Brotherbards's Blog

Here’s an update on my experimental GitX fork.

Download the current binary from the github download page.

Some of the things I’ve added are:

• Sidebar/source view

I started with Pieter de Bie’s sidebar branch and went to town.

• Remote Operations

Fetch, pull, push, add remote, clone, and clone to.

• Commit operations

Merge, cherry-pick, and rebase.

• Checkout file

In the contextual menu for files. Checkout the file as it existed in the selected commit to the index.

• Diff commits and files

In the contextual menu for commits and files. Opens a new window with a diff against the current HEAD. A commit diffs the state of the repository as it existed at that commit. A file diffs the state of the file as it existed in that commit.

• File Browser selection

The file browser now maintains it’s selection when you change to a different commit.

• Quick Look support for 10.6

Now supports the public API for quick look.

If you use git on OS X 10.5+ give my GitX fork a try and let me know what you think.

In the copious free time I have now I have also started playing around with GitX, a GUI front end for git.

You can find my fork at my GitHub page.

I made the mistake of starting on a subfork of GitX. I did this because someone had added a feature that I wanted to use. But instead of downloading a binary I had to download the code and compile it. Once I had the code I started looking at it and found a bit here and there that I could add/improve.

But after a bit I decided that I wanted to get serious about getting these features into the main GitX release. So now I am working on integrating these features back into Pieter de Bie’s master branch.

If you would like to help out and are running OS X 10.6 I could use some feedback on the UX of the features I’ve added and bug reports.

One current problem I’ve had reported is that staging/discarding hunks is not always working. I’ve fixed one problem, but I’ve been told it still does not always work. But it’s always working for me so I need a test case that fails so I can track down the problem.

First off, please note that I am not dead. I’ve just been rather busy the last several months and didn’t have time to work on BMB2. But now I do.

This release fixes a mistake I made in the GUI RPC calls to get the core client status.

I’ve also added Sparkle to do software updates. So from now on BMB2 will (optionally) notify you when new updates are available and allow you to download them.

In Snow Leopard Apple added additional restrictions on apps running with setuid (which both BOINC Manager and BOINCMenubar 2 did). So now I don’t install BMB2 with setuid and as a result have gotten rid of the installer altogether (that was the only reason BMB2 needed it). This time just copy BOINCMenubar 2 to the Applications folder. For the next update Sparkle will automatically put BMB2 in the correct place.

What this also means is that non-admin users will need to enter the BOINC GUI password to allow BMB2 to communicate with BONC running on the local machine. This is different from the current BOINC Manager which requires you to add the non-admin users to a special group for them to have access.

I have a fair bit of free time at the moment so hopefully updates will happen more than once every 5 months. :)

Seth Dillingham is running his 4th annual PMC Software Charity Fundraiser.

There are many Mac OS X and iPhone apps up for sale, you find apps you would like and make him an offer. All the proceeds go to charity.

Check it out and see if there is anything you can use. The Mac apps will usually have a trial version of some sort, so you can check them out before you buy.

This release fixes a couple of crashing bugs that have been reported by many people using CrashReporter. So thank you for sending in those reports!

Also, I have added a popup menu to the BOINC preferences that makes it easier to change the host you are viewing/editing. This way you don’t have to go to the menu and switch the host there to see it’s preferences.

Scientific American has an article up about Docking@Home:

Help wanted: A new project for your home computer to help beat HIV, Alzheimer’s and other conditions

This release fixes a crashing bug when using the “Override Web Preferences” option in the BOINC Preferences window. And stops the menu icon from blinking when the “Use at most X% CPU Time” was less than 100%.

I have also added a crash reporter, the open source FeedbackReporter.

Apple creates and collects crash reports but does not send them to the developer. The next time BOINCMenubar is run after a crash it will ask you to send in the report. You can add a comment describing what you were trying to do when it crashed and you can look at the information that will be sent (open the details section).

Sending the report is not mandatory, but these reports will help me to improve BOINCMenubar.
If BOINCMenubar has crashed anytime in the past then the first time you run this version it will ask you to send in the report. After that it will only ask when there is a more recent crash.

Apple creates and collects crash reports but does not send them to the developer. The next time BOINCMenubar is run after a crash it will ask you to send in the report. You can add a comment describing what you were trying to do when it crashed and you can look at the information that will be sent (open the details section).

If BOINCMenubar has crashed anytime in the past then the first time you run this version it will ask you to send in the report. After that it will only ask when there is a more recent crash.

Sending the report is not mandatory, but these reports will help me to improve BOINCMenubar.

There is a good article about the science behind Folding@Home (which also mentions Rosetta@Home) called: What is Folding and Why Does it Matter?

Fixed a number of bugs that have been reported, the most important of which is it could crash when reading the Login Items while checking to see if BOINCMenubar was in the list. It does this the first time you open the General Preferences pane.

If you have found any other situations that BOINCMenubar 2 crashes please let me know.

Maurice Sendak‘s birthday was earlier this week. Where the Wild Things Are is my favorite book from when I was a child.

Cory Godbey has tapped a number of artists and illustrators to create works of art based on Where the Wild Things Are called Terrible Yellow Eyes.

Check it out, there is some really amazing artwork there.