a img { border: none; display: block; } /* a.polaroid.one img{ -webkit-transform: rotate(20deg); -moz-transform: rotate(20deg); transform: rotate(20deg); } a.polaroid.three img { -webkit-transform: rotate(-30deg); -moz-transform: rotate(-30deg); transform: rotate(-30deg); } */

For quite some time I’ve wanted to play with transitions, but haven’t really had much time to do so. Today I’m taking a few minutes go go through samples found on other sites, put them together and show them off here… I’m not going to go into much of an explanation due to time constraints, and because this is more for me to learn how it works than as a teaching tool. Nothing says you can’t learn with me though

It amazes me how easy transitions really are. The following transition was found on 24Ways.org in an article titled Going Nuts With CSS Transitions The code is pretty straight forward if you’ve played with the newer CSS before. In my blog, I’ve already talked about text and box shadows, however this article is going to go into rotation and movement – really making your page sing without the need for JavaScript.

a.polaroid {
/* ... */
z-index: 2;
-webkit-box-shadow: 2px 2px 4px rgba(0,0, 0, 0.3);
-moz-box-shadow: 2px 2px 4px rgba(0,0, 0, 0.3);
box-shadow: 2px 2px 4px rgba(0,0, 0, 0.3);
-webkit-transform: rotate(10deg);
-moz-transform: rotate(10deg);
transform: rotate(10deg);
-webkit-transition: all 0.5s ease-in;
}
a.polaroid:hover,
a.polaroid:focus,
a.polaroid:active {
z-index: 999;
border-color: #6A6A6A;
-webkit-box-shadow: 15px 15px 20px rgba(0,0, 0, 0.4);
-moz-box-shadow: 15px 15px 20px rgba(0,0, 0, 0.4);
box-shadow: 15px 15px 20px rgba(0,0, 0, 0.4);
-webkit-transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.05);
-moz-transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.05);
transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.05);
}


When I bought my iPad, I was extremely happy that I had the opportunity to also purchase their case. it’s a glorious, wonderful case that does everything I need, and more. My aim was to also purchase the iPad Keyboard Dock, which I did buy, but had to immediately take back and exchange for a bluetooth keyboard. The simple reason is that taking the iPad out of the case to put it into the dock was just too much of a bother. The iPad case is designed in such a way that you should never have to remove the iPad from it, and my thought was that I should be able to just drop my iPad into the dock and it would just work. Well, the snug fit of the iPad dock is great when you only have the iPad, but even putting the thin iPad case on the iPad is enough to make it too thick to fit the device.

While I wasn’t real happy with the situation, I understood and I moved on. That was 3 months ago. Now that I have my shiny new iPhone 4, and the ever awesome bumper case, I find myself upset that even though our 1st gen iPhone dock will fit the iPhone 4, (as reported by TUAW) I find that I do not want to remove the case just to put the device into a dock. I asked at the store if the dock that they had in stock would fit the iPhone 4 with a case on it and was told no, it was a snug fit to the device. I understand why, and the simple answer is that it keeps the connector pins from bending and breaking.

So now we come back to the question. If Apple took the time to create this awesome device, with a cool bumper case, then why did they not create a dock with a removable insert, something like those provided by iHome so that the iPods fit? Granted, those inserts are also made for the device itself, and in general cannot be used with a case, but making it work with an apple case (the only one sold) seems like it should be a given!

I love what Apple has done with their devices, but a little more thought to this minor detail for the next product would allow me to both have what I want, as well as fund the company that little bit more. In short, Apple should not prevent me from spending the money I want to spend on their products

Firefox 4: CSS3 calc()

UStream on the other hand has to wait for a developer to contact me about the availability of their app through the API. They have an iPhone app, which tells me that they have the technology, however they have not done the little bit of work that it would take to make all this come to life. I will be sad if they do not have the technology ready prior to the start of the season since one of my feed providers uses them.

All in all, I will be happy when the big players like these are finally h.264 compliant out of the box. LiveStream is, but the feed I am working with is not – though they’re working on it. I know it will take time for everyone to catch up, though more and more people are using mobile technologies like the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. While these are only a subset of the current mobile technology world, there is enough market penetration at this point for us to warrant a real look into this issue, and change it for the better…

I definitely commend LiveStream, and hope UStream will follow suit soon!

Here’s a sample of two apps, Hurricane and Weather HD:


my @appName = (
{ appName =>"Hurricane",
appID => 291430598,
popId => ['Paid App','Gross App'],
genreId => 36,
featuredCategories => ["New and Noteworthy","Whats Hot","Staff Favorites"],
categoryName => ["Weather","Top Overall"] },
{ appName =>"Weather HD",
appID => 364193735,
popId => ['Paid iPad App','Gross iPad App'],
genreId => 36,
featuredCategories => ["Staff Favorites"],
categoryName => ["Weather","Top Overall"] },
);

As you can see above, we now have a featuredCategories hash key which is a plain english way of getting the single “Staff Favorites” from Weather HD, or multiple featuredCategories as you can see in Hurricane.

This simple syntax allows you to set which featuredCategories you would like to use. featuredCategories is not required, so if you would not like to see the results of searching the featured categories, you can remove the whole line.

The available options can be found at the bottom of the script, where we have taken them out of the way of the actual running of the code. This makes it a lot easier to debug on my part, and well, where they are placed really does not matter. You will most likely set this up once, and forget about it.

By default, this script will only get featured categories on Tuesdays, since this is the day that Apple changes the featured list around the world. You will want to make sure that you run the script in the morning of your time zone, so if there is a delay based on time zone, you can catch all countries you are featured in. In addition, a simple change in the code:

if($wday ==2) {

will enable you to change from Tuesday to Wednesday, or allow for multiple days. Removing the check all together will allow this part of the script to be run daily.

If you want to see this type of information in a graph on your Mac, I highly suggest you take a look at AppViz. This is an app that I use daily in addition to my script to ensure that I have the most up to date information about all of my apps!

Once again, my script is a modification of the original by Erica Sandun which was published back in 2008. Unlike some of the other modifications of her script, this one doesn’t require extra packages, and it just works. I keep this script up to date since I have it set on a cron to check the statistics during the middle of the night and email the report back to me… I like waking up to the fresh smell of statistics in the morning, don’t you?

Happy tracking!

Download: AppStoreRank.zip

This version has been refined to add a hash of popIds that I would like to choose from, allowing me to write my hash in plain english and translate it to the ID for the app. This version also adds in the new countries from the February 18, 2010 country update…

Happy tracking!

Download: AppStoreRank.zip

This information is from this great website:
Scouting For All Seasons

Girl Scout Birthday, March 12, commemorates the day in 1912 when Juliette Gordon Low officially registered the organization’s first 18 girl members in Savannah, Georgia.
It all started with a phone call on March 12, 1912. . .”I’ve got something for the girls of Savannah, and all America, and all the world. . .” Juliette was off and going with the first Girl Scout troop.
Birthday Week begins Sunday March 7, 2010 and ends Saturday March 13.

G is for the Gracious way we all proclaim our birth
I points up the Ideas shared and those we’d like unearthed
R is for Respect we have for every race and creed
L is for our Loyalty to promises we heed

S is for Sincerity of deed and word and mind
C is for the Countless ways in which these are combined
O is Obligation that we owe to fellow man
U means that it’s You who must be first to lend a hand
T is for the Teamwork which has evidenced our growth
I is for Integrity which backs the Girl Scout oath
N is for the Noble way we remember days of old
G is for the Grateful thanks for efforts toward our goal

It all began with a spark of light,
And Juliette led the way.
Today her ideas are glowing bright,
It’s Girl Scouts 98th Birthday!

Girl Scout leaders still have enough time to create a special troop meeting for Girl Scout Week, which honors Juliette Gordon Low’s founding of Girl Scouts on March 12, 1912. The meeting can be both educational and fun. All girls love a good birthday party, so the troop meeting, successfully tested with 12 second grade Brownies, is themed “Happy Birthday to Girl Scouting.”

Act Out the Story of Juliette Low

It’s important for Brownies to know the story of Juliette Gordon Low, the free-spirited, almost deaf woman who founded Girl Scouts in the United States. But troop meetings usually occur after school, a time when Brownies are tired of sitting in the classroom all day.

The key: Bring the story of Low to life by preparing an interactive reading of the “Juliette Low Album,” which is found on pages 8-11 of the Brownie Girl Scout Handbook, a leader’s staple.

Before the meeting, the leader rereads the story, and gathers items that represent parts of the story. For instance:

• a United States map (Low was born in Savannah, Georgia)
• a paintbrush (to illustrate that Low loved the arts)
• pieces of taffy to hand out (Low famously got taffy stuck in her hair)
• a Brownie who is the second oldest child in her family (like Low)
• a small plastic bag filled with rice (an accident with rice caused part of Low’s deafness)
• a first aid kit (Low’s first U.S. troop learned first aid)
• basketball (her first troop also played basketball)
• a book and a pencil (to demonstrate when Low wrote the Girl Scout handbook)
• any other items that the leader feels appropriate, to match the number of Brownies present

Before reading the story, the leader passes out at least one item to each Brownie. The leader then animatedly starts to read the story. She pauses at the point where an item is represented, and asks the Brownie who is holding the item to display it to the group (the Brownie who represents the second oldest child stands up.) This helps the girls listen carefully to the reading. It’s great fun!

Make Girl Scout Themed Mug

Brownies love crafts! The following project, which takes about 20 minutes, ties into the birthday theme, is educational, relatively mess free and requires little to no adult help.

• clear plastic mugs with plastic insert (readily available at “big box” craft stores in children’s section) These cost about $1 each
• markers, pencils, crayons
• glue sticks
• scissors
• Girl Scout graphics (free, from the national Girl Scout website) downloaded and printed in color
• Girl Scout Promise printed out in color (several more copies than girls, to allow for mistakes)

Girls remove the mug insert and paper, then decorate the paper. They should make sure to paste (or write) the Girl Scout Promise and their troop number on the paper. They also can add the dates “1912-2009″ to help link history to present. Afterward, they simply wrap the paper around the insert, and put it back in the mug. The mug is not fragile, but care should be taken when washing so as not to get the paper insert wet.

For snack: a birthday cake made from a mix, served on birthday plates. Before eating, the girls can sing “Happy Birthday to Girl Scouts.”

By using a “Happy Birthday, Girl Scouts” theme, Brownie Girl Scout leaders can quickly design a troop meeting that celebrates Girl Scout Week with a story, craft and snack.

In the Eastern Pacific, off of the West Coast of the US and Mexico, we have had a large number of storms. Right now, we are following Category 4 Hurricane Rick. Hurricane Rick is heading to the Baja Mexico peninsula, which has already seen the remnants of Tropical Storm Andres, Hurricane Jimena, Tropical Depression Olaf, and a quickly dissipating Tropical Storm Patricia.

The Central Pacific is an open area that you would think would not matter much, unless you are in shipping. While that could be partially true, residents and visitors to Hawaii would most certainly disagree with you. Storms like Hurricane Felicia, Hurricane Guillermo and Tropical Storm Hilda form in the eastern Pacific ocean, and travel a long way to become a threat to the Hawaiian islands.

While Hurricane does not presently track Typhoons in the Western Pacific, we have found another oddity of the season. The west coast is feeling the remnants of Typhoon Melor. How often does that happen? About as often as Hurricane remnants hit the UK!

Prior to creating our iPhone App Hurricane, I like most people in the US paid little attention to the tropical systems outside of the Atlantic Ocean. Growing up in South Florida made it necessary to watch those storms because we were directly affected. Last year, Hurricane Norbert opened my eyes to the simple fact that hurricanes do affect the west coast of North America. This year, thanks to Hurricane, I have kept better track of the affects of hurricanes on areas outside of my little sphere. As an application developer, my hope is that Hurricane can help travelers and residents stay better informed about storms that affect you.

Even as this year’s storm season seems to have come to an early close for most on the US eastern seaboard, we will continue to keep watch on the tropics around the world.

If you track hurricanes, and want to see a little of what Hurricane can do for you, I often post screen shots directly from Hurricane on twitter @weatherangel. Feel free to take a look and see what you have been missing! Keep in mind that my screen shots are not automated, I post them as time allows or I see fit.

We love our customers! Kitty Code has received so much great feedback, both through the App Store and through email, which has shown how great we are doing with the app. Things are running smoothly with the data feed, and while we do babysit the data, just to be sure, it’s nice knowing we don’t really have to – and the system just handles it all.

Haven’t checked out Hurricane yet? If you live in an area prone to hurricanes, you should definitely take a look. You will not be disappointed.

The script itself is attached as a zip file here: AppStoreRank.zip. This version is still written in Perl, but it is extremely easy to add a new app to the script. At the top, just modify the following section:

@appName = ( { appName =>"Hurricane",
appID => 291430598,
categoryName => "Weather" },
{ appName => "Cat Calls",
appID => 308620543,
categoryName => "Entertainment"}
);

appName is just for display purposes
appID is your application ID from the iTunes store.
categoryName should match a category in the list below (this will pull the right category number).
As you can see in my list, the order of the parameters does not matter.

Added the following store codes to my script:
# stores added April 1, 2009
143508 => “Dominican Republic”,
143509 => ‘Ecuador’,
143516 => ‘Egypt’,
143518 => ‘Estonia’,
143510 => ‘Honduras’,
143511 => ‘Jamaica’,
143517 => ‘Kazakhstan’,
143519 => ‘Latvia’,
143520 => ‘Lithuania’,
143515 => ‘Macau’,
143521 => ‘Malta’,
143523 => ‘Moldova’,
143512 => ‘Nicaragua’,
143513 => ‘Paraguay’,
143514 => ‘Uruguay’

I am a little more retentive than most, and wanted my rankings to be listed in alphabetic order, so my version of the script does this automatically.

Also the way the script is written, it can be used as a stand alone script, or as part of a package.

If you have updated the script to add a check for Ratings, I would be very interested in seeing your changes!

Enjoy!