小白的網 SiuPak.net

After a weekend, I’ve got the activation code finally. I eventually joined the iPhone Developer Program. I’ve also login to iTunes Connect and filled in my bank information and a form about tax(To declare that I’m outside US), to prepare for submitting Paid App in the future (well..should be very very far from today.)

The post office called me this morning, said that my book (ordered from Amazon) has arrived. (Amazon said it would arrive on 22 April 2009!) I asked them to transfer the book to the post office next to my work place, I guess I can take it in these two days.

By the way, I can’t stand it anymore…I mean my inkjet printer. From Epson to Canon to HP in these 10 years, every inkjet printer brought me troubles. I bought a HP Laserjet M1120 MFP yesterday. It’s really cheap, just HKD$1,0XX (around US$139). At this price 10 years ago, I could only have a entry-level Canon inkjet (Canon called it BubbleJet actually). Now I’ve this great printer, printing e-books (for easier reading) is much more convenient.

Alright, everything is ready. I should start the engine of my brain now.

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經過了一個Weekend，我終於在昨天收到啟用碼，正式開通將我加入到iPhone Developer Program了。今天亦登入了iTunes Connect填寫相關的銀行資料和有關美國稅務的表格(聲明自己是美國以外的)，以便為將來推出Paid App時預先作準備(當然，距離這一天可能還有很遠的路要走)。

今早我還收到郵局的電話，應該是我在Amazon訂了的書寄來了(果然比預期中快，Amazon系統上說要4月22日才送到)。我要求他們把我的收件運到我公司附近的郵局，大概後天便可以取了。

另外，由於受不了家中那台麻煩的Inkjet Printer(其實十年來家中從Epson到Canon到HP，每一部InkJet都為我添過麻煩)，昨天終於帶了一台HP Deskjet M1120 MFP回家了。想不到現在這些多功能Laser Print也這麼便宜，減去送贈的超市現金卷面額，那Printer只是$10xx港元，十年前這個價錢只可以買到當年最便宜的Canon入門級InkJet呢(Canon當年的是叫BubbleJet的)。有了這台好Printer，印電子書出來讀也就方便得多了。

好了，終於都萬事俱備，現在要做的就是要為自己的腦袋上發條！

Since I’ve bought my iPod nano, I started to subscribe the PodCast 《大蘋果時代》(The Era of the Great Apple) but they haven’t update it for a few months. However, I got an email notice that the PodCast has came to us again with a new name “Great Apple. New Era”. I couldn’t wait to subscribe it from iTunes. And, I found some new features when I was listening it by iPhone OS 3.0 beta.

自我買了iPod nano後到iPhone仍有訂閱收聽的《大蘋果時代》停止更新了數個月，今早收到了Email得知會長Derek為我們帶來了全新一輯的《大蘋果．新時 代》，我便急不及待到iTunes訂閱。怎料在iPhone OS 3.0 beta收聽的時候，發現了一些新功能。

This is the new interface for Podcast. There’re three new icons under the timeline. Let’s take a look on the right side, it’s 1X now, that means the playback speed is normal.
這是全新的PodCast界面，留意時間列下方出現了三個新的圖示。先看看最右邊的，現在是1X，也就是說播放的速度是正常一倍速。

Just tap it, it’s 2X now. The speeches becomes faster. Let’s tap again, it becomes 1/2X, they talk slower than normal now.
點了一下，變成了2X，Podcast中兩位主持的對話便立刻急起來了。再點變成1/2X，大家說話都慢了。

Tap the dot on the timeline. There are some words that I’ve never seen before 3.0.
點一下時間列的圓點，出現了之前未見過的字眼！

Hold the finger, and slide it down, it becomes half speed scrolling. I moved my finger from left to right, yup, I can scroll the time in more detail way.
手指不放，向下滑變成了「半速刮擦」，手指再左右滑動，果然滑動的幅度仔細了！

Slide down more, it’s 1/4 now.
手指再拉低一點，變成了四分之一。

Finally, it’s the most detail level of scrolling, I can scroll every second in the podcast. It’s really useful for a long Podcast!
最後是「細微刮擦」，仔細到可以逐秒滑動，對於數十分鐘的Podcast來說實在太有用了！

I’ve uploaded the demo video 示範的影片上傳了：

Finally, I’ve decided to join the iPhone Developer Programs. Since the announcement of iPhone OS 3.0 beta, I tried to explore the information on iPhone App development. Since the learning resources are rare, I ordered some books about iPhone / Objective-C Programming on Amazon and DangDang. Before the books arrived, I found some e-books for my preparation. However, at that moment, I still haven’t decided that should I join the iPhone Developer Program or not.

So, what’re the differences between iPhone Developers and free members? The most obvious difference is: iPhone Developers can put their App on real iPhone / iPod touch for testing, while free members can only do their testing on the simulator. Also, iPhone Developer can submit their apps (both free and paid apps) to the AppStore. And don’t forget these: The Developer Forums and iPhone OS 3.0 beta SDK and firmware are also exclusive for iPhone Developers.

US$99 for entry, just like the subscription price of MobileMe, around HKD$65 (US$8.25) a month, seems not very expensive, especially when we know about the Microsoft Marketplace for Mobile and Google Android Market. If we compare their chrages, supports on SDK, the sale opportunities…etc., Apple AppStore worth for the $99.

Now I’ve paid for it. It should push me more on my study path. Let’s go from today!

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終於下決心加入iPhone Developer Program了。自iPhone OS 3.0 beta發佈起，我便很積極探索iPhone程式開發的資料。由於學習的資源不多，較早前我在美國Amazon和中國當當網訂購了一些iPhone / Objective-C語言的書籍以供學習和參考。由於貨運需時，這段期間我亦在網上找了一些eBook閱讀，好讓我預先開始學習。可是，對於是否加入 iPhone Developer Program，我卻遲遲未作決定。

iPhone Developer Program和免費的iPhone Dev Center會員有什麼分別呢？最主要便是正式的iPhone Developer可以將自己開發的App放在實機的iPhone上跑，而非只在電腦上的iPhone模擬器測試；同時，iPhone Developer亦可將App放上AppStore；當然亦不少得如iPhone Developer Forum和Download最update的OS / SDK beta（例如今次iPhone OS 3.0 beta和SDK）。

US$99的入場費，就像買一年Web Hosting或MobileMe服務的價錢，除開後每月約$65港元。這樣看來其實不算太貴，尤其當知道同樣要收費的Microsoft的Marketplace for Mobile和Google的Android Market，從收費、SDK支援、銷售機會等因素綜合比較起來，Apple AppStore已十分超值。

既然付了錢，就更應可推進我的iPhone編程學習之路。從今天起，努力往前進發。