In record time, we've produced a new version of TimeSnapper -- we're up to 3.3.

If you're currently trialling TimeSnapper professional, and you install this one over the top, your 30 day trial we be reset, and you'll get a complete new 30 days to explore the program.

If we can keep putting a version out less than 30 days apart, then no one need ever buy it again. Oops ;-)

The previous version included better reporting on websites, and this got a lot of customers excited, which in turn got us pretty excited. So we stayed up late a lot of nights, doing a bunch of things to utilise the web-reporting data.

So now, with the click of one button you can now set any application or website as productive (or non-productive).

This is a huge win from a usability perspective, and it lets you generate far more accurate productivity figures with no extra effort.

The playback screen, where you watch a re-run of your computing life, now has proper zooming in and out. This is a must have, particularly if you use multiple monitors.

The web reporting is integrated into the application more deeply, and there are numerous other requests from people that we catered for.

All up this release makes TimeSnapper easier to use and far more compelling all round.

News From Iceland

People have been asking me how my Icelandic partner Atli is going at the moment, with the current financial crisis which is hitting Iceland hardest of all.

Here's some photos he sent, looking out his office window last week:

But he reassures me with a lot of hard work, a bit of good luck and plenty of sales from TimeSnapper, this just might be his next home:

So I think that now is an appropriate time to buy ;-)

Scott Hanselman posted up a picture of himself as a young Hanseldork and then tagged myself and others in hope that we'd perform the same kind of self-humiliation.

That's what Scott looked like ---->

I'd like to think that I wasn't so geeky as all that. Kids that looked like Hanselman? I used to beat them up and steal their code.

Perhaps, now that i think of it, i was a little bit nerdy.

Is it nerdy for an 8 year old kid to spend lunchtime playing chess against the librarian? Is it nerdy to read and write elvish runes?

Perhaps my big brother Jeb had a touch of the nerd. He taught me binary, boolean logic, and he taught me to program in Basic on the beloved Amstrad CPC 6128.

I asked him the other day whether the CPC6128 booted straight into Basic, or there was an intermediate OS. Here was his response:

The programming commands available right from ON comprised "Amstrad BASIC".
The disk-related commands such as SAVE, CAT etc comprised "AMSDOS".
 
We had to put a special disk in and type |CPM [i.e bar + CPM] to get the CPM operating
system.  That's what we used for formatting or disk-to-disk copying.  Some
games ran on CPM so were launched by putting that game's disk in and
executing |CPM.  Most games and programs were executed with RUN
"<nameofgame>"...
 
Ahhhh, takes me back.
 
(In contrast, the Apple IIes at CBC [i.e. at school] always defaulted to booting from
whatever 5.25" floppy was in drive A - with B spare for a data disk.  In
those puppies you had to hold a switch on the back on startup for them to
go into command-line AppleBASIC.)

To fulfill the requirements of this meme, i ought to include a picture of what I looked like as a child. Here it is:

Not too dorky. Of course now that I'm grown up I look far more suave:

Smoking is cool, right?

To spread this viral meme I'd like to tag Justice Gray, JoCo Loco, Joel Pobar, the BronJohn collective and, for his sins against F#, Paul Stovell.

How about you? Grow up dorky? What's your story?

Just tell me now, world. Are we serious about this catastrophic global depression or not?

Is this just another of your doomsday fads? Because frankly, some of us are a little tired of your melodrama.

Last month it was that peak oil business. Before that it was global warming and carbon trading. Then it was the obesity epidemic.

You promised that the SARS coronavirus would turn into a pandemic that killed us all, if bird flu didn't get to us first.

And you wasted a lot of our money and effort worrying about this supposed terrorism wave that you promised would crush Western society into long-deserved oblivion.

Your flippancy on these negative promises has been remarkable and frankly my patience is wearing thin.

I'm not going to drag up all the wasted years of worrying about the cold war, and the certain death from global geo-thermo-nuclear warfare with which you haunted my childhood years. But I will say this:

The best you've got for me is something about poor liquidity in the market place!? Seriously!?

Fuck you, Earth. You've got to do better than this.

Give me total fucking annihilation from blood-lusting aliens with nuclear guns in their finger-tips, or just shut up and let me write my code.

Sincerely,
lb.

We've just put out TimeSnapper 3.2 to help analyse your online life.

TimeSnapper has always helped you understand (and replay) the time you spend with local applications, but we've never performed deep analysis of the time within any particular program.

But because browsers are worlds unto themselves, we now give them special attention and give you more details (via reports) about what sites are capturing your attention.

Internet Explorer, Firefox and Google Chrome are watched carefully, so you can get a clearer picture of where all your time really went. (Sorry Opera and Safari, it's sad trombone time for you.)

As usual, a whole bunch of improvements made it out along with the main new feature. Check the release notes for details.

Oh and we've reduced the price again. Instead of the usual $39.95, we've dragged it down to $24.95. This is a happier price I think.

People responded very positively to our other price drops, and this is perhaps a more sustainable price. We're not getting rich off it, I promise you, but we are getting enough sales to keep our interest piqued, and ensure that we keep improving the software.

What are you afraid of?

Something I'd like to know more about... what can we do to make TimeSnapper less terrifying?

A certain proportion of people, when they hear about TimeSnapper, or they see it in action, have this strange response, along the lines of:

"I'd rather not know how much time I'm wasting."

My analysis of this attitude goes something like this:

1. You feel you are wasting a lot of time.
2. You are not happy about how much time you're wasting.
3. You believe you're completely powerless to change.

If that's true, then having more information will indeed only make you less happy. The tired old addage, "Ignorance is bliss" applies.

I strongly disagree with this sentiment, but I don't know the right way to persuade these people that information is a powerful motivator.

We could give one free psychiatric consultation with every copy purchased... but that might cost a bit much.

Otherwise I think we're doomed to give up on a certain slice of humanity: the very people most likely to benefit from our software.

What are your thoughts? Would you "rather not know how much time you're wasting"? And if so, what could someone say to help you?

I'm looking for a talented graphic designer to help build the t-shirt design of my dreams, based on the 'damn you George Boole' motif.

Or not.

On a separate, though thematically linked topic... How awesome is this paper, written in 1826, where Charles Babbage creates a notation for describing the state of one of his engines. Essentially he derives and explains the first machine language.

It's pretty much lisp without the brackets, of course. No, it's maybe more like musical score, or guitar tablature even.

Here's a fistful of powerpoint slides from the talks I gave at tech-ed australia.

• 'Better than a license to print money' -- Build your own tiny software company
• "F# eye for the C# guy" (pptx) (Currently the world's only F# slide deck containing puppies.)
• "F# eye for the C# guy" (ppt) (Word 97/2003 edition, OpenOffice compliant)

The talks were a blast to deliver. I only wish there was more time to talk about stuff I love.

Regarding the Hanselman showdown I ought to fill you in on the conclusion of that little chapter.

Somehow, early on the first night of the conference, there was a public arm wrestle conducted on a stage in front of a boisterous crowd. Not kidding. True.

Of course, I don't need to tell you who won that little bout. It will suffice to say that I no longer mangle or insult Scott's good name in public forums.

I've re-packaged last week's trouble-shooting checklist as an online application.

It's javascript based, web 2.0 friendly, has gradients (but no rounded corners, so it's not fully W2C*).

In case you missed it -- here it is.

I've given some (okay -- way too much) thought to this and have a rough idea about a complete expert-system for trouble shooting all computer problems.

Expert systems that I learnt about way back, in those crazy school days, seemed to be largely focused on medical topics ("male? definitely not pregnant. spots? might be measles."). More recently, circa 2002?, I recall a nifty expert system that could guess any 1970's television show you were thinking of. (Provided it was 'Happy Days' -- which it was).

How about computer problems?

I can envision some kind of wiki-like system where people who have solved their problems can contribute further Q&A to a huge tree of diagnostic trouble-shooting possibilities...

Let me get you started...

Q.1: Is the power on?

A="N"?: Return "Turn the power on."

A="Y"?: Continue to Q.2;

Q.2: Did you turn it off and turn it back on again?

A="N"?: Return "turn it off and turn it back on again."

A="Y"?: Continue to Q.3;

Enough theorising. Check out the trouble-shooting checklist, share it with your loved ones. Use it to solve your computing problems. And be good to each other. Once in a while. Please.

* W2C = Web 2.0 Compliance.

With Joe Cooney's help, we've constructed a simple checklist for trouble-shooting regular problems.

Have you got any further items you regularly find yourself checking off?

Please add more!

1. check the event log
2. google it
3. reboot
4. run iisreset
5. empty the recycle bin
6. hit ctrl+break
7. kill the aspnet worker process
8. clear temporary internet files
9. touch the config file
10. degauss the monitor
11. remove everything from the startup folder
12. "get latest" and rebuild
13. login as admin
14. run ipconfig /renew
15. check if capslock is on.
16. run a virus scan
17. download the latest CTP
18. disable and then re-enable the network interface
19. restart services (some/most/all)
20. change your password
21. unplug your router, and leave it unplugged for 10 seconds before plugging it back in
22. clear your cookies
23. add current site to your trusted zone
24. disable javascript
25. try to ping the server
26. press 'clean solution' from the context menu in the solution explorer
27. repair the installation
28. run large magnets over all hard drives
29. check the network cable
30. defrag the hard drive
31. try it in a different browser
32. run a spyware scan
33. minimize all windows and check for a modal dialog
34. ensure configuration is correct
35. see what has changed recently
36. run process monitor
37. run chkdsk /v
38. revert all checkins from anyone named 'Gazza'
39. run the windows update service
40. remove and then recreate all Bluetooth partnerships
41. do a hardware reset on your mobile device
42. decompile + monkey punch + duck slap + donkey whack
43. what would jesus do?
44. look for suitable workarounds
45. re-calibrate your Geiger counter
46. check for packet storms
47. best to rule out toxicological contamination early on
48. describe the problem in terms even a child can understand
49. apply duct tape
50. increase the timeout duration
51. increase the maximum threadpool size
52. write to your local minister or government representative
53. try using the Microsoft Online Crash Analysis to submit your crash dump bucket-id
54. disable the customer experience improvement program
55. eat liver of sacred monkey
56. import the decryption certificate to the local client certificate store
57. ensure sql server is setup for mixed mode authentication
58. bypass proxy server for local addresses
59. check the hosts file and the routing tables
60. use filemon to locate any other log files being accessed
61. check the bios
62. update the device drivers for all peripherals
63. attach a debugger, get a memory dump, look at it in a hex reader and post it to a forum
64. cleanse all user inputs
65. put a try catch around it
66. replace the batteries in your wireless mouse and keyboard
67. recompile all dll's
68. uninstall the old version, re- install the new version, apply hot fixes patches and upgrades
69. remove the case from your computer, and aim a fan at it
70. check that you haven't been blacklisted
71. run diagnostic checks on surge protection units
72. add an index
73. remove an index
74. recalculate indexes
75. ensure ftp uses passive mode
76. recalculate statistics
77. reboot in safe mode
78. check kerberos delegation
79. review query plan
80. if 'automatically detect settings' is checked/unchecked, then uncheck/check it
81. kill rogue processes in task manager
82. run memtest.exe
83. boot from your emergency repair disks
84. follow standard knoppix data recovery procedures
85. tweak-UI
86. uninstall adobe pdf reader
87. insert "Debug.WriteLine("up to line 53");" where appropriate
88. set tracelevel to verbose
89. flush buffers
90. % truss -t \!all -t open a.out
91. use cdb or windbg. add in SOS for clr issues.
92. field test any lightning protection devices
93. use a temperature gauge on all hardware components, and compare against safe operating limits from manufacturer
94. run it inside a VM
95. check the DPI.
96. search the knowledge base
97. enable javascript debugging
98. turn off friendly http error messages in IE
99. set the current culture to en-US
100. attach a multi-meter
101. roll back to your most recent backup
102. check for GC pressure
103. empty the MSI cache
104. temporarily allow popups
105. look in your spam folder
106. recompile. wait. recompile.
107. turn off windows firewall
108. run caspol and give everything full trust
109. put yourself in the shoes of the program itself. if you were the program, what would you do?
110. ask hanselman
111. try wireshark. failing that, try fiddler. what does tracert show?
112. check the blueprints and read over the uml.
113. implement the retry pattern.
114. rtfm
115. delete the bios
116. attach anti-static wrist strap on every appendage
117. sit inside a faraday cage
118. insert "alert('here');" where appropriate
119. overwrite every byte in memory the standard five times as pre-scribed by nsa guidelines
120. reinstall the operating system from the original media provided by the supplier
121. add a lock statement
122. blame Irwin the intern
123. blame the guy who left last week
124. blame the ESL guy
125. blame DNS
126. add a sleep statement
127. apply a fudge factor.
128. run a spell checker over your code
129. light some candles. sacrifice chicken.
130. set all DWORD's to 0 in the registry. Then delete the registry
131. drop all databases.
132. unregister and re-register all dlls
133. reboot 3 times
134. drink own urine
135. run prime95 overnight
136. recompile the kernel
137. do the packets hop subdomains, and if so does NAS require a NAS forwarding service -- how about VLAN?
138. track down the original programmers who wrote the system, apply percussive trauma therapy.
139. uninstall java
140. underclock it
141. ignore it
142. post a request for comment on theDailyWTF
143. ask for correlating evidence that the problem even exists
144. sharpen your wooden stakes before proceeding any further
145. melt silver crucifixes onto tips of all bullets
146. fill your water bottle with holy water
147. call tech support
148. check when daylight savings begins
149. simmer ground rhino horn on a bed of whale pancreas
150. plan and enact your fire evacuation plan
151. bathe in holy water
152. increase dosage on all medications. check for interactions.
153. bury heart of an ox at midnight under crossroads on fullmoon
154. clean up your desk
155. check that pump's suction pipe is elevated above bottom of pond. (Float the inlet 18 to 24 inches below the water surface)
156. wear shoes with six inch cork soles
157. wear raincoat, goggles, breathing apparatus
158. climb into an anti static bag
159. always use a condom
160. check pressure reading on gauges number 1 and 2
161. run it through an oscilloscope
162. check your immunization schedule is up to date
163. check for seismic/tectonic activity, solar flares, tsunami, meteor showers.
164. go and get a coffee. come back and look at it with a fresh set of eyes.

(latest details)

Turns out I'm talking at tech-ed Australia on Wednesday -- that's the first day -- straight after the keynote.

09:45 AM CT200 Build your own Micro-ISV — Better than a license to print money : Location: Developer studio.

The location, "Developer Studio" is in the main exhibition hall.

So, as soon as the keynote finishes, head over to the main exhibition hall and get a good seat in the developer studio. You've got that?

Once you arrive, we'll try and make lots of noise to attract more people into the Developer Studio.

We want to have the biggest, most energetic, most boisterous chalk-talk that tech ed has ever had.

We can do that right? We want to put Scott Hanselady to shame and we'll do whatever it takes.

Come on sunshine. Take out your mobile phone right now and set a reminder, at 9:40 AM, Wednesday 3rd September, just as your strolling out of the keynote, "head to the developer studio in the main exhibition hall."

Magical secrets of building your own software empire shall be unleashed...

So it turns out our old friend and nemesis Scott Hanselman is going to be talking at Tech Ed Australia (and New Zealand too). He's got something like 57 slots.

Other lecturers are terrified that their talk will coincide with Scott. For my part, I say BRING IT ON, HANSEL-GIRL!

If one of your presentations is simultaneous with mine... that's great. Let's make it a little challenge, hey 'Snot Hanselman'.

Who can draw the biggest bestest most evangelical crowd? Wiener-face Hanselgirl with his pansy rah-rah-'mvc-is-oh-so-great' shill tactics, or straight shooting, school of hard knocks Bambrick, with his tough lessons and hard won truths?

I giggle at your puny intellect, Hanselfool. I will crush you with my superior powerpoint skillzies. You are going to rue the day you set foot on my continent, H-Dog.

And if it turns out that you are not competing with my lecture, then I trust you will be man enough to attend, and to witness how things are done, Down Under Style? Or are you too much of the big girl's blouse? I think so. Of course you are.

(footnote for the humour impaired.... i'm a big fan of Scott Hanselman, a hanselfan infact, and i owe him a big thanks, because the fact he interviewed me on his podcast is the direct reason i've ended up speaking at tech ed -- plus he's given me various pieces of encouragement in this topic over the last few years. Can't wait to meet the guy in person. (Will he sign my boobs? Let's hope so) All up, he's truly the bestest guy in the whole world)

Which is not to say that I won't trash talk him in public every chance I get.