Cmd+F Launches Finder — Thanks, Alfred!
One thing I like about Windows is that Start+E launches an Explorer window. I get frustrated when Cmd+Tabbing to a Finder window on Mac OS X, and for some reason I usually have difficulty...
Grailbox Blog
Homework by Challenge
Developers love challenges, whether they be programming puzzles, word puzzles, or any other conundrum that flexes their minds and proves how smart they are — whether to others or simply to themselves. The quickest...
Why I’ll Never Miss LessConf
How’d you spend your weekend? Did you mow your lawn? Do your laundry? Sleep late, watch TV, or catch a movie? Yeah? Well, I went to LessConf 2011 and got inspired, and now I’m...
Red Dirt Ruby Conf and Using Core Data with MacRuby
I just got back from Red Dirt Ruby Conf in Norman, OK. The accommodations were terrific — The Embassy Suites in Norman looks new, and they served us free omelets-to-order every morning. The food...
Distance of Time in Words for Objective-C
Rails developers have the coolest tools, from migrations RVM to Bundler to Pow. One cool Rails tool lets you explain approximately how long ago something happened in words, with phrases such as: Less than...
Quirky PowerCurl — My New Favorite Product
The power brick for a Mac laptop sprouts two cords: a skinny one that plugs in to the laptop, and a detachable fat one that plugs in to the wall. You can swap a...
Pro Core Data for iOS Table of Contents
I just saw this tweet from @compoundj: I want 2 buy “Pro core data for iOS” by @michaelprivat & @hoop33, but I can’t find the table of contents online…any suggestions? Whoops. I checked both...
Tri-state buttons in Gowalla 3
When Gowalla released version 3 of their iPhone client, they completely revamped the user interface. Although they switched from a rich olive green to a stony gray and downgraded the app’s icon: Old Icon...
Pro Core Data for iOS from Xcode 4 to Xcode 3
Last summer, Apple released a developer preview of Xcode 4 under NDA. When Michael Privat and I began writing Pro Core Data for iOS in August, we figured Apple would release the final version...
What Coke and Pepsi Can Teach Us About User Interfaces
My oldest child spent much of his life with a loyalty to Coca-Cola matched only by Lassie’s loyalty to Timmy, and would go thirsty before allowing any product from Pepsi-Cola to wet his gullet....