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Filed under: Developer

Filed under: Developer, Linux, Canonical

Frustrated EEEUbuntu dev says "Ubuntu sucks."

Linuxby Lee Mathews Oct 16th 2009

Ubuntu certainly has its fans - perhaps more than any other Linux distro. One person you can rest assured isn't part of that group: EEEUbuntu developer Andrew Wyatt. In case you aren't familiar with the project, EEEUbuntu is a customized Linux distro tailored to Asus' line of netbooks.

It was a SourceForge community choice award winner this year - for best new project. Now, however, it looks as though the distribution's future may be in jeopardy. On his personal blog, Wyatt expresses his frustration at receiving blame for problems actually caused by things like wonky Intel video drivers and kernel bugs.

Things which he feels are the result of carelessness of Ubuntu developers. "...They missed something as stupid as the ntel tiling kernel bug which caused every Intel card out there to crawl during any OpenGL function. There is no excuse for their release of alpha grade drivers and less than alpha grade kernel code into their release distribution," Wyatt writes.

He also hits on an issue that has given me grief in the past on multiple laptops - knowing what to do when you shut the lid. "Who needs suspend anyway, not like its a useful feature and all on an ultraportable." If it bothers me, I can certainly see how it would vex someone who develops a Ubuntu-based OS.

In closing his post, Wyatt gets in one last parting shot: "Maybe I should buy a copy of Windows 7, I hear that it actually works. How can we expect non-techical users to use this pile of garbage that is 'Linux'?"

Ouch.

[via ITWire]

Tags: canonical, eee, eeeubuntu, linux, ubuntu

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Filed under: Developer, Web services, Search

Wolfram Alpha gets an iPhone app and a developer API

by Jay Hathaway Oct 15th 2009

Wolfram Alpha was hyped as better than Google for finding certain info, especially in the areas of math and science computation, but the hype died down a bit when people realized that it was finicky and a bit tricky to use. Wolfram Alpha hasn't gone away, though. In fact, they've just announced an API for developers and a new iPhone app. It's quite possible that third-party applications harnessing the power of Wolfram Alpha might prove more popular than the engine itself.

The iPhone app, due to be released soon, is sort of a demonstration of what developers can do with the API. It should be a big improvement on the iPhone-optimized version of the Wolfram Alpha site. It will be interesting to see what uses developers find for Wolfram Alpha, because the problem with the site is that it requires more specific, more complex search queries than most users are going to bother with. Third-party apps could narrow those queries down, and direct users toward some of the things Wolfram Alpha does really well.

[via Mashable]

Tags: API, developer, iphone, search, wolfram alpha, WolframAlpha

Filed under: Developer, Open Source

RSS and SimplePie makes for PHP developer heaven

by Nik Fletcher Oct 10th 2009

This is definitely one for the developers amongst you, but if you're developing an application in PHP and need to handle the reading of RSS feeds, SimplePie is a god-send. Some folks will point you in the direction of PHP5's built-in SimpleXML module, however it's highly intolerant of malformed XML - and certainly doesn't have any extra features such as caching that you get with SimplePie.

If you're looking for an easy way to work with RSS or Atom feeds, SimplePie is both easy to implement - and thoroughly documented to help you build on it. I've used SimplePie in a number of projects in the last year - from multi-feed collation to simply showing a list of recent blog posts in a sidebar - and every time I use it I find myself grinning like a cheshire cat at the amount of time it has saved me.

SimplePie is available under the BSD licence for your hacking pleasure, and the developers are currently seeking feedback for version 2!

Tags: Open Source, OpenSource, RSS, XML

Filed under: Business, Developer, Web services, Adobe, Google, Microsoft, web 2.0

Eolas v. Everyone you've ever heard of

by Grant Robertson Oct 6th 2009


Tireless patent troll Intellectual Property holder Eolas has filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against, well.. nearly everyone. The issue at hand deals with two patents in Eolas' possession -- the first of which was the subject of a successful lawsuit against Microsoft back in 2004.

The second patent, what Eolas refers to as "a continuation of the '906 patent" claims to hold as the sole intellectual property of Eolas, "fully-interactive embedded applications [...] through the use of plug-in and AJAX (asynchronous JavaScript and XML) web development techniques." The second patent is so far untested in court -- and ostensibly covers more popular websites than you can shake a knock-off Louis Vuitton handbag at.

I haven't had time to delve into the language of the patent, but this reeks of utter nonsense to me so far. In my layman's oppinion, Eolas may have made a crucial mistake however, taking aim at so many large targets at once -- with one untested patent, and another which Microsoft already came rather close to beating.

Take the leap to read the whole extortion demand press release, and see the enormous list of publicly traded web firms included.

Read more →

Tags: ajax, eolas, patent, plugins, troll, web browser, web dev, WebBrowser, WebDev

Filed under: Developer, Games, Adobe

Adobe Flash CS5 converts Flash to iPhone apps

by Jay Hathaway Oct 6th 2009

Flash is coming to the iPhone! Well, sort of. Adobe is showing off a new feature of Flash CS5 Professional that will convert Flash/Actionscript into iPhone apps. The public beta of CS5 with Flash Platform is due out later this year, but for now, you can test out some iPhone games that were created with the new system. For comparison, check out the puzzle game Chroma Circuit on the web and then on the iPhone.

This is good news for Flash developers who want to get their games into the App Store without having to write iPhone-native apps themselves, especially because it allows them to reuse the same code on the web or on Flash-friendly mobile platforms. This might mean that we'll see some of our favorite Flash time-wasters on the iPhone, too. There's also the possibility that the App Store will be flooded with the same awful Flash games that plague the web now. Developing a lame Flash game for the web doesn't have the same $99 pricetag that signing up for the iPhone developer program does, though, so that might keep the quality of iPhone game offerings from taking a huge dive.

Tags: adobe, cs5, flash, games, iphone

Filed under: Developer, Web services, Search, Web

Find out GPS co-ordinates with Get Lat Lon

by Nik Fletcher Oct 3rd 2009

For the last few months I've been working on a small side-project away from Download Squad that requires the use of GPS co-ordinates. Whilst the system I'm using has some default co-ordinates built-in, I really needed a way to find out the latitude and longitude for a few other locations around the world to give my little project a test. After wrangling with Google Maps URLs, and trying to extract the GPS data from their URLs - admittedly a little unsuccessfully - I finally came across Get Lat Lon - a super-easy mash-up that lets you search for (or locate on a map) the place you're wanting the location data for.

It's arguably a niche tool - however if you're looking for a quick and easy way to find out the latitude or longitude of a place on the globe, Get Lat Lon is just the ticket.

Tags: Geolocation, Google Maps, GoogleMaps

Filed under: Business, Developer, Internet, Blogging, E-mail, Web services, web 2.0, Web, Lists

Tell DLS: What are your Top 10 Web Apps?

by Nik Fletcher Sep 28th 2009

We're continuing our Tell DLS column by leaving the desktop and heading to the web. There's tonnes and tonnes of webapps out there -- however here's just 10 that I use day-in, day-out. If you're got any other favourites, be sure to leave them in the comments!

Read more →

Tags: basecamp, facebook, flickr, instapaper, lists, tumblr, upcoming, web-applications, web-apps

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Filed under: Developer, Social Software, Microblogging

Oneforty: an app store for Twitter

by Jay Hathaway Sep 25th 2009

I know there are a lot of third-party apps and services built on Twitter, but I had no idea how many until I heard about Oneforty. Oneforty is a Twitter app store that currently lists a staggering 1,300+ apps. These include everything from Twitter clients to third-party services that add additional features to Twitter using the API. Oneforty is in private beta right now, but you can request an invitation to get a look at the goods.

You currently can't buy apps from Oneforty itself, but you can click through to the iTunes App Store or the site of each individual application. Apparently, plans are in the works to sell the apps directly from the Oneforty website. The site is sorted by category and ranked by popularity, making it easier to find the apps you're looking for. I'm not sure developers are going to be wild about Oneforty: considering the business challenges iPhone developers face because there's a central clearinghouse for all apps, I'm sure they're hoping Oneforty attracts some competitors.

[via TechCrunch]

Tags: app store, apps, AppStore, oneforty, twitter

Filed under: Developer, Utilities, Web

Easily find changes in text and code with Quick Diff

by Nik Fletcher Sep 25th 2009

If you're a developer looking for changes in code then there's a tonne of applications available for comparing two bits of code, but what if you're writing a paragraph and want to easily see the differences between two copies? It's complete overkill to create two text documents and feed them into your file comparison app of choice.

That's where Quick Diff comes in: a super-simple webapp that lets you enter two pieces of text (or code) and quickly compare them side-by-side. Sure it's not the prettiest web-app you've ever seen - but for a quick-and-dirty text comparison, I've not seen anything quicker.

Tags: code comparison, CodeComparison, diffing

Filed under: Design, Developer, Microsoft

Microsoft launches Website Spark, hopes web devs will take candy from strangers

by Lee Mathews Sep 24th 2009


Last year Microsoft debuted Dreamspark, which gives university students access to truckloads of development software at no charge. In April of this year, the program was extended to include high school students.

Now, they're spinning off WebsiteSpark, a variant aimed at small businesses that want to make a splash in the web design and development world. If you employ fewer than 10 people and want in, here's what you can get - without paying a penny up front:
  • 3 Visual Studio 2008 licenses
  • 1 Expression Studio 2 or 3 license
  • 2 Expression Web 2 or 3 licenses
  • 3 users licenses for Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008
  • 4 processor licenses for Web Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 for self-hosting
There are, of course, conditions that have to be satisfied and it's not totally free. There is a paltry $100 fee that you must pay when your company exits the program. Membership can also last no more than three years, after which time Microsoft, of course, hopes you sign on as a Network Partner.

You've also got to roll out a new app or web site within six months of joining. If you hit it big and get bought out or go public, the WebSpark free ride is over. Though you likely wouldn't care, since you'd be swimming around in a Scrooge McDuck-sized pile of loot.

Tags: dreamspark, web-design, web-developer, website-spark

Filed under: Business, Developer, Blogging, Google

Webmaster 101: Keyword Metatags don't mean a thing

by Nik Fletcher Sep 21st 2009

No matter whether you're a web-developer, blogger or website owner, you've no doubt heard of metatags. These small snippets of information are great for hinting at the page's content - however since their inception, these tags have been open to abuse in attempts to game search engine results, none more-so than the "Keyword" metatag.

In recent years, Google has long-ignored the keyword metatags - and a post today from Google's Matt Cutts confirms that the search engine's results remain unaffected by any keyword metatags you may place in a page (and it's important to remember that Google continues to support other metatags as part of their Page Rank algorithm). One other metatag - the description metatag - is also ignored in determining results, but normally the description tag's data is used as a snippet to describe each hit on a results page.

Tags: Google, Metatags, SEO

Filed under: Business, Developer, Adobe

Adobe gets into advertising biz, teams up with Gigya

by Jay Hathaway Sep 21st 2009

After Adobe's recent acquisition of analytics giant Omniture for $1.8 billion, there was a lot of speculation that Adobe was beginning a foray into the advertising. Now we've got some more clues, since Adobe's partnering with Gigya, a company that distributes widgets and advertising. Now, Adobe's got its fingers in every part of the process, from content creation to ads to analytics.

Adobe's new Distribution Manager lets developers share their Flash widgets on 70 sites, tracks traffic for the widgets, and serves ads. Destinations include Facebook, MySpace and iGoogle, amongst others. It also supports mobile devices, including Windows Mobile and Symbian phones. The iPhone is also (sort of) supported, but without Flash, the widgets have to be part of approved app store apps. Developers can follow their traffic and ads with - what else? - an Adobe Air app.

[via Techcrunch]

Tags: adobe, ads, advertising, distribution, false, flash, widgets

Filed under: Developer, Utilities, Macintosh, Productivity

Snippet: quickly save and reuse bits of code on your Mac

Macby Jay Hathaway Sep 18th 2009

Snippet is an OS X app that gives you quick access to snippets of code you want to reuse in your projects. it sits in your menubar, and its most important functions are accessible without using a mouse. You can add new snippets and search your saved ones using hotkeys, so you don't break up your workflow. Once you grab a snippet, it'll send the focus back to the window you were coding in, no clicking necessary.

You can keep track of your snippets by tagging them with keywords for better searching, and labeling each one with the appropriate language. Snippet also syncs over MobileMe, so you can access your code on multiple Macs (which is great if you have separate work and home machines). The downside to Snippet is the $12.95 pricetag, but it's the kind of app you'll use for work every day if you end up liking it, so the price is definitely not unreasonable.

Tags: code, coding, mac, menubar, snippet

Filed under: Developer, Linux, Apple, Novell, Commercial, iPhone, Mobile

monoTouch .net development kit now available for iPhone

Linuxby Paul O'Brien Sep 14th 2009


While the Apple App Store is without doubt the largest available medium for a mobile developer to get their app in the hands of the users, for developers new to development using C / Objective C, the barrier to entry can be quite significant. Many developers working with other platforms (particularly Windows / Windows Mobile) have made significant investment into products developed in the .net languages (e.g. C#, VB.net) and therefore may be reluctant to completely port their application to a completely new environment.

Enter Novell with a commercial offering of their open source 'Mono' .net runtime dubbed 'monoTouch'.

Available immediately, monoTouch enables applications developed in any .net language to run on the iPhone. Significantly, monoTouch provides .net bindings to native API, allowing application developers will have access to iPhone specific functionality from within their .net applications. monoTouch integrates with both the free MonoDevelop IDE as well as Apple's XCode toolkit.

Applications developed using monoTouch compile completely to native code - they are not JIT compiled or interpreted.

Read more →

Tags: .net, iphone, mobile development, MobileDevelopment, mono, novell

Filed under: Developer, Blogging, Open Source, Web

Build your own Tumblog with Chyrp

by Nik Fletcher Sep 14th 2009

As a heavy (and admittedly very proud) Tumblr user, I frequently get asked "Can I self-install Tumblr on my own webspace?" and have answer "No". That's not a big deal to most people - it's possible to use custom domains with Tumblr, customise the look and feel of your site and more directly from within Tumblr - but for the slightly more technical, it can be a deal-breaker.

If you're wanting to self-host something similar, however, Chyrp is a light-weight blogging engine that allows you to self-host a Tumblr-style blog, right down to the specific Tumblr post options such as Link, Quote, Text, Video and Image. It's also pretty extensible, with extra modules and 'feathers' available for users to add and enhance their sites.

Chyrp certainly isn't for the average Joe, looking to set up a blog without any fuss - however if you're looking for the style and speed of a Tumblog, and want to delve into the code to customise its design and function, it might be right up your street.

Chyrp is available under the GNU General Public Licence (version 3) for your hacking pleasure, and requires a PHP5 / mySQL or SQlite compatible webhost.

Tags: Tumblr

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