It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be … This, in turn, means that our statesmen, our businessmen, our everyman must take on a science fictional way of thinking. — Isaac Asimov

This is a topic that I have been contemplating for long time, and have finally forced myself to write about it.

We as a country have focused internally for so long. Our politics are reflections of our culture and society, our policies a reflection of our reality, idealism, and naiveness. For some we are a great nation. Yet, we can do better and we must do better. It is not enough to restore trust to our government, it is not enough to elect a black man president, it is not enough to pull our troops out of Iraq and restore our image around the world.

We are and have been at a point of our civilization where humanity has the power to destroy itself. It is the simple nature of history that we have been fighting each other as far back as we can go. And now we have a bomb capable of splitting atoms, an incredible scientific achievement so telling of our nature. We are in the middle of a cultural battle between the “civilized west” and the radical muslim extremists. We are in an economic stagnation, a result of our own greed.

Obama was elected into office with a message of change, hope, and idealism. And yet, if you really think Obama offers more of the same. Nothing revolutionary has happened, and a revolution (cultural not military) is exactly what we need. We are the most powerful nation on Earth, our universities are homes to some of the greatest minds of our world. And the best we can do is focus inward to fight muslim fundamentalists? Argue about torture tactics and abortion? Every civilization has faced attacks from within and from abroad, we are no different. But we cannot let these attacks define who we are. America is now defined not by its greatness, wealth, and power but by wars and critics.

Culturally, scientifically, and politically we are so far ahead of most of the rest of the world (forgive my arrogance). And that is the source our strength and weakness.

I don’t believe we have the luxury of waiting for the rest of the world to play catch up. We must progress our civilization ourselves. It is our duty and honor.

I think some have almost got it right. Many foundations and charities do incredible things around the world. They feed starving children, help free slaves, and stop genocide. But we will always have those problems. There are always outliers.

This image released by NASA and made by the Spitzer Space Telescope shows a glowing stellar nursery. The infrared image was obtained by Spitzer's infrared array camera. The Spitzer Space Telescope was named after the late Dr. Lyman Spitzer, Jr., one of the 20th century's most influential scientists, who in the mid-1940s first proposed placing telescopes in space. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL/CALTECH)

I believe our next step is to colonize space.

It is sad that a statement like that, which only forty years ago would have been applauded and supported, is now laughed at and considered impossible, a luxury we no longer have.

I have the exact opposite belief, wars like Iraq and Afghanistan are a luxury we no longer have.

Yes, we can help starving children and women who are raped in muslim-based regimes. And we have been doing so. But we can also move our civilization forward, a better cause which would have the side-effect of pushing countries and people to improve themselves – without our help.

The greatest thing we can do is not give developing countries more money and food, but incentive to move forward by themselves. I don’t believe that there is one nation that cannot solve it’s internal problems given enough motivation by its people.

We talk about the hope that Obama brings. Imagine the hope that colonizing space will bring. For too long man has stared at the stars wishing. Our nation is great enough, powerful enough, to make our dreams reality.

Take that trillion dollar stimulus package and invest it into NASA with the mission of having a permanent base of a few hundred people on Mars in thirty years. And expand that to a city with thousands within 50 years. Unrealistic? Maybe. But we humans have a knack for accomplishing amazing things.

If you take this proposal seriously as I offer it seriously, the details are not that unrealistic. And the side-effect of new job openings and technological, medical, and scientific advances that would be made in this effort alone would be worth it – especially now, in this economy.

It is about time we lived up to our potential and left our mark in the universe.

Image via CrunchBase

The iPhone SDK is a great platform for developers. It gives developers a great opportunity to reach a huge market of users easily. So, let’s great started so you can start building your own great apps. 

XCode and Objective-C

I am assuming most of you have never worked with Objective-C or XCode before. Neither had I until I wanted to develop iPhone apps. The first thing you should note is that Objective-C has a very different syntax than languages such as C# and Java. Let’s go over some basic differences by comparing the same code in Objective-C and Java. 

Objective-C: 

PointCountsViewController *aViewController = [[PointCountsViewController alloc] initWithNibName:@”PointCountsViewController” bundle:[NSBundle mainBundle]];

Java:

PointCountsViewController aViewController = new PointCountsViewController(“PointCountsViewController”, mainBundle);

As you can tell when calling an object’s method, instead of doing something like object.method(parameter) in Objective-C you would do: [object method:parameter];

Similar to C++ each file has a header file and a source file. The header file has the extension of .h while the source file has extension of .m. Whenever you create a class you create the interface in the header file and implemented it in the source file. 

Now that we are familiar with some basic concepts of Objective-C, let’s take a look at how XCode is organized. 

All of the code files are placed within the Classes folder. Things such as images and the .xib files are placed in the Resources folder. The .app that is produced when you compile is built and placed within the Products folder. You can essentially ignore everything else (at this point). 

The .xib file that I mentioned earlier is a file that stores the interface/gui of your application. You can edit it using Interface Builder by simply double clicking it. 

Creating the Project

Now that you are familiar with what files you will use and some basic Objective-C syntax, let’s get started and create a new project. 

Go to File -> New Project -> iPhone OS -> Application -> View-Based Application

Name your application: HelloWorld and create the project. 

Now, let’s open up the Resources folder. Double click on the HelloWorldViewController.nib file. The file should load up in Interface Builder. This is where you can drag and drop items to create your application’s interface. The first thing we want is to add a label. So, let’s get a Label from the Library (if your library isn’t open, go to Tools -> Library to open it) and drag it into the view.

Let’s Get Coding

Now that we have designed the GUI of our application, let’s create the code that prints out hello world on screen touch. 

Open up HelloWorldViewController.h and replace the file with the following code: 

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>

@interface HelloWorldViewController : UIViewController { 

IBOutlet UILabel *lblText;

}

@property (nonatomic, retain) UILabel *lblText;

@end

What this code does is create an object of UILabel that we will (in a few steps) link up with the label we created in interface builder. 

Now let’s add the real code that does all the work. Open up HelloWorldViewController.m and put the following code inside:

@synthesize lblText;

- (void)touchesBegan:(NSSet *)touches withEvent:(UIEvent *)event

{

    lblText.text = @”Hello World”;

    [super touchesBegan:touches withEvent:event];

}

What this code does is sense when a touch has occurred anywhere on the screen, and when it has we update the label to say “Hello World”.

We are still not done. The label that we created by declaring IBOutlet UILabel lblText is not linked up to the label that we create in Interface Builder. So, now let’s open up interface builder again. Go to the inspector (if it’s not already open, open it from Tools -> Inspector) and click on the tab that has a blue circle with an arrow inside. Now go back to the view and click on your label. Now that it is selected click on the blue circle next to “New Referencing Outlet” in the Inspector and drag it to the File Owner window. 

Essentially that’s it. Build and Go and you should see your app in the iPhone simulator.

Image via Wikipedia

This poem by Rudyard Kipling is my favorite poem and a great source for inspiration. Take a break from coding the next google and read it. I promise it doesn’t disappoint.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream–and not make dreams your master,
If you can think–and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings–nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And–which is more–you’ll be a Man, my son!

 

–Rudyard Kipling

Competition is good, even for startups. The fact that other people are trying to steal your startup idea means that you’re onto something. So don’t get discouraged that someone is copying you, be motivated by it. You have the opportunity to prove that you know more about your target market, can build a better product, can build a better business, and that you can do it all faster than your competitor. 

You can’t spend your time thinking about how much it sucks that you have competitors, or that your idea was stolen. That is a waste of time. Instead focus on creating the best product possible and release it before your competition. Then out-market them and introduce new features while they are still trying to catch up. 

If you want some inspiration, go here.

These “revolutionaries” come in differnt flavors. Some have such an idealistic and futuristic vision that they want to completely change the world as we know it. Others are merely content with making some minor (but extremely significant) change to our world.

But all of these “revolutionaries” have one thing in common: they aren’t content with the status quo. They see the world as something that can be changed and improved upon. It’s not that they see the world as inadequate. They simply see a way to make our world grander and better.

There are many types of these people, from the cancer researcher who believes he can cure cancer, to the high school student reading science fiction books who passionatly believes that humanity’s future is in the stars.

They are all idealists with a grand sense of purpose in this world. They are not content with their 9 to 5 jobs. Nor are they content with running a 30 billion dollar hedge fund. Instead, they want to do something revolutionary, something to push the human race forward.

I believe strongly that these types of people exist. I belive they must, progress can not be made in another way.

Granted I am young, only 20 years old. Yet, I have not met any person who fits the above criteria. Nobody that even came close. So my question is where are these “revolutionaries” and why have I not met them? Is there something about our culture that stifles innovation, or have I simply been taking the wrong classes at school and hanging out with the wrong people?

Disclosure (sort of):
This post was inspired by Apple’s ad Think Diffrent.

Simplicity and Pronunciation
If you’re looking at doing any viral marketing you need a name that is short, simple, and easy to pronounce. When you imagine your users telling their friends about your website, you want to be sure that your startup’s name will be remembered and spelled correctly when they get home.

Branding and Marketing
Be creative. Your startup’s name is one of the best branding and marketing tools you can have. You can use your name to describe what your website does as well as attract new users with a creative name (think of websites like FeedBurner and Disqus).

Get the .com
Names such as del.icio.us are “cool” but not practical. Users won’t want to type that into the address bar. If you have a great name, but the .com domain is taken, don’t settle with a .net or any other domain. Users automatically think and add .com to a name. If they remembered your site’s name that should be enough to get them to the website, they shouldn’t have to remember the extension as well.

Love it
Make sure you love your name, once you launch it gets much harder to change your name. But don’t spend all your energy on naming your startup, having a name means nothing if you don’t have a product to go along with it.