MacMacDev

There are some who might consider 13 to be unlucky, but we’re lucky in that this should be the first macMacDev during which we can actually talk about iPhone development instead of just moaning about the NDA.

macMacDevs[13] will be held at Baroque, 39-41 Broughton Street, Edinburgh EH1 3JU on Thursday 9 October 2008, starting at 19:00 and continuing until we run out of iPhone stuff to talk about, or get drowned out by their quiz night – any thoughts on a replacement venue?

Let me – david at macmacdev dot com – know if you’re going to turn up so I can book a table. Feel free to spread the word of the first post-NDA macMacDev, assuming Apple manages to get the revised NDA announcements out in time…

Fresh from my record-breaking “Software Development with Cocoa” talk (the record being the greatest number of references to pom-pons in a software development talk), I can announce that it is nearly time for macMacDevs[12]!

macMacDevs[12] will be held at Offshore, 3/5 Gibson Street, Glasgow, G12 8NU, on Thursday 25 September, from 19:00 until whenever.

To the masses of newcomers who saw the talk and want to come along, you’re more than welcome! If you can email david at macmacdev dot com to let me know you’re coming that would be great so I have an idea of numbers.

Look forward to seeing you all on Thursday – if you don’t see a bunch of geeks with MacBooks or iPhones, simply look for the pom-pons.

If you happen to look through the schedule of events for Apple Store Glasgow, you might just find one called “Software Development with Cocoa” on Thursday 18 September, from 18:00-19:00, which appears to have my name on it!

The description is, shall we say, not quite exactly what I submitted: apparently someone in Cupertino thought that ‘Cocoa Cheerleader’ didn’t sound nearly professional enough and upgraded me to ‘Cocoa expert’; nor am I sure how I got to be an ‘insider’ but if this means I get ‘access-all-areas’ in Infinite Loop I’m happy.

So, what will I be talking about? Essentially an overview of development opportunities on the Mac, a look at what’s involved in Cocoa, a look at the developer tools, some quick demos, and anything else that will convince people to think about getting into software development with Cocoa. I’m not planning anything too in-depth during the presentation, but there should be an opportunity to talk code during the Q&A and with developers afterwards.

If you’re interested in turning up that would be awesome: it would be really good to demonstrate to Apple that there are a lot of people interested in developing on the Mac.

I’d really like to have a mini-panel of developers to take part in the Q&A part, so if you’re interested in helping me out please let me know – I promise you won’t have to cheer, or shake pom-pons.

Apple chose to hold their Special Event on September 9 just so we’d have plenty to talk about at macMacDevs[11] two days later, which is nice of them since we can’t talk about iPhone development due to the rather-annoying-NDA.

macMacDevs[11] will be held at Baroque, 39-41 Broughton Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3JU, on Thursday 11 September 2008, starting at 19.00.

As usual, turn up, talk code, moan about the NDA.

If you’re thinking of turning up, please do so! Email david at macmacdev dot com ahead of time so we can book at table, otherwise we’ll just sit outside and watch buses roll backwards down the hill again.

We’ve reached double-figures! Okay, so this is only really significant in decimal… Anyway, macMacDevs[10] will be held at Offshore, 3/5 Gibson Street, Glasgow, G12 8NU, on Thursday 28 August 2008, from 19:00 until whenever.

iPhone development is still under NDA but we’ll have plenty of things to talk about. Turn up, talk code, the usual sort of thing really.

If you’re thinking of turning up please do so! Email david at macmacdev dot com if you want to be really nice so I have an idea of numbers.

The third virtual MacMacDev -applicationDidShip: award goes to How Fast (Website, Appstore) by Ian Davies of leapingfrogs software.

Ever wondered how fast the train, bus, or plane you’re on is traveling? How Fast uses the location functionality of the iPhone (runs best on iPhone 3G with GPS) to determine your speed, which is displayed on a cool Core Animation-powered speedometer.

How Fast is available for free download. Congratulations to Ian for shipping this fun application and for being the third recipient of the -applicationDidShip: award!

At the risk of crashing another server (I had to miss the previous MacMacDev in Glasgow due to not realizing that I had double-booked myself with both MacMacDev and the rather catastrophic crash of one of our co-located servers, although in my defense I have to say that the crash hadn’t been listed in iCal…), I’d like to announce macMacDevs[9].

macMacDevs[9]: Baroque, 39-41 Broughton Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3JU, on Thursday 14 August 2008, starting at 19:00

Turn up, talk code, I might even relate how Disaster Recovery Plans can also be a recipe for disaster.

If you’re thinking of turning up, please do so! Email david at macmacdev dot com ahead of time so we have a rough idea of numbers: last month was pretty good with half the group coming through from Glasgow, would be good to see more locals too!

Yes, we’re approaching the last Thursday in the month, which means it is time for macMacDevs[8], which will be held at Offshore, 3/5 Gibson Street, Glasgow, G12 8NU, on Thursday 31 July 2008, from 19:00 until whenever.

Turn up, talk code, don’t talk about certain SDKs, moan about certain NDAs – the usual stuff basically.

If you’re thinking of turning up please do so! Email david at macmacdev dot com if you want to be really nice so I have an idea of numbers.

It is finally here: the App Store doors are open, and applications are being downloaded onto shiny new 3G iPhones. Applications which just happen to include three apps written by fellow MacMacDev’ers.

PCalc (Website, AppStore) by James Thomson of TLA Systems is ideal for scientists, engineers, students, programmers, or indeed anybody looking for a feature-rich calculator for the iPhone or iPod Touch. It includes an extensive set of unit conversions, RPN mode, engineering and scientific notation, support for hex, octal and binary, and a paper tape. PCalc is available for £5.99.

Exposure (Website, AppStore) and Exposure Premium (Website, AppStore) by Fraser Speirs of Connected Flow bring the wonder of Flickr to your iPhone and iPod touch. They provide access to your photos, photosets, tags and contacts in one place, and use the location features of iPhone to find photos on Flickr that were taken near you. Exposure is advertising-supported and is available for free downloads; Exposure Premium is advert-free and is available for £5.99.

Congratulations to Fraser and James for not only shipping apps on the first day of the App Store, but also being the first recipients of the (virtual) MacMacDev -applicationDidShip: award!

Apparently the recent addition of our mailing list made Mail very happy, but iCal started to exhibit signs of jealousy. So, in a desperate attempt to bring harmony back to the dock: introducing the MacMacDev calendar!

Subscribe to webcal://www.macmacdev.com/macmacdev.ics and get the latest meeting details delivered direct to iCal.