AJ MorrisApplications | AJ Morris http://ajmorris.org Life in a Startup Sat, 31 Dec 2011 18:04:39 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Growl Notifications in Tweetie http://ajmorris.org/growl-notifications-in-tweetie/ http://ajmorris.org/growl-notifications-in-tweetie/#comments Wed, 06 May 2009 07:00:54 +0000 AJ Morris http://blog.ajmorris.org/?p=208 If found it a little difficult yesterday to figure out how to get growl notifications working until @colognerunner told me how he got it working. Figured there were others that were having problems, so I make a quick little screencast showing you what I did.

]]> http://ajmorris.org/growl-notifications-in-tweetie/feed/ 0 Objective Resource for Faster iPhone Development http://ajmorris.org/objective-resource-for-faster-iphone-development/ http://ajmorris.org/objective-resource-for-faster-iphone-development/#comments Mon, 09 Feb 2009 00:27:28 +0000 AJ Morris http://blog.ajmorris.org/?p=192 I recently came across Objective Resource for developing iPhone applications that talk with a Rails backed website. According to the site,

ObjectiveResource is an Objective-C port of Ruby on Rails’ ActiveResource. It provides a way to serialize objects to and from Rails’ standard RESTful web-services (via XML or JSON) and handles much of the complexity involved with invoking web-services of any language from the iPhone.

I’ve had a chance to play with it this weekend and have found it to be pretty easy to work with. The developers of Objective Resource have created a pretty good Getting Started Guide you can follow, or you can watch a screencast of it as well. They even offer an example project for you to work with that gives you both the iPhone app (via Xcode) and the Rails app so you can see how everything works together.

One thing the example project does not include is accessing a Rails app that has authentication. Of course I was thinking I was all setup for this, but soon realized that I did not add my Active Resource functions in so that my app would work with XML/JSON requests. Luckily, while I was out in Denver, CO for iPhone Development Training (by Pragmatic Studio) I was able to get my hands on a copy of Advanced Rails Recipes by Mike Clark. I was extremely pleased that Mike graciously gave me the copy he had laying there for free. The particular recipe in the book that helped me was the Authenticate REST Clients. After I rewrote my authentication piece of my Rails app, I was getting data back and into my iPhone app. It was a very good feeling!

I thought I would include the screencast that the Objective Resource developers created. It runs about 6 minutes and is definitely worth a watch if you are looking at using Objective Resource for your next iPhone app backed by a Rails app.


Getting Started with Objective Resource from Josh Vickery on Vimeo.

]]> http://ajmorris.org/objective-resource-for-faster-iphone-development/feed/ 0 My Adventure in Ultralight Packing http://ajmorris.org/my-adventure-in-ultralight-packing/ http://ajmorris.org/my-adventure-in-ultralight-packing/#comments Sun, 25 Jan 2009 02:22:40 +0000 AJ Morris http://blog.ajmorris.org/?p=177 I’m getting ready to take a trip out to Denver, CO for the week to go to an iPhone SDK Training class held by Pragmatic Studio and thought it was a perfect time to give Ultralight Packing a try. Andrew Hyde recently wrote about his adventures last month and after reading his story I thought I would give it a try. I’m planning on capturing my adventures with Qik and my iPhone so you can get a feel for what it’s like. Feel free to track that progress on my Qik account. I’ll be posting a video of my packing abilities once I pack up tomorrow. But I thought I’d give you a little insight on what I was planning on taking.

  • I’ve got the Ketly Redtail 1800 Pack from REI
  • MacBook Pro (with charger)
  • Canon Digital Rebel XTi DSLR Camera w/EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens
  • 2 iPhones 3G(with USB cable)
  • Targus SlipSkin Sleeve for my notebook
  • Case Logic Case for Portable HDD and USB cables
  • Targus Travel 4-Port Power w/Surge Protection
  • Moleskine Ruled Notebook
  • 5 pairs of Socks
  • 4 pairs of Underwear
  • 1 pair of pants
  • 1 Dress Shirt
  • 3 Shirts
  • 1 Sweatshirt

Update:??So I’ve made some updates to my list above, you’ll notice them in bold.??I’m going to wear a little more than I thought since when I land in Denver the weather is supposed to be around 28F. Of course the remaining days the weather is pushing high 40s, low 50s, so the rest of my clothes should suffice.

]]> http://ajmorris.org/my-adventure-in-ultralight-packing/feed/ 0 Jing Pro http://ajmorris.org/jing-pro/ http://ajmorris.org/jing-pro/#comments Fri, 16 Jan 2009 01:51:06 +0000 AJ Morris http://blog.ajmorris.org/?p=155 I’ve been playing around with Jing Pro since it was released and have to say that it’s pretty impressive.  First off I absolutely love that you can produce a H.264 video. It’s a very nice feature!  I also like that you can upload to some of the popular video hosting services like YouTube, Viddler, etc. I was hoping there would be some sort of simple editing capabilities in it, maybe “enhance” the audio a bit, or trim off the beginning or end of the video. But at least if you produce with the H.264 you can edit the video in something else. Maybe I’m be make a video showing you some new features of it and what not. We’ll see!

]]> http://ajmorris.org/jing-pro/feed/ 0 What to Use to Post to Twitter http://ajmorris.org/what-to-use-to-post-to-twitter/ http://ajmorris.org/what-to-use-to-post-to-twitter/#comments Thu, 15 Jan 2009 22:37:32 +0000 AJ Morris http://blog.ajmorris.org/?p=170 So I made some changes to Twitpress so I’m testing them to see if they work. I’m not sure if I should use this or Twitterfeed.?? I would like it to be a shortened URL, so either use tinyURL or some other service would be helpful. What does everyone else use?

UPDATE: So I was just doing a search and found Twitter Tools from Alex King that looks to be promising! Guess I’ll have to play around with this idea for a little bit longer.?? Still curious to know what others use though.

]]> http://ajmorris.org/what-to-use-to-post-to-twitter/feed/ 0 Playing Around with Qik http://ajmorris.org/playing-around-with-qik/ http://ajmorris.org/playing-around-with-qik/#comments Thu, 15 Jan 2009 22:25:29 +0000 AJ Morris http://blog.ajmorris.org/?p=167 So I was walking back from a different building on campus and though that I’d give Qik a try and see if I could get it to send a message to twitter saying that I was live. Needless to say, it didn’t work.?? Guess I’ll have to work on Qik this afternoon. Anyways, here’s the video from this afternoon.

]]> http://ajmorris.org/playing-around-with-qik/feed/ 0 My Setup and Software http://ajmorris.org/my-setup-and-software/ http://ajmorris.org/my-setup-and-software/#comments Tue, 13 Jan 2009 02:49:54 +0000 AJ Morris http://blog.ajmorris.org/?p=163 I saw a post like this last weekend and thought that it’s time that I do one of these again myself. Everyone seems to change what they use every now and then, so I though by updating this maybe it would get other people to look at what they use and maybe make a post like this as well.

What Hardware?

Below is a picture of my desk. It’s not my whole desk, but rather the spot I use the most of. I try to keep this area as clean as possible so that when I’m working I’m focused on what I’m doing. Head on over to flickr to see some notes on the photo.
Desk Setup

My computer is a 1st Generation 15″ Macbook Pro (I know it’s old, but still gets the job done!). It has 2GB or Ram, a 2.0 GHz Core Duo, and is running leopard. I use a Apple Wireless Keyboard, Dell optical mouse, and a Dell 24″ monitor. Probably my most favorite piece on my desk (or not one my desk in this picture) would have to be my iPhone 3G. Whether dealing with clients or trying to find somewhere to eat for lunch, it is a lifesaver when I’m not in my office and I’m not sure what I would do with out it!

I also wanted to touch on the fact that I also have a MSIWind Netbook running Mac OS X Leopard. I LOVE this thing! I mainly use if for traveling to and from work, when I’m hanging out at the coffee shop, or when I’m on the road and don’t feel like bringing my MBP with me.?? I can do some coding on it, so I’ve installed Rails, TextMate, all the usual programming-focused applications that I’ll describe below.

My Software

Well I spend most of my time in TextMate, and Firefox. I do also use terminal.app a lot. For email I use both Gmail and Mail.app for both work and personal/client work. Everything gets setup with Google’s SMTP server though, so that it saves my emails in Gmail.

I prefer Firefox over Safari, though I tend to use both. I also use CSSEdit for any CSS styles I need to create, although I’m not a designer so I either have someone else do that work for me, or I try and make something really simple and let my clients decide.?? I also use Photoshop when I try to do some graphic work (however it’s not on my Hackbook! :P ).

Other than that, I try to keep it pretty simple. When I’m not programming I have all sorts of programs I use, MS Office (the occasional paper writing that needs to be done), Handbrake, Adium (chat), Skype, etc.

What do you use?

]]> http://ajmorris.org/my-setup-and-software/feed/ 0 iPhone App test post http://ajmorris.org/iphone-app-test-post/ http://ajmorris.org/iphone-app-test-post/#comments Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:31:31 +0000 AJ Morris http://blog.ajmorris.org/2008/08/17/iphone-app-test-post/ Just testing the wordpress app for the iPhone. I think this is a good idea for smaller posts but I’m not sure I’d want to use this all the time on the road.

]]> http://ajmorris.org/iphone-app-test-post/feed/ 0 Firefox 3 is Released!! http://ajmorris.org/firefox-3-is-released/ http://ajmorris.org/firefox-3-is-released/#comments Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:34:36 +0000 AJ Morris http://blog.ajmorris.org/?p=144

The much anticipated release of browsers has been released!?? Of course, as of this post, I had to wait about 45 minutes to get the page to load, so there idea of getting a World Record of downloads in 24 hours might not be a good thing if they can stand the traffic.?? Regardless, I’m looking forward to getting off the RC version I’ve been playing with and will hope to see a few new changes in it.

On a separate note, I’ve been a little quiet lately here due to working on a major project at work.?? Well it’s wrapping up so I should have some posts about my experiences soon. Until then keep it real my friends!!

]]> http://ajmorris.org/firefox-3-is-released/feed/ 0 New Ruby on Rails Host Makes Awesome Entrance! http://ajmorris.org/new-ruby-on-rails-host-makes-awesome-enterance/ http://ajmorris.org/new-ruby-on-rails-host-makes-awesome-enterance/#comments Wed, 05 Mar 2008 03:17:34 +0000 AJ Morris http://blog.ajmorris.org/2008/03/04/new-ruby-on-rails-host-makes-awesome-enterance/ Heroku is a new Y Combinator startup that joins the growing number of Ruby on Rails hosts, however this host adds a special step of using your browser to build your apps. You can now create Rails applications inside of your browser. Or if you prefer to use your development environment you can do that as well. Heroku is built using Amazon EC2 service. You have the option to upload your own apps via a tar file, or through their gem and git.

From their website they have an awesome list of features:

  • Instant Deployment
  • Create and Edit Online
  • Integrated Stack
  • Elastic Performance
  • Share and Collaborate
  • Import & Export
  • Full Ruby Environment
  • Gems & Plugins
  • Rails Console
  • Generate Code
  • Painless Migrations
  • Rake Console

But don’t take my word for it, check out their screencasts for more information on how to get things up and going.

Heroku, part of Y Combinator startups from this winter, has been in development since June 2006 and has attracted about 2500 users with around 2000 apps.

I do hope that we start to see some new features like support for subversion, mysql databases, and capistrano based deployment. I look forward to seeing what else comes from them. Please keep these guys in your rails radar.

I’ve got my account setup and played with it for a few hours today. If you would like to give it a try, they have a small waiting list, however if you send me an email I can work on sending you an invite faster. Feel free to send me an email at ajmorris2002[at]gmail.com for an invite.

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