We picked BARDTracker (https://www.bardtracker.com) and so far have been generally very satisfied with that decision.
Big for us was the fact that BT had the ability to grab all the details of our Pivotal Tracker project through the Pivotal API, rather than just from the CSV export (which they also can do). It's unclear whether as of today, 1 May 2025, API access at Pivotal is still an option, but I suspect it may not be.
BARDTracker seemed also to be the closest to PT's UX. Nobody in our shop really wanted to rush to learn a new paradigm right now, so that was another important factor.
Their developers have been remarkably responsive to bug reports, feature requests and suggestions.
The only issue that we've encountered is that performance is a little slow, at least in the Web app; I have not tried their Mobile version yet. My understanding is that this is the area they are focusing on presently.
Lastly, they haven't initiated billing yet, so it was zero-cost onboarding. I hope they figure this out soon, because it's a good product that we'd be happy to pay for; their "early adopter" rate of $5/mo/user is more than reasonable and I hope they're able to make it be sustainable in whatever way PT proved not to be for Broadcom.
This reminded me of the story about Charles Proteus Steinmetz diagnosing the problem inside a generator at Henry Ford's auto plant just by listening to it very carefully.
"Ford, whose electrical engineers couldn’t solve some problems they were having with a gigantic generator, called Steinmetz in to the plant. Upon arriving, Steinmetz rejected all assistance and asked only for a notebook, pencil and cot. According to Scott, Steinmetz listened to the generator and scribbled computations on the notepad for two straight days and nights. On the second night, he asked for a ladder, climbed up the generator and made a chalk mark on its side. Then he told Ford’s skeptical engineers to remove a plate at the mark and replace sixteen windings from the field coil. They did, and the generator performed to perfection.
Henry Ford was thrilled until he got an invoice from General Electric in the amount of $10,000. Ford acknowledged Steinmetz’s success but balked at the figure. He asked for an itemized bill.
Steinmetz ... responded personally to Ford’s request with the following:
On the cello (and viola) three perfect 3:2 ("pythagorian") fifths down from the A string makes for a low C that's noticeably flat when compared to equal-tempered instruments. For string quartet playing, it's manageable, because the violins will adjust when necessary, but for piano-accompanied playing, cellists will raise the low C a little so it doesn't clash with the C's on the piano.
Some years ago I got an Enviracaire EWM-220, which looks to be discontinued now. This is a warm-steam one that also has a UV bulb in it to (presumably) sanitize the water. Twin tanks where one gets used up before the other one starts to drain, so you can refill them one at a time.
Didn't see this mentioned in another comment, but when it's time to de-calcify the boiling chamber (very easy to access on this model) I squirt a little Lysol toilet boil cleaner in there and let it foam and sizzle on the scale buildup for about ten minutes, then wash it away.
Anecdotally, I saw this model in a couple different violin shops around the time I got it. Typically in one of these places there will be showrooms where you can try out bows and instruments, and they usually have about a hundred violins/violas/cellos hanging up in there.
Humidity control is extremely important for fine string instrument storage, so I figured if this is the model a shop has settled upon to protect $100-200K of their merchandise, it's probably a good choice.
> For anyone else who likes Glass's piano work, you might like some pieces by Yann Tiersen or Erik Satie.
And then go find yourself any of the multiple-piano music by the Dutch composer Simeon Ten Holt. "Canto Ostinato" is the famous one, but "Incantante IV" is probably my favorite.
Big for us was the fact that BT had the ability to grab all the details of our Pivotal Tracker project through the Pivotal API, rather than just from the CSV export (which they also can do). It's unclear whether as of today, 1 May 2025, API access at Pivotal is still an option, but I suspect it may not be.
BARDTracker seemed also to be the closest to PT's UX. Nobody in our shop really wanted to rush to learn a new paradigm right now, so that was another important factor.
Their developers have been remarkably responsive to bug reports, feature requests and suggestions.
The only issue that we've encountered is that performance is a little slow, at least in the Web app; I have not tried their Mobile version yet. My understanding is that this is the area they are focusing on presently.
Lastly, they haven't initiated billing yet, so it was zero-cost onboarding. I hope they figure this out soon, because it's a good product that we'd be happy to pay for; their "early adopter" rate of $5/mo/user is more than reasonable and I hope they're able to make it be sustainable in whatever way PT proved not to be for Broadcom.