Nov 25 — 0
The Economist has a series of articles describing how the world needs simpler, more human-centric technology. I imagine this doesn't come as a surprise to most people reading this. Here's my message to the author: put your money where your mouth is. Want simplicity? Want well-designed, easy-to-use software? Use a computer built by Apple running Mac OS X.
My Dad came to me last year and asked what he could do to deal with all the insane complexity of using a computer. I told him he might not like the answer, but he should buy a Powerbook. Surprisingly, he agreed with me. He had reached a critical level of frustration with Windows
My Dad came to me last year and asked what he could do to deal with all the insane complexity of using a computer. I told him he might not like the answer, but he should buy a Powerbook. Surprisingly, he agreed with me. He had reached a critical level of frustration with Windows
Nov 23 — 1
Apparently the comments never really got fixed last time! Another score for #cocojox as someone in there mentioned that they couldn't post. No idea how I missed this. Fixed now.
Nov 22 — 0
Dan has given green light to publicize his little IRC experiment. The #cocojox channel on irc.freenode.net is a place for experienced Cocoa folks to get help from other developers. The point is to have a sanctuary away from the flood of really basic questions. There have been a handful of us there since Thursday or so. I hadn't used IRC in quite a while, so I started looking for a client
Nov 19 — 0
Emails sent to Cocoa Dev Central and various mailing lists suggest people are a bit unclear on how Cocoa Bindings relates to views. Using bindings to supply a table view with data does not prevent you from using delegate methods, datasource methods or using a custom subclass.A lot of emails that I get are of the nature
Nov 16 — 2
I stumbled onto Desktop Manager last night. It does the basic types of things you'd expect a virtual desktop manager to do. You can switch between desktops with a menu bar extra, hot keys, or a desktop proxy window. You can name each desktop, and the title is superimposed on the current desktop.
But the real standout feature of Desktop Manager is the range of Keynote-like transition effects (QuickTime clips here) that you can choose from. Transitions also use the
But the real standout feature of Desktop Manager is the range of Keynote-like transition effects (QuickTime clips here) that you can choose from. Transitions also use the
Nov 15 — 0
Two quick tricks for getting info on standard classes in Cocoa:Hold down Option and double-click a class name (like NSArray) anywhere in code to see the documentation for that class. Hold down Command (the Apple key) and double-click to see the class header.
Nov 15 — 0
This is the second Incredibles story I've read that casts the movie into a particular political role. Now, I haven't talked to the director personally, but I think it's a bit presumptuous to say that just because we have superheroes in an action movie saving lives, it must mean...
Nov 15 — 0
Cocoa developers looking to jumpstart their product line might want to look into iWipe, Booklet and Rock Star. Obviously, you get the rights and source code. If you're interested, mention you saw it here.
Nov 12 — 2
So I just got around to upgrading to iTunes 4.7, and was presented with this dialog at startup
Nov 11 — 3
Pashua looks interesting. It claims to allow you to create Aqua dialogs and some basic widgets using languages like PHP, Perl, Ruby and such. You can also embed PDF and other images.
Nov 11 — 0
There were a couple of issues with comments last night. I fixed the line breaks and also undid some damage that was incurred during the change. Sorry 'bout that. All good now.
Nov 10 — 15
Much like Justin, I'm discouraged by the user experience in Firefox 1.0. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see a standards-based, open source browser making strides. I always test sites against Firefox, and it's rendering engine is way beyond WinIE. Writing a browser is no simple task, so you get a heap of credit just for showing up.
That said, on Mac OS X, Firefox's user experience runs a distant, distant third or fourth after Safari, OmniWeb and possibly even IE. Since a lot of people are caught up in the Firefox excitement, I think we should make it clear
Nov 09 — 0
It dawned on me that Pixar artwork and Mac OS X icons coexist in the same universe. Both take careful consideration of lighting, shadows and materials, but both also make a conscious choice to not implement literal photorealism. The result is a highly stlyized, whimsical version of reality that
Nov 09 — 0
A receipt I got from Safeway today told me I had earned five free music downloads. None of cashiers knew what the deal was with this and neither did the person at the customer service booth.
As she was on the phone trying to figure it out, an ad flashed on the terminal that read "buy any five of these and get five free downloads
As she was on the phone trying to figure it out, an ad flashed on the terminal that read "buy any five of these and get five free downloads
Nov 08 — 2
There's some region of my mind that gets all excited when a particularly clever piece of software is published. Delicious Library is such a creation.
Delicious Library's purpose in life is to allow you to visualize your collection of books, movies, music and video games. There are a number of other apps that do this, but none quite like DL. Describing it in detail is silly when you can go download a demo and try it for yourself, but there are a few interesting
Nov 08 — 4
So I spilled some coffee on my normal "pro" keyboard today. While I'm waiting for it to dry out, I'm using a keyboard from my Blue G3/400. Just like guitars, each keyboard has a different feel to it. This one has much more shallow keys, a softer touch, and more compressed layout.
The interesting thing, though, is that
The interesting thing, though, is that
Nov 08 — 0
Great day and great tournament. Now excuse me while I go sleep for the next 14 hours. :)
Nov 07 — 0
Big day. Record tournout and everybody seemed to enjoy themselves. Worked late into the night on Friday setting things up. Don't have my hands on much in the way of photos just yet, but I'll post some highlights when I do.
Gotta get up early tomorrow for day two. The top 3 of 4 teams in each group advance and continue in single elimination until the tournament champions are named.
Gotta get up early tomorrow for day two. The top 3 of 4 teams in each group advance and continue in single elimination until the tournament champions are named.
Nov 04 — 1
I published the last post a bit too quickly. There's also an RSS Feed for new ADC content.
Nov 04 — 1
Breaking with tradition, Apple has made some API info and examples about Spotlight available to the general public before Tiger itself is available. This is a follow-up to the Tiger developer overview.
Nov 01 — 0
In case you missed it, here's how the site looked yesterday.
Oct 31 — 0
Enjoy today's Halloween-themed header. I may put up some more decorations later if I get time. Tami and I will be in downtown Santa Cruz tonight.
Oct 30 — 1
Sometimes I forget how people will just read a headline and not even think about the context. When sites talk about Apple's global marketshare, they frequently miss a basic principle: Apple is not selling to all of the markets that other PC makers are. The problem is that the researchers often include these markets in the final numbers they publish.
For example, is a $168 Microtel PC from Walmart really even in the same category as a $1299 G5 iMac? Are they going to provide even remotely the same experience? Are the owners of each machine going to buy the same types of software and peripherals? How likely is it
For example, is a $168 Microtel PC from Walmart really even in the same category as a $1299 G5 iMac? Are they going to provide even remotely the same experience? Are the owners of each machine going to buy the same types of software and peripherals? How likely is it
Oct 29 — 0
I watched the U2+iPod music event yesterday. There were quite a few entertaining moments. Although the huge tease is that the video at one point shows footage of Bono and The Edge performing a piano-and-vocal-only version Original of the Species and then skips ahead to the end of the performance! I guess I can understand why they did it. The alternative is that every U2 fan in the known universe descends on the Apple video stream server. Still.
Vertigo is breaking all sorts of records at the iTunes store. The "Complete U2" box set is interesting too. I didn't realize it's only available in digital form. Apparently, at 400 tracks, a physical representation would
Vertigo is breaking all sorts of records at the iTunes store. The "Complete U2" box set is interesting too. I didn't realize it's only available in digital form. Apparently, at 400 tracks, a physical representation would
Oct 28 — 0
Please forgive me if I'm a bit unresponsive over the next 10 days or so in terms of email, this site and side projects. The ZFootball 2004-2005 season opens in San Jose (Sunnyvale, technically) on November 6 and 7. I'm going to be quite preoccupied through then.
On the surface, I'm not sure how many people reading this are really interested in flag football. However, ZFootball boasts an interesting technology story that I'll be describing here in more detail in the future.
There's already online registration, custom message board software, team preferences and more will
On the surface, I'm not sure how many people reading this are really interested in flag football. However, ZFootball boasts an interesting technology story that I'll be describing here in more detail in the future.
There's already online registration, custom message board software, team preferences and more will
Follow your bliss.
