In the latest alpha of SlideShowPro Director, we are implementing a Flash based uploading architecture, mainly for upload progress and multiple file uploads. When the first build got out to a few testers, we immediately saw issues with the uploader silently failing.

After a lot of digging, I stumbled across this livedoc, where it was revealed in the comments that the 406 (or sometimes a 403) was returned when Apache had mod_security enabled with particular settings. As laid out in the comment, this is fixed by adding a .htaccess file with the following:

<IfModule mod_security.c>
	SecFilterEngine Off
	SecFilterScanPOST Off
</IfModule>

Suddenly, all is well again.

Moving wasn't all fun though. As with all new computers, getting your old data to the new machine is always a concern, and when going from Windows to OS X, thing get a bit stickier. So, I thought I would lay out how I did it for future reference and in case anyone feverishly does a google search like I was doing (with mixed success) last night.

Before you get started you will want to setup a way to transfer the actual data from one machine to the other. You could burn it to a CD, dump it to a USB thumb drive, or just find the new machine on the network and transfer the files that way. I chose the networking option.

Bookmarks
This one is a snap. Open Firefox and select Bookmarks > Manage Bookmarks... from the top menu. This opens the Bookmark Manager in a new window. Next, select File > Export (again, from the top menu). Select where you want the exported bookmarks file to be saved and then click OK. The bookmarks are written to a simple HTML document that can be read by any other browser. Now, just transfer that file to your new Mac.

Now, open Safari and select File > Import Bookmarks. It will ask you to locate your bookmarks export file (the one you just transferred from your old machine). Choose select and walla, all you bookmarks appear in Safari's bookmark manager. You can drag and drop them to wherever you want, including the bookmarks bar.

Address Book
This one was just as simple, but took a little longer to figure out. Create a new folder on your Windows desktop (name it contacts). Next, open up the address book and select all of your contacts. Then you can drag and drop the whole group onto the contacts folder you created on the Desktop. Finally, transfer that folder to your Mac.

Open up the Address Book on the Mac, and select File > Import > vCards. In the dialogue that appears, navigate to the folder you just transferred and select all the .vcf files inside. The best way to do this is to click the first entry, then go to the bottom of the list and shift-click the last one, thereby selecting everything in between. Click "Open" to import the contacts.

Mail
I'll be honest, this was a bit of a pain, mostly because Outlook Express doesn't support the mbox standard. I found several suggestions, but eventually went with the one found at this OS X hints article. It is a bit laborious (and requires you to download the Mac Office Test Drive), but only took me about 20 minutes for all the mailboxes.

All in all, not too much hassle, and well worth it when you remember you are leaving Windows for good!

More good info can be found at the "How to Move to Mac" page at apple.com.

We needed a function like this in a Rails project currently underway, so I cooked up a Ruby solution using Shaun's PHP as a guide. I chose to extend the String class, placing the file in the lib directory of my rails project and including it via the application controller.

# lib/string_utils.rb
class String
  def widont()
    space = self.rstrip.rindex(' ')
    return self if space.nil?
    self[0, space] + ' ' + self[space + 1, self.size]
  end
end

Now we can use it on any HTML bound string when we need to prevent widowing.

>> a = "This is sort of a long string that might leave a widow."
>> a.widont()
=> "This is sort of a long string that might leave a widow."

I'm sure some Ruby whiz could pare that down to a single line, but it does the trick.

Disclaimer: I am well aware that this very post may contain widows, and can appreciate the irony.

Any time you release something new, the first thing to start pouring in to your inbox/support forums are feature requests. Now, don't get me wrong. Feature requests are good. Often times you, as a developer, can get too close to your product to see its' own flaws, and you need someone with a different perspective to point out a glaring omission to the feature set.

However, there are things that are expected of software that are not expected of hardly any other product. Take this example: John buys a car. He grabs the keys from the dealer, opens the trunk, tosses the keys in, and slams it shut. He storms back in to the dealership, demanding help.

"I shouldn't have been able to do that", he says.

A stunned salesman unlocks the trunk for him, retrieves his keys, "helps" him into the front seat and sends him on his way. On the drive home, John, who still isn't sure the car is up to his standards, sees a bridge on the horizon.

"If this car is really all they say it is, no way will it let me drive off that bridge", he thinks.

The last thought to go through John's head before his car plummets into the water: "I shouldn't have been able to do that..."

Sound ridiculous? Does to me, too. Yet software is often held to this very high standard: idiot-proofing (Think: I dragged my hard drive on to my trash can, now my computer won't start). Why this exactly is, I'm just not sure. But I do know this, as for me and my software, idiots be warned.

Think before you click. Use common sense, just like you would with a car, knife, blender, golf club, etc. Same goes for developers: Chase after the things you need to chase after (code optimizations, interface improvements, carefully measured new features) and don't get caught up in idiot-proofing, because in our world, there is not (at least of yet) a spray on solution for that.

After talking it over via email for a couple of months, we eventually got to work basically building a brand new app. The result is something that barely resembles SSPAdmin, which is fine by me. Todd is one of the best anywhere at UI/design, and our new product, SlideShowPro Director, has his fingerprints all over it. It has been lots of fun, and now the real fun is beginning as we launched SSP Director into the public view just after 5pm today (Sunday).

Check out the promo video for some real fun...

"Hey, Ricky! I'll pay you a bajillion dollars to take this football and run with it every Sunday. Whatdya say?"

"I'd love to man, but this weed is sooooooo good."

Somewhere, Mike Ditka is stringing up a noose.

-----

I may just have found a team to get me out of my funk. Since moving to Montreal, I have followed the Canadiens (known as the Habs locally) as much as I can. Now, here is a team I can get on board with: They have won 29 Stanley Cups. 29.

29.

Not much was expected of them before the playoffs, but that is history after they shelled Carolina in games 1 and 2. Game 3 is tonight in Montreal. Go Habs!

-----

As much as I love the game of basketball, the basketball season ends the first tuesday in April. Once CBS cues the "One Moment in Time" montage following the NCAA championship, basketball is over. The NBA is in a sad, sad state. I tuned into a little of the Cleveland-Washington game last night, and with 2 minutes left in a tight game, the place was absolutely dead. The PA guy tried to get the crowd up, but fell flat. I never heard a PA guy have to whip up the fans at the Garden when Bird was raining threes.

The NHL is exactly the opposite to me. There is really little to watch in the regular season, but the playoffs are glue your eyelids open good. I almost came out of my skin when I saw this hit live. Ouch.

Ok, seriously. How many times did you watch that hit just now? No way you watched it less than 10 times.

Great quote by the announcer: "You can see that's not a gaze of somebody who is with us." Indeed.

-----

Another sign that the NBA is in trouble: The biggest story of Tuesday night was not a game recap, rather a note to let us all know that Kobe will be changing his number to 24 next year. Yawn.

This just in: Bryant jacked up 27 shots while you were reading this post.

If I try my hardest, I might just be able to recall a day when I would sit down and fire up the old internets to check my email with great anticipation. I can almost hear the modem connection now (remember how high-tech that screeching noise used to sound?), followed by the "Welcome!" message from AOL, if I were so lucky to find a connection number that wasn't busy (remember how low-tech hearing the busy sound through your modem speaker was?). Then, with baited breath, I would wait. Wait for those three little words.

You've got mail.

Well, it's now several years later. We don't use AOL anymore (do we?). You've Got Mail became passe the minute the ink dried on Meg Ryan and Tom Hank's contract. Now the great communication breakthrough of the last half of the 20th century is turning into a scourge for many of us.

I sat down on Saturday to look through my inbox. Over the past year or so, some 2000 messages had piled up in the inbox alone. 2000 messages. 2000 unclassified, all in this together messages.

The frightening thing was that I knew that things were getting lost in the big pile. I was thinking back to laundry day when I was a bachelor and how much money I would find in pairs of pants that had been sitting on the floor for a few months. This was my inbox. Messages getting stale after a few months, messages I really should have replied to. I needed a better system.

The first step was to do the laundry, so to speak. I couldn't go about changing my ways until I cleaned out all those messages. Funny thing is, it took far less time than I thought it would. First tip: When cleaning out your inbox, sort the messages by person. Much of the time, you can mass process messages depending on who they are from. Back and forth email with coworkers about the project at hand? Trash. Receipts for airline travel? Better hang on to those. After sorting my messages and going through them all grouped this way, I had pruned down my inbox from 2000 messages to just over 50 in about 15 minutes.

Now I had 50 or so messages that fell into two camps: Things that needed action and things I needed to keep. So I created two sub folders in each of my mailboxes, one called "Attention" and another called "Keepers". Pretty soon those 50 or so messages were stowed neatly away in the appropriate folders, ready for me when I can get to them. Then the glorious moment, looking at the top of Mail.app and seeing "Inbox (0 messages)".

The last tidbit I can pass on is something I have read quite a few times over the last few months. Many people, writing from the same kind of "I am overwhelmed by email" experience, have reported great satisfaction in tuning their mail client to only check for email messages every 30 minutes or an hour. I currently have mine checking for mail every minute. I'm guessing that isn't very good for productivity, and will start on Monday with a setting of every 30 minutes to see how it goes.

So, here's to a clean inbox for the start of spring!

Otherwise, three of my four final four picks are still alive: Gonzaga, Villanova and Texas.

Is it me, or has the tournament been even better than it usually is. It seems every five minutes CBS is cutting away to another kid out of nowhere throwing in a three for the win with two defenders and a half the opponents band hanging off him, while Bill Raftery yells "ONIONS!". The Super Bowl seems to be the most anticipated sporting event these days, but the opening thursday of the tournament had more excitement than the last 5 super bowls combined.

On top of that, I have been a little deprived waiting for the next round of games this weekend. So I tuned into a NBA game last night. Bad move. I think Matthew Waxman said it best in his SI.com piece 64 Things we love about the tournament: "19) The thought of NBA players watching the games and remembering how much fun basketball used to be." Here, here.

Speaking of Bill Raftery, he is way underrated. He's Dick Vitale with discernment...and without an unhealthy infatuation with Duke. Another classic from Waxman's article: "3) Dickie V. announcing the Duke games... in his living room"

In other news, it appears we are not so good at baseball when other countries get involved.

Oh, and in case the Washington Nationals are listening, I will gladly move from 2nd base the left field. One caveat, though: You will probably need to stick another guy out there in left center (slo-pitch softball style). My range ain't what it used to be. But seriously, grow up Alfonso.

The Fifth Estate is the CBC's documentary style TV magazine, in a similar vein to 60 Minutes or Dateline. To summarize the story, they followed an expert around as he made his way in and out of secure doors at Toronto's Pearson International Airport. From the article:

Airport security specialist Steve Elson showed how he could decipher access codes for restricted areas in less than 20 minutes. Using a hidden camera the Fifth Estate team followed him as he walked through Toronto's Pearson International Airport, opening one door after the other.

The doors all appeared to have the same access code. "That means I can get access to airplanes, to the ramp, literally get into a jetway door in a few seconds," said Elson.

Wonderful. But you know what's even better? That The Fifth Estate, in all their wisdom and do-goodery, reports this under the guise of watching out for Joe Citizen. Sure...

We all know why they ran it. It's a hot button story that people will watch, and with them come advertising revenue. The funny thing is that when it comes time to lay blame for a terrorist incident, the media runs out of fingers to point. Paradox? I'd say...

If the CBC was really interested in the safety of travelers in Canadian airports, it would have taken the information to the governmental agencies involved (or at least the people at Pearson) to rectify the situation before telling the whole world how to get backstage at Canada's biggest airport. A little pie in the sky? Sure, and I don't expect that to happen any time soon. But don't come patting yourself on the back when all you have really done is drawn a treasure map for those wishing to do harm.

The report does bring some disturbing things to light, not the least of which is revealed in this comment by Mark Duncan, COO of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority:

"Our last public opinion survey showed that 90 per cent of the people were satisfied with the security process. So we think we've delivered on the mandate we were given."

So let me get this straight. The agency involved in securing airports in Canada assesses its' success with a survey of how secure people feel? Well, I have a feeling that those numbers are going to make quite a swing in the other direction after this story breaks.

All around, not the best news. Here's hoping for a little more media responsibility, a little less thickheadedness from the government, or maybe just faster trains...

Take customer support for instance...

I remember the first day it was announced on the SlideShowPro site. I had no idea if anyone would buy the thing or not. Then, the first PayPal notification came. It felt remarkably similar to the first time I got paid to do a web site. I could get used to this...

Well, fast forward to 8 months later. A quick look at the PayPal history reveals more than 650 copies have been purchased to date in two versions, Developer ($10) and Personal ($5). The software has progressed through many revisions, updates and patches and now stands firm at version 1.3. And all from the comfort of my home. Life is grand, right? Mostly.

You see the flip side of all that is that SSPAdmin has been standing at version 1.3 for some time now. Version 1.3 hit the shelves, so to speak, on the 27th of June. (In the first four months of existence, SSPAdmin was updated eight times). It's now been three months since a new version has been released, and I am sure some of my users are wondering if I have taken to rolling around in my money Uncle Scrooge style rather than coding away at the next release. Not so...

You see, the hardest part of maintaining software has nothing to do with maintaining software. The hardest part is helping people use your software. In the beginning, it's easy, nay, even fun. You have a small group of early adopters taking the project through its' paces. They help you identify problems, suggest features and generally figure things out on their own. Piece of cake.

Then sales swell a little, and with more people, support requests naturally go up. Things are still going ok, but they aren't much fun anymore. Thankfully some of the early adopters hang around the forums some and help out with easy questions. But more and more, people are jumping in over their heads and when they start to sink, the flail about instead of grabbing the life preserver right next to them, also known as the manual.

Then, you get to the point I am at. Every morning I have 5-10 emails in my inbox related to support inquiries. This is particularly frustrating because it means that someone has bypassed the User Guide and the User Forums and come straight to the source, sometimes for the simplest things that are covered in the manual and in several topics at the forum. Unfortunately, selling software at five or ten bucks a pop does not a career make, at least not at this volume. I simply don't have the time to respond to all these requests, and usually someone feels shorted. So, what's your point, or are you just ranting?

My point is this: I am forever changed as a customer. I cringe now at some of the ways I have approached companies and people whose products I have used. How? Well, here are some things that would help customer and provider streamline support communication.

1. Customers - Read the Manual. If the manual is lacking or simply doesn't exist, then move on to other options.
2. Developers - Provide a manual. A good one. Take your time, provide screenshots, and write it as if you have never used the program. Can't do that? Pay someone. It's that important and will save you so much time and effort in the long run.
3. Customers - Take advantage of the community of users that you are now apart of. If your product has a support forum, register and use it. Don't just take, though. Every time you post a question and get help, try to find a question of your own to answer.
4. Developers - Have a forum from the very start. This may seem trivial with a small number of users, but it creates a culture that encourages support to center around a community of users, not you.
5. Customers - Discern who is behind the product and respond accordingly. Is this a big company that has a department specifically tasked to handle support or is this a guy in his basement banging away at a project in his spare time? They are two different things, with vastly different expectations.
6. Developers - Misrepresenting yourself is so 1999. I remember I used to use "we" and "us" all the time, knowing full well that it was just me. Let people know you are a solo or small team. If you don't, then you have no reason to complain about overwhelming support expectations.
7. Customers - When seeking support help, be as specific as possible. Don't filter out things you may think are insignificant. Let the developer decide. I get far to many emails like "This is not working, can you help?". It should read "I am having trouble with feature X in browser A. I am using version 1.3, and the behavior I am seeing is...". With an email like this, I can quickly diagnose the problem or identify it as a new bug. With a contact like the former, it takes a few more emails just to get to the bottom of what is happening.
8. Customers - If you are dealing with a small team or solo developer, go to them directly only when you have exhausted all other avenues of support. This is not just for their benefit, but more often than not you will get help quicker through the forums, manuals, etc than you will going to the developer him/herself. This also frees up the developer to focus on the product.
9. Developers - Remember that the cheapest and most effective marketing originates from happy (or conversely disgruntled) users. Making the extra effort to make users happy moves product. Don't believe me? Apple has built their brand on this principle.

That's all I have. If we all did this, the world would be a better place and I would sleep more too! Have any of your own?

So, five years from now, what media will be collecting dust in our old boxes? CDs, I am looking in your general direction, with your measly 700 MB of storage...

On my bad side...the collective body that is the College Football Press. When will they wake up and realize that USC looks like men playing boys because that is an exact representation of the PAC-10. And don't even get me started on Virginia Tech, who has beat the likes of Duke, NC State and Marshall, and played only one top 25 team, yet still sits and number 3. Meanwhile, SEC East teams slug each other right out of the National Championship race every year. Playoffs anyone?

On my good side...Adam LaRoche's bat. Hit a big grand slam to put the Braves up early in Game 4 of the NLDS.

On my bad side...Adam LaRoche. Lolly gagged his way around second on his way to getting thrown out at home later in the game. I am pretty sure that either one of my Grandmothers could have scored on the play. Turns out that run would have come in handy.

On my bad side...the Atlanta bullpen. And while we are at it, every Atlanta bullpen since 1991.

On my good side...John Daly's driver.

On my bad side...John Daly's putter.

On my good side...Keenan McCardell. Because I need him to have a big game Monday night to save...

On my bad side...the rest of my Fantasy Football team, who put it a pretty blah effort on Sunday (at least it looked that way from my couch). Speaking of which...

On my bad side...Fantasy Football owners who start one or more players currently on a Bye week.

And finally...

On my good side...the mute button on my remote. One thing you learn after watching a weekend of sports: There are more windbags out there who like to hear themselves talk than you can count. Fortunately, we still have Munson.

Final Four - (Winners in Bold)
Illinois vs Wake Forest
Kansas vs Oklahoma

Final
Kansas vs Illinois (85-80)

There you have it, ought to be a good one. I am personally hoping to see a North Carolina - Kansas Regional Final. Wouldn't that make for a plot?

• SSPAdmin has passed 70 downloads in just 2 weeks, better than I could ever have imagined.
• My Brackets are filled out, are yours? More thoughts on that before the tourney starts...
• A new article over at Step Away from the Tables entitled Playing the Percentages.

That is all for now, check back Wednesday for my NCAA predictions!