function latest_tweet($username = 'gfiumara', $include_date = false)
{
        /* Grab the latest tweet in XML format */
        $twitter_feed_url = "http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/$username.xml?count=1";
        $feed_buffer = file_get_contents($twitter_feed_url);
 
        /* Use the tweet ID from XML to retrieve an HTML page with the tweet */
        $xml = new SimpleXMLElement($feed_buffer);
        $status = $xml->status;
        $single_tweet_url = "http://twitter.com/$username/status/$status->id";
        $html_buffer = file_get_contents($single_tweet_url);
 
        /* Tweets are located in an 'entry-content' class span */
        preg_match('`<span class="entry-content">(?P<latest>.*)</span>`', $html_buffer, $tweet_array);
 
        /* Add some additional formatting */
        $tweet = '<div id="tweet">@<a href="http://www.twitter.com/' . $username . '" target="_blank">' . $username . '</a>: ';
        if (isset($tweet_array['latest'])) {
                $tweet .= $tweet_array['latest'];
 
                /* Twitter uses relative links for @replies, etc. */
                $tweet = preg_replace('`href="/`', 'href="http://twitter.com/', $tweet);
 
                /* Insert the date */
                if ($include_date) {
                        /* Date is located in a 'published timestamp' span */
                        preg_match('`<span class="published timestamp" .*>(?P<latest>.*)</span>`', $html_buffer, $date_array);
                        if (isset($date_array['latest'])) 
                                /* Don't use HTML5 <time> because we're not guaranteed a valid time string */
                                $tweet .= '<a href="' . $single_tweet_url . '" target="_blank"><div class="time">' . $date_array['latest'] . "</div></a>";
                }
        } else
                $tweet .= "<em>No tweet retrieved.</em>";
 
        return $tweet . "</div>";
}

That said, this would be infinitely easier with jQuery or an HTML DOM Parser, but I really wanted it to be self-contained and completely PHP. You’ll need PHP 5 to use this code. If you’re stuck with PHP 4, you could simply rewrite the SimpleXML section with DOM XML or parse it with preg_match() like I do to get the date. You might want to preg_quote() the regular expressions.

If you see how this can be improved in any way or you spend the time to make it work for PHP 4, please leave a comment!

import android.app.Service;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.IBinder;
import android.util.Log;
 
public class StartAtBootService extends Service 
{
	    public IBinder onBind(Intent intent)
	    {
	    	return null;
	    }
 
	    @Override
	    public void onCreate() 
	    {
	    	Log.v("StartServiceAtBoot", "StartAtBootService Created");
	    }
 
	    @Override
	    public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flags, int startId) 
	    {
	    	Log.v("StartServiceAtBoot", "StartAtBootService -- onStartCommand()");	        
 
	        // We want this service to continue running until it is explicitly
	        // stopped, so return sticky.
	        return START_STICKY;
	    }
 
	    /*
	     * In Android 2.0 and later, onStart() is depreciated.  Use
	     * onStartCommand() instead, or compile against API Level 5 and
	     * use both.
	     * http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2010/02/service-api-changes-starting-with.html
	    	@Override
	    	public void onStart(Intent intent, int startId)
	    	{
	    		Log.v("StartServiceAtBoot", "StartAtBootService -- onStart()");	        
	    	}
	     */
 
	    @Override
	    public void onDestroy() 
	    {
	    	Log.v("StartServiceAtBoot", "StartAtBootService Destroyed");
	    }
}

Use any Service you already have instead of the above. Within application in your AndroidManifest.xml define your Service with an intent-filter:

<service android:name="StartAtBootService">
	<intent-filter>
		<action android:name="com.example.ssab.StartAtBootService">
		</action>
	</intent-filter>
</service>

Now the new part. The OS broadcasts ACTION_BOOT_COMPLETED when it has finished booting. Your app can ask to receive this notification by requesting permission in your manifest:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED">
</uses-permission>

Your app now gets the broadcast, but still needs to do something with it. This is done by subclassing the BroadcastReceiver class. As far as I know, ACTION_BOOT_COMPLETED is the only Intent broadcast to apps, but because this could change at any point (and I can all but guarantee it will), do yourself a favor and check the Intent in your onReceive() method:

import android.content.BroadcastReceiver;
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.Intent;
 
public class StartAtBootServiceReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver 
{
	@Override
	public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) 
	{
		if (intent.getAction().equals(Intent.ACTION_BOOT_COMPLETED)) {
			Intent i = new Intent();
			i.setAction("com.example.ssab.StartAtBootService");
			context.startService(i);
		}
	}
}

The last thing you need to do is register your BroadcastReceiver in your manifest, within application:

<receiver android:name="StartAtBootServiceReceiver">
	<intent-filter>
		<action android:name="android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED">
		</action>
		<category android:name="android.intent.category.HOME">
		</category>
	</intent-filter>
</receiver>

That should do it. If you’re using Eclipse, run your app once and then exit the emulator. Then issue emulator -avd your_avd_name to launch your emulator without uninstalling your app. An adb logcat | grep StartAtBootService should show your app starting at boot.

• Target your app at iOS 3 (unless your analytics show heavy iOS 2 usage, it’s time to leave them).
• Limit a few “pro” features in the iOS 3 version that can be unlocked with a minimal in-app purchase.
• Once your app is ready, weak link the iAd framework, enable iAds in your app, and use intelligent conditional checks when writing iAd code.

Hopefully since you’re choosing to use ads while under iOS 4, you won’t charge to download your app and all features of your app will be unlocked when displaying ads.  It still might be appropriate to create an in-app purchase that disables advertisements.  Just don’t take advantage of your users to line your pockets.

Unfortunately, you can’t use Interface Builder to add the ADBannerView object so you must generate the element programmatically.  Remember to weak link the iAd framework by selecting the appropriate target in the Groups and Files pane and then change “Required” to “Weak” for iAd.

/* YourViewController.h */
#import <iAd/iAd.h>
 
@interface YourViewController : UIViewController
{
	ADBannerView *adView;
	BOOL bannerIsVisible;
}
 
@property(nonatomic, retain) ADBannerView *adView;
@property(nonatomic, assign) BOOL bannerIsVisible;
 
/* YourViewController.m */
@synthesize adView;
@synthesize bannerIsVisible;
 
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
	[super viewDidLoad];
 
	static NSString * const kADBannerViewClass = @"ADBannerView";
	if (NSClassFromString(kADBannerViewClass) != nil) {
		if (self.adView == nil) {
			self.adView = [[[ADBannerView alloc] init] autorelease];
			self.adView.delegate = self;
			self.adView.frame = CGRectMake(0, -50, 320, 50);
			self.adView.currentContentSizeIdentifier = ADBannerContentSizeIdentifier320x50;
			[self.view addSubview:self.adView];
		}
	}
}
 
#pragma mark -
#pragma mark ADBannerViewDelegate Methods
 
- (void)bannerViewDidLoadAd:(ADBannerView *)banner
{
	if (!self.bannerIsVisible) {
		[UIView beginAnimations:nil context:NULL];
		banner.frame = CGRectOffset(banner.frame, 0, 50);
		[UIView commitAnimations];
		self.bannerIsVisible = YES;
	}
}
 
- (void)bannerView:(ADBannerView *)banner didFailToReceiveAdWithError:(NSError *)error
{
	if (self.bannerIsVisible) {
		[UIView beginAnimations:nil context:NULL];
		banner.frame = CGRectOffset(banner.frame, 0, -50);
		[UIView commitAnimations];
		self.bannerIsVisible = NO;
	}
}
 
- (void)dealloc
{
	self.adView.delegate = nil
	self.adView = nil;
 
	[super dealloc];
}

Don't forget to weak link the iAd framework!

Nothing special needs to be done about your interface file (.h).  Think about it: at compile time, the preprocessor directive importing the iAd interface defines the interface ADBannerView.  Because we weak link the framework, the compiler won’t complain about the implementation not being around for the 3.0 target.  You also don’t need to worry about doing checks for the ADBannerView class in the delegate methods, they’ll only get called if adView is instantiated and sets YourViewController as the delegate.

Remember to set your Base SDK for to iOS 4 and your Deployment Target to the lowest iOS version you want to support, or you did all this for naught.

I’m sure other examples will be flooding the Internet soon, as I’ve seen some questions regarding my initial posted asked on Stack Overflow. Now that the NDA is lifted, you can download the example project (with few additional comments and clean-up).

You’ll mainly want to familiarize yourself with RootViewController.m’s UITableViewDelegate methods and the SubstitutableDetailViewController protocol. I’ve removed a lot of unused methods for readability, so you probably shouldn’t be using this as a starting template but rather a learning tool. We’re able to swap in multiple detailViewControllers by manipulating the viewControllers property of the UISplitViewController. This is more of a lesson in Objective-C protocols than anything, so if you’re in need of this code, you probably should be reading and understanding the Objective-C documentation on protocols from Apple first.

There are several other ways to do this (Picture Sleuth uses a different method) but it all boils down to the same stuff.

Download the example project.

This happened today.  My dad’s friend calls me to let me know that his “brand new computer” is popping up the message “Application cannot be executed. The file wuauclt.exe is infected. Do you want to activate your antivirus software now?”  Followed by ads for a $70 product and his computer unable to do anything but display that message.  I offered to Google for him and print out the information but I knew he wanted me to make a house call, and 45 minutes later I was there, armed with 20 minutes worth of Googling.

Here’s how to fix your problem if you have it, since there really isn’t a good resource on Google.  But I’m also going to rant.  Also, if you stumble across this post because you’re having this problem and this solution doesn’t work for you, please move along.

1. Boot into safe mode
2. Launch Internet Explorer
   • Of course you only go to trusted websites and read e-mails from people you know.  Yet, here I am trying to fix your machine.
3. Remove the fake proxy from IE
   • On the machine I was fixing, it was connecting to localhost:5555
   • If you actually do use a proxy to connect to the Internet, replace the fake proxy with the correct information.  If you don’t know what a proxy is, you probably don’t use one!
4. Run ComboFix
   • Really all you need to do is remove %userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Settings\<random 4-6>\<different_random>.exe but you probably have other malware and ComboFix will take care of some of it.
5. Reboot and read the rest of my post
   • Your problem is solved for now, but a proper anti-virus tool will remove orphaned files from this malware (once they get updated).

There are a few things I think every Windows user ought to be required to know and do before they can use their machines.  This would eliminate over 50% of tech support calls, reducing the need to outsource tech support to India, increasing the number of US jobs.  There, I just solved the “jobs crisis” for a lot less.

• Don’t use Internet Explorer (use Firefox or Chrome instead)
  • You wouldn’t take tour of the White House from the bum who sleeps out on the National Mall, this is no different.
• Turn on Windows Automatic Updates and Windows Firewall
  • Microsoft actually tries to do a decent job trying to protect you when they can, but most users don’t let them.
• Download and automatically update nightly one respectable anti-virus package (for free!)
  • People get sucked into the Symantec/McAfee scheme and then don’t want to or won’t pay for updates.  Get a free product that works just as well, if not better and consuming less computer resources, than the commercial software.
• Know how to boot into Safe Mode and other special modes
  • A lot of malware can easily be deleted in malware, yet you’ll pay Geek Squad a minimum of $50 to do something you can do/prevent yourself.
• Read what your computer is telling you.  Ignorance is not bliss for Windows.
  • Did your McAfee subscription expire and so you’re not receiving virus definition updates?
  • Are you visit a website that “may harm your computer?”
  • Do you know who wrote the software you’re installing, read the EULA, and realize it’s also installing 3 other programs?
• Google is your friend
  • 98% of the time, you’re not the first person to have a computer problem.  It’s probably been answered on at least 5 discussion board very thoroughly and given a few good keywords, Google will lead you right to it.  Microsoft’s knowledge base is also a pretty good resource.

There was a (+5 Insightful) comment on Slashdot earlier that I think is spot on.  It went a little something like:

Anti-virus::Washing your hands, Software Patches::Regular doctor visits, Shady porn sites::Cheap hookers, Clicking random links::Sharing needles, Downloading unknown programs::trusting random person with your SSN

And for the last time, computer science != {malware removal, free MS Office, $10 websites, …}, but most of us will be happy to help you if we can.

1. Push a OS X Install DVD to an 8GB USB flash drive, with one MBR partition.
2. Run NetBook Maker on the flash drive.  I used version 0.8.3a.  This takes care of adding in a lot of the kernel extensions automatically after OS X installation that you used to have to do manually.
3. Boot the 10v from the flash drive and run the normal OS X install by pressing F12 when you see the Dell logo and choosing USB Mass Storage.  Note that my install hung near the end, but looking at the installer log (Command-L during installation), it looked like NetBook Installer had installed its kernel extensions and forgot to give control back to the OS X Installer.  I forced a reboot and then manually deleted /Mac OS X Installer Data.

That’s it!  It really is that simple now.  I did encounter a few things that needed tweaking after the install:

No Sound After 10.6.2 Update

After I installed the 10.6.2 update, sound no longer worked.  Simply run /Applications/NetBook Installer.  Check “Install General Extensions” and “Fix bluetooth”.  After a reboot, everything should work fine.  This will probably have to be done after every subsequent OS X update because these updates most likely overwrite the kernel extensions or their cache installed/created by NetBook Installer.

Screen Stays Dark after Sleep

After waking the 10v from sleep, the screen would not come back on, though you can hear the hard drive spin up.  The solution is to disable USB Legacy BIOS support in the BIOS (press F2 when you see the Dell logo at boot).  Arrow over to Advanced, then down to USB Legacy BIOS.  Press return and choose Disabled.  Arrow back up and over to Exit and choose Save and Exit.  Sleep problems solved.

Software Updates Won’t Install

A number of updates, including Java Update 1 and Security Update 2010-001 just would not install from the Software Update program.  Heading over to the Apple Support Download web site and downloading the updaters manually did the trick.

Short Sounds Don’t Play

OS X likes to turn off the sound driver when not in use, which makes shorter sounds not play after no sound has been output for a few minutes.  Use antipop to keep everything sounding smooth.  It use OS X’s speech mechanism to speak a space character every 10 seconds, keeping the audio turned on.  There’s absolutely no hit on performance.  By default, antipop only runs when the netbook is charging, but simply execute the following command and reboot to have anitpop run when on battery mode.

echo -n "0" > /usr/local/share/antipop/ac_only

That’s about it.  Now I have a < $300 machine that’s almost as powerful as Apple’s $1000+ equivalents.  Unfortunately, I have to return it to its owner now

The next time I turned on the laptop, it went to sleep after a few minutes.  I would power it back on and it would go to sleep again seconds later.  This repeated again and again.  I decided to let it sit overnight.  The next morning, I powered it on and it would stay on for about 15 minutes before it would go to sleep, only this time when I would wake it back up the screen would not come back on.  This happened for two weeks before I could get a new laptop (thanks State Farm Insurance, for covering a large chunk of the purchase).  In the mean time, I used the machine with an external display.  For whatever reason, when the DVI port was in use, the machine would stay awake.

I figured the problem had something to do with the “sleep sensor” in the MacBook Pro.  When the computer would stay awake, the screen worked fine and the computer itself worked fine.  My thought was that the computer thought the lid was constantly closing and so it would go to sleep.

I thought the “sleep sensor” was located in the latch or somewhere in the front of the laptop, but after poking around on the Internet and on the machine, I found out that its located on the back of the right side of the keyboard, right in the middle.  It is something that is commonly called a reed switch.  It sends an electrical impulse to sleep the computer when the force of a magnet is felt.  The magnet is located in the bezel halfway down the display on the right side.  Confirm this by placing a paperclip in that location!  When you close the lid, the magnet lines up with the sensor on the underside of the right speaker grill and tells OS X to go to sleep.

The paperclip shows the location of the magnet portion of the reed switch on the MacBook Pro

If you take the top of the laptop off, you’ll see the second part of the reed switch with a three-wire connector leading to the main keyboard ribbon cable.

The sensor of the reed switch is located just under the right speaker grill.

Close up of the reed switch

I removed, cleaned, and reinstalled the sensor, and now the machine has been working on battery power for hours without a problem (I’m typing this entry on it now).  I’ll update this post if something goes awry, but if you’re having weird sleep problems and think you’ve tried everything like the dozens of other people that have posted on Apple’s discussion boards, try cleaning the reed switch and make sure you don’t have strong magnets near the right side of your MacBook Pro.

There’s really just too much going through my head right now.  I need to settle down and let it all sink in.  I need the time to do that now.

I never thought I would see this day.

After the presentation, I was approached by an individual from UMBC’s DoIT who expressed a great deal of interest and excitement in the app and said that we would probably be in contact.  Several other students thought I should be trying to go somewhere with this app.  They’re probably right.  I’m looking to get the ball rolling, beefing up the app to add some features I thought about but didn’t have time to implement, and hopefully even taking this app to market. It’s a good night for sure!