Category Archives: Apple

A Status Report

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1 to 1s.
I’ve been doing quite a few 1to1 sessions at the Apple store lately. Mostly on Finalcut Express. I’ve learned quite a bit about it. I recently took a 1to1 on Garage Band. Got that pretty much down. If I want more I will have to migrate to Logic Express or Pro. I think Garage Band will meet my needs for now.

College.
I’ve begun the process of getting my college transcripts to Devry. I plan on finally getting a bachelor’s degree. I want to finish what I started years ago!

YouTube Contest.
I entered a contest on Youtube to win a $300 light-kit. I didn’t win but it was allot of fun and I learned allot in the process.

Day Planner.
I got filler pages for my Franklin day planner. I think I now have the impetus (the fire in my belly) to put the thing to good use. Basically, to keep track of my schedule and the things I want to accomplish.

Anniversary.
The wife and I just celebrated our 6th. Took an extra day off and went to the zoo. Very enjoyable day.

Work.
I’ve been able to be more mentally engaged. Though far from perfect. I am seeing improvement here and it is encouraging.

iPhone Dev.
Went to the July Cocoa-Head users meeting in the Apple store. was okay. Also signed up for the Chicago iPhone Dev Camp that will be in August. I need to devote some more time to this. I need to be spending more time reading through the on-line documentation.

June 27, 2008

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There’s so many things rattling around in my brain right now (as usual) and its hard to know what to pick out to talk about. And I want to write. Many times during these brain log-jams, I just throw in the towel and I don’t write a thing.

I think the best thing to do is start typing. Just start typing into the blog.

My attempts at programming the iPhone are kinda so so. I have fits of programming attempts. My main road-block seems to be learning how to use XCode properly.

I’ve talked to people who work in the Oakbrook Apple store and the big Michigan Avenue Apple store in downtown Chicago. Not suprisingly, beyond knowing how to use the iPhone, they don’t have any info/help on how to program the thing. Gosh, I wish I had gone to the developer conference Apple just had in San Fran!

I didfind out about a programmer’s group in the Chicagoland area that meets once a month at the Michigan Avenue Apple Store. The Cocoaheads. I saw some stuff out there about iPhone programming. I am planning on going to their July meeting. Wish me luck!

I finally took my first 1to1 course at the Apple store on Finalcut Express. Pretty good! Sadly, I’ve had the membership for a while now and have wasted several weeks. I am all signed up for another 1to1 though.

Are you an iPhone developer? Do you know XCode pretty well? Do you mind if I bother you with questions? Let me know.

“Cree cree creee creee…”   sound of crickets…

I got to come up with a written list of my current iPhone questions to:

  • Bring to that meeting in July.
  • To give via email addresses shown at the end of the Apple “how-to” videos.

Am I babbling? Probably.

My health (panic attack and anxiety issues) has been gradually improving as I have been:

  • Staying away from caffiene
  • Taking GABA (An amino acid)
  • Taking 5-HTP.
  • Taking B Vitamins & Magnesium.
  • Trying to eat right.
  • Taking a multiple vitamin.
  • Trying to recollect what I did right for the day not what I did wrong.
  • Trying to recollect what I completed, as opposed to what I didn’t complete.
  • Not only let my body rest, but my thoughts rest too.

One thing that has been therapeutic, has been gardening.  I’ve created this whole new garden bed in my back yard. It’s got this nice edging, cedar mulch, and I’ve planted 3 new bushes! I hope that they survive.

The bushes have some new holes in allot of the leaves. I looked on the underside of the leaves… no bugs were found. I’ve now added flowers and garden lights to my garden bed (some flowers have not been planted yet). Oh, and I have one tomato plant.

I still have dreams of living in Hawaii some day (on the beach). Okay, I don’t want much do I? 😛

Visited my dad at the nursing home. He was quite lucid. Haven’t seen him that lucid in quite some time. I know its not something I can expect regularly. If I had my druthers, I would live by the ocean in Hawaii and my dad would live with us and we would have in-home healthcare for him. I don’t know if my dad would live long enough for this to happen. I can dream.

The iPhone is Working Again

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My iPhone is working again. It has been several days since this momentous occasion has occured.

I called Apple tech support and was graciously helped above and beyond the call of duty. It seems that I was missing a step in upgrading my iPhone OS. Thankfully, I was given the remaining step, tried it, and it worked!

iPhone SDK Beta: Some Progress

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To all you bright programmers out there, getting the SDK working probably seemed to be cake. Not for me. Apple made things confusing. But I’m finally getting somewhere!

Getting the first app example working (which I downloaded off of Apple’s site) was an uphill struggle. I was trying to get the  Kalimba Finger Piano working on my iPhone. Downloading the right licence files, putting them in the right places. Not to mention the fact that when ordering the SDK it took me to the Apple store to purchase it and promised a delivery within 5 business days, and that I’d need to be at the ship address to sign for it… Buzzz! Wrong!

I have now downloaded and got running on my iPhone several of the examples that Apple provides. These examples look like they will help me understand how to do different things that I need to understand in order to accomplish my desired goal: A simple game that I have in mind.

Pete from Trails In The Sand: thankyou for your help.

I’ve got a binder set up where I’m keeping all my To-do lists, activity logs, and misc notes for my game. I’m trying to give structure to this thing. I dearly hope this won’t end up being another unfinished project. I’m hoping that the simplicity of the game I want to write will help me in this regards.

The next thing I’m planning to do is assemble one of Pete’s projects and get it working. I think this is the next natural step in progression. It’s one thing to get working a project where all the files have been pre-added, and everything is pre-configured and get it working, it’s another thing to take the piece-parts and do that yourself.

After that, I’m really going to start digging into the code. My to-do list is much more detailed but I think you get the idea.

Tip: When selecting an item in Provisioning, it means more than highlighting it. It means checking the checkbox on the item. This little issue had me wasting probably 2-3 hours of time trying different things.

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I’m on the phone with Apple as we speak. I’m trying to find out what has happened to my iPhone Beta SDK. I logged into the Apple Store, checked my order status. The first thing I noticed gratefully is that it did show that I actually did order the SDK, and the my Visa card was charged for it.

What I did not see is any sort of shipping status information at all. The item says under Order Status that it is “Electronically Delivered,” but I saw no place under “Downloads” where I could download it.

Let me back up just a bit… when I ordered it, it seemed to imply that Apple would ship me a package containing the SDK and that I would need to be at the address when the delivery was made so that I could sign for the package. It was implied that the order would come as short as overnight but take up to 5 business days. Maybe I could get it today (6 business days)!

What is mysterious is that there is nothing under my order status to tell me that it shipped, or that it is pending approval before it’s shipped, etc. This is unclear. Hopefully on this call I will find out what’s up.

Right now, I’m on hold whilst the Apple rep tries to find out stuff.

Although I don’t like this, I’m not surprised really. All the things Apple has been doing lately, all the balls they’re trying to keep in the air, I think they’re doing pretty good considering it all… I still want my SDK though! 🙂

As I end this post, I am still on hold…

iPhone SDK Beta: Waiting For Delivery

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I got the go-ahead from Apple Development to be in the Beta program for developing for the iPhone. I clicked on the appropriate link, filled in the proper info, whipped out the old credit card, validated everything, read everything and am now waiting to receive my package!

I was pleased to see that I wasn’t just simply given a URL to download stuff from, but that they were going to send me a package containing the goodies I’m looking for. I will have to sign for the package.

I signed up I believe Sunday evening. So I am waiting expectantly for my delivery. I will be able to finally try stuff on my actual phone. How cool is that?

iPhone in China?

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No formal talks have happened yet between China Mobile and Apple, but there is a buzz on the internet about it. Wouldn’t it be cool? The iPhone in China? Not only for Apple, but for all the developers of apps for the iPhone!

Something developers would have to take into consideration is the usage of regional settings in their applications.
But this is a small problem compared to the potential.

One possible drawback here is the price of the phone. How many people in China could afford it?

Crawling a Little Closer on the iPhone SDK

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My id for logging in to Apple’s developer web site is different than the id I normally log in to my MacBook with. I was wondering if this was the reason that I could not download the items I subscribed to in the Help program in XCode.

So, I created a user on my MacBook with the same user name and signed in as that and fired up XCode. Next, I brought up the Help, subscribed to the items  that I wanted, and, bingo! Those items loaded!

When I tried to compile to the actual iPhone device (as opposed to the simulator), I still get an error… though it is a different error  now.

Rats! I went to try it again and I get yet another error: “No Device is Connected” This is in spite of the fact that I can bring up iTunes and it shows that it is connected!

Oh, and in the Organizer, it shows my iPhone. Go figure! It is all too clear that I am still missing some of the pieces of the puzzle.

Issue When Editing WordPress Posts on Mac

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I have noticed something recently (it may be a WordPress problem, it may be a Mac Safari problem):

When publishing/saving a post on my blog using Safari on my Mac, it removes the paragraph separations. Everything looks fine while I’m editing the post, but when I look at the post in the blog all the text just runs together.

When returning to edit the post, the paragraphs continue to be missing.

If I go into edit the posts, or creat a new post on my Windows XP box using IE7, the paragraphs work properly.

Apple Developer Site Back Up

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Actually, its been up for a while now. And, after about 4 attempts, I was able to download the iPhone SDK!

There is allot here to digest. I’ve never programmed in Objective-C before. It is a bit overwhelming.

Note: I submitted a request for the $99 license key. Looks like I’ll have to wait for a response from Apple. Based on the load their site received from would-be iPhone developers, I might be waiting for awhile!

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