Inbox Buddy .906 is Up!

Phew !  We pulled it off.  We actually got Inbox Buddy .906 done and even tested with an exchange server and server side PST files.

Note: If you have an earlier version you probably want this version since the .90x builds prior to .906 time out today.  This version is good for another 3 weeks at which point we should be at 1.0 (or I'll be insane ...).

Here are some of the changes:

• Inbox Buddy now asks new users if they want to route incoming Spam right into a folder (note -- New Users means that you have deleted your default.xml manually after a full uninstall.  This can also be setup manually and it's easy with Tools ==> Options ==> Rearrange; email me if that doesn't make sense.)
• Improved Spam Filter (not that it was bad mind you)
• Added the version # string to the options dialog (much better for tech support)
• Improved the Report Spam feature so that emails reported to our server as spam are also added to the local spam database
• Fixed the Notify Time Expired dialog box
• Dramatically improved uninstall so that no pieces of Inbox Buddy should be left behind except for your default.xml and default.rgd files which store your Inbox Buddy training in case you re-install
• Improved View Installation to be much more reliable

There are more changes but I'm too fried to think of them.  I've been working since 4 am and I now need to hand out halloween candy.  Ah the important things in life ...

[ Download ]

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Software Engineering: Picking Realistic Shipping Dates

My Inbox Buddy partner and lead developer (Brian Giedt) and I recently had to choose the release date for the Inbox Buddy 1.0 version.  We feel really good about this version.  It's had a longer gestation period and more testing than I think anything we've ever done.  And I honestly mean this.  He and I have been running Inbox Buddy daily since at least March and perhaps longer.  And we've been in public beta for more than a month now.  And, ouf course, our current beta version is about to expire and stop working.  So here were our options:

==> Read Story <==

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What's Up with the FuzzyBlog?

Hmmm... Recently my blog has suffered from these symptoms:

• Slow output
• Decreased important output (i.e. less essays)
• A level of concentration that even I'll admit could be surpassed by, oh, a small racoon

There are a few possible reasons.  And, no, I'm not newly involved with someone like Scoble.  And, no, while I am very busy with client work, it's not a single huge job that could buy me a Porsche.  Instead I voluntarily chose to engage in one of the most distracting activities known to modern man..  I moved.  That's right, I moved.  And here are some of the more interesting highlights:

• Cats that on their first relocation in 5 years have developed an interesting trait -- one cowers in a corner and the other walks around snarling.  No not hissing, snarling.  Pet therapist anyone?
• No fridge.  A new trick by landlords in the Boston area seems to be apartments without refrigerators.  My workaround until I can buy one? 
1. Small cooler.
2. Those "ice" packs that freeze but aren't really water ice.
3. A Massachusetts cold spell (low 30s last night).
4. My car front seat.
5. Put diet cokes, cheese, etc into cooler.  Load with initial frozen ice packs.  Use food during the day.  At night place cooler back in car front seat leaving it open so that the ice packs will refreeze.
6. Bring cooler inside every morning so I can achieve a state of diet coke powered caffination.
• The armoire.  The sofa.  The "butternut".  These are the three largest pieces of furniture I own.  My new place is on the second floor and has an interesting staircase.  Of course none of them fit.  Now rather than having the nicest garage in town, I opted for "Send in the crane" and got to witness a) a window being removed and b) "Look up in the sky.  It's a bird.  It's a plane.  It's a couch ????".
• Sitting in the dark.  Every single room in my new place has some form of overhead lighting EXCEPT my office room.  There I have a ceiling fan instead.  So on the day that the cable modem was going to be hooked up the installer of course showed up late.  And there I am sitting in the dark trying to work by the light of the monitor.  Tip: Set the Windows background color to white.  Much higher luminousity. 

Mind you I'm not complaining.  I have a great new place, cats that will someday resume normal behavior, a much easier commute to clients and my partner's office (I'm in Newton Center and she's in Watertown), a much better home office and the joy of having 90% of what I own currently encased in protective cardboard.  Ah... Moving.  I wouldn't wish it on Dr. Evil.  So I hope to resume more of my "normal" blogging output.  I'm still more than a bit distracted but things are trending towards my old style. 

4:43:18 AM      Google It!   comment []    IM Me About This