Code4PizzaCollator: The first push.

An excellent day of coding today as I spent the day hooking up the database storage to the iPhone.  This was all new to me but there’s some good documentation out there.  I used some sample code from Bill Dudney and Chris Adamson’s book “iPhone SDK Development” so I could get used to using SQLite (cos I’m a MySQL kinda guy).

The most useful thing I learned today….. the way that the SDK will copy the SQLite database to a WHOLE new place.  Turns out the insert code was working fine I just didn’t know where it was going.



NSLog(documentFolderPath); is your friend.

So it’s all coming along nicely, the first commit went up to github this afternoon so other people can have a play with it (assuming that you’re all bored with the snow now).  The next job is to bundle up the saved locations and send them to a server (somewhere to be decided).  There’s plenty of resources on getting an iPhone app to pull JSON data in from a URL but not a lot about transmitting it.  This is going to be fun

Code4PizzaCollator: Enriching the community, crowdsourcing and doing something useful.

The basic design from Interface Builder

So what’s the big idea?

A few months ago Matt Johnston organised a small event called Code4Pizza.  The idea being to get the bus stop data for the province and trying to get it out into the community so the community could do something useful with it.

As with all things in Belfast I very rarely get to them.  All my business is really in the north west, the idea is not to get into a pity party about how nothing goes on over here.  It does, we had Barcamp Derry in October and nothing stopped the Belfast folk coming over…. so……..

For those kind folk who heard me talk at Barcamp Derry I did mention a few things about “just doing it” and how I don’t mind how the code is in the first release as long as it works.  Something that some of my collegues at Learning Pool are now making sure I won’t forget

I love the idea of Code4Pizza but I can’t really do anything from where I’m sitting, or can I?  In getting myself back in line with iPhone development and getting my head around Interface Builder’s little ways I wanted to do the following:

• Create an open source project that other members of the Code4Pizza community could work on if they wanted.
• With the app use it to provide Open Data NI, Translink and Code4Pizza more data on where the bus stops for other parts of the province are (Belfast is well documented but it seems from conversations with folk that some parts of the province aren’t great).  Instead of whining about how Translink don’t do anything why not help out instead?
• It means that I can learn some new stuff.  I’m not up on my git and github repository skills so it’s good excuse to polish those up too.
• I get to know the iPhone SDK a lot better by doing something useful than just another bunch of little demos.

All good reasons as far as I’m concerned.

So how does it work?

My commute to Pooly Towers is on the bus every morning. Now I’ve been on the same route many times over the last couple of months so I know where the stops are.  All I need is a method to track them and store them.  That’s where the app comes in.

All I want to store is the latitude and longitude when I pass the stop and what route I was on.  The idea is that developers all over the province can download the source code from github and install it themselves and collate more data if they are on the bus.  If we can crowd source the other data outside of Belfast then I think that will benefit everyone in the province at the end of the day.

So, where is it?

The source code will be hosted on github.  I haven’t put the initial core release of code up but I’ll announce on Twitter when I do.

So, what stage is the code at?

So far the application can pickup the location via GPS.  The button actions work it’s just the SQLite3 database that needs sorting out and the mechanism to upload the data.  There’s a field for the route of the bus number as well but I have left the alphabetic characters in the keyboard as I know there are some route numbers like “FY8″ in the Derry area.

There’s only three buttons: one to get the location, one to store the location and one to upload the stored locations to an online place (like a website/db etc).

The icon is done…. it’s a pizza.

You’re only as good as your network says you are.

I think it’s fair to say, in reflection, that 2009 was basically spent trying to find my centre of gravity. Towards November I was starting to sound like a bit of a personal pity party so something had to change.  Thanks to my network, finding out the technology landscape and talking to good people I could put myself in the right place at the right time.

There were a few things that happened that did help it along.

Open Coffee and other network meetings do work

You can’t beat face to face networking.  There was a time when I didn’t have to do this, the work was streaming in during the boom times.  Skills are plentiful and it’s a case of being able to sell yourself.  From Open Coffee I’ve managed to show my face once at XCake as well.  On the online side I keep up with Digital Circle and the usual stream of info on Twitter.

Speaking

I don’t think it does anyone any harm to publicly speak once in a while.  I loved doing Barcamp Derry last October.  Prospective customers, investors, employers and collaborators can instantly see what you are like and what drives you.  From the Barcamp experience I would really like to do some more speaking in 2010.

You’re friends

Considering that I moved to Northern Ireland in 2004 it’s taken a good five years to find my networking feet.  There’s a couple of factors in that, partially to do with the existence of technology like Twitter.  I always had a LinkedIn account but I did my searches by sector, not location.

Through the likes of Open Coffee I’ve met some great people.  Even better that most have them have become good friends and are on speed dial if I really need them.  The help, advice and provision that these people are willing to give is also available to you, all you have to do is to make yourself available and willing to show your face.

Write

I have an “articles” section on this site.  These aren’t articles that I just wrote for the fun of it, they are important networking tools to prove your knowledge.  The likes of Java Developer’s Journal, IBM developerWorks and the Belfast Telegraph have given me the opening to write articles on a wide range of technology subjects over the last nine years.

So, to summarise, with this mix of activities I’m just starting to shape and form what 2010 is going to look like, I’m really excited for 2010.  There’s some big things to happen.

Facebook’s 350 Million users.

One bow in the social media expert’s armoury is this notion that you have a potential audience of 350 million users.  I like numbers like this but I do ignore them.  First of all does your product, strartup or offering really have the ability to touch a truely global audience in one go?

They are few and far between in my opinion.

If you take a startup that’s concentrating on the UK market then you’re user segment is more like 19 million (nearly 6% of the total amount).  Then when you start slicing down the age segments you are in the less than 1% numbers.

Hopefully in 2010 we’ll start seeing social media experts starting to get real about the numbers of people that you can realistically reach.

For me in 2010 I’m not looking at the “what next”, I’m sure a gathering of technology folk are too.  This will be the year of getting real about what social media is, what is capable of and what you and I can really do with it.

Name Generator – The much needed tool

Chris McClelland tweeted about a wonderful tool called Fake Name Generator. When testing sites that contain user based info I always like to have real names in the fields, it just makes the site look more real that “TestUser_23423″.

The real drag is creating that data, until now…..

Fake Name Generator will create all the user data you need in a variety of output types (including sql) and then email it to you. You can create up to 50,000 names via their tool if you want to define your types of users. If you just want users you can download their 1,000,000 users dump. Perfect.

Square, nice in theory but…..

After watching the CNBC interview with Jack Dorsey and his demo of Square for the iPhone. Well I have a couple of concerns.

In theory I love it but we are essentially at the start of the adoption curve, chasm, call it what you will. The demo looks pretty slick except for one vital bit of information. The signature.

In the demo we see the interviewer sign her transaction for $3.00. All well and good until you picture this senario. I have Square on my iPhone and I find a purse on the floor, pick it up and swipe any cards I find. I actually have to have the authority signing, just a signature of some form (X marks the spot will do). The SMS/Email receipt will go to the signing authority but the transaction has been authorised (in my eyes). There’s no verification of the three digit security code so it won’t fly in the UK until that’s resolved. Finally is there a limit on the upper amount of a transaction, the website suggests “$0 to $60 in under 10 seconds” but that’s no definitive answer.

Also, where are the scan details stored? Externally over SSL or on a SQLite database? I can envisage Square hacks coming out to query any saved data on card info.

Like I said at Barcamp Derry in October. Paypal was not originally designed as a web payment system, it was to prove the concept of one shot cryptography between two Palm Pilots. It never made it as a Palm Pilot system for the simple reason that no one was prepared to use it. As much as I love the concept I can’t see it flying as the wave of public concern will be too great.

I’ll keep an eye on this one.

Belfast Telegraph article on location based applications.

It’s my turn for the Belfast Telegraph web watch column, this month it’s on location base applications.  If you want to have a read you can visit the BT site here.

Social networking… well it isn’t, is it really?

I personally believe the that tipping point of social networking is upon us.  The fad of pushing our every whim, thought and party puking picture (always a hit with interview employers) is slowly coming to an end.  

It’s easy to pick on Facebook as it’s one of the largest providers.  The 350 million user claim, while impressive, doesn’t hit the real detail of those users. Are they active? Is it just registrations?  All the while these numbers are bandied about by marketers and social media “experts” (where were you in 2002?)

Ultimately these social networks aren’t social at all, in their human nature sense.  They are just a series of connections.  The quality of that connection is always questionable.  It’s easy to get 500 friends on Facebook but it’s always on one level.  Linkedin got it right from the start, the acquaintance linkage worked a treat.  If I wanted to connect to Bob but had could only do so via Sue and Ted then I had to state my case to them.  If they agreed then the connection was made.

Me -> Ted -> Sue -> Bob

The day Linkedin pretty much dropped this feature is the day that Linkedin died for me.  I do still use it, don’t get me wrong.  The very heart of it’s core was lost.

True social networking is connected via the acquaintance.  I only xyz from my knowing abc, not everyone has a true direct connection to everyone else.

Yes I’m still on the planet.

The last few weeks have been manic but soooo good.

First of all working for a new client.  Secondly startup is coming on well for a full launch in the new year. Thirdly, another Belfast Telegraph article due for publication on Tuesday.

I never knew that 19 hour days could be so fun.

The iPhone picker app….

Cast your minds back to August, a wonderful day, sun was out and Refresh was happening in Belfast with Ecliptic Labs.  The kinds souls of Chris McClelland and Phil Strain were giving away a iPhone 3GS on PAYG and we all entered the draw. 

On that night John Cusick was randomly chosen and won the phone, well done to him.  I won the amazing iPhone design stencil so I came away just as happy.

That was all well and good, so life proceeded in a normal pace.  Though I wasn’t at Build Conf it did filter through the Twitter feed VERY quickly that John had won again, this time a copy Adobe CS4 Creative Suite provided by Ian Sayers at Giant Training.  Now we were thinking it was a fix….. it wasn’t.

John’s got the midas touch – so it’s a good thing to keep close by him.  The alternative is to change your name to John Cusick which will make life easier in competitions where iPhone apps are used to choose the winners.

Everyone's a winner as long as you are John Cusick.

So, good luck John Cusick’s everywhere!