Wincent product and site news
Welcome to the official Wincent product and site news weblog.
March 25, 2008
Final server migration this week
I've been working on moving to the new server for nearly a month now, a process which has been quite slow because all the data has to be exported from a number of "legacy" applications and imported into a brand new custom Rails application written especially for this site. It's slow going because it's the first time I've ever deployed a Rails application and I've had a lot to learn... but now I know a fair bit about nginx, capistrano, mongrel, monit, and of course Rails itself. The server too is totally different, with a different operating system, so it's all been quite time-consuming.
Well, the crunch time is now coming and the real server move is about to happen this week (at the end of the March the old server will go offline forever, so the move has to happen this week, ready or not). So this will most likely be my last post ever to this weblog.
The forums are already in read-only mode, and I'm about to shut down the bug tracker too shortly so that I can do the final export of all the records and move them into the database on the new server. If you had an account on the old server you'll automatically have one on the new server too, although you will need to reset your password (I couldn't transfer across any passwords because none of them were stored in plain text, and rightly so of course).
At some point during this week email might temporarily go down, hopefully only for about an hour (delivery failures should be temporary), and the site itself will go down at roughly the same time too. When it comes back up we'll be running on the new server. If you make a purchase during that time you might have to wait an hour or two for your license information, but we'll soon be back to immediate automated delivery.
Keep your eye on my Twitter account if you'd like to be kept posted with updates; it will be my only avenue of communication during my brief stint in limbo:
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Posted by wincent at 12:53 AM
February 26, 2008
Server migration in progress
The server migration from Rackspace to INetU is currently underway. My aim is do this very carefully, service by service, and keep downtime to a minimum; hopefully minutes rather than hours.
Just in case there is any interruption during the move, I've just opened a twitter account where I'll be posting updates along the way:
Not really a twitter fan myself — I've always felt that the best place to post that kind of info is on my own weblog — but in a case like this it makes sense to have an offsite feed.
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Posted by wincent at 12:01 PM
February 21, 2008
Call for Bansshee donations
Bansshee is a free, open-source tool to thwart dictionary-based SSH attacks. As a convenience to users there are three domains that resolve to the Bansshee project page. These are coming up for renewal soon (they expire on 11 April 2008) so I'm turning to the public to ask for donations to cover the cost of their ongoing registration.
They're currently registered with joker.com, and the renewal price for each domain is $12.00. Last time I made this request help was quick in coming, so I am hoping that the same will be true in this case.
If you'd like to help with the renewal you can send your donation to me via PayPal. My priority will be to keep the dot-org domain alive; the others will follow suit if I receive enough donations.
As was the case last time, the project will continue to survive even if I can't renew the domains, but I'd like to keep providing them if I can.
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Posted by wincent at 10:36 AM
February 7, 2008
Upcoming DNS changes
In preparation for the server move at the end of this month I'll soon be migrating DNS servers.
I'll be doing everything I can to minimize downtime, and hopefully come close to eliminating it entirely as there will be a one week overlap period in which both the old and the new servers are simultaneously online. But in the spirit of keeping people informed, this post is about the first step in the process: the DNS changes. The old server will continue to run, the IP addresses won't change (yet), but the authoritative DNS servers will be changed from my old to my new host.
The DNS is currently provided by Rackspace, but my new provider, INetU already has their DNS configured and ready to take over. Throughout the following week I'll be gradually "flipping switches". If that goes well then I'll continue switching the other domains (13 of them) to the INetU DNS servers in the course of the week.
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Posted by wincent at 10:27 PM
January 23, 2008
Synergy 3.5a5 released
I'm pleased to announce the availability of version 3.5a5 of Synergy, the fifth alpha release in the brand new 3.5 series. The last release, version 3.2, was Leopard-compatible but would also run on all versions of Mac OS X from Jaguar onwards.
The 3.5 series, on the other hand, is a total rewrite in Objective-C 2.0 which will run only on Leopard and as such it is somewhat experimental in nature. If you want stability then I recommend that you stick with 3.2 for now, but if you like to live on the edge and see the latest then by all means try out the 3.5 series. This release fixes some minor issues found in the last alpha; the sporadic crashes caused by using NSAppleScript under Garbage Collection are still being investigated.
A full changelog appears here.
You can download the new release from here and purchase a license using this page. Once the 3.5 series goes final it will be a free upgrade to all users who have purchased a license for Synergy 3.0 or higher (that is, if you purchased on or after 5 September 2006 then 3.5 will be a free upgrade for you).
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Posted by wincent at 12:35 PM
January 19, 2008
Announcing REnamer
If you look at the products listing you'll see that there is now a new entry in the ranks, REnamer.
REnamer is a file renaming utility based on three design principles: power, simplicity, and elegance.
Simple because it uses the familiar metaphor of "Find and Replace" which we all know from word processing. Even a beginner can rename large batches of files in mere seconds.
Powerful because through Regular Expressions (the "RE" in REnamer) it allows you to transform your filenames in complex ways with a minimum of effort.
Elegant because its thoughtful design combines all this into an attractive, uncluttered and expressive interface which shows you a live preview of what changes will be made to your filesystem.
Please head on over to the product page and check out the sneak preview screencast which shows a small part of REnamer in action. Sign up to the beta testing mailing list while you're there too.
I'm currently planning on releasing a public beta at the beginning of February, with a view to releasing version 1.0 by the middle of the month. Licenses will cost 9.95€ (Euros).
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Posted by wincent at 2:32 PM
January 8, 2008
Synergy 3.5a4 released
I'm pleased to announce the availability of version 3.5a4 of Synergy, the fourth alpha release in the brand new 3.5 series. The last release, version 3.2, was Leopard-compatible but would also run on all versions of Mac OS X from Jaguar onwards.
The 3.5 series, on the other hand, is a total rewrite in Objective-C 2.0 which will run only on Leopard and as such it is somewhat experimental in nature. If you want stability then I recommend that you stick with 3.2 for now, but if you like to live on the edge and see the latest then by all means try out the 3.5 series. This new alpha fixes a large number of issues reported for the previous alpha and should prove to be much more polished. There are still some minor issues being investigated, but this is now much closer to what the final 3.5 release will look like.
A full changelog appears here.
You can download the new release from here and purchase a license using this page. Once the 3.5 series goes final it will be a free upgrade to all users who have purchased a license for Synergy 3.0 or higher (that is, if you purchased on or after 5 September 2006 then 3.5 will be a free upgrade for you).
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Posted by wincent at 10:15 AM
January 7, 2008
Synergy 3.5a3 released
I'm very pleased to announce the availability of version 3.5a3 of Synergy, the third alpha release in the brand new 3.5 series. The last release, version 3.2, was Leopard-compatible but would also run on all versions of Mac OS X from Jaguar onwards.
The 3.5 series, on the other hand, is a total rewrite in Objective-C 2.0 which will run only on Leopard and as such it is somewhat experimental in nature. If you want stability then I recommend that you stick with 3.2 for now, but if you like to live on the edge and see the latest then by all means try out the 3.5 series. This new alpha fixes a large number of issues reported for the previous alpha and should prove to be much more polished. There are still some minor issues being investigated, but this is now much closer to what the final 3.5 release will look like.
A full changelog appears here.
You can download the new release from here and purchase a license using this page. Once the 3.5 series goes final it will be a free upgrade to all users who have purchased a license for Synergy 3.0 or higher (that is, if you purchased on or after 5 September 2006 then 3.5 will be a free upgrade for you).
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Posted by wincent at 6:17 PM
January 6, 2008
Wincent Strings Utility 1.2
I've just released an update to the Wincent Strings Utility, the localization helper tool for developers. Version 1.2 is basically a total rewrite for Leopard which adds a bunch of new features and improvements. See the official product page for a full list of changes, download links, and further information.
It's free software released under a GPL license, downloadable in both source and executable forms.
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Posted by wincent at 8:50 PM
November 27, 2007
Synergy 3.5a2 released
Some users were unable to install the Synergy 3.5a release made available a couple of hours ago. If you are one of these users, please download the updated version (3.5a2) which is now on the servers.
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Posted by wincent at 12:34 PM
Synergy 3.5a released
The last Synergy release, version 3.2, was Leopard-compatible but would also run on all versions of Mac OS X from Jaguar onwards.
Today marks the availability of the first release in the 3.5 series, a total rewrite in Objective-C 2.0 which will run only on Leopard. This is a conservative migration — I've attempted to make all the changes while exactly preserving the existing behaviour and performance — but due to the invasive nature of this (almost every source file touched) this build is labelled as 3.5a (alpha), which means it is of experimental status. As we move forward more Leopard-specific enhancements will be made.
A full changelog appears here.
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Posted by wincent at 10:01 AM
November 16, 2007
Leopard progress update
Although the latest version of Synergy already runs quite well on all versions of Mac OS X from Jaguar right up to (and including) Leopard, I have been working on a rewrite in Objective-C 2.0 which will is specifically designed for Leopard. The first phase of migration (API updates and build process changes) is complete and the next phase (migration to Garbage Collection) is underway. I'm hoping to have an alpha version out soon, with a Leopard-targeted release of Synergy Advance following close behind.
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Posted by wincent at 1:13 PM
November 13, 2007
Temporary outage
The site was offline briefly last night due to power supply issues in the datacenter; generator power kicked in fine, but on switching back to the normal supply the cooling systems didn't come back online and as a result my hosting provider had to proactively shut down some servers to prevent them from overheating. A very surprising slip-up from Rackspace, widely considered to be the very best in the industry. Slashdot has coverage of the incident.
If you sent me email in the last few hours there is a small chance that I might not have received it. If you're expecting a reply from me but haven't received one please get in touch with me.
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Posted by wincent at 11:22 AM
October 28, 2007
Leopard update
I've just learned that Apple has made the final release of Leopard available to developers (via download) several weeks earlier than expected (in the case of Tiger they didn't make a download available and developers had to wait for mailed copies).
As a result, I'll soon be delivering updates to my products including changes for compatibility with the final version of Leopard, and I'll be able to get started on final testing considerably sooner than expected.
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Posted by wincent at 12:59 PM
October 26, 2007
Leopard product readiness
With Leopard only 15 hours from release it's time for a product status report:
Leopard-ready
The following products have received extensive testing on pre-release versions of Leopard and are expected to work with a high degree of compatibility. When Apple ships the final version to developers further testing will be performed to see if any further changes are required:
- Synergy: the lightweight, robust, and feature-packed iTunes controller.
- Install: simple and dependable installation solution for developers.
- WOTest: open source Objective-C unit testing framework.
- Wincent Strings Utility: open source localization helper tool for developers.
Beta-status
This product hasn't been heavily tested with Leopard but conflicting reports have been received that it continues to work under the new operating system; others report that they've been unable to install it. When the Leopard final arrives further investigation will be undertaken.
- WinSwitch: Fast User Switching menu replacement.
Coming soon
These products aren't yet Leopard-ready but work is well on the way to completion (about 90% done) and so I hope to release Leopard-compatible versions within the next two to three weeks:
- Synergy Advance: Plug-in based audio companion.
- Hextrapolate: Programmers number conversion tool.
All other products
There are a number of other products which aren't specifically tied to the Mac OS X platform, and so should work on Leopard just as they did under Tiger:
- Bansshee: protection against SSH dictionary attacks.
- Walrus: object-oriented templating system written in Ruby.
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Posted by wincent at 2:25 AM
