What's it all about, Alfie?

This morning I was reading the feeds, like I always do, and came across a reference to a piece of code done right. The author was talking about how the best software gets out of your way and does everything that's needed without you having to think about it. In this case, it was shared, remote filespace. The app/service was Dropbox.

What made this so useful to me was the fact that I had gone through the headache of setting up a WebDAV server at home for just this reason - a place to throw things that I could get at form other machines. The problem is, I was still limited by my home bandwidth, I wasn't being intelligent about sending diffs, and the clients for other operating systems were web browsers or FTP-like clients. It worked, but it wasn't what I wanted.

Dropbox is exactly what I wanted. It's a smart, version controlled, remote file repository. It's got clients for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. Once you register for it, you simply have a directory that "hot syncs" to the repository in "the cloud", and sends the updates to your other registered machines.

I have a laptop and two desktops. I register them all. I see on each machine an identical set of files. Make a change in one, and it'll be mirrored to the others in a very efficient manner. Drag a new file into the folder on my laptop, and it'll automatically be sent to my two desktops. Simple.

I still have the file on my laptop - which makes this a ton better than WebDAV, and the syncing is done automatically, but clearly visible so that I know when something's happening. There are default folders for public content, photos, an easy way to make URLs for accessing the files... the list goes on and on.

Certainly one of the nicest features of this is the fact that it's really a file repository so you can go to the Dropbox web site and see the files you've deleted. And get them back! You can't beat that. It's like Time Machine built-in.

The first 2GB of storage is free, and for $9.99/mo or $99/yr you get 50GB. I'm sold. The version on the app is 0.6.402, and I'm guessing they do an automatic update, but we'll see. I feel so much better with the idea of installing this on my machines and then being able to really share files on the 'net. Incredible app.

This morning I saw that Xcode 3.1.2 is out and I had to get it. I'm not sure what all it's got, but there's no way I'm sitting out on an update to the very best developer environment the world has ever seen. (No really, I did the research...)

I'm sure there are changes for the iPhone/iPod Touch 2.2 firmware, and possibly updates to the compilers... all good things. I noticed that even the JDK tools seem to have gotten an update in this release. Can't ask for more.

Today I got the chance to work side-by-side with a user that was testing changes to this project I had been making over the last few days. Normally, they'd be testing and writing up a ton of trouble tickets and then I'd have to go through all the effort of finding the duplicates, thinning them down, filling out the paperwork... it's all a lot easier if they just ask me to sit with them and we can work though things so that they understand what's going on under the covers.

Thankfully, today I was able to do just that. A user asked me if I wanted to sit with him or have him file a bunch of tickets. I picked the former, in a heartbeat.

It was amazingly simple. Walk this user through a few screens, explaining the details of what's happening under the covers to him and all of a sudden, things became crystal clear. It's amazing what a little bit of good, honest communication will do to help a situation. In this project, it's been seriously lacking, and the project has suffered for it. I'd like to think that maybe things are changing - at least for me.

Sitting with users and explaining the same thing a dozen times is not wonderful but it sure beats the alternative - a user gets frustrated because they're convinced that the code isn't working right, and then you try to explain it to them, and they have a bias now to see the error as an error as opposed to just a misunderstanding.

I hope this continues... I'm going to do my best to make sure it continues. I think it's the only way to really save this project.

It's been a few days now that I've been back from my back problems that kept me home for a week. It's going to take a few more to get feeling like I'm really back in my old rhythm, but even now it's nice to be able to feel a little more like my old self again. I tell you, being laid up, unable to walk, unable to really do all the things I was doing only a few days ago... it really makes you glad for the little things - like taking a shower and being able to go to work.

I'm guessing after the Thanksgiving Day break I'll be feeling even better and more rested. Then it'll be back into the rhythm for the rest of the year. Nice to be getting back at it.

This morning the Flying Meat guys released VoodooPad Pro 4.0.1 with lots of little crashing bugs fixed and with the tag line: the inevitable .1 release. I believe there must be people hitting this a lot harder than I am, but then again, that's probably not that hard. In any case, it's out there, and get it. I like what he's done with the UI changes, and the scripting support is nice as well.

Gotta support the indie Mac developer group.

Apple seems to have gotten a ton of issues about the stability of Safari 3.2 so this morning they had something fun for all of us on Software Update - Safari 3.2.1. While I'm sure there are reasons for this, it comes a week after 3.2, so they really must have been bad bugs. I didn't notice anything, but then again, I don't hit a ton of sites, but I hit enough. Well... anyway, it's out there and it's a reboot to get it.

Gotta do it.

The guys at MacVim have fixed up the forking issue and updated the latest fixes from the Vim core code, and have packaged Snapshot 39. It's something I expected them to do, given the fact that they had discovered it right after creating Snapshot 38.

Just one of the best editors on the best platforms ever.

HandBrake is without a doubt the easiest way to get a DVD onto my iPod Touch (and iTunes). You put in the DVD, it gets all the structural information off the DVD and you can then optimize the destination format and type in the chapter titles and then rip the DVD. It's smooth, fast, and effortless. After it's ripped, you just import it into iTunes, add the album artwork and the info for the title and you're ready to go.

The news is that they have released 0.9.3 and removed the DVD decryption from HandBrake. Instead, they look for VLC's libraries in the Applications directory, and use that. You need to have VLC 0.9.x or better to have this work, and because I had the older 0.8.5 I had to update it as well.

Interestingly, the latest VLC is a lot less invasive than the previous version. I use Perian for most of the content viewing, but it's nice to have it be less intrusive, and I had to get it to make HandBrake work. It'll be interesting to see what's different about the experience of ripping.

The guys working on MacVim have released an update to the project - Snapshot 38. There have been some annoying error messages related to the forking of the processes for tabs, and the guys have been hard at work getting to the bottom of them. Based on the comments in the mailing list, I think Snapshot 38 still has some issues, but the next snapshot will have them all cleared up. Excellent news for the coming days.

Still, it's nearly the perfect implementation of Vim. The only thing it's lacking is the beautiful temporary zoom on a find that Safari and SubEthaEdit do. BBEdit still doesn't and it's not strictly necessary, but it is beautiful to watch.

This evening, I took the time to update my NetGear WNR3500 GigaBit Router to the latest firmware 1.0.29NA. I'm not sure if there are a lot of significant updates - they had no release notes, but given that this the the portal to the internet for all the machines in my house, it's a good thing to keep it up to date and make sure it's not been compromised.

It's odd, but when I upgrade the router, it always seems like I have to power-cycle it to get things working again. I'm not worried about it. I know the upgrade worked, and I only do this every few months, so it's no big deal, but you'd think they had that put into the restart properly after the upgrade. Odd...