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Archive for April, 2010

Steve Jobs Hating Again on Us c# Developers

Sunday, April 11th, 2010

iphone I’ve got to be honest with you, nobody loves their iPhone more than I love mine (okay, maybe there is someone out their but you get the point). As a software engineer, it is important to me to be able to extend my own mobile device through using software languages that I already am familiar with whenever possible. That’s where my love for my iPhone gets tested on a regular basis given Apple’s insistence on keeping this platform closed. In a recent interview Steve Jobs mentioned an article by John Gruber. It’s a great article, but for me it misses some important points from a user’s perspective (at least this user).

I develop quite a bit in c# and that really is just due to the bulk of the work that I do happening to be for the .NET platform. So I was one of the many people that went out and purchased Novell’s MonoTouch software development environment for the iPhone. Why? Well of course, I wanted to be able to use the language I was most familiar with to be able to write some awesome applications for my iPhone. I actually can’t begin to tell you how excited I was about the potential to be able to take some of the great mobile applications I had written in the past and port them over to my iPhone. Enter Apple and Steve Jobs…

I saw the following comment on SlashDot today:

“Greg Slepak, founder of software company Tao Effect, wrote Apple CEO Steve Jobs to complain about Apple’s mandate that iPhone applications be originally written in C/C++/Objective-C. Job’s response was to endorse a post by John Gruber on the Daring Fireball blog. Jobs called it ‘very insightful,’ suggesting Gruber’s prediction that third-party iPhone development tools are out might be right. Jobs sent a second reply that also doesn’t bode well for third-party iPhone development tools: ‘We’ve been there before, and intermediate layers between the platform and the developer ultimately produces sub-standard apps and hinders the progress of the platform.’”

Well, that’s quite a drag for people like me that really love the platform but due to outside constraints are developing a lot in c# or other languages for a living. I’m not sure I understand exactly how intermediate layers introduce inferior applications. If you have a passion for the mobile platform and happen to code in another language I think you can work just as hard to write an awesome iPhone application whether you are using Xcode, Objective-C, and WebKit or MonoTouch. Granted, if Novell doesn’t keep the development environment updated with current releases of the iPhone OS, then you definitely do have a problem. However, we are not talking about a small dev shop here, we are talking about Novell. It seems like they would be able to keep up with the platform just fine.

In the end I agree with the assessment that it is not so much about Apple’s concern that MonoTouch developers are going to churn out poor quality applications as it is their desire to control the marketplace. Now, that is entirely up to them (for as long as the public goes along and keeps buying their closed platform products). It’s really just about their desire to control software development for the mobile platform to force developers to write applications specific to the iPhone to perpetuate its dominance of the mobile market. That’s really unfortunate from a developers perspective. Honestly, the ability to target multiple platforms actually would lead to better quality applications as the dev team can focus on features and functionality versus simple syntax differences and always having to keep multiple versions of the application in synch.

Okay, so what does this really mean to Apple and for that matter to me personally and my iPhone. Honestly, not a whole heck of a lot. I will still use my favorite mobile phone as will millions of others and I will just have to abandon my dream of using MonoTouch to port my mobile applications over to the iPhone. Which leaves me with one option and yes at some point I’ll suck it up and go with Xcode, Objective-C, and WebKit.

In my case, Apple you win! I get it and will play be your rules (but that doesn’t mean I agree with them).

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35 Cool and Wild PC Case Mods

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

Do you have a creative mind, a knack for design, but are destined to be a computer geek. Well don’t fret; you can still do both by creating your own custom computer case mod. Through a custom case mod you can express yourself and be one of a kind. This is especially handy if you are going for a degree in design or art, however if you are not, you may just want to get back to studying. Here are 35 cool and weird case mod’s that will blow your mind.

The Wallcrawler
I guess he spens a lot of time in the fridge.
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The Cyberpumpkin
Wonder if there’s a treasure in the box.
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Aliens
Now that’s some cool art work.
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The Beer Tap
This one is my favorite.
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Russian Steampunk
Running a pc off of steam may get a little hot.
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Doom 3
So what happens when you
move on to the next game?
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Edelweiss
Not sure what it’s supposed to be,
but it looks cool.
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The Pyramid
Maybe it helps channel all the heat to the top.
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The Miss Kanna PC
I’m not sure the girlfirends or
wives would go for this one.
You can see more on how its made here.
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The Toilet PC
If you spend that much time on the toilet that you
have to make a PC out of it, you may need other help.
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The Microwave
Wonder if they sit next to the Wallcrawler.
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The Chopper Mod
I’m not sure why, but I really like this one.
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The Bat Mobile
This would really be cool if
it was a remote car as well.
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The Pink Floyd
Wonder if it comes preloaded with music?
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The Trash Can 1.
So I guess they are saying intel is trash.
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The Desk
Hey when you are tight on space,
use what you have.
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Futurama Leela
What’s he going to do when he falls in love
with the next cartoon character?
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The VW Bus
Interesting you don’t see any flowers on the side.
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The Orb
Watch out, its ready to pounce.
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The Sexy Droid
I guess he couldn’t find a good screen saver.
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The Royalty
Someone feels special about themselves.
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The Marvel
Now that’s one heavey computer.
—

Tie Fighter
For those who love Star Wars
but still need a desk.
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The Old Phone
I guess this one’s for grandma,
so it doesn’t scare her.
—

The Robot
I bet they are working on the Avatar one right now.
—

Digg
Someone loves posting and reading stories.
—

R2-D2
Now that took some time, I guess they
really love Star Wars.
—

The John Deer Gas Pump
The case every redneck is searching for.
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The WMD
Hope some school officials don’t search a
dorm room and find that, they may freak out a bit.
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The Pumpkin
I’m not sure if they like halloween or
just like pumpkins.
—

Porsche Wheel
Someone somewhere is mad wondering who
stole thier wheel.
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Woodshop
At least its some good wood working.
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The Trash Can 2.
I’m not sure why people want to make
a case out of a trash can, but they do.
—

The Fan
He must have gotten tired of that
overheating problem.
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The Bug
Do you spray it with Raid to turn it off?
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