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 ====== Blog and News ======
+===== March 1, 2025: TailControl Love Is in The Air! =====
+{{ :en:tailcontrol20250208.jpg?400 |}}
+==== Welcome Tailer Community ====
+Welcome back to another blog edition! First up, is some new branding:
+"TailCoNTROL" is now "TailControl", and the [[https://docs.thetailcompany.com/doku.php?id=en:dev:tailcontrol-command-protocol|documentation]]
+and references have been updated to reflect it. My typographical artistry was
+just too far ahead of it's time, clearly...
+Also, EarGear, is now a Registered Trademark! This joins the Crumpet the Fox
+logo, and MiTail and is a big step forward for the business to establish its
+name and branding, especially as a business trading internationally.
+==== Even-more Unified Firmware ====
+The first blog posting was the announcement of the unified firmware system,
+that brought all the tail hardware-based products (MiTail, FlutterWings, and
+MiTail Mini) under the same banner. But one product had yet to be brought into
+the fold, and that's the EarGear.
+I can finally announce that EarGear is now under TailControl... control!
+This means the ears will benefit from TailControl's advanced move system, move
+easing, and other features and bugfixes. I've also worked behind the scenes in
+the code to continue to organize and improve the code organization and
+stability, which all the products will benefit from.
+==== New Moves ====
+The ears now have new moves, and are much more energetic and lifelike now. Ear
+twitches are much more twitch-like. Previously, all ear moves took the same
+amount of time to execute: 1000 ms, or 500 ms, depending on whether "be
+excited" was selected. Obviously, this didn't allow much flexibility in move
+design. With the TailControl EarGear firmware, the fully-parameterized move
+system is now available, and the ear move set has been redesigned to take
+advantage of that new flexibility.
+==== Conference Mode ====
+In the previous blog posting, I talked briefly about the Midwest FurFest 2023
+BLE spam attack and plans to address issues around those sorts of problems.
+[[https://docs.thetailcompany.com/doku.php?id=en:dev:tailcontrol-command-protocol#conference_mode|Conference Mode]]
+is now implemented in both TailControl and The Tail Company app. This mode
+establishes a BLE Bond and protects your Tail Co device from unauthorized
+connections, replay attacks, and encrypts over-the-air communications.
+Practically speaking, this means that only you will be able to connect and
+command your Tail Company devices, and it will prevent anyone else from
+interfering in your tailing experience.
+It comes coupled with a factory reset function
+([[https://docs.thetailcompany.com/doku.php?id=en:dev:tailcontrol-command-protocol#unbinding|described in the Unbinding section of the protocol reference]]),
+to reset the device back to factory settings, in case the bond gets lost and
+can't be reset - or any other persistent setting causes issues. Back to
+factory-fresh, with the press of a button!
+Conference Mode is available to try out now, but we'll continue to adjust and
+develop this feature in response to customer feedback to make it more
+user-friendly and functional.
+==== App Updates ====
+The Tail Company App continues to get new features and updates, and has seen
+several releases in this time. Be sure to check out the new version, if you
+haven't already!
+==== New Products ====
+There's a new accessory for tails that's recently come out for those who want
+to hang their tails vertically: [[https://thetailcompany.com/product/the-verticalizer/|The Verticalizer]].
+This is an optional adapter that fits between the tail and the D-clip on your belt
+and gives you a new option to wear your tail!
+In celebration of the new ear firmware, there's a new EarGear product! Complementing the
+[[https://thetailcompany.com/product/eargear-cosplay-ears-creators-edition/|EG Creators Edition]],
+The Tail Company is adding the [[https://thetailcompany.com/product/eargear-headphones-edition/|EarGear Headphones Edition]]
+to the EarGear lineup! Ears... on your headphones! 'nuff said!
+The Tail Company is always on the move - just like our products! New stuff is
+already in the pipeline in different stages: prototype all the way up to
+coming out soon, there's stuff to look forward to!
+==== What's Next? ====
+Firmware development never stops. There are still new features being explored,
+and new products that are upcoming or being considered. Firmware development
+will continue to bring more value to existing and future customers of The Tail
+Company!
+Watch for the wag!
+Your Friendly Lurking Horror,
+Dark Grue
+===== May 3, 2024: Dawn of the TailCoNTROL! =====
+{{ :en:img_20230703_154415_158.jpg?400 |}}
+==== Welcome Tailer Community ====
+Hello! This is somewhat of a unique newsletter, as I’m extremely excited to be guest writing to tell you about new developments and upcoming features coming to all the Tail Co app-controlled products – especially for those who haven’t had the opportunity to hear about them through the Telegram groups where they get actively discussed.
+By way of introduction, I am David “Dark Grue” Hesprich, and I’ve been involved since joining the original Ear Gear Kickstarter that was launched in July of 2019. I joined the Telegram group for backers, happened to have some manufacturing design info at my fingertips that was of use to Master Tailer… and it was all downhill from there! 😆  Since that time, I’ve been helping with the Telegram groups to provide support (and hopefully humorous entertainment), established the repair depot for Tail Co products for the Americas, maintain the product firmware and technical documentation, and just provide all sorts of consulting support to the business. It’s been a great time for me in terms of opportunity, and I really enjoy working with Master Tailer and the Tailer community.
+==== Unified Firmware ====
+The big news from me for this newsletter is the announcement of the new unified firmware system for the entire Tail Co app-controlled product line, TailCoNTROL! The first release of this firmware will be for MiTail, FlutterWings, and MiTail Mini, and has greatly expanded the move control and design features.
+One of the very first firmware development projects I was involved in for The Tail Company was adding servo easing to the movement of MiTail. Servo easing is a technique used to improve the smoothness of the movement of servo motors. It is achieved by using a mathematical algorithm to adjust the acceleration and deceleration of the servo motor as it moves between two positions. This helps create a smoother, more natural motion and can help reduce motor noise and wear. I’ve gotten a lot of feedback personally from customers that noticed when that change went out to production, and they have really noticed the difference.
+Now, both the internal move definitions as well as user-defined moves have been greatly expanded in fine-grain control. Previously, servo easing was global, now it can be set per-servo, per-step. The servos also run independently. Previously, servo moves on both servos ran the same duration – which was entirely appropriate for the tail, but became less desirable for products like the FlutterWings where independent moves can produce really life-like effects.
+The move system is also now on the servo easing library’s interrupt handling service instead of being serviced by a program loop. It makes for a much cleaner move system code, and should be much more efficient in using the microprocessor resources on the products, which leaves more time for them to do other things.
+Lastly, the unified firmware allows us to roll out features and fixes across the entire product line quickly and consistently. As one might imagine, maintaining multiple disparate codebases is a nightmare and this brings all the products under the same umbrella. A better code maintenance situation for the Tail Co, and a much more consistent experience for the customers.
+What about the EarGear 2? Well, TailCoNTROL is coming to ears as well! A proof-of-concept to move Ear Gear 2 to the unified firmware has been completed, and will be the next major firmware release project, bringing all the current features of the rest of the product line to the ears, as well as a much-needed update to the ear move system (including the servo easing.) But wait, theres more… ConFURence Mode.
+==== Firmware Future: Code Security and ConFURence Mode ====
+The entire team, whether it’s Tail Co staff or community volunteers, seeks to make the best animatronics we can. And the quality of the firmware is indispensable to that. Faulty firmware can mar the customer experience, or in the worst case, put a tail out of commission, and to that end, we’re performing functional and security testing to make sure that the firmware is quality, and will work as expected, as well as characterize risks and hazards to drive development priorities.
+Some may recall the incident at Midwest FurFest 2023. Many attendees reported severe business disruption with their Square payment readers, others described problems with Bluetooth-enabled hearing aids and heart rate monitoring tools. An attendee also tweeted that the Android device they used to control their insulin pump had been interfered with by a Bluetooth Low Energy spam attack and that had they not been able to recover their device, they would have needed emergency care. There’s no possible excuse for these kinds of attacks and misuse, as it quickly – and entirely predicably – went from anything remotely resembling a prank to assault. It’s sad, but it’s also a very poignant example of practical threat and risk analysis that I perform in my day job. Which brings us to ConFURence Mode (we're still workshopping the name).
+The Bluetooth stack handling communications on the controller boards is a pretty popular open-source implementation and has shown to be extremely robust, but the Midwest FurFest attack has realized certain risks that we want to address in further enhancements to protect the gear against abuse. In an upcoming release, we’ll be adding more features to harden the unified firmware against hostile Bluetooth connections. It’s not physically possible to prevent broadband RF jamming or an otherwise crowded RF environment (although the spread-spectrum feature of Bluetooth itself helps mitigate that), but we can and will help prevent malicious attacks that can take the tail out of commission or grab control away from the owner. It’s unfortunate that it’s necessary, but it’s a significant way we continue to deliver value to customers past the point of purchase to ensure you enjoy your tail, ears, or wings!
+==== Open-Source Tails, Ears and Wings ====
+The Tail Company has always been supportive of open-source where it can be, and a significant part of recent changes has been to give greater access to application code and documentation resources:
+The creation of the OpenTails Github repository (https://github.com/OpenTails), to kick off the umbrella branding for application coding and other projects that work with The Tail Company products.
+On the documentation and reference side, we have The Tail Company Library (https://docs.thetailcompany.com/), which brings together all the product documentation, developer documentation (such as the command protocols for communicating with the firmware), and product videos. The documentation and video guides have been greatly expanded as well.
+The new wiki also showcases a new effort, which is to make self-repair options available to customers. The Service Notes for MiTail (https://docs.thetailcompany.com/doku.php?id=en:manuals:service-notes-for-mitail) has been released along with the availability of replacement parts through The Tail Company. This gives customers another option to maintain their tail in addition to the already available repair services. It’s also an invaluable resource for advanced modders looking to extend the functionality of their tail!
+==== Accessibility ====
+Getting to the broadest possible audience is part of the goal of creating openness, and language support supplies another part of the overall strategy. The Android application’s language support has reached 16 languages as a result of our volunteer customer translators and the enthusiastic direction of our community translation lead. Similarly, key parts of the wiki are available in English and German, with Czech and Spanish pending.
+Community Support
+It’s important to mention where all this change is being driven from, and where the energy and effort is sourced – it’s the community of users! The Telegram user groups, which has expanded greatly to add both product development and translation support chats, is staffed entirely of volunteers from the community from all over the world. The new wiki was created by our community member, ToeiRei, who has done a great job reviewing code security and quality and also leads the application and wiki translation efforts. WolFi provides the merciless CrumpetBot, that keeps the Telegram user groups free of spammers and disruptions. Leinir is the Android Crumpet developer and community member who has donated countless amounts of time to features and supporting users. Code-L is developing his own app for iOS and Android which is also showing great promise. And lots of other people who support by participating: showing off their products, providing user-to-user support, feature feedback and testing, and more!
+Our volunteer moderators, who help with user-to-user support on the Telegram groups, and help keep things civil and welcoming deserve a mention: Birdy the Scottish Gryphon, Devin Neko, Izwe, Leinir, Talon Meosic, ToeiRei, WolFi, and yurei Kitsune.
+And I want to give a special thanks to a new category of volunteers that stepped up to assist with the TailCoNTROL testing: Andrew Heien, Code-L the Big Floof, Dex, nocoffei, and ToeiRei. Thank you for the help and the patience!
+Many new features and improvements have been the result of customer feedback and involvement, and OTA updates mean it’s only a button-press update away for all Tail Co customers to enjoy.
+==== In Closing... ====
+I hope everyone’s excited about the new features that they’ve seen go into the products over time, and what’s coming to make the products you already enjoy even better! It’s been my privilege and pleasure to work with The Tail Company and the tailer community, and I look forward to continue to do so.
+Your Friendly Lurking Horror,\\
+**Dark Grue**