Archives for September, 2007
Yasu 2.1 Released
As promised, the latest version of Yasu (2.1) is available for download. This version fixes some speed issues, Firefox cache paths, and enhances reliability when tasks start and finish. There’s a whole bunch of other tweaks under the hood too.
There you have it — now go get yours while it’s piping hot. And remember - if you have questions or issues, use the forums to communicate them so all share in the love.
And James Huff Giveth Back, Again
Huge thanks and props go out to James “MacManX” Huff this evening! More than once his knowledge has bailed me out of undesirable circumstances — tonight is no exception.
James was kind enough to point me in the direction of a helpful set of instructions for integrating reCAPTCHA with punBB forums in an attempt to neutralize the forum spambots that had me pulling out my hair.
I gave the instructions a go, and am pleased to say that the forums are back online and ready for real users to use as intended. Thanks to James, my faith in humanity has increased by 2.674% this evening, causing a net increase of 1.299% overall — which is a good thing. Thanks again, James!
The Lord Giveth, and Spammers Taketh Away
About two weeks ago I added what I thought was a good idea here at JMO — support forums. I figured it’d be a great way for users to help each other out, and an easy way to keep me from having to answer the same question more than once. Well, it would have worked had the Net not been the kind of place it’s become.
No more than a day after I put the punBB forum in place, I had 4 “new users” all from the -11HR GMT time zone (South Korea, Russia, Taiwan). One of them quickly made a post that contained disgustingly inappropriate content. If you were a reader subjected to that post, let me offer my sincere apologies. I in no way condoned what wound up in that post, and removed it as soon as I found it.
Due to that, I thought I’d give phpBB a spin in hopes that it was more secure from the spamming ilk. Almost as soon as it was in place, there was a new user who’s profile contained a spammy backlink to a diet supplement site. Totally unacceptable in my book.
To say I was disappointed was a major understatement. It’s gotten to the point that a guy can’t run a site without investing huge amounts of time trying to keep the rats from climbing aboard the ship. Since it was obvious it was going to be way more trouble than it was worth, I simply deleted the forums. It will be far easier to answer the same question 15 times than it will to continually hover over forums watching for spam and other filth posted by third-world losers who have nothing better to do with their time (or mine).
So there you have it — that’s what happened to the forums. Thanks to spamming dorks, my faith in humanity has diminished by 1.375%.
Yasu Nears Release
I’m almost finished with all the updates I plan to make on Yasu. All I have to do is tweak the reboot code a little, and then do a line by line scan of the main script file to be sure I’ve not borked something along the way. I should be able to have it all wrapped up by Sunday. If things go well, I’ll be releasing Yasu 2.1 to the Mac world on Monday Tuesday or Wednesday morning.
I plan for this to be the last of the 2.x branch. Once it’s out the door, I’ll (finally) make the minor updates to Cache Out X that it needs, and release it as a final 4.8. Thanks to all the COX users who have been so patient waiting for me to get to this.
Then, I’ll be starting from scratch on a new, totally revamped version of both apps. Since Leopard is just around the corner, there probably won’t be much coding done until I can get my hands on it. In the mean time, I’ll be focusing on really mapping out what the new versions are going to be. Trust me, you’re going to dig it. Big plans for the future, big plans…
Yasu & COX Development Begins Again
Just a quick note to let readers know that Yasu and Cache Out X development is beginning to get back underway now that summer is essentially over.
I know many have been waiting for the new version of COX for quite a while. I hope you can wait just little longer. My plan is to squash a few lingering bugs in Yasu and get it out the door. And then do the same for COX.
Once that’s done, I’ll be able to begin focusing on the feature sets and specs for the new versions of each apps. I have some big plans for both of them, so keep an ear peeled for news, and an eye open for teasers.
By the way, if you’ve wanted to see some kind of feature added to either application, now’s the time to let me know about it. Drop me a line with your big idea via the contact form.
Technorati Tags: Yasu, Cache Out X