Sorry for the Silence

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Jerry

Well, I did it again; I went and got a job. I’m working at Apple now, which is awesome, but it’s left me stretched a little thin. As a result I’ve not been very responsive at all to queries and messages from the good people who use Jer’s Novel Writer. I also missed a couple of payment notifications, and I’ve been waaaaay late getting keys out to people. Really, there’s no excuse for that.

Meanwhile, I’m still sorting out my life to make time to even use Jer’s Novel Writer. I’ve got a bet I’m going to lose unless I really kick ass in the writing department for the next month. When I do get the mental space to do my own projects, the day-to-day routines at the Hut have been getting short shrift.

So it came down to “quit or get help.” I was composing my “sorry but I’m closing my doors” message when help appeared! So, with a bit of office assistance to make sure that folks are taken care of better, I can focus on the software when the opportunity arises. (And it will arise, just not predictably for the near future.)

Thank you to everyone who has borne with my inattentive ways, and happy writing!

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Well, THAT Sucked

Posted on November 21, 2010 by Jerry

The last few days my Web host has been having a tough time. I don’t know the exact nature of the problem and I doubt I ever will, but this site has been broken. For a while it would not load at all, and then it was in ‘read-only mode’, Which meant that it was still performing terribly and I couldn’t even put up a notice that I knew things weren’t going well but the solution was out of my hands. Not a good situation when my credibility as a programmer is an important asset.

I couldn’t even make a backup.

Things seem to be getting back to normal (though they are not there yet). There’s even a chance that I’m not running on a brand-new server that is not being shared with as many other people. Or at least a brand-new server. Unfortunately, however, while I have come to appreciate iPage the company, which was very helpful and petient getting me up and running, iPage the service has not been so great.

I have vowed that the next move I make will be to a server that I control completely, so I can choose who shares it with me. I’m looking at Co-location deals now, though I might wimp out ant take the middle road. A VPS (virtual private server) gives me all the control of having my own machine, but in fact it’s an illusion — I still share physical hardware with an unknown number of others.

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Starting the online documentation project

Posted on October 24, 2010 by Jerry

As it stands, the Read Me file has a lot of information about how to use Jer’s Novel Writer, but there are other features hidden away. Plus, a Read Me is not really a good format to allow people to look things up quickly. Obviously, what’s needed is a reference manual.

I’ll be working on that, adding pages to this site under Jer’s Novel Writer:Documentation. At first, I’ll just move the Read Me into that spot, as it’s better than nothing while I plan out the structure of the actual documentation.

Feel free to leave comments either here on on the documentation pages themselves, asking for clarification or suggesting what needs to be written up first. Also: if you want to contribute to the Jer’s Novel Writer community, here’s your chance! I’d love to have users out there help write up the documentation from their own perspective.

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A Little Behind on Haggles

Posted on October 11, 2010 by Jerry

I’ve gotten some great haggles in my email in the last few days, things people obviously put a lot of thought into. I want to give these haggles the attention they deserve, but the last few days have been crazy. I might catch up tonight, but if you have a haggle in my inbox, do not worry; I haven’t forgotten you.

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Jer’s Novel Writer 1.1.12 Released

Posted on October 7, 2010 by Jerry

If you’re one of the folks who still use G3-based macs, then this update is for you. There are a couple of minor bug fixes as well, but the main feature of this release is that it will once more run properly on very old hardware.

As always, you can find the download on the download page and the full release notes on… yeah, you guessed it, the release notes page.

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Jer’s Flash Card Viewer an Editor’s Pick at Brothersoft

Posted on September 28, 2010 by Jerry

While most of the focus around here is on Jer’s Novel Writer, there is another handy bit of software available. Jer’s Flash Card Viewer is a neat little app that really does help you improve vocabulary, automatically focussing on the words and phrases that are causing you trouble.

The folks at Brothersoft.com recently stumbled across it, and they liked it!

Thanks, guys!

You can learn more about Flash Card Viewer here.

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Mac360 Celebrates JersNW Return

Posted on September 24, 2010 by Jerry

Well, they didn’t exactly throw a party, but they did write a nice little review of Jer’s Novel Writer. You can find it here:

http://mac360.com/index.php/mac360/comments/the-mac-novel-writer-we-forgot-is-worth-a-look/

Thanks, guys!

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Jer’s Novel Writer 1.1.11 Released

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Jerry

Wow! Look at all those 1′s!

This is really a pretty minor upgrade over version 1.1.8, the version that has been out there for well over a year. I added a feature that allows you to change the direction of a curly quote more easily. Let’s say for instance you use the word ’tis. The default smart-quote behavior is to make the quote curl to the right, like an open quote. Only trouble is, in ’tis it should be an apostrophe.

In the past you could select the open-quote and type the character again, and it would cycle through open-close-apostrophe. Now, you can just type the quote key again to cycle through the variants.

This is handy with hyphens and dashes as well; I have memorized the key combinations for n- and m-dashes, but it’s easier to simply hit the hyphen key multiple times to get the dash of desired magnitude.

Both character-cycling options (quotes and dashes) are found on the ‘General’ tab of the Preferences pane.

A bit of a bummer: those with G3-based machines (and it’s pretty dang cool that you’re still out there) will have to wait for the next release. G4-based machines will work just fine.

The download and release note pages are available from the “Jer’s Novel Writer” menu under the banner photo.

Enjoy!

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Jer’s Software Hut Returns to Life!

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Jerry

Deep below the Earth’s surface, in a steaming chamber somewhere between the Hayward and San Andreas faults, there is motion in the dancing shadows cast by the guttering torchlight. Dark, twisted creatures stir. They move slowly, their once-lean haunches soft from months of torpor. They shamble from their stony sleeping-nooks into the work chamber, and one by one they take their accustomed positions on the capstans. The great wheels resist at first, then start to turn with a shriek that slowly fades to a rumble.

From the throats of the horde comes a deep ululation punctuated by coarse barks, a sound that reverberates through the chamber until it has no source, merely presence. It is enough to weaken the knees of even the stoutest hero, a sound to chill the most stalwart heart.

The creatures are singing.

Though fearsome in sound, it is joy they express; the sublime joy of one who had no purpose being useful again. Far above them, in a peaceful neighborhood San Jose, those turning capstans once more power the forges and shrieking spark-throwing wheels of Jer’s Software Hut.

On the slab in the middle of the laboratory a figure stirs; what once was dead now breathes again.

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No news yet…

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Jerry

But check back soon. I’ve sent minions deep into the archives to blow the dust off the code and look around.

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