Sol Young – Page 38 – Out in his elements…

iPhone SDK – In development since before WWDC ’07

Posted on March 3, 2008March 3, 2008 by Sol Young with 4 Comments

The iPhone SDK has been a long time coming. Apple has been working on it since before last June’s WWDC ‘07, despite pushing the “You can build amazing web applications” message. The reason for pushing the only-web-apps decree was because the API, tool-chains, development environment, etc, weren’t ready.

Back at WWDC ‘07 the development community felt slammed by the news that we couldn’t build native applications or otherwise access the great hardware features of the device. We grumbled and asked questions, and were told it was a marketing/branding/positioning decision.

Back then there was a feeling of something amiss. The voice of the engineers at Apple seemed to speak, “one more thing.” Every time an attendee took the mic and posed a question about iPhone access (there were a lot of these questions) the engineers responded with wobbly words about web apps while exuding a sigh of, “it’s coming…”

It just flat-out felt like Apple had to make their June 29th release date for the device and they couldn’t get the SDK complete. Standard feature-drop. The typically well groomed Apple machine was recovering from an all-nighter just to get the iPhone itself released.

At the time I wasn’t certain of an SDK in the works. As most developers returning from WWDC I was dejected – they have to have an API, they just have to! I even agreed to a bet in early July ‘07 with my company president: Apple releases an SDK within one year of the iPhone release.

I’m looking forward to March 6th for more than winning a bet. On Thursday I find out if my prediction was correct and if I read the Apple folks. If we get a healthy suite of tools I’ll have validated my assumption that Apple had an SDK under way prior to WWDC.

UPDATE: Cartwright Reed reminded me the bet was an official iPhone SDK from Apple that iofy could use. This is important since I (and all developers looking forward to the SDK) could still lose if the SDK is only accessible to companies blessed by Apple. So far this seems unlikely.

Posted in Apple, iPhone, Prediction

Remodel update – it’s not done yet

Posted on March 2, 2008 by Sol Young with 1 Comment

My wife and I spent the weekend getting rid of the old tub and installing the new one. The goal was to get through the couple days and have a working shower before Monday AM. So much for that… But at least we’re close enough to be done tomorrow (with the tub anyway).

It’s photoblogged on Flickr and I’ll continue adding photos of the remodel to this set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/solyoung/sets/72157604033311207/

What we did, this weekend, in a nutshell…

Killed the water to the apt, disconnected all bathroom plumbing.
Removed old 300lb cast iron behemoth.
Removed the toilet and vanity.
Cleaned the old floor and hit Home Depot for propane and equipment.
Added new shutoff valves for bathroom and various features of the bathroom.
Got a ticket for putting the old toilet and vanity on the sidewalk before 7pm.
Installed new subfloor (1/2″ ply) over the top of old floor.
Picked up all the fixings for finishing the project.
Put tub in place.
Cut out floor for new drain.

So, what’s next? Hooking that tub drain up and building a wall to house the new shower faucet.

Or maybe we hire a plumber…

Posted in Real Estate, Remodeling

iofy is hiring

Posted on February 28, 2008 by Sol Young with 1 Comment

iofy

We need a PHP programmer to join the dev team at iofy corporation. This is a full-time, based in Philadelphia, position.

The corporate version of the ad is on Craig’s List (also available after the jump).

If you’ve read this far you’ve probably laughed your ass off double-taked, “Philadelphia!?” … You’re right to do so. But seriously, we’ve grown in to a fast and agile web technology company in the heart of 19112.

Our work environment makes for a great life experience. We hire intelligent people capable of solving problems and enhancing the skills of those around them. People working at iofy are treated very well, with plenty of snacks and gadgets to keep mind and body entertained. The challenges we address both answer a need to paying partners and expand the knowledge of our teams.

In case you haven’t been following my blog, iofy builds web services to deliver media on the web. We harness our own services with AJAX and client applications on nearly every platform.

Drop a note with your resume and a unique statement of talent to developer@iofy.com if you’re the right fit. We love smart people.

Posted in Hiring, iofy, Managing, Web Services

The tools we use – I’m not Scoble yet – I was

Posted on February 24, 2008February 24, 2008 by Sol Young with Leave a comment

I’ve been reminded today about how easy life is when we use the right tools. My wife and I were out skiing and watching Spring Mountain‘s Big Air Jam. I took pics with an iPhone and Canon SD-1000 and was blasting them straight to Flickr/Twitter. I was also taking video…

At lunch I pulled out the MacBook Pro and iMovie. In fifteen minutes I’d imported and edited the videos, laid a techno track, and exported. Sure the videos could have been uploaded raw, but a highlight reel is better edited, cleaned, and combined. Check it out after the jump.

For those that enjoyed the photostream today, I’m pleased and hope you’ll spread the word.

I like Robert Scoble’s preference of broadcasting live (I was doing this in 2001).

A historical note: I used to broadcast live. I was the General Manager at LIvVE.com, from 2001 to 2004. We would do live remote broadcasts with nothing more than a Sony GT1 and a high (cough, cough (28.8k)) speed cellular connection. Back then we risked a punch in the nose when going about an interview with an UMPC device shoved in someone’s face.

The highlight live broadcast was on the 4th of July in 2001 at the New York Trade Towers. A guard offered to let us film from the top of a tower if we slid him a fifty.

Posted in Blogging, Flickr, iPhone, Photography, Twitter