Brandon Ballentine

The iPad Is The Future Of Education

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:33:39 -0400

Actually seeing kids and teachers who have been using the iPad as a real substitute for and enhancement over old learning tools for over a year now, however, reminds me that, no matter Apple’s strategy as a company, software is the future of education, and the iPad is giving our kids a bit of that future today.

A demo of MGTileMenu, a great looking contextual menu for iOS....

Mon, 14 May 2012 21:38:24 -0400

A demo of MGTileMenu, a great looking contextual menu for iOS. Read more about the component at the developer’s site.

How Apple could improve text editing on the iPad. I’d love...

Fri, 04 May 2012 10:53:41 -0400

How Apple could improve text editing on the iPad. I’d love to see iOS 6 along with features like this (and user accounts) announced at WWDC.

What appears to be a handy Photoshop plugin for iOS developers....

Wed, 02 May 2012 07:58:30 -0400

What appears to be a handy Photoshop plugin for iOS developers. I’ve used the free app Prepo for creating @2x files lately but may have to check this utility out in the future. Has anyone used the plugin?

Check out our entry in D2L’s Edge Challenge!

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:15:06 -0400

Check out our entry in D2L’s Edge Challenge!

Mia did not want to wake up this morning.

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 08:24:49 -0400

Mia did not want to wake up this morning.

Attila's den: iOS Tutorial: Creating a chat room using Parse.com

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:39:46 -0400

Attila's den: iOS Tutorial: Creating a chat room using Parse.com:

Parse is a fantastic way to easily create server backend for your mobile apps. The service is powerful, easy to use, and available on multiple platforms. As this post mentions, one of Parse’s great features is the ability to create new fields in the database based on objects you save to the service.

And, cherry on the cake, the database interaction and definition is very lazily done for you, ie. while programming it you’ll be able to add new fields on-the-go.

Node.js fans might also want to check out DataKit, an open source, self-hosted alternative that’s similar to Parse.com.

Andy Ihnatko - Apple's post-PC world

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:52:00 -0400

Andy Ihnatko - Apple's post-PC world:

No, I no longer wish I had an 11in Air. What I have here – a third-generation iPad and an Apple Wireless Keyboard – is better. I have better-than-good native iOS apps to handle almost all of my mobile needs.

I feel the same way. I can accomplish most of my computing tasks, especially writing, faster and easier on my 3rd gen iPad than on my laptop. The iPad’s single app interface and voice dictation have made me more productive, to the point that carrying around a my 15 inch Macbook Pro now seems like a waste of time unless I need to do work in Photoshop or Xcode.

Someone wanted their car to match their toilet seat.

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:27:00 -0400

Someone wanted their car to match their toilet seat.

I saw this at a pharmacy in Chattanooga over the weekend. This...

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 22:45:15 -0400

I saw this at a pharmacy in Chattanooga over the weekend. This either says something about the store’s customer base or the poor design of the product itself. I’m not sure which.

One-Third of U.S. High School Students Now Own an iPhone - Mac Rumors

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:43:00 -0400

One-Third of U.S. High School Students Now Own an iPhone - Mac Rumors:

The results of the extensive survey of 5,600 U.S. high school students show that 34% of surveyed students now own an iPhone, an all-time high in the survey and double the percentage seen just a year ago. Furthermore, 40% of surveyed students indicated that they intend to purchase an iPhone within the next six months.

A Surge in Learning the Language of the Internet

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 16:00:06 -0400

A Surge in Learning the Language of the Internet:

The market for night classes and online instruction in programming and Web construction, as well as for iPhone apps that teach, is booming. Those jumping on board say they are preparing for a future in which the Internet is the foundation for entertainment, education and nearly everything else. Knowing how the digital pieces fit together, they say, will be crucial to ensuring that they are not left in the dark ages.

Free Drop In Photo Editor for iOS

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 08:33:59 -0400

I was going through my RSS feeds and noticed this article from MacManiaDev discussing a full-featured drop in photo editor available for free from the folks at Aviary.com. This looks like a great resource for any dev wanting to add some additional functionality over Apple’s photo picker control in their apps.

Click here for more information.

Photo

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 19:52:00 -0400

iOS App Icon Template

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 08:59:00 -0400

I recently discovered this awesome Photoshop template for creating iOs app icons. The template uses Smart Objects automatically create previews of all icon sizes when you edit the 512 x 512 object. The download also includes some great textures along with a couple of actions that export multiple sizes of the icon and name them according to Apple’s HID guidelines.

thinklia: A Sunday afternoon tennis match with Brandon ...

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 08:30:31 -0400

thinklia:

A Sunday afternoon tennis match with Brandon

… followed by another game Tuesday. This weather has been amazing!

Adobe Shadow

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:38:10 -0500

Adobe Shadow:

Adobe® Shadow is a new inspection and preview tool that allows front-end web developers and designers to work faster and more efficiently by streamlining the preview process, making it easier to customize websites for mobile devices.

This is a pretty slick tool. Pair multiple mobile devices to a single PC, then use the PC to navigate to different web pages. The mobile devices will then automatically load the same page. You can even edit HTML/CSS and instantly see the changes on the devices. I plan on using this to help teach media queries and responsive design in my mobile web development class this fall.

Here’s a video of the tool in action.

Square, Inc. just announced the Square Register. The app turns...

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 08:44:42 -0500

Square, Inc. just announced the Square Register. The app turns your iPad into a sleek point of sale machine. Merchants pay a fee of only 2.75% per transaction.

thinklia: Mia at Mardi Growl

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 08:13:38 -0500

thinklia:

Mia at Mardi Growl

Lia and I intended on taking Mia on a walk around downtown and a...

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 20:24:49 -0500

Lia and I intended on taking Mia on a walk around downtown and a romp in the dog park this morning. When we arrived, however, we discovered the Mardi Growl parade was about to start. So we promptly registered Mia and took part in the festivities. We had a blast. A tired Mia was even willing to pose for a few pictures on our way back to the car.