'Zombiegal Kawaii' is an Odd Yet Fun Game for iOS

Zombiegal Kawaii is a side-scrolling game for iOS (iPhone/iPad) that pits players against hordes of zombies that have taken over your hometown. There are other games that follow this same basic plot, but where Zombiegal Kawaii separates itself from the pack is through its unique character design and character audio.

The main character is a gun-toting schoolgirl that is drawn chibi style. As the player plays the game, the girl will make some sort of context sensitive utterance (in a stereotypically syrupy sweet voice). If you pick up ammo, she will say 'yokatta wa (good)' . Picking up a health kit will elicit a 'daijoubu (I'm ok/not hurt)' . If you go on a bit of a rampage and get multiple kills in a row, she will exclaim 'shinde! shinde! (die! die!)'. These character quips, coupled with the fact that you are fighting chibi-zombie girls, make for fun and fast-paced gameplay.

Zombiegal Kawaii is $0.99 in the App Store, but plays like a freemium game. I've previously written about how certain games have really missed the mark and others have done really well with integrating freemium aspects into the gameplay, and this game leans towards the latter. There is a 'energy meter' that limits how many levels you can play in any one sitting. This energy meter, of course, is intended to encourage you to pay for an in-app purchase that gives you more energy (and thus more play time). This game is best played in relatively short bursts, so this energy meter never really bothered me much (though I can see how it might bother folks who want to play more).

As you progress through the game, your character gains experience and picks up money from fallen zombies. These can be spent in the 'store' screen where you can buy new guns or other kinds of weapons such as a baseball bat or katana. You can also purchase 'attribute enhancements' that impact character stats such as speed, accuracy, or counter-moves.

Additionally, you can purchase outfits for your character. This brings up what is perhaps the biggest downside to the game--the somewhat sleazy way that the character is presented in some of the loading screens and the in-app store. Tapping an item that you don't have enough in-app currency to afford brings up a prompt to go to the shop to buy coins, which is punctuated with a picture of the main character in her underwear and in a suggestive pose (drawn in a much more realistic style than normally seen through gameplay). The juxtaposition of the cute, chibi-style and the sexualized versions of the character is odd, to say the least.

Folks, Zombiegal Kawaii is a game that is worth a look. The touch controls work well, and the visual design and audio work is appealing. The art style may not appeal to everyone, but fans of anime and manga will find the style familiar and inviting.

The Windows 8.1 UI Designers Might Have a Special Message for You

The guys at Penny Arcade pretty much nailed it, folks.

Not Going to Violate Apple's NDA

Some folks have asked me to write about my impressions on iOS 7. Unfortunately, as an iOS developer I am bound by the NDA (non-disclosure agreement) regarding software and features that are not yet released. In essence, if Apple did not show the information at their WWDC Keynote, it can't be discussed with the general public. While Apple did show a lot of good stuff in the keynote, the things that I found most interesting were not shown/described in the keynote and therefore under NDA.

I currently have the iOS 7 beta installed on an old phone and I have been trying out its various features and getting a better idea of how its new design language works. Folks, rest assured that I will write about iOS 7 when it becomes publicly available sometime this autumn with the release of this year's new iPhone.

What If Creating a Startup Was Like a Videogame?

The folks at GeekWire have produced a nifty animation that shows us what it would be like if creating a startup was a videogame. The graphics and sound are deliciously retro, and the story has tons of industry in-jokes. I almost spit on my screen when I saw the 'pivot' sequence.

Bonus: The story takes place in Seattle. Pay attention to the Space Needle for something amusing.

John McAfee's Crazy Video Showing Us How to Uninstall McAfee Antivirus

John McAfee, creator of McAfee Antivirus, has posted a crazy video about how to uninstall the McAfee Antivirus software. In the video, McAfee reads emails from angry users complaining about the software (which it turns out he has had nothing to do with for the past fifteen years). Then...things get weird . 'Charlie Sheen' weird.

Folks, this one has scantily dressed women, drug references, and profanity in it so be careful where you watch this video.

Inside the Airbus A350 Cockpit

Zach Honig, over at Engadget:

As you might expect, the cockpit is as modern as they come, with large LCDs taking the place of traditional avionics. In fact, the layout looks more like something you'd find on a stock broker's desk -- it's quite a contrast to the aging panels many commercial pilots still use today.

The video in the source link gives us a glimpse at what the cockpit of the A350 is like. The cockpit, to no one's surprise, is a splendid example of a so-called 'glass cockpit'. The large display panels allow for system flexibility and enhanced awareness for pilots. I have experience writing software for Boeing's Electronic Logbook, so I was quite interested in seeing the A350's Class 3 Electronic flight bag. The sheer size of the LCD panel is impressive.

Check out the video, folks.

Don't Be a Jerk at the Office, Folks

If you've worked at an office for any lengthy period of time, particularly a software development shop, the odds are very good that you've run into them . You know who I'm talking about. There are many different names for them such as curmudgeon, know-it-alls, divas, etc. No matter the particular term used, they have similar qualities including--but not limited to--generally surly demeanor, an inability to empathize, and freaking out when things don't go their way. I'm talking, of course, about jerks .

Strangely, the software development profession tends to attract a disproportionate number of jerks. There are many reasons for this (which could span a whole post). In any case, this type of individual can cause teams, departments, and sometimes entire companies to be dysfunctional. How do they do this?

The first way is by having negative attitudes. Jerks can cause the mood of the room to shift merely by their presence. Their surly demeanor can easily wipe the smile off of someone's face. In some instances, other employees can go into 'defense' mode immediately because they have become accustomed to having to fend off the jerk's communication style.

Another way that these individuals can cause problems is through their inability to empathize with others. This can manifest itself as a tendency to 'throw people under the bus'. Rather than trying to understand where others in the organization are coming from and the pressures that they are dealing with, jerks are often focused on only the task at hand in their particular area of responsibility. When things go awry (as happens in many development projects), these individuals are quick to cast blame on others and rarely (if ever) accept responsibility for their mistakes (especially publicly). This leads to a culture of distrust in a company.

The final major way that jerks can cause trouble for a development shop is by freaking out when things don't go their way. This manifests itself in various ways. The most obvious way is by unnecessarily turning the smallest disagreements into 'earth-shattering' events. A more subtle way that this manifests itself is when the individual decides to 'go rogue' and make decisions without consulting the appropriate parties. These reactions not only cause unnecessary confusion and concern in others, but also have the effect that the loudest mouth in the room (or the most stubborn one) will have undue sway on technical decisions or project matters. Coworkers will simply not have the energy to deal with the jerk and will let things slip past them that otherwise would have been dealt with in a healthy environment.

Folks, nobody wants to deal with jerks. They are a big factor in workplace harmony and job satisfaction. Don't be a jerk, and don't let jerks take over your office.

Conferences are Important, Folks

Previously, I wrote about the importance of developer perks, and conferences are an important perk. To be sure, there always are costs associated with attending a conference. Often times this involves a financial cost (e.g. ticket price, airfare, lodging), but there are other costs as well such as opportunity costs due to time away from work that must be managed. Whether you attend a large conference such as
Apple's WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) or a more intimate conference such as Cocoaconf, the benefits of attending a conference can far outweigh the costs involved.

The most obvious benefit is the ability to enhance critical skills. Many conferences understandably focus on this aspect as a major selling point, and sometimes increase the skill enhancement by offering pre-conference workshops. However, the advent of live session streaming (or at least the quick posting of session videos to the conference website) has caused this part of the value proposition to diminish. That's not to say that skill enhancement is an unimportant part of the conference experience, just that it isn't the most important.

Why, then, is it important to attend conferences? Two reasons, really: networking and exposure to new ideas.

Networking is an often undervalued aspect of conference attendance. It is, however, something that cannot be done while watching session videos at home. Meeting people at the conference can lead to new business connections, new business or job opportunities, and new friends. In addition, the social interaction before sessions, between sessions, at lunch time, and after the sessions end for the day is when much of the learning takes place. While you are in a session, your mind is still absorbing the content as it is presented. The non-session time provides an opportunity for you to collect your thoughts and to share those thoughts with other attendees. This will often be a good way to 'break the ice' and to clarify things that may not have been immediately clear during the session.

Exposure to new ideas is quite possibly the best reason to attend a conference. Sure, new ideas are hypothetically only a quick web search away. However, meeting and having conversations with new people is by far the quickest way to be exposed to ideas that would not have otherwise crossed your mind. You could learn about a new technology or technique that will solve a long-standing problem you've been having, or you could be inspired to move in a whole new business direction.

In a way, conferences can be considered as great examples of concentrated serendipity . Where else can you enhance your skills, make new contacts, and discover new ideas in only a few days? Just make sure you can get a ticket, folks.

'lickmysackbiotch' is Not What You Expect to See When Starting Up a Brand New iMac

Recently, a friend of mine received his first Macintosh in the form of a spiffy brand-new iMac. He has a background in using Linux and Windows to do development, and was excited to try using a Mac as his everyday development machine. After zipping through the initial setup screens, he decided to open up the Terminal app to set up his SSH keys. However, he noticed something odd at the command prompt.

'lickmysackbiotch'? That's not an expected hostname. (Note: personal info removed from the screenshots.). My friend thought that this was some sort of prank, but I assured him that was not the case. Checking other areas of his system confirmed the 'lickmysackbiotch' hostname along with some other weirdness.

At this point, we were concerned that there may be some funny business going on. We checked my Mac, but everything looked fine. Mind you, his iMac was fresh out of the box so we had no clue what could possibly be causing the problem. We called over the IT guy to get his opinion. After a few minutes of checking for a solution, the IT guy decided to call Apple Support.

I can only imagine what was going through the Apple support representative's mind when the IT guy told her that we had an iMac that said 'lickmysackbiotch' on the screen. As it was, she was clearly embarrassed to say the precise words and kept referring to 'that phrase' during the support call.

The Apple support representative couldn't figure out how to resolve the issue, and decided that we should bring in the iMac for a replacement. My friend ended up doing so, and brought the replacement iMac to the office. Unfortunately, when he configured the new iMac, he got another bogus hostname!

Thankfully, this hostname made a bit more sense and was something that we could identify as being the name of a known device. When my friend rebooted his iMac, he got yet another weird hostname. This time, it turned out to be the name of one of our coworker's devices. There was some sort of DHCP weirdness going on that caused the erroneous hostname, which apparently isn't unheard of in the Mac world. The mystery had been resolved!

Sometimes the weirdest things happen with our favorite tech tools, folks.

Amazon Should Create a Competitor to Facebook's Parse

Roughly six weeks ago Facebook bought Parse, the mobile-backend-as-a-service that lets app developers focus on their app's business logic instead of sticky bits like hosting data services. There are many reasons that Facebook made this purchase. Of course, there is the developer/user base that comes along with such a purchase. However, the primary reason is that Parse's platform (data storage, user account management, Facebook/Twitter login integration, push notifications, the ability to run code in the cloud with multiple service integrations) has extensive capabilities that allow app developers to quickly and cheaply create new apps with sophisticated features. Facebook wants more developers to create apps that integrate with Facebook, and the Parse acquisition goes a long way towards that goal.

Where, then, does Amazon come into play? Well, I've used Parse for a few projects in the past. I was also seriously considering using it in two different apps that I've been contemplating. However, after the Facebook acquisition, I'm a bit hesitant to put my faith in Parse as a platform. The main reason for this stance is that Facebook isn't known for being very kind to developers. There are alternatives such as Microsoft's Windows Azure Mobile Services, but those alternatives are either inferior in feature sets, more expensive, produced by fledgling startups with uncertain futures, or some combination of the above. Amazon, however, could provide a suitable alternative for developers worried about betting their business on Facebook/Parse.

Amazon has been quite successful with its AWS (Amazon Web Services) offering, and many of the web's biggest players use AWS as their backend. In fact, Parse itself is a platform that is developed on top of AWS. Something that Amazon is missing, however, is a service that provides the same ease of use for mobile app developers that Parse does. (Seriously, go check out Parse's documentation...it's amazingly well done.)

From a technical perspective, Amazon could create a service that is simpler to use than the raw services provided by the current AWS stack and with deeper integrations with third party services. From a business perspective, Amazon could price this service very competitively. From a trust perspective, Amazon is clearly a business that isn't going to go away any time soon.

How would this fit into Amazon's strategy? Creating a mobile-backend-as-a-service would encourage even more developers, particularly mobile app developers, to use Amazon's services. This creates greater revenue opportunities for Amazon by reaching developers that might not otherwise have selected the full AWS offering. Also, it creates an opportunity for revenue sharing with some of those niche magazine apps that have become all the rage on the iOS Newsstand (The Magazine and The Loop, for example). After all, that type of content needs to be hosted somewhere and the subscriptions inherent in those magazines provide recurring revenue opportunities. (Bonus points if Amazon makes it easy to migrate to the full AWS stack when/if a developer is ready to do so.)

It's not clear if Amazon has ever considered creating this type of service. It certainly sounds intriguing to me as a mobile app developer. If the 'Featured Customers' section of Parse's website is any indication, there are many big name app developers that might agree.