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Big Nerd Ranch Clash of the Coders: The winners revealed
The Clash of the Coders drew to its climax Saturday night as teams presented their projects and a good time was had by all. In the end team Raisin' Elevens took the crown, laying claim to geek victory for the next year (plus an extremely generous equipment purchasing allowance). They created an app-testing utility that enables developers to evaluate the way users interact with their product. Intended primarily for in-house use (although it could possibly be sold to third party developers sometime in the future), their project, Krendler, provides cross-platform interface recording. Although superficially similar to products already out there on the market, Krendler's automatic web integration and beautiful view visualization truly set the app apart. Well done to team Raisin' Elevens: Mark Dalrymple, Gregg Rothmeier and Steve Sparks. Team Daedalus did not disappoint, although they just missed the crown and squeaked into second place. Their brilliant device management system is (cover your eyes, TUAWians) an Android-based solution for tracking test units. Unplug any unit from the board and it immediately prompts you for your name. You type it in and the unit checks out in your name, with an associated web service tracking and monitoring that loan. Not sure who grabbed that Galaxy note? The Daedalus project had that covered. My favorite part of this system, is how it offered a plug-to-sync simplicity. Plug the unit back, and it automatically checks back in. Brilliant. Team members included Chris Stewart, Eric Jeffers and Darren Pottinger. In third place were the Wynners. (Yes. I tried to dock them five points for that name, but it didn't take.) Brian Hardy, Zac Stewart and Paul Turner created a OpenCV-based system to scan already-used crossword puzzles and transform them into ready-to-play versions. If you've ever been stuck on an airplane with a partly filled-in puzzle in the back of the flight magazine, you'll understand these developers' pain. The scanned interface was ultimately beautiful and polished. I want to mention two other teams of note: "Team Edward" (Yes, I know) delivered one of the least sparkly (see what I did there), yet ultimately most important projects. Perhaps a bit overlooked, this team created an app to scan a web domain and produce an intelligently collected list of important words, phrases and names. You can then feed that list into a generation system to provide beautiful and exciting navigation tools. We only got to see the beginnings of what looks like a really promising project. Finally, Team Spazberry Pi delivered the "we are such Apple geeks, we live and breathe and bleed in six colors" that most TUAW readers will be waiting for. They created a ginormous 4-foot-tall joystick that ran a game, where flying nerds had to fight off NSZombies. No puns were spared. Erica reported from Big Nerd Ranch's Clash of the Coders, the shop's annual internal developer challenge.
Big Nerd Ranch Clash of the Coders: Projects
As the teams battle away on the Clash of the Coders, ideas are quickly becoming reality as developers are hard at work on their projects. Some projects are, admittedly, utilitarian. Now is a great opportunity for devs to create in-house tools for use during the rest of the year. In a shop that caters to Android as well as iOS development, tracking and managing dozens of Android variations can prove a big challenge, as BNR works to create apps for many-shaped phones and tablets. Other projects are all about the fun. One team is building a giant joystick, another electronically scrubbing already-started crosswords from the backs of those on-line airline magazines. One of my favorite projects, however, is less technological than inspirational. The Carter Center has been monitoring the eradication of the guinea worm, a parasite that's been documented throughout human history. A Nerd Ranch team is working on an app to promote awareness. In 1986, when the center first started its campaign there were 3.5 million cases reported across Africa and Asia. By 2012, that number had dropped to just 542. "Guinea worm disease is poised to be the next human disease after smallpox to be eradicated," writes the Carter website. The team's app offers background, support links and -- if they manage to pull it off -- a countdown clock that reflects the success on the war of the guinea worm over time. Do any of the teams have a lock on the win? It's still too early to tell.
Big Nerd Ranch Clash of the Coders: Rule-based lock screens
One of the nicest things about hanging out with coders is the exposure to their pet personal projects. Brian James Turner at Big Nerd Ranch has been working on a new take on lock screens. Hosted at github, Turner's project transforms the iOS lockscreen from a series of memorized numbers or letters into a logical sequence of choices. Each challenge screen is randomly generated. Instead of a number grid or password entry field, you see a set of geometric objects. You enter your password by following rules. "For example, my passcode might be small green, triangle," he explained. If you tap a small object followed by a green one and then a triangle, the system lets you in. It's a novel take on a familiar challenge, and there's never "one" right answer. Even if someone is looking over your shoulder, it will be hard for them to duplicate the reasoning. For example, was the first choice small, green or circle? In the current proof of concept, an overlooked three-choice sequence represents up to 27 possibilities. This complexity expands as the password grows longer and the shape and color vocabulary expands, providing ever greater levels of lock screen security. Erica is reporting this week from Big Nerd Ranch's Clash of the Coders, the shop's annual internal developer challenge.
Big Nerd Ranch Clash of the Coders: How BNR smote the NDA
The Big Nerd Ranch has conducted iPhone development courses all the way back to the very beginning, when the App Store first launched in 2008. Doing so had its challenges. At that time, Apple had imposed a nondisclosure agreement on all developers, with little indication if and when it would ever be lifted. As a registered developer, Big Nerd Ranch had to comply with Apple's rules. Under the terms of this agreement, developers could not discuss details of the OS and the SDK -- a limitation that challenged any business based on development training. BNR CEO Aaron Hillegass devised an insane, brilliant and counter-intuitive solution. Leveraging a little-known clause in the agreement, he conceived a way to make an end-run around the letter of the law while still holding classes. He hired his students. Each student signed an agreement promising to deliver one (1) line of code to Hillegass upon completion of a week of on-site consultation. In return, he paid each student a sum of $1 and spent that week teaching them the basics of iPhone development As contractors, students were entitled to discuss project details with their employer, and he was able to freely instruct them. At the end of the week, Hillegass issued certificates of completion... and paychecks. Erica is reporting this week from Clash of the Coders, BNR's annual internal developer challenge.
Big Nerd Ranch Clash of the Coders: Innovation, fun, inspiration
Founded 12 years ago, Atlanta's Big Nerd Ranch is well-known among the Apple developer community as a prime source for corporate and individual training. Created to provide professional services for Apple technologies, its mission has grown to include both contract programming as well as instruction for Android, iOS, HTML 5, Ruby on Rails and Windows 8. Recently merged with Atlanta's Highgroove Studios, BNR is about to kick off its second Clash of the Coders in-house event. Highgroove was a Ruby-on-Rails studio specializing in building back-ends for apps like Words with Friends. Clash of the Coders is a private affair, established to allow trainers and developers to take time away from working on other people's solutions and invest in their own creativity. I was invited to take part in this year's events as an observer and an honorary participant, to explore what goes on behind the doors when Big Nerd shuts down for three days to devote itself to coding mayhem. It looks like it's going to be a lot of fun, and a lot of hard, intense development. Founder and CEO Aaron Hillegass explains, "We shut the company down and team up so we can do significant amounts of programming in those three days." For a lot of developers, the ability to work a project from start to end is a precious one. "Programmers who are working for other people can get frustrated when they don't have time to do experiments and push things beyond the demands of the client. We wanted to create space for that deeply satisfying form of creation." Charles Quinn, Highgroove founder and BNR co-owner adds, "A lot of developers work at being good consultants -- they spend their time doing one part of a system, but there's always a desire there to work on all parts of the system from idea to marketing, seeing that concept all the way through." "It's really really fun," Hillegass corrects him, "but more importantly we learn a lot. We learn what we're capable of, we learn about these technologies and, most importantly we learn what our employees want to work on." I'll be checking in throughout this event, to share a little window into the developer world from those who live it.
Why is Facebook's app so much better lately? Ask Big Nerd Ranch
Facebook's official iOS app has been improving by leaps and bounds lately. First it went native, and then added a series of great new features and redesigned elements piece by piece. In fact, if you were a conspiracy theorist, you might think that Facebook was getting a little help -- and in this case, you'd be right. AllThingsD reports that Facebook has made a deal with the popular iOS dev camp Big Nerd Ranch to provide a weeklong, 40-hour crash course on iOS development to any interested employees. More than 450 of Facebook's employees have gone through the course (mostly software engineers, but not exclusively), and about two-thirds of them have focused on Android rather than iOS. But in general, the deal shows just how important mobile platforms are to Facebook, and if you've been watching the official app lately, you can see just what a great effect it's had. It's worth noting, too, that this is a testament to Big Nerd Ranch and its ability to teach this stuff. I've enjoyed talks from Aaron Hillegass at a few conferences, and our own Brett Terpstra is a huge fan of The Ranch's courses. If you're an iOS developer (or just an aspiring one), it's worth looking into the available programs. For the rest of us, we'll just enjoy the results their teachings, and this vastly superior Facebook iOS experience.
MacTech 2011: What keeps Aaron Hillegass up at night
Big Nerd Ranch founder Aaron Hillegass took the stage at this week's MacTech Conference 2011, and his talk was labeled, simply, "Going Mobile." That's a big topic, so after going through a few reasons why business and individuals might be for and against making mobile apps (all pretty standard discussion in the industry around the App Store), he discussed his concerns about the mobile industry; the things that "keep me up late at night." What followed were a few questions (mostly unanswered) that Hillegass has been thinking about, relevant to IT professionals, developers and really anyone who's used Apple's mobile products. Hillegass' talk was surprisingly honest -- he tackled quite a few issues during the short speech, some of which will likely take a long while for everyone to figure out. He started by asking how developers can benefit from the "power struggles in the industry." So far, Hillegass said, Apple, Google and others have benefited from app developers. Apple has sold a staggering number of iPhones, thanks in part to the hard work of app developers. Of course, Apple has compensated those developers, some very well. But Hillegass wonders if the relationship could go the other way. Instead of making developers work for Apple and then even harder to make their apps compatible on Android and other platforms, is there a way to make that competition between the platform companies work for developers? Hillegass didn't have an answer just yet. He also talked about the death of privacy, pointing out that Apple, developers, and humanity in general are collecting mountains of data all the time. What we all us it for? He suggested first that maybe we just didn't need it -- maybe creating too much data, just like creating trash in real life, would adversely affect our environment in ways we didn't suspect. Hillegass then flipped the other way, and suggested that maybe just agreeing amongst ourselves that privacy was finally dead and actually using that data to make the world a better place would be more helpful than hurtful after all. The relatively tame example he gave was about movie theater previews and how, because they were usually targeted at the audience in the theater, are often more interesting than TV commercials. But Hillegass hinted at bigger things -- he seemed to suggest that letting go of privacy might open up a lot more doors, even if he himself didn't know yet what those were. The talk got deeper from there. Hillegass wondered if instead of dealing with reality directly, our work with Apple's devices and computers in general was putting us in touch with a sort of "simulacrum" of reality. Instead of meeting with friends and family, we were communicating via Facebook profiles and social networking services. Hillegass wondered if the small rewards of games prevented us from really committing to achieving something great. He shared a story about reading Mrs. Frisby and The Rats of NIMH to his son, and realizing that while he loved the book as a kid, his attention span had shrunk since then -- even he wasn't able to sit through long passages of description without a lot of action. "My attention span is shrinking," said Hillegrass. "I think that's a problem." And with almost a tone of fear and anxiety, Hillegass wondered how humanity will keep its capacity for empathy when, thanks to our vast networks of communication, we can often be surrounded by people who are exactly like us. He pointed out that most of the people in the room here at MacTech looked and acted very much the same, and said that because of the Internet, people could find communities of like-minded individuals more quickly and easily than ever. Is that a good thing necessarily? He didn't know. Finally, Hillegass pointed out that because of how quickly mobile applications and technology are changing and improving, users and developers are involved in what's basically an evolving relationship. He told the story of the cheetah and the gazelle, and why evolution has made both animals faster over the years -- gazelles who aren't fast enough will get eaten by the faster cheetahs, and cheetahs who don't run won't get food they need. In fact, things have moved so far, said Hillegass, that cheetahs can't even eat too much once they do catch a gazelle, because it will slow them down in the future. Users, too, are getting more and more demanding of mobile apps, just as developers are getting better and better tools to make them. When the App Store first started, fart apps were "good enough" to make money, but the bar has risen higher and higher over the years. For all of his questions, Hillegass did end on a positive note -- he told the story of Beethoven the composer, who made some of the greatest musical pieces for piano ever written, and Broadwood, an inventor who improved the piano, expanding its versatility and range even as Beethoven pushed him to do more with his genius. Developers in the room, said Hillegass, were the Broadwoods of the world. And he and they were both working on apps that would then be used by Beethovens to make something really incredible. Apps and the app market are such a growing entity at this point in time that it's hard to see just where they'll end up, even a few years in the future. But for all of his questions, Hillegass was convinced that the progress was worth it. "We are trying to create the piano for the next Beethoven," he said as he finished his talk.
Voices that Matter iPhone: Aaron Hillegass and Joe Conway on the lifecycle of an iPhone app
Aaron Hillegass and Joe Conway of Big Nerd Ranch kicked off the Voices that Matter iPhone conference in Seattle this weekend with an overview keynote detailing the lifecycle of an iPhone app from a developer's point of view. The two are trainers and consultants for developers working on iPhone apps, and they laid out how an iPhone app is made, from start to finish, giving tips and suggestions to the developers in attendance on how they've developed their own process. Read on to learn the steps they take at Big Nerd Ranch in making an iPhone app, and both how and how not to perform them.
TUAW at Big Nerd Ranch: Aaron Hillegass
More coverage of TUAW's inside look at developer boot camp. See below for notes & disclaimer. On my last day at Big Nerd Ranch, I got a chance to sit down with with the biggest nerd at the ranch, Aaron Hillegass, and talk about nerds, NextStep, the iPad and more. Aaron has a unique vantage point on all things Apple, and it was definitely an enjoyable conversation. If you continue reading after the first video, there's a second short video of Aaron and I out at the site of the future Big Nerd Ranch.
TUAW at Big Nerd Ranch: now taking (app) requests!
More coverage of TUAW's inside look at developer boot camp. See below for notes & disclaimer. It's Wednesday at Big Nerd Ranch. I'll get to meet a few of the personalities behind the ranch today, as well as meet up with some blogger friends from Atlanta. Victor is even going to stop by ... it's like visitor's day, except without the rehab or prison part. We're well into learning to make use of the unique features of the iPhone SDK now. Yesterday we covered CoreLocation, the accelerometer, more Interface Builder and programmatically creating interface elements. I've done a little of this before, but I'm also learning solid memory management techniques, coding conventions and other areas that I definitely needed work on. My classmates are really starting to dig into their own projects, and I've put together a couple small ones of my own. I haven't come up with a great idea for a larger project yet, though, and I'd like your help with that. My only request is that it make use of at least one special hardware feature of the iPhone (compass, accelerometer, etc.). Beyond that, I'm just looking for unique ideas from our readers for an app that would be useful to as large an audience as possible. If this app makes it to the App Store, it will be given away for free, so leave me some suggestions in the comments and I'll get working on something we can all share! In order to give our readers the first-hand account of what it's like to experience developer boot camp, Big Nerd Ranch has permitted Brett to attend complimentary classes and has provided transportation/lodging assistance. Other than those considerations, no sponsorship or advertising relationship exists between BNR and TUAW. This series is not an endorsement of BNR's programs or teaching methodology.
TUAW at Big Nerd Ranch: cabin tour
More coverage of TUAW's inside look at developer boot camp. See below for notes & disclaimer. This is a quick video I shot on Sunday. It's a quick tour of my cabin, just to show you what the lodging and amenities at the Big Nerd Ranch look like. Participants don't spend a lot of time in their rooms, as the class schedule makes for a long day, and is usually followed by some lab time spent working on projects and getting answers to additional questions. Meals are served in the main building, so you end up spending a lot more time with the group than you do in cliques or on your own. The food, by the way, has exceeded my expectations, and the cooks have cheerfully catered to my dietary preferences (a picky pescatarian with a penchant for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches). Read on for the video of the cabin; I should have a video of the actual campus and some footage from our daily hike up soon, too! In order to give our readers the first-hand account of what it's like to experience developer boot camp, Big Nerd Ranch has permitted Brett to attend complimentary classes and has provided transportation/lodging assistance. Other than those considerations, no sponsorship or advertising relationship exists between BNR and TUAW. This series is not an endorsement of BNR's programs or teaching methodology.
TUAW at Big Nerd Ranch: meet Joe Conway
More coverage of TUAW's inside look at developer boot camp. See below for notes & disclaimer. It's Tuesday at Big Nerd Ranch, and we're deep into writing simple apps for our iPhones. Once Mark Fenoglio had finished teaching us some fundamentals of C and Objective-C, Joe Conway took over as instructor to lead us through actually creating iPhone apps. He'll be finishing out the course with us. Right now, we're studying CoreLocation, and creating maps on which we can find locations and add annotations. Things are starting to get interesting, and we're really starting to apply the knowledge to our own projects. The lab should be busy tonight! In the video after the break, you'll get a chance to "meet" Joe. I think the interview captured his Daniel Tosh mannerisms and humor pretty well (see the outtakes after the outtro). You'll see Joe at least one more time before the week is over. There will be some videos posted after the course, as we're actually in the middle of nowhere and the upstream connection isn't conducive to shipping large quantities of video to YouTube. That will be changing in the future, more on that when we talk to Aaron Hillegass. Continue reading for the video!
TUAW at Big Nerd Ranch: Mark Fenoglio
More coverage of TUAW's inside look at developer boot camp. See below for notes & disclaimer. I'm on my second day at Big Nerd Ranch, settling in and getting some blogging done between 3-hour lectures on Objective-C fundamentals. I sat down with our first instructor, Mark Fenoglio, last night to discuss Big Nerd Ranch from his point of view. He's a very dynamic guy, even if my "talking head" video angle doesn't portray that very well. If you're curious about the kind of people Big Nerd Ranch has on the teaching staff, this is a good introduction. I've also got a few clips of classmate "first impressions," some walking tour-video of the ranch and plenty to write today, so you'll hear more from me soon. To view the video, click on the "Read more" link below. In order to give our readers the first-hand account of what it's like to experience developer boot camp, Big Nerd Ranch has permitted Brett to attend complimentary classes and has provided transportation/lodging assistance. Other than those considerations, no sponsorship or advertising relationship exists between BNR and TUAW. This series is not an endorsement of BNR's programs or teaching methodology.
TUAW's headed to Big Nerd Ranch!
I'm writing this at the Minneapolis airport, waiting to board a plane to head for Atlanta. You see, back in 2009 we got a call from Big Nerd Ranch asking if we could send a blogger for a week, have him take part in the computer programming classes they offer there and report back on the 'developer boot camp' experience for our readers. I couldn't pass up the opportunity -- I'm headed for the iPhone programming course now -- but I want to let our readers know up front that this week is on Big Nerd Ranch's dime. When TUAW receives a review unit or license, we return it or give it away to the readers after the review is finished. I can't return this one, though, and I can't give it away, as much as I'd love to. There will be a standard disclaimer on the posts to follow that will reiterate the facts. On a personal level, however, I'd like to let you know that in the interest of as much objectivity as possible under the circumstances, I'll be letting the ranch speak for itself. I'll be doing interviews, shooting video and writing posts that focus on the content and the experience, rather than the quality of the courses or the advantages/drawbacks of the BNR approach versus other iPhone development training options. We report, you decide, right? I'll be sitting down for interviews with Aaron Hillegass (Cocoa instructor, CEO of BNR and author of Cocoa Programming for OS X), as well as other instructors, staff members and hopefully some classmates. You'll get a look inside (and outside) the facility, and a peek at what goes on behind the scenes. I'm looking forward to the experience, and I hope you all can benefit by coming along for the ride. For more detail on TUAW's policies with regard to disclosure and conflict of interest, please see here.
Get your TUAW discount to the Voices That Matter: iPhone Developers Conference
Addison-Wesley Professional, the publishers of many books on both Mac and iPhone development, is hosting the Voices That Matter: iPhone Developer's Conference October 17 and 18th in Boston. TUAW wants to make sure that the budding iPhone devs in our readership are able to attend the conference, so we have an exclusive discount code for you to use when you register.The conference is focused at experienced Mac developers who are looking for a quick way to get the skills required to build, test, and distribute iPhone and iPod touch apps. The speaker list for the conference is impressive and includes: TUAW's very own Erica Sadun (Conference Program Chair) Aaron Hillegass, author of Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X (Keynote Speaker) Mac and technology pundit Andy Ihnatko (Keynote Speaker) Peter Bakhirev Lee Barney Erik Buck Bill Dudney Dan Grover Daniel Jalkut Steve Kochan Bill Licea-Kane Mike Morton Jonathan Rentzsch Fraser Speirs August Trometer Marcus Zarra TUAW readers can save $150 on their conference registration by providing the special priority code PHNTUAW when registering. If you register before September 12th, you can combine your TUAW discount with Early Bird pricing and save a total of $350.The iPhone app market is still going strong even in this execrable economy, so this is a great opportunity for Mac developers to get the smarts to make the leap to the iPhone market.
Pagepacker open sourced
Aaron Hillegass, owner of the Big Nerd Ranch (and the suavest-looking Mac developer in a cowboy hat), has announced that he's releasing the source of his app Pagepacker to the public. Pagepacker, as reported on TUAW a while back, takes big pages and makes them small-- it's perfect for creating things like the Hipster PDA and other cool, easy-to-carry around organizational tools. I don't know where our own Mike Rose got this term from, but I love what he calls this stuff in the original Pagepacker post: info-origami. Beautiful.Hillegass still has a guide to use the app on his site, and the source is now available to download as well. Maybe some enterprising open source developer can break it open, and add it to another app or make it even better.
PagePacker puts microbooks in easy reach
Back in June, we told you about a downloadable "My Mac Won't Start!" quickguide in the PocketMod format, a teensy little 8-page book you can create, print and fold yourself. Even though nothing's cooler than info-origami, the Flash-based PocketMod creation tool was a little too clunky for Aaron Hillegass of Big Nerd Ranch.Aaron infused the PocketMod process with some Cocoa mojo and the result is PagePacker, a slick little app that lets you quickly put together your own PocketMods from PDFs, images or pages from the DIYplanner.com template set. Throw a picture of your dog and a handy city map onto the back of your busy schedule and you're all set.Thanks Victor![via digg]
