News about Serge

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Jon
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News about Serge

Post by Jon »

My programming partner and friend, Serge, is Ukranian and has been caught up in the illegal Russian invasion orchestrated by Putin. Serge's home city is on the front lines and he has bravely chosen to remain. Recently he had to take shelter to avoid bombardment, which is heartbreaking. We are in daily contact, but that could change at any time. Given the tragic nature of the crisis and his dire situation, you will understand that he is not be available to provide support or respond to posts on this forum. Serge is the author of Bookends for iOS and Bookends cloud sync. I will try to fill his shoes while he is unavailable, but there may be issues that will have to wait until he can return. It is my fervent hope that it will be soon.

Jon
Sonny Software
Jon
Site Admin
Posts: 10038
Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2004 6:27 pm
Location: Bethesda, MD
Contact:

Re: News about Serge

Post by Jon »

Followup: Serge remains in his Ukrainian city, living in his home. There are still intermittent attacks, but so far he is safe. This morning 2 cruise missiles detonated about 500 meters from his house with enormous explosions, the debris falling on his roof ('like hail'). Luckily, he was unhurt. I am in daily contact with him -- Internet service has been largely unaffected as yet. He is volunteering in local support efforts and is donating money to Ukrainian organizations. He wants me to let our users know that when he has time he is still working, although at a much slower pace. For example, there is a Bookends for iOS update pending, probably to be released in a week or so. He also wanted me to tell our users that he will donate 100% of any monies received for Bookends for iOS and References On Tap (his personal project) to relief organization in his city. In his words, "Please mention buying subscription for Bookends for iOS or References on Tap could help locally, even if they don't use it".

There are many worthy charitable organizations that help refugees and those that remain. Personally, I use a list of 4 charities that were vetted by the NYT and found to be reputable and effective.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/202 ... guide.html

But any contribution to a reputable organization, no matter how small, helps, and reminds those in Ukraine that we support them.

Jon
Sonny Software
Serge
Posts: 339
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2011 1:09 pm

Re: News about Serge

Post by Serge »

The good news is that 6 months after Russia invaded Ukraine we are still fighting back! The bad news is that my home town is still under occupation. But also good news is that we still able to continue BOT development! As in the first post from Jon, if you consider buying the Pro Features Yearly, if not yet, it helps a lot locally. As we share our income with volunteering organizations in Ukraine and Kherson city practically. We have also PubMed On Tap and References On Tap apps on the App Store. Thank you for this type of support!

I would also like to share a few thoughts about further BOT development. Considering the current condition it’s hard to follow some roadmaps, but we did a lot already. As the next version of Bookends for iOS will require iOS 15+, we decided to modernize project a lot, under the hood, using the latest techniques, and started using the new SwiftUI framework from Apple, relatively new, but it looks like now mature for using in production. So, during this Fall I will be fully concentrated on internal refactoring, and later we will return to all features requests and suggestions you sent to us.
Jon
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Posts: 10038
Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2004 6:27 pm
Location: Bethesda, MD
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Re: News about Serge

Post by Jon »

We have another update from Serge. He can't access the internet at this time to post it, so I will.

"I would like to share some good news about our current status: my city - Kherson - was de-occupied on 11.11.2022! When leaving the city the Russian occupiers totally destroyed critical infrastructure. So, the second week already the whole city doesn’t have electricity, water, heat in homes, and internet. The city is still locked down until the completion of de-mining (By sappers). As soon as the electricity and stable internet will appear I will answer to all emails. Thank you for your understanding and support. As for the previous 9 months of the invasion we continue donation income from Bookends for iOS for local and country needs, especially before upcoming winter and energetic terror. This month we will donate to volunteer organisations delivering electric generators."

Thanks to all who have written to me in support of Serge. Hopefully the next update will be directly from him.
Serge
Posts: 339
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2011 1:09 pm

Re: News about Serge

Post by Serge »

I would like to update this thread because of the recent ecological catastrophe in my region done by the Russian army to the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant they controlled. After spending the whole day here watching what happening and helping locally, we will donate income from Bookends for iOS to UAnimals Organisation and other volunteer groups who save animals affected by the explosion at Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. If anybody would like to help additionally by sending any amount, even $1, via PayPal (sergesds@gmail.com) all money will be sent to local volunteer groups or to https://uanimals.org/en/ directly - it will be a great support. Thank you!

P.S. A deer was rescued from the water in Antonivka village near Kherson:
https://twitter.com/Euan_MacDonald/stat ... 0924232704
KhersonSavedDeer.jpg
KhersonSavedDeer.jpg (96.92 KiB) Viewed 4856 times
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