Yesterday I tweeted about a feature I would like:

Want: iPod on iPad able to browse desktop iTunes à la Home Sharing. Watching WWDC videos on iPad w/o having to sync first–yum.

I received a few recommendations for Air Video and StreamToMe. I’d forgotten that I’d downloaded Air Video but hadn’t set up the server; I’d also forgotten about StreamToMe even though I subscribe to Matt Gallagher’s blog.

I fired up the Air Video Server and started it serving the iTunes U playlist. Connecting and browsing from the iPad client was simple and straightforward. Trying to stream a WWDC video paused to buffer annoyingly often–which I blame less on the software than the 2GHz Mini it was running on, which probably also had the misfortune to have Time Machine kick in at the same time. But it doesn’t seem to have a functionality I implied by the “Home Sharing” reference: Copy the video to the iPad to watch elsewhere later. StreamToMe looks to have similar features (and lack thereof) to Air Video, so I didn’t test it.

I appreciate the recommendations, I really do. But neither of these can get past the one requirement I didn’t specify: I don’t want a third-party solution. My tweet was really a passive-aggressive desire to have Apple implement this.

(Read the article)

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I’m packed for WWDC, and have mowed the lawn so it’s not a jungle when I return. Earlier this week, I began prepping my hardware to have (hopefully) everything I need. There are plenty of WWDC “survival guides” out there–most recently an excellent one from Brent Simmons–and I even tried adding some pointers of my own last year. This year, I’ve noticed some little tips and ideas which may not be obvious; they may be too close to the trip to help anybody else out, but they might help you (or me) next year. (Read the article)

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I wrote my first check of the year yesterday and remembered to date it “2009.” More importantly, it wasn’t a personal check–it was a business check.

My wife and I have registered with the State of Washington as “Goracke Consulting, LLC” (the word “Corporation” is not allowed in an LLC name–who knew?) doing business under the name “Corporation Unknown.” It’s been an interesting process; not difficult, but filled with worry about not “doing it correctly” at each step. We made the final step of opening the business bank account on the last day of the year, and are ready to officially enter our first full year of business.

Since last year’s simple goals worked out pretty well, I think I’ll state my business goals for this year. In no particular order:

• WWDC
• C4
• Ship It!
• ?
• Profit!

(Hoo-boy, that joke never gets old.)

I have a couple dev-related posts I’ve been meaning to get out of my head which should be appearing soon. One of them will (if all goes as planned) include shared code I hope people will find useful.

Happy New Year!

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First WWDC sold out, but I got in on the last day of early registration.

Now, C4[2] opened registration and sold out while I was off on a weekend getaway. I hadn’t attended the previous two years, but was hoping to make it happen this year. There’s not much I can do about that except say “bummer” and look on the bright side: I had been very close to booking a flight and room when the dates were first announced, and I haven’t had to spend the day canceling reservations now.

What is the next Mac dev conference this year, and where should I set up my tent for the line?

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I’m certainly not planning to keep people updated on every CSS selector change on the site (there will be a lot), but I have to mark the occasion of changing from the boring stock WordPress “Kubrick” theme to the first revision of Corporation Unknown’s graphic identity.

Most significant is the new logo done by our friends at SkyCubeMedia. Thanks to Sky (and my wife’s initial sketch), I now have a site identity I can carry around (in the form of business cards) to WWDC.

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Well, here we go…

Corporation Unknown will serve to track the course of my progress to an intended career as an independent Mac software developer. No, I don’t hate my job (even though it’s not Mac development), but I do feel that this is the long-term path to my career happiness and further success. We will track milestones on the way to launch, and share insights gained along the way–both in business and code.

Obviously, there is a product planned; it’s not Web 2.0, and it’s not going to change the world as you know it (in version 1.0, at least). It will be easier to use than what’s out there, yet more powerful at the same time–and I already have plans for more powerful future versions.

Let us begin…

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