Gibraltar Installer 1.0 Build 07 has been released

Gibraltar Installer 1.0 Build 07 is now up on my website!

Now, the program side of this version has been ready since 2012. ^^; As with last time, I’d completely forgotten about this release, until I had to actually build an installer in 2014 (for Flash Card). I then promptly forgot about it again until a year later, when I fixed up the documentation and added some new files. And now, here we are, and it’s finally done!

Build 07 is mainly a fit-and-finish build, which adds small features, tweaks visuals, and fixes bugs. New features include a new “/path” argument that allows you to enter a path from the command line, a “Save log file” button on the debug window for when you run with the “/d” argument, and support for both long (e.g. “/debug”) and dashed (e.g. “-d” and “—debug”) arguments. “Required” sections now appear greyed out in the section selection page, and several bugs have been fixed.

Documentation has also been improved. I’ve added a guide on how to create a Self-Extracting Archive for your Gibraltar project, and the Annotated guides have been fixed of embarressing spelling mistakes. ^^;

Lastly, I’ve also added two Notepad++ syntax highlighting plugins – one for the config file, and one for the language file – so that your Gibraltar script looks much nicer (and easier to read, too!)

Gibraltar Installer home page
Gibraltar Installer download page
What's new in Build 07

Don’t forget to submit bug reports so I can, well, fix any bugs! To do so, go to http://www.markkb.com/stuff/bugs/ and click “Submit bug report”. Make sure you fill in as much detail as possible, please.

Updater Patch for Project Nelson and Software Updater

Patches for Project Nelson and Software Updater have now been released. If you want to continue to recieve updates for either program, you’re going to have to download the patches.

So, what do the patches change? Well, a while ago, I moved my website to a shiny new domain, http://www.markkb.com/, rather than the free web hosting website I had previously. Unfortunately, the last versions of both Project Nelson and Software Updater were released before the move, which means their installers registered the old website address instead of the new one into Software Updater’s database.

This meant that when Software Updater checked for new versions of itself or for new versions of Project Nelson, it used the old website address instead of the new one. Because of that, as that website is no longer active, Software Updater would display “Error occured - update failed” below both Project Nelson and Software Updater.

This patch updates the links in Software Updater’s database that it uses to check for updates so that they point to the new website. This should also fix the error messages under both entries.

One last thing: this patch should work for any version of Project Nelson and Software Updater, not just the current version. Just note that once you’ve updated, you’ll need to install the patch again, as the current version’s installers haven’t yet been updated with the new website information.

Download the Updater Patch for Project Nelson
Download the Updater Patch for Software Updater

Read more about the Updater Patch

Flash Card 1.0 released

 I’ve (finally) released version 1.0 of Flash Card.

In this initial version, you can create flash card sets and cards. When you click the “Play” button, the screen will be ‘disabled’ and the program will ask you questions which you must type the correct answers to (acting as a keen motivator to anyone who wants to get back to using their computer!)

This version comes preloaded with three card sets, all for the Japanese language – one for hiragana characters, one for basic kanji, and one for kanji numbers.

If you encounter any bugs, submit them to http://www.markkb.com/stuff/bugs/ and I’ll see what I can do about them.

Flash Card home page 
Flash Card download page 
More info on version 1.0

Project Nelson 1.0 Build 020 Update 1 and Software Updater 1.1 released!

After quite a bit of trouble and a few delays due to some unexpected bugs cropping up last-minute, Project Nelson 1.0 Build 020 Update 1 and Software Updater 1.1 have finally been released!

Project Nelson 1.0 Build 020 Update 1 is purely a bug-fixing update, and fixes most of the bugs that cropped up in 1.0 Build 020. This includes Project Nelson crashing on start on some systems, and a bug in SchedulePN that caused Windows XP to cancel shutting down.

Project Nelson home page
Project Nelson download page
Build 020 Update 1 Changelog
Build 020 Update 1 Readme

Software Updater 1.1 now searches for updates all the time, rather than just at boot, and the interface now sports a cleaner look. It also now checks to make sure the update is supported on your version of Windows before downloading.

Software Updater home page
Software Updater download page 
Version 1.1 Home Page 
Version 1.1 Changelog

Don’t forget to submit bug reports so I can, well, fix any bugs! To do so, go to http://www.markkb.com/stuff/bugs/ and click “Submit bug report”. Make sure you fill in as much detail as possible, please.

Updated 14/07/2013 to fix broken links.

Project Nelson 1.0 Build 020 Update 1 is coming

Well, It's been two years since the last update to Project Nelson. There have been a few reasons why that is, but the main, I think, might be that the plan for Build 021 was too ambitious to do all at once.

I’d originally planned to fix the flaws I’d found in Build 020 in Build 021, but leaving the major flaws and bugs in Build 020 unfixed for any longer is just not right. So, I’m announcing that an intern version of Project Nelson, dubbed Update 1, will be released this month. I’ve been working on this update for the last few months, and I hope it will satisfy many issues with the current version. Not all bugs will be fixed in this update, but the majority of major issues will, including a problem with Project Nelson that causes it to crash on first start on some systems, and a few UAC-related issues.

Software Updater 1.1 will also be released alongside it. With this version, the update checker now runs on a schedule, rather than only on first start, and now checks the minimum system requirements before presenting an update. It also has a refreshed interface that, I hope you’ll agree, looks a lot better than before.

Project Nelson 1.0 Build 020 Update 1 will be released later this month, and I’ll have some more information about the future of Project Nelson beyond Update 1 later on as well. Until then, see you!

--MarkKB

Gibraltar Installer 1.0 Build 06 has been released

Gibraltar Installer 1.0 Build 06 is now up on my website!

Now you might be wondering, ‘geez, what took so long? The last release was in 2009!’ Well, the truth is, this build’s been done since January 2010 (I’ve even been using it for my other software), and I kept on putting off documenting the new config settings because I’d thought it’d take a long time, and then I forgot I hadn’t released it, and then a few days ago I remembered and decided to bite the bullet. And so, here we are!

(I’m really sorry about this, guys, and I’ll try not to be so silly next time. ^^; )

Build 06 introduces themes, adds support for sections (if you want the user to be able to configure what parts of the software to install), adds support for importing .reg files, adds support for restarting after install, as well as a little UI fit-and-finish and a bit of bug-whacking.

Don’t forget to submit bug reports so I can, well, fix any bugs! To do so, go to http://www.markkb.com/stuff/bugs/ and click “Submit bug report”. Make sure you fill in as much detail as possible, please.

Gibraltar Installer home page
Gibraltar Installer download page
What's new in Build 06

Updated 26/09/2012 and 14/07/2013 to fix broken links.

Software Updater 1.0 Build 03 has been released

Software Updater 1.0 Build 03 is now up on my website! If you already have Build 02 installed, you should receive a notification when you next restart your computer.

Build 03 fixes a whole bunch of bugs, including the log-off bug and various UAC-related issues. It also adds the ability to add software to the All Users area and support for PAD files, as well as a little UI fit-and-finish.

Don’t forget to submit bug reports so I can, well, fix any bugs! To do so, go to http://www.markkb.com/stuff/bugs/ and click “Submit bug report”. Make sure you fill in as much detail as possible, please.

Software Updater home page
Software Updater download page
Build 03 Home Page
Build 03 Changelog

Updated 26/09/2012 and 14/07/2013 to fix broken links.