Common Paradox Tech Blog

The current number of developers for VLC on Mac is right around, um, zero. Not good for an open source project powered by volunteers! So development on the 64-bit version has been stalled, and if new devs can’t be found, Mac VLC could end with version 1.1.0. Gulp. [VideoLan via Slashdot, MacNN]

garg0yle writes “A team has managed to open the Barnes and Noble Nook e-reader, gaining full access to the operating system. From the article: ‘The Nook is now a computer running a full Android operating system, with a built-in, free cellular connection to the internet. It also has a battery that lasts days, not hours.’ They are documenting their progress on the Nook Devs wiki.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

TiPb had a chance to talk to some developers who attended Apple’s recent iPhone Tech Talk World Tour (San Jose, Seattle, New York, Toronto, Paris, London, Hamburg, Bejing, and Tokyo), where they promised expert advice at cities near developers. So how has it gone? The T-Shirt’s given away say it all they “came, saw, and [...]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Notes from Apple’s iPhone Tech Talk World Tour

Aside from one obscure little game whose name escapes our memory at the moment, WarCraft has been out of action since WarCraft 3: The Frozen Throne’s release back in 2003. Don’t take this world without WarCraft to mean that Blizzard’s completely iced the idea of a fourth entry in the popular fantasy RTS series, though. Just be prepared to wait a tick before scratching your orc-commanding, night elf-outsmarting itch.

"Warcraft 4 is certainly something that gets talked about on a pretty regular basis," Blizzard’s J. Allen Brack said in an interview with AusGamers. "While I think we’re all excited about a Warcraft 4, in concept, [the WarCraft 3 team is] going to finish up StarCraft 2, and then they’re going to work on the two StarCraft expansions that we’ve announced, so they’re booked for the next few years."

And though he stopped just short of nailing the team to the project, Brack did say that "it does sort of make sense."

Another Blizzard game, another tremendous wait. But at least we can while away the, well, years until Diablo III’s launch with Torchlight. As for WarCraft 4, though… hey Runic, ever think about making an RTS?

If you fancy yourself as a bit of a superstar DJ (and hey – who doesnt these days!?) then a new iPhone app that lets you mix MP3 or M4A files is sure to rock your world.

Amidio’s £11.99 app basically turns your iPhone into a virtual turntable.

The developer is claiming that it is the first true MP3 iPhone and iPod touch app available.

Not content with just mixing two tunes together, users (i-Js?) can also scratch, loop and mess around with equalisation, effects and pitch.

Doesn’t work with iPod

Pretty cool, although there is one significant downside to the app as it stands – users have to reupload any MP3s or M4As that they wish to mix with into the application itself. That’s right – you cannot just choose any of your tunes from your iPod library.

Now if only the devs can add that functionality with the next update to iPhone Touch DJ, they may well be onto a winner…

Related Links

• Amidio

Sounds sinister, right? That’s probably because I replaced the word “computers” with “robots!” For effect! But no, still, this is at least insteresting: Developers are now reporting that apps are getting rejected, and not by humans.

Word is that Apple has added a new layer to the approval process, called a static analysis tool. This particular static analysis tool is intended to scan for the use of private APIs in submitted apps, and flag them if it finds any. For quite a few people, evidently, this means that apps that were kosher a while ago are, with their next updates, very suddenly not. Time for a FORENSIC RECAP! From Craig Hockenberry, developer of Twitterrific, and Guy Who Noticed This Early:

To which John Gruber (Daring Fireball) knowingly responded:
So yeah, what the hell does any of this mean?

Apple gives developers a bunch of public application programming interface (APIs) which are essentially documented, permitted tools or calls that they can invoke in their apps. For example, Apple has an API for recording microphone input, which developers can use, and which Apple, by publishing them, has basically promised to keep intact and working. Private APIs are calls and features that only Apple uses, and which they don’t really tell developers about. There could be a few reasons for this: either they specifically don’t want developers to use them, for security or consistency reasons, or they’re not finished and subject to change, which means that for devs to use them would be risky—their apps could just break with the next system update, since these private APIs are, in effect, volatile. Remember all those early jailbreak apps, before the App Store was open? Those were built using entirely private APIs, many of which became public later. Anyway!

There’s always been an official ban on the use of private APIs, but Apple hadn’t really been enforcing it to date, partly because it’s just hard to tell sometimes—unless the private API is used in a terribly obvious way, finding them is a matter of taking to apps with a fine-toothed code-comb, which the current crew obviously can’t do, and which machines—as in, software—would be good at. With these new static analysis tools, Apple has created a machine filter for apps that breach this rule.

Given that actually App Store policy hasn’t changed, this shouldn’t amount to anything more than better rule enforcement for app devs. Shouldn’t. Introducing something automated like this, even if it’s a “serious tool, not simplistic” as Gruber claims, is bound to end in tears. Congratulations, developers! Your next appeal against app rejection will be to a piece of software, which has no capacity to feel your pain. Devs: Let us know if you’ve run up against this thing in the comments, and if it was fair. [Twitt-ah]

Ever made a joke about how you’re going to trademark some ludicrous idea and sue the pants off anyone who comes within two inches of it? Well, for Tim Langdell, it’s no joke. He currently holds trademark dominion over the use of the word “Edge” in relation to any videogame product. There’s just one problem, though: Langdell hasn’t created a game since the early nineties. Now, nearly twenty years later, he sits atop his trademark throne, sicking his lawyers on such household names as (but certainly not limited to) “Mirror’s Edge,” “Edge Magazine,” and – most recently – indie game “Killer Edge Racing.”

Slightly less recently, EA attempted to strip Langdell of his precious trademark once and for all. And now, other developers are following suit, with indie developers currently leading the charge. The result? A hilarious protest campaign, wherein countless indie games have, in some way, changed their titles to “Edge.”

For instance, Fez is now Fedge, Critter Crunch is now Critter Credge, and Canabalt is now Canabedge. Also, a (huge) number of new games have been announced by a multitude of indie devs, like Edgeform: On The Edge of Insanity, EeeeeEEeeeEEEeeEEEEeEEEEEdge! A Feckless Disregard For Poopieheads, and – our personal favorite — Edgeward McEdgington.

Now if only all protests were this well thought-out…

As mentioned by WP Engineer, WordPress 2.9 recently had a new feature added to it called bulk plugin upgrades. The interesting thing about this feature is back on September 11th, Matt published this through his Twitter feed:

Just upgraded three plugins in about 30 seconds using one-click upgrade — wish you could do them all at once though.

Well, now you can. I attended the WordPress developers chat today and according to the devs, the bulk upgrader works, all it needs now is to be tied into the API along with some cosmetics. I’m sure there are plenty of you, including myself that is pleased to see this addition to WordPress. However, I wonder what happens if during a bulk upgrade, one of the plugins fails. Does the upgrader skip the plugin and move on to the next one or does it ruin the entire upgrade? Looking forward to the answer in the comments.

Apple has ignited controversy in the music industry this month, with its policy to charge music labels $10,000 in design fees for its new iTunes LP format, even though the format seems to be based on open web design technologies.

And while there are already developers out there designing their own iTunes LPs, it doesn’t look like Apple has any plans to let third-party designers in on its new music format action.

Ars Technica notes that the insides of iTunes LP “are built with standard Web technologies: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript complemented by graphics, audio, and video media” which would suggest that any web designer worth his or her salt should be able to design one.

Not so. And independent music labels are already calling Apple out on its latest decision to monetize older well-established bands and musicians at the expense of helping to promote and break new music.

Indie labels edged out

Brian McKinney of Chicago’s Chocolate Lab Records notes that Apple’s high fees “pretty much [edge] out the indie market completely.”

The aforementioned devs at iLongplay shown how easy it is for an independent designer to compile an iTunes LP, even without Apple’s TuneKit frameworks or guidance from Cupertino.

Perhaps the costs of designing iTunes LPs will fall with the introduction of the Apple ‘iTablet’ early next year. We can only hope so, as there really are only so many formats that we need to re-buy all our Dylan albums in, after all…