Here is an excellent list of the iOS 15 programming features that could impact developers.

Here is an excellent list of the iOS 15 programming features that could impact developers.

Thanks to Pushpsen Airekar for compile this list, and explaining it.

https://pushpsenairekar.medium.com/whats-new-in-ios-15-for-developers-70cb6c089729

AppFigures show off some rather staggering App Store numbers, 6% of App in Apple App Store are paid.

AppFigures show off some rather staggering App Store numbers, 6% of App in Apple App Store are paid.

82% are free, while 12.5 % have in app purchase/subscription.  They suggest “Paid Apps are Dead”.

https://appfigures.com/resources/this-week-in-apps/20210924#3-paid-apps-are-dead

This is the one I been waiting for, a large screen, wall mounted, Echo Show 15 device!

This is the one I been waiting for, a large screen, wall mounted, Echo Show 15 device!

I actually think this is a game changer, as way to have a home/office information center.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/amazon-goes-big-with-15-inch-wall-mountable-echo-show

I actually created a small team to come up with the design for a similar project years ago.  Ours was more touch screen based, rather than voice & touch, but similar ideas for displaying family calendars, status, todo items, and such.  Hiding the power supply cable was another concern for mounting it on the wall.  I won’t go into detail of a couple other software design ideas we came up, since they might make good product for this Echo.  We will see…

One Kid, One Computer was an ambitious project, that ultimately failed. The OLPC XO was an interesting attempt.

One Kid, One Computer was an ambitious project, that ultimately failed. The OLPC XO was an interesting attempt.

I actually have one, rarely used, since I donated money to the project. It did feel slightly “Fisher Toy”-like, but worked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLJYWc6NZt0

Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLPC_XO

Advice, do not send out a memo complaining about leaks, and not expect it to be leaked.

Advice, do not send out a memo complaining about leaks, and not expect it to be leaked.

That said, Apple has become a culture heavily frowning on “unauthorized release of information”, mostly by firing anyone who does it.

https://countryask.com/tech/tim-cook-says-employees-who-leak-memos-do-not-belong-at-apple-according-to-leaked-memo/

Here is a BBC article on history of Computer Gaming, starting with the Computer Space coin-op console.

Here is a BBC article on history of Computer Gaming, starting with the Computer Space coin-op console.

Do I remember Computer Space, yes! It was at local bowling alley.  Did I play it, yes!  Whenever I could. Did I play it a lot, no! As 10 year old I couldn’t afford to.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-58281812

Saturday Tech Humor

Lets make fun of C++

In C we had to code our own bugs. In C++ we can inherit them.

C gives you enough rope to hang yourself. C++ also gives you the tree object to tie it to.

With C you can shoot yourself in the leg. With C++ you can reuse the bullet.

I firmly believe there is a circle of hell dedicated to technical book writers who don’t include an index.

I firmly believe there is a circle of hell dedicated to technical book writers who don’t include an index.

An interesting article by Malcolm Kumwenda 0on why he is using Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile (KMM) for cross platform development.

An interesting article by Malcolm Kumwenda 0on why he is using Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile (KMM) for cross platform development.

Malcom does a nice job of breaking down the Pro & Cons, along with giving links to resources.

https://blog.malcolmk.com/kotlin-multiplatform-mobile-an-ios-engineers-hot-take-ckrq8k9i80av8zcs13s1me7go

Medium version of article: https://medium.com/geekculture/kotlin-multiplatform-mobile-an-ios-engineers-hot-take-26d08f5eaadb

Another 2 Minute Paper video, exploring DeepMind teaching AI how to play any game (regardless of the rules).

Another 2 Minute Paper video, exploring DeepMind teaching AI how to play any game (regardless of the rules).

I posted the original video last year, which showed how the agent came up with unexpected solutions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuzow7TEQ1s

A short interview of Bill Mensch, the creator of the 6502 cpu, used by Apple //, Commodore 64, Atari 2600 and tons of other early computers.

A short interview of Bill Mensch, the creator of the 6502 cpu, used by Apple //, Commodore 64, Atari 2600 and tons of other early computers.

The 8 bit 6502 family of processors was the second machine language I learned, and the one I used most heavily.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/q-a-with-co-creator-of-the-6502-processor

Thanks to Kamil Tustanowski for this excellent article on using the Vision framework.

Thanks to Kamil Tustanowski for this excellent article on using the Vision framework.

Among other features, this frameworks allows use to easily detect Barcodes. 

https://cornerbit.tech/barcode-detection-using-vision-framework/

It is not often we see AppleTV sample code, thanks to David Cordero for this gem.

It is not often we see AppleTV sample code, thanks to David Cordero for this gem.

David explains how to track circle gesture on the TV Remote.

https://dcordero.me/posts/capture_circular_gestures_on_siri_remote_2nd_generation.html

Antoine van der Lee (@twannl) nailed it when discussing the factors to decide what iOS version your app should support.

Antoine van der Lee (@twannl) nailed it when discussing the factors to decide what iOS version your app should support.

There is no simple equation, but the update rate for most iOS user is staggering.

https://www.avanderlee.com/workflow/minimum-ios-version/

Martin Todorov, co-author of Combine Async Programming with Swift gives us this Gem on the best way to sleep.

Martin Todorov, co-author of Combine Async Programming with Swift gives us this Gem on the best way to sleep.

Use Task.sleep(), instead of Thread.sleep() for iOS/MacOS coding!

https://trycombine.com/posts/thread-task-sleep/

Saturday Tech Humor

Saturday Tech Humor

A man is smoking a cigarette and blowing smoke rings into the air.  His girlfriend becomes irritated with the smoke and says, “Can’t you see the warning on the cigarette pack?  Smoking is hazardous to your health!”

To which the man replies, “I am a programmer.  We don’t worry about warnings; we only worry about errors.”

With the release of Facebook Passthrough SDK, we are finally starting to see hardware/software that merges VR with AR.

With the release of Facebook Passthrough SDK, we are finally starting to see hardware/software that merges VR with AR.

Part of Oculus v31 SDK release, apps can use the for co-location social presence, gaming and even accessing your keyboard while in your VR world.

https://developer.oculus.com/blog/mixed-reality-with-passthrough/

Freya Holmér (@YO_SU_RA) created this fantastic video explaining the math and details behind the Bézier Curve.

Freya Holmér (@YO_SU_RA) created this fantastic video explaining the math and details behind the Bézier Curve.

I admit it, a good portion of this math is beyond me, but it is good to know what you can do with a Bézier Curve.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVwxzDHniEw 

The latest Quest SDK provides “Space Sense” to warn users when others get in your way.

The latest Quest SDK provides “Space Sense” to warn users when others get in your way.

With more and more “Arena” (large area) games appearing, this is a needed feature.

https://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-quest-2-space-sense-guardian/

Facebook release Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses.

Facebook release Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses.

With photo/video records, ability to place phone call, and list to audio, it reminds me a lot of Google Glass without the terribly bad view screen.

https://skarredghost.com/2021/09/09/ray-ban-stories-facebook-smartglasses/

A wonderfully useful article by Philip Niedertscheider (@philprimes)on 5 different new Swift patterns.

A wonderfully useful article by Philip Niedertscheider (@philprimes)on 5 different new Swift patterns.

A better safe array, a better way to handle empty/nil strings, multi-assignment operators, and 2 more.

https://levelup.gitconnected.com/5-swift-extensions-to-write-smarter-code-7287b86fde68

Thank you to everyone who been sending me positive energy and thoughts.

Thank you to everyone who been sending me positive energy and thoughts. I am pretty much over whatever illness clobbered me for the last 2 weeks. I will be returning to work tomorrow, though I suspect it will be another week until I am back to my normal routine.