Noodlings

This past month I’ve finally gotten some time focus on development and it’s paid off. Hazel 2.2 beta is out. Go to the forums (signup required) for details on how to get it.

The big feature is pattern based matching and substitution. It’s regular expressions for regular people. I still consider it somewhat of a power-user feature but I think I’ve managed to make it accessible to non-programmers. I know some of the programmer-types out there wanted regexes but, really, life is too short for people to have to decipher something like ^(.*)\(\p{N}+\)\.(?:\p{L}|\p{N})+$.

Other features include being able to edit/include AppleScripts and shell scripts inline. This will allow for self-contained rule sets that you can distribute. More date matching operators especially geared towards GTD-like workflows. A couple other more subtle things here and there.

But most of all, this is a momentous occasion because I have finally done it. I have fixed bug #1 in my bug database. Entered almost two years ago, it kept getting carried over to each release’s bug list time and time again. What is bug #1, you may ask? Why, it’s none other than “multiple selection in the rule list”. It’s been one of those rarely requested (maybe 2 or 3 people since Hazel’s original release), low-priority bugs that kept getting overlooked. Well, no longer. I went in and fixed it once and for all (hopefully). Now it looks like bug #4 is the next oldest bug, which, at this rate, I should have closed out in a couple years.

So, if you are fine with running unstable pre-release software that then I invite you to kick the tires. All I ask that you keep all details of the beta to the forums or in emails to me.

Some months ago I had arranged to sponsor Daring Fireball for sometime in April. Then a certain promotion came up that overlapped with it. Not being big on overlapping promotions I bumped it until later. Then I bumped it again. Then another bump. Then a jump to the left and a step to the…whoops, wrong card.

But this week, finally, I am sponsoring Daring Fireball’s RSS feed. There’s even a promo coupon. I’m not going to tell you what it is as that would defeat the purpose of the promotion. Subscribe to the feed and look for yourself. If it’s not showing up for you, wait towards the end of the week when it will get posted again.

And on a side note, I suggest hanging around the forums (signup required for the beta forum in particular) as there may be some beta news by the end of the week.

If you haven’t seen the ads or announcements yet, Hazel is in the MacUpdate bundle that starts today. 10 great apps for $65.

Bundle mates include:

Parallels Desktop
Banner Zest
Sound Studio
DVD Remaster
Typinator
StoryMill
Leap
MenuCalendarClock
Art Text

This is the first bundle I’ve been a part of so I’m not sure what to expect. I’ve beefed up the server so hopefully the site will stay responsive throughout the promotion. When it’s all said and done, I’ll post my thoughts on participating. In the meantime, grab it while it’s hot.

In my recent quest to deal with some long needed “home improvement,” I’ve just rolled out my own store based on PotionStore. For those that don’t know, PotionStore is an open-source store implementation done by Andy Kim. It’s used by PotionFactory, of course, as well as a few other shops.

Until now, I’ve been using Kagi for all my payment processing. Kagi is great for someone starting out as they provide the store, deal with taxes and can even provide a license number generator. I think when you are doing your first release, outsourcing the commerce side to someone else can save a good deal of time.

So why am I switching off Kagi? Mainly much lower commissions on each transaction and more control over the store itself. I was finding that the commissions were adding up to significant money as my volume rose and there were certain features I wanted to add that I couldn’t. On top of that, there was a bit of confusion regarding having customers dealing with a 3rd party.

Unfortunately, now with my own store, I am going to have to charge sales tax to New York residents. One of the downsides to living in the same state as me. Trust me, I’m not looking forward to doing the tedious sales tax filings.

Using PotionStore has been great. The integration took a bit longer as I had to learn Ruby on Rails at the same time (more on this possibly in a future post). I also had to change the code a bit for certain requirements I had (sales tax, license files, family packs, etc.). My thanks to Andy for sharing his code. I hope to see other devs pick it up and maybe even contribute to it. Oh, and a thanks to Gus Mueller for letting me crib some Javascript from his store.

The result of all this is a store which I hope looks nicer and has a more streamlined flow. I’ve added the ability to download your licenses immediately as well. You’ll still get them emailed to you but this way, you’ll get instant satisfaction coupled with some level of redundancy.

So, give it a spin. Maybe even buy something :). If anything goes wrong, or even if everything goes right, I’d love to hear about it.

If you are reading this right now, then that should mean that the host migration was successful. No, I didn’t accidentally re-post my last article. I’ve moved Noodlesoft to yet another hosting provider. Noodlesoft is now on SliceHost.

Unfortunately, things didn’t work out with WebFaction so I decided to go shopping again.

While many people were recommending SliceHost, I resisted as I wasn’t relishing the idea of doing sysadmin work. I’ve done my fair share in my lifetime, including compiling kernels, setting up firewall rules and mucking with sendmail.cf files. The whole purpose of using shared hosting was that I could pay someone else to do it. Nonetheless, I found myself in need of a higher level of reliability and control. I had to bite the bullet.

I signed up and within minutes, was logged in to my slice. And oddly enough, I found myself actually enjoying setting up my server. Sure, it took some time to get everything up and running but not as long as I expected. It’s put together the way I want and if something goes wrong, it’s hard to beat the response time of going in and fixing it myself. It’s not for everybody but if you know what you are doing then I say give it a try. I would recommend paying extra for the backup feature where you can save snapshots (or have snapshots automatically taken daily or weekly). Restoring slices from these snapshots is quite easy in case you mess up or something else goes wrong. They also have articles on how to install most of the software you’ll need to get up and running. My only beef right now is that I’d like more snapshots slots available (you only get 3).

Here is the obligatory/shameless SliceHost referral link in case you are interested in signing up.

Oh, and I am keeping my DreamHost account for things such as hosting my mail. Also, since DH’s plans offer ridiculous bandwidth, it’ll be good to have as a backup when there’s some sort of burst.

And because it’s what I’ve been dealing with for the past couple weeks, you’ll probably see some sysadmin articles from me in the near future. I’ve even added a “System Administration” category. I’ll post a report on SliceHost and my experiences with VPS hosting in a month or two.

If you are reading this right now, then that should mean that the host migration was successful. You probably didn’t notice anything but Noodlesoft has switched hosting providers. It’s been a long time coming, but I’ve moved the site from Dreamhost to Webfaction (note: this is an affiliate link).

The transition had its share of bumps and glitches as the two providers do things a bit differently. Except for the forums being offline during the migration, hopefully you shouldn’t have noticed a thing. If you do find anything not quite right, please let me know.

It’s too early to tell whether this was a good move but I’ll post a report/comparison after I’ve developed a track record with the new provider. In the meantime, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that nothing blows up.

It seems customary for people to post pics of their workspaces and Rands’ recent post has spurred me on to post mine. I’ve been spending this early part of 2008 clearing out my desk area so the timing is a bit serendipitous. I’ve finally packed away my old, dusty PC, which is now in the other room ready to be given to a friend. I’ve also installed a cable management solution which gets most of the cords and cables off the floor and (mostly) out of sight.

So, here it is (pics hosted on Flickr):

It is also in Rands “Pixel Rigs” group where you can find other people’s setups.

Some notes:

• The cheese grater on the left is a PowerMac (2.3GHz DC). It is being retired in favor of the Mac Pro next to it. It was the machine I originally developed Hazel on. Will be looking to sell it so drop me a line if you are interested in it.
• The monitor on the left was intended as the second display for the main machine but is attached to the old PowerMac for the time being.
• I like large tabletops, but getting the second monitor cut me off from the left side of the desk. Real desktop space sacrificed for virtual.
• There is a scanner hidden away behind the left monitor. It’s a very low traffic item so I don’t mind having to get up to get to it.

Additional pop-up notes available on Flickr.

By the way, this is my desk on a good day. Unfortunately, I haven’t ported Hazel to RL (real life) so my desk can accumulate quite a bit of stuff. With great desk space comes great clutter.

As the year winds down I thought I’d do the obligatory year-end reflection. As usual, I’m overdue for a blog post so this will make good filler until I can come up with something more interesting.

The main thing to note is that I’m now fully indie. What that means is that Noodlesoft is a full-time affair and that it is supporting me financially. This actually has held true for some months now though it’s only now that I’ve realized that I haven’t really mentioned it here. So yes, Hazel has gone from a preoccupation to an occupation. I have done the occasional side contract here and there but Noodlesoft is paying the rent on its own.

After what seemed like an unending beta period, 2007 saw the release of Hazel 2.0. With that release, I felt Hazel had become much more the product I had originally envisioned and its reception has been great. I also dabbled with promotions this year, including MacUpdate and MacSanta, both of which were great successes. Also, a promotion with ScreencastsOnline worked out wonderfully as, in addition to the added sales, I got screencasts out of it which I’m now using on the site.

What didn’t go so well? Well, I’d say the main thing would be Leopard. A lot of stuff broke that shouldn’t have and I’m still tackling Leopard bugs now. Yes, I’ve had access to seeds for some time now but fact of the matter is that a lot of the stuff was fixed by Apple in the final month or so and more stuff broke with the GM and subsequent releases.

I hesitate to make any announcements on what’s in store for 2008 but I’ll mention that Leopard adoption is much higher than I anticipated. As a result, I am seriously considering making Hazel 3.0 a Leopard-only release. What’s going to be in 3.0? I still haven’t worked that out so it will be some time until that happens. Until then, there will still be 2.x releases that will still run on Tiger as there’s still stuff I can put in there that doesn’t require Leopard. And of course, there’s always the possibility of a new app though I have to say that nothing has gotten past the drawing board phase yet.

In any case, 2007 was a good year and I’m hoping that 2008 will be even better. A big thanks to all of you for your support this year and best wishes moving into the next.

It’s that time of year again. MacSanta is here, providing discounts on all sorts of Mac software for the month of December. I couldn’t get my act together last year but this year Noodlesoft is participating.

Today, Hazel is one of the apps being featured. That means you can get 20% off Hazel for today and 10% off for the rest of the month. Just saunter on over to the MacSanta site for the coupon codes to get your discount on Hazel as well as some other great software.

Hazel 2.1 has just been released. One of the main focuses of this release was Leopard compatibility but what does this really mean?

In this case, it means that, for the most part, Hazel will work on Leopard as it did on Tiger. As other devs have pointed out ^{1, 2, 3}, we do not get the final version of Leopard any sooner than you do. Actually, unless we go into a store and pay for a copy on launch day, we will probably get it later.

The implications of this are that there could be changes that have occurred since the last prerelease and the final version that could break things and we won’t know until launch day. It’s a gamble but I’d rather have something usable in your hands the minute you upgrade to Leopard. This version addresses the known Leopard issues to date and should be ready to help organize your Stacks come August 26th.

As for the longer term roadmap with Hazel on Leopard: Hazel is not providing any special Leopard-only functionality currently. When will Hazel start using exclusive Leopard features or go fully Leopard-only? It’s hard to say. Leopard does provide some functionality that Hazel can take advantage of. But until I feel comfortable that a good number of my users have upgraded, I’ll try and support both Tiger and Leopard.

As a user, you do have the ability to influence this. When checking for updates, you have the option of sending anonymous data about your system. One of the things sent is your OS version (you can see all the data sent if you click on the “More Info…” button). Using this data, I can get a sense of Leopard adoption. If you want to be properly represented, then check the “Include anonymous profile” box in the update settings. I keep the data to myself and won’t do any bad things with it. Your participation will help guide Hazel’s future development so, if you’re not doing it already, please consider casting your vote in this manner.

So, in the end, I just want to clarify that there’s a bit of a juggling game here. I’ve tried to make sure that everything works as smoothly on Leopard as it does on Tiger. If it turns out that something changed in the final release or if I just flat out missed something, I’ll fix it. Leopard compatibility is not so much a state as it is a commitment.