of the group members, I've decided to give up on that avenue for now and hope that someone at Blogger reads this post.

Yes, that's Blogger. Blogger, Blogger, Blogger. If any readers would like to link to this post, please make sure to use the word "Blogger" in the link title. Thank you.

Radiohead remix with spare parts

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:24:00 +0000

Very, very well done. While most DJs were chopping up Radiohead's "Nude" and throwing it into standard-issue club fare, this guy had a better idea:

Gruber-style Title Case in Ruby

Wed, 21 May 2008 16:11:00 +0000

As requested by hivelogic:

module TitleCase
  SMALL_WORDS = %w(a an and as at but by en for if in of on or the to v[.]? via vs[.]?)

  def self.convert input
    # then capitalize 
    input.gsub!(/\b([a-z])([a-z\-_]+)/) { "#{$1.capitalize}#{$2}" }
    input.gsub!(/(\b)(#{SMALL_WORDS.join("|")})(\b)/i) { "#{$1}#{$2.downcase}#{$3}" }

    # If the first/last word in the title is a small word, then capitalize it:
    input.sub!(/^(#{SMALL_WORDS.join("|")})\b/i) { $1.capitalize }
    input.sub!(/\b(#{SMALL_WORDS.join("|")})$/i) { $1.capitalize }

    # "v." and "vs.":
    input.gsub!(/ V(s?). /i){ "v#{$1}." }

    # 'S (otherwise you get "the SEC'S decision")
    input.gsub!(/(['’])S\b/i){"#{$1}s"}

    # "AT&T" and "Q&A", which get tripped up by 
    # self-contained small words "at" and "a"
    input.gsub!(/\b(AT&T|Q&A)\b/i){ $1.upcase }    

    input
  end
end

# some brief tests
puts TitleCase.convert("The book is On the table")
puts TitleCase.convert("the book is on the table")

# and the edge cases
puts TitleCase.convert("at&t u-verse marks one-year anniversary of giving los angeles")
puts TitleCase.convert("the SEC'S decision")

# Thanks Louije for pointing this case out
puts TitleCase.convert("iTunes users now happy with iPhoto")

Let me know of any bugs in the comments. Enjoy.

Blogo 1.1 Released Today

Mon, 12 May 2008 23:46:00 +0000

After much hard work and a great effort from our beta testers, we're thrilled to announce that Blogo 1.1 is available for download as of today.

The new version brings a ton of new features and bug fixes. Highlights include:

Support for Twitter: You can now post status updates and send direct messages from Blogo, as well as view your friends' and their friends' status updates. You can even configure Blogo to send a new status update whenever you post a new article.
Improved Interface: We've done a complete revision of the interface, tightening up the look and feel as well as adding a new theme, Black, to complement the original Blue theme.
Better Fullscreen mode: We've added the title and keywords to the fullscreen editor, as well as an image dropbox and buttons to post, draft and preview. Now you can write and publish an entire post without having to leave fullscreen mode.
Expanded support for more filetypes: Blogo now accepts most raw image file formats in addition to jpeg, gif and pngs.

Download the new release and start blogging today!

Irregular Flow

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:03:02 +0000

Simply amazing. Props to Neto for the tip.

Going into private beta

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:14:06 +0000

We're just about to put Blogo 1.1 into full-on private beta. This means a lot of time spent testing the same things over and over again to make sure that hard to reproduce bugs don't resurface, checking all of the preferences as well as a full audit of all the different weblog systems we support.

Stay posted for more news and updates.

Priceless

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:56:46 +0000

xkcd brings back one of my favorites.