Reflecting on the year 2012
Reflection on the year 2012, checking progress of the goals, and some numbers.
Journal
Blog
Merry Christmas
Years of reflection make Christmas even more meaningful. The birth of Jesus offers hope that lasts through all seasons.
Christianity
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), directed by Peter Jackson, is based on the novel by J. R. R. Tolkien. Martin Freeman plays Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who leaves his comfortable home to join a company of dwarves on a quest to reclaim their lost kingdom.
Movies
Going Public by Newsboys
The Newsboys' bright 1994 album Going Public mixes pop rock and wit with songs of grace, an old record I found later.
Music
De Cock en een duivels komplot by A.C. Baantjer
Three scientists who made a remarkable invention are murdered, and De Cock must work out who wanted them dead.
Books
KVC Collection Operators
The article discusses Key-Value Coding (KVC) Collection Operators in Objective-C, which provide a concise, Ruby-like syntax for performing aggregate operations on collections using valueForKeyPath:.
Development
Monthly update #0271 • November 2012
Monthly update 271 • November 2012 • 2012-11-01 - 2012-11-30
Monthly Updates
A Wanted Man by Lee Child
In A Wanted Man, Reacher hitches a ride with kidnappers, then joins the FBI to pursue them after a roadside murder in Nebraska.
Books
NSOrderedSet
NSOrderedSet is not a subclass of NSSet due to problems with Objective-C's single inheritance and the mutable/immutable class pairs in Foundation's class clusters.
Development
Ecossaise 2 by Jan Mulder
Jan Mulder's 2001 release, wordless music for reflection. I reached it late and it has stayed with me.
Music
NS_ENUM & NS_OPTIONS
NS_ENUM and NS_OPTIONS are the modern, Apple-approved way to declare enums and bit-masks.
Development
Live from New York by Jesus Culture
Jesus Culture's 2012 Live from New York is a long, fervent night of worship with Martin Smith and Kim Walker-Smith.
Music
Masters of Chant Chapter III by Gregorian
Gregorian's 2002 third volume of chant covers, a darker, leaner set I found while exploring the series.
Music
De Cock en danse macabre by A.C. Baantjer
Three single men who collect antiques die of heart attacks within a short time, each found in a house that has been stripped bare.
Books
NSURLProtocol
NSURLProtocol is the most powerful (and least-known) piece of Apple’s URL Loading System.
Development
Monthly update #0270 • October 2012
Monthly update 270 • October 2012 • 2012-10-01 - 2012-10-31
Monthly Updates
Lone Riders by Daniel Pennac
Back in jail and sick of failure, the Dalton brothers turn on Joe and bet that whoever first earns a million dollars will lead the gang, then break out and go their separate ways.
Books
New Horizons by Flyleaf
Flyleaf's 2012 New Horizons is a heavy, hopeful album, the last with Lacey Sturm, full of fire and farewell.
Music
NSLinguisticTagger
NSLinguisticTagger offers powerful tools to process natural language. It breaks strings into tokens, finds parts of speech and stems, pulls out names of people, places, and groups, and spots languages and scripts.
Development
AddressBookUI
The Address Book UI framework in iOS, used alongside AddressBook.framework, provides controllers for managing contacts but includes a uniquely valuable function, ABCreateStringWithAddressDictionary(), which formats address components into a localised string.
Development
Monthly update #0269 • September 2012
Monthly update 269 • September 2012 • 2012-09-01 - 2012-09-30
Monthly Updates
De Cock en moord in beeld by A.C. Baantjer
A worker accuses his former employer of dumping poison in the Amstel, and the case grows into something far darker for De Cock.
Books
Spy Game
Spy Game (2001), directed by Tony Scott, is a sharp and thrilling espionage film that keeps you hooked. Robert Redford is outstanding as Nathan Muir, a seasoned CIA operative racing against time to save his protégé, Tom Bishop, played with intensity by Brad Pitt.
Movies
Epic Chants by Gregorian
Gregorian's 2012 Epic Chants reworks film and pop anthems as choral, monastic settings, grand and oddly soothing.
Music
The Dictator
The Dictator (2012), directed by Larry Charles, is a comedy about a North African tyrant who loses his identity while visiting New York. Sacha Baron Cohen plays Admiral General Aladeen, the ruler of the fictional Republic of Wadiya.
Movies