3D Internet

I am taking a 3D Modeling course at Columbus State starting this week. Several people have asked me why I am taking such a course. The simple answer is I find 3D fascinating. The long answer is I think 3D is the future. 3D is currently playing an important role in movies, games and even mobile applications like those found on the iPhone. But I also think 3D will be the future of the Internet. I think our children will look back at today's two dimensional Internet like I look back on black and white TV. Every time I see a B&W movie or TV program, I ask how could they watch this when they live in a colored world. I think our children will ask how could you live with a 2D Internet when you live in a 3D world. I think Second Life is a glimpse into this future. So I think at some point 3D skills will be an important skill to have if not a required one.

CodeMash 2009 Presentations - Groovy and Grails Precompile and iPhone Web Development with Grails and iUI

I thoroughly enjoyed attending and presenting at CodeMash 2009. My co-author of Beginning Groovy and Grails, Jim Shingler and I presented a Groovy and Grails Precompile which is CodeMash speak for preconference tutorial. The presentation went well and we had 27 people in attendance. If you are interested, you can view the slides at http://www.slideshare.net/jshingler/gg-code-mash2009-20090106-presentation/.

I also presented a regular session on iPhone Web Development with Grails and iUI. Most of the presentation is about iPhone Web Development but there are several Grails introductory slides and several more on integrating iUI with Grails. I am glad I included the Grails introductory material since this was the first exposure to Grails for most of the developers attending my session. If you are interested, you can view the slides at http://www.slideshare.net/cjudd/iphone-web-development-with-grails-from-codemash-2009-presentation/

iUI Web Development with Grails article

I am excited to announce my iPhone article iUI Web Development with Grails was just published as the cover story of the December 2008 edition of GroovyMag. In the article I explain why you might want to consider iPhone web development over native iPhone applications, how to add native iPhone looking support to an existing Grails application using the iUI library and the iUI Grail plug-in as well as tips for testing and debugging iPhone web applications. Check out my article and the other great GroovyMag articles at http://www.groovymag.com/main.issues.description/id=4.

Columbus iPhone Developers User Group (CIDUG)

I am interested in meeting other iPhone developers in Central Ohio and sharing information. So I am proposing a local iPhone Developers User Group. If you are interested, please join the Google Group created for starting the conversation about this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cidug.

Announcing Grails iUI plug-in

I am excited to announce the release of a new Grails plug-in, iUI Plug-in version 0.2. This is the initial release of the plug-in. This plug-in installs the current version of the popular iUI library for developing native looking iPhone web applications. iUI is a combination of CSS, JavaScript and images for simplifying iPhone web applications and give the application a native iPhone application look and feel.

You can find more details about the Grails iUI plug-in and how to use it at the iUI Plug-in page. Also keep a look out for an upcoming indepth iPhone Web Development article in GroovyMag.

Eclipse World 2008 Slides

I just finished speaking at Eclipse World 2008. Like previous years it was a marathon of speaking. I gave one full day tutorial and three regular sessions so unfortunately I did not get to attend very many sessions. I have posted my sessions for all to enjoy.

Develop Better Java EE Applications With Eclipse Web Tools Platform (tutorial)
Step by Step: Making Enterprise JavaBeans With J2EE Standard Tools
Beat Those Java Dependencies: Extend the Web Tools Platform With Facets
Interacting With Relational Databases

Please Be Safe

I thought this was a humorous sign I saw at The Wilds.


This is an interesting way to protect your investment. Notice the large cats in the background.