blog.benwong.me

June 2010 Update

Ben — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 09:04:54 +0000

It’s been a while since my last post. Since then I’ve gotten myself an iPad (3G 32GB) and released my first iPhone app, FontView. I’m now working on my second app while I wait for a new project to come through.

I’ve also been very focused on my basketball. I’m playing in two social comps – one on Sundays at Auchenflower and the other on Wednesdays at Boondall. The season has just ended for both comps. We just missed out on playoffs at Auchenflower, but I’m very optimistic about the next season.

Learning iPhone App Development – #1

Ben — Thu, 06 May 2010 00:02:11 +0000

I’ve found myself with some spare time in the past couple of weeks, so I decided to start learning iPhone app development. After a couple of weeks I’m really getting into it and I thought I should document my experiences.

The first thing I did to get myself started was to buy a book to learn from. There are lots of book out on iPhone development now so it can be daunting to pick one out. I decided to grab iPhone for Programmers: An App-Driven Approach. Deitel books have always had a good reputation and I like the example driven approach.

I worked through about half of the book and I realised I wasn’t really learning anything very well because I started to just type the code into XCode and not understand what it actually did. I tried analysing the code and instructions to understand it better, but it wasn’t clear enough and it was making me drowsy.

So, I started reading the documentation on Apple’s iPhone developer website and watching the Stanford iPhone Application Development videos on iTuneU. They’re both really good resources. I highly recommend both. They give you a much better understanding of the fundamentals of the Objective-C language and the iPhone SDK.

At this stage I’m getting fairly comfortable with Objective-C and creating a basic iPhone app with multiple views. I haven’t registered for the iPhone developer Program yet, but will probably do that in the next week. In that time, I should also have a good grasp of using the Map Kit.

Excited about the iPad

Ben — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 02:23:33 +0000

Seems like the entire internet is exploding with excitement and anticipation for the Apple iPad – lots of super positive reviews, developers flogging their new iPad apps and tech seers pondering the possibilities the new device brings. And I have to say it’s hard to fight it. I look forward to getting my iPad. I’m well and truly off the fence.

For me the iPad makes the ideal device for the living room – for chilling out in front of the TV, do a quick Google or Wikipedia search about a topic on the 7pm Project, find a song I heard on a new commercial using Shazam or join the Twitter backchannel conversation while watching Masterchef. At the moment, I flip between my MacBook Pro and iPhone for this. And neither feels quite right for it – one’s too big and the other’s too small.

Speed, heat and battery life are three important things I look at when I deciding whether to buy a portable device and the iPad seems to have big green tick for each. All three were covered in Andy Ihnatko’s Twit.tv demo. The interface looks smooth and responsive, he responded to Alex’s question about heat by saying there was no discernable heat change even after watching a movie, and his battery life tests support what Apple’s claim of 10 hours.

Well, like I said before, I’m off the fence. I’m no longer deciding whether to buy an iPad now, I’m deciding whether I should buy one for my parents too. Now I’m just waiting for Apple to decide on Australian pricing.

New Year’s Resolutions 2009 – Follow Up

Ben — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:51:14 +0000

This is a little late. I remembered I posted a few resolutions last year, so I thought I had better at least follow up on those resolutions.

Become a Better Programmer

I probably have become a little better just through work, but I don’t think I’ve followed through on what I proposed. Work was hectic this past year, but circumstances have changed and I think I can do it this. I’m going set aside sometime for reading that big pile of programming books stacked up behnd me.

Listen to More Music

I did ok with this one. I’ve expanded my music horizon a bit more this year. That was apparent when a friend asked what sort of music I listened to and she had never heard any of the bands I mentioned. Will have to keep at this one.

Be more organised

I put a lot of effort into this one. Not sure if I’ve improved, but I certainly learned a lot about being organised in the past year. I’ve recently started trying out The Pomodoro Technique, so I’m heading in the right direction.

Drobo and DroboShare

Ben — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:07:39 +0000

Last week I finally bit the bullet and bought a Drobo and DroboShare. They’re quite expensive compared to all the other NAS options available. For my $1000+ I got a highly recommended backup storage solution that was quick and relatively painless to set up. In 30 minutes I had my Drobo and DroboShare up and running – firmware updated, HFS+ formatted and all set up as a media server for my PS3 and iTunes.

I’ve got three 1TB and one 640GB hard drive in it now, giving me 2.37TB of protected storage space. If in the future I find myself running low on space, it’s simple to switch those drives for larger ones in the future.

I’m very happy with my Drobo/DroboShare set up. I’d recommend it to anyone needing an easy to set up storage/back up solution and had the money. The ability to stream media to PS3 and iTunes is a bonus.

Ubuntu 9.04 Fresh Install Checklist

Ben — Sun, 10 May 2009 03:32:26 +0000

What I’ve install so far on my fresh Ubuntu 9.04 install.

NVIDIA drivers – Drivers for NVIDIA video card
VLC – Media player
Gnome Do – App launcher (like Mac’s Quicksilver and Win’s Launchy)
CompizConfig Settings Manager – Config for visual effects
VirtualBox – Virtualisation software
Adobe AIR and TweetDeck – Twitter client

I’m sure this list will get longer before the day is done. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackolope

Ben — Sun, 10 May 2009 03:07:46 +0000

Currently enjoying my fresh install of Ubuntu Desktop 9.04. Ubuntu is looking more and more polished with every release. If I were Microsoft I would be shaking in my boots. Who’s going to pay for $500 – 600 for Windows and Office when you can download this for free.

Windows Fresh Install Checklist

admin — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 02:33:40 +0000

This morning I’ve been setting up a fresh install of Windows on a new HD. I’ve been setting up Windows a lot lately, so I thought I’d create a checklist of the things I usually do when I first login.

Install hardware drivers – motherboard, network, video, sound
Install service packs and updates
Avast! – anti virus
Firefox – web browser
- Install add-ons: Firebug, Web Developer, Twitterfox, Ubiquity, Delicious
Launchy – app launcher
Notepad++ – Notepad replacement
7-Zip – archiver
Filezilla – FTP
Keepass – password manager
DropBox – file sync
Change the orange flower user picture to something less girly

NYR2009 #3 – Be more organised

admin — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 01:33:19 +0000

Third and final resolution for the year is to be more organised. I admit there are times when I feel very unorganised. I don’t like those moments. So, I’ll make an effort to avoid them. I guess I’ll start by making sure I’m prepared for things and don’t leave things to the last minute like I’ve had a tendancy to do. Meanwhile I don’t want to become an absolute control freak. Some things in life are more enjoyable when you wing it.

NYR2009 #2 – Listen to more music

admin — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 08:34:52 +0000

My second new year’s resolution for 2009 is to listen to more music. I like to listen to all kinds of music – been through a jazz phase, some soft rock, some easy listening, some classical and lately I’ve been mostly into British indie. But to be honest, if someone asked me what my favourite song is or what sort of music I like to listen to, I wouldn’t know what to say, because it changes all the time. So, in order to change that I think I’m going to have to spend some quality time listening to music. Just listening to music. Lots of it.

My plan is already in motion. I already have a great pair of headphones – my Grado SR60 which I bought when I was in London. Also I’ve got a set of Edirol MA-15D Stereo Micro Monitors ordered. Last.fm is also an integral part of the plan. Last week I spent hours exploring new music.

So, there you have it. Hopefully by the end of the year. I’ll be able to tell someone what music I like.