I can’t believe it.  It’s September already.  My birthday is right around the corner. Amazing how fast this year has progressed. In a blink, August was gone.  September is my favorite month of the year.  It’s not too hot and not too cold.  I am not going taking any classes this semester.  It feels a bit weird because I had become accustomed to going to class for iPhone Application Development.  I got the iPhone Application Development certificate this past May 2010.  A year in progress, finally achieved.

I’ve made 2 iPhone apps that are still pending review in the App Store.  I’m anxiously awaiting an answer: approved or rejected.  The app development process was pretty hard.  I’ve been working my app for the past 10+ months.  It was hardest translating all the words I used in my app.  I am using Core Data with a sqlite database to store all the records.  It has been a fun learning experience for me and this is my first app submission.  Wish me luck!

On the default apps from Apple, to UNDO is super easy. All you gotta do is “Shake” your iPhone. 

For apps that you build, you can make use of Apple’s UNDO features. Just add them to your code!

So I finally upgraded to Snow Leopard on my Mac.  I needed to install iPhone Developer SDK 3.2 Beta for iPad and it required 10.6 or later.  Leopard was 10.5.  Anyhow, I managed to install it on 2 Macs and installations were fine.  However, many programs stopped working and I had to go back and find drivers.

For starters, my Epson Photo 1400 wouldn’t print after I upgraded to Snow Leopard. Here’s what I had to do:

1. Download the latest drivers from the Epson website.
2. Install the necessary files.
3. In System Preferences > Print & Fax, I had to delete my Epson Printer and add it back.
4. Perform a test print page.
5. Voila, magically worked again!

Another program that stopped working was my FTP program for Mac.  Man, I lost the serial and now cannot use it anymore.  I went and downloaded FileZilla.  Been using it for the past few days and it’s okay but the user interface isn’t as friendly as others I’ve used before.  Hey, FileZilla is free and can do the job I need so I shouldn’t complain!

I haven’t run through all my applications yet, but I’m sure I will find some that no longer work.  Hope that surprise doesn’t hit me too hard.

Now I just have to figure out where to install iPhone Developer SDK 3.2 beta to a different location.

So someone asked me what my career objective was.  Well up until six months ago, I had thought I wanted to be a web developer for life.  I made a sudden change of heart after I had an eye awakening experience that changed my life.  This year has been an extremely exhausting year for me (mentally, physically, spiritually).  I have been web programming since 1997.

I love mobile technology.  I see that as my future.  That’s where I want to be.  I want to create mobile applications that will dazzle and energize others to do the same.  What really amazes me are the phone technologies in Asia.  Now c’mon… how come we aren’t as advanced as some of them?  Scanning smart barcodes and then loading those labels onto our phones so that we can get instant access to product information, reviews, and information!  Smart billboards that can display ads according to our cellular profiles, wouldn’t that be a treat? Being able to pay for groceries via our cellies? … think of all the possibilities that we could have!

I remember what life was like before the internet, personal computers, cellular phones, cds, mp3s, GPS, etc … Life was sure different.  In my lifetime, I’d like to be able to say … “wow, I contributed to that.”

If you were to have asked me when I was a kid, “What do you want to be when you grow up.”  I would have answered, “Uh, I don’t know. Maybe a teacher, lawyer, or nurse.”

Today, if you asked me that question I would say, “I want to be a mobile applications developer” or “Inventor” would suffice ;p hehe.

So…. what am I doing to make that happen?  Well, for starters I’m taking an iPhone Apps Development course at Madison College.  I had my first class on Monday night.  It was great and the energy was totally buzzing in the room.  I think everyone is excited about learning a new programming language, that is somewhat outside of our current comfort zone that we do for our daily jobs.  It’s not that iPhones are so cool (haha well they are), but in reality there’s a real need to learn it if you want to jump with technology or slide by with the same old same old.

I’m really looking forward to the semester and all the challenges that comes with it!  Bring it!