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iPhone app Saint Louis Software development

Resources for aspiring software developers in St. Louis

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We know St. Louis is not a hot (or cool) place as Seattle/Silicon Valley in terms of job opportunities for software engineers. But St. Louis area have plenty of opportunities from small to large organizations, with a diverse industries. There are also many resources for aspiring software developers who like to join the industry.

The No. 1 resource I recommend is LaunchCode. It was relatively new, but I personally knew 3 people got internship position through them, and 2 of them received full time offers, in last few years. They seemed really got the non-traditional students/newbies connected with the industry.

The No. 2 resource I like to mention is all these “user groups”, e.g., the old ones such as St. Louis Java User Group, St. Louis .Net User Group, St. Louis Unix User Group. They are mostly free and open to everyone, here is a list of monthly calendar compiled by the good folks at sluug. There are also some groups concentrate on newer technologies, such as iOS, Android, Angular JS Group, and functional and dynamic languages. Relate to the last one, there is also a conference on coding StrangeLoop which is considered good in the midwest (if not the US). I have been to most of the user group meetings and StrangeLoop conference (a while ago, when I’ve not got busy with 2 young kids), and I think they are good in terms of two aspects: 1) Learn new trends on the technology; 2) Get to know some of the people (they are not all nerds 🙂 Last but not least for user groups sometimes they have free food or door prizes: they are usually sponsored by the hosting companies or the recruiters who are looking for developers.

This is also my last bullet point. The recruiters. I know in this day of the age, we have a somewhat love/hate relationship with recruiters because they spam us on the phone, and on linkedIn. But looking at another way, for many openings esp. contractor positions are coming through recruiters. And also keep in mind not all recruiters are the same, there are some (if not a few) who are really good at finding positions and are also pleasant to work with. Not all are like car salesperson (for that matter, I think the perception on car salesperson is also rated unfairly). So my advice for aspiring developers is to establish something on LinkedIn, and start looking for a few good recruiters. I personally have worked with some very good recruiters, and my friend who found internship via LaunchCode worked with a recruiter at one time too (both out of necessity, sometimes companies can only hire contractor).

Will update this post as time goes.

Categories
Fun

I like the driving with Serenity on board

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I continue to be Serenity’s weekend activity driver these days. I like spending time with her, esp. when she asked me questions when we go to COCA for her ballet class: it’s about 15 minutes one way, and it’s Sunday afternoon, so it’s not as busy.

These days she like to say something, usually some facts or something she recently learned, then ends with “right, daddy?”. Most of times she was right, and I would say yes to some not to critical/important questions anyway. I think from her perspective, she likes to get “ok” or some form of approval/agreement from grown-up like me.

It’s funny I recall she likes to chat during our KinderMusik at JCC Chesterfield (about 15 to 20 minutes drive) in the past. It’s usually better than 5 or 10 minutes drive in terms of the quality of conversation.

Kids grew up fast. I enjoyed talk to them esp. when I don’t have to discipline them. Those sweet talks, sometime before her bedtime.

One thing is besides the constant iPhone staring, we do have the memory in photos: for example Google Photo reminds me what we did a year ago with Serenity, at Beirne Park or something. And we have this blog. I know there is very few readers, but I do read it such as Serenity is 100 days old, etc. as Sophia is the new baby, she is 14.5 half months old now.

Categories
advice and tips finance

A few Checking account promotions

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(Update 11-05-2015) Citibank Gold Checking account offer: 50,000 AA miles or 50,000 ThankYou Points (doctorofcredit has a detailed explanation and step-to-step guide). This seems like good deal even consider $90 monthly fees (3 months). Also, a top on checks. Sometimes it cost money to get beginning checks for a checking acct. One way to workaround is to use PayPal as a conduit. I recall I used it long time ago when I sold stuff on ebay. Almost forgot about it as I have not done it for years. One drawback compared to check is PayPal is a bit slower because it adds a layer.

(Update 10-16-2015) Two more checking account offers. Santander and TD Bank (expired 11/05/2015, per hustlermoneyblog). Both offers $150 for opening account and direct deposit for (Santander), 15 debit transactions for TD Bank.

(Update 10-08-2015) Hunnington Bank is doing a $200 checking account offer. Here’s all it takes to get your $200: Open a new Huntington 5 Checking account using the link below by November 24, 2015. Make at least $1,000 in deposits within 60 days of account opening. It’s really that simple. We’ll then deposit $200 into your new account within 14 days of meeting the requirements. Read more about waiving monthly fee from here. (hint: $5000 account balance for one). Also note: This offer is only available to online applicants residing in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and West Virginia.

(Update 10-01-2015) More checking account opening bonus, this one from First Tennessee Bank, offers ends on Oct 31st, 2015. “To receive your bonus, you must open the checking account online and ensure the code ONLINE appears in the online application where “Offer/Promo code” is requested. You must have an opening deposit of at least $300, and at least one direct deposit must post to your account within 60 days of account opening…” (11-03-2015) I received their bonus shortly after meeting their requirement. That’s fast 🙂

Also useful links: Doctor of Credit List Of Methods Banks Count As Direct Deposits (not super scientific, but still useful if one plan to use Paypal instead of employer paycheck); My Money Blog Applying for Multiple Bank Accounts: Can You Apply For Too Many?

(Original 09-27-2015)
Fifth Third Bank
53 Bank offers $150 for opening Checking account with qualifying activities. Link here. Note this is direct link (not affiliated link, in other words I am not taking any commision from the bank. Same below). Qualifying activity includes three online bill payments, using Fifth Third Bank’s online bill payment service, and direct deposit. Don’t know when the offer will ends. Last time I got a $200 offer from them and enrolled at the last day (July 26, 2015). They were very quick to deposit the bonus money after I met their requirement.

Note: Fifth Third Bank will also donate $150 to “Stand Up to Cancer”. Keep in mind there are many cancer related charity ripoffs according to Anderson Cooper, it seems SU2C is legit.

BMO Harris
Back to topic. BMO Harris is doing $200 offer for new checking account with direct deposit. Link here. Offer (account opening) is valid between July 27, 2015 and January 22, 2016. (11-3-2015) Just opened an Everyday Checking account with them today.

PNC Bank
PNC is offering up to $400 for opening new checking account with qualifying direct deposit. Offer ends 12/31/2015. Link here. (11-3-2015) I received their bonus about 28 days after meeting their requirement.

Notes:
1) The bonus overall is not as general as some credit card offer (more than $500 opening bonus with qualifying spending). But keep in mind opening credit card usually means a hard pull on credit record, while opening checking account does not. One thing keep in mind is one has to be US citizen or permanent resident for opening checking accounts, due to the new laws and regulations in this new era.

2) Also the bonus from checking account will usually reported as interest income or ordinary income. It will be taxed when we file the tax next year, this is different from the credit card promotion, which usually billed as rebate or points (and there is no tax implication).

Categories
advice and tips finance Fun

A map (or a chart) is worth a thousand words

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airlines miles award chart

Complete map of Starwood SPG hotels

award map (hotels points and map)

British airways avios map

Car rental primary insurance

PS (09-24-2015): booked Westin Lake Las Vegas via BA Avios points. It cost about 11,000 points for the premium room ($81 + taxes). The room there starts at 7,000 SPG points, note 7,000 points is for traditional room (I got a premier double room). I feel it’s a decent deal as SPG points are usually worth more.

Westin Lake Las Vegas

PS2 (09-25-2015): more hotels booking. Last night I also booked Hilton Anaheim both via BA Avois (about 18,000 points) and Chase Ultimate Rewards (about 10,500 points). The hotel was very close to Disneyland. And today I booked one more night Hilton Anaheim via Chase UR (now we have 3 nights total), it seems the UR points for the hotel increased overnight, but the dollar price stayed the same. The next step is to get the Disneyland (and California Adventure) tickets booked.

Hilton Anaheim

PS3 (09-26-2015)
Other nearby hotels, both cost HHonors 20,000 points : Double Tree Anaheim (this one does not have free breakfast, parking cost is similar to the Hilton above, about $16 per day).

Double Tree Anaheim

Another one: Hampton Inn Los Angeles-Orange County-Cypress. Hampton Inn has free parking and breakfast compared to Double Tree. It’s a bit farther away from Disneyland.

hampton inn los angeles orange county Cypress

Categories
iPhone app

tvOS tutorials collections

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Note this is also available at github.

(10-06-2015 Update 2) Came across this one by tutsplus. Also the thoughts by Erica and savyapps.

(09-28-2015 Update) Came across this tutorial by madeupbypeople. Looks good. Also, note Xcode 7.1 beta 2 is coming out, along with iOS 9.0.1

(09-19-2015 Original) My Apple TV dev kit arrived. I haven’t done iOS dev for a while, not even get around the Apple Watch (I use a Fitbit Charge personally). But this new Apple TV thing seems really interesting, with all these TVML and TVJS things. There are not many tvOS tutorial right now, as this is really new and not many people get around it yet. But here are some I saw.

The following two both talked about TVML, TVJS and TVMLKit (the glue between TVML, JavaScript, and your native tvOS application per Kelvin Lau, see below). I know for traditional iOS developers Javascript may not be their favorite language (think Objective-C), but with the introduction of Swift, combined with the growth of popularity of Javascript in web development (both frontend and backend), we should at least pay attention to it. It’s much easier to setup a simple content navigation framework using Javascript and CSS (think websites) instead of Objective-C/Swift.

raywenderlich (Kelvin Lau @KelvinlauKL): Beginning tvOS Development with TVML Tutorial

Jameson Quave (@jquave)Developing tvOS Apps for Apple TV [Part 1] and Developing tvOS Apps for Apple TV [Part 2]

Mastering the tvOS Focus Engine: saw this at airbnb blog, this one is interesting because it talked about the focus and remote control. Note the game market is one focus of new Apple TV.

Quick Tip: How to use the remote control in your TVOS Apps for Apple TV in SWIFT

This one Hands-on with the tvOS SDK talked about porting iOS app to tvOS (note this is not a recommended approach). Nonetheless it’s interesting to see the gesture recognizer etc being discussed there.

I expect more tutorial and development on tvOS as we are close to the new Apple TV launch.

Categories
advice and tips finance iOS

Discover Apple Pay 10% cash back until end of year

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With $10000 as spending limit. The prerequisite: iPhone 6, 6+, 6s, 6s+; iOS 9; in store purchase, no giftcard.

Stores support Apple Pay

Here in St. Louis, Schnucks, Dierbergs, WalGreens, St. Louis Bread Co. (Panera Bread) all supports Apple Pay. Though on Sept. 17 I tried at Schnucks counter, it failed, note this is the 2nd day of Discover Apple Pay launch, so it could be a glitch. It worked on Panera Bread (Sept 18, 19). I will also try Trader Joe’s as I saw it’s coming soon from the Apple website.

Why iOS 9 for Apple Pay
It’s a bit more security. Previously one can add a card to Apple Pay just from the physical card. So basically if a card is stolen, technically it can still be added. Obviously the card issuer usually has fraud detection system in place to catch those. But iOS add a two factor authentication when adding a new card, which is definitely a great idea. We catch the problem earlier this way. A thief cannot add a stolen card as easily as it used to be.

Btw, I saw the fingerprint based authentication get popular as BoA app and other apps (e.g., Apple’s own iTunes connect) use that for authentication. Save some typing work and more security.

(Update 09-20-15) It appears Discover Apple Pay still does not work on local Schnucks store. It prompts “do you want cash back”, I said “No”, then the transaction got declined. Something at a miss at Schnucks or their payment processor. Because it does work at Panera (St. Louis) Bread since Sept 18. I guess one way to test it is to swipe Discover Card directly to see if it works 🙂

(Update 09-25-2015) Used Apple Pay with Discover at Subway for lunch today, it worked flawlessly.

(Update 09-27-2015) Worked in Trader Joe’s too.

(Update 11-07-2015) Discover Apple Pay works in Schnucks now. 

Categories
iPhone app

iPhone purchase plan comparison

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(Update 10-08-2015) The Unlocked version of iPhone 6s and 6s plus started on sale at Apple store and online. via AppleInsider.

(Original 09-10-2015)
[table id=1 /]

Reference: the verge; Apple iPhone Upgrade Plan

Categories
iPhone app

How to install Google Play Store on Amazon Fire Phone

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One drawback of Fire Phone does not come with Google Play Store pre-installed. It comes with Amazon App Store instead, which has a much smaller collection. For instance, I could not find BoA app, wechat and all the Google apps there. Fortunately there is way to get around it, with the Google Play Store the Fire Phone becomes a middle range Android phone.

Make sure you do them in the right order: Account Manager, Services
Framework, Play Services, finally Play Store.
Account Manager: https://app.box.com/s/qeetg0vfe01ri83l2e1nosl8rzmax41q

Services Framework: https://app.box.com/s/x6gkj91qkwxse2abqhz0at4uq6wtpe91

Play Services: https://app.box.com/s/cas5ctu356rnm088c6l4ngo8b5r0hd1z

Play Store: https://app.box.com/s/pjtgrmfl1t3by9tuhvb6vm5i04m7falk

The first one you try to install (Account Manager) you’ll get a warning that it’s an unknown source and offer to take you to settings. Go to settings and enable App Installation (allows installations from other sources (read: Google Play))

Courtesy of qzmtl at mitbbs. This is the most simple instructions to install Play Store on Fire Phone. And I did it in 5 minutes or so.

Categories
iPhone app

Mobile Device Management

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or MDM for the abbreviation. If you have read my blog for a while, you know I was a Blackberry fan, Blackberry was also my first Smartphone. The company (used to be Research In Motion) and the Blackberry has been in declining in recent years, and yesterday it announced buying the Good Technology (a rival mobile email technology provider). I have not used Good Technology based email myself, but have heard it being used in a few places I worked. Guess I was not important enough to carry a smartphone in those occasions 🙂

Back to topic, Good Technology operates in a large space called Mobile Device Management, with a few competitors, MobileIron and AirWatch comes to mind for startups, then we have traditional players such as IBM and Citrix. I got to know MobileIron a few years ago as I was working on iOS dev and deployment and at the time, they have not IPOed yet. I looked at its stock price just now, and not surprisingly it did not do well. Just like Alex said in this Techcrunch article, it suggested this space is not gold mine. I knew AirWatch (which is bigger than MobileIron), was bought by VMWare in early 2014. If a company can go IPO, they would go IPO instead of being bought out. Of course this does not apply to Instagram and Whatsapp, as Facebook paid handsome money for them at the time. For Blackberry, it seems like a shrewd move as all these players are down at this moment, personally I felt MDM is a niche space that big player not necessarily want to crush startup, like Box or Dropbox situation (in that case, Google, Amazon, Microsoft Azure/OneDrive, and to less extent, Apple iCloud all compete). For BBRY, it seems like they just got some maintenance revenue to sustain for a while, while they try to turn around.

Categories
iPhone app

Don’t jail break the iPhone

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Learned the lesson the hard way again. 🙁 🙂

I think nowadays jailbreak is not as popular as the early days of iPhone. And I did that also to my iPhone 3g, reason being I don’t want to stuck in contract with AT&T, so I jailbroke it and put in T-mobile prepaid card, and gave it to my wife. Now the consequence part.

Recently I want to sell this phone, as we no longer use it. We probably have not touched it for couple years. Since I gave my old iPhone 4 to my wife about 2 years ago. And I made a mistake put it in “factory unlock” category for this phone, which is not true. I found a buyer. But when I tried to remove the content of this phone, by going to settings, it got stuck. I had to put it in DFU mode by following this instruction. Also I had to upgrade it to iPhone 4.2.1, which is the last updated version of iPhone 3g. After that obviously I lost the jailbreak, as it does not take a T-Mobile SIM card to activate. Luckily I found a H2O (AT&T network) SIM card, and I was able to activate the phone. Note in the early days of iPhone, a SIM card is required to setup an iPhone. I was also be able to restore the content from iTunes backup after that, which is cool as I did not backup the contacts on the phone previously.

Long story short, I had to cancel the order, and put it on sale again in “AT&T” category, as this is no longer an unlocked iPhone. The morale of lesson here is jailbreak is not “factory unlock”, it consistently need to keep up once we update the phone, which is a hassle. Had I stayed with AT&T, I would get an unlocked code, and get it unlocked officially. Just like what I did with the old iPhone 4.

PS:
I thought about it more, since I paid the early termination fee, and I requested for device unlock via AT&T website. Did it couple times, and it worked. The first time it did not work due to my own mistake, they asked for email confirmation in which I need to confirm my email by clicking on the link. After the carrier unlock, I was able to restore the iPhone 3g to iOS 4.2.1 and use a T-mobile SIM card to activate the phone. Now I put it back in Apple iPhone 3G 8GB Black unlocked category on Amazon again.