Thursday, February 25, 2010
Aperture 3 versus Lightroom 2
Thursday, February 25, 2010 
1 Comments
I'll start off by stating without hesitation that I am an Apple Fanboy. This cannot ever come into question. I really, really wanted to like Aperture 3 more than Lightroom 2. Yes, I have a lot of Adobe tech flowing through my day to day and Flash has made a lot of great things possible for me. In my mind Apple comes first. Except for now.
Aperture 3 has added many features of iPhoto to it's mix... and that's all well and good except now Aperture doesn't feel like a professional tool anymore. Maybe that's what they were after when they decided to migrate a lot of functionality. But it feels dumbed down, more accessible, less professional now.
Both applications are good at what they do, no doubt. Personally I like the way I can organize in Aperture better than Lightroom, but everywhere else LR is a better app for me. The panels getting out of my way, two stages of fullscreen, decent editing tools, etc. Aperture has better sharing tools (me.com) and the whole ordering books thing is pretty awesome too.
I'd almost like to have the two have sex and give birth to a über photography tool. I just imported a bunch of RAW into LR and it's pretty blissful in there.
Aperture 3 has added many features of iPhoto to it's mix... and that's all well and good except now Aperture doesn't feel like a professional tool anymore. Maybe that's what they were after when they decided to migrate a lot of functionality. But it feels dumbed down, more accessible, less professional now.
Both applications are good at what they do, no doubt. Personally I like the way I can organize in Aperture better than Lightroom, but everywhere else LR is a better app for me. The panels getting out of my way, two stages of fullscreen, decent editing tools, etc. Aperture has better sharing tools (me.com) and the whole ordering books thing is pretty awesome too.
I'd almost like to have the two have sex and give birth to a über photography tool. I just imported a bunch of RAW into LR and it's pretty blissful in there.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Photography Questions; it's all a matter of coin
Monday, February 22, 2010
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I have been really becoming a photography nerd lately and I love it. I believe my aspirations have stretched beyond the capabilities of my current set of photographic gear however. I am looking for some experienced advice.
I currently own a Canon EOS Rebel XS with the stock 18-55mm kit lens. I have borrowed a Canon 50mm prime (which I love) and also a Sigma. I am getting pretty good results with the borrowed lenses - much better than the stock lens. I prefer to shoot without a flash whenever possible as I abhor what a flash can do to most shots. So quick lenses suit me well.
I was thinking about upgrading my camera body to an unreleased T2i (550D) or perhaps something else. I certainly don't have thousands of dollars to spend on a body because I'd like to get some lenses someday as well. It's a nice balancing act. Photography is so expensive, but my kids are growing up and I don't want to miss any moments. The clearer and sharper the shots, the better. Great bokeh. Etc. I know those are lenses... and maybe that is where I need to concentrate?
Someonen once told me to get the cheapest body possible because all the magic happens in the lens. I'd like to know how true this is. Should I just keep the XS and get some great lenses? Or do I need to up the anté on the body to make the lenses stand out even more?
I currently own a Canon EOS Rebel XS with the stock 18-55mm kit lens. I have borrowed a Canon 50mm prime (which I love) and also a Sigma. I am getting pretty good results with the borrowed lenses - much better than the stock lens. I prefer to shoot without a flash whenever possible as I abhor what a flash can do to most shots. So quick lenses suit me well.
I was thinking about upgrading my camera body to an unreleased T2i (550D) or perhaps something else. I certainly don't have thousands of dollars to spend on a body because I'd like to get some lenses someday as well. It's a nice balancing act. Photography is so expensive, but my kids are growing up and I don't want to miss any moments. The clearer and sharper the shots, the better. Great bokeh. Etc. I know those are lenses... and maybe that is where I need to concentrate?
Someonen once told me to get the cheapest body possible because all the magic happens in the lens. I'd like to know how true this is. Should I just keep the XS and get some great lenses? Or do I need to up the anté on the body to make the lenses stand out even more?
Labels: Photography
Friday, February 19, 2010
Accolades to NHL.com
Friday, February 19, 2010
0 Comments
Just the other night I placed an order online with NHL.com - a Sidney Crosby Canadian Hockey team shirt as well as a Russian logo shirt. However a day after placing the order I discovered that the card I had used was no longer valid, as a new one sent long ago was now in effect.
I figured this meant that the order was pretty much invalidated since the card would not be able to have been charged.
Tonight a few fire engines passed our house and travelled half way down the road. Being a concerned and curious neighbor, I walked outside to see what was happening. I nearly stepped through a package sitting at our front door.
I immediately thought to myself, "There is no way that order was processed, much less have it delivered here already." I was wrong on both counts. I did not pay for overnight delivery, but yet here it was. I didn't even think it would have ever been processed and that I would need to recreate the order.
To those at NHL.com, the order went through by a whisker, but your delivery was outstanding. Kudos to you, I very much appreciate your efforts.
I figured this meant that the order was pretty much invalidated since the card would not be able to have been charged.
Tonight a few fire engines passed our house and travelled half way down the road. Being a concerned and curious neighbor, I walked outside to see what was happening. I nearly stepped through a package sitting at our front door.
I immediately thought to myself, "There is no way that order was processed, much less have it delivered here already." I was wrong on both counts. I did not pay for overnight delivery, but yet here it was. I didn't even think it would have ever been processed and that I would need to recreate the order.
To those at NHL.com, the order went through by a whisker, but your delivery was outstanding. Kudos to you, I very much appreciate your efforts.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Help: 2 AIR apps to use localConnection?
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
0 Comments
I have 2 SWFs that I converted to AIR applications so I can get a transparent background and run like real apps. However, the localConnection they were using STOPPED when I made them AIR applications. Communication is bi-directional.
I have no clear idea what I am doing wrong. In each app for the identifier I have goes something like this:
app 1: com.ericd.television
app 2: com.ericd.iPod
When I create the apps (AIR file) and sign it, I DO NOT see anything matching in my Users/ericd/Library/Preferences folder. I think I am supposed to. Note: I am using Flash CS4 to create these AIR applications.
If I dig into one of the installed apps, I can see in it's plist file the publishID created from my desktop certificate.
In my television app:
How the hell can I get this to work?
I have no clear idea what I am doing wrong. In each app for the identifier I have goes something like this:
app 1: com.ericd.television
app 2: com.ericd.iPod
When I create the apps (AIR file) and sign it, I DO NOT see anything matching in my Users/ericd/Library/Preferences folder. I think I am supposed to. Note: I am using Flash CS4 to create these AIR applications.
If I dig into one of the installed apps, I can see in it's plist file the publishID created from my desktop certificate.
In my television app:
receive_conn = new LocalConnection();
receive_conn.allowDomain('*');
receive_conn.client = this;
try {
receive_conn.connect( "_myConnection" );
} catch (error:ArgumentError ){
trace("connection already used by another SWF");
}
...
public function receivedCommandObject( msg:Object ):void {
...
}Now, in my iPod app I attempt to call that method in the television app:send_conn = new LocalConnection();
send_conn.addEventListener(StatusEvent.STATUS, onStatus);
...
private function onStatus(event:StatusEvent):void {
if(event.level == "error"){
message_txt.text = "error";
}
}
...
private function onClick( e:MouseEvent ):void {
send_conn.send( "app#com.ericd.ipod.B580921C0EAF398616B741BB087C41342441EB50.1:_myConnection.", "receivedCommandObject", {type:"playVideo"} );
}I always get an error. I've tried to change the send to use com.ericd.television too, no dice. I always get an error. How the hell can I get this to work?
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Our Keurig has replaced (and upgraded)
Thursday, January 14, 2010
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I brought our defective unit in with the receipt (it was a gift, but we managed to obtain the receipt just in case). I quickly explained the problem and the situation and I was told to go back and just grab another one.
They didn't have the same model (it was sold out), all they had was the Platinum version. A much larger water reservoir, four cup sizes plus another for iced brewing, etc. So we were upgraded.
The whole experience took about five minutes at the most and last night it was christened by producing a fresh brew of the Donut variety coffee.
By the way, I had emailed Keurig through their contact form on their website when the first machine broke. They promised a two day turnaround for a response. A week later (just before I left to go to BB&B) they replied simply asking me for the serial number of the unit. Not sure what that was going to tell them... I expected they wouldn't care and simply offer to replace the unit. Well, it never got that far as within 30 minutes total a brand new, upgraded machine was sitting in the kitchen ready to go.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
A quick glimpse of Glimpster
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
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Tuesday, January 5, 2010
The Keurig: dependance is terrible
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
0 Comments
We received a Keurig Special Edition for Christmas this year. Because it's limited to one cup brewing at a time (although it's pretty quick so brewing twice can work) I never thought I would like the thing. We considered getting one a few times, but my insatiable need for ample amounts of coffee throughout the day (even late into the evening) had me thinking this thing couldn't deliver the goods.
I was wrong. It rocks, or rather, it rocked. After about thirty brew cycles or so it stopped working.
It would come up ready, we'd chose a size (amount of water), and there would be gurgling for a little while and no brewed liquid would release from the cup. Then the pump would chug a few times, the water would slosh around a little in the reservoir and it would stop. The cup would have a little bit of water in it.
We became dependent on the thing (no more needless runs to Dunkin' Donuts or Honeydew or even Starbucks) but now we're stuck. I've contacted Keurig about it and I hope we get a new unit - or we just take it to Bed Bath & Beyond or something since it was a gift.
Do these things have $0.04 pumps or something?
I was wrong. It rocks, or rather, it rocked. After about thirty brew cycles or so it stopped working.
It would come up ready, we'd chose a size (amount of water), and there would be gurgling for a little while and no brewed liquid would release from the cup. Then the pump would chug a few times, the water would slosh around a little in the reservoir and it would stop. The cup would have a little bit of water in it.
We became dependent on the thing (no more needless runs to Dunkin' Donuts or Honeydew or even Starbucks) but now we're stuck. I've contacted Keurig about it and I hope we get a new unit - or we just take it to Bed Bath & Beyond or something since it was a gift.
Do these things have $0.04 pumps or something?
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
EXC_BAD_ACCESS. WTF!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
0 Comments
I've been battling a stupid bug for hours now... calling an AppDelegate method from a UIView subview. I was getting crashes like mad & wondered what was happening. After tear downs and build ups and tossing code around like a dervish, it all came down to a NSLog statement that was malformed? WTF. I'm done for the day. Have a good one.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
PSA: Charging & Food. Unrelated to one another.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
0 Comments
Charging:
It's nearing Christmas and while you might be racking up shopping miles in preparation, don't forget to charge your devices. iPods, iPhones, video cameras, Digital SLRs, 360 wireless controllers, PS3 controllers, etc. Just saying, I almost forgot about some of these things last year and right now my kitchen is a sea of status LEDs.
Food:
If you're looking for decent Polish or Russian staples and you're near Natick, MA, I have it under good authority that a certain delicatessen might pique your culinary interest. Culinary Delights is located in Natick, MA - 229 North Main Street, 01760. Call them if you're interested in a certain item: 508-653-5553. I'm curious if they have zurek or decent kielbasa there. Else it's off to Golemo's in Worcester again. Love that place.
It's nearing Christmas and while you might be racking up shopping miles in preparation, don't forget to charge your devices. iPods, iPhones, video cameras, Digital SLRs, 360 wireless controllers, PS3 controllers, etc. Just saying, I almost forgot about some of these things last year and right now my kitchen is a sea of status LEDs.
Food:
If you're looking for decent Polish or Russian staples and you're near Natick, MA, I have it under good authority that a certain delicatessen might pique your culinary interest. Culinary Delights is located in Natick, MA - 229 North Main Street, 01760. Call them if you're interested in a certain item: 508-653-5553. I'm curious if they have zurek or decent kielbasa there. Else it's off to Golemo's in Worcester again. Love that place.
Friday, December 18, 2009
iPhone Development: My struggle with the distribution provisioning profile
Friday, December 18, 2009
0 Comments
In the end my solution to building an app bundle the iTunes Connect application would accept for upload would be a head scratcher yet simple enough. It took a long time getting there.
It began with a simple distribution provisioning profile creation and installation. I cleaned my targets and ran a build. No problems. I zipped up the bundle, uploaded it & got a signing error. Hmm. I googled about it and found tons of information about the problem - all with different solutions - some very labor intensive.
I checked my project build settings - I was setting to iPhone Distribution: Eric Dolecki. I then checked my target build settings - it was set to iPhone Developer (Eric Dolecki). Aha I thought. I changed the provision to distribution. Same error on upload.
I revoked the previous distribution provisioning profile and generated a new one. The expiration date was Saturday December 18th which was wrong... but whatever. I installed that and tried again. Same error.
I then changed the settings to iPhone Distribution (without my name trailing the title) & bam! It linked my name with the distribution profile and thus I was able to upload my bundle! Yay!
This didn't make a lot of sense to me (why have the generic distribution profile work & link up and the one with my actual name in it not work). I'm glad I finally figured it out & now await my approval.
It began with a simple distribution provisioning profile creation and installation. I cleaned my targets and ran a build. No problems. I zipped up the bundle, uploaded it & got a signing error. Hmm. I googled about it and found tons of information about the problem - all with different solutions - some very labor intensive.
I checked my project build settings - I was setting to iPhone Distribution: Eric Dolecki. I then checked my target build settings - it was set to iPhone Developer (Eric Dolecki). Aha I thought. I changed the provision to distribution. Same error on upload.
I revoked the previous distribution provisioning profile and generated a new one. The expiration date was Saturday December 18th which was wrong... but whatever. I installed that and tried again. Same error.
I then changed the settings to iPhone Distribution (without my name trailing the title) & bam! It linked my name with the distribution profile and thus I was able to upload my bundle! Yay!
This didn't make a lot of sense to me (why have the generic distribution profile work & link up and the one with my actual name in it not work). I'm glad I finally figured it out & now await my approval.
Labels: iPhone
Monday, December 14, 2009
My malloc double free errors and the solution
Monday, December 14, 2009
0 Comments
After some time developing, I decided to check the debugger panel. And noticed that I was receiving several malloc double free errors in my iPhone application. Oops. They were not crashing the application, so I didn't notice them.
My problem:
I was calling up a view, and the logic to close the view after a method call providing an animation was the culprit. But I wasn't exactly sure why.
My problem:
I was calling up a view, and the logic to close the view after a method call providing an animation was the culprit. But I wasn't exactly sure why.
- (void) killMe:(NSString *)animationID finished:(NSNumber *)finished context:(void *)context {
[self.view removeFromSuperview];
}I had methods creating objects using init and I was releasing them in the view after use. However, that removeFromSuperview was cleaning up everything for me and thus I was receiving the double free errors. All I did was comment the releases out, let the removeFromSuperview do it's thing, and no more errors.Saturday, December 12, 2009
Oakley customer service rocks
Saturday, December 12, 2009
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Last week during a school drop off my son snapped one of the temples on my Oakley sunglasses. I am quite addicted to sunglasses (I have sensitive eyes), and this pair was premium and thus would not be pleasurable to replace. My wife was out Christmas shopping today and I thought it might be a decent try to see if Oakley would sell new temples for the my model.
I received a text message from my wife during the afternoon saying that Oakley just hooked me up with a brand new pair and that they were free. My wife made a donation to a vision charity Oakley supports as thanks.
That's pretty awesome customer service. The pair that broke were not new by any means. Thank you very much Oakley. I love your products and your gracious demeanor only strengthens my brand loyalty.
I received a text message from my wife during the afternoon saying that Oakley just hooked me up with a brand new pair and that they were free. My wife made a donation to a vision charity Oakley supports as thanks.
That's pretty awesome customer service. The pair that broke were not new by any means. Thank you very much Oakley. I love your products and your gracious demeanor only strengthens my brand loyalty.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Apple temporarily approving applications using private APIs?
Friday, December 11, 2009
0 Comments
I read an article this morning where a developer received this communication from Apple in regards to their submitted application:
While Apple has taken it on the chin to a degree in regards to it's approval process, I actually think that this approach to the private APIs is a bad thing.
If a developer bases a core bit of functionality in their application using private APIs, their only course of action is to either replace it with something else or try to perhaps try and recreate (if possible) the functionality provided to them by the private APIs in the first place. Who loses there? The user of the application.
From one version to the next something is going to change - potentially dramatically. Which means usage will probably change, GUI or UI interactions with change. Resulting in confusion or a lesser experience.
I think Apple should either make public some of the more interesting private APIs or be strict about them. It's like telling your kids if they don't behave they won't get dessert. And then you end up giving them a little dessert anyway. Not a great thing.
Thank you for submitting your update to iSimulate to the App Store. During our review of your application we found it is using a private API, which is in violation of the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement section 3.3.1; “3.3.1 Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs.” While your application has not been rejected, it would be appropriate to resolve this issue in your next update.
While Apple has taken it on the chin to a degree in regards to it's approval process, I actually think that this approach to the private APIs is a bad thing.
If a developer bases a core bit of functionality in their application using private APIs, their only course of action is to either replace it with something else or try to perhaps try and recreate (if possible) the functionality provided to them by the private APIs in the first place. Who loses there? The user of the application.
From one version to the next something is going to change - potentially dramatically. Which means usage will probably change, GUI or UI interactions with change. Resulting in confusion or a lesser experience.
I think Apple should either make public some of the more interesting private APIs or be strict about them. It's like telling your kids if they don't behave they won't get dessert. And then you end up giving them a little dessert anyway. Not a great thing.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Google Chrome for OS X
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
1 Comments
I really don't like adopting new browsers all the time, but after using Google Chrome for a day on OS X I might need to put Safari down for a while until it catches up. What do I like?
No status bar on normal pages. Roll a link and you get a tooltip window at the bottom. So it frees up space down at the bottom.
Download history displayed in a bar at the bottom of the page. I like it.
Tabs are displayed by default. I like Chrome's and Safari's handling of tabs a lot - but Chrome presents the ability to make a new tab easy and in your face from the beginning. Safari hides that until you create a second tab. I know why Apple does it (saves space and it's cleaner) but I don't think it helps tab usability.
Themes. They are cute, but welcome.
New window adapting a page history/most visited page UI is very welcome. It's not as beautiful as Apple's implementation but it works almost as well. No stars for updated content, but shows recently closed, etc.
Overall Chrome is sweet. The Developer stuff is pretty nice too. Well done Google.
No status bar on normal pages. Roll a link and you get a tooltip window at the bottom. So it frees up space down at the bottom.
Download history displayed in a bar at the bottom of the page. I like it.
Tabs are displayed by default. I like Chrome's and Safari's handling of tabs a lot - but Chrome presents the ability to make a new tab easy and in your face from the beginning. Safari hides that until you create a second tab. I know why Apple does it (saves space and it's cleaner) but I don't think it helps tab usability.
Themes. They are cute, but welcome.
New window adapting a page history/most visited page UI is very welcome. It's not as beautiful as Apple's implementation but it works almost as well. No stars for updated content, but shows recently closed, etc.
Overall Chrome is sweet. The Developer stuff is pretty nice too. Well done Google.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
I am now a swedish hero as well
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
0 Comments
I found the destination thanks to ActionScript Hero.