NYC, Politics, and Tech
Updated to latest XQuartz (from 2008-09-15)
From XQuartz
The Xquartz project is an open-source effort to develop a version of the X.org X Window System that runs on Mac OS X. Together with supporting libraries and applications, it forms the X11.app that Apple has shipped with OS X since version 10.5.
From Mac Software Business podcast “MacSB (001): Getting Started as a Mac Indie Developer”
Basics:
Mistakes:
Marketting:
From podcast “Mac Software Business: MacSB (008): Becoming a Micro-ISV” which is an interview with Bob Walsh
Gotta be hip! I’m setting up twitter and wondered if there was a way to integrate with the blog. Presto:
Here’s an article that’s closer to the truth of doing a u-ISV:
The Software Product Myth
In our completely un-contrived scenario you’re now making $2500/month from your product, which doesn’t allow you to quit your day job. So you work 8-10 hours during the day writing code for someone else, and come home each night to a slow but steady stream of support emails. And the worst part is that if you’ve built your software right the majority of the issues will not be problems with your product, but degraded OS installations, crazy configurations, a customer who doesn’t know how to double-click, etc&
One of the suggestions from the micro-ISV world is to encourage customers to talk so you can listen to them. Providing good customer support is key to a succesful small business. Here are some tools that get mentioned.
I’m collecting some info about a certain mathematically interesting tile pattern used in Persia in the 13th Century.
Ok, maybe it really is time to try that new fangled thing: RSS Feeds
First, I signed up for an account on www.newsgator.com and then I opted to use NetNewsWire for my Apple MacBook and this one for Microsoft Outlook.
From Mac RSS Reade – NetNewsWire by NewsGator:
Looking for an easy-to-use RSS and Atom reader for your Mac? You’ve found it!
The Eddy award-winning NetNewsWire has a familiar three-paned interface and can
fetch and display news from thousands of different websites and weblogs. ”
Amazon CloudFront looks like a great way of
doing a Content Delivery Network (CDN) on the cheap. I don’t see a way for me
to use it right away but it’s certainly a great way to make static content
quickly accessible.
You put your files on Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) and use the CloudFront api to create a url to access those files. Amazon takes care of caching the content close to the user and ensuring it’s scalable.
Twiddla is a web based whiteboard. Making a node for future investigation
From Team WhiteBoarding with Twiddla – Painless Team Collaboration for the Web
Mark up websites, graphics, and photos, or start brainstorming on a blank
canvas. Browse the web with your friends or make that conference call more
productive than ever.
I’ve started researching being a small, independent software vendor/developer. One of several inspiring stories is balsamiq.com which was referenced in this NY Times article Man Writes Software, Blogs About it, Makes $100k in 5 Months
The Eric Sink articles are good for convincing me that it’s possible for a one
or two people to actually develop viable, commercial software. Being able to
distribute software via a website is empowering compared to try to distribute
shrink-wrap software.
Here are some books:
Pete Ware 