Safe from the Losing Fight

If you like what you’re seeing with Illuminate or are just curious about future Fortunate Bear products, there are a few ways you keep up to date. You can follow Fortunate Bear on Twitter, visit the company Facebook page, or subscribe to the company newsletter (scroll to the bottom of the page).

I officially released Illuminate today. If you’ve ever had difficulty finding a window, or just regularly have a ton of them open, or Exposé just isn’t cutting it for you, you should definitely give the free 30-day trial a try.

If you’d like to know more about Illuminate, you can always visit the product page or read the press release.

I want to give an update on how the release of my first product, Illuminate, is going. The software itself is complete — actually it’s been done for well over a month — but the website is still in the final stages of being finished and the last bit of messaging completed.

One thing that I’ve learned through all of this is how badly I suck at estimating how long it will take other people to do their part. Sure, venders will give a time estimate of the task, but it doesn’t always take into account their other responsibilities, such as working for other clients, eating, or sleeping. Just because the work only takes 40 hours, doesn’t mean it’ll be done in one week; it could be two or three depending on what else is on the vendor’s plate.

All that to say: this whole product launching thing is taking way longer than I thought it would.

So I can’t say exactly when the Fortunate Bear/Illuminate launch will happen, other than “soon.” If you’d like to know exactly when, you can sign up for my newsletter or follow Fortunate Bear on Twitter.

Update: I’m no longer able to take any more people into the beta program at this time. Thanks for your interest!

If you’re anything like me you have a lot of windows open at any one time. I usually have an ungodly number of Safari and Xcode windows open full of research and code. The problem is I often lose track of which window is where, and have difficulty getting to the window I want. The respective windows menus at this point are at an unwieldy length and Exposé just shows me such tiny thumbnails that I can’t tell if that one’s the header file I’m looking for or the latest Penny Arcade.

It was for this reason I wrote Illuminate. Sometimes I can recognize the window by sight, but I only want to see a reasonably number of them at a time. Sometimes I know the window name and I just want to go directly there. Other times I don’t remember either, just a key phrase I know appears in the window. Illuminate can handle all of these cases for me.

Illuminate is now in a “closed” beta. If you love trying out new software and giving constructive feedback, please sign up at the Fortunate Bear website. Edit: The beta is currently full.

As some of the more astute readers might have noticed, the sidebar and about page of this blog have changed to remove references to Order N and their products and services. You might be wondering what that’s all about. I’ve decided to answer your potential questions in FAQ format, in order to sound more pretentious.

So what’s the deal with Order N?

They’re still around, successful, and offering custom development services for the Mac and iOS platforms. However, I sold my shares in the company back in October and I’m no longer part of Order N.

What do you do now?

Mainly sit around in my underwear, playing solitaire.

…uh, anything else?

Sometimes I pet my cats, Luna and Pasha.

Alright, I guess we’re done here.

Wait, before you go, let me tell you about my new company.

You could’ve mentioned that earlier.

And miss out on all the interesting tidbits about Mac indie life?

Anyway, so you have a new company?

Yep, still shiny and everything.

…

…

…anything you want to say about it?

Yeah, it’s going to be awesome, sweet, sick, and possibly jivetastic, if that’s still a word.

I’m not sure that was ever a word. What’s the company going to do?

Be awesome. Gonna have our own tree fort and everything. See:

It’s like Panic’s Founder’s Room, only cooler. I’m also working on the official company super secret handshake, but I can’t think of anything after “patty cake, patty cake, baker’s man.”

Wow, there’s so many things wrong with that, I don’t know where to begin. But I see the company name appears to “Fortunate Bear.” Where does the name come from?

Insomnia induced delirium, and possibly the sheer jivetasticness of myself.

Really?

No, I just randomly matched up adjectives and nouns until I found one I liked the sound of, and my wife wouldn’t divorce me over.

Is Fortunate Bear going to be a software company or what?

Oh, right, software. Yes, software will be involved in the process. I’m not much for playing solitaire with real cards. It’s the reason why the iPad is so magical.

Is the whole FAQ going to be this way? Because there’s a netiquette FAQ I could be hosting.

Alright, fine. Fortunate Bear is a software company focused on creating Mac and iOS apps to sell under the Fortunate Bear brand. I am the sole owner.

What about contracting/freelancing?

I might have to do some in the early years of Fortunate Bear, but it will be kept a bear minimum (see what I did there?) and phased out as soon as possible. I am not currently available for contracting. I’m focusing on building my own products.

What can you tell me about the products you’re working on?

I’m working on a Mac app for window management. It’s like Exposé except it doesn’t suck. I’ll be announcing a beta for it soon.

What about Hearts Attack?

I bought the source and rights for Hearts Attack from Order N. I’m renaming it, adding a few features, and changing the way it will generate money. I’m hoping to release it soon, but not until I get my Mac app out.

How can I get more information about Fortunate Bear and its products?

This blog will continue to be the main place I write and make announcements. However, I have a placeholder site for Fortunate Bear. You can sign up for the company newsletter to get announcements about products as well as tips and tricks after the products are released. There’s also an official Fortunate Bear Twitter account you can follow.

Anything else you want to add?

It’s gonna be jivetastic.

Please shut up.