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A technical journal of analytical drivel and vaporware engineering.
Archives
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Thursday, December 04, 2003
Monday, November 24, 2003
Version 2 Beta 2 Now Available
This release features hundreds of bug fixes -- things just work. That is not to say that this release is bug-free. Several people reported Date/Time problems with Beta 1, which SHOULD be resolved now but just in case please be sure to report any bugs you find using the Report Bug tool in the Help menu. I have also implemented a very basic NewsGator plug-in, which will be made available and discussed shortly. Here are some known issues with this release:
That's all I can think of off the top of my head, so if you find any other problems please send me bug reports. Please send feedback to jon@powerblog.net. Thanks so much for your patience, guys. Sunday, August 31, 2003
PB2 Alpha 2b UpdateThis is a major update for the Ver. 2 Alpha 2 release. Users of Ver. 2 Alpha 2 who could not get it to work should try this update.
Friday, August 29, 2003
A Couple Other Things I forgot a couple other things ...
Oh, and by the way, this comes from PB2. You can open .blog files from PB1.5 into PB2, but once opened you should delete and remake all of your plop configurations. Finally, as you use PB2 Alpha 2, be sure to keep your Task Manager (ctrl-alt-del) handy, as it still tends to get stuck, especially after opening several blogs. Quitting (forcefully, if necessary) and restarting PowerBlog should tentatively rectify any bogging-down problems. Remember that alpha releases are less implemented than buggy beta releases. Don't blame me for any problems. Download PowerBlog 2 Alpha 2 (Pre-Release) now! Thursday, August 28, 2003
Final PowerBlog 1.5 PostThis is the last PowerBlog 1.5 post for this blog. I am about to begin testing PowerBlog 2 Alpha 2 for release hopefully in the next 12 hours. Alpha 1 was a Pre-Alpha release. Alpha 2 will be the Alpha release I originally envisioned. Here is the current status of PowerBlog Version 2 Alpha 2's parts: Not Implemented = This feature has not been implemented at all. Base Object Library
User Interface
Plops (Publishing Mechanisms)
Other
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
Alpha 2 delayIt's hard to beat a 48-hour clock. There are still bugs to be worked out before Ver. 2 Alpha 2 (prerelease) will be available. Sorry guys. UPDATE: One reason for the continued delay, guys, is because we're moving into another house, and half of my days are spent helping with packing and hauling stuff. Another reason is because I'm revamping the article sorting / filtering system, which because of the many options is not a mere trivial hour-or-two process, particularly since it was already implemented before and I am now undoing much of what I did to reimplement in a new way. Sunday, August 17, 2003
Build 318PowerBlog 2 First PostNo, this post (PowerBlog.net blog) is not from PowerBlog 2 yet. But tonight I witnessed that this one (below) is the first Blogger-API based post using the rebuilt PowerBlog 2.0, an alpha version of which will be released in a matter of days (two? three?) ... The Registration ScoopOkay, guys, here is the scoop. PowerBlog version 1.x is and will always be free. Think of it as a technology preview or prototype. When I release Version 3 (which I haven't started on yet, still working on version 2), I will make the source code of PowerBlog version 1.5 freely accessible; it is my pride and joy. However, Version 2 and up will not be free. Version 2 won't have very many new features, but it will come with the polish that people have come to expect in 2003. Anyone who registers (pays for) any version of PowerBlog, including version 1.5, will be allowed up to two major point release upgrades. So if you registered for version 1.x, you will be allowed to upgrade to version 2 (when it is released), and then to version 3 toward the end of this year. Anyone who registers for version 2 will be allowed to upgrade up to version 4.x, and so on. On a side note, anyone who qualifies will be allowed a free copy of PowerBlog with unlimited upgrades. Your support is very helpful for the development of PowerBlog and is greatly appreciated. Delays occur because we need to acquire funds to complete the work. The more money we get, the faster we are able to refine this product. Please be sure to mention PowerBlog in your blogs! And don't forget to buy a t-shirt or a mug while you're at it. On "Malicious Code" and Anti-VirusI'm seeing this a lot:
Please be aware, PowerBlog doesn't do anything malicious. Don't sweat it. What you see here is PowerBlog's extensive use of the Microsoft ActiveX Scripting runtime, which enables many of the key automation features of PowerBlog, such as macros and custom plops. Just firing up the powerful scripting engine is what makes the anti-virus software get upset--it has nothing to do with what PowerBlog is actually doing with it, which is entirely up to the user of PowerBlog. Internet Explorer uses the exact same thing, except that most anti-virus software offerings are configured to ignore Internet Explorer's use of this powerful automation feature. So you should be able to specify in your anti-virus programs to ignore PowerBlog as well. Alternatively, turn off or uninstall your anti-virus software. What you're seeing is a brute-force approach to killing viruses, like freaking out over the use of .bat files or something, only because many viruses are caused by VBScript / JScript files. But, just like .bat files, .vbs and .js files and the technology behind them are still extremely useful, so one of the things that makes me very upset is how anti-virus software goes berserk just because people are utilizing, rather than exploiting, this key automation technology that is built into Windows. In the end, they end up crippling the users' experience rather than making it more useful. Get a clue, Symantec et al. If my code isn't actually in your database of known viruses, don't treat me like a virus writer! What's next, calling any utilization of the .NET CLR "malicious code"?! You people are really scaring me. Notes On PB2 Alpha 1As I finalize the Setup package for PowerBlog 2 Alpha 1, let me share a few notes. First of all, alpha releases are not beta releases. Alpha releases are less implemented than "buggy". There are many placeholders and many empty holes. Many features are simply not implemented, more than I can count, and those features that are implemented are not fully tested and in some cases have never been tested at all. Fortunately, PowerBlog 2 can coincide with the most recent release of PowerBlog 1.5. So be sure NOT to uninstall the old version of PowerBlog in case you want to keep using your old stuff. But be sure to back up your .blog files, as they are not fully compatible. I also want to say that this is a preview release because it almost reflects what we have in mind for PowerBlog 2, if only the missing parts and the bugs are dealt with. It's exciting to see the new interface and new features unfold, and I hope that these new features will make PowerBlog 2 quadruple its user base! These new features are already implemented:
What works:
But please keep these in mind as you download the software, which will become available within a few hours (or minutes?) of this post. Here are just a few of the known issues.
Download at your own risk! But most importantly, if it works for you, HAVE FUN!! PowerBlog 2 Alpha 1 Download AvailablePowerBlog 2 Alpha 1 (expires November 30, 2003) can be downloaded at the following URL: RSS 2.0 Only In PB2RSS 2.0 is the only specification that will be supported in PowerBlog 2. It is working fine, but does not and will not support modules. PowerBlog 3 will add support for other RSS versions. Alpha 2 On Its WayWithin forty-eight hours, PowerBlog 2 Alpha 2 (Pre-Release) will be released. Alpha 2 will be far more stable, and it will actually be useful (for a change). In addition to fixing some major general bugs, the Blogger plop and the FTP plop will have been debugged enough to be completely usable, for most users. If you generally liked what you saw in Alpha 1 but the bugs made it unusable, be sure to stick around for Alpha 2. Wednesday, July 23, 2003
PowerBlog 2 development hiccupFor about two weeks I have been pulling my hair out over a bug I was trying to squish in my development of PowerBlog 2. This was a major flaw, one that rendered the whole thing relatively useless, as well as thwarting progress of the application's development. At last, I have finally squished the bug as of yesterday, and development has continued. Watch for a public alpha release in a couple weeks. Friday, July 18, 2003
What A NightmareRe: Atom Project (formerly "Echo")... Q: What would happen if you got a few hundred of the world's most interested people of a specific topic together to come to a consensus on a common goal? A: A lot of noise. And very few results. I'm embarrassed. I'm beginning to develop an appreciation for vendor-specific APIs--at least one track minds can stay on track. Wikis are an interesting idea, but very messy! Everybody gets a piece of chalk and each has unlimited access to each chalkboard, and unlimited chalkboards as well. Saturday, July 05, 2003
Echo will be supportedI'm a little late in the discovery of Echo. Seems that the Blogger API 2.0 spec is being dumped in favor of a new industry standard. This is wonderful, and good timing. Yes, PowerBlog 2.0 will support Echo as well, assuming that the spec is finalized shortly.
Friday, June 27, 2003
Missing Magic LibrarySeems my error reporting feature is working. ;) I got an anonymous e-mail from one of you fine people with an automatically generated error message about a missing Magic component. The Magic components are available at http://www.crownwood.net/. Meanwhile, I'll add the DLL in the PowerBlog\bin\Debug directory. Version 2 source update 2V2 Alpha souce update: http://www.powerblog.net/files/Prerelease/source_download.asp I'm just a few days away from blogging regularly with PowerBlog 2 rather than with PB 1.5. As far as Blog support goes (as in without regard to the Web page lists, RSS browsing, and newsgroup browsing), PowerBlog 2 is very close to being functional and releaseable (as a beta), with a subtle exception: some useful plops! My objectives with PB2 have been two: 1) to produce the ultimate interface for managing blogs, and 2) to make plop development as simple as possible, as such:
And fortunately for me, an XML file and an automatic DLL downloading feature give me the flexibility to keep all the plop libraries that I produce up-to-date on all the users' machines (yes, they will soon be able to turn the update feature off, and yes, they are already asked if they approve of the downloaded update with a warning about security). Unfortunately, no useful plops (i.e. Blogger support, FTP uploading support) have yet been built--I have dummy plops in their place. Implementation should be trivial, however. BlogObjects is nearly done, and I already have an XML-RPC library built in C# and FTP libraries are a common function to come by. I've mentioned "BlogObjects" once or twice. What is that? BlogObjects, ladies and gentlemen, is about to become the premier .NET development library for personal blogging applications. Blogs, plops (publishing mechanisms), and articles are about to start getting extremely deployable. To illustrate, a couple months ago I created a BlogCommander class that, when interfaced to a command prompt, offers a full-blown blogging application that's more complex in usefulness than most Telnet applications (create a new blog, create a new plop, specify the plop settings, create a new article, post the article), yet the whole application is only 667 lines of code, including empty line breaks and comments! The whole thing took me about two days to create. The trick is that all of the blog management, publishing mechanism (plop) management, and article management are done within BlogObjects, and BlogCommander just gives the user a console interface to it all. Just think about using BlogObjects in ASP.NET, or in a Visual Studio plug-in, or in a Microsoft Office 2003 add-on, with only a few lines of code! [Shivers with excitement.] I have tons more to talk about regarding what's to come. I've been silent for so long about it all, I feel like exploding. But just be happy to know that it's all coming. And the universe of personal blog management tools is about to change forever. (I love you, Microsoft.) Tuesday, June 24, 2003
NewsGatorI downloaded NewsGator not long ago. Very cool product. It integrated with my Beta 2 installation of Outlook 2003 without any problems. RSS feeds are stored in personal folder files and articles are listed and viewed like e-mail messages. Plug-in support is available, which is great and I most certainly intend to add PowerBlog 2 to their list of third party plug-ins. Wednesday, June 18, 2003
PowerBlog Personal Edition is now freeIn the course of the impending Version 2, beginning July 1, 2003, PowerBlog Personal Edition 1.5 will be free. (This means that recent downloaders will never be asked to pay up--you have thirty days in the trial.) I would like to thank all who contributed to PowerBlog's success by purchasing this product. Don't forget to get a fine PowerBlog T-Shirt or mug. :) http://www.cafeshops.com/powerblog Thursday, May 22, 2003
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