Rant
Soapbox mania!
Source: XKCD
App store ratings are both a blessing and a curse. They can offer prospective buyers a semi-objective opinion on the use of an app and be the means of pushing a wary shopper to a purchase, but that all kind of hinges on the user actually providing useful information or even not having a personal vendetta against you.
I can completely sympathize with users not wanting to get hoodwinked out of their own cash, but many app store reviews are actually pretty worthless, even ones rated high. But if that weren't enough, I got a really strange email last...
iOS 5 has been a real treat, not just for the end-users, but also developers, as well. The introduction of UIAppearance, CoreImage, ARC, and many other goodies has really amped up the awesomeness in developing rich applications at a much quicker pace. One of the other interesting items is called UIStoryboard. Storyboards offer us the ability to apply our Interface Builder skills and take it to the next level for developing cohesive applications through a WYSIWYG interface. I developed my latest application, TF2 Recipes, exclusively in Storyboards in order to get a real feel of how they might be a...
It's really interesting how technology has empowered people. We've seen it in the Arab Spring uprisings, people using cell phones and the Internet to coordinate congregating together and to share common ideas. Occupy Wall Street is no different. It is amazing to me what little camera-equipped cell phones have done in the way of citizen reporting. It is becoming increasingly difficult for police and authority figures to get away with much these days because of the diverse means of monitoring their activity.
Some have even gone as far as stitching these recordings together to give a more complete picture of what...
After reading the authorized Steve Jobs biography I came away impressed at the integrity he had with the products he created, even in those places where no one would really look:
When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried...
There has been a lot of uproar from the geek community lately about the recent additions George Lucas has made to his space epic, Star Wars. Turns out, Darth Vadar gained some additional lines, Ewoks now have eyelids, and other changes. To be fair, I too, am still bitter about the fact that Han did shoot first. This particular change, first made with the re-release of the Star Wars trilogy in 1997, brought up an interesting question: Should movie makers be able to alter their movies beyond the theatrical releases we watch?
One of the childish reasons against this notion runs...
Something really caught my eye recently that really made me think about the state of society. I saw an add that read:
iPad 2 Blowout - 93% off
Get a new Apple iPad 2 for $89.95 Limited Supply. Get your iPad Today
This really interested me, not for the fact that an iPad could potentially be found for such a ridiculously low price, but that there are people out there willing to fall for such scammy tactics. It made me wonder, how many people will click on that advertisement in hopes of being able to 'score it big' by getting an iPad for...
I read this article today about the growing divide between Silicon Valley and the unemployed and crafted an email response to its author. In addition, I decided to post my thoughts here.
It's interesting in that the article spends a great deal of time trying to generate empathy for the unfortunate situation that a great deal of Americans find themselves in, but I'm not sure the article is persuasive in encouraging people to do something, if for no other reason that it doesn't really outline actionable things people can do.
One could argue that many of these people...
One of my favorite things to say when confronted to justify giving something a particular name, whether it be code, a product, etc. is: "Sorry, I'm a programmer, not a poet." Similarly, I can hide behind "I'm a programmer, not a designer."
Poppycock. These are just excuses to cover inexperience, ineptitude, or just flat out hide embarrassment. No more. Part of self-improvement is stretching one's self and exploring different trades and expounding on the ones already learned. I'm sick of not having a seat at the table because "I'm not a _________."
I see a lot of buzz out on the Internet over the verdict on the Casey Anthony trial. I don't watch TV where a lot of the action has been, so I have been mostly out of the loop on the day to day happenings. Thank goodness. From the sound of things this trial seems to have played out much like the OJ Simpson trial: play-by-play analysis, extra-court opinion, people ready to send her to the gas chamber.
And so it isn't too surprising that people are upset that the jury found her not guilty of murder. I think the whole...
So normally I don't blog about my interactions with my customers. I get a mail or two every now and again asking for help, clarification, etc on using Webmail++. These people usually come with a pretty open mind and are earnestly seeking help with a product they spent hard-earned money for. I would think I do a pretty good job of not only being prompt in my replies, but taking their issues seriously. If there's one thing I have learned form my day job, it is that good customer service can go a long way in establishing long-lasting relationships.
Out of...
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