perldiver

http://cocoadevcentral.com/d/learn_objectivec/

I've been picking up what I can about Objective-C, but so far I've had trouble actually getting a good handle on it.  The books and tutorials I've been using aren't about Objective-C, they are about the iPhone SDK.  I've done C, C++, and Java so catching the differences in syntax isn't hard, but it's been hard to track down some of the new semantics.  This tutorial covers it all pretty well, and now I finally get what @property and @synthesize are and how they work together.


Edit:  Here are the formal Objective-C reference docs from Apple.

 About to go to bed, couldn't find my current book.  Wandering 'round and 'round the bloody apartment trying to find it.  Looking under the bed, in the bathroom, in the closet, checked the futon, in the sheets, in all the shelves (several times), in the various boxes of papers and whatnot, checked my six square feet of kitchen counter--heck, I even looked in the fridge and the microwave, just in case I absentmindedly stuffed it in there while making lunch.  Didn't find it.  Repeated the whole loop three or four times.

Suddenly, the light dawns!  I have a small ledge to the right of the sink that I use for a drying rack.  Sure enough, I left it there.

Yay!  Happiness is mine.

Occasionally, I make a post and the timestamp is 2 hours in the future.  When I do a couple of posts in succession, this occasionally results in "can't do that, post out of order."  What the HELL?!
 
Does anyone else have this problem?

 Woof.  Try this workout, the next time you're feeling energetic in the morning.  It's not going to hurt you, but it will sure have you puffing and panting, unless you are already in much better shape than I am.

• Do the following set twice:
  • Full body crunches until your stomach starts to ache, then 10 more.   (Sit on the edge of your bed with your body in a pretty-much straight line at 45 degrees, hands loosely at your sides.  Then, bring your knees and chest together so they meet over your center of gravity.)  
  • Hindu pushups  Only do 5 of them, but do them with good form.  Watch the video several times, then try to do one, then check the video again.
  • 30 lat crunches on each side .  (Lie on your back, thighs pointing straight up and knees parallel to the ground.  Lift your head and neck off the ground using your chest muscles NOT YOUR NECK.  Lace your fingers behind your neck for support, but DON'T PULL ON YOUR NECK.  Lift your right elbow toward your left knee using only your lower abdominal muscles.  You don't need to actually make contact, just go enough to lift your shoulder blade off the floor.)
  • High stepping for 1 minute.  Set up a low object in front of you, then run in place, tapping your foot on the top of the object with each step. (I used an office chair on minimum height.)  Try to get in 90-120 taps per minute.

It goes pretty quick and does both strength and cardio, all of which are good things. 

I'm not so worried about my weight or my pure strength, but my shape (specifically, the spare tire) and lack of wind bother me.  Really what I should do is set up another rules-bound  commitment to myself, like I did with Carrot and Stick.  That should probably involve take such shirtless pictures and buying a scale so I can track progress.

 [Edit:  Also, French Toast with cinnamon and honey ROCKS MY WORLD!!]

Never Back Down is the remix of Karate Kid for today's generation, but considerably superior and definitely worth seeing if you enjoy action movies or high school maturation stories.  

First, the plot:  Take the original Karate Kid story, change out Jean Roqua's (Djimon Hounsou) mixed martial arts for Mr Miyagi's (Pat Morita) karate, change the names of the lead characters, set it in Florida instead of CA, and make the final tournament be a no-holds-barred brawl with DJs (but, strangely, umpires?) and you could pretty much write this script yourself.  The "twists" aren't very twisty, and nothing in this movie will surprise you, but it sure feels good:  the boy and the girl end up together, Evil is defeated, Good triumphs, and once the final blow lands, Peace Reigns Forevermore.  [Just make a point of never asking yourself "why is it that all of these kids are taking videos of each other committing assault and battery and then uploading  them to YouTube, but the police never show up?" or "how is it that these kids have fractured ribs on Tuesday and are in school and are fine on Wednesday?"] 

Here's where the difference comes in, and lift this movie from being a simple plagiarism into something really superior to its ancestor:  in this one, the protagonist actually shows some emotional development.

( Detailed commentary )If you've got a Netflix subscription, go watch this.  It's only an hour and a half or so, and it's fun.