New Front Page
So, I just finished up the front page. Go look at it: http://www.elrepositorio.com
I put a decent amount of work into it. It wouldn't really show -- I ended up iterating through to this version. I had a complete from-scratch design in mind that really didn't pan out, so I went to what I am the most comfortable with - designing UI! I'm somewhat concerned about the layout and spacing of everything inside my little web window (I probably wouldn't design a real UI this way) but since I'm willing to accept that there are huge fundamental differences between the design of a website and an actual client-side app, I'll deal.
That said, it's probably going to change a lot. Additionally I need to finish up the rest of the site; This includes my resume, and a project page(s). So, there's still plenty to do. Regardless I am quite relieved that I managed to get something up in a relatively short amount of time. It was a good, productive distraction. Now I can get back to making my iPhone game!
Finally, I'd like to say that designing websites is most definitely not my thing. It's not particularly enjoyable to me (mostly because it relies heavily on graphic design which is... not my thing) but overall I learned a ton about CSS,HTML, and basic image manipulation using the GIMP. I think I can improve a ton and time willing I most likely will.
Oh, and also, screw IE. I have absolutely no desire to support that browser. Support your standards, jerks.
Slow going…
Thought I'd write a quick post on what I've been doing in the last few days:
- Started working on the frontpage of elrepositorio. I think it's going ok.
- Wrote a couple of lines of my iPhone project. I'm hoping to get some good solid work done tomorrow.
- Finally booked my tickets to Europe! It's definitely happening now
- Set a timeline for the iPhone project in order to keep me on task.
So, I haven't been super busy but I'm trying to keep occupied. I hope I'm a bit more productive later this week!
Back to work!
Ah, another Monday.
So, it's back to work for me! Things went pretty well with RhapsodyX, outside of a few problems with Tiger. Unfortunately I don't have an easily accessible Tiger machine so it took a bit longer than expected to fix those problems. However, it works quite well on it now. One known bug that I'm committed to tackling is a problem with the percent escape (%) that seems to be added twice. I think I've tracked down the problem and am testing a fix as we speak. I'll post a new dmg here when I determine that is the fix.
There's only 2 other miniscule bugs that remain and will be fixed before I go on my trip to Europe. But, now I'm completely focused in iPhone development and I have a number of ideas I'm trying to put together before I head off to the great unknown. I've run into a number of problems with the SDK itself, but NDA dictates I do not discuss them. All I can say is that I've had to work around a decent number of things. I also would really, really like to be running the 2.0 beta on the phone, but haven't gotten in yet. I'm hoping this week I'll get in.
Despite having those problems I'm making some good progress. I'm committed at the very least to finishing the app before I leave for my trip on May 19th. So, when you all grab the final 2.0 release you can buy my game on the AppStore
Finally, Core Animation is pretty awesome. Anyone looking into trying to get some animation or transforms done with more flexibility than Quartz but without having to deal with RunLoops and the more "advanced" OpenGL ways of getting things done (I've written a few things in GL that required animation) CA is definitely a good way to go.
Back to work for me!
UPDATE: As you can see on the left, special characters are now handled correctly. Awesome.
New Host!
So, I got sick of DreamHost being crappy, so I moved over to a VPS (Virtual Private Server). What happens now? This means that I have a whole virtual machine to do my hosting. I'm guaranteed certain things (CPU and 256mb ram) and my vendor says they'll never oversell. Sounds pretty great to me. The company that's doing the hosting is http://slicehost.com, and they seem to be a pretty good bunch of people -- but most of all, it seems to me that the best part of this whole thing is that they give you the server and say "Good Luck!" and that's about it. I've had to do a whole bunch of emerging (I am running Gentoo on my VPS) and now I've just got the httpd/php/mysql setup.
What's left? SVN and Mail are pretty important too so I'll hopefully fix those up in the next few hours (or days).The message is clear: I'm damn happy to have this service. Can't wait to get things running exactly the way I want.
Fridays!
Another week goes by, as I get closer to my trip. I'm thinking I can finish my new iPhone project, and my website before then. Here's hoping! So, this is what I've done over the last few days:
- Created an Icon for RhapsodyX - additional small fixes.
- Laid the groundwork for my iPhone project.
- In doing so, I ported over some sound player code (Using the AudioQueue framework) that worked flawlessly on the phone. I for one am shocked.
- Fixed up some graphics, reencoded some sound
- Some very, very small work on my website. Web development is boring.
I ended up picking up Smash Bros. Brawl earlier this week. It's quite good -- look for a full review sometime next week (after I beat Subspace Emissary). I'm not really a fan of fighting games so I'm really interested to play more so I can have a final opinion of the game. Regardless, it's packed with features and with friends is a blast to play.
Finally, I made some bread earlier in the week! It's delicious.
Hope everyone has a nice Easter!
3/18 Update
So this is the beginning of daily weekday updates. Well, it will be for whenever I get anything worthwhile done, so I can chronicle my progress on various projects I'm working on. Regardless, at the very least it will make me feel productive during a time where I could be doing absolutely nothing. But I'm really not!
Here's a quick rundown of today:
-Prepared and submitted my 2007 taxes. $2k refund + "economic stimulus!"
-Did some research on how much travel will cost for the Eurasia trip
-Implemented 3 important items to RhapsodyX bringing it closer to completion:
- Fixed reconnect on BADSESSION by resubmitting failed data
- Set up a SVN repo for the project
- Added the requested "load on startup" item
-Started planning for unnamed iPhone project (it will be good)
So, not too bad. What will tomorrow hold?