Lost in Colonisation

Build there, check status everywhere

nobody@vox.com(Alex) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:51:02 -0400

I've been using the iPhone SDK since its original release way back in March. Many frustrating moment in the beginning but the recent beta 7 and beta 8 release proved to be ready for prime time. Apple has added many helper classes or helper methods to classes to make it far easier to work with the UI components, which is by far the most frustrating things I encountered. I am still having problem wrapping my head around the idea of Interface Builder but since the apps that I am building do not involve very complex UI, I just hand coded all the UI instead.

To illustrate, the original iPhone app idea I had that I started developing using the original SDK is a mobile application for Mingle. The application would consist of a series of table views showing projects, cards, and card details, along with some network code to talk to the Mingle server through REST API. At that time, progress was slow because of many factors. First, learning Cocoa/Cocoa Touch API and Xcode at the same time was tough. Second, the Cocoa Touch API was a bit 'primitive' in the beginning. What I mean is that while the API provides all the necessary hooks for developers to create an iPhone app it does not provide many pre-build components, making it difficult and required lots more work from developers to re-create the look and feel of the built-in iPhone apps.

I was so put off by the initial experience that I skipped beta 4-6 and did not open up Xcode until last weekend. And what a refreshing change with beta 7! Now it is straightforward to make an app that looks and feels just like an Apple's one. I was so fired up that last Sunday evening I decided that I would try to create an app for an idea that one of my fellow ThoughtWorker suggested to me. Instead of days of tearing my hair out and got no where, I was able to create a almost features completed app within hours, using beta 8.

So what is this app? It checks the build status on the CruiseControl server. Just like CCTray (Windows) or CCMenu (OS X), it allows users to monitor their software build status. Following the convention, I am calling it CCPhone. The app isn't more complex than the Mingle app but the fact that I was able to almost match the productivity I normally get on my Windows development environment means that I was excited about working on the app rather than dreading it.

Now here are couple of screen shots:

To-do:

Fix the build time being 1 hours off (probably day time saving bug)
Better status icons
Create application icon (currently it uses icon from CCMenu)
Finish coding the 'Force Build' functionality
Add startup screen bitmap (so it won't be just a black screen)
Add auto detect of CruiseControl server (Java, .Net, or Ruby)

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Windy tennis

nobody@vox.com(Alex) — Sun, 18 May 2008 01:20:39 -0400

My Flip Video (I have the 2GB/60 min, black) arrived last week and I finally got the chance to play with it today. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate. Dan and I had to deal with 15-20 mph wind while trying to film our tennis swings. You can hear the wind noise in the background, it's kind of hard to miss! Here is a short clip of what we did:

Tennis - Ground Strokes

You can see the full version (17:07) on my .Mac site.

Transferring the video clips from the Flip to my Mac was a breeze. The Flip appears as a USB drive when plugged in so I can just copy the files across to my hard drive. Editing is a little tricky. The Flip uses a DivX MP4 encoder so the video files are not recognized by iMovie '08. After some Googling and experimentation, I decided to fork out some hard earned cash and got a license for QuickTime Pro. QTPro exports the clip to standard MP4 easily and quickly, utilizing all 4 of my MacPro cores. And editing in iMovie '08 pretty easy too. I was able to put this short clip together in about 5 minutes, even though I have no prior experience with iMovie '08 or video editing. It would be perfect if Apple fixes iMovie so that in the future it would just recognize the Flip video without any transcoding.

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Dev Chair : iPhone SDK experience - Download Squad

nobody@vox.com(Alex) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:45:40 -0400

Dev Chair : iPhone SDK experience - Download Squad

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/03/...

The iPhone SDK has been out for couple of weeks now and I've been using it to develop an application for my work as a technology demonstrator. My experience thus far has been largely positive. I wasn't surprised by how well-made the SDK is, even at this beta stage. The amount of work involved in releasing any SDK, let alone one that is so tightly scrutinized, cannot be underestimated.Consider that I am learning three new things simultaneously: programming in Objective-C, learning how to use Xcode, and what is available in the iPhone SDK, I am going to describe the whole experience instead of just confined to the SDK...

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Time Machine Error

nobody@vox.com(Alex) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:41:36 -0400

WTF? Almost on par with some of the Windows error message:

Time Machine Error

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Nik from TUAW in front of Apple Store London

nobody@vox.com(Alex) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 13:52:22 -0500

Nik from TUAW

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The Big Prize goes to the right person

nobody@vox.com(Alex) — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 11:28:59 -0400

Congratulation to Al Gore for winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the climate changes. Apple pays tribute to its board member. (Don't think I've forgiven you over the iPhone update debacle yet, Apple. I have not!)

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What I think of my iPhone

nobody@vox.com(Alex) — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 18:37:48 -0400

I know I should have taken time to write about my iPhone experience last Friday. But with having friends over for dinner on Saturday, tennis and French Grand Prix on Sunday, some important programming to do Monday and Tuesday, and 4th of July lunch with my friend Wendy, only now I have the time to sit down and write something.

Anyway, I think the iPhone is the best phone I've had so far. And I have a lot of phones since 1992. There are a few things that bug me though:

No scheduled email checking, only periodic checking - no point checking for emails while I'm asleep and waste battery.
Keyboard volume can't be adjusted - the clicking is a great feedback tool but it is way too loud to use in an office.
No WAP support - not an iPhone issue as such but since I can't log onto Facebook's mobile site (which is WAP) I wish either Apple or Facebook do something about it.
Wi-Fi password entry is difficult to say the least - since there is no copy & paste in the iPhone, I have to manually enter the wi-fi password. I ended up connecting our iPhones to the less secure router running WEP because the password is shorter (the WPA one is 63 characters long).
The 'Share' feature should be pluggable for developers, i.e. plug-ins for Facebook, Tumblr, Flickr, etc.

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UMPC or Apple Sub-notebook?

nobody@vox.com(Alex) — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 00:12:04 -0400

Data Evolution's Cathena CX UMPC

Nice looking machine (via Engadget). If the rumoured sub-notebook from Apple is really delayed until 2007/8 then this may be my next portable machine.

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More on Apple TV and HD

nobody@vox.com(Alex) — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 09:22:59 -0400

It's not the hardware, says Engadget HD.

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Essential accessories for iPhone

nobody@vox.com(Alex) — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 22:08:40 -0400

Yes, iPhone is still more than 2 months away but I already know what accessories I would be buying or looking for when it is finally out on the street.

Carrying case - During the MacWorld keynote, Steve Job did not mention whether a carrying case will be included in the iPhone package. Most probable reason is that they are still in the design stage so they have nothing to show yet. But given the history of iPod carrying case Apple includes in the box, I would imagine it will be just functional and will create a huge 3rd party market. Ideally, the case has to be thin but well made so not to increase the bulk of the iPhone. Somehow the case has to made taking the iPhone out easy so the chance of dropping the phone would be minimum. And most importantly, the headphone jack has to be accessible while the phone are inside or outside the case.
Screen protector - Assuming that Apple is not using the ultra tough coating invented by TDK, some type of screen protector that allows the touch screen to be used is needed.
Bluetooth stereo headphones - Apple is providing a wired stereo headphone with microphone as accessory but I am hoping the iPhone will support A2DP Bluetooth profile so a wireless Bluetooth headphones can be used instead.
Solar/Battery charger - The battery in the iPhone is not changeable like in the iPod. I don't think it is an issue since there are plenty of ways to charge it up (e.g. from desktop computer via USB cable, power charger from wall socket or car socket, etc.) but for those situations where electrical power is unavailable (let's say I'm on a beach) then a solar recharger would come in handy.

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