Never Ending To-Dos
It seems like the work never ends when it comes to publishing a new software product. At the end of each day I feel like I am one step closer to having SMTP Diagnostics ready for general release. But by the next morning I feel like there is an endless list of to-dos remaining that must be completed before program is ready for release.
For those wondering SMTP Diagnostics is a program that will help you troubleshoot problems with outgoing emails or configuring SMTP servers.
That sentence is an example of the never ending to-dos. I need a consistent message regarding the program’s purpose for marketing, and I like the sentence I just typed. Now it is a matter of copying the same message “helps you troubleshoot problems with outgoing emails or configuring SMTP servers” to the program help file, the SMTP Diagnostics web page, to the home page for White Peak Software, and so on. See…never ending to-dos.
Online Again
The phone and DSL problem has been fixed. Turns out the wire outside of the building was old so the tech ran a new one. It’s good to be online again.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Ricky and Maureen on the arrival of Gabriel Ethan.
Software Businesses in Vermont
Many who know me know I love Vermont and I fantasize about living there some day. As a matter of fact, Melanie and I are planning to migrate to the New England area sometime next year.
There are many things that draw me to Vermont. Snowboarding is great, the fall colors are awesome, and the life style is just my speed especially after living in the Big City. But there is something else going on in Vermont as pointed out in this recent article in the Vermont Business Magazine.
As the article points out individuals and organizations such as Vermont Software Developer’s Alliance are working to promote Vermont-based software businesses. This gives me hope that the state may start initiatives encouraging companies like White Peak Software to move to Vermont.
Meanwhile, Melanie and I are planning a trip to Boston this weekend to start looking at towns north of Boston that will serve as our first leg in our migration to New England.
Noah the Tree
Tommie answers the age old question about the sound, if any, a tree will make when it falls in the woods.
Experiencing Internet Connection Problems Today
It seems we are having trouble with our phone line today which is affecting my DSL connection to the Internet. I suspect it will take a couple of days for Verizon to fix the problem. Meanwhile, expect some delays in me responding to emails.
Arizona Hike
I’m back from my Arizona trek with Shawn. The trip was a blast but the hike was much harder than expected.
Before hitting the trail we loaded up with water and weighed the packs to see how much weight we would each be carrying. My pack came in at 57.4 pounds, which included 13.6 pounds of water (164 oz). This was a day’s worth of water for me. Shawn brought a water filter so we could replenish our water supply while on the trail.
To avoid the 115+ degrees temperatures in Phoenix, we headed for higher elevation. We hiked a plateau at 7,000 feet that is part of the Mogollon Rim. Day time temperatures varied based on the weather conditions. Early mornings were in the 60s but by mid-morning the temperature would raise near 90. As the thunder storms rolled in throughout the day temperatures would drop back to the 60s, and night time temperature were in the 50s.
We got a late start on Day 1 since I was traveling from New York to Phoenix on that day. We hit the trail head a little after 6 pm, which only gave us a couple of hours to hike before dark. We made it 2.4 miles before setting up camp on the ridge overlooking a dry river bed.
Day 2 was without a doubt the hardest day for me. We hiked 8.8 miles but the majority of the hike consisted over short accents and descents. We climbed multiple 100 to 500 foot ascents followed by equal size descents as we trekked across the canyon. While the elevation change between Camp 1 and Camp 2 was just under 1,000 feet, we guestimate we climbed about 3,000 feet worth of terrain.
We also found a running spring on Day 2. The timing was perfect as we were almost out of water. We re-filled our water supply with filtered water from the spring, which turned out to be cool and tasty.
Day 2 ended in complete exhaustion. The various climbs throughout the day left my legs completely shot. There was no way I could continue with the 50+ pound pack on my back. Our hope was to reach the rim overlooking the valley from 7,000 feet for Camp 2, but needless to say, we didn’t make it. Reaching the rim would have to wait until Day 3.
Day 3 was a short 5.1 mile hike with only 3 major ascents. We made it to the rim and took in the beautiful scenery. We hiked alone the rim back to the Jeep and the trail head were we started two days before.
The trip was a great experience but it did come with some lessons learned. First, it is better to setup camp early than to continuing the hike. By the time we setup camp it was almost dark and because we were total exhausted we went straight to bed after eating dinner. Looking back, the trek might have been more enjoyable if we stopped around 5 or 6 pm to setup camp. This would have given us more time to enjoy our surroundings and each other’s company.
Second, if you do not know what type of terrain to expect bring hiking boots. I brought hiking shoes with soft soles. Unfortunately most of the hike was on small rocks, which left my feet very sore. Hiking boots would have saved me a lot of pain.
Out of the Office
I will be out of the office through Monday. I’m backpacking with my friend Shawn in the backcountry of Arizona. Day time temps around 115+ degrees. I’m not looking forward to that, but the rest of the adventure should be fun.
Simple apps not always easy to implement
A recent thread on the Business of Software discussion forum criticizes FogCreek’s latest project as being simple and something that is easily implemented by an India student for a personal web sites. Personally I think simple software is the better software when it comes to commercial software.
When I see a commercial software product that has me thinking “That is so simple I could implement it myself,” it typically turns out to be a very good product. And experience has taught me that such an application is not always easy to implement.
A pro snowboarder makes riding look so simple. He or she floats on the snow effortlessly making perfect turns and controlling the board as if the board were an extension to his or her own body. In reality carving the perfect turn takes skill. And writing commercial software that looks so simple any programmer could implement it also takes skills.
Writing software for personal use is one thing, but writing software that is thrown into the wild and still looks simple to implement is a much harder challenge. Commercial software has to take into account many more variables than personal or in-house software. This fact alone makes the software harder to implement, and let’s not forget more time consuming.
Don’t believe me? Just try re-writing that simple application and see what kind of effort it really takes.
Using WinHelp for Popup Information
I want to include a legend feature in SMTP Diagnostics to give users a clue as to the meaning of various icons used in the program. I initially tried to accomplish this by creating a new borderless window that displayed the legend. When the user clicked the legend link in the statusbar the legend window would popup. But I found an easier way to do this.
Instead of creating a new window and doing all the leg work behind the scenes to display the window, position the window, add shadowing to the window and so on, I decided to use a WinHelp popup. WinHelp popups are used in many applications such as Microsoft Office to display “What’s This?” Help. A nice feature of WinHelp popups is content can be formatted. In the case of SMTP Diagnostics, a WinHelp popup topic is used to display the legend with the icon on the left followed by the text describing the meaning of the icon.
The end result. I reduced the code used in my first attempt at displaying a legend to a single line of code. Delphi and WinHelp do all the work of displaying, positioning, and shadowing the legend window.
Click image to enlarge.