Chris "Club Drop" Ambler's Dropshark has been released

[mole]

Check it out

http://www.dropshark.com

 

[guiwang]

Oh,thank for you info.I am downloading this tools at http://download.dropshark.com/
2.9M is not small.Hope it's a perfect tools.
Bean

 

[actnow]

I can not get it to open. I am using XP. And, I spent over an hour trying to
figure it out. I give up.

Maybe, someone else can get it to work.

 

[NameTower]

doesnt work here either.

maybe we need to add some files into the WINDOWS directory?

 

[actnow]

I did add the framework files, etc.

I think, if it doesn't work for the "masses".
It will need to be adjusted before it will be accepted.

 

[mole]

doesnt work here either.

Hey, don't shoot the messenger :emba:

 

[sellmhi]

I am posting for Chris, who says he needs to buy an account on here...

If you are having problems starting DropShark, would you please drop me an email at [email protected] and let me know the problem? I had 10 testers on the application before I released it, but being a 1.0, there are bound to be a few rough edges. I need to figure out why some people can't get it to start and address those issues immediately.

Thanks!

 

[Frontline]

Looks like just another list searcher to me, am i missing something?

 

[cambler]

No, you're not missing anything, but then again, you are.

DropShark is yet another list searcher. But it has a number of key features that make it different. First, it's fast. Very fast. It can do a compound word search across 5 days of data in less than 10 second on an Athlon 2800+ with 512M of RAM. It's slightly slower if you have less RAM, but it's still faster than anything else out there.

Second, it comes with the list service included in the licensing price - it's NOT a subscription service. So a single $29.95 license means that you'll get all 5 days of data, every day, for as long as the drop continues (and even if WLS happens, which I still think is unlikely, there will always be a drop). So if you're paying money to a web site for a subscription to the dropping-name list, you no longer need to do so.

And third, it comes with my brain. I've got pages full of ideas for new features that will make it more than just yet another list searcher, and I suspect that most here will agree that I know a little bit about this market. So an early-adopter license means you'll get upgrades for life. That's everything I think up, and some things that I've come up with that I'm certain nobody else has. And since the application loads its data from my web service, I have a number of features planned that nobody else can offer (unless they learn how to read my mind, in which case I'm in serious trouble).

As I said before, though, it's a 1.0 right now - and the extreme memory usage to make it fast seems to be causing problems on machines with less than 128M of memory, so I'm looking into it.

Bottom line, anyone who buys a license before the next version (currently scheduled for July 4) gets upgrades at no additional cost for the lifetime of the application. I think that's quite a deal.

 

[cambler]

I have uploaded a new build (1.0.602.1) that has cut the load footprint considerably, and will be uploading 1.0.602.2 tonight that will detect less than 128M of RAM and trim the index lists.

If anyone can reproduce startup problems, please let me know at [email protected] and I'll address it immediately.

If anyone has a problem downloading the ZIP (which I've now reduced to be 1.4 Megs in size), please also let me know.

 

[Frontline]

Thanks for the extra information Chris, there just wasn't a whole lot on the website yet (i know its still in development). So, if we purchase this script we lists of all deleting domains (5 days prior to drop) for the entire lifetime of the program or we have to pay $29.95 for every 5 day set of deleting domains?

 

[cambler]

You pay $29.95 for a license, and you're done. DropShark loads all available data, every day. As you know, Verisign publishes the data five days in advance, so on any given day you can get that day plus the next four (with overlap depending on your time zone, of course).

I considered making the program free and charging a monthly subscription fee, but that didn't seem like the right thing to do.

 

[cambler]

PS: not to be pedantic about it, but it's not a script - it's a full application that communicates with a web service. As such, it has the framework to do a lot more than just scan names. I think you'll raise an eyebrow at the features I have planned over the next few months.

 

[Duke]

How many extensions are covered with your lists?

 

[cambler]

Currently, for the 1.0, it's the Verisign lists only. But I'm working on biz/info/org for the next version, depending on what's available and reliable.

That's one of the reasons I'm offering the "Early-Adopter" license for this first month - there's much more to come, and I want to reward those who get on board early (and, as such, help fund development).

 

[ezimedia]

HI Chris,

You have a great idea and a great app you are creating, I just got it and I have to say I am impressed with it so far,

I sent you an email about a few issues, hope you can address them,

Thanks
Tom Dahne

 

[cambler]

Absolutely - I have a ton of feature ideas that I'm prioritizing to get in there over the next month in anticipation of the next version.

By the way, where did you send the email? I've not seen it yet...

 

[NameTower]

chris did you get to the bottom of why it won't load on my computer?

 

[AHDOnline]

After reloading the microsoft framework on my machine i finally got it to load the application, but it is hanging on the splash screen, I never have the ability to select continue.

What differs from your program versus domain-retriever? I have used this tool for years and it has met my needs to date..

 

[cambler]

Jordan, no - I'm consulting with an associate at Microsoft as to how I can trap this problem, which shouldn't be possible with .NET (famous last words, huh?)

AHDOnline, please make sure that you get the latest version from http://download.dropshark.com (version 1.0.603.1). There was a problem with the splash screen timer on some machines, so I've removed the timer entirely. Let me know if that does or does not resolve your issue.

Ah, the joys of 1.0 software! But... the joys of a programmer who kills bugs as they're found

I've never used domain-retriever, so I can't say what differs. But since you can download and run DropShark in demo mode, you can decide for yourself. Two things that does differ from all others, though, are the speed of DropShark as well as the fact that I'm actively adding features based on my own ideas as well as requests from everyone. That is, the development cycle through the next couple of versions is intense. With my offer of an "Early Adopter" license that gives you upgrades in perpetuity, I'd say it's quite the deal, no?