The Chronicles of The Spicy Chicken

I've Moved!

2007-09-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

It was a quick but eventful run with Blogger...but now I'm out on my own:-)

Check out my new blog

rSBT v0.2.1 Released and HOT

2007-09-04T11:13:00.000-07:00

I have made big changes to rSBT (the app that allows you to reorder the icons on your springboard, and summerboard if you have it).

Check out this video:

-Spicy

Whew...busy night.

2007-09-03T10:39:00.000-07:00

Last night was very busy. Mostly due to the new release of SummerBoard... a revolutionary new iphone mod that enables a seemless scrolling springboard.

In the flurry I was able to get put together a version of rSBT that works nicely with SummerBoard. I have added a Third Party section... this section is for the "second page" of summerboard and beyond.

Latest version is 0.1.8. For screenshots and more info:

http://rsbt.googlecode.com

-Spicy

rSBT v0.1.1 Released

2007-08-30T22:25:00.000-07:00

I have addressed a lot of criticisms in this latest release and the app is really coming along (IMO). In this latest version I have removed the dependency on Ericas Utitlies and also on the BSD Subsystem.

In case you want to know how to restart the SpringBoard from the command line (after you ssh'ed in)

launchctl stop com.apple.SpringBoard

There you go.

I'm working on making the list drag n drop sortable now. It seems like its a feature built into the UIKit. Of course I'm testing in the Sandbox and will release well documented code of all of my successes (and also my failures).

As always you can get the latest version below or in Installer.

http://code.google.com/p/rsbt/

rSBT v0.0.4.1 Released

2007-08-29T22:36:00.000-07:00

I know what you're thinking. What is going one with these version numbers. Well, I don't want to use double digits in any one column, for one. And I just made a real stupid mistake and released 0.0.4 with an incorrectly named icon.png file.

So I had to rename the file and re-release it as 0.0.4.1. Whatever, it's just a name. And what's behind that name is some exciting new features for rSBT. You can now set exactly how many icons you want on your iphone dock and springboard. This will eliminate those nastly "gone missing" apps that the previous version seemed to love to do.

Here are some screenshots of the new enhanced interface.

You can download the latest version at:

http://rsbt.googlecode.com

or you can download the previous (0.0.4) version (with a broken icon) with the Installer.app. I am sure the very diligent Ste at sxmy will have it fixed in the morning :-).

rSBT v0.0.3 Released

2007-08-28T20:57:00.000-07:00

I have been getting lots of great responses concerning this app, but also a lot of bug reports. This version first and foremost addresses those bugs. This latest version also has some nice cosmetic changes and increased capabilities. Namely that you can control exactly what icons appear on your springboard, dock, and which one's are hidden.

Next up is to add a preferences pane where the user can set how many icons are in the dock and springboard. (Right now you are stuck with what you got).

UISectionList Working Script

2007-08-28T16:23:00.000-07:00

I have added to the Sandbox a working version of the UISectionList. Here is a screenshot of my test.

As you can see in the screenshot I also got what's called a Segmented Control started. It doesn't do anything, yet. Special thanks to this site for some guidance:

http://pastie.textmate.org/91844

The new version of Sandbox will be going up shortly.

-Spicy

UIKit Documentation... Hey, it's a start.

2007-08-27T22:39:00.001-07:00

Thanks to the folks at CocoaDev, for it seems they are started to make some documentation for the UIKit, albeit sparse. Nonetheless it is very helpful.

Here's the URL:

http://www.cocoadev.com/index.pl?UIKit

Sandbox.app and UIKit Tutorials

2007-08-27T20:45:00.000-07:00

There is a dire need for tutorials for how to utilize the UIKit. There is so many goodies in there, and current iPhone developers (especially me) are not even scratching the surface.

I will begin making tutorials that explain how to create an app for the iPhone using tools in the UIKit. It's a big difference than the HelloWorld.app that's out there.

Also I am creating and will release a "Sandbox" which will be source that you can download with some basic instructions on how to play around with the UIKit yourself. There's no way better to learn than by getting a little dirty.

Stay tuned.

rSBT v0.0.2 Released

2007-08-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

I added a whole lot of features in to the app and cleaned up a whole bunch of other stuff. For details and to download visit the google code page at:

http://rsbt.googlecode.com

Special thanks to Ste for packaging this one for Installer.app.

I've also been getting a lot of good response from the apps I have released. Thanks for all the support and those who are willing to help out!

rSBT v0.0.1 Released

2007-08-27T00:51:00.000-07:00

Well, it took the better part of the evening, but I got it finished. It's a long way from being _really_ done, but it can reorganize all of the icons on your SpringBoard, given that they are also in your DisplayOrder.plist file.

Click here to download

Here's a screenshot:

For more information on what updates to expect:

http://code.google.com/p/rsbt/

recombinant springboard technology (rSBT) is born

2007-08-26T20:15:00.000-07:00

Tired of having to load up iFuntastic or copy the DisplayOrder.plist off of my iPhone to rearrange the SpringBoard icons, I am developing recombinant springboard technology (or rSBT for short). If you are a molecular biologist (and I have no idea why you would be) you are probably laughing very hard right now, whereas the other 99% of you didn't even realize I made a joke.

No matter, for the software will be usefull wether your understand my esoteric sense of humor or not.

Watch http://code.google.com/p/rsbt/ for updates.

iFlashCards available on Installer.app

2007-08-26T19:49:00.000-07:00

My latest software for the iPhone (iFlashCards) is now available through an easy download with Installer.app. Thanks to Ste for maintaining all those packages!

Don't have Installer.app on your iPhone? Get it here:

http://iphone.nullriver.com/beta/

Want to learn more about iFlashCards:

http://iflashcards.googlecode.com

GRE Studying and the birth of an iPhone Flash Card program

2007-08-25T15:17:00.000-07:00

Necessity is the mother of all invention, and I _really need_ to study for the GRE. What better way than to have a flash card program on my iPhone.

It was pretty simple to put together (I'm starting to get the hang of objective c, I think) and here are some screenshots:

As you can see it's nothing fancy. It simply reads the questions (one-per-line) from one file (questions.txt) and the answers from another (answers.txt). However, it will become invaluable to me over the next couple weeks.

I have created a google code project for the app and uploaded the source code if you'd like to use it yourself. Just visit iflashcards.googlecode.com for download and installation instructions.

Subscribing MobileCal to Google Calendar

2007-08-20T10:18:00.001-07:00

I have just begun looking into subscribing the iPhone calendar to a google calendar. I found the location of the file that contains the calendar data. It is in sqlite3 format and is at:

/private/var/root/Library/Calendar/Calendar.sqlitedb

A quick look through the handy System File and Director Listing at the iPhone Dev Wiki told me that the sqlite libraries are installed and ready for use.

I downloaded a sample c program, compiled it with the toolchain compiler, transferred the compiled program to my iPhone and, voila, access to the sqlite db files on my iPhone. Now all that's left to do is write a program that grabs the calendar data from google calendar and turns that into SQL format.

I found the SQLite Database Browser, and am using that to inspect the Calender.sqlitedb file. I hit a snag, however, it trying to decipher the format that the start_date and end_date are in. I assumed it was in seconds since epoch (since its just a large integer) but while it appears to be in seconds it's actually in seconds since January 1st at 12:00:00 am 2001 instead of since epoch.

I have finished scipting the python file that retrieves the google calendar from the url and enters it into the sqlite database. Yeah! Not so fast...Now MobileCalendar keeps crashing. It doesn't like my recurring events. I can get normal events in there just fine, but recurring ones, no dice....Back to work.

Since I have a semi-function tool for syncing the MobileCal with a Google Calendar I decided to make it a little more user friendly. I used the simple Hello World example and this application launcher class to compile a program that first syncs your calendars and then launches MobileCal. The only problem is that it won't work if you just launch it from the spring board, it only works when launched from the terminal (and likewise from Tapp - which is what I'm doing at the moment). I have posted the progress thus far at Google Code Project Page.

Welcome to The Spicy Chicken

2007-08-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

I recently came into an iPhone and immediately began to hack it. These are the Chronicles of the Spicy Chicken.