A recent setback with the submission of an iPhone app has led me to consider publishing mobile HTML5 apps instead of native iOS / Android ones.

I am instead converging my efforts for developing mobile apps with my other interests of developing social software and enterprise applications. My new project is what I call an enterprise conversation system – combining the idea of microblogging, forums, wiki, and activity streams, organized in a hierarchical taxonomy, into an integrated content / collaboration platform.

I’m calling it Yurvu (“yur-vu”), and it will be designed to have both desktop and mobile web interfaces from day one.

It turned out that it’s a good thing that I have not started SocialGraph2 in a major way yet, because I just discovered the shiny new application architecture guidance from Patterns & Practices called Project Silk.

http://silk.codeplex.com/

Project Silk provides guidance for building cross-browser web applications with a focus on client-side interactivity. These applications take advantage of the latest web standards like HTML5, CSS3 and ECMAScript 5 along with modern web technologies such as jQuery, Internet Explorer 9, and ASP.NET MVC3.

It seems that this project is to Microsoft’s Web stack as Prism is to WPF/Silverlight. If you’re a web developer, this is definitely worth a try.

Tonight, I’m attending the Melbourne Startup Weekend‘s pitch night at the York Butter Factory. Looking forward to hearing the quality of ideas of Melbourne’s startup visionaries.

I’m checking out the list of links taken from the event site to get an idea of some of the movers and shakers participating in this event.

Startup Accelerators / Incubators
http://www.yorkbutterfactory.com/
http://jfdi.asia/
http://www.angelcube.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonymittelmark
http://glencarlson.org/
http://innov8.singtel.com/

Venture Capital
http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=2047252&tr
http://roboinvest.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/roboinvest

Marketing Service Providers
http://www.indexmedia.com
http://brandinfluencegroup.com/
http://www.prgroup.com.au/
http://twitter.com/#!/melissa_shawyer

Cloud Services
http://www.brunozzi.com/biography/
http://www.geekitdigital.com.au/

Blogging / News
http://www.sonyericssonblogger.com/gadget/
http://www.inspiredworlds.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/inspiredworlds
http://twitter.com/#!/oggiebad
http://hautetoday.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/gekka01

DotCom
http://adioso.com/

Training
https://learnable.com/

Digital Agency
http://www.statelesssystems.com/

I just released my first two iPhone apps. These are Branching Path Books, which are very similar to Choose Your Own Adventure books in the 80′s.

The Adventure of the Intergalactic Cat
by Margaret Pearce 

“Life can be pretty boring on the weekend. So boring that you are reduced taking your grandmother’s pug dog Samson for a walk. Stupid Samson breaks away to chase a cat. Your grandmother will kill you if you lose her dog, so you all chase Samson as it chases the cat.

Suddenly your life stops being so boring – or safe. The intergalactic cat leads Samson and anyone following into some very nasty places. There is really not much choice between dodging pirates, witches or the galactic patrol. They are all totally unreasonable and out to get you.”

Charlotte, Prowling for Enchantment
by MIMA

“Finally, it’s Charlotte’s time to have a hot adventure like the kind Gram loved to remember. Little does Charlotte know the cruise vacation she’s booked is the annual gathering of fantastical singles looking for action. When the Caribbean moonlight triggers Charlotte’s long dormant mystical bloodline, werewolves, vampires, and elves abound. Trusting a pretty face is what the fairy tales warn you of… for a reason. A moment’s decision can change the course of a person’s future. Take control, revel in magic, and watch out for mermaids.”

I am looking for more Branching Path Book writers on revenue share basis. In the meantime, I’m moving on to developing an Android version of the engine.

Oh by the way, just like Microsoft, I am also reprioritizing my hobby development time to focus more on HTML5 (by way of ASP.Net MVC and JQuery) over Silverlight.

 

I am currently working on an open source ASP.Net social networking application called SocialGraph2.

It is being developed with the following technology stacks:

• ASP.Net MVC 3
• Entity Framework 4
• Microsoft Extensibility Framework
• WCF

Ever since deciding to make the move to Silverlight, I have been looking for a Silverlight counterpart to the WPF Ribbon and AvalonDock controls. Because Banico ERP is an open-source project, I won’t be able to use SandDock or SandRibbon. Instead, I have chosen simpler SL versions as counterparts:

• Blacklight’s Drag Dock Panel
• Win Toolbar

These controls have less features than the ones I’m replacing, but they meet the requirements I have.

The mobile bug has bit me. For 2011, I am temporarily shifting to a totally different technology stack to do programming for the iOS devices. I am planning to develop a simple text application that will serve as a foundation for choose-your-own adventure type stories.

It is exciting to venture to a new technology stack again after a long while. I’m currently reading Apple’s documentation on the Cocoa Framework, iOS Development, development tools XCode and Interface Builder, and Objective C.

It’s time to update my development rig. I’m moving from laptop to desktop.

Here’s the spec I am considering:

• CPU: AMD AM3 x6 1055T 2.8 Ghz Phenom II
• Motherboard: ASUS M4A88TD-M AM3 880G DD3
• RAM: Team 8GB Kit(4Gx2) DDR 133
• Video: Gigabyte ATI Radeon 1GB 5570
• Monitor: Acer X243H
• DVD: LG SATA Black DVD RW
• HDD: WD 1TB HDD
• Case: CoolerMaster SGC2000 Storm Scout
• PSU: Antec EarthWatts EA-650w
• Keyboard: Natural Ergo 4000
• Network: PCI-E TP-Link WN781ND

I am considering AMD over Intel because, for a lower price, the former is enough to meet my development needs, as I don’t play games that require heavy hardware.

I think more and more people are considering Entity Framework 4 over NHibernate / Fluent Nhibernate, despite the latter’s years of experience and technical superiority. The reason for this is that Microsoft is totally committed in making this the de-facto data access method for .Net. Also, other Microsoft projects, like WCF RIA Services, uses this ORM in its examples and hands-on-labs.

This ORM has grown quite a bit since the NHibernate mafia’s / ALT.NET’s vote of no confidence. It still is not anywhere near the model-driven streamlined code efficiency of NHibernate + Fluent NHibernate, but they have made big strides with the product.

I went looking around for resources on EF4 and, based on the sheer amount of recommendations on the web, this book is, no doubt, the best resource for Entity Framework 4.