iPod Touch 1st Gen

For the longest I had my first generation iPod touch sitting in a drawer on my desk not getting much use.  When the 2.0 software came out I shelled out my $9 for the upgrade but it never worked, it always seemed to fail when the writing process was taking place.  I tried many things; even jail braking the Touch; but I could not get the 2.0 software on it.  Alas with the release of beta 5 of the iPhone 3.0 software I was able to get the new operating system on it.  Of course the device needs to be enrolled in the developer program for it to work; but the OS works like a charm.  

Retap!

Here is our second release to the apple APP store.  This release went a lot smoother, the approval process is moving quickly.  This second release is a casual game similar to simon says where you mimic the lights and sounds as they levels get harder.  I find it useful when I need a distraction, say when I've been programming to long; and I need a mental break.  I hope you guys like it, you can check it out here: Retap!

Thanks...

Update on Friday, May 1, 2009 at 08:12PM by henry

Hey guys,

For those of you who follow me on twitter or read my blog, I managed to get 5 promo codes for our new game Retap! Here are the codes, they only work in the US:

If you enjoy it please leave us a review, they definitely help out!

JHWT9TT94LAK

44N7HPPMKHMF

J9JHT4FAPMH9

RA67TRNER49X

W6MA76WY3XT9

Thanks Again...

Props : iPhone Apps

I have to say in the time that I've owned my iPhone it has been a great user experience. Especially when apple opened up the phone for native applications. In my opinion the web apps didn't cut it, just too slow; although I must say their web development is very rich and can do a lot.

What apps do you like or find useful?

Here's a few of the apps (besides the ones we write) that I enjoy on my iPhone: (check out NanoTalons.com - new app comming soon)

 Pocket God - Great little game, a bit ego centrical; but it's fun to torture the little islanders.  Another good thing about this game is the developers keep adding levels as they go.  When I purchased this game it was 99 cents; but I believe its going to change to $1.99, still worth the price.

 Face Book - If you're a Facebook user I highly recommend the facebook app for the iPhone.  Simple to use and you have access to most of the facebook functionality, a must if you actively use facebook.

 Missile Command - I got this game for nostalgia, in the old days of the atari we used to play this game all the time.  This game contains both a new version and old version of the game, very well done.

 Pandora Radio - I have to say this is one of the best apps for the iPhone.  I used to load all my music on my ipod to listen to a fraction of the songs that I have wasting a great deal of space.  With the iPhone and a limit of 16GB, I have to plan which songs to load, etc; but with Pandora it doesn't matter.  If you have good 3G coverage in the area you live you're set, enter the artist or song and it will play it and similar songs.  If I recall correctly it allows you to buy songs straight from itunes; but I must admit I have not used this feature.

 Post your favorites here or on twitter!

MACs slow surfing the net

For the past few weeks I've been suffering, while surfing the internet from my wireless connection on my MAC laptops. Three computers where experiencing the same problem (Mac Book, Air, Pro). Whenever I tried to open a website, it would take forever to load. Yet my download speeds where fine about 6Mb down and 1Mb up. Also my wired connections didn't have this problem. I figured it was a problem with my wireless router, some interference, or having b and n devices on the same network. I used this opportunity to upgrade to the new Airport Extreme hoping it would be a quick fix. While the new router works great and provides to bands for 5Ghz and 2.5 Ghz it didn't fix the problem. So I decided to dig a bit deeper, I dropped into the terminal and decided to use ping to check the response time. I pinged yahoo's website which responds to ping requests and noticed the resolve time for the domain took a few seconds and my response time for the replies was fast (70ms). Typically the name resolution is instant, specially if the DNS is in the local network. I configured my router to use the open DNS servers and had a similar result (slow lookup time). After checking my configurations and scouring the internet I found some people having issues with IPv6 configuration. I decided to go into my configuration and disable the IPv6 and sure enough it fixed the problem. While I'm not sure what causes the problem with having IPV6 turned on to automatic, disabling it fixes the slow lookup issues.

Here is a step by step of what I did: (Type command in '')

1) HD->Applications->Utilities->Terminal

2) computername:~username'ping www.yahoo.com'

Response:"PING www-real.wa1.b.yahoo.com (209.191.93.52): 56 data bytes"

The response should be instant, the IP address might vary, they have multiple servers. If it took a few seconds you might be having the same issue.

Control C to stop ping command!

3) System Preferences -> Network -> Select Active Adaptor -> Advance

Set Configure IPv6 to OFF

Select OK

Select Apply

4) Retry Step 2 it should be instant...

You're Done!

Hope this helps and save you from buying a new router.

Book : Outliers

Malcolm Gladwell,  brings up an interesting point in this book with his research.  By analyzing individuals who are outliers and very successful in their respective fields, he shows that our perceive notions on what it takes to be successful are not accurate.  Some of us are going to be happy to learn that you don't have to be a genius to be successful, there's hope after all.  I find it interesting how humanity tends to Idolize successful individuals, we all want it.  We all forget about the hard work, luck, being able to spot opportunity and more hard work.  This book is good, a bit repetitive at times; but it brings the point home.  Work hard and  you'll have a better chance at success!

Here is the link: Outliers: The Story of Success