02.23.10
Posted in Apple, Journal, News at 9:29 pm by Pablosan
I’ll get back to Agile Blind Spots in my next post, but I have discovered a great app and piece of hardware that has turned my iPhone into an art easel.
Brushes is an iPhone app that was highlighted during the introduction of the iPad a few weeks ago. One of my hobbies is Graphic Arts and I have often bemoaned the fact that I can’t find more time to spend on it. I even carry around a Wacom tablet… that rarely gets used: partially because there is a (very little) bit of setup required, but mostly because I’ve never been able to get comfortable with drawing in one place (on the tablet) while watching someplace else (the monitor) to see how it looks.
Once the iPad rumors hit a fevered pitch, my first thought was that it would make a great graphic arts platform. When Apple highlighted Brushes during the iPad unveiling I decided to purchase it for my iPhone. I played with it a little, but found the lack of accuracy due to using a fingertip somewhat off-putting. I’ve put in many hundreds of hours sketching with a pencil or pen so that approach is completely natural to me. I thought using my fingertip would be close enough to be satisfying, but… well, it isn’t. I really need a writing utensil in my hand.
While I’m really excited about the iPad, it’s looking like it will not ship with a stylus and this is a bit of a disappointment. Enter Ten One Design and the Pogo Sketch, a stylus that works with the iPhone, with newer Macbook trackpads and the iPad (well, once they’re released anyway… Hurry up Apple!!!).
But wait, there’s more! The pièce de résistance: due to a built in Web server that allows you to transfer drawings from Brushes on your iPhone to your Mac and a companion Mac app, Brushes Viewer, you can get a high resolution version of your small-screen artwork. Since the iPhone app actually records your strokes, it can replay those strokes at a higher resolution. Not only that, you can actually watch yourself create your masterpiece and save it off as a Quicktime movie! The max resolution for a static image is 1920 x 2880 and it looks incredible. While I wasn’t happy with the results I was getting using my fingertip, I’m very happy with the results using a stylus. Here is a medium quality (960 x 640) version of my first attempt using a stylus (click on the image to see it full size):
Paul Nelson, 15 February, 2010
The combination of the Brushes app, the Pogo Sketch stylus and Brushes Viewer means I can carry an art studio in my pocket… well, close enough.
I can’t wait to play with Brushes and the Pogo Sketch on an iPad! Oh… and look for a nice tie-in with my Agile Blind Spots series of articles soon!
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01.29.10
Posted in Apple, Journal at 3:14 pm by Pablosan
I’ve purposely refrained from reading too much about the release of the iPad. In all likelihood these points have already been made elsewhere, but this is my view of Apple’s new toy.
I’ll start with the patently obvious (pun intended): exactly like their introduction of the iPod, and exactly like their follow-on introduction of the iPhone, the iPad’s primary raison d’être is to provide yet another portal to content. Steve Jobs brazenly admitted as much in Wednesday’s product announcement, citing a couple of facts:
- Apple has 175 million consumer credit card numbers attached to iTunes accounts.
- Customers have downloaded 3 billion apps for their iPhones and iPod Touches
That’s just applications! What about music and videos?
- As of a year ago (Phil Schiller’s Macworld keynote) iTunes customers had purchased 6 billion songs.
- Over a year and a half ago, customers were purchasing 50,000 videos per day on iTunes. Assuming that hasn’t changed (and the daily rate is likely much higher today), that would be over 18 million video downloads per year.
Interestingly, as the iPhone and iPod Touch opened up new content sales for Apple in the form of videos, the iPad also adds ebooks. So Apple wants you, me – all of us – to purchase our content from them. The devices are simply the conduit. Granted, the folks at Apple are software and hardware artisans, so using their devices to consume all that content is a joy in itself. But I think Apple figured out a while ago that hardware will continue to be marginalized and that “content is king.”
So enough stating the obvious. I’ve heard a few people (geeks, mostly) ask questions that basically boil down to “So what? Who cares?” I have an iPhone. I have a Macbook Pro. The last thing I want to do is lug around a third device that doesn’t give me anything new!
I’ve also heard it stated that the iPad is a let-down because it’s evolutionary, not revolutionary. I disagree with these sentiments. I think the iPad is revolutionary and I think we, as geeks, need to sit up and take notice. It has been a very long time coming, but the way we interact with computers is finally becoming a bit more… human. Lately, there has been a lot of buzz in the IT world about User Experience, stating that it has been a second-class citizen for far too long. We are striving to simplify interfaces and improve user experience. Yet we still expect every computer user to be proficient with a keyboard and a mouse, to understand hierarchical menu systems, keyboard shortcuts, archaic command line incantations, etc.
Years ago, I had an idea for a computing device. The impetus for my idea was the simple thought that “a computer should be as easy to use as a piece of paper.” The iPad is not that device, but it is much closer than a device that uses a keyboard and a pointing device. What is more natural than pointing at something with your finger? The iPad is revolutionary by being a full-scale computing device that we interact with very naturally; directly. It eliminates a layer of abstraction at the most fragile, yet crucial part of any system: user input. This is a Good Thing, and I can’t wait to see where this latest step in improving user experience leads us!
So I, for one, will be lugging around three devices… at least for a while.
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07.01.09
Posted in Apple, News, Software Development at 2:13 pm by Pablosan
Back in August, 2008 you may remember a series of posts covering my signing up for the iPhone Developer Program. I finally gave up on my updates because… well, the posts would have been redundant: “still nothing.”
While wrapping things up in Buenos Aires, I received an interesting email from Apple. The email contained an iPhone Developer Program Activation Code! The email arrived on 25 June. On 26 June, after completing the online process, I received another email from Apple with the following banner:
Certified iPhone Developer!
Woohoo! I’m certifiable (like I needed Apple’s confirmation to prove THAT)! Now, what did I do with that iPhone app, completed 10 months and 10 days ago…
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02.15.09
Posted in Apple, Journal, News, Travel, Uncategorized at 12:40 pm by Pablosan
Leading up to Christmas and her birthday, my eldest daughter had been asking for a new computer. She has been using a hand-me-down Titanium Powerbook (the G3, 500 MHz version), which is still in perfect operating condition, but runs a bit slow. So, for her birthday and not knowing for sure how I wanted to handle it, I gave her a “Free Computer Upgrade” coupon. Yes, it was a bit of a copout, but I had my reasons: primarily I wanted to wait for MWSF, to see what Apple might have up their sleeve.
A couple weeks later I had made my decision: buy her a netbook. So Karyssa and I sat down together to order an HP Mini 1000. Over the next week or so, Karyssa and I looked for an email informing us it had shipped. The email finally came and we watched the progress of the package as it made its way from Shanghai, China to Dallas, Texas.
I was a little worried: concerned that maybe this wouldn’t work out. Once the netbook actually arrived, I was disappointed that it did work out. I knew within the first hour of her using it, Karyssa was very happy with her new computer… and I wanted one. I mean, there are a couple concessions (the screen can be a bit small for some things, and the keys on the keyboard are a shade smaller than standard keys), but it would easily handle the vast majority of my needs. And HP has done an incredible job putting a very slick UI on top of the standard Ubuntu Linux distro. The fit and finish of both the hardware and software — the way they complement each other — reminds me more of Apple than of HP.
My move to The Cloud will be complete when I switch to an HP Mini 1000. And at one third the weight and 40% the size of my 17″ Macbook Pro, it will fit incredibly well with my plans to travel light.
It’s time to start saving my pennies!
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02.12.09
Posted in Apple, Journal, News at 3:54 pm by Pablosan
I tried about a year ago: I’ve decided it’s time to try again.
Up until this week I’ve been using Apple’s MobileMe to keep my laptop and iPhone in Sync, even though I really prefer Google’s apps. Due in large part to a recent announcement, I was eager to make the move. As of last night, my transition is complete: my email, contacts and calendar are now all sync’ed to Google’s apps.
Real-time sync capability wasn’t the only feature missing, however. If I store everything up in The Cloud, how do I access it when I’m off the grid? Shortly after my first, failed Cloud Move Attempt, Google announced Gears as well as offline capabilities for Docs. In the last few weeks, Google completed their trifecta with the release of Gmail offline and Google Calendar offline. Ya gotta love Google! …well, mostly anyway.
Early reports suggest their are still kinks to work out of their latest offline offerings, but I fully expect these to be ironed out in a nice, iterative fashion, as is Google’s modus operandi.
In my opinion, offline data access is essential to the success of services in The Cloud. I may not always have internet access when I need access to my data.
So it begins… again. I may not make it, but I know it’s a lot closer to being ready this time than it was a year ago. So far so good!
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09.03.08
Posted in Apple, Go, Journal, News, Software Development at 11:28 am by Pablosan
It’s been over a week since I submitted my iPhone Developer Program application, and I still don’t even have official word that Apple has received it. I’m doing my best to be proactive, but I haven’t found a lot that I can do to get answers. I’ve sent off a message via Apple’s “Contact Us” link, but I have very little confidence that anything will come of it.
I know that they aren’t hurting for applicants and I know I’m a very small fish in a very large ocean, but I have always chafed at external and unnecessary delays. I’m quite proud of the work I’ve accomplished and would like the chance to show it off to the world and see how I fare, even if it is a piddly little app.
I know I’m not the only one in this situation, but it is freakishly quiet out there… maybe I should take that as a sign, but for now, I intend to provide occasional updates on this issue here until it has been resolved.
In the meantime, I’ve got some ideas percolating on the game of Go and a new Erlang article or two to publish. Just be prepared for news bulletin interruptions to this blog as notable things occur on the iPhone Developer Program front.
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08.29.08
Posted in Apple, Journal, Software Development, TDD at 6:01 pm by Pablosan
Day 4: I retract my previous correction. As of last night, Apple must have finalized their credit transactions as I have now officially been charged $107.17 for my iPhone Developer Program application. Still no word from them on the status of my application. All I get is:
“We are currently processing your enrollment application and will be contacting you soon.”
That’s just grrrrrrrreat… and no, not the Tony-the-Tiger kind of great. Maybe they should consider having the same group that optimized their billing process look at the application process. I’m sure they’d find significant room for improvement.
Meanwhile, I’m working feverishly on the content for a new, one-day Advanced TDD class at work. I think I’ve got a pretty good problem-space: Test-Driving algorithms, a design pattern (Singleton, to be exact) and concurrency/threading in Java. I’m supposed to teach the class for the first time in 10 days, so I’m starting to feel the pressure.
Like a very good friend of mine is fond of saying, “if it weren’t for deadlines, ain’t nuttin’d get done!”
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08.28.08
Posted in Agile, Apple, Journal, Software Development, TDD at 2:21 pm by Pablosan
Day 3: Still no word from Apple on my iPhone Developer Program application. In the words of Roz (aka “Number One”), “their stunned silence is verrrrry reassuring!” </sarcasm>
I have a confession to make: I did not use TDD 100% of the time on my iPhone App project <gasp!>. Sorry. I should have made sure you were sitting down before saying that.
Here’s how it happened: I started with the Model, which was developed 100% using TDD and enjoys 100% test coverage. Very cool. Once I had a pretty good handle on the Model, I started work on the View, which is a blast using Apple’s Interface Builder. It’s all drag and drop: even wiring the View to the View Controller! Since creating the View did not entail writing a single line of code, it was not Test-Driven. I suppose the purists are screaming “That’s no excuse!” at this point, but I just didn’t feel the need. And, no, that’s not my confession.
Let’s see… the pattern is MVC and I’ve talked about the “M” and the “V”. I’ve thought of several explanations as to why I didn’t Test-Drive the Controller, but they all end up sounding like excuses. A colleague of mine once told me “I’ve tried test-driving the Controller, and I don’t see the point”, but I can’t even claim that as my reason.
I spent a little time thinking about how to Test-Drive the Controller, and I couldn’t figure it out. I mean, all it does is pass a message or two to my model and send messages back to the one view in my app, keeping it in sync with the state of the model. The cool thing about my approach was that I successfully kept the Model from creeping into the Controller, and you’d have to work very much against the tools (XCode and Interface Builder) to get the Controller to seep into the View. I’m completely satisfied with the way the app abides by the Separation of Concerns principle, and I am confident the app is solid… though, not as confident as I’d like to be.
So it bugs me that I didn’t Test-Drive the Controller. I’ve gone back and looked at the code several times in the past few days, and I still don’t have an answer. Maybe I’ll spend some time re-creating the app in Java (using Swing or SWT… or something) with my friend, Jeff’s article as a guide. I’m not yet ready to admit defeat!
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08.27.08
Posted in Apple, Journal at 11:01 am by Pablosan
In yesterday’s post, I mentioned that Apple had already billed my credit card. I re-checked today, and that statement was not exactly accurate: the charge is showing on my credit card, but it is showing as “pending.” So the funds have not actually been deducted from my account yet.
I’m still spamming the “Get Mail” button on MobileMe, to no avail (I need to be careful: I might wear it out). If I ever find the guy that told me email will get delivered faster if you hit the button faster…
Yes, yes, patience is a virtue… a virtue I do not possess.
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08.26.08
Posted in Apple, Journal, News, Software Development at 3:24 pm by Pablosan
It’s been over a week since my last post, and there’s a good reason for that… in my mind, anyway.
I’ve made mention before of my desire to try my hand at developing for the iPhone, and I’ve been working on a little project over the last month toward that end. This last week has been a mini-sprint, brought on by the fact that my little project was really starting to shape up. This morning (at about 1:30) I came to a startling realization: it’s done. I mean, there are still things I want to implement, but the app is handling the basics just fine and (thanks in large part to TDD) the app seems to be quite solid. There is only one problem…
I made a promise to myself: I committed to putting off paying for the iPhone Developer Program until I actually had a product ready to ship. There have been too many times in my life where I had the best intentions, dropped the cash, and then never did anything with the tools. A prime example: back when the Palm Pilot was still owned by US Robotics (yes, it was… trust me), I dropped the six hundred bucks to get the whopping 1 Megabyte version that came bundled with the SDK. I had big plans to take over the world with my new PDA and it’s accompanying SDK! Guess how many lines of actual code got written? That’d be none; zilch; nada. Yeah… pretty sad. And that is just one of several personal examples.
So, this time… this time was gonna be different. Shortly after my startling realization (about 1:45 am), I started reading up on the iPhone Developer Program, hit the web site and signed up, fully (and ridiculously) expecting to see my nice, shiny new app on the App Store within minutes… okay, maybe an hour. Yes, I had heard the stories of how slow the process was, but I was operating in hyper-delusional mode at this point (hey, I was sleep deprived!). Squinting out of droopy eyes, I frantically spammed the “Get Mail” button on MobileMe, staving off sleep for just a bit longer. About five minutes later I hadn’t even received the customary emailed receipt, let alone directions on how to continue the arduous process of becoming an official iPhone Developer. Call me a wimp; pansy; whatever… I went to bed.
The emailed receipt has since appeared in my Inbox. And I just checked my credit card online, and I see that Apple seems to have the billing part of the process running quite smoothly, ’cause I’m down $107.17. I haven’t researched what the average turn around time is: I don’t want to know.
So I wait. In the words of the famous Inigo Montoya, “I hate waiting… I donna suppose you could speeda things up?!”
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