Husband / Father / Developer
Gigaom : “One idea is to create a tech survival kit when traveling. It could be used to replace a lost or stolen smart phone, kept in the car during a long drive, or stored securely in a family vacation house.”
This is a neat idea. It’s strange that I never thought to turn my old iPhone into a pay-as-you-go phone.
CNBC [via Daring Fireball]: “They only have 60 days left to either come up with something or they will disappear,” said Trip Chowdhry, managing director at Global Equities Research.
Where do they find these guys? When I read stuff like this it’s obvious these analysts do not understand how Apple works. Someone made up the idea of the iWatch, a bunch of competitors in the market jumped on it, now Apple “must” have one? That’s definitely not how they work. They never have and I don’t see that changing. I’ know they’ve grown over the years but Apple runs very lean. They stay focused. Would I be surprised if they created some sort of wearable device? No, I would not. Would I be surprised if it was just a watch? Yes. Look, they already created the iWatch years ago(September 1, 2010) and didn’t know it.
Here is something else to think about. Apple wasn’t the first to create a computer, a music player, a smart phone, or a tablet. They just did it better than anyone before them and changed how we look at these devices.
After you see a movie do you ever wanted to know what happened the characters the day after, or maybe years later?
We caught the end of You’ve Got Mail tonight. I thought it would be wonderful to bring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan back together to create a 15-minute film using this line from the film as its inspiration.
Of course you can guess the scene. An older Joe and Kathleen Fox cuddled on the couch, Netflix clearly visible on the television, and a civilized “argument” over the merits of his movie choice verses hers. It would, of course, end with Kathleen’s movie choice playing and the two of them sharing a bowl of popcorn. A short 15 minute glimpse into a life lived happily ever after.
I know these will probably never happen because there’s no money to be made, but they sure would be extremely cool.
I had a couple hours of driving to do today, had to take my busted computer in for repair. To while away the time on road trips I often listen to a podcast or two. Today’s selection was The Talk Show, Episode 75.
Messrs. Simmons and Gruber discussed scripting languages and asked if Apple needs to create a modern language for iOS and Mac development. The discussion was good, but I think there were a couple topics they could have touched on.
Pointers
Every C, C++, and Objective-C developer has had to deal with them. With the introduction of ARC a few years back pointers are all but an afterthought in Objective-C. Sure, there are exceptions, but mostly we no longer have to worry about freeing memory and it’s taken care of by the compiler, not a garbage collector. We have the best of both worlds with Cocoa and Objective-C; Native speed and memory management.
C#
Something they mentioned was Microsoft’s creation of a modern language based on a C lineage. It makes sense to do that because there is a big pool of developers that understand it, but I digress. I think the more important technology is Microsoft’s creating of the CLR and the .Net framework. One of the reasons these two items are so important is, they’re language agnostic. You don’t need to know C# to realize the full power of the CLR and the .Net frameworks. Take a look at CLI languages. It’s big. This gives developers the ability to use libraries from other developers and still work in their preferred language.
In the end I’m not so sure Apple needs to do anything. They’ve build, and continue to build, a great developer ecosystem. The Cocoa Framework is mature and is a huge benefit to iOS and Mac developers because we get a lot of shared code between the two.
Do we need scripting languages? Absolutely! Do we need them to build high performance native applications? Not really.
I’ve keep harping on this next point. Where we need advancement is in the browser. It’s locked in JavaScript hell. The browser is the new OS. The browser really needs a full CLI implementation.
If you have some time to kill download the episode. I really enjoyed it.
Dave Rogers: “Even that’s not my reason for abandoning social media, it’s just that I don’t want to be a part of it. I don’t want my photographs, my links to interesting stuff, my thoughts and opinions to be something that helps Facebook hold my friends captive.”
I’ve followed Dave for a number of years, since at least 2001. I’ve always loved his writing style. Anywho, I’ve said this before and I’m going to say it again. I started blogging in hopes of becoming a better writer. Along the way I’ve been able share my horrible opinions and make some really great friends.
I’ll continue to use this space as I see fit, and for as long as I continue to breathe. I think the social media craze has twisted what people believe a weblog is all about. I’ve seen friends talk about shuttering their sites because they don’t make money, or have a big enough following. I suppose that could be a problem if blogging is a business to you. For me it’s just a space to share my thoughts or vent or write about software or life. You get the picture. A weblog doesn’t have to be about social engagement or monetization. If it’s likes and retweets you crave, blogging may not be for you.
Welcome to my web front porch.
I haven’t published a movie line in quite a while, so, here goes…
Ok, quick, what movie! Send your guesses here.
Fresno Bee: “For a spell, the plan worked. The mall was packed, and commerce thrived. Some businesses bragged that sales had risen by 40%. But by the end of the 1980s, all the major retailers were gone, their spaces filled by discount stores — or nothing at all.
It’s time now for the Fresno City Council to end this noble but unsuccessful venture and approve Mayor Ashley Swearengin’s plan to return vehicle traffic to Fulton.
The mayor has secured $16 million in federal grants to turn the six-block pedestrian mall into a two-way street — one with beautiful landscaping and sidewalks wide enough to accommodate the people who work and shop there now.”
I’m one of the folks that believes in the Fulton Mall. The plan to rip it out makes me sick. I don’t know what else to say.
This won’t fix downtown. For a thriving downtown you need to attract people, people that need services. How does ripping out the mall magically make businesses and, more importantly, people show up? Sure, it will attract a crowd, for a while, human curiosity and all, but what happens next? Where is the real plan? The plan to attract businesses and people downtown? That seems more important.
Remember the stadium project? That was supposed to fix downtown. Did it? No, it did not. What makes city leaders believe one street will fix it?
If they do this, I hope it works, but I just can’t see it happening and we will have lost yet another unique space in the Valley.
Visalia Times Delta: “Galaxy Theatres in Tulare will likely soon become the first movie house in Tulare County ready to serve beer and wine, joining a new trend in the motion picture business.”
I hope this happens. When we lived in Atascadero we would frequent the VIP Lounge at the Galaxy Theatre. It was quite an experience. I hope the Galaxy in Tulare goes whole hog and creates a VIP Lounge experience. It’s not about the booze to me, it’s about a better viewing experience that includes beer, wine and better food. The VIP Lounge in Atascadero improves the viewing experience with bigger, more comfortable, seating. That alone makes it worth the price of admission.
I’m sure there is plenty of local opposition to serving alcohol at a movie theatre, GASP! The horror! It’s not going to be what people think. The area that serves alcohol is separate from the main movie house and requires ID to enter, you have to be 21 or older. At least that’s how the Atascadero theatre is setup.
In the end, I hope we get it.