monkeys on typewriters

Adobe is developing yet another web technology-based application environment called Apollo. However, unlike Dashboard and Yahoo! Widget Engine, Apollo lets you make real applications and not just widgets. These applications are cross platform. You can use HTML, Javascript, Ajax, Flash, and Flex to make these apps.

Does this seem like a trend to anyone else? Using web-based technologies to write desktop applications (or widgets or whatever you want to call ‘em). It definitely goes along with the idea that the internet is becoming more and more integrated into our computers.

So tonight I’m going to be under a Winter Storm Warning.

REMEMBER…A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE IMMINENT OR HIGHLY LIKELY. SIGNIFICANT SNOW
ACCUMULATIONS ARE OCCURRING OR EXPECTED. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO
POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.

Yep. Winter Storm Warning. We usually get about two of these a year. One in January, and the other in March. (March is actually the snowiest month around here.) So what’s this doing in October?

Fair warning: This is a geeky post.

In a widget, the way you generate random numbers is through a JavaScript function called Math.random(). Random numbers are useful for lots of things: We use them in Old Faithful (has to do with refreshing the image), Uncle Sam (generating random quotes), and MadLibs (auto-generating random words).

However in Dashboard, the Math.random() function doesn’t truly generate random numbers. Each time you close and reopen a widget it gives you the same sequence of numbers. Here they are. (Note that these numbers have been multiplied by 1,000,000,000 and rounded there, for readability.)

• 7826
• 131537788
• 755605322
• 458650132
• 532767237
• 218959186
• 47044616
• 678864717
• 679296406
• 934692896

To prove my point, I’ve created a quick-and-really-dirty widget to demo this. Here it is: RandomDemo.zip. This widget will show you the first 10 random numbers. You’ll notice that the first time you run it, it has these exact numbers in the same order.

If you close the widget and re-open it (Note close and re-open; a simple Cmd + R refresh won’t do), you’ll get the same exact sequence of numbers. That’s the problem. Dashboard’s Math.random() gives you the same numbers each time you open it in a new widget. This is especially a problem for widgets that do stuff like generate random passwords, because everyone sees the same password. However, it’s also annoying to us because everyone sees the same Uncle Sam quote and MadLibs auto-generated output each time they re-open the widget.

We have found a way to work around this bug, but it’s messy, annoying, and it would be much, much simpler if Apple just fixed the Math.random() function in Dashboard. So please, Apple: Fix it, will ya?

Well, this evening Austin just posted some hints on our new upcoming widget. But I couldn’t let him have all the fun. Here’s what this widget is not:

• This widget is NOT used to slice bananas. It just isn’t.
• This widget is NOT useful to anyone who could be called a “spy”. What does that mean? I’m not at liberty to say.
• This widget was NOT created while listening to White Stripes. It just wasn’t.
• This widget was NOT created with Leopard/Dashcode. Sorry, we don’t have Leopard yet.
• This widget is NOT an update.
• This widget is NOT testing on only PowerPC processors.¹
• This widget is NOT being built for Yahoo! Widgets. At least right now. We may, or may not add that version before it’s released.
• No matter what Mason may say to the contrary, what Austin said is right. Mason did NOT help code it.
• Finally, this widget is NOT done. In highly technical terms this widget is what we call “barley working”. It still has to go through the “working”, “working well”, and “working perfectly” phases before we’ll release it.

¹ In the past we’ve tested all of our widgets on PPC processors only. This isn’t a problem because widgets run identically on PPC and x86 processors. However, now we’ve got not just one, but two Intel machines around, so life is good.

Well, with that, I suppose I should get back to work as we move onto the “working” phase.

In my day-to-day widget developing, I’ve developed a few shortcuts to help along the way. One is my “Build Widget” Automator action that I use as a Finder Plugin. You can see what it looks like in the image on the right.

In short, it will take a normal folder and turn it into a widget bundle in the Widgets folder. Here’s what it actually does:

1. Gets the selected Finder item. WARNING: This is not necessarily the item you right-clicked on.
2. Copy it to the Desktop. Because it uses the Desktop, you cannot have you widget’s folder on the Desktop.
3. Rename the folder by adding ‘.wdgt’ onto the end.
4. It then moves the folder new widget to the Widgets folder.
5. It will then ask you if you want to continue on and make the widget a .zip archive.
6. If you clicked yes, it will create the .zip archive. These last two are hidden to save space.

Well, there you have it. Inside the workflow (pun intended) of one widget developer.

In our second installment of All (Other) Things Taco, we have a feature who is actually very much like ourselves: Taco Software. Taco Software produces Taco HTML Edit, and HTML editor for, you guessed it, Mac OS X.

Taco HTML Edit is a full-featured HTML editor and PHP editor distributed as freeware. As an HTML editor, Taco HTML Edit empowers its users to rapidly create their own web sites. It is designed exclusively for Mac OS X and has many advanced features including spell checking, live browser previewing, PHP previewing, syntax checking, and much more.

Over the weekend, I worked a little on our newest widget. Here’s what I did.

• Changed ‘http’ to ‘https’. Oh yeah.
• Re-wrote the DOM processor. It’s actually much shorter now.
• Put in a little error handling. It’s not much, but it’s a start.

While it sound like I almost got nothing done, oh wait… I did get almost nothing done. Actually, Austin’s writing most of this one. What’s the widget? I can’t tell you; it’s not done yet!

In an ongoing series that I just thought up a minute or two ago, we’ll be reviewing all other things “Taco”. Today’s installment: Taco Trucks!

The greatest service in the east bay since Bart. Documenting Oakland’s Taco Truck scene since 2002, we’ve got some new trucks, new reviews, and a new look.

However, unlike us, these guys deal with real tacos. Ya know. The kind you eat.

The new iTunes 7 Icon is, if you haven’t noticed, different from the iTunes 6 icon. On the whole I like it. The blue looks nice and I like the effect on the CD. However, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it. Why? Green.

Let’s just say that over the years I’ve become used to the iTunes icon being green. This is nice because I often have to switch over to iTunes real fast to take a call or something. I usually do this by using Cmd + Tab and finding the green icon. In the past, I’ve been able to do this pretty much without thinking.

iTunes used to be one of the few green icons there were. Looking at my Dock, the only other green icon I have is TextWrangler, and that’s kind of a blueish-green.

Now, whenever I want to pause iTunes, I activate Cmd + Tab, then sit there for a second looking for, and not finding the green icon. I have to consciously go into my brain and remember that the icon is now blue. It’s not that the it doesn’t stand out, it’s that I’m so used to it being green.

What’s the solution? There really isn’t one. Switching the icon back to green would just mess with my brain even more. Moral of the story: One you have an icon, don’t change its color!

OR: Google Really, Really Wants to get Sued.

Their new code search lets anyone search the entire internet for code. Ya know, geek stuff. Try searching for “This file contains proprietary and confidential information”.

The first result that comes up (I’m not going to link to it, for fear of getting sued too) has this warning:

This file contains proprietary and confidential information and remains the unpublished property of [company name censored]. Use, disclosure, or reproduction is prohibited except as permitted by express written license agreement with [company name censored again].

Now, I’m no lawyer, but Google’s disclosure this information seems like a direct violation of that warning. I’m also aware that me reposting it here directly violates that warning on multiple counts, however, I don’t think that any lawyer in their right mind would take me to task for it. (However, if you really, really don’t like it, leave a comment.)

Admittedly, most of the copyrights on this results page are from the mid-90s, so many of these companies probably aren’t even around anymore, but it still doesn’t seem very safe to me. My only question: Why didn’t someone inside Google think about this before it went live?