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Topic: apps
- published:
- 2011.07.06
- topics:
- apps
- mobile
- tools
My project Firebomb is a Firefox plugin, a browser bookmarklet, and an iOS App. Firebomb lets you pretend to blow stuff up with 8-bit explosions. I'm sure you are probably familiar with Firebug, the ubiquitous debugging plugin for Firefox.
"If you can't fix a bug with Firebug, blow it up with Firebomb!"
Firebomb started out as a tongue-in-cheek parody of Firebug that I originally did for the 10K Apart Contest in 2010. Quality stress relief! Firebomb has since evolved from the original gag and developed a life of its own.
Get Firebomb for Firefox and Other Browsers
My Firebomb plugin for Firefox 4 and 5 was developed with the new Mozilla Add-on SDK that hit its 1.0 release in June 2011. Originally called JetPack, the Add-on SDK allowed me to build out a true plugin for Firefox using a smart JavaScript API. This was a really quick and fairly painless process. I definitely recommend the SDK for web developers looking to do a Firefox plugin. I also made Firebomb Lite as a browser bookmarklet so you could have the joy of firebombing Internet Explorer... I know you want to!
Firebomb for Firefox and the Firebomb Lite bookmarklet are both free and available for download today! Use them whenever you need more firepower than Firebug alone!
Buy Firebomb AR for iOS - Blow Stuff Up in Augmented Reality
I made Firebomb AR for iOS because I also wanted to bring the fun of 8-bit explosions (including gratuitous chippy kaboom sound effects) to the world outside of web browsers. Just like The Kids in the Hall used to pretend to crush heads between their fingers, you can launch the Firebomb AR App, aim your camera at a target, and pretend to blow it up by tapping the screen.
Firebomb AR is great for taking care of crashing computers, alarm clocks, piles of work papers, your boss… It's old school stress relief. Available in the App Store today for 99 cents! (Not for use on lolcats. Aim away from face. Batteries included.)
Buy Firebomb AR for yourself, or as a fun gift for the special geeks and kids in your life. (Big, grown-up kids, too!) Your purchase will support an independent App farmer who uses 100% organic 1s and 0s, and it will greatly encourage his odd sense of humor.
- published:
- 2011.07.06
- topics:
- apps
- tools
The most popular and powerful web demolition tool, Firebomb puts an arsenal of fun, stress relieving 8-bit explosives at your fingertips. Available as a plugin for Firefox and as a bookmarklet for other browsers, for when you need more firepower than Firebug alone. And, Firebomb AR is an augmented reality app for your iOS device. Get Firebomb today!
- published:
- 2011.04.29
- topics:
- apps
- tools
My Watermelon Sauce partner Paul and I were talking about journaling while working on projects. We prototyped and then built a Mac app that we think makes it easier to write little notes to yourself about what you are doing during coding sessions.
It can be really nice to keep a programming log. Especially at the task level. I like to have notes about how long things take and what bugs/challenges I encounter along the way. In fact, that's part of the reason why I created ShortJournal (although I've come to use SJ much more as a bucket for code snippets, ideas, and bookmarks).
I think the biggest hurdle I trip on when I get lazy about detailed journaling while coding is the distraction factor. I don't want to have to switch windows to do it, or even worse, take my hands off the keyboard and mouse to pick up pen and paper. I was chatting with Paul about this problem and about how it might be kind of nice to have something pop up every 30 minutes and ask me what I'm doing, and then just log it with a timestamp to a file. Super simple. He was instantly interested.
First, the Prototype
Within about 15 minutes I'd figured out how to make a prototype in Apple's Automator tool. It was simple enough to pop up a single line text input prompt with the question "Whatchya dooooin?" and then log the answer to a time stamped file. I saved the workflow as an App, and hooked it up to a crontab, and started using it. I really liked it, and Paul liked the prototype, too.
You can download the Mac App and the Automator Workflow here:
The Automator workflow writes the log to ~/doin.log in your home folder. Here's instructions to get it running every 30 minutes via a crontab:
# Run the following command in Terminal
crontab -e
# Add the following line to the file you will be editing
*/30 * * * * open ~/Documents/WhatYaDoin.app
# Note:
# ~/Documents/WhatYaDoin.app is the path to your Automator app
# */30 means every 30 minutes... you could tweak that
# Save and quit the editor, and that's it!
Then, the Open Source Native App Version on GitHub
Like I said, Paul liked the idea. He suggested it become an open source Watermelon Sauce project, and that sounded like a great idea. Within just three hours of work he'd built the Native Mac App in Xcode and put WhatYaDoin on GitHub. Check it out! It currently lives in the toolbar and handles popping up every 30 minutes itself.
We've both been using it today, and it is very interesting! Next big question is going to be what to do with all the little journal snippets! I think it could be very useful for blogging or doing estimates.
- updated:
- 2010.01.18
- published:
- 2010.01.17
- topics:
- apps
- video
I lead the team of people for Student Unions & Activities at the University of Minnesota who built this touch screen building directory installed in Coffman Memorial Union. The directory is a web app running in WebKit on a Mac Mini attached to a touch screen monitor. No Flash was used. Many of the graphic elements like the panels and buttons are generated entirely with CSS3. The 3D floor diagrams were created with Google SketchUp. Here's a first look at the project which launched early on Friday, January 15th:
We used a usability test driven design process. We were able to completely redesign portions of the project in the week before it launched based on direct user feedback. We are continuing to test and make iterative improvements to the directory. Special thanks to the totally epic team that made this possible: Ellie, Ethan, Kamran, Ken, Sungho, and Trent. My leadership role included project management, creative direction, information architecture (IA), and user experience (UX). My development role included core PHP and MySQL work, as well as JavaScript work on the drag-and-drop administrative tool for the map data.
Update: This project won 4th place overall in the University of Minnesota 2011 Quality Fair! That's a huge honor, and I want to congratulate my former team at Student Unions & Activities for their continued work on this application.
