Table Updates & Scrolling

Posted on October 5, 2009 by MXH

I want to follow up on a post from a few weeks ago; I’d posted some code that demonstrated how an NSFetchedResultsController could be used to automatically update a UITableView when the data in a ManagedObjectContext were changed. Unfortunately, that code contained a subtle bug related to table scrolling during updates. I’d like to correct the bug and discuss the underlying issue now.

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NekNek Update

Posted on October 4, 2009 by MXH

On Friday, I discussed how to add support for no-op variants to the Python-based KenKen puzzle solver that we’ve seen before. Today, I folded those enhancements into the JavaScript-based, web-accessible version of the solver. (It’s oh-so-cleverly named “NekNek”.) If you’ve got a KenKen puzzle you’re stuck on, you might find this page useful. If that puzzle is a no-op variant, you’ll almost certainly find it more useful than you would have a few days ago.

Administrative note: I’m experimenting with moving my posting schedule from very-late-night (just before midnight) to very-early-morning (just after midnight). So today’s and yesterday’s posts are going up right next to each other. See you tomorrow morning.

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No-op KenKen Solver

Posted on October 2, 2009 by MXH

A popular KenKen variant is the “no-op” puzzle, in which only the result of a cage is given. (In “standard” KenKen, both the result and an operator are given.) A reader wrote in with a question about a no-op puzzle, so I took a look at extending my Python solver to handle this variant. It turned out to be pretty easy.

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Deep Copying (Bug Fix)

Posted on October 1, 2009 by MXH

A few months ago I wrote a short piece on creating deep mutable copies of plist data structures. Today, a (modestly anonymous) reader was kind enough to write in with a bug fix, which I would like to share with you.

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Unpopular

Posted on September 28, 2009 by MXH

I was reading a piece about H. P. Lovecraft the other day, which revealed him to be another one of these impoverished-in-life-popular-in-death types. It seems to me that this sort of fellow pops up a lot: In addition to Lovecraft, you’ve got (off the top of my head) Poe, van Gogh, and (more or less) Dick. All these guys had reputations for being a little difficult to deal with, and I wonder if their greater success after their deaths was entirely coincidental.

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Spider Rescue

Posted on September 27, 2009 by MXH

I like spiders. Unfortunately, sometimes they get trapped in sinks or bathtubs from which they cannot escape. Today, a simple tip for performing spider rescue.

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Quickie: Core Data “Scratchpads”

Posted on September 25, 2009 by MXH

The Cocoa Core Data documentation makes frequent reference to the fact that Managed Object Contexts (MOCs) are “scratchpads“, in which objects can be moved around willy-nilly without affecting the permanent store. This is all well and good, but it leaves important questions unanswered, such as: “How do you use this fact to implement a ‘cancel’ button?” The answer turns out to be a little more complicated than you might suppose, but can be summed up in one word: Notifications.

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Brazen

Posted on September 24, 2009 by MXH

Okay, so Seth Godin’s Squidoo is launching a new venture: Brands in Public. There’s a bunch of interesting stuff in Seth’s announcement. It contains some masterful spin, a brazen proposition, and some nice o plata o plomo persuasion. Seth’s a good marketer, so let’s look at his work.

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Housekeeping

Posted on September 21, 2009 by MXH

Today I just want to take care of a little administrivia. I’ve piled up a fair number of posts related to Shiny Red Buttons, but they’re scattered a little randomly throughout the blog. Therefore, I pulled together a page devoted to the subject, from which you can find everything I’ve written. I hope you find it useful.

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Floyd Mayweather Jr.: Not a Fan

Posted on September 20, 2009 by MXH

I saw the Mayweather/Marquez fight last night. (It was, as everyone else reports, a major mismatch; I couldn’t give Marquez a single round.) Watching it, I was struck by two things: First, Floyd Mayweather is an undeniably talented boxer, and second, I really want to see someone clean his clock. In this, he reminds me of another much-praised sportsman: Michael Schumacher.

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