Invent Now!
I planned to publish this post a fews days ago, so here it is. App Inventor for Android is now available to anyone with a Google account. The product is still in beta, but that should not stop you. Google published the news on their blog on December 15th. Check it out.
Android IDE
If you are using Eclipse to develop Android applications, there is an alternative. This should not be news to those in the "know", but here it is anyway. JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA is a great IDE. The latest version, includes some new Android goodies. Try it now!
Source: JetBrains
SQL Driver for PHP 2.0
MS has released SQL Server Driver for PHP 2.0.1. If you have no idea what I am referring to, ignore the post. Anyway, the drivers provide connectivity to SQL Server from PHP 5.2.4 or later applications. Download the driver from the Microsoft Download Center.
Apple Backpedals
Ha! I just read that Apple backpedaled on its decision to disallow the use of cross platform development tools. It looks like "someone's" tight ass is relaxing for the time being, so take advantage of it. Apple is publishing the App Store Review Guidelines too. What a concept!
We are continually trying to make the App Store even better. We have listened to our developers and taken much of their feedback to heart. Based on their input, today we are making some important changes to our iOS Developer Program license in sections 3.3.1, 3.3.2 and 3.3.9 to relax some restrictions we put in place earlier this year.
In particular, we are relaxing all restrictions on the development tools used to create iOS apps, as long as the resulting apps do not download any code. This should give developers the flexibility they want, while preserving the security we need.
Free Instantiations Tools
I was not aware that Google acquired Instantiations, but they did. The good news is Google is offering the developer tools for free. Nice. Head on over to the Google Web Toolkit page for more information.
In early August, Google acquired Instantiations, a company known for its focus on Eclipse Java developer tools, including GWT Designer. We're happy to announce today that we're relaunching the following former Instantiations products under the Google name and making them available to all developers at no charge.
Why Bother II
Last October, I published a post titled "Why Bother". It was regarding a web project I was considering, but declined because it was developed using a hybrid of .NET and Classic ASP technologies. It was a NEW project at the time, why use Classic ASP today?
Well, why the follow up post? Because, I was poking around on a popular forum and I came across a post asking for help with a .NET and ASP site. Nah, could it be the same moron? It is the same "guru", haha! Apparently, the site launched but is plagued with issues.
The architect * rolls eyes * is looking for someone to fix the bugs and implement some core features. Man, I am glad that I declined the work. My instinct told me to kick it to the curb and I was right. Anyone want to help? He will pay you $15 per hour. Bruahaha. LAME!
Short and Sweet
I am keeping this one short and sweet. If you did not already know, Visual Studio 2010 has left the building. Yeah, it launched today. Well that is it for now, because I want to finish setting up my new Visual Studio 2010 environment. Later!
Hello Android!
Finally! Today, I made the decision to develop a small "Hello World!" Android application to get a feel for the environment and SDK. Check it out. I setup the VM, IDE, SDK and built the sample application on the Windows platform in less than one hour. Easy as 1-2-3.
Listen up mobile heads, develop for Android! In a couple years, Android is going to be THE dominant mobile platform. Believe it. Plus, no need to deal with the proprietary hardware or bullshit publishing requirements. Later, got to get my Android on!
Foursquare for Windows
I was checking out the new projects on CodePlex and found an interesting project for the mobile developers out there. iPhone and Android are the hottest platforms at the moment, but I stumbled on a great Windows Phone 7 project.
Foursquare for Windows Phone 7 is a complete example of a Windows mobile solution. The initial code was imported on March 29th, so the project is fairly new. Thanks to Touchality for sharing the project with the open source community. Nice!
Dissing Visual Basic
Haha, check out the below snippet from a local employment listing. The company is looking for Senior .NET developers with C#, Visual Studio, JavaScript, SQL, Reporting Services, etc. and has the balls to call out that "Experience with Visual Basic doesn't count." WTF!
There is an ongoing debate between the C# & VB camps over everything and anything, but we all know both .NET languages compile into MSIL and then JIT'd to O/S specific machine code. Aside from some language differences, it is all the same shit!
It is apparent the employer does not know what the fuck they are talking about. Oh, here is another nugget to consider. Some of us know the employer! Lame. Lastly, I know VB guys who can kick their entire team's ass. Bets anyone?
