Keychain Services API

The GenericKeyChain sample does not run inside the iPhone simulator.  I found out that WordPress for iPhone is using the SFHFKeychainUtils class which can be download from GitHub.   The author has a blog about it.  I wrote a simple iPhone program to test the function and it works great!

WordPress for iPhone – Source

The WordPress for iPhone source can be downloaded from subversion.  This page has the instructions.

I downloaded the latest trunk version.  The app is using the Keychain Services API to store account information so that next time, when the app starts, it would automatically login to the blog.  Apple has a sample program called GenericKeychain that uses the Keychain Services API.

I have not looked at the WordPress for iPhone source in detail.  But one thing I noticed was that NSLog is used a lot for debugging purposes.  To prevent those statements from being printed in the release version, I think it is better to do something like this.

WordPress for iPhone

This post is written using wordpress for iPhone.
wordpress for iPhone

Objective-C

Because of the popularity of iPhone, a lot of developers are learning Objective-C.  Look at the TIOBE Programming Language page.  Will Objective-C be 2009’s “Language of the year”?

iPhone Core Data

I am working on an iPhone app that needs data storage.  I could use SQLite, but since Core Data is available in iPhone OS 3.0, I decide to learn it.  Here are some good resources.

Resources:

Apple iPhone Dev Center

• Core Data Overview
• Core Data Tutorial
• Core Data Programming Guide

Sample Code

• iPhoneCoreDataRecipes

iPhone in Action Blog

• Core Data Part 1: Introduction
• Core Data Part 2: The Data Model
• Core Data Part 3: Retrieving Data
• Core Data Part 4: Inserts, Updates & Deletes
• Core Data Part 5: Prefilling Data

Mac

Recently I bought a 13 inch MacBook Pro to see what it is like.  It is expensive than a Windows laptop.  Is it worth it?

Coming from the PC world, I am not used to the new environment:

• the way windows are manipulated
• the limited number of keys
• the multi-touch trackpad
• the unfamiliar keyboard shortcuts

But in time, I’ll get used to it.  What is nice about it?

• Design.
• Long battery (7 hours).
• Mac OS X contains a lot of applications.  Developers can download Xcode, Interface Builder, and other tools from the Apple Developer website.
• Easy access to Apple support via Apple store or phone.
• Unix terminal.
• Many other things…

I think it is totally worth it.

Browser Update

I tried Opera and Safari and I didn’t like them. I was also brave or stupid enough to try Google Chrome again (after they released a new version). I didn’t like Google Chrome either. The main problem with all these browsers is that there are not a lot of plug-ins. So I stay with Firefox. To free up memory, I periodically quit and restart Firefox.

Google Chrome

Firefox uses a lot of memory.  The longer I use it, the more memory it uses, and the slower it gets.  I tried different methods suggested by various websites, but it is no use.  Those suggestions even messed up my Acrobat configuration that I had to reinstall Acrobat.

What are the alternatives?  How about I try Google Chrome.

I downloaded Google Chrome a few days ago and installed it.  When I ran it for the first time, it started to import my settings from Firefox.  When it was importing my searching settings, it just kept going and going.  I couldn’t even terminate the import process with the “Skip Import” button.  Needless to say, I immediately uninstalled it.  After googling around, it appeared that other people have the same problem.

Well, I decided to give it another try today, thinking that they probably have fixed the problem.  When I clicked the blue “Download Google Chrome” button, a window popped up, probably determining my system configuration or preparing for the install.  I don’t remember since everything happened so quickly.  What happened next was that I got the Windows blue screen and my computer automatically restarted!  I can’t believe this.  This is a product from Google.  I expect better from Google.

Now, do I dare to click the blue “Download Google Chrome” button again?

[Windows XP Pro, Firefox 3.0.8.]

How to install Flash Player in Ubuntu 8.0.4 and Firefox 3.0

There are many ways to install Flash Player.  But I found this to work the best.  I did not have any luck trying to install Flash Player 10.

1. Close Firefox.

2. Open a Terminal window in Ubuntu.

3. Update the package list.  Type:

• sudo apt-get update

• Wait until the list is updated.

4. Get the flash player and install it.  Type:

• sudo apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree

• This will install Flash Player 9.

5. Check it is installed.

• Open FireFox.  Go to the plugins page by type this into the URL.

  • about:plugins

• You should see Shockwave Flash in the plugins page.

Adobe Flex3 – First Impression

Continuing with my research on RIAs, I looked at Adobe Flex next.  I already had Flash Player 9 installed.

I went to http://flex.org/showcase/ and explored several Flex apps.  All the apps ran fine.  The experience was much better than JavaFX.

One notable app is the Flickr Gallery (http://gallery.worldsware.com/).

From the showcase description:

“Flickr Gallery is an experimental virtual environment I built using Papervision3D. It shows Flickr’s “most interesting” photos of the day in an art gallery format you can walk around it. Zoom in for closer detail and pop up a photograph’s Flickr page or view a map for geo-tagged images.”

The Papervision3D website (http://www.papervision3d.org/)  is very cool.