A minor bug has been found in Verbatim. It's not serious, but it does did prevent effective use of the program.
Grey Matters reader “Bev” had trouble getting Verbatim to read her XML file, and asked me about the exact nature of the problem. Upon further investigation, it turns out that the problem boils down to Verbatim being on one domain and her file being on a totally different domain. As a security feature, most browsers specifically prevent a Javascript program (such as Verbatim) from accessing an XML file under a totally different domain.
Update (October 15, 2009): The bug has been fixed, and this post has been edited concerning the changes.
It took quite a bit of research to find the solution, but it's done. Except that you now have the ability to use XML files located on almost any server (except for those overly-strict ones that prevent ANY external access, which is unusual), you shouldn't notice any differences between the original and current versions of Verbatim.
The original XML files still work with the program, and it still works as in the videos.
I eliminated the verbatim.zip file I originally offered as part of a short-term solution, as you can now use the program here, and access your files anywhere.
Bev, thank you for alerting me to this problem!
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Verbatim Bug Found!
Published on Sunday, September 27, 2009 in downloads, fun, memory, memory feats, self improvement, site features, software
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7 Response to Verbatim Bug Found!
Is that a bug or a design feature?
Looks like it's a design feature now!
After going over the possible ways of cross-domain data requests, it seems that simply moving the program to the same domain, as described above, is the simplest and most secure method.
uhmm...probably a dumb question:
you say:
"3) Upload the unzipped verbatim folder and all its contents onto YOUR WEB SERVER SPACE."
I'm at a loss as to what that means. I don't have a server space.
Maybe this is explained when I download the app from the iTunes store. But I'm reluctant to download anything I am unsure how to use.
Help??
(BTW this app could be life-changing for me because I do a LOT of memorizing!!!)
You can find web server space to upload the program and your XML files for free at many places. I've used the following two places myself with good success:
http://www.freetzi.com/
http://www.freehostia.com/
One other important thing:
Verbatim is not available via the iTunes store. It's a web app - an application that is running on the internet, just like any other web page.
I have it up and running here, but if you're not on members.cox.net, then you'll need to download it and upload the expanded file into server space as described above, in order for the program to work properly.
Low tech, compared with Verbatim but, if you know how to use a text editor to edit a web page and use some common sense, Rote Reveal
http://www.nakedscience.com/articles/Rote%20Reveal.htm
is a prompting tool for recall and could be just put on to the browser device which you carry around with you.
You just edit the existing paragraphs and do not use double quotes in any text because that confuses the program.
Mike
Mike, that's actually a pretty good tool!
Looking at the page and the source code, if I understand correctly, you're supposed to download the page and alter the code to include your own paragraphs?
Yes, and to save the text file as .html rather than .txt
It's crying out for a more user-friendly way to make the file but, yes, it is simple to use.
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