MacRuby

MacRuby is a version of Ruby 1.9, ported to run directly on top of Mac OS X core technologies such as the Objective-C common runtime and garbage collector, and the CoreFoundation framework. While still a work in progress, it is the goal of MacRuby to enable the creation of full-fledged Mac OS X applications which do not sacrifice performance in order to enjoy the benefits of using Ruby.

MacRuby is a free software project by Apple Inc. Sources are available under the Ruby license.

[It’s the last line I find so interesting. Also, that there are so many of these sorts of efforts taking place. IronRuby, now MacRuby, Rubinius, MagLev, etc. Great stuff for the Ruby world.]

No more space

Articles like this about the “Battle for Central Park”, where joggers and runners are forever aggravated at cyclists and vice versa, and everyone hates the car folks and vice versa, don’t speak to anything but extreme crowding.

The resources (open space, clear of “traffic” (defined as anything that interrupts *your* activity)) are too scarce. We are constantly jostling each other in our attempt to simply move about. Of course everyone is annoyed! Sadly though, there is a strong sense of entitlement and greed that runs as an undercurrent to the interactions.

I have no answers here, except for my personal one of making a choice to find more space for my family as quickly as possible.

Subway

photo_token.jpgI haven’t been on a Subway in a while… every few months it seems there’s something that causes me to take one, but I don’t ride the subway on a regular basis.

Going to meet a friend for lunch the other day it seemed to make sense to grab one, so I (and my boss) did. We got some unrequested help from the platform guy, who in years past would’ve been stuck in a booth handing out tokens, but now is amongst the people walking then through the steps of putting value into Metrocards.

As we swipe our way through the turnstiles, someone cuts in front of us and jumps the turnstile. He then proceeds to walk down the platform and pees into a corner. He now hears from the platform guy who warns him that the cops are on the way.

The not a joyous member of society saunters off down the platform knowing that a train is going to pull in any second, long before even a close by cop could respond.

All entirely too matter of fact.

Makes wonder about tourism in the City, which I now see daily, as I pass through Times Square.

WordPress To Disable Remote Access

WordPress To Disable Remote Access: If this sounds like a pipe dream, it’s worth pointing out that one very popular web service is already employing this strategy, and it works brilliantly. Flickr, Yahoo’s incredibly popular photo sharing site, is built on the very same APIs it makes available to clients. This results in some truly incredible Flickr-enabled applications and web services. And you don’t see any sign of Flickr disabling access to their API, because there’s too much at stake.

If your web service only provides one, first-class API through which all access flows, then you’ve only got one point to secure, you’re likely to have feature parity across interfaces, and the risk of marginalizing one interface is dramatically decreased. [Well put Daniel!]

Nuclear Elephant: iPhone Wipe

Nuclear Elephant: iPhone Wipe: Since my posts regarding the iPhone restore mode being insufficient for wiping data (and Apple’s own refurbishing process also being insufficient), many have emailed me asking for instructions on how to properly wipe personal data off of the iPhone. I’ve been very quiet about how to properly lift data in a forensic manner, as my goal is to avoid seeing a bunch of evidence erasers pop up in the wild (I’ve already been approached by Symantec about this). What I will share, however, is the way in which I wipe my own devices before I resell them, which I believe the consumer has a right to do. Mind you, I make no guarantees about this and accept no responsibility for you hosing your iPhone. This is what works for me. [Anyone try this?]

Title Case for Ruby

Title Case for Ruby:

There’s been a great response to my request to convert Title Case, Gruber’s nifty perl-based title-casing tool into Ruby so the rest of the world (just kidding, Perl people!) can make use of it.

Here are the initial responders:

Source: The Hivelogic Narrative