dchoung

Test Test Test Test Test Test

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This is a test.

There's a new game we like to play you'll see, a game with added reality.  You treat me like a dog, have me down on my knees.

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Test post facto.

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Blah!

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"People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware." -Alan Kay

Someone tweeted that regarding the closing of Palm's hardware unit. That sums it up quite nicely.

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I see a lot of freelance gigs that offer ridiculously low pay and a whole lot of, "can lead to better opportunities", which 99.9% of the time is a load of crud.

The one thing that alway comes to mind when I spot these magical keywords is this:

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How now brown cow?

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I switched to an iPhone. It was pretty quick.

I had handled it as an iPod for roughly a week. Sadly, after just that one week I was convinced that I wanted to ditch my Pre 2 for an iPhone.

Why? The hardware. It's solid, not a single plasticky creaking noise, and best of all, no moving parts.

I hate moving parts on devices. I loved my Treo 680, it had no moving parts. When the Pre came out I made a huge exception because I wasn't too thrilled with non-GSM networks and I hated slider devices.

Now I'm back in GSM land with the jesusPhone.

Some things that I've noticed in my switch, an iOS vs. webOS comparison of sorts, actually no, more like simple observations:

• Plugging in the car charger and the FM Radio transmitter don't make a loud buzzing background noise, like it did on the Pre (Probably more to do with the charger now that i think about it).
• I miss justType and how Contact profiles pop up on webOS.
• I think the lack of photos in the Contacts tableview on iOS is probably the reason it loads so fast.
• I don't miss the slider. At all.
• I definitely miss the ease of webOS multitasking.

Having said all that, I'm still into webOS. I'm still developing on the Touchpad. I'm just waiting until HP gives me what I really want, a solid candy bar shaped webOS device with a 3.5-3.6 screen.

I wrote up a whole multi-paragraph rant on screen protectors. Then after reading it, decided it wasn't worth posting. So I'll just say that I'm in a love/hate relationship with them, and right now it's mostly hate, or maybe just intense dislike.

I mean, other then protecting your screen from scratches, what good are they? If it detracts from your interactive experience enough, then it's not worth using. And of course, it's mostly based on your individual perspective.

At the end of the day though, who cares, it's just a screen protector, verdad?

I'm not the most DIY person I know.

I don't overclock.

I've never handled a Dremel.

I sometimes shriek at the thought of any form of liquid coursing though the belly of my gaming beast.

Yet, despite all that, I feel that every pc gamer should go through the process of building his/her own gaming rig at least once.

I feel there is something to be said for poring over part specs, sweating over performance reviews, and finally putting a machine together, component by component. In fact, I might even go as far as likening the process to a Jedi building his/her lightsaber (It could be worse, I could go for a LOTR comparison!).

In order to truly wield your weapon with pinpoint precision and confidence, one must know how it works. Yes, I called a gaming rig a 'weapon', well, in the sense that it's the last line of defense before a wave of trash talk from some 13 year old with lower pings and a faster rig his pops got him reaches you.

I'm pretty sure anyone who's worked on their own car or any other type of machine where they handled and upgraded the parts themselves, would agree. Building your own stuff is cool.

So go do it.

Awww yeahhhhh.

Timestamp 2k went live on the App Store roughly a week ago. Since then I've racked up a whopping 41 downloads in various parts of the planet. Mostly, the US and Canada, but other places I didn't expect, like South Korea and the Philippines. Which is totally cool.

Some observations in this one week:

• The App Store doesn't seem to feature new apps all that well.
• Seriously, this is what I call a 'severe niche' app, meaning I'll be lucky if it even reaches 100 downloads.

Concurrently, I made some updates to Timestamp 2000 on webOS and sent it through the App Catalog around the same time. I think i got roughly 250 new users with this recent update and a handful of people even upgraded their star ratings, how about that for some positive feedback!

The takeaway lessons? 1.) Make better apps. 2.) Consider that maybe the ad revenue approach might not be the most optimal since after 7 months I've barely accumulated enough for a decent lunch.

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This baby's ready to submit to Apple's app review process, yay. Unfortunately, I think they're closed for the next few days. This isn't a big deal, I've somewhat achieved my personal goal of getting this app ready for first submission by end of December.

After getting over the functional hurdles, doing the 'extra little bits' such as getting the app icon and various other graphical elements ready, seemed pretty trivial.

I'm pretty delighted with how good the app icon looks in iOS, they automatically apply this uniform reflective icon layer and I hate to admit it, but it serves a more polished look then the app icon on webOS, where the attitude towards app icons is slightly more cavalier.

A minor drawback in the iOS port though is that I had to shorten the title of the app from 'Timestamp 2000' to 'Timestamp 2k' because with the '2000' it's automatically shortened, and that doesn't look good on the iOS home screen.

I'm almost set to release my first iOS app.

It's the simplest thing I could think of putting together.

When I started off I had plenty of grandiose app ideas, but they were much too complex for my current understanding of that dreaded bracket forest that is called Objective-C. So, rather than spending a few more months trying to comprehend the deeper meanings of the Objective-C syntactical universe (which I feel I will eventually have to... ) I just decided to put together the simplest app I could think of, and what did I come up with? Timestamp 2000 for iOS, of course. Hey, it worked on webOS, I thought, why not just port it over?

Timestamp 2000 is simple because all it does is utilize the device's time, parses it out a bit to differentiate between 12-hour and 24-hour, and then outputs the results for copying to the clipboard. Clearly, this isn't rocket science.

I'm sure at some point I'll open source the code, but any seasoned iOS coder can probably whip this thing together in no time, and probably with more efficient code!

I'll probably put together a later post on the glories and headaches of developing for the webOS and iOS platforms, because they've definitely got plenty of both.

Nothing really to post about. Working on my first iPhone app, and once done with that, planning on jumping back into webOS development.

I spend random moments in the day thinking why a device such as the iPhone did so well. Not that I'm completely baffled, but trying to boil it down to its basest element, I think it's because it was truly imbued with a kind of 'magic' that dazzled developers and consumers alike.

Let's not forget that prior to the iPhone the only alternatives (In the US at least) were Palm OS and Windows Mobile. While these 'strictly business' OS' had their benefits, neither really made people go 'ooh' and 'ahh' like the iPhone did with its smooth view transitions and added extras like an accelerometer.

Objective-C is a pain for a slow-minded server-side/client-side script monkey such as myself. When I first took a look at Objective-C code all I saw were brackets within brackets, within brackets. Not to say that it's horrendous, it just made my head spin initially.

So, back to the point, it wasn't the ease-of-use of the programming language that drew developers in, it was simply the magic.

That's all I've got to say about that for now.

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I present to you the Golden Eagle Breakfast Burrito!!!

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Timestamp 2000 made it through Palm's rigorous app review process and was released maybe 3 days ago. I think they're picking it up over there, I'm pretty sure I waited a day after submitting it. It's insane.

So anyways, I've been glued to the Admob metrics on this thing because, honestly, I haven't had an app this popular yet. By popular I mean, more then 20 people are downloading it each day (so far).

Unfortunately though, download popularity doesn't exactly equal good click-through rates. So yeah, I won't be quitting my day job any time soon.

Here's the link for any interested webOS'ers: Timestamp 2000

I went out and got an iPod Touch the other day. Mainly because I'm really interested in developing for the iOS platform. I'm one of those types that has to actually handle the object for a while before I go forward and develop for it, that's how it was with the Pre.

Up until now the Pre has fulfilled all of my multimedia needs. Of course, the keywords are "up until now". I have to say, in terms of media integration and such the iPod Touch, and by extension the iPhone, is really really good. I might even go further and use the term "awesome".

It's so seamless. All you need to do is plug it in, select your options, and you're good to go. Plus there is the vast library of official apps from companies ranging from Mint to Home Depot. It's really well done. Hopefully, webOS will get to see that kind of "official app" adoption rate at some point in the near future.

Some observations:

• Multitasking is butt. You're getting in my way with that double-click home button action. On webOS it's just a swipe away, that's elegance.
• Integration is really good. To the point where I don't think Palm should've bothered trying to tackle that aspect of the mobile space, Apple has it locked down tight. Then again, I guess Palm really just did enough, like they were saying, "Oh we've got that too", but didn't really compete in that aspect.
• I like that I can "type" in landscape mode. I hate that it's only possible with the virtual keyboard.
• I'm kinda lukewarm about the virtual keyboard, at first I didn't think it was a big deal, I'm not some kind of physical keyboard junkie, but I'm beginning to feel like it is a big enough deal.
• The screen, 3.5 inches, Palm that's all I ask for... and faster more solid hardware.
• Speed kills people, speed kills. When I tap on an app on iOS it pops up in an instant. When I tap on an app in webOS it kinda hangs for a second, and then seems to decide that it'll eventually open up since you kinda-sorta asked it to. That is a big effin deal, my friends.

Overall, this thing is pretty sweet. Am I going to trade in my Pre for an iPhone? Probably not, I mean, hell, I got an iPod Touch so I wouldn't have to.

At some point I think I might do a tap count comparison between the two devices. Off the top of my head I think webOS is at a disadvantage because of the initial swipe that's required just to get to the launcher. Apple sort of evened that out with their folders feature though.

Also, just to be a bit subversive, I mean I AM a self-admitted Palm fanboy...

Testing my latest webOS app, it's a timestamping tool. Nothing fancy, just pure time. And date. And stamping.

I put the '2000' on the end of it to make it look futuristic, as if it's already the year 2000... oh wait...

I utilized the canvas tag this time around to offer up some sort of visual differentiation from the flow of apps using the default webOS UI elements, which while not bad, kinda makes for a repetitive experience when it's not necessary.

It's most likely going to be free because I don't see the use in charging for it, it's so simple.

Just put a new app on the catalog, Fast URL Pro. It does the same thing as Fast URL, but with extras like sending individual URL's through email or SMS.

Here is the link: Fast URL Pro

I've got a new app in the catalog, CA Lottery Numbers. I guess this officially makes me a mobile developer!

The app basically posts daily lottery numbers for California, seeing that Mega Millions is a multi-state lottery though it should prove somewhat useful for non-Californians as well. I've also included a random number generator, which has its own easter egg.

Just sent my first webOS app, Fast URL, over to the Palm web feed distribution. Well, sent a few hours ago.

It's an ultra simple app that lets people take down URLs they see on the street while walking, or riding.

I made it more for myself than anyone else. In fact, I don't really know anyone else that does that.

Here's the Precentral.net link: Fast URL

Also, for those interested in seeing a great example of sloppy webOS code, the github link.

Ares is Palm's extra push for developers to get into the webOS game. If you're turned off by staring at lines of code in the hope that they will display your desired result, Ares is definitely for you.

What's even better is that if you're the type that has to act on a great idea ASAP, but always has to wait until you get back to your home, Ares is perfect because it's an online application. That's right, you can access it anywhere!

Jumping in then, your first step is to log on to Ares at http://ares.palm.com.

Then, from the top menu, select 'New' and then 'Application' in the dropdown. Ares will then put together the basic building blocks of an app for you.

On top of the standard stuff Ares also adds a few IDE-specific extras, like a .js file to accompany every view folder. This is mainly so you can mess with the IDE's GUI rather then bother to enter HTML markup directly onto the .html file. Also, Ares-generated code is meant to be a lot cleaner or more efficient, then standard Mojo code so some items might look a bit off to the seasoned webOS developer, but no worries, it still works great.

Moving on then, select 'Palette' at the top of the left column interface. Here you see a nice selection of various elements such as UI Widgets and functions for webOS. Adding them is as simple as clicking and dragging over to the center column.

Let's start with a header. Click and drag the 'Header' pill (we're going to be calling that element a pill) over to the center column. With the header pill selected, let's shift our attention to the right column, where we can manipulate various attributes in regard to the header pill. Let's go to 'Settings' in the right column and select 'label' with the mouse pointer. Type in the title of your app, in this case it will be 'Hello World: Extreme'.

Not Another Hello World app!

That's right, you're making another Hello World app, but this time it will be EXTREME! Makes all the difference, honestly.

One thing that I was never able to resolve completely is spacing between widgets, through Ares. Since I can't, or maybe shouldn't, try to directly manipulate the .html file what other way is there to do it then through the left column UI elements? Scroll down to the 'Layout' section and select 'Panel', it's located in the second column, third row. Let's drag it over to the center column and work the attributes, shall we?

There's not too much I want to do with Panel, it's basically just a spacer for the button I want to add next. So, selecting 'Styles' from the right column, let's use the 'Opacity' slider and scroll it all the way to 0%.

Now for the final element to this scene, the button! Just as before, you will find the 'button' widget in the left column under 'UI Widgets'. Second column, first row. Drag it over to the center column, below the Panel we just added. By default, it is named 'Button'. Let's change the name of it in the 'Settings' located in the right column. Going to 'label', let's change it to 'Submit'.

Taking it to the Extreme

But wait, it's not over yet, where does that button take you? To another scene of course! Currently, we don't have another scene though, only the default 'main' scene that Ares generated. So let's go back to the 'New' dropdown in the top menu and select 'Scene' to add a new one. When prompted to enter a name for it let's call it 'extreme'.

If you hit the 'Files' button in the left column you'll see a new folder called 'extreme'. That's what we want.

Now, to mess with the code! I know what you're thinking, "Oh no, I have to mess with code." but hey, such is life, and it's actually a lot less than what you would be dealing with if there was no Ares.

Under 'Files' double click 'main-chrome.js' to bring up the 'main' scene view again, it should be the one that you added the header, label, and button to. Select the button in the center column, it should be named 'Submit' at this point. Then in the right column, select 'Events', and then click on the file icon in 'ontap'. You will see something like 'button1Tap' pop up. That's what we want. The center column should automatically display the 'main-assistant.js' code file and have your cursor blinking within a 'button1Tap' function.

Type this in: this.controller.stageController.pushScene("extreme");

What this does is tell the button to bring up the 'extreme' scene once it is tapped. Try launching the app by going to the blue triangle in the top menu, and selecting 'Launch'. You should see the 'main' scene, button and all. Tap the button and you will get a nice blank screen. That's what we're going to fill up next.

Filling a Scene

In 'Files', double click the 'extreme-chrome.js' file to bring up the 'extreme' view. We're going to add two items here, an HTML widget and a Webview widget. They're both located in the 'UI Widgets' section of the left column. Click and drag them over to the center column. Place the HTML widget above the Webview widget.

We're going to add some text to the HTML widget so select it in the center column, and then select 'Settings' in the left column. You will see a section titled 'Common', click on the icon under 'content'. Enter 'This is EXTREME!' in the text entry popup. Then hit 'OK'. Move over to the 'Styles' section so we can pretty it up a bit. Under 'Text' select the 'center alignment' icon, scroll down to the 'Text' section in the same column and enter 'orange' in the 'textColor' box, and '20' in the 'fontSize' box.

The End of the Story

Final step, the Webview widget. Select it in the center column. Look for the 'General' section in the right column then, under 'Settings'. Find the 'url' box and enter this address 'http://www.meetup.com/socal-webOS-Development-Group/'.

Go back to the top menu and select 'Save All' from the 3.5 disk icon. Launch it again and press the 'Submit' button, it should take you to the 'extreme' scene which displays the previously entered text 'This is EXTREME!' right above a webview of the SoCal webOS Development Group meetup site.

Cool things I didn't mention in the tutorial:
Palm provides a Debugger and realtime LogViewer for you to check as your app is running, whether it's running off your dev'd out phone or the emulator. Have a look at it, it's nice. All you have to do is open up one of the .js files to view the code, you will see the Debug, Log Viewer, JSLint, and Find and Replace buttons at the bottom of the center column.

Hope this all helps!

1. Don't Waste Your Time on Recruiters.

Recuiters are a waste of time for 90% of developers. They will drain you with pointless 'face-to-face' interviews and then send you to meet with IT heads for positions you are completely unqualified for. This is especially true for mid-level developers. I was sent on one such 'adventure' to a startup in downtown that was looking for a senior level web developer, unbeknownst to me. Well, that is until the IT head told me, which is something the recruiter should have known in the first place. Oddly, he didn't seem to.

I could probably fill out a few blog posts about dealing with recruiters in general, so maybe I'll save the rest of my vitriol for them some other time.

2. Not Driving Can Save Money

Duh.

3. Freelancing Has Its Ups and Downs

The ups? Working on your own schedule. The downs? Getting deep into a project, losing the spark for it, and then having to somehow drudge your way through the rest of it, or until the project head decides to axe you.

That's a pleasant experience, and unfortunately there's no one else to blame but yourself.

4. My Dog Really Likes Going Out for Walks

He does. I've never seen him so excited before, not even about food.

5. Craigslist is a Good Thing

I would say 90% of the interviews I've been to have been through Craigslist postings. Once in a while you'll see some idiot posting about how he's looking for unpaid interns to make him 'a facebook/ebay/myspace hybrid' (not legal in CA, btw), but most of the time the listings are legitimate.

I admired Craigslist so much that I made my own job posting forum, Work In SoCal, which is going into its 2nd year of existence. I can count on one hand how many visits that site has had since I started it.

6. They Say They'll Contact You Either Way, But They Won't

I've been to plenty of interviews where the interviewers say they'll let you know either way if you've got the job or not. They won't. They can seem like the nicest most honest people in the world, but they won't bother.

What has been especially funny are the people who I've contacted for confirmation that the position has been closed. They'll just leave you wondering because they won't answer the phone or respond to your email.

7. I'm so tired of telling people I'm unemployed that i just tell them I'm freelancing

You usually get a kind of downward spiraling "Oh" sound when you tell them you're unemployed. If you tell them you're freelancing then you actually sound like you're NOT failing in life. Fortunately, most of the people I know are gainfully employed.

8. Try Not to Be Bitter

In the end, it isn't worth dwelling on the bitter things. Neither is watching the Facebook status updates of people you know who are having such a great time with life, do what I do, just hide them!

9. There are a Lot of Shark-like Employers

I recently saw a job posting looking for a front and back-end web developer who was also required to know how to work with various CMS' and frameworks, for less than what a McDonald's employee makes. That's just wrong.

This all is just a big fat rant I suppose.

So, in furthering my Palm fanboyism I've decided to start collecting them.

Each iteration of Palm, while not consistent in physical design, has maintained the focus on simplicity, adhering to the oft mentioned 'Zen of Palm'. I find this to be interesting and worth a collector's time.

We can start out by peering at the utilitarian edges of the Palm Pilot, straight with rounded corners yet with that swoop along the bottom that adds a touch of difference to the 'strictly-business' black form factor of the first successful foray into mobile computing... sorry, I majored in Art History where lofty descriptions are common form.

Currently, my collection stands at the Vx, m500, and m505. Hoping to see this grow as time goes on!

Some references on Palm device history:
Palm Device History Wikipedia Page Palm OS History Wikipedia Page

My mind just 'exploded today.

It turns out that all the scuttlebutt was true, Palm was indeed selling itself. And it had finally found a buyer, as of today, in the form of HP.

Wow, is all I can say to that.

My last phone was a Treo 680. I gave it to my brother-in-law. I'm so accustomed to the SMS ringtone that whenever his goes off I instinctively reach for my phone.

This has been somewhat of a minor annoyance for me.

So I searched online for a solution.

It turns out that the only format you can find the ringtone in is MIDI, which is like digital sheet music. So it's up in the air as to what type of instrument the MIDI player will default to.

The solution? Pop the MIDI into Garage Band (if you've got a Mac, sorry Win and Linux people!).

Upon playing it in Garage Band the default instrument it chose was 'Grand Piano', which sounded very close to it, but not quite cigar...

After plucking at a few instruments I settled on 'Electric Piano' which to me came closest to the sound on the Treo.

Here's the final result for anyone interested in downloading it:
Alert Swoosh - Electric Piano mp3

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I just had a bit of a realization earlier today. All this talk has been circulating around the Palm Pre, Pre is this, Pre is that, and so on and so forth, yet has anyone realized that Palm released two webOS devices? The second being a slate form-factor with physical keyboard ala Treo?

In the midst of all this hubbub, there is the Palm Pixi. Rather unassuming in its form factor, it's what I believe is the true spiritual successor to the Treo line of devices. I mean, it doesn't veer too far off course from the Treo, it's basically a touchscreen phone with a full QWERTY keyboard.

A few exceptions though, this thing is as thin as, if not thinner then an iPhone, the keys are just as tactile and responsive as a Blackberry, and on top of all that you get the same webOS operating system running off its more popular, bigger screened sibling, the Palm Pre.

Granted, you won't be able to run any of the fullscreen 3D games such as Need for Speed or The Sims 3, but there are plenty of people that prefer to do their gaming on much more capable mobile devices such as PSP's and Nintendo DSi's. Besides, as a Pre owner myself, I would really rather have a physical d-pad then the virtual one offered on a lot of these games.

So, you can do 99.9% of what the Pre can do with a Pixi, the main benefit being no moving parts to worry about, it's all just right there for you to merrily click away at the keyboard with. I suppose it depends on the individual person whether or not that .01% matters enough. Either way the Pixi is a great device that seems to be wilting under the shadow of its more popular brethren, but it definitely deserves a look.

By the way, on Verizon the Pixi comes with a wifi radio included, on Sprint it doesn't. Hopefully that will be rectified soon, but until then, that's the current situation.

Palm's webOS has been out for nearly a year now, and in that time period a few really standout apps have come to the fore. These apps have been distinguished not only for their usefulness, but also in some cases for their combination of usefulness and style.

drPodder- $.99

I stopped listening to podcasts a while ago. My routine usually began with seeing what I could download off of iTunes, then either listen to it off the computer or transfer it to the iPod. I always thought this whole process was a bit cumbersome so eventually I just let the whole thing go.

Jump forward to a few days ago and I'm seeing someone suggesting drPodder on the Pre. Thinking about it, the main issue for me was the process to get the podcasts, but not the podcasts themselves. So I bought the app (Currently at $.99 I believe) and took it for a whirl. I was not disappointed.

With this app I had the seamless kind of process that was so lacking with my previous iTunes experience. In most cases I could find my desired feeds through a search function, but also there was the option to enter a direct feed. Thanks to the Pre's wifi I would be able to stream most of the podcasts, not having to worry about storage issues and such.

With this app my faith in the podcast is once again renewed.

Evernote- Free

Admittedly, the Palm Pre is severely lacking as far as note-taking. The included post-it style app seems to be mainly for quick jots that are meant to be discarded within the span of a day.

Enter Evernote. I've never heard of these guys until I got my Pre. Thank goodness they decided to take an early plunge and make an app for webOS! What this app does is nothing short of providing a full cloud-based note-taking solution.

For example, if you make a note on your Palm with Evernote, you can also check it online or on their desktop app, and vice versa. You will never go without your notes! Well, there is one caveat... you need an internet connection to access them.

Currently, on webOS, Evernote doesn't use local storage (meaning it doesn't save data to your phone), it only saves it to the cloud. Hopefully that will change soon, despite that though it's still one of the best note-taking apps available on webOS.

NewsRoom- $4.99

I love RSS feeds. I've tried a good number of feed readers on the desktop, but up until now haven't run into anything that I thought worked so well on webOS. NewsRoom changes all that. More then serving up feeds in a typical list-style layout, the developer(s) have seen fit to integrate feeds into an easily navigable interface.

Here's an example, say I bring up cnn.com's news feed. I don't just see the last 15 items in a simple list. I start off with a mini-card that shows the very last item, then as I swipe left I see the next item, and so on. If I want to go back to the main screen where I can see all my feeds, I just swipe up, or use the back gesture. I think an appropriate word for the whole interface is 'slick'. It is very slick.

You'll hardly notice any webOS UI elements because they've all been customized. The whole app has a slightly polished feel that seems to be lacking in a lot of webOS apps right now. Of course it gets points for style.

This is probably the priciest app on my list at $4.99. If you're a heavy feedreader such as myself it's worth it. If not, well, it's still pretty.

YouView- $3.99

Visual voicemail is something currently not available to a native webOS device. Personally, I doubt that too many people are pining over this feature, but what if you could get it anyway? Thanks to Synctactix you can! YouView is their solution. It basically takes any phone calls not answered by you, and then processes the calls so that if there's a voicemail to be gotten, they'll get it, and then email you or text you saying that you've got a missed call, and/or a voicemail.

With the YouView app you get to see the voicemail they've stored for you, in a list, along with information on the person that called, when they called, and a few other options.

Overall it' a pretty useful tool, and at $3.99 for what they're offering it doesn't seem like such a bad solution.

Tweed- $2.99

This app is one of my quick launch icons. I think I check it more then my email. This might be a testament to Twitter itself rather than Tweed. But still, Tweed is a great Twitter app that doesn't get in my way when I'm searching tweets or posting one.

Honorable mentions:

Facebook- Free

This app was developed by a team of Palm's own. If you're a Facebook user it's a must.

Foursquare- Free

Conditions for this app apply same as the Facebook one. If you're a user then you should get it. If not, it's a good example of a webOS app.

That's the list so far, remember it's not definitive, but these are definitely some of the best!

By the way, you can check all these apps on the App Catalog on your webOS device, in case you were wondering...

I've had my local classified jobs site, Wrackit.com, running for nearly a year, gaining no traction whatsoever.

I took a good look at it and noticed a lot of areas I could improve, starting with the name itself. In a recent job interview I mentioned Wrackit.com as one of my completed projects, one of the interviewers blurted out, "I guess all the good names are taken" which, after a bit of contemplation, was true about Wrackit.com. Mainly in the sense that it was a horrible name for a job site.

So after hitting up the whois database and pinging a few different domain names I've finally come up with something that, while not my first choice, is more in line with the vision of the site.

WorkinSoCal.com

The site itself, overall, is the same. A simple online job board for Southern California, no frills other than being able to comment on an individual job posting.

So, I've decided to put together a Palm webOS developers group. Main reason being that I think it's a great platform, and to see Palm go down would be a great shame for the tech industry. Whether or not they will go down is, of course 99% out of my hands, but what I can do as a self-confessed fanboy, is simply whatever I can.

Currently, the App Catalog sits at somewhere around 2,000. For some reason, a lot of developers haven't picked up on it as was hoped for during the initial launch of the Palm Pre.

I'm running on a theory that webOS is still in its "got potential" stage, and the really awesome jaw-dropping apps haven't been put together yet. So, in order to ferry webOS development along in what little way I can, I've put together this meetup group.

Hopefully, something good will come of it!

And with that... the link, Southern California webOS Development Group

Here's a small collection of suggestions from bloggers within the techie community with some reality-based tips bent on Palm's survival.

• Engadget: Palm: this is your survival guide
• Wired: Palm Can Still Win: Here Are Five Things They Need To Do
• PC World: 5 Things That Could Save Palm

Palm's latest conference call was somewhat dismal. Sales are down, inventory is up, and nobody at 950 w. Maude is too ecstatic about the current situation. Hell, it even prompted Engadget to post a second 'intervention' with Palm. God bless those guys, they give so much of a damn it might even be a bit undeserving that a corporation should get such fans. But that's all beside the point, the main point is, why aren't more people 'getting' the benefits of webOS? Begging the question, 'What does webOS have that the others don't?'

Multitasking and the Card Concept

Palm's ideas of multitasking are pretty innovative for the mobile space. A lot of fans will point to multitasking itself as a selling point, but ultimately it's not just that, it's the card concept that goes hand-in-hand with it. It's simple enough, you open an app, then another, then you go back and forth between apps by sliding left and right, how cool is that? To close an app just slide it upward, simple enough isn't it? What does this all mean to the customer? You can do 3 or 4 things at the same time!

Developer Ease

For developers Palm seems to have bent over backwards in offering the easiest dev environment in mobile OS' to date. It's based off of HTML, CSS, and Javascript of all things. How can devs not want to run to this platform, even just to try it and pump out a quick XML parsing app of their favorite blog or news source. Release it for $.99 and who's going to pass it up?

There's also Ares, Palm's online GUI dev environment. When it was announced I was thinking, 'They really didn't have to do that', but it's very telling how much they're trying to encourage developers, or prospective developers to at least give webOS a look. These guys want developers, bad, and you can tell they're willing to go the extra mile to get as many as they can.

Sprint

The network itself. Sorry nay sayers, it actually doesn't suck! Their data plans offer the most bang for the buck, and their 3G network delivers. Being on a GSM network for most of my time as a cell phone user I was somewhat hesitant at first, but honestly the differences won't matter (Unless you're an international traveller).

So then, the combination of cards-based multitasking, developer ease, and the sprint network offer one hell of a package for anyone looking to get a smartphone. So why don't they 'get' it?

I'm one of those dudes that doesn't really know my way around the kitchen other then how to make scrambled eggs. My wife pointed out that we've got some ground beef in the fridge and that I should 'put something together with it'. A Google search turned up a million recipes that required some obscure seasoning or extra ingredient that you would only get if you were making that specific dish.

So, I decided to make my own Easy Ground Beef Recipe.

I've broken down the items list like this:

1. Core Ingredients: Stuff that you absolutely need to have.
2. Cooking Method: Bake, fry, etc.
3. Extra Ingredients: Good to have, but not a necessity.

Core Ingredients
• 1-2 lb. ground beef
• 1/2 an onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil

Method
• Frying

Extra Ingredients
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of pepper

Just 6 easy steps!
1. Dice the onion and the garlic into small bits.
2. Pour the diced bits into a bowl with the ground beef and mash the beef around until everything's all nice and mixed in.
3. Roll the ground beef mix into little balls and place in the frying pan.
4. Set the heat on medium, pour the olive oil in, and cover the pan.
5. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until the meatballs turn a dark brown (I guess depending on how you like your meat cooked, I like mine well done).
6. Enjoy the results of your awesome Easy Ground Beef Recipe!

I love EA's Battlefield series. No other game series to date can match the experience they provide. With the Battlefield series there exists a healthy focus on squad-based tactics and support. In the spirit of that focus here are some gameplay tips for DICE's latest release, Bad Company 2.

Broken down by kit…

Assault:
1. Blow out walls to expose covered enemies with your grenade launcher.
2. Drop ammo kits early and often.

Engineer:
1. In every helicopter crew one person should be an engineer, this is mainly so the pilot can land the chopper, out of harm's way, and do repairs. Then fly back into battle at 100%.
2. The repair tool is a godsend for any tank driver, if a guy's in a blasting match with another tank, do the right thing and do repairs while he's in the heat of it, not after.

Medic:
1. Revive and toss medkits early and often.
2. When you revive someone make sure he, or she, is not in the path of enemy fire. If so, then do them a 'solid' and try jumping in between your revived teammate and the enemy, and provide some kind of covering fire so they can run away. Or so you can both get fragged together.

Recon:
1. Spot, spot, spot.
2. Don't try to kill every SOB that moves. That exposes your position to the enemy, and does away with any further spotting opportunities. Adding to that, if the guy isn't moving and you think you can get a one-shot, go for it.

I just ran into this nice little list of why a person likes to code. It is very succinct and I agree with every point.

I like reason number 1 the most, "I create worlds". There is nothing more satisfying than putting something together and watching it work.

For the rest click on the link.

I love frameworks. I think they're the greatest thing since for loops. I love them so much that I like to spend hours upon hours picking at them to see what kind of results I get. I've also come to the realization that I'm only human, and thus have a finite amount of time available in any given day.

I've come upon a sort of epiphany this morning. Sadly, or maybe not. It turns out that most of my <sarcasm>brilliant</sarcasm> ideas really don't need a full-fledged framework to get up and running.

No, in fact, they can most likely be tooled with a combination of Wordpress and BBPress, designed, and then released upon an unsuspecting virtual populace (who will probably never hear of it).

See, as much as I love frameworks, every time I dive into one for my 'brilliant' idea, I've found that 90% of the requirements for them can be met by using a simple pre-packaged CMS. As Mick from the Rocky movies would say, "Speed kills". If I have to choose between a framework and a CMS, speed being the primary factor, I would have to go with the CMS every time.

Of course, there are a million other factors to consider if suggesting this approach to others, but this is really just a personal realization.

Hackers & Painters is a good book. You have to keep in mind though, that it is actually a collection of essays, and not a typical start-to-end type of book. So, if some of the topics might seem a bit disjointed or don't seem to flow well from one to the other, it makes sense once you realize this fact.

Having said that, the main topics the book goes through seem to be:

• Why nerds are nerds
• What's a startup all about
• Programming languages

He also has an essay on dealing with spam that is equally interesting, but doesn't seem to fall under any of the 3 larger topics.

I found all 3 areas were more than sufficient to keep me interested and reading. The last section, about programming languages, was filled with lots of details on the history of languages, especially of Lisp (Honestly, it makes me want to at least check it out now).

Overall, this book is a good read. One great thing about the fact that it is a collection of essays though, is that you don't have to read the book through in a linear fashion. He even mentions that in the beginning of the book.

Here’s a great solution for people who own multiple computers and are too cheap to purchase a KVM switch.

That’s right, I’m talking about VNC. Sure it’s really meant for remote connections over long distances, but it works great within a LAN too.

For the uninitiated, VNC stands for Virtual Network Computing. Basically, it’s a technology that is meant to connect your computer to another, remotely.

So here’s my situation, I’ve got a G4 Mac and a Vista machine, but only one monitor between the two. Since it’s G4 I can’t view pages through Internet Explorer (Unless you count the dinky Mac version Microsoft abandoned years ago), but my Vista PC definitely can.

Simple solution:

1. Download Chicken of the VNC for Mac
2. Download UltraVNC for Vista
3. Install both on their respective machines, follow the directions
4. Voila, you’ve got yourself a nice dual platform work environment!

I will admit, it’s not the most perfect solution. I do believe there are some security issues in running VNC, it does tend to lag a bit, and at a certain point I kind of thought to myself that my Vista PC had become an overpriced Internet Explorer viewing machine. But it works!

In general never buy a game at release retail price, usually they go down in a few months. The price typically drops faster for PC games than console games. (This rule goes out the window if you're gunning for a Special Edition though, because clearly nothing's going to stop you from getting that horse armor).

If you're on multiplayer with a headset on, try not to breathe too hard, everyone can hear you. 'Ya srsly'.

Console gaming accessories rarely ever go down in price. So if you find a good deal go for it.

If you're thinking about getting a gamer a game, for a gift, make absolutely sure it's something he/she is interested in. Otherwise that copy of Hello Kitty Bubblegum Friends will do nothing but entertain specs of dust.

This is something simple that I don't see explained in too many texts. I guess it's just so simple that people should get it right away. This is for the ones that don't...

Basically, use '$this' to get the method (function) working if you want to use it inside another method, but within the same class.

My iPod Nano is roughly 2 years old and has been a great little device up to this point. About a week ago I noticed that the battery drained at an excessive rate. At first I pondered whether it might be due to the 320kbps songs I was listening to at the time, my brother disagreed with me on that hypothesis, but I still feel they're responsible to a small degree.

Regardless, after checking battery fix prices with apple I said to myself, "why not?" and just resolved to try and replace the battery myself.

First step, of course, was youtube, to see how the 'pros' did it. Some videos seemed more useful than others. Here's the small list of videos I found helpful:

• ConsoleZombie.com
• Tutorial by Doyy1

The consolezombie one was great, I thought it was kind of odd that he had to alter his voice like he's running from the mob (and if his voice is really like that, sorry I didn't realize!). It did have a few empty spots though, and that was why I dug the Doyy1 tutorial.

Second step, order the battery replacement kit off of ifixit.com. The kit itself is nice because they package in 2 case openers (the hardest part for me, we'll get to that later though). What else was great with ordering from these guys is that they're based near San Luis Obispo, so I literally received the kit the next day!

3rd step, opening her up! This was definitely the hardest part for me, I didn't understand how much pressure to place, or the approach, or anything. All the videos made it seem kind of easy, believe me, it's not that easy for a first-timer.

After dulling the somewhat pointed edges of my kit's 2 opening tools, and some extra help from my pocket knife, I was finally able to pry it open.

From this point on, I would say things got easier. It just becomes a simple process of remove and replace. Although I did run into a bit of a snag when I became afraid that I was running out of solder on the board itself. I thought that I might need to put some of my own solder on it, after refreshing my memory of how much solder my tip can seep on, I realized that it would have been overkill. Luckily the contacts and the existing solder held firm.

Closing it up was a literal snap. I'm charging it right now and after a few rough tests I'll have an update.

A while back I ordered a physical digg counter to learn more about soldering. I received the counter and have since gathered the proper 'equipment' to proceed.

Going in, I wasn't expecting to solder each point dead-on in the first try, and I can proudly say that I didn't let myself down!

After that 'bang-up' soldering job I'm surprised the thing actually works, somewhat.

Check my flickr account for more carnage.

Here's an oldie from when I ran my own gadget site, beamtest.

Introduction

The Treo 680 is the latest iteration of the ever-popular Treo line of smart phones from the fine folks at Sunnyvale, Palm. As many know the preceding Treo, the 650 was plagued with a few drawbacks; the memory wasn't enough, the volume was severely underpowered, no wifi, for the users locked into wireless provider plans there were restrictions placed on the Bluetooth capability. So then, what has changed since?

Well, admittedly the 680 doesn't have too many extra features that would make a standard 680 user want to upgrade. I mean, there's still no wifi, for standard Treo users 32 MB's of useable memory is more than enough, and in fact, the battery capacity is a bit lower then the 650's, where the 650 was at 1800 mah, the 680 is at a whopping 1200.

In fact, Palm acknowledges that the focus market for the 680 is slightly different from the 650's. The 650 was intended more for the power-user (AKA the Prosumer), with an antenna big enough to sink the Titanic and a high capacity battery that could do just the same, it was expected to make even the most hard driving power-user content. Now, I'm not saying that it actually did, but that was the initial perception. With the 680 though, the market has changed, it has shifted from the power-user to the wide-ranging standard consumer. You can see this from the lack of an antenna and the decreased battery capacity; this denotes a more streamlined, refined, and stylized look.

650 Switchers

Interestingly, there are plenty of 650 users that have already switched over to the 680. Why then? Despite the lack of overall upgrades in features and functionality? Did I mention that the camera is still at 640x480?

I see the 680 as being more of an evolution of the 650 rather then the next great leap, but enough of a change that it's definitely beneficial to any 650 users, as well as new smartphone users.

Sans Antenna

First, take a look at the design of the device itself. As mentioned previously they took out the antenna and shrunk the battery. Instead of looking like a phone it now looks similar to a bar of soap, but that's not a bad thing. Palm has stated before that they wanted to take out the antenna to appeal to the more 'discerning' European market where antennas are perceived as antiquated, childish even. What's not surprising is that the U.S. market would probably go without an antenna rather then with one as well. This shows in the clear popularity of such devices as the antenna-less Motorola Razr and, heck, any new cell phone coming from just about all the major manufacturers. Unfortunately, the minority of 650 users who took full advantage of their antennas, to pull the 650 from their pocket, just might be out of luck (As far as GSM carriers go, they could always get a 700p and continue the tradition I suppose). This antenna-less design presents a more refined body as well as a smaller foot print, and that can only be a good thing.

Minus 600 mah

The reduced battery size is the result of one of those eternal trade-offs that Palm CEO Ed Colligan is always discussing. In this round it looks like form has clearly won over function, the shorter battery life makes sure to remind us of that fact. Luckily, third party accessory makers such as Seido have announced that they're well on their way to providing an increased capacity battery solution for the 680's, I wonder though if it would sacrifice a little form for the function by including a bulging battery door to go with that bigger battery.

The screen is exceptionally bright, for the sake of battery life though I typically use the 3rd to last setting, and it still comes out fairly bright. The 320x320 is crisp, it's small enough that the pixels don't become too obvious, yet not too small that I start squinting to view things.

The Feel of It

The device itself has a nice smooth feel in the hand, you could tell a lot of thought went into the ergonomics of it. The overall sturdiness of it is pretty good as well, although I did notice a few exceptions, one is that some of the buttons felt slightly loosened, such as the 'power' and 'call' buttons, but just ever so slightly. The SD door on the side is kept in place using rubber 'latches', any type of 'door' on a device such as this is always open to the question of wear and tear, only time will tell how well this thing holds up. The IR window, where the ringer switch also sits, seems a bit loose as well, it could be just me, but it never felt this loose on past Palm devices.

Functionality

The function of the hardware, specifically the button placement is very nice. I understand that 650 users might have a bit of an inconvenience due to some button placement shuffling on Palm's part. For myself though, this being my first Treo, I feel they're all perfectly within reach.

The Stuttering Thumboard

I love how the buttons light up, I know that previous Treos have been doing that for ages, but it's still a great 'Oh cool' effect. Also, the buttons themselves have a nice tactile feel to them, they bulge out just enough for your fingers to run over them and get that kind of tactile feel. I must admit that I was pretty surprised with how quickly and easily I was able to start pressing away at the buttons. While my hands aren't exactly considered large, even I worried about how well the touch response would be with the 680, luckily my worries were unfounded. One thing though about the keyboard, the lights tend to flicker. A few forum threads have opened up on this, and it seems that maybe it only happens when the brightness is set pretty low.

Software

The Palm OS has been known for it's highly vaunted 'Zen of Palm', which means that paramount to all things is simplicity. On the 680 the Palm OS remains, for the most part, unchanged. Nearly every feature is less than 3-4 'taps' away, meaning i won't be stuck in navigation tree limbo.

The Rule of Twelves and the Treo Phone Application

Now, for the standard Palm launcher that shows the maximum 12 icons on the screen, before the scrollbar pops up, I have a special rule. This rule is called the 'Rule of Twelves'. The rule itself is simple enough. I believe that for each category, to achieve maximum efficiency and aesthetic satisfaction, the most icons that should be displayed are twelve. Twelve, because that's the most number of icons that are allowed for display before the scrollbar automatically pops up, and I feel that the scrollbar degrades efficiency. Now, the thing to remember is that the Rule of Twelves isn't something that is affected by Palm itself with every device. It is simply a user-level rule that changes from user to user.

Also, with applications that would typically fall under 'System', the Rule of Twelves doesn't apply since these apps are meant for basically maintenance settings, not necessarily apps you would use on a day-to-day basis. The category where the Rule of Twelves applies the most is actually 'Main', or at least has been for a while for myself since I default to the 'Main' category the most.

Now, all this had been well and good while I was using a Palm PDA, but since I've crossed over into the world of Palm smart phones, things are slightly different. What causes the difference is the Phone application on the Treo.

The Phone application is pretty straightforward, it provides all the phone-related functions of the Treo, such as dialing, phone numbers, etc, etc. What really caught my eye in the phone app though was the 'Favorites' tab, specifically the way in which you could make your own quick buttons for dialing phone numbers, or opening applications. Prior to the Treo I would have to rely on my strict Rule of Twelves in order to reach the applications that I needed, with as few taps as possible, but now with Favorites, I can link nearly any button on the Treo keyboard with any application I want. With 29+ buttons to choose from, I imagine that only a select few people would ever reach 'quick button' capacity. I admit though that I still stick to the Rule of Twelves, especially for apps that I don't feel need the kind of constant use that a 'quick key' worthy application would require. Also, I'm sure Palm had this on previous Treos, but this is my first so bear with me.

Bluetooth Efficiency

Besides the Phone app, everything else on the Treo is overall the same as you would find in any other Frankengarnet release. One thing worth mentioning though, and yes it is a complaint, is the Bluetooth icon in the top of the screen. It seems like it's one of the few things that I can't immediately access in the Palm Launcher. I figure that's why the Bluetooth icon is configured as its own application, to allow for quick access rather then going to 'Prefs'. Wouldn't it have been easier just to make it accessible in the top row of the Palm launcher where it sits, next to the wireless connection meter?

Connectivity & Voice

I think that the wireless radio on the 680 is pretty good, and the voice is decent. Before the 680 I was using a Motorola v525 that would get spotty reception and would totally lose sound quality at random intervals. Having said that, I don't have much to complain about since the 680 seems to get a few more bars, in a few more areas, then the Moto did. Also, regarding the voice quality, I haven't run into any clarity or volume problems, except when outside, and well, that's pretty self-explanatory.

Conclusion

I love my 680. After having gone on a forced Palm fast for the last 3 or so years with the Tungsten T3, (How can you give me voice record & vibrate and then take it away?) I've finally found a fitting solution to my mobile needs. This device offers a great mix of convergence and functionality in both software and hardware, keeping in mind the give-and-take situations that mobile device makers run into when putting their devices together I think that Palm did an exceptional job.

The positives:
• Increased useable memory (Compared to the 650)
• Streamlined and refined form factor that doesn't sacrifice screen size or make keyboard exceptions (It sacrifices other things, read in 'negatives').
• Uses SD format instead of opting for more recent mini-SD standard.

The negatives:
• Shorter battery life then 650.

A friend had alerted me to a Newegg sale where they were offering the m500 for roughly $20. I jumped on it. I'm now the proud owner of a previously owned Palm m500. For those of you who could care less, the significance of this device is four-fold.

1. As far as Palm devices went, this was the swan song for the high-end grayscale screens. Sure, the m125 would follow, but that was for the soccer moms and poor college kids who never thought the m500 was worth its $400+ price point (probably rightfully so).
2. This was the first Palm device to support SD memory expansion. In fact it was probably one of the first mobile devices to support SD at all.
3. It's a Palm PDA so of course it will have Graffiti. Too bad Palm scrapped it once they went all-in with the Treos, it's always been a great text entry method.
4. It would make an excellent eReader! Thanks to free ebook sites such as memoware.com, my literature perusing needs would be met for a long while, and then I could always go to ereader.com to buy more current digital pulp.

Admittedly, the device itself wasn't the great leap forward many had hoped it would be. Still missing were such accoutrements that existed on more powerful Pocket PC devices, such as mp3 and video players.

Interestingly, the screen of the m500 itself is almost identical to the Palm Vx. Main difference being that the backlight is more of a yellowish tinge then the Vx's green. Also, I believe the Vx sported a glass screen whereas most Palm devices afterward had plasticky ones.

What the m500 did have going though, and what all Palm devices had going that nobody else was able to touch, was known as the Zen of Palm, the simplicity of the interface.

It's been said that the Palm OS design team would count how many taps it took to get a certain goal done, then would try to parry down that number as best they could. It was that kind of diligence and razor-sharp focus that made this OS stand out above the rest. What a lot of people forget is that Jeff Hawkins' main competition was the paper and pen organizers, the bulky pouches filled with unnecessary papers and material that had become more deadweight than anything else. So in order to be a worthwhile product, the Palm PDA had to be fast, faster than the turn of a page in a paper organizer. I'd say they pulled it off pretty well.

Don't believe me when I say that after nearly 10 years this is still an awesome device? Have a look yourself!

Just got Unix in a Nutshell, Fourth Edition and found a nifty little piece of fun to torture coworkers with...

In the terminal you can have the Mac's Speech app activate and say whatever you want, such as if you type in:
say "i feel pretty, oh so pretty"
and then hit ENTER, it will of course say those exact words.

Take it up a notch though and type in:
say -o example.aiff "i feel pretty, oh so pretty"
and then hit ENTER.

It will then save the speech to that sound file, you won't hear anything, but if you replay in a sound app like iTunes then you'll hear it perfectly.

Just posted a fun, but utterly directionless story over at Balanced Braces. It's about life, love, and dev team politics.

Read on at your own peril.

Just completed the first phase of a personal project, Beamtest.com. My main goal in putting it together was to have a place for local homebrew electronics hackers to gather, and then from there, collaborate.

As with any endeavor, who knows if it grows into anything beyond a 1-user forum, which is where it is right now.

There is nothing unique or cutting edge about this site. It's basically a forum with a different facade. So far it has only 2 sections, the forum and the news postings. Baked with CakePHP.

I just had one hell of a time integrating BBPress into a CakePHP site I'm putting together.

See, the problem with integrating something into CakePHP is that it will automatically try to wrap it within the framework, for example, if I want to add a blog, the url I'm shooting for will be: www.mysite.com/blog/, but if I just stick a directory under CakePHP and call it 'blog', then it throws up controller errors. The key then is to stick the directory under 'webroot', but alas we run into another problem. If you type in the url www.mysite.com/blog/ it will automatically send you to www.mysite.com/app/webroot/blog/, and that's not pretty.

Where's the answer then? It's in your .htaccess file of course! So, I started searching...

At first I started off with the keywords: 'cakephp' and 'subdirectories', but all I got were tips on how to install CakePHP into a subdirectory, not quite what I was searching for.

I then thought of the types of software other people might look to integrate into their searches, because I was 100% sure I wasn't the first. I settled on 'Wordpress', 'cakephp', and 'integration'. Which landed me on my answer here: Wordpress into CakePHP: The right way! I then proceeded to kick myself for not having looked at PlanetCakePHP.org in the first place.

Just thinking back to my first web page.

It was for a Quake clan I was in. It was a simple black page with beveled buttons.

A lot has happened in the web-o-sphere since then, most for the better, design-wise.

For the record, I was never into flaming skulls or twirling email animations.

Hope all 2 of you have had a merry christmas! (If that's your thing).

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Job postings on Craigslist offer an endless stream of WTF's. Here are some choice excerpts from today's, Burbank is where we lay our scene...

One (1) quality logo should take no more than one (1) hour to produce. One
Okay, a quality logo in one hour? Probably better off running to a stock photo site and buying yourself one.
(1) quality web page layout should take no longer than two (2) hours to produce. While a degree of flexibility in time can be afforded according to the value of a project, these time restrictions reflect the general pace of work expected.

Requirements:
• Excellent grasp of Adobe CS4, specifically:
o Photoshop
o Flash
•Strong, diverse portfolio Why would someone with a 'strong, diverse' portfolio want to work an entry-level position?
•English language fluency

Non-Mandatory Requirements
•Professional design work experience
•Story-board drafting experience This is funny, good thing it's non-mandatory
•Basic project management skills
•Second language fluency
•Proficiency in use of CSS and XHTML
•Proficiency in user interface design Gee, I wonder what all this proficiency is worth…

This is a full-time, entry-level position. Beginning rate of pay is $15 per hour DING DING DING! All this experience and proficiency for $15/hr?. Freelancers will not be permitted to continue to compete with company if hired; a non-compete agreement must be signed. So, Joe Webdesigner can't make money on the side? That $15/hr must go a long way in Burbank. In order to be considered, candidates must submit:
• Résumé
• Portfolio (link to online portfolio preferred)
• Brief description of why you would like to work for a forward-thinking web design firm. Maybe he means forward thinking as in the mentality that the U.S. is going to be a 3rd world country soon, so we need to reflect that in lower wages?

As a friend of mine pointed out, if someone actually does take this position, as soon as they find something incrementally better, they're bolting.

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I put this simple tutorial together because when I first started off with Codeigniter I couldn't find any tutorials on how the MVC works together, all I could find were examples using the View and the Controller.

For today's example, let's make a blog! Original, I know.

MVC in CI (CodeIgniter) breaks down like this. Model (M) is where all the SQL queries happen. View (V) is where all the templates and superficial HTML/CSS coding is done. Controller (C) is where the M and V come together, so basically it 'controls' the interchanges between the backend and the frontend. I'm sure my explanation doesn't even remotely do MVC any justice, so for a more coherent explanation go here, Codeigniter Model-View-Controller. Otherwise, let's get started!

You'll need to make 3 files, in different folders.

First thing, we're assuming the layout of our MySQL table looks like this:

• Make 'blog.php' in '/system/controllers'.

This will be the controller file for the 'blog' app, yes it's called an application.

• Make 'blog_model.php' in '/system/models'.

This can really be named anything you want, but I'm just trying to KISS.

• Make 'view_blog.php' in '/system/views'.

Same with the above, it doesn't need to be called 'view_blog', just wanted to keep it simple.

In the 'blog.php' controller, enter this code, follow the comments to see what's going on:

In the 'blog_model.php' model, enter this code, follow the comments to see what's going on:

In the 'view_blog.php' view, enter this code, follow the comments to see what's going on:

So then, after seeing how it's all put together, here's the final product below.

So, there you have it. That's how the Model and the View come together with the Controller, in CodeIgniter.

Setting up your Django app with Mochahost can be quite an ordeal. That's why I've put together this little guide to hopefully ease future Mochahost users wanting in on the wonderful world of Django.

First thing you'll probably need to know is that, no, there is no shell access. At least for Business account users. Second, Mochahost provides a one-page tutorial on How to deploy a Django web application. And if it worked exactly as you'd expect, then you wouldn't be reading this guide.

The good thing about their Django deployment tutorial is that it does give a decent starting point. It is somewhat outdated though, as Django and mod_python are already setup for you, so you don't need to create a ticket to get them going.

If you've followed the mochahost tutorial by installing your project files in 'webapps' you're ok so far. The main point of contention is the .htaccess file.

Mochahost suggests your .htaccess code looks like this:
But, the problem is that this won't work.

What's missing here are details from the official Django documentation site, here "How to use Django with Apache and mod_python". See?

Mochahost doesn't use directives like 'Location'or 'Directory', in fact if you try using them you'll see in the error logs that it's not allowed.

So, what to do?
Follow the directions in the Djangoproject.com page, but without directives.

So here's an example: Say your project folder is 'myproject', and it contains 'myapp' within it. We'll substitute 'useraccount' for the name of your actual user account. Below is what it should then look like…

SetHandler python-program
PythonHandler django.core.handlers.modpython
SetEnv DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE myproject.settings
SetEnv PYTHON_EGG_CACHE /home/useraccount/.python-eggs
PythonDebug Off
PythonOption django.root /home/useraccount/webapps
PythonPath "['/home/useraccount/webapps/django', '/home/useraccount/webapps'] + sys.path"

You've probably noticed that there are a few extra bits and lines. The details are in the Django documentation pages, but interestingly, I don't remember adding the setENV line about the egg, I believe Mochahost tech support added that. Maybe they're not so bad after all?

Stick that bit into your .htaccess, comment out whatever mochahost already put in there, and see her run!

I just survived a 2-day ordeal in trying get MySQLdb to play nice with Snow Leopard. I wish I had written down every step of this 'adventure', but I didn't think it would drag on this long. All I can do is provide these links to the curious, as they helped me immensely in getting through this, and then curl in the corner and enter 'python manage.py runserver' in the terminal without any errors.

This was the original article that walked me through my MySQLdb installation while on Leopard (10.5), How to install Django with MySQL on Mac OS X, thanks to this my installation ran like a charm… on Leopard.

This is the first article I ran to after MySQLdb broke, thanks to Snow Leopard. MySQL-Python and Apple OSX 10.5 (Leopard), overall it says pretty much the same things, but there are differences in the details.

This is where I went after pulling out my hair for a bit, Python-MySQL Connections on Mac OS, while for the most part I think he was relying on Macports, there was still some useful information to be extracted.

This is where, I believe, I finally found the answer to my problem by following the comments, mysql-python and Snow Leopard.

Unfortunately, links are all I can provide at this point, hopefully this will help someone.

Tonight, I had the dubious honor of having fried my gaming rig. I'm actually still not completely sure what did it, I know for sure that the PSU is cooked because it was smoking a second or so after I had plugged my gaming rig in.

Seeing that I haven't the funds to procure upgrades for my now toasty PC, looking on the bright side, I guess I can utilize Windows Vista on my Macbook through Boot Camp now.

Yay.

I can't say I've had as much time with Python as I'd like. Seeing that I've got so much time on my hands lately though, I've started delving further into Python territory via the Django web framework.

So far I've found that the table auto-generation feature and other unique aspects of Django are pretty interesting.

Currently, I'm in setup hell trying to run my dinky 'hello world' app on Mochahost. On localhost though it's running great. Just peachy.

I'll discuss all the juicy details in a later posting. Or maybe not. Who knows.

I put together a new site called, Wrackit, which is meant to be locally focused. I wanted a site that made postings as simple as Craigslist, but with the ability to post comment threads on them as well. I was inspired by the reactions of many developers and designers to low ball postings.

So, below I've posted links to the most recent job postings in case any one is curious.

Finally completed with the initials on this new site. Built with Codeigniter, utilizing Twitter API xml feed, integrated with Amazon Web Services (just to show the latest book I'm reading, ha).

I've got a few ideas for future posts, mostly quick little tutorials on frameworks and programming in general.

Keep an eye out is what I guess I'm saying.

The rains in spain fall mainly in the plain. I think she's got it!