http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/index.htmlBKeeney Brief'senbobk@bkeeney.comCopyright 2007 Bob Keeney2009-05-20T14:56:22-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Wed, 20 May 2009 14:56:22 -0500bobk@bkeeney.comBusiness2009-05-20T14:56:22-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/9aaecf33ade748e371211ff94be5bfb5-129.html#unique-entry-id-129http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/9aaecf33ade748e371211ff94be5bfb5-129.html#unique-entry-id-129bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2009-05-14T14:30:20-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/7cf6fc8eb1b7291c9cf4d66e97c4d966-128.html#unique-entry-id-128http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/7cf6fc8eb1b7291c9cf4d66e97c4d966-128.html#unique-entry-id-128bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2009-05-08T09:13:38-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/d8cb97a8a59beb927c334cce039c3929-127.html#unique-entry-id-127http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/d8cb97a8a59beb927c334cce039c3929-127.html#unique-entry-id-127bobk@bkeeney.comOpinionPersonal2009-05-05T09:56:21-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/608b6fe85d25361351846958d0c3214b-126.html#unique-entry-id-126http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/608b6fe85d25361351846958d0c3214b-126.html#unique-entry-id-126
While being Bob’s Taxi Service yesterday I heard through one of our local all-sports-all-the-time talk radio stations that the NFL is thinking about hosting a SuperBowl overseas. Man, where do you start on how bad of an idea this is?]]>bobk@bkeeney.comRB Developer2009-05-01T15:03:15-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/063b248436c90e45a154ebfea67832ac-125.html#unique-entry-id-125http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/063b248436c90e45a154ebfea67832ac-125.html#unique-entry-id-125bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasic2009-05-01T09:18:13-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/e92f6aef4633964dbb413ed8cdb60af4-124.html#unique-entry-id-124http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/e92f6aef4633964dbb413ed8cdb60af4-124.html#unique-entry-id-124bobk@bkeeney.comHumor2009-04-27T11:50:42-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/2a2cf2980d0cbf4475a1ba867dd8a302-123.html#unique-entry-id-123http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/2a2cf2980d0cbf4475a1ba867dd8a302-123.html#unique-entry-id-123http://www.xkcd.com/528/]]>bobk@bkeeney.comHumor2009-04-24T08:56:24-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/8d99f1cb6b68fb6ae80307b226314aee-122.html#unique-entry-id-122http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/8d99f1cb6b68fb6ae80307b226314aee-122.html#unique-entry-id-122listing today about Xee. Xee is an open source image viewer for Mac OS X. The original post (via Daring Fireball) commented on the hoops Adobe wanted the coder to go through to get the PSD spec. I found it hilarious because of the initial comments about the spec in general.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2009-04-18T10:59:00-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/c7ea71c7044508b0bffdf7fd9b11034e-121.html#unique-entry-id-121http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/c7ea71c7044508b0bffdf7fd9b11034e-121.html#unique-entry-id-121
]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2009-04-15T15:11:47-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/3e949e3b67ddeb42ee9d5fcacfdc4cc9-120.html#unique-entry-id-120http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/3e949e3b67ddeb42ee9d5fcacfdc4cc9-120.html#unique-entry-id-120bobk@bkeeney.comPersonalOpinion2009-04-12T12:23:01-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/e0d92faa696ed080cc761d8a7c4a63c4-119.html#unique-entry-id-119http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/e0d92faa696ed080cc761d8a7c4a63c4-119.html#unique-entry-id-119bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2009-04-06T08:52:43-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/691d890450f959bbeff7d8b551868a8e-118.html#unique-entry-id-118http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/691d890450f959bbeff7d8b551868a8e-118.html#unique-entry-id-118bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2009-03-30T08:37:29-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/0d1b13d43efd098f0556e237ebc7590f-117.html#unique-entry-id-117http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/0d1b13d43efd098f0556e237ebc7590f-117.html#unique-entry-id-117bobk@bkeeney.comPersonalOpinion2009-03-26T10:35:39-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/6ecafed6cf65aeda2fa59f7b202b8918-116.html#unique-entry-id-116http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/6ecafed6cf65aeda2fa59f7b202b8918-116.html#unique-entry-id-116bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2009-03-24T10:16:14-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/bd3548ec452a94000d30f722f1e0ddce-115.html#unique-entry-id-115http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/bd3548ec452a94000d30f722f1e0ddce-115.html#unique-entry-id-115bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2009-03-19T13:31:50-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/f402cb98a92a32df13f68731d5537964-114.html#unique-entry-id-114http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/f402cb98a92a32df13f68731d5537964-114.html#unique-entry-id-114bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2009-03-18T13:52:14-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/6b600d74d0500b75e9c04d1abb00d606-113.html#unique-entry-id-113http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/6b600d74d0500b75e9c04d1abb00d606-113.html#unique-entry-id-113bobk@bkeeney.comBusinessOpinion2009-03-11T16:05:20-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/7a5fd31be2aa251cff5b3251c38a6067-112.html#unique-entry-id-112http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/7a5fd31be2aa251cff5b3251c38a6067-112.html#unique-entry-id-112bobk@bkeeney.comOpinionBusiness2009-03-10T09:09:19-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/c71a3290c8b89ccee54a370adbc2e1da-111.html#unique-entry-id-111http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/c71a3290c8b89ccee54a370adbc2e1da-111.html#unique-entry-id-111bobk@bkeeney.comOpinionVisual Basic2009-03-09T14:23:19-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/73d48491af25eeede83a714736c515f6-110.html#unique-entry-id-110http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/73d48491af25eeede83a714736c515f6-110.html#unique-entry-id-110bobk@bkeeney.comRB Developer2009-03-04T15:57:24-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/c92a6a820a4e844a5e46de258a33599b-109.html#unique-entry-id-109http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/c92a6a820a4e844a5e46de258a33599b-109.html#unique-entry-id-109]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2009-03-03T16:40:09-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/c23b27056a66d61fac70d1b0054e515f-108.html#unique-entry-id-108http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/c23b27056a66d61fac70d1b0054e515f-108.html#unique-entry-id-108blog to tell us what’s new and changed.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comOpinion2009-02-24T09:47:32-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/4c0dbf9b39c0a50c9a4150e755894c2e-107.html#unique-entry-id-107http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/4c0dbf9b39c0a50c9a4150e755894c2e-107.html#unique-entry-id-107bobk@bkeeney.comOpinionBusiness2009-03-16T14:16:02-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/4bcd742485491cd51e78aca18c9048fb-106.html#unique-entry-id-106http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/4bcd742485491cd51e78aca18c9048fb-106.html#unique-entry-id-106bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinionVisual Basic2009-02-25T09:10:49-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/562ec3f93aabef5bbb6978124f067122-105.html#unique-entry-id-105http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/562ec3f93aabef5bbb6978124f067122-105.html#unique-entry-id-105bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2009-02-06T08:42:50-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/4e709065168df775aa43492205cc3f0b-104.html#unique-entry-id-104http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/4e709065168df775aa43492205cc3f0b-104.html#unique-entry-id-104On a followup thought on my “What Does RB Have 3 File Formats” post. The XML format is currently the only prescribed way to look through a REALbasic project file and that’s a pain and it’s slow. I think my real wish is to have hooks into the IDE itself.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2009-02-11T20:38:12-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/55b0717e71fdbcf40fbcef2e405fa513-103.html#unique-entry-id-103http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/55b0717e71fdbcf40fbcef2e405fa513-103.html#unique-entry-id-103South By Southwest is an interesting conference. This blog post http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2007/03/sxsw_interactiv.html asks the relevant question of why anyone would want to go to a conference that’s blogged, tweeted, and videotaped as much as it is. I don’t think the conclusion is surprising but it is a ‘duh, that makes sense’ moment. It brings it all into focus of why I like Real World so much.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinionAgile2009-02-05T09:01:09-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/b751e326fb2a4c5e874b5f7687c0a886-102.html#unique-entry-id-102http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/b751e326fb2a4c5e874b5f7687c0a886-102.html#unique-entry-id-102This Google blog post http://paulbuchheit.blogspot.com/2009/01/communicating-with-code.html sums up nicely a project we did last summer using REALbasic as a Rapid Prototyping Tool.
]]>bobk@bkeeney.comARBPREALbasic2009-02-03T12:47:17-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/749e325707da1c4c1c7e22b8dccdc436-101.html#unique-entry-id-101http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/749e325707da1c4c1c7e22b8dccdc436-101.html#unique-entry-id-101The RB forum has been pretty active with a Show Us What You Made In REALbasic thread. ARBP now has a section of the website dedicated to it!]]>bobk@bkeeney.comPersonal2009-02-02T08:52:11-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/239ef5cd0b83d1eef84f6b950e834fec-100.html#unique-entry-id-100http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/239ef5cd0b83d1eef84f6b950e834fec-100.html#unique-entry-id-100This SuperBowl should go down as one of the best ever. Not so much for the commercials.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comManagementBusiness2009-01-30T08:29:41-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/404b32aaa8910022258f0829fd0ee27b-99.html#unique-entry-id-99http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/404b32aaa8910022258f0829fd0ee27b-99.html#unique-entry-id-99The question of the day is when is it time to add staff?]]>bobk@bkeeney.comPersonalOpinion2009-01-29T13:19:14-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/342db2c95eeb78562386b14ac94e020f-98.html#unique-entry-id-98http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/342db2c95eeb78562386b14ac94e020f-98.html#unique-entry-id-98iLife ’09 arrived in the mail yesterday. The face recognition is awesome. It’s fun besides.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comPersonal2009-01-27T09:51:27-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/90b4d1ecf721a515ea2199f00081e898-97.html#unique-entry-id-97http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/90b4d1ecf721a515ea2199f00081e898-97.html#unique-entry-id-97bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicVisual BasicOpinion2009-02-18T09:03:39-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/731088323d85737b457babdbb00b97a1-96.html#unique-entry-id-96http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/731088323d85737b457babdbb00b97a1-96.html#unique-entry-id-96bobk@bkeeney.comOpinionBusiness2009-01-28T08:51:01-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/96f880a7000412c5b79177a1861bfb53-95.html#unique-entry-id-95http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/96f880a7000412c5b79177a1861bfb53-95.html#unique-entry-id-95Since Aaron is no longer at Real Software I find myself missing his blog more and more. Well, the blog is still there but since he’s with a new company it isn’t all about REALbasic any more. It wasn’t an official blog from RS by any stretch of the imagination, but it gave us some great insight into a sometimes very opaque company.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comOpinionARBP2009-02-03T09:57:34-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/123d80e4f7ae0c59c026711ad4959ffd-94.html#unique-entry-id-94http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/123d80e4f7ae0c59c026711ad4959ffd-94.html#unique-entry-id-94Aaron’s blog post from a few weeks ago regarding the three types of REALbasic users got me thinking. That’s always a bad sign.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasic2009-01-26T09:45:00-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/f198126e6791f9c2410d44f6e018dc93-93.html#unique-entry-id-93http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/f198126e6791f9c2410d44f6e018dc93-93.html#unique-entry-id-93The default file format for REALbasic is a proprietary binary format (RBP). They also have an XML format and a newer version control format (VCP). So my question is why does RB support 3 formats? And does it hurt them by having to support and update all three formats?]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2009-01-20T12:16:09-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/d0890f032d27805bdfd5c2acc6180f32-92.html#unique-entry-id-92http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/d0890f032d27805bdfd5c2acc6180f32-92.html#unique-entry-id-92I think my favorite feature in REALbasic is Container Controls. What’s yours?]]>bobk@bkeeney.comARBP2009-01-19T10:05:01-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/c3504ec53bd8945f7ee6d73763de269b-91.html#unique-entry-id-91http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/c3504ec53bd8945f7ee6d73763de269b-91.html#unique-entry-id-91Parts 1 and 2 of the ARBP December 2008 RB Enhancements Survey analysis is now available for review. It may be accessed via the Blogs and Opinions section of the ARBP members only site at www.arbpmembers.org.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2009-01-16T09:46:01-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/c00a5da1b530e519f96f3a173b279ef1-90.html#unique-entry-id-90http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/c00a5da1b530e519f96f3a173b279ef1-90.html#unique-entry-id-90It costs $100 to purchase REALbasic Personal edition while it costs $500 for the Professional edition. As someone who uses REALbasic in everyday business I have to put myself in RS’ shoes every now and then and wonder the following: Does it make sense for RS to support people like me?]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2009-01-14T08:52:31-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/ea6751dc726aa680255d7dfc816b1ce6-89.html#unique-entry-id-89http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/ea6751dc726aa680255d7dfc816b1ce6-89.html#unique-entry-id-89All I have to say is wow. How little did I realize that my first post of the year would cause so much controversy. Well...that’s not entirely true. I enjoy stirring the pot a little to start a discussion and it’s been quite the discussion.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2009-01-09T13:17:24-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/151d64690884ba60176340f45500c5ac-88.html#unique-entry-id-88http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/151d64690884ba60176340f45500c5ac-88.html#unique-entry-id-88I have a lot of conversations with developers. Most of them use REALbasic and are pretty loyal to the product. But I’m seeing rumblings that not all is well. So I ask the question, is REALbasic relevant?]]>bobk@bkeeney.comOpinionPersonal2008-12-29T08:40:17-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/242a2dd99378df764772cb788bdfdea6-87.html#unique-entry-id-87http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/242a2dd99378df764772cb788bdfdea6-87.html#unique-entry-id-87Santa delivered a Wii Fit to our household for the kids. Surprisingly, the adults in the family like it....a lot.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2008-12-17T15:26:14-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/bd673723e7cb3c094a156a7443108547-86.html#unique-entry-id-86http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/bd673723e7cb3c094a156a7443108547-86.html#unique-entry-id-86Late last year, I created My Wish List for REALbasic in 2008. Let’s see if I was a prognosticator or just a wishful thinker.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2008-12-11T13:38:50-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/edba2ced659effb8ca9fc1d02b8630da-85.html#unique-entry-id-85http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/edba2ced659effb8ca9fc1d02b8630da-85.html#unique-entry-id-85Real Software released REALbasic 2008 R5 this week. Are we already back to mediocre releases?]]>bobk@bkeeney.comOpinion2008-12-05T16:58:12-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/baa543e2fe93d4ae2800bc83f58934f3-84.html#unique-entry-id-84http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/baa543e2fe93d4ae2800bc83f58934f3-84.html#unique-entry-id-84It was announced today that Real World 2009 is cancelled and will be replaced with as yet To-Be-Determined regional events. Does this bode well for Real Software or simply an indicator of tough economic times?]]>bobk@bkeeney.comiPhoneOpinion2008-11-26T08:37:00-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/4c32b5dc3e7df0cc8db90acf52b84d39-83.html#unique-entry-id-83http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/4c32b5dc3e7df0cc8db90acf52b84d39-83.html#unique-entry-id-83A lot of people are clamoring for copy/paste functionality in the iPhone. It seems simple, but I think the implications are more wide ranging than just a simple copy/paste. I don’t think it’ll happen for a while and here’s why.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comARBP2008-11-22T11:51:04-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/cb33dd408f47597d6f5f8cae5bc78914-82.html#unique-entry-id-82http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/cb33dd408f47597d6f5f8cae5bc78914-82.html#unique-entry-id-82The Association of REALbasic Professionals has been open for business for about a month. The response has been fascinating to say the least. One thing that we haven’t talked about a whole lot yet is the tremendous response we’ve gotten from our vendors.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comGeneral2008-11-20T11:26:01-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/68a82c9168d5a6d6de354078449aa4db-81.html#unique-entry-id-81http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/68a82c9168d5a6d6de354078449aa4db-81.html#unique-entry-id-81Yesterday I found myself in an argument with a very good friend and a very good developer about the About Window. It’s seen in nearly every application I’ve seen on the Macintosh and on Windows. His argument was that the About Window is a ‘waste of space”. Is it?]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2008-11-12T17:40:58-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/872b22af74d7f07e0fe5b09dceac9481-80.html#unique-entry-id-80http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/872b22af74d7f07e0fe5b09dceac9481-80.html#unique-entry-id-80I’ve been relearning xCode and Cocoa and learning how to make an iPhone application. Too bad you couldn’t make an iPhone application with REALbasic.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comOpinion2008-11-05T15:37:57-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/eb207eb7b889cbcf2964a3208926a6ed-79.html#unique-entry-id-79http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/eb207eb7b889cbcf2964a3208926a6ed-79.html#unique-entry-id-79By now you’ve heard about REAL Software laying people off. Here is my totally unsolicited, unwanted, and quite possibly wrong analysis of another area where REAL Software could have cut some costs.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comOpinion2008-11-04T14:55:12-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/c353d1b66d492816f77dc4fc19403523-78.html#unique-entry-id-78http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/c353d1b66d492816f77dc4fc19403523-78.html#unique-entry-id-78Significant changes have occurred at REAL Software. See the Press Release.
]]>bobk@bkeeney.comARBP2008-11-04T13:34:41-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/0a2387d9d29dba532921388662737dbb-77.html#unique-entry-id-77http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/0a2387d9d29dba532921388662737dbb-77.html#unique-entry-id-77Just in case you haven’t heard, the Association of REALbasic Professionals (ARBP) is now officially open and taking memberships.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicARBP2008-10-30T10:35:08-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/164a5db8fac94166a565a2853c695313-76.html#unique-entry-id-76http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/164a5db8fac94166a565a2853c695313-76.html#unique-entry-id-76Another RB developer sent a potential client my way yesterday. The other RB developer was swamped (as usual) and because we have the resources (three full time developers) to take on extra work I talked with the potential client. What I discovered was intriguing.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comCross Platform2008-10-28T16:49:12-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/914a5313e8d1f4696c5f8e265bbb0fcc-75.html#unique-entry-id-75http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/914a5313e8d1f4696c5f8e265bbb0fcc-75.html#unique-entry-id-75How many of us REALbasic users have said that part of the reason why we’ve gone with REALbasic is that it’s pretty much the only cross-platform solution out there? Well, now there’s one more option for us and it’s call Cocotron.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2008-10-28T12:54:37-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/2928d30e4d128beea13da55898b6b23d-74.html#unique-entry-id-74http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/2928d30e4d128beea13da55898b6b23d-74.html#unique-entry-id-74It’s been six months or so since RS moved from their old bug reporting system to FogBugz. Here are my stats and I’m wondering what yours are.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comARBP2008-10-22T15:13:42-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/7e2b1f670dd88df1d4c1a71a6ec832fa-73.html#unique-entry-id-73http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/7e2b1f670dd88df1d4c1a71a6ec832fa-73.html#unique-entry-id-73I’ve been super swamped in the past month. I wish it was all consulting work but a lot of what should have been free time has been spent learning Joomla!, an open source management system (CMS) for our soon-to-open ARBP Members Only website.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasic2008-10-14T13:49:25-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/b0166e5e2e05c001c7329bdb57bf5ccc-72.html#unique-entry-id-72http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/b0166e5e2e05c001c7329bdb57bf5ccc-72.html#unique-entry-id-72Real Software released REALbasic 2008 Release 4.1 today. The release only fixed a half dozen or so bugs that made their way into Release 4.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comPersonal2008-10-14T13:18:15-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/0b6097c81cc68d760fb8189a28c66671-71.html#unique-entry-id-71http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/0b6097c81cc68d760fb8189a28c66671-71.html#unique-entry-id-71It has been a busy couple of months. Between projects, writing and starting the Association of REALbasic Professionals, life has been busy. This weekend the family intervened and got me to do something other than work behind the computer. It’s a great example of stopping and smelling the roses.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comBusiness2008-10-02T09:02:12-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/4dd1a076f0cddbfba44164ac3ec5c0c5-70.html#unique-entry-id-70http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/4dd1a076f0cddbfba44164ac3ec5c0c5-70.html#unique-entry-id-70We recently hired a contractor to fix our aging deck. What a disaster! The contractor had a pretty bad contract and is a perfect example of why a contract sets expectations for both parties.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2008-09-30T14:01:14-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/1d8dbc87ef64ce2f7dbd22a1bde4cff2-69.html#unique-entry-id-69http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/1d8dbc87ef64ce2f7dbd22a1bde4cff2-69.html#unique-entry-id-69I have been a fan of SQLiteManager from SQLabs for quite a while. Unfortunately, it has been giving me various error messages for the last year or so. These errors occur on old and new database alike. So it was time for a change so I did a little research and find a replacement.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comOpinion2008-09-15T08:10:30-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/583c69f7c406aaf10ec84c0100ca4445-68.html#unique-entry-id-68http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/583c69f7c406aaf10ec84c0100ca4445-68.html#unique-entry-id-68With a US presidential election coming in a matter of weeks it’s not surprising that political comments are making their way into sports articles and blog comments. I think it’s a stupid idea regardless of your political leanings.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comGames2008-09-14T17:41:06-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/93164eee4399773903e8259a665b92f7-67.html#unique-entry-id-67http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/93164eee4399773903e8259a665b92f7-67.html#unique-entry-id-67A fellow ARBP member, and all around good guy, Christian, asked me to give my comments on Spore from Maxis Entertainment. All I have to say is Wow!]]>bobk@bkeeney.comOpinion2008-09-10T18:31:36-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/d6d328e7c312a4f592ea1a15b136cdb0-66.html#unique-entry-id-66http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/d6d328e7c312a4f592ea1a15b136cdb0-66.html#unique-entry-id-66I followed a link that Dana from Real Software put in a forum post today about a contest at All Basic. What I found there was interesting to say the least.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasic2008-09-09T17:24:06-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/67e3e07701068a66a5bf9d2549accc3f-65.html#unique-entry-id-65http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/67e3e07701068a66a5bf9d2549accc3f-65.html#unique-entry-id-65I was updating an older project today with the release version of the Formatted Text Control. During testing we found a drag and drop issue that led me down the proverbial rabbit hole.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comAgileREALbasic2008-09-06T16:54:16-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/d92842379db320353f7d27e6912e5f51-64.html#unique-entry-id-64http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/d92842379db320353f7d27e6912e5f51-64.html#unique-entry-id-64We’ve finished up Sprint #7 this week of our agile project. What a ride! ]]>bobk@bkeeney.comRB Developer2008-09-02T08:09:12-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/9a0be2ea8a3e7ed4178913a0ebef52d8-63.html#unique-entry-id-63http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/9a0be2ea8a3e7ed4178913a0ebef52d8-63.html#unique-entry-id-63The September/October edition of RB Developer magazine was sent out today. This edition has my regular BKeeney Briefs column as well as a review of the Formatted Text Control.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comOpinion2008-08-29T08:15:00-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/ecd9e7550f8a8c23ac10873bfb9ef233-62.html#unique-entry-id-62http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/ecd9e7550f8a8c23ac10873bfb9ef233-62.html#unique-entry-id-62I received an email yesterday from Real Software introducing new priority support plans. The support plans don't interest me too much other than that I can get them. But the one thing that struck me in this email was the revised pricing and plan for the developer Referral program. I think they’re doing themselves wrong.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comARBPOpinion2008-08-28T15:25:30-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/12ee26fd7b98bd38261038edd142a1ae-61.html#unique-entry-id-61http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/12ee26fd7b98bd38261038edd142a1ae-61.html#unique-entry-id-61]]>bobk@bkeeney.comARBPOpinion2008-08-19T15:59:11-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/fd0ba042e0284caa3ddafc8966eb1391-60.html#unique-entry-id-60http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/fd0ba042e0284caa3ddafc8966eb1391-60.html#unique-entry-id-60bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasic2008-08-13T15:35:00-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/b21ad2bc29fe1f72039da8fc388688e6-59.html#unique-entry-id-59http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/b21ad2bc29fe1f72039da8fc388688e6-59.html#unique-entry-id-59bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasic2008-08-05T17:14:19-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/c236e87ce5c984f878c1d033e79e6ebf-58.html#unique-entry-id-58http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/c236e87ce5c984f878c1d033e79e6ebf-58.html#unique-entry-id-58http://www.devx.com/vb/Article/38731/0/page/1.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasic2008-07-31T10:47:31-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/719ac7d07ee4bf313931ae05d77015a2-57.html#unique-entry-id-57http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/719ac7d07ee4bf313931ae05d77015a2-57.html#unique-entry-id-57bobk@bkeeney.comPersonal2008-07-30T11:51:34-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/73fa405762fa01d4e0a629a8710fc116-56.html#unique-entry-id-56http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/73fa405762fa01d4e0a629a8710fc116-56.html#unique-entry-id-56bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2008-07-22T08:48:33-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/37d358d02292b121fec8243439652448-54.html#unique-entry-id-54http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/37d358d02292b121fec8243439652448-54.html#unique-entry-id-54bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasic2008-07-16T21:28:02-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/226cfa6d809e7e6a03adf80b77a93c6a-53.html#unique-entry-id-53http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/226cfa6d809e7e6a03adf80b77a93c6a-53.html#unique-entry-id-53blog. I think it’s every bit as important and useful as introspection. I’ll give you an example of where I think I’ll be using Attributes and why I think the IDE is missing something.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comOpinion2008-07-09T18:24:26-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/e2076902960c100efc3b59295fd2b0a6-52.html#unique-entry-id-52http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/e2076902960c100efc3b59295fd2b0a6-52.html#unique-entry-id-52here. I saw hogwash.
]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2008-07-09T18:05:52-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/b6af7d48ae7923797b529ddf80d7155e-51.html#unique-entry-id-51http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/b6af7d48ae7923797b529ddf80d7155e-51.html#unique-entry-id-51bobk@bkeeney.comOpinion2008-07-09T17:37:38-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/3f4899f4a9960574dc13df5874b2d79b-50.html#unique-entry-id-50http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/3f4899f4a9960574dc13df5874b2d79b-50.html#unique-entry-id-50bobk@bkeeney.comWeb Apps2008-06-28T10:47:42-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/bcd222fecafb9665827b33c3434d30c7-49.html#unique-entry-id-49http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/bcd222fecafb9665827b33c3434d30c7-49.html#unique-entry-id-49The Sixty One, a music discovery website. I’m on it a lot and I’ve discovered a lot of really good music (and some really horid music).]]>bobk@bkeeney.comDatabasesREALbasic2008-06-25T13:17:11-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/93b88a9031c18021dee2b35839bb3eaa-48.html#unique-entry-id-48http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/93b88a9031c18021dee2b35839bb3eaa-48.html#unique-entry-id-48bobk@bkeeney.comPersonal2008-06-20T17:41:18-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/73a667e1c2e2db266fdb8b6fe657c0c2-47.html#unique-entry-id-47http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/73a667e1c2e2db266fdb8b6fe657c0c2-47.html#unique-entry-id-47bobk@bkeeney.comWeb Apps2008-06-15T12:03:00-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/0896e2cb302a53f03152d47c00fc1ddd-46.html#unique-entry-id-46http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/0896e2cb302a53f03152d47c00fc1ddd-46.html#unique-entry-id-46SproutCore. It was featured at WWDC and looks very interesting.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasic2008-06-14T14:35:23-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/14057167a41245e29908e70d4f355432-45.html#unique-entry-id-45http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/14057167a41245e29908e70d4f355432-45.html#unique-entry-id-45
]]>bobk@bkeeney.comOpinion2008-06-06T13:03:23-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/aea10552d7996e19cfff6d5c6ee04919-44.html#unique-entry-id-44http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/aea10552d7996e19cfff6d5c6ee04919-44.html#unique-entry-id-44280Slides today. It looks slick and appears to do a lot of things. But is it a replacement for KeyNote or PowerPoint?]]>bobk@bkeeney.comOpinion2008-06-05T22:49:27-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/2fa12013386da4d4b7fee03da211eee1-43.html#unique-entry-id-43http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/2fa12013386da4d4b7fee03da211eee1-43.html#unique-entry-id-43article that talks about the authors opinion that Apple should extend OSA (Open Scripting Architecture) to not just AppleScript but to include Javascript. I’d take that one step further and say that RBScript should be added as well.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comARBP2008-06-03T16:29:42-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/d915a6c74ab7d1c53538f42845ac13d5-42.html#unique-entry-id-42http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/d915a6c74ab7d1c53538f42845ac13d5-42.html#unique-entry-id-42
]]>bobk@bkeeney.comBKeeney Briefs2008-05-31T10:41:32-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/d510e40192f1d26d7c670d4dc185b9e0-41.html#unique-entry-id-41http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/d510e40192f1d26d7c670d4dc185b9e0-41.html#unique-entry-id-41bobk@bkeeney.comOpinionPersonal2008-05-26T11:16:29-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/ecd788610ea8915b9d528c5072ce58b2-40.html#unique-entry-id-40http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/ecd788610ea8915b9d528c5072ce58b2-40.html#unique-entry-id-40]]>bobk@bkeeney.comOpinionBusinessAgile2008-05-24T11:45:16-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/ba28b6ebd49bffe25fde95d525b97e6c-39.html#unique-entry-id-39http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/ba28b6ebd49bffe25fde95d525b97e6c-39.html#unique-entry-id-39
]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2008-05-20T12:30:03-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/4fcdd444947b88c7b66aee3185449cf2-38.html#unique-entry-id-38http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/4fcdd444947b88c7b66aee3185449cf2-38.html#unique-entry-id-38]]>bobk@bkeeney.comBKeeney Briefs2008-05-13T22:08:26-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/217af37767c3b4511075a2b04d0edf81-37.html#unique-entry-id-37http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/217af37767c3b4511075a2b04d0edf81-37.html#unique-entry-id-37http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2008/05/13/windows-live-messenger-9-0-beta-program-frustrates-testers]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasic2008-05-13T22:01:05-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/c38acf562636c5006023b62629108d13-36.html#unique-entry-id-36http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/c38acf562636c5006023b62629108d13-36.html#unique-entry-id-36before the exception occurred.
]]>bobk@bkeeney.comMicrosoftOpinion2008-05-12T21:25:06-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/ea9f99df292324d0e354d39960d58e14-35.html#unique-entry-id-35http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/ea9f99df292324d0e354d39960d58e14-35.html#unique-entry-id-35bobk@bkeeney.comOpinion2008-05-06T08:41:55-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/b7940b6ab4cb925635e1fcf4b6fa2f2a-34.html#unique-entry-id-34http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/b7940b6ab4cb925635e1fcf4b6fa2f2a-34.html#unique-entry-id-34bobk@bkeeney.comVisual Basic2008-05-02T17:00:00-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/6ebe2407564c9b830eae9f28cc4fe328-33.html#unique-entry-id-33http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/6ebe2407564c9b830eae9f28cc4fe328-33.html#unique-entry-id-33Abandoning the Fantasy of VB Migration Wizardry. It can be found here. I can hear people asking: "Bob, this is a REALbasic site. What's this got to do with REALbasic?" ]]>bobk@bkeeney.comAgile2008-04-30T17:28:59-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/6b2d6d10fc4c6384b4925498b213dd71-32.html#unique-entry-id-32http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/6b2d6d10fc4c6384b4925498b213dd71-32.html#unique-entry-id-32]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2008-04-24T00:01:53-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/559ed519477bd20ccd15153664587f23-31.html#unique-entry-id-31http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/559ed519477bd20ccd15153664587f23-31.html#unique-entry-id-31
]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2008-04-14T17:47:11-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/f9bc413fe8c6adf292ff82426bdba13c-30.html#unique-entry-id-30http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/f9bc413fe8c6adf292ff82426bdba13c-30.html#unique-entry-id-30]]>bobk@bkeeney.comPersonal2008-04-13T14:32:36-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/924692b45e4941e1252dee9d1b044de5-29.html#unique-entry-id-29http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/924692b45e4941e1252dee9d1b044de5-29.html#unique-entry-id-29]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2008-04-02T10:00:00-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/525e1db1b5df0c54d83b054c66b45b3c-28.html#unique-entry-id-28http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/525e1db1b5df0c54d83b054c66b45b3c-28.html#unique-entry-id-28Mars, THE compiler guy is leaving Real Software. The official announcement is here.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comRB Developer2008-04-02T15:35:43-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/f7136c8e4cc824909e06d03ca958b9ce-27.html#unique-entry-id-27http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/f7136c8e4cc824909e06d03ca958b9ce-27.html#unique-entry-id-27The March/April 2008 edition of REALbasic Developer is out. The topic of my BKeeney Briefs column was Differentiation Yourself from all the other developers that are bidding on the same job.

What are your thoughts on the topic?]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasic2008-03-25T15:22:49-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/c777361a3a11b1c086368c573b0f7cfe-26.html#unique-entry-id-26http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/c777361a3a11b1c086368c573b0f7cfe-26.html#unique-entry-id-26It was a busy week at Real World. The density of REALbasic developers is never higher than at Real World so it's natural that all conversations revolve around REALbasic. So here are some of my observations.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasic2008-03-13T17:02:35-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/88322d8bda08ba5fe024c604ad9c07a0-25.html#unique-entry-id-25http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/88322d8bda08ba5fe024c604ad9c07a0-25.html#unique-entry-id-25Real World is next week! I'm excited about all the things that are going on, learning some new things about REALbasic and exchanging ideas and information. That's in addition to renewing old friendships and starting some new ones. All-in-all, I think I'll be lucky to have my voice by the end of the week.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicSeth2008-03-04T19:15:41-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/8349315cec39e0f29a229936ffbd0a47-24.html#unique-entry-id-24http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/8349315cec39e0f29a229936ffbd0a47-24.html#unique-entry-id-24]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2008-02-12T21:57:13-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/858060dca7773d6464746f8f18a5dc94-23.html#unique-entry-id-23http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/858060dca7773d6464746f8f18a5dc94-23.html#unique-entry-id-23bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasic2008-02-09T13:55:59-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/b27508a5a4c2451bac65b4782902b545-22.html#unique-entry-id-22http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/b27508a5a4c2451bac65b4782902b545-22.html#unique-entry-id-22bobk@bkeeney.comMicrosoftREALbasic2008-02-05T18:23:12-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/3a2229a73d32300be4efa2db7a56d1b4-21.html#unique-entry-id-21http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/3a2229a73d32300be4efa2db7a56d1b4-21.html#unique-entry-id-21blog entry dated November, 2005 from a supposed Microsoft Employee talking about Visual Studio 2005. ]]>bobk@bkeeney.comOpinionREALbasicBusiness2008-02-03T14:57:52-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/897d6b0995e1aa7f6063b27ad5891b5d-20.html#unique-entry-id-20http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/897d6b0995e1aa7f6063b27ad5891b5d-20.html#unique-entry-id-20bobk@bkeeney.comBusinessPersonal2008-01-26T16:33:44-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/0e0d2d4bbb0b8934efd39ea29771e615-19.html#unique-entry-id-19http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/0e0d2d4bbb0b8934efd39ea29771e615-19.html#unique-entry-id-19bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2008-01-19T17:21:01-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/1b6b49a391e761fe8a2d4a41b685b4f7-18.html#unique-entry-id-18http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/1b6b49a391e761fe8a2d4a41b685b4f7-18.html#unique-entry-id-18
]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasic2008-01-09T14:39:00-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/0514d860122915a4f570775a1a9fa71e-17.html#unique-entry-id-17http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/0514d860122915a4f570775a1a9fa71e-17.html#unique-entry-id-17Norman Palardy's blog the other day. Norman was taking about he wished there was better mechanism in place to help prioritize bugs and enhancement requests. It started off with a general rant (my words not his) about the feedback system not being exceptionally useful with some suggestions on how to make it better. It then wandered off (my fault - my bad) about how it would be nice to survey the beta participants to let RS know what we feel which enhancements are more important.
]]>bobk@bkeeney.comRB Developer2008-01-02T18:39:58-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/ab8aaffb3c96d58185cb7e797a0270e8-16.html#unique-entry-id-16http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/ab8aaffb3c96d58185cb7e797a0270e8-16.html#unique-entry-id-16
Let me know what comments you have. Did I miss something obvious? Did I get something totally wrong?]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2007-12-24T10:57:18-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/334c361e75165235acb73373cd0822b5-15.html#unique-entry-id-15http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/334c361e75165235acb73373cd0822b5-15.html#unique-entry-id-15
The Language Reference in RB is, depending upon who you ask, is either barely adequate or downright horrible. I tend to leans towards the former because I think it's lacking depth to be very useful. For every object, property, method and event there's information needed but not in the LR. Sometimes this includes bugs but more often than not, just clarification on what's changed.
]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2007-12-12T18:03:31-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/2de790e9507eb3802458fa8327245e5d-14.html#unique-entry-id-14http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/2de790e9507eb3802458fa8327245e5d-14.html#unique-entry-id-14bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicOpinion2007-12-04T13:25:20-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/810b680105fcdc12339cc9c5b2271182-13.html#unique-entry-id-13http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/810b680105fcdc12339cc9c5b2271182-13.html#unique-entry-id-13blog. It started innocently enough by Norman complaining that he's been getting support and change requests for some of his free and unsupported code that he has on his site. The discussion has morphed into a life of its own so I figured I'd start the "My Wish List For REALbasic in 2008" thread and get some additional feedback.
]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasic Windows2007-12-01T09:51:21-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/ebb28f30ab8d631afaa04cae8ff0624a-12.html#unique-entry-id-12http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/ebb28f30ab8d631afaa04cae8ff0624a-12.html#unique-entry-id-12
I have one client, however, that has had me working on a commercial VB6 application for five years. Since we know that someday VB6 will not be adequate for our needs we're looking for the 'next' development environment. .NET is the easy answer but since I have a lot invested in RB so I thought that if I can get them halfway to cross-platform that would be a win-win for everyone.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comRB Developer2007-11-14T17:34:15-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/cc40a7f2bada15d3b85403810576391b-11.html#unique-entry-id-11http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/cc40a7f2bada15d3b85403810576391b-11.html#unique-entry-id-11RB Developer is out. My new column, titled BKeeney Brief's, is now a regular feature.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comBusinessProgrammingManagement2007-11-26T21:35:10-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/1a892b173ed77b47dcef9168b4d1d878-10.html#unique-entry-id-10http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/1a892b173ed77b47dcef9168b4d1d878-10.html#unique-entry-id-10blog today titled Wide vs Deep and it got me thinking (which is always a scary thought). The blog is about how programmers are promoted to managers even though the thought processes are different. Managers are wide and shallow and programmers are deep and narrow. ]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasic Visual Basic2007-11-05T11:50:48-06:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/94342b805f104ea8d2de017794cef204-9.html#unique-entry-id-9http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/94342b805f104ea8d2de017794cef204-9.html#unique-entry-id-9
VB6 is no longer supported by Microsoft. This is forcing many developers into the .NET environment which is not as easy to use and many would argue that the language is no longer 'basic'. So what are companies that have dozens of VB6 applications to do?]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasic2007-10-30T16:29:33-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/272e837bcb83b257075fbe8fba4a072b-8.html#unique-entry-id-8http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/272e837bcb83b257075fbe8fba4a072b-8.html#unique-entry-id-8>” thread. The poster will be outraged that the engineers have allowed this bug to occur and berate the beta testers for not having caught it in beta.

What ensues in the thread usually boils down to this by follow-up posters:]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasic2007-10-17T20:50:04-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/e798e3f9556a96cb9bde13ab0ef76b8d-7.html#unique-entry-id-7http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/e798e3f9556a96cb9bde13ab0ef76b8d-7.html#unique-entry-id-7post in the NUG list then proceeds to give them crap about it. Is REAL Software the Rodney Dangerfield of the software industry getting, "No respect"?
]]>bobk@bkeeney.comBusinessCustomers2007-10-11T16:32:02-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/7e1a7edd0128a81e787ad0379072baef-6.html#unique-entry-id-6http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/7e1a7edd0128a81e787ad0379072baef-6.html#unique-entry-id-6bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasic2007-10-04T16:49:09-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/02c4fa3ddac9f1618aa2d0444a5e3c4d-5.html#unique-entry-id-5http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/02c4fa3ddac9f1618aa2d0444a5e3c4d-5.html#unique-entry-id-5Our new developer is starting soon and I'm in the let's hurry up and gather as much information stage. I've purchased the relevant books and gathered up the old issues of RB Developer magazine. I've even put together the care package of essential plugins and tools. So now what?]]>bobk@bkeeney.comBKeeney Briefs2007-09-29T09:24:34-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/92241317c6665d20b4dcd6cd400c3019-4.html#unique-entry-id-4http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/92241317c6665d20b4dcd6cd400c3019-4.html#unique-entry-id-4I'll admit this: I like the REALbasic Forums better than the NUG list. If I have a spare minute or two I peruse the forum looking for a question that I can respond to. The NUG digests in my inbox get ignored.

When I visit the forums I often hit the 'view unanswered posts' link to show me anything that hasn't been answered. This seems to be the best way for me to help others. If the question hasn't been answered then I'll take a look at it. If a question goes unanswered for over a week I'll respond to it even if I don't know the answer just so it gets some activity and gets the attention of others who use the 'view posts since last visit' option. Trust me, it works.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasic2007-09-20T14:53:49-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/49ffa157bd5bd9c70030cd0511f2f7c3-3.html#unique-entry-id-3http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/49ffa157bd5bd9c70030cd0511f2f7c3-3.html#unique-entry-id-3REALbasic engineers have said on the NUG that they are deprecating bindings and wish to open source RB3D. I think this is good for RB in the long run.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasic2007-09-19T15:04:48-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/8a7abf1666836359cea28ff5e6bd5d78-2.html#unique-entry-id-2http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/8a7abf1666836359cea28ff5e6bd5d78-2.html#unique-entry-id-2link) about the possibilities of an RB Wiki. I think it has loads of possibilities but people have to look at the drawbacks and from REAL Software's perspective. First, a little history.

There was a wiki, appropriately named 'RBwiki' a while back. I believe it was created just before REAL World 2006 and started with much fanfare and a lot of promises by volunteers to keep it up-to-date. A large contributor of the wiki was Thomas Templeton who used it to distribute the RBProjectTool that allowed people to use source code and version control systems with RB (before the rbvcp format was introduced). It was a tool that allowed RB users to read and write between RB binary source code files and text files for use with Subversion and CVS and the like. REAL World 2006 was where REAL Software announced the version control format and Thomas and the REAL engineers sat down and compared notes. I think it safe to say that todays rbvcp format is a direct result of the collaboration. That also meant that the interest in the RBProjectTool died rather quickly. In about a year, the wiki was dead - no one wanted to keep it up to date.]]>bobk@bkeeney.comBusinessCustomers2007-09-10T20:05:47-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/cd6231d09d895dac56309b7f5767bb81-1.html#unique-entry-id-1http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/cd6231d09d895dac56309b7f5767bb81-1.html#unique-entry-id-1are exaggerated but the end result is the same.

This means that you, as a developer, have to have thick skin. Someone will always complain about something. It happens all the time. If you add feature X, users will complain that they “need” feature Y. If you fix a bug and cause another one users will complain that your software is buggy and unstable. ]]>bobk@bkeeney.comREALbasicBusiness2007-09-01T13:06:09-05:00http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/0716bece3f941e26951a25734653e8c5-0.html#unique-entry-id-0http://www.bkeeneybriefs.com/files/0716bece3f941e26951a25734653e8c5-0.html#unique-entry-id-0RBDeveloper magazine agreed to publish a BKeeney Brief's column on a regular basis. This is a very cool thing and I'm happy to do it. I've always enjoyed writing and did a lot of writing for various Mac user groups back in the day. On a regular basis we'll talk about being a developer and what it's like to make a living as a developer.]]>