according to jeff

“Fans” — click here: http://tinyurl.com/n8bm7v

Blogs used to be hip.

Many of my friends used to be have blogs, and they wrote interesting things that I enjoyed reading. It seems now, though, that most of their blogs are gone or have gone stale.

And this blog, stellar as it is, hasn’t had a new comment since the first of May. It causes one to wonder exactly who, if anyone, visits and reads this blog.

Have blogs been replaced with facebook status updates and tweets? I certainly enjoy a witty tweet (”Jeff and Lu reviewed their vowels last night; it’s all the rage among married couples.”) but I also appreciate reading more than 140 characters every now and then.

What do you think? Has the personal blog gone the same route as dinosaurs, GI Joes, and Veggie Tales — things that were once cool, but now not so much?

As you may know:

1. I’ve been working on an Apple iPhone project.
2. Apple recently released version 3 of its iPhone operating system (OS3).
3. I had early access to beta versions of OS3 for my iPhone and the new OS3 software development kit (SDK) and tools.

It might surprise you, however, to learn that I didn’t take advantage of the early opportunity, and only recently updated my iPhone and my developer tools.

While many computer professionals jump all over these early updates, I’ve not seen as much value in it. After all, I already had plenty of tasks on my to-do list, and doing those with new and potentially buggy tools and operating system wouldn’t speed things along. Thus, I just kept at it with the current tools until the new version was actually released. So, while other iPhone programmers have been “in the know” about OS3 for a while now, I’ve just started looking at it.

What have I found?

The new XCode does a better job of detecting some less-than-perfect programming code. For instance:

    char * str = "a constant string";

should more properly be:

    const char * str = "a constant string";

XCode will now let you know of this, and the problem is generally easily corrected by the proper and judicious use of the “const” keyword.

However, the new SDK also introduces some changes. The compiler was able to warn of many deprecated properties and methods, and the documentation identified the preferred replacements, so many of these corrections were quite simple.

However, other changes were more insidious, and by insidious, I mean less obvious, and by less obvious, I mean changes that are only found by running the program and watching what happens.

As an example, consider the UITableViewCell. Prior to OS3, the setSelected:animated: method could be used as a signal to configure the custom cell’s colors to indicate that the cell either is or is not selected. However, in OS3, this method is now used only to signal that the cell is or is not selected. Visual changes are to be made in response to a new method, setHighlighted:animated:.

While there are ways to automatically warn of such behavior changes, there are drawbacks to these methods. Thus, whether to put those methods in place is a (perhaps) debatable point.

Fortunately, this particular issue was easy to spot and relatively easy to find and fix. So, even though my good code went bad, it is good again!

Unfortunately, PocketBible is not compatible with the iPod Flea.

I learned a new expression today: “home slice”.

From Urban Dictionary:
home slice
synonomous to “homie”.
def 1: means good friend or buddy
def 2: means someone who seems like a little slice of home, thus home slice

On this morning’s Andy Petersen show on WMT radio, Andy hosted Anthony Watts, a meteorologist with an interesting project.

Back in the 70s, when he made his first weather reporting station, his professor cautioned him to be sure to use whitewash for the surface paint, as this was the standard. To use a different paint would distort the data and make it unscientific to compare readings to previous years.

Many years later, though, he noticed that a weather station was painted with latex paint, rather than whitewash. He wondered if the difference in paint would make a difference in the recorded temperatures, and that distort comparisons with prior years. His investigation led him to discover the problems are much deeper. He found many reporting stations not properly isolated from outside influences that would artificially increase the reported temperature. Such influences included being positioned next to air conditioner exhausts, on concrete pads, etc. He then kicked off a volunteer campaign to find and photographically report on the official weather reporting stations. His conclusion: “the network has fallen into neglect, and the temperature data produced by it is suspect due to microsite biases.”

Read more about it here: www.wattsupwiththat.com/test.

Temperature recordings at these weather stations are used, in part, to support the concept of global warming. However, if there are other influences that cause increased average temperature readings at these stations, then any trend data isn’t reliable. If the trend data isn’t reliable, then it cannot be used to support any hypothesis, whether pro-warming or pro-cooling.

What am I missing in this story by Trish Mehaffey in the Saturday, May 30, edition of the Cedar Rapids Gazette?

CEDAR RAPIDS – A former Mercy Medical Center employee was sentenced Friday to 10 years suspended with five years’ probation in Linn County District Court for embezzling $210,000 from the hospital.

Tammy Brandt, 49, of Cedar Rapids, convicted by a jury in March for first-degree theft, also was ordered to pay $8,850 in victim’s restitution and a $1,000 fine.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Marsha Beckelman said she followed the presentencing investigation recommendation of a suspended sentence because Brandt has no prior offenses and she wants Brandt to pay restitution.

Beckelman told Brandt she was in a position of trust and the evidence at the trial was “overwhelming.” The sentence provides rehabilitation for Brandt and protection for the community, the judge said.

Brandt told the judge one of the witnesses didn’t testify truthfully about what she did and claimed she was innocent. She also said her attorney didn’t discuss her testifying until the last day of the trial.

Assistant Attorney General James Kivi, who prosecuted the case, asked the judge to give her the maximum jail time — 10 years. Brandt, he said, violated the trust of her position, not just once but “scores” of times — “it may be as many as 100 times.”

Kivi said Brandt made a conscious decision to willfully take money from the hospital.

Mark Brown, Brandts attorney, stressed to Beckelman that it would be extremely unusual for a first-time offender to receive 10 years for a non-violent “paper” crime like this.

Brandt, as a finance executive assistant, embezzled the $210,000 from the hospital during fiscal years 1995 to 2008 through a scheme in which she cashed Mercy Medical Center Foundation donations.

Witnesses testified at the trial the foundation wasn’t set up to accept credit cards, so the hospital finance department would process them and reimburse the foundation. Brandt would then take checks to the cashiers once or twice a month and ask for $100 bills. The cash donations never made it into the foundation or hospital accounts, an auditor said.

My typical Friday includes lunch with my Laridian associates. Today’s choice was HuHot Mongolian Grill.

HuHot is new to Cedar Rapids, occupying the space formerly used by Bennigans at Lindale Mall. My son, Matt, and his friend Michael have been fans of HuHot in Coralville, but today was my first HuHot experience.

Similar to Ghengis Grill, HuHot is a pick-your-food-and-watch-it-get-grilled restaurant. Start by picking a meat (or two or three), noodles, and veggies. Then add a sauce or sauces (5 to 6 ladles recommended) and then an oil (an additional 1 to 2 ladles). Then it’s off to the grill. After the food is grilled and served to you on a plate, some additional toppings (such as crunchy chow mein noodles) can be added.

How does it compare to Ghengis Grill? The choices are similar, but different. The most notable difference, though, was that the raw food at HuHot was cold. I’m not sure if the meat was frozen, but if it wasn’t, it was close. My impression is that the raw food at HuHot is kept colder than at Ghengis Grill. I don’t know if this is scientifically significant, but it is significant to me.

Today, I had Jeff’s Surprise: beef, noodles, cabbage, carrots, onions, green beans, Mongol mustard, sesame oil, and then crunchy chow mein noodles. Today, Jeff’s Surprise wasn’t a bad choice.

As my faithful readers may recall, I work for a small company in the Christian publishing market. Specifically, my company creates and markets Bible and Bible-related software products for (mostly) mobile computers. For each of the ten years that we’ve been in business, all of our staff has worked from our individual home offices. We haven’t ever had a central office.

Through the years, we’ve had occasional periods where we might work together at some one’s house. For instance, when Microsoft was preparing to introduce the first Pocket PC, my friend and business partner Craig and I were hard at work to create the first PocketBible for Pocket PC in time to demonstrate it at the Pocket PC launch event at New York City’s Grand Central Station. At the time, Craig’s office at this house was large enough for one, but not two. My office, on the other hand, was in a large but roughly finished room in my basement. I remember the wallpaper was particularly colorful and made to appear as if paint had been randomly splattered on the wall. So, for several weeks, we worked together in that basement room to reach the goal of finishing PocketBible for Pocket PC. However, by and large, most of our time has been spent working individually at our own offices.

While working at home is great (Craig and I both have different office space in our homes than we did those many years ago), for the past several weeks, Craig and I have been trying something new. We’ve been meeting together twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) to work off-site — that is, away from our home offices. We’ve been meeting at one of several local coffee shops (or similar locations) and setting up shop.

It’s been great to “get away” and focus on programming tasks, instead of other work-related work, on these days. I’m not sure how long we’ll keep it up, but for now, it’s been a good experience.

Here are a few things that I’ve learned.

My MacBook: if I turn off my AirPort (wireless Internet) except when I actually need it, and don’t listen to music via my Mac, then my MacBook battery will last most of the day. However, it’s important to have access to an electrical outlet to prevent having to stop prematurely due to a drained battery.

My iPhone: MLB At Bat turns my iPhone into a baseball game radio machine… I can listen live to any MLB baseball game. So, sometimes when there’s an afternoon game, I plug in listen.

My Bag: my Rickshaw Bagworks bag (previous articles here and here) has been a great bag for such a day. It has room for my MacBook and accessories, plus notebooks, books and spiral-bound documentation. I have a bag that is essentially a computer sleeve (I wonder where that is), but this size is much more practical for day away from the office.

On Being Welcome: I’ve been pleasantly surprised that the coffee shops don’t mind us hanging out, using their wireless (and sometimes electricity), and working all day. Of course, we do buy coffee, lunch, snacks, etc., throughout the day.

So, where have we been?

• Java Creek: Java Creek has become our “normal” spot for Thursdays. Several varieties of coffees are available, and the menu is extensive, which makes for a great lunch. Coffee refills are not free, but we can run a tab all day long and settle up when we leave. Seating is comfortable, and the music is nice but not obtrusive. Power outlets are readily available. I’ve been known to stop for a jelly-filled donut on my way…
• Coffee Emporium: the Coffee Emporium has become our “normal” spot for Tuesdays. This is convenient for me, as it is just a few blocks walk away. The interior is a bit more spartan than Java Creek, but is still comfortable. Coffee refills are not free, but again, we can run a tab all day. The lunch menu is more limited than Java Creek, but I’ve not yet grown tired of it. And I’ve recently learned that the breakfast sandwiches ($3) are awesome. (Since I like to be up for a few hours before eating breakfast, it’s nice to be able to find a light breakfast wherever we’re at.) Unfortunately, power outlets are limited, so there’s really only one table that works for us.
• Roasters: Roasters is the smallest of the coffee shops that we visit, and the wooden seats aren’t comfortable for a whole day. However, if you’re into lots of coffee selections, this is the place for you. A Mediterranean restaurant shares the space, so lunch choices are good. Power strips are available, but coffee refills are not free. As with the other coffee shops, we’ve been able to run a tab.
• CoffeeSmiths: CoffeeSmiths filled up in the early afternoon with people working on laptops, and after school with loud high school kids. On the positive side, the seating was very good and the tea selection was great. On the negative side, the lunch choices were more like you’d find in my kitchen than at a restaurant. Power is limited, but has been available when we’ve been there. While at CoffeeSmiths, we met a young man working on an iPhone program related to disc golf, so that was pretty cool.
• Oscars: it doesn’t have the coffee shop vibe, but the coffee refills are free. (Since I don’t drink a lot of coffee, that doesn’t mean much to me.) However, they also offer Kathy’s Pies. Craig has had lunch here most every Saturday for the past two decades, and that’s pretty cool, too. Unfortunately, Oscars doesn’t offer free wireless Internet. That would be a problem except for the fact that one of the other companies in the strip mall has unsecured wireless that we can use during their business hours.

Come tonight to hear “my” homeschool choir and two homeschool bands perform at our annual Spring Concert. It starts at 7:00 at Franklin Middle School. A $1 per person donation is appreciated.