The id pointer in Objective-C

I don't think I had fully understood what the id pointer declaration in Objective-C (and used everywhere in Cocoa) was until I read on the Unixjunkie's blog an article called id vs NSObject* vs id<NSObject>. If you are trying to become a Cocoa and Objective-C development rock star, required reading.

$100.39 in only 1,307 Days

The first milestone in my blog monetization experiment has been crossed, Google AdSense reports on March 27, 2008 I crossed the $100 threshold for payment and I should receive a check by April 30, 2008.

Thanks to anyone that has ever clicked on an ad on my blog!

Could they market this any better?

I don't think so...

Gold bikinis never go out of style: Episode III - Man's Best Friend

What to do when your HD movie rental on Apple TV expires before its time?

A couple days ago, I lost power to the Apple TV after I started watching an HD rental, but before I had finished it. A few hours after I restored power to Apple TV, I went to go watch my movie. The screen said there were 7 hours left until expiration, and I hit Play. A few seconds after I did that, I saw a message that said "media content has expired blah blah blah", and then like David Copperfield, the movie disappeared.

Is this a bug? A hole in Apple's DRM? Who knows. I filed a bug on it, but it's hard to debug because there is no clock on Apple TV, at least none that you can see. From an end-user standpoint, what are you suppose to do? If this had happened to my Dad, there is like nothing in the Apple TV UI to allow you to report problems, which is where it should be. There is probably some paper that offers a support number or something, but I shouldn't have to dig out a manual. I think to understand how this should be, you have to first understand how it currently is.

How it works...

1. Open iTunes on your Mac or PC
2. Click on iTunes Store
3. Click on your account in the top right navigation bar of the iTunes Store
4. Click on the button
5. Click on the button
6. This is the really subtle point, then click on the text next to the item in the Latest Purchase group, or click on the next to a Previous Purchase to you can then click on text
7. Then you get to choose what type of problem you have and submit your issue

Once you go through this process, I had to wait under 24 hours for a response from iTunes support, which added the movie back into my download queue. From there, I checked downloads on the Apple TV and all was good again. I couldn't find a phone number to call. When I had problems with Microsoft's digital downloads on Xbox Live, at least I could call someone and get immediate help.

How it should work...
On Apple TV:

1. Go to the Settings menu
2. Click on Purchases (I just invented this)
3. See a grouping/listing of different kinds of purchases (Rentals, TV Shows, etc)
4. Click on the purchase that was problematic
5. Click the big Report Problem button
6. See a long list of reasonable problems
7. Add some notes if you like
8. Submit

Once you complete this process, you should be able to receive a notification on Apple TV that your problem was addressed, or its status. While you can rent from the couch, eventually at some point you are going to have problems, and while no digital media delivery system allows you to resolve problems from the couch, resolving them on the device is the way it should be.

Gold bikinis never go out of style: Episode II - One Huge Ad

Don't know how I missed this the first time...

Annoyance: Apple TV downloads purchased TV Season episodes in random order

I have talked a lot about Apple TV, and I have explored replacing cable/satellite with an Apple TV. Well, since the Apple TV 2.0 software update came out, the possibility has greatly increased with direct downloads. But so far, there is one very significant hitch, when you download a TV season you have downloaded, the episodes come down in random order! How did this get through QA? Did no one actually buy a TV Season on Apple TV, or think, gee, let's download the episodes in episode # order?!?!?!? The mind boggles...

You say this is just convenience? Try telling that to your wife after you just bought her 20 something episodes of a show she wants to watch. Worse, it messes up the caching. The files get timestamped in the wrong order, so if you use 5 least recent unwatched in iTunes to manage cached files, you get the last 5 episodes of the season. I'll be filing a bug on this in the morning...

In response to Ed Bott about the Safari install controversy

I was looking through my Google Analytics logs because I read that Scott Hansleman had just discovered them and I hadn't looked for a while. Then I noticed that I was getting some referrals from Ed Bott and I thought what was that about, so I go to the blog, do some inline searching for references to me, and I see that Ed has called me out, saying I was "double wrong" about how Apple is installing Safari on Windows boxes in his post What Microsoft can teach Apple about software updates. Here's what he said about me:

Unfortunately, some people who spend most of their time in the Apple universe believe what they hear about the monster from Redmond, which leads even very smart people like the normally perceptive Dave Murdock, whose Inner Exception blog is on my must-read list, to get it absolutely backwards: Windows Update (now Microsoft Update) pushes new software on [users], Silverlight is the latest example. That’s wrong. Double wrong, in fact. Windows Update is not the same as Microsoft Update.

I posted this in response:

Ed, This is Dave Murdock @ Inner Exception. Thanks for saying I am on your must read list, but I think you misunderstood what I was saying a bit. Here is what I said (I corrected the typo you caught, thx): "...I think Apple has to more clearly label the two groups of software in that screenshot [the one I presented], upgrades and new installs. I don't care at all that the application itself is called Software Update, Windows Update (now Microsoft Update) pushes new software on users, Silverlight is the latest example." I could have been clearer on the relationship between Windows Update and Microsoft Update. I commented on this on my blog, the gist is I think Microsoft Update should be the default. It's optional right now, but I think that's the wrong behavior. If my mom was still running Windows, I don't think she would understand the nuance here and would want updates to everything from Microsoft right out of the box. Technically, it's just a flag to the Windows Update service that says give me updates for everything Microsoft. On my Windows boxes, one of the first things I do it enable Microsoft Update, so I haven't seen the non-Microsoft Update in years. Microsoft Update does obviously offer Silverlight (just an example) as an optional install. My point is, I think it makes total sense to offer users Updates and New Installs in an integrated place. I don't think, like Apple did in this case, you can just combine both updates and new install into one flat list, clearly that's wrong. I actually want both Microsoft and Apple to take it a step further, and integrate 3rd-party application update management into one combined UI. Why in 2008, do I have to have 42 (a scientific estimate) pieces of update software running on either OS? Why isn't this an API already? I am not looking for something as complicated and restricted as the App Store coming to the iPhone 2.0, but wouldn't an RSS feed do the job?

One more thing, I don't spend most of my time in the Apple universe. I blog a lot about Apple because there is a lot interesting going on with Apple, which may account for the misunderstanding, but I actually spend a large chunk of my time in the Microsoft universe. As for whether the beast from Redmond has mutated into a monster, that's a a topic for another post. I'll say this, both Microsoft and Apple are huge companies with lots of individuals making decisions. It seems like over the last few years, Apple has been making more correct decisions with regard to the markets they operate in and the products they build, and Microsoft not so much. Of course, like in this instance, a company as big as Apple is going to get stuff wrong. What amuses me is that whenever Apple messes up, bloggers in the Microsoft universe fall all over themselves to make sure they document their outrage, because this will be the Apple misstep that proves Apple is no better than Microsoft, as if Apple has to be perfect and if they are less than that, it's OK to stick with Microsoft Mediocrity Edition. The truth is, Microsoft has been messing up for so long and in so many ways, Apple would have to have a near total collapse to equal the ineptitude that Microsoft has been demonstrating over the last few years. I mean, you only have to look at the Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death fiasco to see how bad Apple would have to be to equal Microsoft. I am not saying that this is what Ed did here, I agree with most of what he says, but a lot of the coverage on this issue has been ridiculous.

Daring Fireball on Paul Thurrott on the Safari for Windows Software Update Thing

John Gruber @ Daring Fireball links to Paul Thurrott on the Safari for Windows Software Update Thing and asks:

Honest question to those who think Apple is in the wrong here: Would it make a difference if the checkbox for Safari were off by default instead?

What I haven't seen mentioned in the sources I have read is how easy it is to ignore Safari 3.1:

That said, I think Apple has to more clearly label the two groups of software in that screenshot, upgrades and new installs. I don't care at all that the application itself is called Software Update, Windows Update (now Microsoft Update) pushes new software on users, Silverlight is the latest example. But I have to think that this has become a controversy simply because it is Apple. By them doing this, they will start to eat into Windows browser market share, even a little bit, and clearly the existing minority but significant Windows browser maker doesn't like that. These apps are free to end users, but that search revenue sure adds up fast. As Gruber correctly points out, during installs or upgrades, on Windows anything goes. You want to install Windows Live Messenger, you get a mess of IE toolbars and other products. Depending on how you get Firefox, get a bundled Google Toolbar. This is all par for the course on Windows.

Gold bikinis never go out of style: Episode I - Best Ad Ever

I am not quite sure what this Spike ad is selling, but I like it