Android Emulator HATES OS X USB Headphones!

Posted on August 20, 2010 by Adam

Discovered a weird glitch with the Android emulator on my iMac (OS 10.6.4) – if my USB Headphone/Mic is plugged in, the emulator crashes! Every time it’s launched. Huh?

I actually found this odd behavior reference here: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=887

Additional information on this bug: It’s an audio device issue, not a general OS issue. When the Internal Microphone is selected as the system audio input device, everything is fine. This crashes when an external USB microphone is selected in SysPrefs.

Sure enough, unplugging the headphones/mic did the trick. I am not sure if making the switch in SysPrefs works as I don’t need the phones/mic plugged in all the time – I only use them when I am doing screen-casts – so I just unplugged ‘em.

So if you’re having trouble getting the Android emulator to run in an OS X environment, perhaps this will help you. Has worked magic for me!

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Titanium Training: Video 1

Posted on August 18, 2010 by Adam

As part of my agreement with my client (see previous post) it was determined that they would purchase a Professional level support package from Appcelerator, mostly because it included an in depth video training for free – for a limited time.

So tonight I queued up “Welcome to Titanium”, an hour long introduction to the Titanium platform, tools, etc.

The video consists of mostly very introductory, overview type information like, Titanium is:

  • Cross platform
  • Based on web technologies
  • Uses existing (hey, for some people!) JavaScript skill set
  • Build real native apps

The goal of the training program (which was originally completed over two intense days) is to:

  • Become familiar with Titanium and basic development techniques
  • Configure our own development environment
  • Gain exposure to the core APIs and capabilities of Titanium
  • Build a real app in a lab session
  • Have the skills necessary to build our own apps for fun and profit

That’s a pretty tall order, especially considering that I am not a JavaScript guru in any sense of the word. However, I am confident that I can do all of the above!
Continue reading →

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A change of direction. Bye Rails, Hello JavaScript.

Posted on August 18, 2010 by Adam


Rather than drag this out, here goes. I have been offered a deal too good to pass up from a client. Basically for taking the time to master JavaScript and Appcelerator Titanium (yes, they are paying me to learn it) I will be handed a huge load of mobile application development work. Pretty amazing isn’t it? I guess this just proves that treating your clients right DOES have a karmic effect!

Not only is this exciting news, I am really looking forward to it.

This blog will now detail my learning process. I will post almost daily as I ramp up my admittedly limited JavaScript abilities. I will post my code on GitHub in the hope that it helps someone else, and also so two years from now I can look back and laugh (and cringe!).

A few of the apps I will be working on in the future sound very exciting. Wish me luck…

Adam

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