weckman's dashboard

weckman replied on May 08, 2008 19:06 to the problem "Client (0.29) no longer logging in - related to Pownce changes from yesterday?" in Pownce Monkey:

Ah, helpful link, thanks!

Hopefully these outages won't continue for much longer. Makes me think of this other notoriously unreliable site we all know and which rhymes with bitter. :-)

weckman replied on May 08, 2008 18:16 to the problem "Client (0.29) no longer logging in - related to Pownce changes from yesterday?" in Pownce Monkey:

Wow, that was fast!

Unfortunately I am still unable to log in although logging in through the website works fine. When I try it via PownceMonkey 0.30, I get a red "Ack! Server error, try again later." message. Repeatedly. But I also get a note for a friend request that does not exist (same on the website), so maybe they are working on some stuff again.

Should it not work for You either I guess You're already on it, otherwise I will just try again some time later today. Man, now that it's temporarily not working I realize just how convenient PownceMonkey is! :-)

weckman reported a problem in Pownce Monkey on May 08, 2008 14:25:

Client (0.29) no longer logging in - related to Pownce changes from yesterday?

Hi there!

My client won't log into Pownce anymore, although the website itself seems to work just fine. Has Pownce made some problematic API backend changes or are the new features like public data sharing and larger file sizes causing problems?

weckman replied on April 09, 2008 21:36 to the discussion "Full RSS feeds introduced (incl. private messages!) - potential security risk?" in Pownce:

Well, I'd have to say that even though the chances of illegally retrieving the feed URL when it's not in use are rather slim, considering the fact that said URLs always follows the same syntax might make the option to disable them completely a worthwhile addition.

I know that security-consciousness is a lost art in the world of Web 2.0, but it's usually the lesser of two evils. Mind You, I'm not one to disable JS and cookies or use 256bit keys for everything and what have You - I'll leave that to the truly paranoid, the watchdogs of net security.

Oh, and I knew You weren't there, just meant that it would have been fun. Because it was. You know. Fun and stuff. :-) Still, I hope You'll enjoy Your own personal trip through our old continent.

Cheers!

weckman replied on April 09, 2008 18:38 to the discussion "Full RSS feeds introduced (incl. private messages!) - potential security risk?" in Pownce:

Yes, I know, that key is what I referred to as the "8 character password". "Key" is probably the proper term. :-)

Well, I didn't know that one can change the key anytime, that does of course add a bit to the side of security. Maybe a regular change every three months or so would be a good idea despite having to update the URL in all RSS readers etc. as well.

All in all I guess it comes down to this handy formula:
Usefulness > potential security risk

Maybe I've been listening to too much "Security Now" podcasts recently... ;-)

Thanks for the quick reply, Daniel!

P.S.: Missed You in Amsterdam last week!

weckman started a conversation in Pownce on April 09, 2008 17:04:

Full RSS feeds introduced (incl. private messages!) - potential security risk?

I recently received an email from Pownce telling me about a couple of new features, among them the introduction of RSS feeds for all messages, both public and private. Apparently the feed URL is secured only through adding an additional 8 character password, meaning that should anyone ever get their hands on the RSS feed URL, they would be able to read all my messages.

Even though for someone like me who still does only receive a fraction of the email notifications and could thus use this new feature as an alternative to be notified of new messages this might appear like a great feature at first, I find it a bit, say careless to offer such an option, as now it is potentially possible to read all my messages without having to log in.

Am I being paranoid here or would any of You agree that I just might have a valid point?

Thanks for Your opinions on the matter!

weckman replied on April 07, 2008 17:16 to the problem "Links open in IE7 instead of default browser Firefox 2 (Vista Home Premium 32bit)" in Pownce:

Good news, everyone! :-)

Apparently Adobe has been getting several complaints about this and finally offered a way to fix the problem in Windows. I already tried it and it works fine on my Vista system:

"To workaround this problem, go to Start > Default Programs > Set Program Access and Computer Defaults, expand Custom, select the radio button next to the application you want to set as the system-wide default browser (for example, Mozilla Firefox) and apply the setting."

Alrighty, one down, 99 more bugs to go...more or less... ;-)

weckman reported a problem in Pownce on March 05, 2008 02:01:

Desktop App (1.03, Vista 32bit) does not convert line breaks for display on Pownce website

I think this problem might have been mentioned some time ago, even though I can't seem to find it here. All line breaks of the messages written in the Pownce desktop app are displayed correctly in the same, but simply ignored when being displayed on the website.

As I tend to write longer entries now and then and would prefer some structure this bug really bothers me. I most certainly do not know enough about these things to really make any assumptions, but I get the feeling that this might not be too difficult to fix. Am I totally wrong?

Thanks in advance for Your help and I hope to be able to make it to the NextWeb Conference in Amsterdam next month!

weckman replied on February 14, 2008 23:39 to the question "can I embed my pownce "feed" on my Web site?" in Pownce:

Well, there's no way to show all Your private messages etc., which You probably would not want anyway, but for displaying Your public notes You can just take the RSS feed from Your public page (click on the "public profile" link on the right). Embedding an RSS feed into Your blog should be rather easy, I had no difficulties doing so for WordPress.

Cheers!

weckman replied on February 10, 2008 21:33 to the problem "E-Mail Notifications Not Working?" in Pownce:

Lucky You! :-)

weckman replied on February 09, 2008 22:34 to the problem "E-Mail Notifications Not Working?" in Pownce:

This is a never ending story, really. All my friends as well as me have only been receiving notifications on a more than irregular basis, say maybe three out of ten. That's been going on since the very beginning and it's apparently neither getting any better nor of much concern to most people.

Alas for me it renders Pownce quite useless, but as I cannot fix this problem myself...

I have mailed back and forth with several Pownce founders last year, and neither of them could pinpoint the cause, which made finding a solution rather impossible.

Who knows, maybe Pownce uses several servers with different IPs to send these email notifications and some of them are on black lists or something...

It sure is a lot of fun when You only get a handful of notifications, which sometimes means that You cannot even really understand what the conversation is about. Usually when I talk about something I 'pownced' with a friend I now generally start by saying "I don't know if You got it, but I pownced about TOPIC yesterday and..."

Sad state indeed...

weckman replied on January 30, 2008 14:54 to the problem "Pownce.app does not recognize Return Carriages" in Pownce:

Well, of course I meant the bug itself, but as there is just one app for both systems, I guess the differentiation is indeed not necessary. Doesn't solve the problem, though... :-(

weckman replied on January 30, 2008 00:03 to the problem "Pownce.app does not recognize Return Carriages" in Pownce:

Well, in that case it's cross-platform, as I am running Vista 32bit.

weckman replied on January 27, 2008 19:51 to the problem "Pownce.app does not recognize Return Carriages" in Pownce:

Guys?

The desktop app has improved so much otherwise, could You please respond to this query and inform us whether or not this is a bug that can and will be fixed soon of if there is a bigger problem preventing it?

Thank You!

weckman replied on January 26, 2008 02:29 to the problem "Pownce.app does not recognize Return Carriages" in Pownce:

Yeah, this has been bugging me too for quite some time. Maybe we're not supposed to write that much... :-)

But yes, please, if You could fix this I would be most happy!

weckman replied on January 23, 2008 12:37 to the problem "Links open in IE7 instead of default browser Firefox 2 (Vista Home Premium 32bit)" in Pownce:

Hehe, that is a rather cynical view of the matter, but nevertheless I guess You're right. :-)

I had this problem with another application some time ago, but that could be fixed by defining Firefox as the default browser by name in the list of standard programs in Vistas' system preferences. AIR however does still not bother to check. Maybe it utilizes the system-embedded browser, which just happens to be IE7? Just like the Windows help application and other deeply integrated stuff does for example.

Well, it IS still in Beta, so not all hope is lost (at least mine isn't yet :-) ) as this undoubtedly can be changed rather easily.

Thanks for the info!

weckman reported a problem in Pownce on January 22, 2008 14:58:

Links open in IE7 instead of default browser Firefox 2 (Vista Home Premium 32bit)

Happens with submitted links as well as when clicking on a user for example. Any way to change this? And is it the Pownce desktop client or the AIR environment choosing the browser?

weckman replied on January 05, 2008 02:32 to the question "New Pownce desktop version for Adobe AIR Beta 3 soon?" in Pownce:

Hi Shawn!

Yeah, soon after my posting I read about the 'opening' of Pownce to the public and the much improved desktop client that will be released simultaneously. Really looking forward to it!

And You're right, of course, that's probably the curse of beta, although it is a bit odd indeed that all previous applications are rendered useless whenever Adobe releases a new version of AIR. Well, let's hope that soon AIR will come out of beta.

Have fun at the party, unfortunately there's this thing called the Atlantic Ocean between me and You guys... :-(

weckman asked a question in Pownce on January 03, 2008 21:21:

New Pownce desktop version for Adobe AIR Beta 3 soon?

Well, it's just the same game we played when beta 2 of AIR came out - when I try to install it, I get the message telling me that this app (Pownce desktop client) is not compatible with the new version of AIR.

weckman replied on October 25, 2007 13:43 to the problem "Sending public notes generates error message" in Pownce:

Oh boy, my answer is late, late, late. Nevertheless - thank You, everything seems to be working again indeed. Looking forward to the new features You said You are working on, Leah!