ice crums

Motorola Developer Platform Powered by WebKit?

Jonathan Tarud — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:05:32 +0000

Motorola’s new WebUI widget platform is powered by Apple’s open source HTML renderer WebKit and is now holding a contest to lure developers to it’s platform:

This contest is for building “WebUI” widgets — a platform based on Apple’s WebKit Web browser guts — which Motorola’s Web site says is for “Motorola’s open mobile Linux platform.”

Nokia, Google(Chrome and Android), iPhone, and now Motorola all on WebKit, I wonder why…

(VIa Alley Insider.)

Pass the Colombian Trade Pact

Jonathan Tarud — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:04:45 +0000

Here’s what I don’t get:

Because of trade preferences granted as part of the war on drugs, most Colombian exports already are exempt from United States tariffs. The new agreement would benefit American companies that now have to pay high tariffs on exports to Colombia.

The Democratic majority congress is still playing politics against Bush, even after the Obama win. US companies would benefit more than the Colombian ones with this pact, and still they don’t want to approve it. US companies need to increase exports as the the economy tanks. Colombia is the third largest country in Latin America(after Brazil and Mexico), thus it’s a big partially untapped market. The war on drugs and terror is at is almost won thanks to the President Alvaro Uribe’s security and economic policies. By saying NO to Colombia, they are saying no to a President with 84% popularity, thus saying no to 84% of the colombian population. President elect Barack Obama wants to change the face of the US in the eyes of the world. Why not start by endorsing a President with 84% approval? This will be easy peasy compared to the gargantuan tasks that awaits in the Middle East!

Colombia is the last South American ally the US has, and still they choose to ignore them because of supposed human rights violations(shit happens when you have rebells inside hurting the civilian population).

The time is now, to build strong alliances and keep Colombia from going left like Venezuela, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Brazil in the upcoming 2010 Colombian elections.

(Link NYTimes.)

Speeding Up Rails Development

Jonathan Tarud — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 07:41:22 +0000

Jim Neath’s useful tips and tricks to get a jump start on new rails projects. Everything from using a skeleton app to writing your own scaffold generators. But by far the best one is:

Seriously, Just Buy a Fucking Mac

Can’t argue with that now or can you?

(Via Jim Neath.)

The New Computer Feeling When Selling a Used Mac

Jonathan Tarud — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:16:08 +0000

If you’ve ever sold a Mac before, and cleaned installed it for your customer, you have probably had to create the new user(which is awkward), because you had no choice. Turns our there is. As Dan Benjamin point out:

After installation, when you’re prompted to create a new user, just press Command-Q.

Other great tips and tricks when selling a Mac in the link below.

(Via The Narrative.)

Myth #1: Rails is hard to deploy

Jonathan Tarud — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 07:09:22 +0000

David Heinemeier Hansson goes myth buster on rails deployment. Got to be honest, it took me a while to appreciate it, but now I think it’s more organized than deploying a php app, thanks to Capistrano. His conclusion:

Rails is no longer hard to deploy. Phusion Passenger has made it ridiculously easy.

Tried it last week, and I have to agree.

(Via Loudthinking .)

11 Twitter business models

Jonathan Tarud — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 03:04:39 +0000

They are going to need a business model very, very soon. They have a lot of revenue options and have enough people to try a few, and see what works best. My favorite:

Sell access to either the Twitter API or “firehose.”

(Link Webware.com.)

Microsoft considers adopting WebKit for Internet Explorer?

Jonathan Tarud — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:28:25 +0000

That would really be the most embarrassing thing ever for Microsoft. Hopefully it will happen. No matter if they stick to IE 8 or not, they need to do something about IE 6. I will never understand what’s taken them so long to upgrade people to IE 7.

(Via AppleInsider.)

The $700 Billion Bailout and Small Businesses

Jonathan Tarud — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:27:41 +0000

Aaron Hillegas from the Big Nerd Ranch on how the $700 Billon bailout directly affects him money. Most people complain about it and generalize that the tax payers will pay for it, but never explain how. Find out.

(Link Aaron Hillegas.)

Comments on the New Cocoa Finder

Jonathan Tarud — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:10:40 +0000

John Gruber:

Everyone out there with a stiffy for the “rewritten in Cocoa” Snow Leopard Finder needs to get a grip. Cocoa is just an API. It is not some sort of magic technology where you just sprinkle a ton of square brackets in your source code and you instantly get a better UI.

From a user’s perspective, the Snow Leopard Finder is going to be pretty much the exact same turd we’ve had in Mac OS X all along.

Brent Simmons three years ago:

But Cocoa can’t, on its own, fix problems with a flawed design.

The problem with the Finder is really a people problem: it will get fixed if and when somebody with the authority, resources, and will to fix it appears.

Cocoa is no magic bullet—there aren’t any magic bullets.

A Cocoa Finder is a nice idea, but what we really need is something like Pathfinder to be the default Finder. Supporting Tabs, would be my most desired feature for a new Finder.

How Low Can Moto Go?

Jonathan Tarud — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:15:48 +0000

Interesting numbers from Motorola handset business. Another example of what happens when you stop innovation. Apple has had 10 years of steady innovation. That is not easy to maintain, and why Apple is so great.

(Via GigaOM.)