May 2013
1 post
McDonald’s Theory — What I Learned Building… →
The next time you have an idea rolling around in your head, find the courage to quiet your inner critic just long enough to get a piece of paper and a pen, then just start sketching it. “But I don’t have a long time for this!” you might think. Or “the idea is probably stupid”, or “Maybe I’ll go online and click around for-”
No. Shut up. Stop sabotaging yourself.
YES YES YES
April 2013
2 posts
3 tags
ARC Doesn't Clean Up After an Exception
I recently discovered that ARC does not clean up objects automatically when an exception is thrown, which was the cause of some strange test pollution in my specs.
An example will best illustrate how this can happen. Here’s a simple assertion method that raises an exception if an object is not an instance of a given class:
- (void)assertObject:(id)object isKindOfClass:(Class)class
{
...
March 2013
2 posts
January 2013
2 posts
December 2012
1 post
September 2012
2 posts
kottke.org: Some thoughts about XOXO →
jkottke:
I attended the XOXO Festival in Portland, OR this past weekend. I don’t have a great deal to say about it because — and I’m not trying to be a dick here — you had to be there. As in, physically in the room with the speakers and the attendees. But I did want to mention a few things. - XOXO was…
I was also at XOXO and completely agree.
August 2012
5 posts
You don’t need to copy Apple to create something...
Marco Arment posted a more upbeat reaction to the Apple-Samsung decision handed down yesterday, in response to Andy Ithnako’s more pessimistic take:
I disagree that “useful” phones need to be so close to the iPhone that they run into Apple’s patents and trade-dress claims in the Samsung case.
I completely agree, and he goes on to name-check Windows 8 as a mobile interface that is...
Design and uncertainty - Ellen Beldner →
timoni:
Excellent post.
June 2012
2 posts
May 2012
3 posts
1 tag
4 tags
NSIndexSet block enumeration gotcha
If you use NSIndexSet’s block enumerators in your iOS or Mac app code, you should beware of a bug I’ve encountered when using [NSIndexSet enumerateIndexesInRange:options:block:].
In short: it will barf and throw an exception if you provide it a range of {0, 0}. It will not barf on {1, 0}, or other ranges, which makes it insidiously easy to let this bug affect your own code.
...
November 2011
1 post
October 2011
3 posts
“I will buy anyone a first-class, round-trip ticket to NYC if they donate bone...”
– Twitter / @nerdyc: I will buy anyone a first- … (via fuckyeahamitgupta)
August 2011
1 post
My "Lunch" With Steve Jobs
I freelanced much of my way through college, to pay bills, but also to get way more real-world exposure to technology. But I kept freelancing for a few years too many, and a couple years after college I really just wanted a real job again.
My job search basically consisted of two options: Apple, or startups. My interviews at Apple went well. So well that I found myself driving down to Apple for...
July 2011
1 post
June 2011
1 post
May 2011
1 post
April 2011
1 post
Why programmers are not paid in proportion to... →
The romantic image of an über-programmer is someone who fires up Emacs, types like a machine gun, and delivers a flawless final product from scratch. A more accurate image would be someone who stares quietly into space for a few minutes and then says “Hmm. I think I’ve seen something like this before.”
I wouldn’t correct a single word of this paragraph. It perfectly describes the...
March 2011
3 posts
By the numbers: why NYT digital subscriptions are...
The New York Times recently announced pricing for its digital subscriptions. A subscription will be required to get full access to their site, or to access it via a phone or tablet (their distinction, not mine).
You’d assume that if you wanted a printed version of the paper as well, you’d have to pay extra, right? In fact, no! Subscribing for print delivery will actually save you up...
4 tags
TrackerBot 1.0 Available in the App Store!
Yes, the wait is over and you can now get a TrackerBot of your own in the App Store! TrackerBot is the only native app designed whole-heartedly for the iPad and iPhone, and it really shows. If you love your iPad as much as I do, and love Pivotal Tracker just the same, TrackerBot is going to make your day.
TrackerBot 1.0 has been in development since it began as a summer side project in July...
February 2011
4 posts
Pardon me while I blow your mind: Spherical Fried...
I got an ebelskiver pan a year or two ago, thinking I’d make ebelskivers now and then, but really because I wanted to experiment with the funky pan. Sure you can make spherical pancakes in it, but what ELSE could be made in there? Cupcakes? Puddings?
Or how about, SPHERICAL FRIED EGGS:
Feel free to take a minute to put what remains of your life back together after this bombshell hit...
First Impressions: Cappuccino vs SproutCore
I spent a day and a half comparing Cappuccino and SproutCore, two web frameworks for creating pretty stunning desktop-like web apps. Long story short: I’ve decided to use SproutCore instead of Cappuccino.
First, some background. I’m currently prototyping a startup idea. Like many such ideas, it’s very aspirational and a bit vague, but I’m certain that great UX will make...
Stop building horrible admin interfaces! Use...
At pretty much every place I’ve worked, the admin area of the site (that secret part of the site that only employees or investors get to see) is built using the same layout and UI conventions as the consumer-facing site. And without fail, they’ve always sucked. They’re downright awful, barely usable, internally inconsistent, horribly laid out, and confusing as hell.
They suck...
January 2011
4 posts
Cara and I went to Yucatán. Here's Proof
How to fake the 'new' operator in Ruby
My friend Alejandro Crosa recently tweeted his wish that Ruby 1.9 include a ‘new’ operator like in Javascript and many other programming languages:
@nerdyc @ikai I kinda like it too, if 1.9 makes “new Class” work then all my typical javascript errors will disappear
So I decided to show him how to reproduce the new operator using Ruby meta-programming! For non-nerds, or...
Being Wrong and the Art of Writing Software
(via utnereader and poptech):
Kathryn Schulz is an expert on being wrong. The journalist and author of “Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margins of Error,” says we make mistakes all the time. The trouble is that often times being wrong feels like being right. What’s more, we’re usually wrong about what it even means to make mistakes—and how it can lead to better ideas.
This talk is probably...
December 2010
1 post
September 2010
1 post
2 tags
August 2010
1 post
June 2010
1 post
Daring Fireball: I'll Tell You What's Fair →
superamit:
parislemon:
Now that DF has achieved a modicum of popularity, however, what I tend to get instead aren’t queries or complaints about the lack of comments, but rather demands that I add them — demands from entitled people who see that I’ve built something very nice that draws much attention, and who believe they have a right to share in it.
They don’t.
I love this. My view on...
May 2010
1 post
5 tags
Finally! A way to test-drive my Objective-C...
I’ve had an on-again off-again relationship with Objective-C and Cocoa. I wrote a artsy visualization in it that ended up in some museums, a rather crappy utility to transfer email between IMAP servers, and some other stuff.
But I always became really frustrated with how hard it was to test drive any of this code. Granted, test-driving graphics and UI code can be hard, but I really love...
March 2010
1 post
collectedthinkery: Quarter stories →
The imagination of Phil and Hillary never ceases to amaze me. Phil’s latest blog enterprise, Quarter Stories, is a great example of the madness that goes through their heads. Phil is paying Mechanical Turk users 25 cents each to create a short story based on any of the…
Here! Here! I second Rob’s amazement with Phillary. Can’t wait until they have their own clothing line in...
February 2010
1 post
2 tags
The Best Superpower Ever
If I could have any superpower, I think it’d be to know what everyone wanted. Most people don’t seem to have any idea what they want, and it’d be pretty awesome to clear that up for them.
“Yeah, you don’t really want to be a lawyer, you just want to impress your dad. Go write that novel!”
Also, it’d be pretty handy if you were a diplomat, so...
October 2009
5 posts
Granola!
Have you noticed that any good granola costs five or six bucks per box? And it’s a 12-ounce box. That’s fracking ridiculous, especially since I learned how to make granola in elementary school. It probably wasn’t that great (I remember it including a bunch of vegetable oil…ewww), but still cheap.
I decided to stop buying granola from the store. I can make a BETTER granola...
