Mind the Gap

You can probably tell that I'm not a "natural" blogger. I hesitate to post unless I've got "real news" of some kind, and this tendency runs counter to a major purpose of this blog: to give you a feel for how things are going behind the scenes. So, I apologize for the long hiatus and resolve to do better.

WEBoggle news: My complete rewrite of the game engine is ready for beta testing. It seems to me to be stable and largely bug-free, but we won't know for sure until y'all give it a try. The rewrite had two goals, each of which has been met: reduce the load on the server, and give the client more power and flexibility. The interface is still rather plain and ugly, but makes more sense - there is a sidebar from which you can reach all of the important parts of the game. I've adopted a free JavaScript library that allows me to do nifty interface tricks, and that is more thoroughly debugged than my home-brewed stuff. Preferences are now permanently saved, even if you play on a different computer. There are new options: click-to-pick instead of click-to-rotate, and turning off highlighting of letters. Team scores indicate how many members the team has. There is a new "unified" word result list available, which is used in the new default layout. Your guesses are scored instantly, without waiting for the server (but if the connection to the server fails, a guess can be "lost", so that your score is reduced in the last round scorelist). Each player in the scorelist has a menu (click on the name) from which you can "ban" that player from your sight. Use it to get rid of those rude folks who use racist or otherwise offensive names.

Finally, the bad news, or at least news that you may not like: the name is changing, and the new game requires you to give me your email address. The beta is at http://www.wordsplay.net, so-called because that was the least-lame name I could come up with that is (A) available as a domain name, and (B) not close enough to "Boggle" to leave any chance of legal complications. It requires you to choose a password and "activate" it by verifying an email address before you can play. Please understand that I made the decision to do this only after a great deal of thought, and I have tried to make it as easy as possible to get started playing. But there are too many advantages: it enables many features that depend upon server-side storage, such as permanent preferences, ban lists, and statistics; it helps with the development and maintenance of Deluxe accounts; and it allows me to ban abusive players. I promise not to abuse your email address or share it with anyone else. I hope that most of you will embrace the new.

Personal news: I am still about three weeks away from getting bar exam results, but I have passed the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam with flying colors. All of my grades are in - I tied for the high A in Practice Court III - so I've officially graduated magna cum laude. My old employer very generously kept me on throughout law school despite the serious effect of my studies on my ability to work; I committed to devoting August to my accumulated tasks, and to wrapping up my work neatly enough that they can replace me. Also, I planned to wind up or simplify a bunch of computer administration that I continue to perform for my family. Also, I planned to work on WEBoggle. Also, I hadn't had any significant amount of time to relax and enjoy life for many many months. Also, I need to find a place to start my legal career. See where I'm going with this? August was insanely busy, and swallowed September as well. It has only been a little over a week since I got most of my plans completed. Now, all that remains is WordSplay (nee WEBoggle) and job hunting. On the bright side, I have read quite a few books for pleasure, seen several very good movies (300, Intolerable Cruelty, Ratattouille), watched some fine television (The Daily Show, Robot Chicken, and now Pushing Daisies), and developed my ping-pong skills.