Andrew's Den

I am releasing Transcoder 0.1b4 today. Features include AppleScript support, indexing of online help (the way it should've been in the first place), a new layout, retention of settings across program openings, basic undo support, and various other tweaks. More information and a full feature changelog for this version can be found on the Transcoder product page.

No one's submitted any bugs, but I found a couple, and I decided to implement AppleScript support. A new version's coming out. Just for the record, I haven't been submitting these Transcoder "betas" (more on that in a moment) to any download sites at this time—I'm waiting for a more final release to do so—so I'm trusting that I'm not inconveniencing too many folks. In hindsight, considering the changes through which this program has gone, "alpha" would have been a better designation than "beta." Oh, well.

I am pleased to announce the release of Transcoder 0.1b3 tonight. It features a new, "median" transcoding feature to "chain" encodings; a revamped interface; a new icon; and a slew of other fixes and features, not least of which involves fixing the online help. I urge all users of the previous beta to try this one out, with the recognition that it's still in beta.

Looks as though Transcoder's online help isn't working properly. I've got an update ready (probably to be 0.1b3; the current release is 0.1b2) and am just trying to justify a release by finding some other things to fix in the meantime. I also have an improvement ready for the icon—I realize that it probably doesn't look very good on a dark background.

Tonight I released Transcoder 0.1b2. It's still very much an in-progress project, and is more of a "toy" than anything else, but if anyone wants to play with it, or has ideas for where to take it, I'm listening. It's also open-source under a BSD license.

Transcoder takes strings (NSStrings/CFStringRefs, in programmer lingo) and converts them between encodings (NSStringEncodings/CFStringEncodings). The program abstracts the nitty-gritty details to a simple text box and table view that allow for pasted or typed input and the choice of source and target text encodings. In the future I hope to perhaps allow for "chains" of encodings, where the program will "hop" from encoding to encoding as it transcodes to an ultimate target.

As always, my contact form is available on this site for questions, comments, and support, and my e-mail address is included in the online help. Feedback is welcome!

I'm re-releasing a compiled version of TiMidity++ for Mac OS X in an installer package. I've compiled it in 64-bit Intel format for Leopard and Snow Leopard. TiMidity++, which hasn't changed much, if at all, since the last release, is useful generally for converting MODs to AIFFs, which can then be turned into MP3s or AACs in iTunes. More information can be found on the product page, a link to which can be found under "My Ports" in the sidebar.

My tweets have returned! Now that I've installed a Twitter module for Drupal, I've been able to bring back Twitter integration to the site. My tweets were never that interesting to begin with, I suppose, but I'm pleased. And it blends more smoothly, too, this time around.

After some experimentation, it appears that the Twitter feed on my old site was at fault for the primary behavior that led to my ground-up reconstruction (administration issues). Perhaps some JavaScript variable naming conflicts were at issue. I have thus removed it, and although my site appears a little more bare, at least it works again. (I had also wanted to eliminate residual, unused database entries, so it's just as well—I've installed and then uninstalled quite a few modules over the past couple of years.)

I extend an apology to any visitors who earlier this evening would have found my site in a state of utter chaos. I decided that my old Drupal site "was having issues," to put it vaguely, and concluded that rebuilding from the ground up would prove my sole option at that point. I think that it turned out quite well, to be honest, although I'm still using just the default theme at this point. I think that I'll stick with that, frankly, mainly because Drupal 7 is just around the corner and I don't feel that it would be productive to search through a list of themes now and then have to do so again, later.