Code Sorcery Workshop

Pukka 1.2.1 is out -- a bugfix release that squashes three bugs that have been, well, bugging us. Though none are show stoppers, we thought we'd nail them early and smooth over your del.icio.us experience a little more. See the appcast for the scoop, or just check for updates right in Pukka and you'll be on your way in minutes!

Also, if you like Pukka, tell the world! Be sure to check out our blog buttons on the bottom of Pukka's page.

Yesterday, Pukka was mentioned in Apple's latest edition of its New Arrivals newsletter. Thanks, Apple!

As always, we're hard at work making Pukka better. Expect a minor update very soon and some bigger updates soon after that. And please feel free to send your feedback by email or by leaving a comment.

Also, we're happy to report that the gnomes are working furiously on our second product. Stay tuned for updates as we near the public reveal!

If you're coming here from CocoaRadio, welcome! Feel free to check out my first app, Pukka, my recent screencast highlighting its features, or my thoughts on shareware development.

I was really glad to be on CocoaRadio. Blake runs a fantastic and insightful podcast that I've been listening to from the start. Hear us talk about my approach to development, a bit about Pukka, and all sorts of other things.

The direct link to the episode post is here.

After some extended testing, Pukka 1.2 is ready to go! It brings a couple of new features and a veritable slew of bug fixes.

First and foremost, Pukka now uses the new SSL del.icio.us API. Combined with that and some revamped keychain handling, the first time you run the new version, you'll need to re-enter your account password(s). However, now you'll be operating over SSL for added security.

This version also features a new tags field that auto-resizes based on how much space you need.

Lastly, there is a new preference item for enabling or disabling the warning messages when you attempt to reset, close, or quit and there is unposted data.

You can grab Pukka 1.2 here and read the full list of changes in the appcast.

I've been wanting to put together a screencast of Pukka in action to give folks a general overview as well as highlight some features that might not be immediately apparent. I finally got it together and I hope it will encourage you to try Pukka if you haven't already!

Update: The screencast now has its own page.

See what Pukka looks like, how to set it up and get posting quickly, and how to save the most time by integrating it into your workflow with features such as automatic hiding and Growl.

This screencast was produced with iShowU by shinywhitebox and Apple's GarageBand and QuickTime Pro. I'm more than a little self-conscious about how it came out, so let me know if you actually find it useful!

Also, I just wanted to say that the release of Pukka 1.2 is imminent. I'm cranking out some final bugs and then it should be ready. Get ready for a couple nice, new features!

Hot on the heels of 1.0, we've just posted version 1.1 of Pukka, which adds a system service and fixes a couple bugs. Now you can send a selected URL to Pukka from any native Mac application. The default shortcut is Command-%. For example, select the current URL in Camino with Command-L, then send it to Pukka with Command-%. Of course, the bookmarklet (see Pukka->Install Bookmarklet...) is probably faster and more comprehensive when using a web browser, but the system service may come in handy for those non-browser situations.

Get Pukka 1.1 now over here or just update from within Pukka itself using Pukka->Check For Updates....

Enjoy!

I'd like to diverge a bit on the next couple of blog posts here at the Workshop. In the next couple days, I'd like to write a bit more about myself and more importantly, a bit more about where I see Pukka and the Workshop heading next. And I'd of course like your feedback on that -- I hope that's why you're here. This is a two-way street, yo.

So, as you no doubt have noticed, I have decided to charge for the 1.0 release of Pukka. I'd like to explain a bit about where my justification and thought process for this came from. For those of you who just see it as, "guy codes app, guy wants to get paid for work, end of story," that's great; feel free to purchase or to not purchase Pukka as you see fit and thanks for reading this far. The remainder of this post is for the rest of you.

Simply, I started the Code Sorcery Workshop to finally be an entrepreneur. I've had a keen interest in entrepreneurship for nearly a decade now, and an interest in technology much longer than that -- I started coding BASIC in the 1980's at a young age. I started writing and releasing open source software in 1999 and I have been involved in the startup phase of five businesses; in fact, I've never not worked for a small, startup company. At my current position, I spearheaded our open source efforts. Coming from an open source background, it's a personal shift to start charging for software, and it's not a decision I've taken lightly.

I want to work for myself for several reasons. Besides the seemingly obvious, I want to 1) be able to give back to others from my own personal craftsmanship in ways that I see fit, whether it be by the stuff I create or sharing the wealth that I earn; 2) innovate and be involved with new technology at a rapid pace that continues to pique my wide-ranging interests; and 3) live a more balanced life that includes my future wife, my home, and my family. I'm getting married in September and I owe a lot (especially after this past Cocoa-filled weekend) to my fiancée.

As Paul Graham noted in his excellent essay on creating wealth, wealth is the stuff we want, which is not always money, and we live in an unprecedented time for craftsmen who are able to create their own wealth. It's exciting. So far, the Workshop has given me the ability to really pour my efforts into something in as many directions as I really like to: I coded Pukka, I learned CSS, and I cracked open Illustrator for the first time, all in the same month. I took part in some creative guerilla marketing while at SXSW a couple months back. I love to learn and I love to create. Even more, I love it when my work is valuable to others.

If you look at my blogroll, you'll see over 30 Mac developers or products that I admire, nearly all of which I use and have paid for, if they charge. I've easily spent several hundred dollars on Mac shareware and I've only been on the platform for a little over three years (well, I started on an Apple IIe and used some Performas in high school and college, but I've been mostly a Linux/FreeBSD guy -- I don't care too much for that other OS). If I see some software that's useful and if I believe in the concept, the execution, and what I gather the goals of the developer(s) to be, I support it. The Mac has shown me what it has undoubtedly shown you -- that software is art, and Mac users have deeper loyalties than price points.

Specific to Pukka, I'm not sure where del.icio.us, Yahoo!, or "Web 2.0" are headed. I'm not sure if this is the first step towards the semantic web or, as some people have implied, we are in Bubble 2.0. But I am actively reading and thinking about these things, and I recognized an opportunity for my interests and talents to converge with helping move this forward. Whatever it is, it feels right and it feels like the future. My efforts so far don't feel like much, and I've got bigger plans in store. But it's a start, just like I said in my first blog post. And as for the platform, I feel that Apple has produced a product that lays sufficient groundwork for me to accomplish my goals and besides, it ain't hard on the eyes, either.

Long story short -- something that is, or should be, apparent to anyone who gives money to a venture -- paying for my software furthers my goals. I hope that I've outlined them sufficiently above. And I hope that my work here is worth a tradeoff for you to make your life a little easier.

As always, leave a comment or feel free to send me an email. And thanks for reading.

We're proud to announce that Pukka 1.0 is ready! Cut straight to the chase here or read on for all the gory details.

We've polished the edges, fixed some bugs, and optimized things all around. This is the best Pukka release ever!

As intended from the start, Pukka 1.0 is shareware. You may use it for an unlimited amount of time unregistered, but it will occasionally remind you of this fact and encourage you to register your copy. It's only $5.00 US and you are guaranteed free updates for life. You can go straight to our sales page to register through PayPal, but do feel free to take it for a spin first to make sure it's right for you. And be sure to tell us how we can make Pukka better!

As always, see the Pukka page to download or the appcast for what's new.

Happy (and speedy) posting!

With this, version 0.9, hopefully being our last before the final version of Pukka is released, we're happy to announce a couple features and bug fixes.

First, we have added a dynamic counter to show you how many characters you have left to type a link's description, or whether you've gone over that limit. We've tried to do this in the most subtle yet helpful way possible, so give it a shot and let us know what you think.

We've made it a bit easier to install the browser bookmarklet, too. Just use the application menu item and everything should be right in front of you.

Lastly, aside from some bug fixes, we've greatly improved the keyboard navigation. You can now tab between fields more intuitively, as well as go directly to individual fields and go to the next or previous posting account if you've got more than one set up.

So, go grab Pukka 0.9 now! This version is good until May 1, at which point we hope to have the final release ready to go!

We're happy to announce the 0.8 release of Pukka! Now you can choose from two new options, either separate or in combination, in order to streamline your posting workflow:

• Hide immediately after submitting a link, posting in the background
• Use Growl to notify you when a link has posted successfully

We're also now using Growl to notify you of other Pukka users nearby using the built-in Bonjour feature that you know and love. If you're new to Growl, read all about it here and see it in action here. It's all about streamlining your desktop and minimizing distraction -- something that we can definitely sympathize with.

It's important to note that even with added features, Pukka is still lean and mean like you've come to expect. In fact, one person* even described Pukka recently as "disturbingly fast". And we've sped things up even more by adding a new field to the bookmarklet that can take whatever text you've got selected on a page and use it for the Description field in your post. Here's the new bookmarklet:

Just drag it to your bookmark bar and start posting even faster!

Pukka's beta period has again been extended, this time to April 15. Keep sending your feedback, either here on the blog or by email and we'll keep listening. Thanks for using Pukka!