the finger-keyboard synapse - August 2004 Archives

August 2004

Apple's C/C++ Development Follies (17:57) - While today's big news is that BitWise 1.0.3 Alpha 2 is out, the really big news is that there is now a version of BitWise for Mac OS X 10.2 (previously, 10.3 was required). What some people have asked over time is why this version has been so long in coming when BitWise has worked on OS X 10.3 for over 6 months. This has even led to some scathing criticism from time to time, "You can support Windows 98...

OS X BitWise major overhaul coming soon (23:10) - Version 1.0.2 was a major overhaul of the Linux version of BitWise, and now 1.0.3 will be a similar overhaul for OS X. Just like with the Linux version, the primary reason is upgrading to the latest wxWidgets sources. Because wxWidgets is a very actively developed project, many significant changes and improvements are made over time, and the official releases simply don't keep up with the changes. Not all of the changes are wxWidgets-specific, however, many of them are changes...

Protecting your computer from yourself (22:00) - From: service@yourcarcompany.com To: you Subj: vehicle recall Our records show that the gas tank in your car model tends to collect dirt deposits. To preserve your vehicle warranty, we recommend that you add a cup of ordinary laundry detergent with each tank of gas. I wish I was that clever, but I must give credit where it is due. This post was inspired by (and the above borrowed from) an eWeek article by Larry Seltzer to point out just... | 1 Comments

128-Bit Encryption comes to the Free BitWise (15:04) - We are very pleased to announce that effective immediately (no client upgrade required), the Free BitWise now employs 128-bit Blowfish encryption on your messages, whiteboards, file transfers, etc (and the voice chats if you're using the alpha version). This is a tremendous boost beyond the previously-used 64-bit Blowfish as we strive to continue to protect your privacy. The Pro BitWise encryption is unchanged; Pro users continue to have the option to use up to 448-bit Blowfish (256-bit outside the USA/Canada).... | 2 Comments

Microsoft Word rules the world with quirkiness (22:46) - One of the programs that I like the least is Microsoft Word. What reminded me about this pent up frustration? John Dvorak's latest column in PC Magazine. While John is frequently off the mark or a bit over the top, I fully agree with him on this one: Word is beyond repair. I have a few main issues with Word. First, it is way too helpful. It auto-formats stuff all over the place, even when I turn it off (maybe... | 6 Comments

His swimming, my computer science (23:10) - Unless you live under a rock on the moon, you probably heard that the Olympics started yesterday. I've never been a huge sports fan, but there's always something alluring about the Olympics, so I always watch a bit of it when I need a break or have a few minutes to spare. Like a good lemming, I have bought the media hype surrounding the swimmer Michael Phelps and how he is poised to possibly beat Mark Spitz's 1972 record of... | 1 Comments

News flash: Free software is free--it's your choice to use it (11:05) - 99% of you are probably rolling your eyes (justifiably!) at such a "news flash" because it is such an obvious statement. If you're a part of the 1% that are shocked by this announcement, by all means, please read on. One way or another, I end up talking with some of BitWise's new users on a daily basis. If you're not familiar with BitWise, it's a free-for-personal use instant messenger that is one of my jobs. In any event, I... | 5 Comments

BitWise 1.0.3 Alpha 1 Released with Voice Chat (16:37) - At long last! The alpha with voice chat is finally available. This represents several weeks of intense development and we couldn't be more pleased with the results so far. We dare you to compare! Read more on the official Alpha/Beta page here. With the bulk of the voice chat implementation finished, hopefully time can be spent again on eliminating the last few major issues with the newer wxWidgets Mac OS X code so that the OS X version can have... | 1 Comments

Voice chat alpha release early next week (23:40) - The BitWise voice chat programming and testing has continued to go extremely well. Additional rounds of testing helped track down some additional bugs, as well as refined the featureset somewhat. Of about 8 tests so far, half of them have been better than telephone quality, with the other half having slight lag, but within acceptable limits (some lag is to be expected). I still believe that BitWise voice chat is going to exceed Skype's quality, but the final verdict will,... | 1 Comments

Asinine Restaurant Rules (11:21) - Two nights ago, I went with two other people to eat at local-area chain, a pizza / subs / pasta type place. This particular restaurant has a Monday and Tuesday special where you can get a large garden salad, rolls and all you can eat spaghetti for $5.49 (which was only $4.99 until recently). This is a nice deal when you don't feel like cooking. The other night, all three of us got the spaghetti all you can eat special.... | 1 Comments

BitWise Voice better than Skype? maybe... (11:18) - I suppose I could talk about some useless piece of technobabble news, but instead I thought I'd fill in how things have been going with the implementation of the voice chat. Something tells me its the right decision. In my last post, I talked about the lag/latency in the voice chats that I had tested up until then. I found where the latency was actually being added in as a protection to the audio buffer, and have made it a... | 1 Comments