Excuse me venting here...

I am working on an app for a client. One of the features is sharing to twitter, facebook, etc.

In order to do so you need some API keys from the various sites to use in your app. I added half a dozen services with no problem. Then came facebook.

I have avoided creating a facebook page but it was needed in order to register an app as a developer. So I tried to sign up. I gave what I felt was the minimal information needed to start an account.

They decided that I was just going to spam them so they asked for a phone number to verify I was a real person. OK. Fair enough. I give them my google voice number to send me a text. I don't get the text. Repeat a few times. No text. Try again.  'You are requesting too many codes in a short period of time' Again, fair enough a bot network might do that.

Realzing this isn't going to work with text messaging and google voice, I give them a real live phone number and select the option to receive a voice call..... 'Our systems are busy. Try again later' Progress? Perhaps....

Repeat the process 3-4 times. Systems still busy. Really? You can't get a machine to dial my number and give me a code?? After 3-4 times it says I am spamming the system and locks me out again. Sometimes I can try again in a few hours sometimes 10-12 hours later it still says too many tries.

This has been going on for 3 days. Glad I didn't want the facebook page anyway.

Ended up using the client account to get the API key. Everything worked fine. For now.

A user has requested the ability to omit certain courses from counting for selected goals.

I thought this was a great idea so I added this feature to the next update.

Code is complete. A wee bit of testing and we will upload to App Store.

More planned for version 1.2 but please let me know if you have suggestions.

As promised the bug fix release of CE Tracker should now be showing up as an update.

Didn't warrant the 1.1 version so we are going with 1.0.1

Have a few suggestions for the next feature update but I am open to more. Any input on making the app more useful in various professions and non-US locations is very helpful.

Thanks to a user report I have fixed a bug that prevented the info button from displaying beyond the second goal in the goals view.

I am currently awaiting feedback on another possible bug (could be a misundertanding rather than a bug) but once this is clarified and fixed, if necessary, I will upload a new build to the app store.

Unfortunately, the App Store is shut down for updates until after the holidays so any update will take a few more days to appear.

If you have run across this issue please bear with me, the fix is on the way.

Proxima has been approved and is available now for free in the App Store.

I could have sworn I checked for name clashes in the App Store prior to even starting this project. Apparently I was wrong. So the app formally known as What Next is now Proxima.

Same great app, fresh new name.

The paint is barely dry on CE Tracker and I am well underway on my next app.

This one is quick and dirty but it scratches an itch I have had for a while. With three kids and all sorts of family and work activites it is sometimes hard to track whats going on and where I need to be next. Sure a calendar will show you your schedule or a to do list will track your tasks but what I wanted is a simple one click app to tell me 'whats next?'

And thats what I'm working on.

CE Tracker available in the App Store

Just finished uploading CE Tracker to the app store. CE Tracker is my iPhone app to help track continuing education compliance for professionals.

In many fields, such as law, medicine and engineering, licensed professionals are required to obtain a certain number of credits every year in order to maintain their licensing. Keeping track of the courses can be a tedious task. This is just the sort of job an iPhone is perfect for.

I tried to keep the app simple in appearance while maintaining a full feature set. If you enter the location for a class, seminar or event it can help you with directions using the iPhones mapping tools. If your license requires a certain amount of credits be in specifc areas of study it lets you track these requisites as well. If you are licensed in several states you can track them all. CE Tracker will figure out what credits apply to each of your licenses.

It took a lot longer than I expected. It always does but I never figured on shelving the project for 7 months. Anyway its been uploaded for review and if all goes well should be available in a few days.

You can read more about CE Tracker here

I'm happy with it and have of ideas on additional features. Lets see if anyone finds it useful.

A new keyboard shortcut in Xcode4 allows you to quickly specify where a file opens in the editor.

Pressing Shift-Option and clicking on the file name in the Project Navigator brings up a quicklook type view in which you can click the location to display the new file. You can select the primary editor pane, the current assistant pane or a new assistant pane. A quick swipe in the 'quickview' window even lets you open the file in a new window. You can also select to open the file in a new tab.

Very handy. Very cool.