B4A adds Object Oriented support

Last year I began dabbling in Android programming.  Just for fun and only as time permitted so....not a lot.  I did manage to find time enough to run across Basic4Android (B4A), a visual IDE and language similar to VB.Net.  Though not overly advanced, B4A was inexpensive to get into and much easier to set up and churn out a first app than Android Java + Eclipse.
 
This week B4A took a big step forward by adding support for classes and, therefore, objects -- the fundamental requirement for object oriented programming (OOP).  Suddenly B4A is looking a lot more attractive for serious app development...

Westinghouse tracks Over-The-Air TV use #TVGeek

I finally got around to unpacking a recent bargain buy: a 37-inch 1080p Westinghouse LCD TV at an ultra-low price. Westinghouse TVs are definitely on the inexpensive (read: cheap) end of the spectrum but have tended to source fairly good screens for the money. These are ok sets if you can stomach the warranty (often with no returns to the store, only direct to Westinghouse), the hit-or-miss compatibility with universal remotes and the weak audio typical of most flat-panel TVs. However, I was somewhat shocked during setup to learn that I had to get a special code from Westinghouse in order to "activate" the built-in tuner to watch free over-the-air (antenna) channels...

Me, an Apple III and programming the 6502 #CodeGeek

Way, way back -- back when I was a grade school kid with plenty of free time, my father brought home an Apple III computer.  Although I'd previously tinkered with a loaned Sinclair ZX80, the Apple was the first computer that was ours (er, mine!)  My father's company had moved to using Apple III and Lisa systems and, always the forward-thinker, he was determined to have the same capabilities at home.  Though unintended, that decision determined my own life's direction...

Did Symantec really just send me that?!? #SecurityGeek

Yesterday the usual unwelcome snail-mail spam included an envelope with a letter and ad slick from Symantec.  I barely even glanced at the slick but was immediately struck by the opening of the letter.  Its contents triggered three "red flags" in my mind even before the start of the first sentence.  Did Symantec, a leading security company, really just lead its marketing pitch with warning signs I often coach users to steer clear of?...

New year, new panel (#SpeakingEngagements)

Month one of 2012 and I'm engaged for another small panel event.  This round involves speaking to the marketing group of a leading global tech company although I'm more on the supplemental end of this one rather than being front and center.  This will also be a bit more "under the covers" as I've been asked to sign an NDA and am not allowed to mention the name of the (Fortune 50) company...

Enhance your phone for free via Google Voice

I've been using Google Voice since mid-2009 -- not long after Google acquired the company that originated the service, GrandCentral.  Google Voice adds features to most any phone not already linked to an IP-based phone service.  Because it's been around for several years and has proven to be dependably good, useful and free, I'm often surprised when I mention "Google Voice" to tech-savvy people and get blank stares in return.  Why haven't more people caught on to this under-appreciated service?...

IE9 compatibility (IE9 fails on my website, or vice versa)

Recently I was informed that an older .Net--based website I still handle the technicals for was failing to render properly within Internet Explorer 9.  This surprised me because (a) IE9 is regularly touted as being the version of Internet Explorer that's closer than ever to published standards, and (b) the website in question rendered perfectly in the latest versions of Firefox and Chrome as well as in IE7 and IE8 (I've already put IE6 to bed with regards to compatibility testing).  My solution ended up being a simple one line addition...

Get the Bobs before they get you

For the past week I've been looking forward to a quirky happenstance: two IT consultants, at least one of which is named "Bob", were scheduled to visit my workplace this week and interview each person in IT to assess their job function.  If you're thinking "Office Space" then you're on the right track...

JSON bigger than XML??? #MarkupGeek

Continuing to chip away at my little Android programming projects, this week I put together some code to consume data from a JSON-formatted web feed.  JSON is more streamlined than XML and also happens to avoid certain cross-domain security roadblocks.  This means JSON is often a great choice for encapsulating objects and data that are destined for transport via web services over cell phone data plans.  It was a surprise, therefore, when I unexpectedly ran across an example of XML that was less verbose (smaller!) than its JSON equivalent...

Unplugged...again! (Spiceworks and AMD)

I've been tapped to sit on the next Spiceworks Unplugged panel, this time for a private AMD event.  The last panel I sat on was a *blast* and the Dell folks I talked to afterward seemed pretty pleased with the event.  Looking back at my post following that Unplugged event, however, I now realize that I never actually got around to mentioning what Spiceworks is...

New Kindle = Less Sleep (but not from reading)

This week a school raffle blessed my wife with a new Kindle3 (the nicer variation with 3G and no ads).  This isn't the first time she's done well in the contests of luck department...

Android programming with Basic4Android

Moving along from my initial foray into creating Android apps with Google's nifty but somewhat impractical AppInventor, I sought out other free (or nearly free) products that boasted a visual designer. Enter "Basic4Android", an IDE built using LUA to abstract the underlying Android JAVA classes and present a language very similar to Visual Basic...