(r)Evolution

This day has come. I knew it had to happen sooner or later, but now I can tell that it's time. SimpleBeat project is evolving, I've decided to take it much more seriously and bring it to the next level.

First, I've quit one of my jobs to make time for the project. It was a tough descision, but it had to be done.

Second, the amount of study and coding time will increase drastically. Literally there will be no single day I'm not coding and studying (note that 'coding' is in first place). I am re-taking some of the previous iTunes courses, taking additional courses in Visual Design, and setting up a real work-place (with minimal distractions and maximum productivity 'helpers').

Third, this site is going to become quite a different place, I am starting to turn it into more 'Personal Creative Business' and less into 'A Guy Chatting About Something' type of a place. Structural re-design, emphasis on mass-appeal, the homepage. Blog will remain, but in a less dominant role (probably as a sub-page).

Four, the project will at some point evolve into business-model. Not quite profitable at the beginning, but hopefully profitable enough to support me in the future. I'll be starting a company, first of my own, and then expanding if needed.

Five, expanding into social networking. I've resisted this in the past because I couldn't figure out how to do it and at the same time not to be too obtrusive, especially to my friends. :) However, I believe I'm on a brink of finding the right balance and it's time to make it happen.

There are Six, Seven, Eight... and so on in this list of SimpleBeat evolution, so maybe it's more accurate to call it revolution. No matter what the name is though, it's going to be fun, exciting, hard, challenging, and totally worth it. At the very least it's a better life when you're active! :)

Christmas Comes Early!

My blog posts are going to become irregurlar for at least a month, and the main reason for that is... Christmas and New Year holidays! Unfortunately for me (or maybe just the opposite, a very fortunate side-effect) the main job I have (acting) features a 'reverse' schedule: when everybody else is having day-offs I am working and when people usually work I have a day-off.

This comes out badly only in the situation of long holidays: the New Year. The business in theatre starts looming, so drains my free time for any side-projects! :)

And these times have started early this week with the first rehearsals. So, I'm late already on this post, and this will continue into the following weeks. I'll do everything possible to keep up with the studies and blog updates, but it's going to slip from time to time: gotta make living and it's not by coding just yet! :)

Also I had some family emergency business this week which complicated things even further. It all turned out to be just fine eventually, but I had to take time off from all my other activities.

To end on a positive note though there is going to be official launch of iPhone 4s in Russia on December 16th, and that's when Christmas actually kicks in for me! :)

Lion

Unlike the previous time this week was not much of coding and studying.  It was rather maintenance and workflow adjustments.  I'm talking about the latest OS X which I've finally got to install, Lion.

The system did improve, and in many ways it is a great step forward:  Mission Control and Fullscreen Mode both quickly became my favotites.  And the way it's implemented on Macbook's trackpad is even more compelling!  XCode in Fullscreen Mode is just pure joy to code in!  Nothing is distracting, no pop-up dock, no upper menu to eat up valuable space, maximum efficiency with its 64-bit archetecture.

This upgrade did however take some of my time to get used to and tweak some of the settings (for example, the reverse scrolling in windows wasn't something I would want to persist;  it was relatively easy to fix, just one switch in the settings).  I also had to re-install the XCode (this time the free version compatible with Lion) and since I started with the update and clean-up I also bought the three iLife '11 apps (just one glimpse:  love iMovie Trailers!)

As you've probably also noticed I updated the design here, but I'm still figuring it out, can't yet say it is the one I will stick to.

The week ahead is more coding and studying, some interesting lectures are waiting!

Yet Another Theory Week

This week was all theory (it feels like past month was mostly theory), and this makes me think about outlining a schedule with 'goals' and 'targets' to meet by a certain time.  So far my only 'hard-wired' target was to keep up with this blog, there is a constant reminder in my calendar to write a post about any progress with the project.  Everything else, including coding, reading, watching lectures and having free time was on-the-fly basis.  This is really convenient, easy to implement (especially when it's your spare-time project), and it worked well for me so far.

On the other side there are times when I realize I should've better planned my time, for example, coding requires concentration and (preferably) quiet environment, by which I mean 'distraction-free'.  Such conditions rarely occur on their own, unless they are planned.  In order to have more coding time I simply need to schedule it at certain days and give it a higher priority.  Reading and watching is not that demanding in terms of surroundings, and I can do it pretty much everywhere I have an iPad at.  And while it is all good and useful activity, I realize that without practice it will not benefit me much.  So my goal for the next week will be implementing a new schedule with coding times built into it.

This evening, however, I'm still watching a lecture.  :)

Objective-C Cocoa. Finally

This week marks one milestone of the year:  I've started last part of my studies, Objective-C coding for iOS and MacOS X.  It began with the Aaron Hillegass classic textbook for students of Objective-C Cocoa Programming.  I made attempts to read the book in the past, but concepts of object-oriented programming and new syntax were too much for me to understand without prior studies.  By now all of that is done, I know Java, C++, and have solid understanding of what are classes, objects, messages, methods, and so on...  

I've read first three chapters of the book and did examples to become familiar with the language, and must say it wasn't hard at all (unlike all the previous times, when I was basically guessing what the words meant).  I understood quite well the logics behind the syntax and it came down to realization, that Objective C is basically C language (even very much like C++), but with some 'add-ons' to make it more flexible and suited for modern coding practices.

Next week I am going to continue studying and practicing Objective-C, and hope to continue my Project Euler problems (still need more time for that).