Posts From the Free Time Studios Blog
Feb/100
- SlapHappy!™ is Officially Released!
It’s September 16th on the East Coast, and SlapHappy!™ is now live in the US app store. I don’t know about other countries, yet, but I assume that if it is September 16th somewhere in your country, you can get it now. To celebrate the launch, SlapHappy!™ is on sale for $.99 for a limited time. [...]
Posts From the Free Time Studios Blog
Jan/100
- Chat With Free Time Studios Founder, Nathan Eror, Today at 12PM CST!
Nathan will be the subjet of the first 360|idev speaker chat at 12PM CST today. This is a great opportunity to get a feel for his sessions at both 360|idev in San Jose this April and at iPhoneDevCamp Houston this Saturday. Drop on in and ask away!
Posts From the Free Time Studios Blog
Jan/100
- iPhoneDevCamp Houston Presented by Free Time Studios
2010 is shaping up to be an exciting year for those of us in the iPhone and mobile software business, and there is no better way to kick it off than with a free community event. Free Time Studios is proud to be a major sponsor and primary organizer of the first ever iPhoneDevCamp Houston. [...]
Posts From the Free Time Studios Blog
Jan/100
- Introducing FTUtils: Open Source Utilities for iPhone Developers
For my Core Animation presentation at 360idev last year, I created a bunch of sample code to show how simple and powerful Core Animation is. I also promised that I would update the sample code with even more advanced examples. That has not really happened (yet!), and it is time for me to atone. I am [...]
FTUtils: A New Open Source iPhone Library
Jan/103
At the Free Time Studios blog, I just officially announced the release of an open source library for iPhone projects called FTUtils. Check out the post and the screencast:
iPhone Development Resources
Jun/096
I promised a list of the websites I mentioned in my talk at the HTC on Wednesday. Instead of putting my own list together, I defer to the master: Ari Braginsky. This google doc is where I found most of the sites that I follow daily:
It’s a huge list, so I’ll give you a few must haves here:
- Mobile Orchard is a great iPhone Development Blog. There’s lots of great info there, and a pretty good podcast as well.
- Games from Within – Noel Llopis writes about his experiences as an indie iPhone game developer.
- Jeff LaMarche’s iPhone Development Blog – Jeff wrote the Apress book Beginning iPhone Development, and his blog is one of the best places to get started with OpenGL ES on the iPhone, especially if you don’t have any OpenGL experience.
- 148Apps.biz – All about the business of developing iPhone apps. It’s also the home of the app store metrics .
- These three iPhone analytics companies also blog metrics periodically:
- TouchArcade is a great iPhone game review site, and a lot of developers are active in the forum there.
- iPhone Developers on Twitter is a community maintained Google spreadsheet where you can find the Twitter handles of thousands of iPhone developers.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Jun/090
As promised, Here are the slides for my talk at the Houston Technology Center’s Web Based Startup School on 6/17/09. The slides aren’t really useful on their own since I only used them as a visual aid in the talk, but they might trigger some memories for those in attendance.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? – What it Takes to Become an iPhone Developer
Abstract:
Since the opening of the iPhone app store, many developers have turned themselves into true success stories. While these stories are more exception than rule, their telling has inspired countless others to give iPhone development a shot. The app store is a revolution in software distribution, and it gives independent developers the power to make their own success. If you are considering becoming an iPhone developer, or if you are just curious what it’s all about, this session is for you. You will learn how to get the SDK, how to join the iPhone developer program and some common iPhone business models. We will also look at the technical side of iPhone development and get a look at the tools of the SDK. Since this session falls on the day of the release of iPhone OS 3.0, we will also get a good look at the new features in the OS and SDK that enable even more rapid development and new business models.
I’m Speaking at 360|iDev in Denver 9/27-9/30!
Jun/090
I just got confirmation that I’ll be speaking at 360|iDev in Denver this September. I’m really excited about the conference! I was disappointed that I didn’t hear about the last 360|iDev until after it was over, and the raves of Jeff LaMarche and Owen Goss made me a little jealous. If you can swing it, come on out. It should be a great time!
Here’s what I’ll be talking about:
Using Core Animation to Build Complex and Attractive Interfaces
Core Animation plays an integral role in the iPhone user interface and is responsible for much of its intuitiveness. Careful use of animation can make even an average app a joy to use. In this session you will learn how to effectively apply the features of Core Animation in your own apps. After a brief introduction to the principles behind Core Animation, you will learn how it is used in UIKit. Then, we will dig into the meat of Core Animation and how to use it effectively. Using the open source FTAnimationManager as an example, you will learn how to tame some of the complexities of the Core Animation API. By the end of this session, you will be comfortable with Core Animation, and your apps will run more smoothly and be more visually appealing.
Hog Butchering
Mar/091
Last night, I butchered the hog my wife shot at the ranch this weekend. If anyone else finds themselves in a similar situation, I found this awesome guide. Very useful! 
(Almost) No-Knead Bread
Sep/084
I tried the Cooks Illustrated modified version of Michael Bittman’s recipe in the NYT. Just waiting for it to cool…
My Twitterings...
- Just spent 3 very frustrating hours in traffic court. Think I need to play a little GTA4 to take out my frustrations.
- RT @nattylux: How Pandora (barely) survived the dot com bust and is thriving now. http://tinyurl.com/yke6hds
- I USA beat Ireland 5-1 in Stinger Table Hockey. http://bit.ly/bDHMpB