Nothing added here, busy with life, job, and my new computer. <3

Need to fix EasyScreenshot.NET, completely broken on Windows 7.

• Google Calendar support
• Allow for normal GMail and Google Apps GMail support at once

Second one won’t be as hard as it sounds, I did most of the work already.  Just need to redo the options page which will be most of the work.

I am quite elated to have the #24 most popular Google Chrome extension, edging out StumbleUpon and a really cool dev tool by Google!  Thanks!

Changelog after the break, and lots more releases, though none Google Chrome related…

Changelog:

1.2 R3

• Fixed small bug in googlewave.js parser.
• Work around a bug in chrome.tabs.onUpdated never sending the url of the tab to callback.

1.2 R2

• Moved the changelog and bugs into background.html, my description was getting too long on chrome.google.com/extensions.
• Turned off console logging.  Might help memory “leak”?

1.2

• Rewote classes to better use .prototype
• Counts will no longer be updated each time you navigate in a supported service, only when you navigate away or close the tab.
• Updated permissions, Google Wave Apps Domain and “Check all items” should really work now, if they didn’t before.
• Uses proper APIs for opening tabs now.  Extenions should work in pages now and tabs will not be under the One Number process and will be properly sandboxed against crashing from each other as designed by the Chrome team.
• Added compose link for GMail.
• Now when you choose to show all unread messages, not just those in the inbox, opening the service will also show all messages.
• Option added to make clicking on the toolbar button open services with unread items immediately, at the cost of not having a popup when there are unread items.
• You can open just the services shown, or also services you’ve hidden from the toolbar button.
• Option added to use HTTP instead of HTTPS.
• Option added to open services in a new window.
• Options added to reuse existing tabs when opening service, as well as a level of agressiveness (by default it won’t reuse a tab when it doesn’t know what you’re doing with it, such as composing a new e-mail).
• Tweaked options page so clicking anywhere on a header expands/collapses a section.
• Fixed bug with garbage in color strings.
• Options added to control whether or not error or logged out status is reflected in the toolbar button.
• If XMLHTTPRequest returns a HTTP status of 0 it is now treated as an error.  Previously the unread count would simply not be changed.

Couple new known bugs come with all this, unfortunately:

Once I got some sleep, today I finished updating EasyScreenshot.NET to 2.0 and in celebration I also released a bunch of other apps in my “release queue”, also known as the “Dan is lazy queue” but I don’t like to call it that personally.  Download here.

ES.NET 2.0 changelog:

• - Fixed copyright year
• - Fixed bug in PortableApps mode
• + When setting the image to the clipboard, “PNG” data type will be set if the image format used for saving/uploading is PNG.
• - Fixed bug where successful FTP upload would ont show a balloon tip.
• + Added timeout to FTP uploads
• + Added plugin support for saving/uploading images and moved Saving, FTP, and Clipboard support into plugins.
• - Fixed a bug where multiple hotkeys could fire at once causing various race condition problems.
• - Made the PrintScreen code more robust.
• - Fixed bug where selection was incorrectly drawn on overlay when you held the mouse button down before it appeared.
• + Added SFTP/SCP support using hacked up SharpSSH 1.1.1.13
  • + Hacked in support for uploading a MemorySteam to a remote file.
• + Added autoupdate feature.  Can be triggered from About, and will also run automatically 15 seconds after startup if you don’t do anything.
• + Added date/time templates to options dialog.
• - Fixed bug where the progress bar and button on the notification may not be erased properly in all cases (RichTextBox doesn’t redraw properly on resize!).
• - Fixed overlay crash bug.
• - Removed alpha channel support from PrintWindow since it doesn’t seem to allow for alpha channel…
• + Added more debug information to crash dialogs so you have more information to report, making it easier for me to fix the crash!
• + Right click on the overlay cancels the capture.
• + Number of screenshots taken appears on about screen.  Removed the ability to change this number from the UI.
• + Settings are now stored in your user profile directory when not running from a portable device.
• - Fixed crash if a misbehaving application is preventing the clipboard from working. In this case now the error is ignored.
• - Removed ability to close balloon tooltip to cancel upload, doesn’t work as I expected.
• + Notifications will now respect system settings by default for sliding and fading.
• - PrintScreen will now disable hotkeys while it presses the key to prevent accidental hotkey triggers.
• - You may no longer use PrintWindow with the desktop window.  It’s funky and doesn’t work.
• + Added Capture Application mode to capture all windows belonging to one application at once.
• + Data is stored in AppData instead of LocalAppData for roaming profiles.
• + A window is now focused when captured.
• + Installer!

And a new glitch to go with all of this:

• The SFTP/SCP plugin cannot remove partially uploaded files when cancelled due to limitations of the SharpSSH library I am using.  If you know of a better SFTP/SCP library please let me know!

Also I’ve had AppCompactor 1.2 sitting on the back burner for a while, time for release!

• - Fixed version number… forgot to update it since 0.9.2… oops.
• - Closing the window or cancelling now prompts for confirmation if compacting is in progress.
• - Cancel button now properly disabled when compacting is finished.
• - Added possible protection against crash if files are deleted while AppCompactor is working with them.
• + Added parameters: -start and -close.  Causes AppCompactor to automatically start compacting or close when done without user input.
• + Added parameter: -details, shows details view during compacting by default.
• + Tweaked appearance of Details view seen during compacting.
  • + Details view will autoscroll.
  • + Details view can be hidden.
  • + Item/Subitem columns are merged
• + Added close when finished checkbox to the progress page which causes the program to automatically clean up temporary files and close when finished.
• - Added handler to display more error information on a fatal error.
• + Redid compacting backend to use BackgroundWorker API.
  • + More granularity for progress bar… is updated per-directory now instead of per-item.
• + Added “Only use UPX on Windows binaries” option to keep from trying UPX on every file.
• + Added tooltip text to ListViews with paths so you can see the entire path even when the ListView isn’t wide enough.
• + Made the window resizable.

I also made a small bug fix change to SVNExplorer, though I totally forget what it was.

Also I released a few apps into a semi-pubic beta a while back.  I figure I might as well finally post the download links publicly… check the Projects page link at the top of this blog, I also posted some stuff I never linked to on my downloads subdomain, such as Dark Frontend, an old frontend I made for Dark Forces.

I also made a fix to WiimoteScript, one of the semi-public betas.  Again, no clue what I fixed!

So yeah go check out my Projects page, lots of new additions today.

First, we have Internet Explorer.  It comes with Windows so most people use it (hence why the EU has accused MS of using it’s monopoly on the OS to grab one on the web browser).  This also means it’s the most targeted by malicious individuals to hack, phish, or pass viruses around.  This isn’t helped by technology like ActiveX which allows websites to have full access to your computer with just a button press by the user, although fortunately MS seems to be trying to phase it out (Windows Update in Vista/7 no longer relies on it… seriously, the Windows Update WEBSITE is responsible for PATCHING SYSTEM FILES.  Who thought this was a good thing from a security standpoint?).  IE has also been benchmarked as the slowest browser, and the least compatible with web standards, another good reason to avoid it.  Unfortunately you need it around because a) some desktop applications embed it as a web browser inside their windows and b) some websites develop their sites for IE instead of developing sites for the wider internet.  When you must use IE, be extremely careful where you browse.

Also beware “alternative” browsers that are just IE in another skin.  If they claim they use the “secure Internet Explorer core”, STAY FAR AWAY (no joke, one product SAYS THAT).  Although it may be possible to lock down IE somewhat, chances are sooner or later an exploit for IE will hit you anyway.  At the core, you’re still running IE.

Next we have Opera and Safari, both I haven’t used much but they seem OK.  Safari seems incredibly bloated to me on Windows, so I wouldn’t recommend it, and it also installs some Mac-interoperability networking stuff which you probably don’t need if you’re not careful.

Opera is nice and speedy, and looks great.  Some may argue it suffers from feature bloat but who cares if it runs fast.  It started up incredibly fast on my Aunt’s old clunker (this was before Chrome so I can’t compare).  The built-in web server and other components (well it doesn’t work QUITE like a traditional web server but the end result is the same, and it even works around routers that block incoming traffic) are additionally an interesting experiment by Opera.  Check it out.

Firefox is by far the most popular non-IE browser, and with good reason.  The Mozilla team is careful to keep the browser at a core feature set and to allow the talented add-on community to fill in the gaps.  If you want Firefox to do something, chances are an add-on can do it.  Only downside is it can be a bit slow at times, but Mozilla is making speed a priority for the next few releases, in addition to a much-needed visual refresh which I am looking forward to.  Definitely try out Firefox if you aren’t already using it.

Last we have Google Chrome, my browser of choice.  It’s been built from the ground up for speed and security, and it excels at both.  The only place it doesn’t really excel in is extension support… where Firefox builds the entire UI on web technologies such as SGML and JavaScript allowing any add-on to change anything easily, Google Chrome is purposefully locked down and add-ons are no exception… there is a limited API list of things extensions can do, although some clever programmers have already found some cool things to do with them.  I expect the list of APIs to grow as Chrome continues to be developed.

Chrome is fast fast fast.  Window pops up as soon as you run the program, and you’re on the net in seconds.  If a plugin crashes, it only takes down the plugin and not the whole browser.  If Chrome crashes, only a part of Chrome crashes and you may lose a few pages, but the browser may be able to recover from it (occasionally the entire thing will crash but hey–that’s life, no app is perfect).  Chrome’s multi-process architecture automatically gives it great multi-core compatibility by default, making it even FASTER.  Finally… resizable textareas.  <3

Mirror’s Edge

This game was a lot more fun than I thought it would be, and it ended way too soon for my tastes.  Faith, the protagonist, is crazy at parkour and most of the functionality is accessed through two keys, plus your directional movements.  A helpful tutorial helps you begin to master them.

This has got to be the most fun I’ve had in an First Person game without Shooting (I went the pacifist route).  The game also managed to end with the world worse than it started out, which sorta was disappointing, but you do accomplish what you set out to do and the last “boss” was fun.  Can’t wait for the rumored sequel…

No windowed mode though, and I had a couple problems with the game but I was able to fix them.  If you find yourself stuck at a perpetual loading screen, validate your game cache in Steam and that may help fix it (CD users would want to reinstall for the same effect).  I also had a problem with a hanging looping opening cutscene, turning hardware acceleration down in DirectX Diagnostics (dxdiag.exe) fixed that right up.  Probably should have done that sooner since my sound hardware doesn’t support acceleration anyway.

Unfortunately there appears to be no user-made levels or official SDK.  Sad, I’m sure they would be great fun.

Beyond Good & Evil

A pure adventure game, lots of fun.  Collect these things, take pictures of those things, go through the main quest, do side quests.  Every piece of this is fun.  The story is your standard conspiracy theory, and at the end you go to the moon and blow up the evil space alien.  Oh, and you discover a dark secret about yourself.  Fun fun fun!

And there’s a sequel in the works too!

Had a weird technical quirk where running the game would cause Steam to get caught in an infinite loop but restarting Steam cleared that right up.  Also disappointed in no windowed mode, and it doesn’t properly paint the background in non-4:3 modes causing screen glitches.  Voice syncing problems too.

Also for some reason a new window opening (such as, say, getting an IM) causes both of the above games to minimize.  Bah!

Braid

I can only describe this as a “philosophical sidescroller”.  Haven’t beaten it yet, but the puzzles are already mind-wracking and fun.

No problems getting this to work, huzzah for indie games.

Download links:

• Google Chrome Portable Stable (3.0.195.33)
• Google Chrome Portable Beta (4.0.249.30)
• Google Chrome Portable Dev (4.0.266.0)
• One Number (1.1.0.6)

Of note is that with this release, the Google Chrome Extension Gallery will now work with Beta and Dev builds.  Have fun, and be sure to try One Number!

Google Chrome Portable Changelog:

• Updated Dev to 4.0.266.0 and Beta to 4.0.249.30. Google Chrome Extension gallery is live!
• Installer now shows the version of Chrome being downloaded.
• Updated the sample INI with some new notes.
• msvcr100.dll beta 2 is no longer required by the NSIS plugin. 200kb has been shaved off the launcher.
• Changes to Portable Passwords to improve security and prevent possible vulnerabilities. If you were previously using Portable Passwords you will need to import your passwords to Chrome before updating, see the sample INI for notes on how to keep your saved passwords.
• Fixed bug in NSIS plugin where memory was freed twice (oops).
• Added EncryptPortablePasswords switch to INI, so you can choose to store saved passwords in plaintext. This may be useful if you already use an encryption solution such as TrueCrupt to protect your PortableApps and have no need for additional protection. This is also removes the need for a master password.
• Installer window no longer shows. DialogEx is used instead for the master password prompt.
• Tidied up some things in the launcher code (all language strings are in the appropriate NSH now).
• Updated to PA.c Installer 1.0.1.

One Number Changelog:

• Hopefully fixed Google App Domain support for GMail, added for GWave. Still “Not tested” quality, please give feedback.
• Already read messages will no longer be shown in Google Voice preview.
• GMail and Google Voice options to check for unread messages in all folders/labels, not just the Inbox.
• You can now hide individual services’ unread counts from the main toolbar button.
• Fixed bug where services could stop updating.

Take a look.

Bonus for reading more:  My TODO list:

- Google Apps Domain for Wave: https://wave.google..com/a/<yourdomain.com>/

- Check official GVoice Notifier extension to see how it behaves and compare with mine.

- Option to check all messages, not just inbox? (GMail, GVoice, GWave)

- 27487 – XHR never finishes on 401.  Doesn’t seem possible to fix, it acts like it’s still loading until it times out.

- 27637 – no favicon for my option page

I’ve been working on other stuff too, really!  Just trying to get the bugs that people report to me out of the way…

Biggest change is the Portable Passwords feature.  It’s opt-in so you’ll need to use the INI to enable it since it creates a bit of a hassle (you need to enter a master password on startup, to keep your passwords safe).

More details in help.html.

• Stable (3.0.195.33)
• Beta (4.0.223.16)
• Dev (4.0.249.11)

• Stable (3.0.195.33)
• Beta (4.0.223.16)
• Dev (4.0.245.0)

Downloads:

• Stable (3.0.195.32)
• Beta (4.0.223.16)
• Dev (4.0.237.0)

Oh yeah, I am now featured on PortableApps.com!  Hooray!

Here’s the main changes for this version:

• Updated Stable to 3.0.195.32, Beta to 4.0.223.16, Dev to 4.0.237.0
• Using new versions based on launcher versions rather than Google Chrome versions.
• Default locations for Beta and Dev builds changed to “GoogleChromePortableTest” and “GoogleChromePortableDev” to fit with PAF.
• Fixed bug where themes would stop working when GCP’s path or drive letter changed.
• Added support for PortableApps.com Menu language selection. Set UsePAMLanguage to false in the INI to use the user-selected language in Chrome instead.
• On request of PA community, did more agressive cleanup of registry keys and directories left behind after quitting.
• Backup and restore local Chrome’s unique identifier information used for collecting usage data.
• Updated launcher crash cleanup guide.

Downloads: Stable/Beta | Dev

Fixed a particularly nasty bug where RunLocally and CacheInTemp were always forced on.  Also themes now work properly between sessions.

[Edit: Updated Dev download with the latest Chrome Dev build released today.]

[Edit: Update downloads to remove nsexec which some av products falsely label as malware.]

[Edit: Updated Dev build to *.223.11 which fixes a crash bug with RSS feed extensions.]