Month: March 2011

Categories
Business iOS

Design then Code

Design then Code
Design then Code: “Building iOS Apps From Scratch is an introduction to Objective-C and Cocoa for first-time coders. It explains Obj-C’s unique syntax, the Cocoa frameworks, creating and using objects, Model-View-Controller, and how to build an app’s interface. This is suggested reading before tackling project tutorials.”

This is Mike Rundle’s latest project to help the iOS Design and Development community avoid creating Frankenstein applications. Mike’s a rare breed, he’s a great designer and he gets Cocoa and Objective-C, which makes me a bit green with envy.

If you’re a beginner, and can’t wait to build your first iOS App, you could do a lot worse than purchasing the Design Rookie and Cocoa Rookie packages together. Heck, if you’re not sure, give the free tutorial a spin before purchasing. That should give you some idea of the quality to expect.

Well done Mike!

Categories
Apple iPhone

Is this the iPhone 5?

It's just a cute little lady bug.The Unofficial Apple Weblog: “Now that the MacBook Pro refresh has happened and the iPad 2 is out, what’s left for the rumor mill? The iPhone 5 of course. Citing a Chinese source, Japanese site Macotakara claims that Apple is abandoning the current iPhone 4’s exposed antenna/glass backside construction for the iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 will supposedly have an all-aluminum rear case similar to the iPad 2. Wireless signals will penetrate the case via the Apple logo, which will be made from a plastic resin, presumably similar to the black bar on top of the 3G iPad 2.”

It looks like the new iPod Touch, which isn’t so bad, but this just doesn’t pass the smell test. I’m not buying it.

Categories
Apple Core Labs Business

How can I connect?

Apple Core Labs: “My frustration with the disconnect between us and our customers on the App Store continues to grow. For RxCalc we typically see ratings that have to do more with lack of features, or new features, than the features we actually have. Don’t get me wrong, that’s great! The problem is we have NO way of communicating with these users to find out what they really want. We can make an educated guess and hope we’re correct, but that’s the best we can do.”

I posted this back in early February. If there are any iPhone development shops out there that have resolved this problem I’d love to hear from you.

Oh, and if you’re a Pharmacist using RxCalc we’d appreciate your feedback here and at the App Store.

Thanks.

Categories
Life

White House Honey Ale

Obama Foodorama: “President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama made culinary history when they served homebrewed White House Honey Ale, made with a pound of honey from the White House Beehive, to guests at last month’s Super Bowl party.”

Home brewing is something that’s been on my list of thing to do for quite some time.

Wonder if I could get on a list to sample the next batch?

Categories
Microsoft

Microsoft’s Future

TECHi: “What we are left with is a company that has no concrete plans for competing in the mobile industry. Microsoft has a smartphone platform, but they have no way to connect it to a tablet or desktop computer. They also have no operating system that is capable of competing on a tablet device — trust me, Windows 7 isn’t the solution.”

Don’t write Microsoft off as dead just yet. They still have a solid foundation, in the Windows Kernel, on which to build, and their new mobile OS isn’t so bad. Remember, back before Apple bought NeXT everybody had written them off, 11 years later we were given the iPhone, not to mention iTunes, the iPod, and OS X.

They’re definitely down, but not out.

Categories
Business Social

All you need is… Facebook?

Chris Eh Young: “Three years ago everyone was on the Myspace and Geocities bandwagon. Before that it was AOL. Before that MIRC. Still want to put your entire business on Facebook?”

I’m still a big believer in having your own site for personal use as well as business use. I own the words I publish, not Facebook, or Twitter, or any new service that happens to become the next popular thing.

Use these services as a connector for your website or weblog, not as the source.

Categories
Development fun Life

The Past Weblog: My First Windows App

The original Rob Fahrni weblogrob.crabapples.net: “Back when I was a young programmer… That seems like the correct way to introduce you to my first ever Windows application. I’ve kept the code for many years, and I’ve only recently moved it from 3.5″ floppies to a CD. I was checking out the code a couple of days ago and boy have I come a VERY LONG way since that project.”

I just happened to stumble upon this post while Googling for something to use in another post. My old weblog served me well and has become a bit crufty over time. The archives still work and the site still gets quite a few hits a day thanks to Google, and a nice nine-year run. (Wow, I forgot to celebrate my 10th year of weblogging, darn.)

My work on iOS based applications reminds me of my time back in my early Windows development days. It was so exciting and new. I had so much to learn and I was excited about learning it. That’s how I feel about iOS today. It’s a very exciting time.

Anywho, the link to the code for Rob’s Tic-Tac-Toe still works.

Maybe I should do an iOS version, just for old times sake?

Categories
MLOTW

Movie line of the week answer

We have a winner!

Congratulations to Mr. Ryan Haning.

The correct answer was…

The Dark Knight

It’s hard to believe it’s been almost three years since our last Batman fix.

Categories
Development Life

A Living Resume

Eat your own dog food.James Robertson: “One of the things I got asked about was my technical chops – since I’d been working in software promotion, did I still have any useful skills from a development perspective? Well, the blog is a living, breathing example of the fact that I know at least a few things. The code is in the public repository, so it’s easily accessible as well.”

James is a Smalltalker, and a darned good one. He not only promotes Smalltalk but eats his own dog food. His weblog is a living testament to that.

Not such a bad way to sell yourself.

Categories
MLOTW

Movie line of the week

Hollywood!Good morning movie fans!

Here’s the line, good luck.

Because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.

Ok, quick, what movie! Send your guesses here.