| The Ultimate Business Machine Technology, business And, not least, about by: Bernard Teo
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Fri 03 Dec 2004 Cutting-Edge ObjectivesCategory : Technology/OOPs.txt I'm re-discovering a book I bought in 1987 - "Object-Oriented Programming - An Evolutionary Approach" by Brad J Cox. In it is a description of a language called Objective-C and how it could be used to control code complexity and aid programmer productivity. I re-read it now and come to appreciate, again, how powerful good ideas can be - in this case, ideas that were absorbed into NeXTStep and what is now known as Cocoa. I'm reading all the Cocoa material I can find, to try to develop a style that will help us build applications as quickly as we can. I believe that the way to do that is to understand the philosophy underlying Cocoa's design, and write code that works with it rather than against it. And, yes, I think there is such a thing as a philosophy to programming. And that's the kind of thing missing from the Windows world that makes it such an arid place to be in. Putting aside the religious wars concerning Mac vs PC, let's remember why we're using computers, at least in a business setting. That's to allow us to systematise as many of the business processes as we can, so that the business can function like a machine, and so that we, the owners (and those we hire to run our business) won't have to work like machines. Computers compute results, store data, and do all the steps required in an automated process tirelessly, effortlessly, and accurately. If you wield them well, you can really kill your competition. Businesses ought to choose their computing tools the way Samurais choose their swords. You've got to be able to appreciate craftsmanship. You're going into battle, and you need a philosophy, for living and for fighting. Choose your sword well. Wed 01 Dec 2004 The Geography of ThoughtCategory : Commentary/GeographyOfThought.txt I was re-reading that last sentence in that previous post - "But part of growing up is to accept life for what it is and just move along." That's so typically Asian isn't it? That's what we teach our kids. And bind us to that peasant of long ago, bent beneath the weeping willow, resigned to eternal cycles of flood and famine, and taxation from the Yellow Emperor. But, switching back to our modern age, if that were so, why not throw it all in and accept the dominance of Windows? Surely, resistance is futile. Why spend so much effort trying to change things? I've picked up a book called "The Geography of Thought". It's an interesting discussion about the ways Easterners and Westerners differ in their patterns of thought - and why we differ and how we came to be so. But what if we're tending towards a new synthesis, an amalgam of west and east? It may not necessarily be better, being neither here nor there, and it's quite possible we may end up with all the worst from both cultures. It's quite interesting reading this book, living in Singapore. We're at the cross-roads, subjected to such a hodge-podge of influences that we could go either way. Or neither, and find something uniquely our own, for better or for worse. That's what we're going to leave our children. Because of that, we ought to give it some thought. The Story of AudionCategory : Technology/audion.txt This is a good story, relevant to all software developers, about Audion, the MP3 player on the Mac that almost became iTunes. I really love its tone - not bitter and very generous. Java and Objective-C Development on Mac OS XCategory : Technology/JavaAndObjC.txt Objective-C code may look daunting at first, but it's really mainly C code with extensions to the language to deal with objects and message passing. Both Java and C are small, compact languages that can (each) be learnt in one weekend - that is, if you're determined and start on a Friday night. Good books to use include the "Java in a Nutshell" book from O'Reilly and the Kernighan and Ritchie book for C. The "Java in a Nutshell" book contains a good introduction to object-oriented programming and the advantages of using this approach to control code complexity. I've got a few books on Cocoa programming but I think the "Learning Cocoa" book from O'Reilly is actually good enough to get started (I have the original version that was much maligned but the second edition by James Duncan Davidson should probably be better). I found some of the explanations mystifying (in my original version of the book), at least initially, but it contained very good, useful, sample code that you can adapt quite easily to do your own stuff. And, after a few rounds, things do become clear. The important thing is to learn by doing - to plunge in and set yourself something useful to do by modifying from the given examples. Then it rapidly becomes clear what it is that you don't yet know, and from filling in the pieces, you start to create a mental model of how Cocoa works. I think there's a certain point where everthing clicks and you start to see the patterns in the way Cocoa works and learn to flow with it. (That's why there is a book called "Design Patterns".) Now, I think we (Hai Hwee - who wrote Luca - and me) took a longer (and much harder) route into Cocoa by starting with Java. Cocoa's native language is Objective-C, and, though it is possible to write Cocoa apps using Java, you always have to translate the Objective-C calls into their equivalent idiom in Java, and there are far fewer sources of information about writing Cocoa code using Java. (As Aaron Hillegass says, in his book "Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X" 2002 edition - "Using Java with Cocoa"? "Don't ..."). But we have a lot of stuff we've invested time in building (database and web server stuff that call Oracle and MySQL) and it was easier to extend the Java code to work with a Cocoa front-end than it was to rewrite all that stuff in Objective-C. And where was the database solution on Cocoa in Objective-C, then? Nothing, not a single thing at all. No wonder there was not much going on for business applications on Mac OS X. But, now, there's the possibility of taking advantage of CoreData in Tiger. One of the problems we have with Luca (besides the fact, I think, that it requires a good inventory module to make the system really gell for an end-user), is that it's too big a download. We can't assume that a user has MySQL loaded on his Mac. That is the target database that Luca uses. So we include a MySQL download. Even if a user has MySQL, we often have problems making Luca work with that existing installation. So it'll be great if we can assume that there is a database that comes with every Mac. And target Luca (and any other business application that we hope to build) to work with that common platform. And our applications could then become smaller and be easier to download. So that's why I think we could expect to see an explosion of business applications on the Mac. But it all depends on how good CoreData is. I do wish Apple could stop re-inventing the wheel and re-use stuff that are already out there - like all that JDBC stuff that work with almost every relational database solution on earth. Or, choose MySQL to bundle in rather than SQLite. Or make Objective-C work a bit more like Java in terms of memory management (all that "release" and "retain" code give me a headache). We've now got two great platforms to create applications with on Mac OS X - Java and Objective-C, and Cocoa. It'll be great to get the best of both worlds. But part of growing up is to accept life for what it is and just move along. So on we go. Mon 29 Nov 2004 May a Thousand Applications BloomCategory : Technology/thousandApps.txt "Deeds, like grains of sand spilt into the sea, disappear, leaving only an empty hand." - Han Suyin It's really quick, how time flies. Especially when you're doing something engrossing. I've finished the Objective-C version of Postfix Enabler and it works exactly the same way as the current AppleScript Studio version, which shouldn't be surprising because they're both calling the same Cocoa framework underneath. But what was surprising to me was that it didn't take that much more code to do it - almost the same number of lines of code in Objective-C as compared to the AppleScript code, or maybe just a bit more. And I've reached this conclusion - if you're building applications in Real Basic or 4th Dimension, you really ought to take a look at building them directly in Cocoa using Objective-C. You'll be surprised at how much faster and more productive you can be. You'll be coding closer to the metal, so to speak, and so your applications will run faster. But it's not necessarily harder - in fact, the opposite may be true. I can't praise the Cocoa framework enough - or rather, the thought that went into its design. So many things would have made their way in there simply because a programmer would have needed it - to work faster. And I believe now that there's a way to get going on Cocoa quickly - where you can do a lot of productive things right from the start, and where you won't be daunted by how thick the Cocoa API reference guides are. In fact, if you find a way to understand the key concepts and learn how to look for what you want, you'll start to feel reassured whenever you go through a long list of API's - because that will mean that you're that much more likely to find just the right piece of code to help you do what you want to do. And that has been my experience so far. I've been able to find almost all the things I need - or at least enough to think that I'd be able build quite a wide range of stuff with it. Computers become useful because of the applications that run on them. I go the retail stores that sell Macs here and they don't give enough reasons for anyone to buy a Mac - they're always opening and closing windows, showing the genie effect, and showing iTunes, iMovies, and all that old stuff. They're preaching to the converted (or to the ignorant). But we should use the Mac simply because there are so many productive things we can do with it - things limited only by our imagination. So, may a thousand Mac applications bloom, with Objective-C and Cocoa. Sat 20 Nov 2004 Postfix Enabler in Objective-CCategory : Technology/PFEinObjC.txt I've been building a version of Postfix Enabler on Objective-C. What started out as a peek into Tiger to see how quickly I can get Postfix Enabler to run on it got diverted into a challenge - to see how quickly I can take the Postfix Enabler nib (Interface Builder) file and wrap Objective-C code around it, rather than the AppleScript I was using. How did I get to Objective-C? Must be the effect of all those WWDC DVD's I sometimes run in the background while working, especially those about Core Data. If it works the way it's supposed to, and Apple continues to build on it, it's going to be something we cannot afford to ignore. It'll make the Mac an even better platform to build business applications on. And, if it doesn't? Well, we still have Java. I've developed an AppleScript Studio course around Postfix Enabler because, if you take a look at it again, you'll find it covers most of the interface elements you're likely to want on a Mac-based application. There are drawers, sheets, pop-up menus, check boxes, radio buttons, alerts, tables, data sources, progress indicators, password fields, interfacing with Unix, an ability to launch web pages, and checking if you're an admin user. Once you know these, you can build any application. (OK, maybe not any - I don't do graphics or music or 3-D). So, by the end of this exercise, I will have an Objective-C application that covers most of the same interfaces, and more (e.g., I've always wanted to be able to read the output of the Unix job asynchronusly - so that I can show the user what's going on, as it happens, and not only at the end of the job, as in the current AppleScript version of Postfix Enabler. With NSTask and NSPipe, I've finally been able to achieve that). This will be just right to be used as the basis of a "Cocoa Using Objective-C" course. Objective-C is really so fun. The Bull and The VegetarianCategory : Commentary/BullAndTheVegetarian.txt "Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is like expecting the bull not to charge you because you are a vegetarian." ... Rabbi Harold Kushner I remembered a quote like that came across my mail box some time ago. Fortunately, I've kept most of my Postfix and Sendmail Enabler-related correspondence. I found it in a note from Terry Bain. True enough. But is there a place in heaven for vegetarians? Speaking of heaven, it's different hearing Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" when you're a father of a boy yourself. It's easy enough to feel that stab of pain in - "Would you hold my hand, if I saw you in heaven?". Wed 10 Nov 2004 The Job of Art is to Chase Ugliness AwayCategory : Commentary/JobOfArt.txt "The job of art is to chase ugliness away", I thought I heard Bono say in the U2 iPod special event. I had to rewind to be sure. Yes, it's there and I think it's a wonderful statement. I was watching the event on QuickTime, while I was coming to the end of the book I'm reading by Jeremy Rifkin, "The Age of Access", and I think it's one of those days when everything resonates. I was writing the other day about the idea of key concepts - about how it's important to learn how to learn quickly from scraps of knowledge. But when you've built lots of these key concepts, you need an overarching framework to tie everything together, so you get a holistic feel for how everything is going, and thereby make your own sense of what's happening to our world today. Jeremy Rifkin's "Age of Access" is one of those rare books that come along that does a credible job of tying lots of diverse impressions into a central theme, where you're able to see the patterns and interconnections. We're moving into a time where we value the ability to access an experience more than the possessing of physical goods. For example, when I hear Bob Dylan's "You're a big girl now", lots of memories come flooding back and that's feeling I live for, no matter if I hear it off a radio or an iPod. What's important is to have the rights to turn it on when I want to - I don't need or care to own the CD. Another example - I like the ability to whisk my family off to a few places quickly over the weekend - but I hate the chore of owning and maintaining a car. I'd rather lease one and I can see a day coming when somebody will use the web to coordinate the logistics to make the system work better than it currently does. And I've stopped buying books - I bought enough to fill two life-times and they are just so much baggage when we shift house or office. I never finished Rifkin's last book "The End of Work" and it's now just collecting dust. But I found "The Age of Access" in the library, and I thought the worse that can happen is that it'll just go back into the hole if it's no good. So, I'm glad I read it. But I'm not going to attempt a synthesis; just wanted to make the recommendation. This, and other books like Leonard Shlain's "The Alphabet versus the Goddess", have shaped my thinking about why Apple, alone among the technology companies, have grasped the true signficance of what's changing in our world today, and it's the company that is doing the most interesting and relevant things against this backdrop. In what is coined The Experience Economy, art, aesthetics and alignment with spiritual goals take center-stage. The job of art is to chase ugliness away. And we're willing to pay for it when it does. Can anyone watching the Apple U2 Special Event imagine anyone other than Steve Jobs being there on stage with Bono and company - for example Bill Gates or Sim Wong Hoo? Banish the thought. That's why the iPod's success is more than just massive spending on advertising, as Sim Wong Hoo thinks and is now trying to emulate. This may be Creative's waterloo. Tue 02 Nov 2004 UW/IMAP - Postfix Enabler 1.0.10 ReleasedCategory : Technology/UWIMAP2004Released.txt I decided to release the latest UW/IMAP POP3 and IMAP binaries that I had built inside Postfix Enabler 1.0.10. Nothing's changed inside 1.0.10 except for the new POP and IMAP binaries. I had earlier wanted to collect a few new features to put together to make a new Postfix Enabler release but I realised I'll never find the time to do that over the next four weeks. The new IMAP binary includes the oft-requested change made to where it stores its mail boxes (so that it doesn't clash with Mail.app). It works so well with Mail.app now. It's fair to say that this is the way it should have worked, from the start.
I'm sorry I took so long to fix it. That's why I decided to release it immediately. This makes working with IMAP a much better and smoother experience and I can now understand why people would keep coming back to bug me for it. I hope the users are going to be delighted. DNS Enabler 1.0Category : Technology/DNSEnabler1dot0Desc.txt I've got a more "useful" version of DNS Enabler done. It's meant to be used by people who don't know and don't care about things like CNAMES, MX records, PTRs,and A-RECORDS. But they know enough about the domain name system to want to be able to reference machines by human-understandable names. The people who're downloading DNS Enabler now want to be able to do things like this, for a private 10.0.1 network :
This is because, for one reason or another, they may not be able to hit their server using a domain name, from a machine on their internal network, even though people outside, on the public network, can see the server just fine. For example, you may be acquainted with this problem if you're using the earlier batch of Airport Base Stations. Running a DNS service on their server for the benefit of the machines on the private network will help these internal machines to "see" the server. But you might want to set up a domain name service for a private network for a whole host of other reasons. For example, for doing demos or for testing, where you have no connection to the Internet, but want to simulate your own private Internet. Now, the new version of the Airport Admin Utility allows you to create a private network on any of the three known ones (10.0.1.x or 192.168.1.x or 172.16.1.x). So, I've also allowed the user to set things up on DNS Enabler according. DNS Enabler 1.0 allows a user to set up more than one server. And they can be on any other address beside 201 (which I had hard-coded in the "old" DNS Enabler). And, it allows you to set up more than one domain name pointing to the same machine so you can set up and do virtual hosting in the web and mail servers. I find the ability to change, temporarily, which machines the domain names cutedgesystems.com and roadstead.com are pointing to very useful when I'm doing testing on my iBook. E.g., now that I'm doing a series of tests on the latest UW/IMAP binaries that I have built, using my iBook as both server and client. I find it very useful to be able to tell Mail.app on my iBook that cutedgesystems.com is now also on my iBook because I can re-use the mail accounts that I've already set up on Mail.app. DNS Enabler will create the correct DNS entries and files - as far as I can tell (though I'm still learning and may yet get things wrong). So, after building it, I realised that it can also be used to set up a fully-functional DNS server for the public network, including handling the setting up of the Classless Inter-Domain Routing file (how's that for a mouthful), like the setup shown below:
And, finally, I'm finding that it works great as a teaching tool. The interface will allow me to explain to someone how the domain name system works and why it was meant to work that way. Then I can go into the system files that DNS Enabler generates automatically and show how all these settings get translated into the proper A-RECORDS and CNAME records, or whatever, that the Domain Name system requires. I've yet to write the documentation. But if anyone wants to try it out before I've got a proper download page set up, you can write to me. Mon 01 Nov 2004 A UW/IMAP UpdateCategory : Technology/IMAP2004Update.txt I've built a new 2004 version of the UW/IMAP (POP3 and IMAP) binaries. And I took the opportunity to correct a mistake I made with the mail sub-directory path that led to problems like these (as excerpted from this page on the Squirrel Mail Wiki) : "(1) Do NOT use the raw uw imapd that is installed by Postfix Enabler. This sets the imapd root directory on your server to ~/Library/Mail/Mailboxes, which is a folder that has special meaning for Mail.app. If you ever run Mail.app (ie Apple's Mail program) on your server it will put it's own stuff in that directory, imapd and Mail.app will fight about how it should be organized, and your life will be miserable." With this new version, these problems should go away. I should plan on releasing a new version of Postfix Enabler (1.1.10) soon (?) but I've got a series of courses that we're set on doing in a couple of weeks, so there's going to be a lot of things to do. Address Book Plug In UpdateCategory : Technology/addressBookPlugInUpdate.txt I've updated my Singapore Map Plug-In for Address Book so that it will try searching by Postal Code first. If it can't find a Postal Code, then it will try Street Name and Number. You can download it from here. I realised later, from monitoring the referrers on my webserver log, that Takashi Yoshida had already built something like this, so I am probably reinventing the wheel (except maybe for the one-click installer that I'm fond of building). But I had fun doing it. And I did learn something more about scripting the Address Book that, I am sure, will come in handy in a future project. Also, there should be a way to make this a general purpose Map plug-in - like, making it easy for people to set it up so that it'll work for any country/ mapping-site combination. E.g., providing a way for the user to add a new country and then enter the URL pattern of the relevant mapping site. The problem is to work out a smart way of deducing where the postal codes, street names or street numbers are in the URL of any mapping site. Read more ... |
Mac@Work
Services running on this server, a Mac Mini running Mac OS X 10.9.2 Mavericks:
all set up using MailServe, WebMon, DNS Enabler, DNS Agent, VPN Enabler, Liya and our SQL installers, all on Mavericks. |
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