Category: Programming
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Cocos2d Tip #1: Changing a Sprite’s Image Simply
I’m writing an iPhone game using the Cocos2d-iPhone framework. It’s been smooth sailing except for one little detail: I want a sprite to change it’s image based on a touch. I think the problem is that there are a dozen ways to do this in Cocos2d. I wanted to find the simplest way to do…
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Turning Bold into Strong with Regex & NotePad++
I’ve been hand coding a site and I was a little lazy. Instead in using the strong tag to make text look bold I used the bold tag. Ok, that might not be a big deal to you but to some HTML fanatics the difference between <b>Hi There</b> and <strong>Hi There</strong> is ground for excommunication…
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Android SDK Compatibility with Eclipse and JDK
I recently switched my development workstation from a MacBook Pro to a Windows desktop PC. Yeah, I know, I’m going against the trends but it’s a sweet machine I assembled myself based on recommendations from Ash. Immediately I ran into compatibility problems with Google’s Android SDK and the current versions of Eclipse (Helios) and the…
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The Shorter Timescale
I’m reading a very scary book right now: Heidegger and a Hippo Walk Through Those Pearly Gates. It’s a funny and informative look at how philosophers and religious thinkers deal with death. I don’t want to be a spoiler but the basic message of the book is that most people live in denial of their…
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Mac OS 3 UX Simulator Updated!
A modal About the Finder dialog box appears! Click here to see if you can figure out how to make it appear.
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Mac OS 3: User Center Design Exemplar
I nearly lost all my data a couple of weeks ago. Actually, I was in no danger at all of losing my data but the terribad UI of Apple’s Time Machine and Time Capsule made me think I did! Apple’s backup solution is like a good looking school yard bully with a hidden inferiority complex.…
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The Name of the Game is Change
The second principle from the Agile Manifesto is “Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.” I call this the Product Manager’s dream principle: “I get to change the requirements, even after development has started! Woot!” First let’s break this principle down and see what it really…
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Our Highest Priority
The first principle of the Agile Manifesto is “Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.” Easier said than done 🙂 This principle is deceptively simple and simply radical. I don’t believe it’s an accident that it’s the first principle and it’s first 3 words ensure that…
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Circular Logic in Project Management
Listening to one of my favorite public radio programs (The World) while carting the kids around this weekend I heard about an interesting study by the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics. A team of biocyberneticists wanted to find out how well people navigated. They hired a bunch of hikers, gave them each a GPS,…
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Worst Ever Paragraph in a Technical Doc
I’m working on my Flash game framework. Progress, which I admit is slow, requires a good understanding of the Flash CS4 Component model. I embarked on this project a few weeks ago without realizing 3 things: The CS4 Component Model is very different from the CS3 model. There is very little good documentation for CS4…