General


28
Nov 11

iPad with Keyboard

Got this Bluetooh keyboard this evening for $20. So far, it’s working pretty well. My first impressions:

  1. Connecting to the iPad was quick and easy.
  2. Select, copy and paste work pretty much like they would on the Mac. Arrows are used in text field as you would on the desktop/laptop
  3. You still use your finger to tap around.

Hope it keeps working…

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8
Nov 11

Flash vs. HTML5: When clients ask you to take sides in a holy war

Recently, a client asked me and my colleagues for a point of view on whether they should develop a profoundly animated website in Flash or go with HTML5. I love HTML5. I worked in Flash in the bad old days and was not a fan. I love HTML5. I even have the sticker on my laptop.

This is naturally prep for a big but.
It comes in the form of the list we shared with our client.
Look at it as a conversation starter. Be nice.

 

  • SEO – Flash and HTML5 are both not ideal for SEO (Canvas and SVG are not textual and hence indexable) 
  • Performance depends on what we need to achieve; complex HTML5 is as slow as complex Flash
  • Creative Liberty – Flash can accomplish more, in less time than HTML5
  • Build time – Flash development, on more browsers, will require less time *for the same thing* – assuming a lot of animation and interactivity
  • Browser Compatibility – HTML5 pretty much cannot work on browsers older than 2 years; Flash still works on the older Internet Explorer browsers that too many people still use. And we have to care about them.

This list is VERY MUCH for the present time. Things change fast and HTML5 is gaining a foothold faster than Flash is losing it. 

Still, right now, it's what I believe. Flash had to be the way to go. Sounds apologetic, no?

OH – and we ARE building an HTML5 mobile + tablet version of the same site. Mobile web vs. native apps – now that's a holy war I do take sides on.

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10
Aug 11

Weird iPad errors: Unknown -35, required disk not found

Had moments of worry this morning trying to sync and install an app on the iPad. iTunes first reported an unknown error -35, then told me that ‘the required disk was not found’.

How to solve “required disk cannot be found”:
He had me do the following:
1. go to home folder in finder
2. open pictures folder
3. right click on iphoto library and click on show package contents
4. Find “ipod photo cache” file and drag to desktop
5. Close finder
6. Reopen itunes and sync ipad
7. The ipod photo cache rebuilds itself
Source: http://goo.gl/7p5p5

Unknown error -35 was solved by plugging in the iPad cable to the actual computer. It was originally connected to the corded Apple keyboard. Apparently not enough juice flowing through the keyboard to support the iPad.

Lessons learned.

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