Rarely do we ever find ourselves awestruck by cinematography, silent films, or something that is able to convey a story in such an elegant and gritty manner. To achieve grittiness, people feel like they must be as vulgar and loud as possible. For elegance, they try to be as graceful, quiet, and respectful while moving in a way that is too foreign for watchers to relate to. It’s rare to expect things to be beautifully told without a few explosions in Hollywood, or to feel the emotions felt through indie films, but Gus Bendinelli aims to change all of that with his first film: The Mark.

The films opens and you see a young man sitting right beside what appears to be his friend or brother who has died suspiciously. Immediately, you’re thrown into confusion as you see him nonchalantly disregard him and proceed on his travels. It seems as if he’s looking for something, someone, anybody for answers and he’s been at it for days. Not stopping yet, he starts another day.

Upon arriving at a small gas station like setting, he encounters a man, a man with an equally puzzled look on his face, with a hand full of animal crackers. I assume the animal crackers are trying to symbolize the connection this man had to his youth and to reality. The film is placed in a post-apocalyptic world and these seemingly small things carry a heavy meaning and pointing them out just makes the very same meaning hit closer to home. We’ve all abandoned our childhood or pasts on a smaller level, but we all still hold on to those memories.

Before a deadly brawl, you see a very quick flashback of the young man’s friend who lies dead in their shack with his eyes wide open. Eyes wide open. The only way to the soul is through someone’s eyes, as they say. The fight begins, both parties begin to attack each other with one goal: protect their lives by killing the other. These types of animalistic instincts are what keeps one of them alive. You feel the pain and sorrow as one kills the other. You feel the disconnection from reality and the loss of one’s own mind through it all. You feel emotions that were once foreign, but through each of our lives have become so real.

The entire film grasps at the biblical “Mark of Cain” Cain, as you find out is the young man’s name, has been cursed to a forsaken, distant, barren land. The one whom he killed; Abel, is what pushes him to tears. Abel strikes him with a look as he can tell by the look in his eye that he’s only there to kill him and he’s not leaving until he’s done so. The entire films rotates around the idea that being in this state of being, this forgotten sense of reality, and this outlandish need for what you once had is something that we all deal with without the need for death or this greed for life, but rather something that’s within us and against us at the same time. To bring something so classic, and seemingly foreign to us all, and make it relate to our lives through silence, emotions, and heart is a true feat that only some can say they’ve done. It plays well and it relays well.

This is a short film. This film is 5 minutes long. The amazing cinematography, the distant settings, the immense and heart wrenching emotions all make it great. To tell such a gritty, dirty, yet elegant, and beautiful story in this short period of time is truly remarkable. Gus has honestly worked day in and day out to create something that was brilliant and that’s what he managed to achieve: brilliance. You can watch the video below, and you can even check out some of the posters along with it. If you’re looking for something of elegance and something that manages to have to relate to you so well, you need to watch this.

Over the past couple of days, I’ve had the pleasure of using a new open source app which aims to make a very needlessly complex problem very simple. On top of that simplicity comes pure elegance and a wonderful design. Here is OpenEmu, a new app that combines all of your favorite emulators through cores, and organizes them perfectly for you.

The app is currently in its development stages, so as far as knowing how well the app runs and any problems it may have, you won’t hear about them here. An app should be judged on how well it runs and how little bugs it has once it is fully finished. However, I want to go over how well this app is and how immense my love is for it.

Design

OpenEmu launches and shows you a few set up pages. This ranges from installing cores to setting up gamepads and locating ROMs. After that screen, you’re immediately presented with its library view. Here you see any ROMs you may have installed and their respective artwork. Aside from an astonishingly beautiful look, it works exactly how you would want it to. Same as with Finder, double click something to open it. The process doesn’t get anymore complex or difficult for the user — it just works.

Even within the settings for the app you’re presented with impeccable design. From changing which buttons do you want via a keyboard or gamepad, to adjust how games will look and if you want to scale them up or not. This furthers the idea that design is not just something you tack onto your creation, but rather something that is well thought out and when executed perfectly, makes the app better than it once was.

Not only does the app present you with these beautiful displays of design, they manage to pull artwork from our friends at Archive.vg and have it displayed just how you would imagine. It’s not gaudy and horrid looking, mashing different sizes against different sizes; its all very pleasant and heavenly looking.

As far as emulation goes, I have never seen another app utilize this same feature. The app itself has a bar similar to what you would see in Quicktime X. The bar allows you to stop emulation, pause it, resume, switch cores, save the game, and adjust the volume. It’s a very simple add-on, but it’s very welcomed as far as usability goes.

Usability

The app itself is crafted very well, but as I mentioned earlier, I won’t talk about bugs. I can however talk about the app as if it runs the way I imagine the final build will. The app is simple; you add your ROMs, you pick one, you play it. I couldn’t be more pleased with the way the product works or the way it seems to just make a huge hassle very simple for me. You go from having all your ROMs scattered throughout your hard drive to having them organized in an app and copied into a folder so your favorites are never misplaced or lost. Games run just as they would in their respective core emulators and most games just feel fluid while running. It’s hard to find an experience that relates to this in any way aside from plugging in your old SNES and playing Kirby Super Star all over again.

Final Thoughts

While OpenEmu may not be out for a few more months, this preview shows that the developers and designers behind it have poured their heart and soul into this. It’s something close to all of our hearts – gaming. As much as we try to hide it by going through life as an adult, that child in you always yearns for the moment where they can fully immerse themselves into games that they love. Getting the chance to see something like this evolve not only into our generation, but into a generation where a need for beauty is needed has not only been an honor, but a privlege. OpenEmu takes a concept that has been getting very little attention and maximizes off of it. Makes it great, makes it work, and makes it lovely. It’s a combined effort between people who love games, and people who grew up to develop and design, and it shows. It shows how well things mesh together and how well ideas and become creations that turn into innovation. Be sure to check out OpenEmu when it comes out and definitely make sure you have an eye on Archive.vg over the coming weeks.

iPhones & iPods have had the same music player the past five years, minus some very minor alterations. The fact is, the stock iPod player is very capable & fulfills most people’s music needs. Besides us nerds of course.

There have been many worthy competitors who have fulfilled niches in the market. Apps such as Audium , a gorgeous music player that focuses on simply playing full albums. No playlists, no selecting individual tracks. Just appreciating an album for what it is.

Then there are apps such as Music+, which are identical to the stock music app, but add much needed features such as a queue feature (a much needed feature, which apple seems to ignore in all of it’s products) but yet again, if you want something completely different, whilst also functional & aesthetically pleasing, there isn’t much out there. Well, that’s what I thought until I found CarTunes.

I haven’t looked at any alternative players recently, as I have been using iTunes Match (which is a catastrophe, but we’ll save that for another article). But now, I’ve turned off iTunes Match (for the better) & decided to look at some alternative players. CarTunes was in my Genius recommendations for a while & simply because of the name, I never really gave it a look. I mean, “CARtunes”. One thing you have to understand about the app, is that it was created to fill the niche of easy music access whilst driving. It was in the process of filling this niche that the developers made something so much more.

The whole app is controlled by gestures, which I suppose could put some people off. I certainly have had some unpleasant experiences with gestures in iPhone apps. But these are intuitive & simple. Swipe left to go to the next track, swipe right to go to the previous. Swipe up to turn the volume up, swipe down to turn the volume down. It’s that simple. The only one people may have problems with is the two finger swipe upwards which is used to access the menu.

Speaking of the menu, it is also rather intuitive & pleasing to the eye. Your first tab is your songs, with a small album art image next to each. I suppose I should point out now, that if your music collection doesn’t have complete artwork, you will not be able to experience this app at it’s full potential. The second tab, the album selection for example, shows a wall full of your album art. Which looks spectacular if all of your music has it’s album art, but if it doesn’t, it can be a rather mismatch of the same missing artwork symbol.

The other two tabs are the artist tab (which is pretty self-explanatory) & the playlist tab (which again, is pretty standard). There is also one last tab, which seems to be a podcast tab, which I couldn’t seem to get working. I use Instacast for my Podcasts, so it doesn’t matter to me, but, I suppose other people might have a use for it.

More than anything, it’s the little touches that make this app special for me. From the way the gestures fade in & out depending on how much pressure you apply. To the way that the colour scheme changes based on the album art of the current track playing. In a recent update, the team added several new fonts which you can use with every aspect of the app. Whilst it may be nice for a change, I still prefer the default (Bold) as it keeps a feeling of simplicity but functionality at the same time! For all you Twitter fanatics out there, by swiping two fingers down you can tweet the song that is currently playing, all pre-hashtagged for you!

CarTunes is avaliable on the App Store for $4.99.

I highly recommend it!

It seems as with technology on the climb, we’re constantly reminded of how simplified and easy certain tasks have become, but we’re constantly reminded that it’s not an easy task to sell our things whenever the time comes around to do so. In comes Glyde, a newer, fresher, easier website that simplifies the entire process for you.

With Glyde, you buy directly from the person who has offered it for sale. You’re shown a product, given a price, and you buy it. Simple. Now, this isn’t new to Glyde, nor new to the entire process of buying objects online. However, this is where it gets interesting: you’re buying and selling to people and not a company. There are services like Amazon’s Trade-In offers, and eBay’s Instant Sale wherein you sell the item at a set price to companies who, more than likely, refurbish it and sell it for near market value. This is great and easy, but Glyde offers more. You sell the product at a set price through them, they send you a box, and you send that off to whomever bought it.

Some people are fine with selling through eBay and the like, but on top of managing to sell your item for the price you want, eBay will take a share of the profits and that didn’t sit well with me nor should it sit well with you. On top of this, you’re making the full price that you’re told you’ll be getting through Glyde. Of course, Glyde sells the actual product for a higher price, but the money you actually make through them is higher than any other service. For comparison, eBay Instant Sale offers me $218 for my iPad 2, while Glyde offered me $291.

Buying through Glyde is also a great experience. The deals you manage to get here are unparalleled. They manage to cut you deals on games in excellent condition for nearly 15 – 20 dollars off. If you’re lucky, you might manage to get something in perfect condition and sealed for upwards 60% off.

Glyde makes buying and selling things easy and simple. You shouldn’t have to muscle through big companies and give up some of the profits you’ve set to make. It should be simple; one person buys it, one person sells it. That’s what they’re all about. If you’re looking for an easy way to sell your things and an easier way to buy them, you can head on over to Glyde and check them out.

Welcome back! This is the second iteration of our fantastical Rdio Roundabout. We hope you give these artists a listen and turn on your groovesational ear gadgets for maximum enjoyment factor.

Nate’s Picks

Float

First up this week for me has to be Aesop Rock’s “Float”. “Float” has long been out of print, but thanks to the digital realm, it’s made a triumphant return. Hip hop fans should already know all about Aesop, but if you don’t, now is your time to get on board. Very few, and I mean very few emcees have skills that can even come close to Aesop Rock. Float is another superb demonstration of the gritty and intense rap that draws people into Aesop Rock’s music. Make no mistake, if radio rap is your thing, you probably won’t care to delve into something like this. I wouldn’t consider Aesop “backpacker” rap, but you certainly won’t hear this played on the radio. I can’t recommend this album highly enough. It’s just great.

Neck of the Woods

Next on my list is “Neck of the Woods” from Silversun Pickups. I always really liked these guys, and even though I admittedly haven’t gotten to listen to the whole album, I’m pretty sure I can safely recommend it. Their music has always been the type that I can listen to while getting work done. It’s got a melodic and somewhat droning (not in a bad way) sound that I really enjoy. Definitely check this one out.

Jake’s Picks

Blunderbuss – Jack White

I’ve always had a love affair for Jack White since I heard his guitar terrorism back in the White Stripes days. This is a new album from the voice quivering lyric smashing man himself. This album is full of toe tappers and brain mappers. Check it out.

Master Of My Make Believe – Santigold

Slightly reminiscent of Sleigh Bells, but not quite as ear-blood inducing, this poppy electro-fuzz album is a good listen for everyone. Suck up the reverb and luscious voice from this album and give that junk a listen.

The Finder in OS X is a touchy subject with Mac users. Let’s face it, most times it flat out sucks. The main problem is that it doesn’t have the Apple polish Mac users have come to love. There are a bunch of Finder alternatives out there, but my main problem with a lot of them is that they run as a separate app instead of integrating with the Finder itself. Most Mac nerds know about TotalFinder from BinaryAge, but “normal” users may not know what it’s all about. I decided to take a long overdue look at TotalFinder for the sake of showcasing a great app that is striving for what the Finder should be. Hit the break to see some of the major features.

Tabs

TotalFinder brings tabs to the party, much like any popular web browser. No more weird keyboard shortcuts to bring up a new Finder window. A simple cmd-T will do the trick just like in Safari or Chrome. This is awesome for those times you need to move files around quickly. You can easily pull a tab off to make a new window by just dragging it away. Opening a folder will start a new tab as well. TotalFinder also gives you the ability to cut and paste files instead of having copy/paste/delete. It’s amazing that Apple hasn’t implemented this yet, but TotalFinder solves the issue perfectly.

Dual Mode & Folders on Top

This feature is huge. Remember the last time you opened two Finder windows side-by-side to move things around? Yeah, not anymore. With Dual Mode, you get a sidebar on the right and left to quickly shuffle files around and get out, saving tons of time.

Another nice touch in TotalFinder is the ability to organize your files with folders on top. Nobody likes a messy window. Nobody. BinaryAge recognized this and added a simple but very welcome feature that’s easy on the eyes. It’s nice not have to de-clutter your Finder window every time you open one.

Show System Files

Some Mac users know how to deal with hidden system files, but most don’t. Rifling through hidden files can be a scary proposition, but TotalFinder makes navigating these files incredibly easy with the tick of a checkbox in the preference pane. Speaking of the preferences, they’re integrated right into the native Finder prefs, again showing the developer’s vision for keeping everything within Finder itself.

Wrap-up

In short, I think TotalFinder is great. Really great, actually. It’s been around for a while, and it’s proven. There has been tons of praise for the app over the years and the developer continually adds new features on a regular basis. Like I said before, I love the fact that TotalFinder integrates seamlessly into Finder as it severely reduces the leaning curve for the end-user. If you’re someone who uses the Finder regularly (don’t we all?), I highly recommend picking up a copy. It’s available for $18 on BinaryAge’s website.

Giveaway!

Awesome reader Josh Calvetti has generously donated a TotalFinder license to give away. Comment below and tell us how TotalFinder could be useful for you, and you could win! We’ll pick a winner by Monday, 5/7. Good luck!

Let’s get a few things straight, here. I’m a designer and I hate Photoshop. Unfortunately, there’s no better alternative out there. A lot of people have been shouting “USE FIREWORKS” in my face, but I brush’em off because I hate that bundle of wet noodles. A few days ago I was given early access to Sketch 2 from Bohemian Coding. Here’s a little spoiler: It’s amazing. Hit the break for the rest of my review, oh and get a drool cup. You’ll need it.

Sketch 2 is advertised as a Fireworks/Photoshop replacement for Web and UI design. Let me tell you, it makes Fireworks look like a pack of RoseArt crayons and really crappy construction paper. Using Fireworks always ended up with me more frustrated than before and just wishing I had been in Photoshop from the beginning. From the first launch, I’ve had a blast using Sketch 2. I’ve been using it at work and in my personal stuff and it has not let me down.

The Basics

Canvas

Something that threw me off at first was Sketch 2′s lack of a canvas. I’m used to creating a defined space and working within that. Sketch’s new edition throws all that junk out the window. Your canvas is infinite. And it ROCKS. I love not having to worry about picking a resolution to work with and being confined. When you save, it automatically trims all the whitespace away and saves to the bounds of your creation. If that’s not your cup of tea, you can also create artboards (as many as you want) and save those.

Shapes

Yep, it’s got shapes. They’re all there: Rectangle, Ellipse, Rounded rectangle, Polygon, Star, Triangle, Spiral. And it’s got a pen tool for drawing your own shapes. If you’ve ever used Photoshop for rounded rectangles, you know the pain, no, the struggle of post-draw manipulation. None of that is present in Sketch 2. I wept from the joy I felt when I was able to resize the Round Rect without distortion. I peed a little from excitement when I found that I could change the corner radius after the shape had been drawn. It was bliss. All the other shapes have the same edity goodness.

Layer Styles

Sketch 2 has most of the same layer styles as Photoshop and some extras. The only ones it lacks are Bevel & Emboss and Satin. Something really neat that Sketch 2 allows you to do is give a shape multiple fills. You can use this to achieve a similar effect as Pattern, Color, and Gradient Overly in Photoshop. However, there’s no limit. You can have as many fills as you want. I’m sure that will allow you to make some really kickass effects. Another cool extra is the Reflection layer style. It does exactly what it says and create a reflection of your shape or group.

Text

The fonts in Sketch 2 are perfect. I’m serious. Pretty much every designer ever knows that fonts in Photoshop suck butt. You know how Photoshop has like 5 different Anti-Aliasing methods? Yeah, none of that crap here in Sketch. Just beautiful sexy type. Mmmmmmmm. It’s delicious. You can also save some presets for font styles. It’s wicked awesome.

Exporting

Hit the Export button and then go change your pants. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Okay, you’re back. That’s So Cool! Right? For those of you (most of you) that aren’t seeing what I’m seeing, here’s what happens. Hit Export and Sketch 2 automatically creates slices for your work. You can name the slices, pick and choose which layers are included, trim transparent pixels, AND export @2X version. All in one fell swoop. It’s mind-bogglingly pleasing. It’s the equivalent of liquifying sugar and fairy dust in a blender and pouring it directly into the wrinkles of your brain.

The Final Words (or something along those lines)

To steal a line from a really great guy, Sketch 2 “…is like giving a glass of ice water to someone in hell.” I’m a designer and I hate Photoshop, but I love Sketch 2. This initial release of Sketch 2 is not without it’s bugs, but they’re very minor and haven’t affected my workflow at all. It’s mostly little visual artifacts of the interface that disappear shortly after they show up. Costing only $40 (for a limited time! It’s going up to $60 soon), compared to Photoshop’s $700, you can’t freakin’ beat that. Every designer should pick this up. If more people use Sketch 2, that’s less people using Photoshop, and that’s a happier world. Do yourself a favor and go grab Sketch 2 by Bohemian Coding.

Sketch 2 Giveaway!

Thanks to the guys at Bohemian Coding, we are able to give one lucky reader a promo code for a copy of Sketch 2!

Here are the rules:

• Follow Culture Milk on Twitter
• Tweet the following message: “I want a copy of Sketch 2 from @culturemilk, courtesy of the awesome guys at @bohemiancoding!”

Easy enough, right?

We’ll search Twitter and pick a winner at random on Thursday 5/3/2012. Make sure to follow the Culture Milk Twitter account so we can get in touch if you’re the winner. Good luck!

In case you’re not familiar with Dribbble, it’s a wildly popular community in which designers can post 400px by 300px shots of their latest work. It gained popularity in its early days by being incredibly private and showcasing work from the best artists in the community. Fast-forward to now and the userbase has exploded and the traffic has skyrocketed. Exploring Dribbble on your iPhone is great, but not beautiful. That’s where Backboard from Richard Bennett comes in.

First off, I’d like to talk about my favourite part of this app: navigation. Backboard takes a bold step toward a gesture-based future that I am wriggling in my seat for, anxiously waiting for it to be the norm. There are no visible controls within the app. You move back and forward in the “stack” by swiping in from the left or right edge of the screen. Upon first open, you’re shown the Popular page. To get to the other pages, swipe from the left edge to the right, to pull that view over and show the navigation list. I’ve been pushing for this kind of interaction in apps that I’ve been working on, and I’m glad to see someone else be able to actually get it to market.

Viewing a shot, the view that gets the most screen-time, is gorgeous. The shot is displayed full width at the top, with views, likes, and number of responses below. Tap the shot to show the author, time-stamp, and sharing options. Below that is a scroll view with the comments. Unfortunately, you can’t reply, but that’s due to Dribbble’s API restrictions, and is not a fault of Backboard.

Some other little tidbits about the app. Backboard allows you to change your accent colour. This changes the colour of links and buttons throughout the app. The app has support for iCloud Syncing, though I’m not totally sure what that does. The list of shots is very nice, showing nice big thumbnails, views, likes, responses, and author name. Viewing a Dribbble users profile shows you all kinds of information about them, and, if you tap to view their twitter profile, it will pull up a custom timeline of all their tweets. It even allows you to follow them directly from the app.

Overall this app is totally solid and definitely one of the best ones I’ve used. If you’re an avid Dribbble follower, I definitely recommend picking up this exceptionally well-built app on the App Store for a buck.

Hi! This is the first in a new bi-weekly adventure being taken by Nate and myself. We are both avid Rdio users bursting at the seams with our love of music. Every Tuesday on Rdio is “New Releases” day and a whole slew of new albums is cut loose upon the world. Nate and I have decided to weed through those records and bring you some of our new favorites! Strap in, adjust your headphones, ready your mind and enjoy yourself!

Nate’s Picks

Happy To You – Miike Snow
Miike Snow is a Swedish “electro-pop” trio that dropped their sophomore album Happy To You a few weeks ago. The band’s self-titled first album was no slouch with fans, gaining a relatively large following, but I think that Happy To You is much better. Electro-pop isn’t usually known for embracing strong melodies, but Miike Snow does this beautifully throughout the album. Songs like The Wave illustrate this perfectly. I highly recommend checking out Happy To You. I’ve been hooked since it was released.

Gone – Vacationers
The other album I’ve had on repeat recently is Vacationer’s Gone. This is one of the most feel-good and relaxing albums I’ve heard in a long time.

From the band’s last.fm profile:

The eastern seaboard’s foremost relaxation specialists have teamed up to compile this unique collection of serenity-inducing sonic arrangements. The audio program you are about to experience was designed with the sole purpose of relaxing the listener and sending their mind on a well-deserved trip. No airfare needed, no reservations. Simply settle in, relax and enjoy; Vacation from anywhere at anytime.

I couldn’t agree more. Make sure to check this one out

Jake’s Picks

151a – Kishi Bashi
This orchestral indietastic album is a clap-happy festival of pure joy accompanied by plenty of synth and catchy hooks delivered straight to you by the velvet vocals of K Ishibashi. Kishi Bashi is new to me and I was instantly addicted from the moment I heard the up-beat, finger-drum inducing Intro. This album is a roller coaster of tracks that you can’t help but dance to and slower bits that make you want to join a college a capella group. Give’m a listen

The Lumineers – The Lumineers
The Lumineers is a group that I discovered thanks to the New Releases on Rdio. They’re a folky acoustic jam telling stories of love, life lessons, and giving sound advice. The vocals are sung out beautifully along the surface of carefree musical construction to get you off your feet and get you dancing next to some fine lady/gentleman. Ch-ch-check it out!

We’re excited to continue our interview series with a prominent software developer who’s been in the field for a while. Steve Streza is the Lead Platform Developer for Pocket. For those that don’t know, Pocket is a view-later service in which you can send links for reading, watching, or viewing later, distraction free. Full disclosure: Steve is a friend of mine, and I use Pocket regularly. This doesn’t diminish the fact that it really is a fantastic service run by a great team. Big thanks to Steve for taking the time to chat.

Nate Boateng: Thanks for taking some time to hang out, Steve. Can we start by you telling us about yourself? Where you’re from, and what you’re doing currently for work?

Steve Streza: Thanks for inviting me for an interview! I was born and raised in Ohio, in a suburb of Cleveland. I went to college for two and a half years for a degree in Software Engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY. While there, I worked for a tech startup, BlueTie, working on an email/calendar/contacts application that was (at the time) one of the most complex and powerful apps on the web. In 2008 I dropped out and joined Ambrosia Software, where I worked on Soundboard, an audio app for DJs and podcasters, as well as helped to build and improve the website. In 2010, I moved to San Francisco and joined ngmoco:), and helped to build out the plus+ social gaming network, which since became Mobage. Last year, I joined the Pocket team (then Read It Later) as Lead Platform Developer, where I’ve spent the last 6 months building our iOS and Android apps which just launched this week.

NB: It seems like there are now kids as young as 12 and 13 that have learned how to code. When did you start in software development? Were you formally trained or self-taught?

SS: I got my first Mac when I was about 5 years old, and started playing around with a basic form of programming when I was around 11 years old, using a wonderfully basic tool named GameMaker (which was probably the best $5 my parents ever spent) by Al Staffieri, Jr. I was an avid gamer as a kid, and it was a desire to make video games that drove me to learn this stuff. I moved on to REALbasic a couple years later, and then into full-on Cocoa programming for the Mac in high school. At some point around that time, my interest in making games started to fade, and apps started becoming more interesting. Having built a couple (terrible) games when younger, I began to appreciate the immense scope of work that went into making them – graphics, music, plot, and then all the actual code. Apps seemed to be doable by one person from start to finish, and it was clearer that apps could actually improve people’s lives in a significant way.

I took some classes in school, but most of it was self-taught. My high school offered some side classes in Pascal and C++ which I eagerly took, despite the knowledge that those languages are not as relevant to what I wanted to do, which was writing awesome Mac apps. The education provided a helpful foundation in understanding some programming concepts, but wasn’t really helpful in understanding how to build an entire app. I went to RIT as a software engineering major, which provided more of a background in structuring applications as separate logical pieces (e.g. the UI elements are separate pieces of code vs. the data storage pieces vs. the parts which talked to the Internet, etc.). I also spent a TON of time just writing stuff. Most of it never was given to anyone, but all of it was valuable experience in understanding what worked and what didn’t. The combination of basic fundamentals, high level structures, and experience turned me into the app developer I am today.

NB: Can you give any advice to anyone out there that might be interested in development? Maybe some tips on where to start or good resources?

SS: Just start writing code. Anything. Find some problem in your life that you can solve using a computer, and see if you can figure out a way to make the computer automate that thing. As you do this, you learn more and more about how the computer works, and will have an easier time bending it to your will. It sounds scary, but in a very short time you’ll find that you can build something pretty complex pretty easily. It doesn’t matter how old you are, what your experience is with computers, or how far you want to pursue software development. If you want to learn how to use the computer better, if you want to speed up repetitive tasks you do on your phone, or if you want to make the next mega-hit Angry Birds, all you need is a drive to solve problems and a desire to learn.

In terms of resources, there are a ton out there on the Internet. If you have a computer, you don’t have to spend a single penny for a ton of free resources. Xcode is free on the App Store. A few Google searches will quickly reveal tutorials, sample code, open source projects, and even entire apps waiting. If you have questions, you can find developers on Twitter, Stack Overflow, IRC, forums, and other tools. In my experience, developers tend to be friendly and will help you out if you’ve demonstrated that you’re actually stuck on a problem and aren’t just looking for someone to solve it for you. If you don’t mind spending a little money, there are several books which will go in-depth and really walk you through writing an iPhone app from scratch, from start to end. I don’t have any specific resources for newbies, partially because I’m not current on what the best specific tutorials or books are, but more importantly because the biggest skill you need is the ability to use the Internet to find the answers for yourself…with a nudge in the right direction.

If you want to take classes on the subject, they can be helpful, but in general they will probably not teach you everything. Technology is advancing at such a fast pace these days that education simply can’t keep up. This is a problem that will require rethinking our entire education system to take advantage of technology, but that is a process that will probably take at least a decade. As I said above, the education system is really equipped to provide the foundational concepts of development, but will not provide you the skills needed to do everything. So much of software engineering is just problem solving; I need to do X, how can I get from where I am now to X, and that comes with practice. Some programs at bleeding-edge schools may be better equipped to provide that kind of knowledge, but from what I’ve seen, they’re exceptions to the rule.

NB: Loads of people are moving to the Bay Area to work for tech companies. What compelled you to relocate to San Francisco and work with the Pocket team. What was that process like?

SS: From the day the iPhone was announced, the first question I had about it was “how can I write apps for this?”. Apple announced the iPhone SDK in late 2007; I dropped out of college in the beginning of 2008. It was as clear as night and day that the iPhone was going to cause the next revolution in software, and I wanted to be a part of it. As the market for apps started to blow up, and a million startups sprang up to create apps for these new platforms, a supply/demand problem became evident where there were more problems to solve than there were engineers to solve them. There is a lot of flexibility in Silicon Valley right now for engineers, and that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.

It is important to note that San Francisco is not the only place where this is happening. The software industry is lucky to be one of the few to ride through the economic recession of the last few years; in fact it has been growing massively. Cities all over the world are gunning to be “the next Silicon Valley”, with tech incubators and venture capital firms popping up to create new things everywhere. There is a ton of focus and attention on tech in the Bay Area right now, and a great culture to facilitate it, but developers who want to be a part don’t necessarily have to move here. It is a great place and a great time to live in San Francisco, though.

NB: What’s a typical day at the Pocket office like? Also, what are some of the tools you use to get work done? (Mac setup, test devices, vital software, etc.)

SS: I typically get to the office around 10 or 11 AM and work until 8 or 9. Our office has 7 of our employees in it, and we basically all sit in a giant room. Sitting on my desk is my 13“ MacBook Pro and a 24” HP monitor, hooked up to an Apple keyboard and a Magic Trackpad. Depending on the day, there will be some combination of iPhones, iPads, Android phones, Android tablets, and Kindle Fires sitting next to it, usually no fewer than 3 devices. Most of my day is spent in software, and I try to mix up what I use fairly frequently. I use Xcode for iOS development, Sublime Text 2 for web development, Eclipse for Android development, Git for version control, Photoshop for graphic and interface design. We have one meeting a week, on Monday morning, where we lay out the next week’s work, and that’s it. Otherwise, we just have little ad-hoc discussions whenever we need to, and anyone can jump into a discussion if they want. It’s a pretty informal way to get work done and it keeps us moving.

NB: As the view-later app market gets more crowded, how does Pocket try to differentiate, and do you think there’s a room for everyone?

SS: The industry took an interesting turn in the last couple years. People have started to own multiple Internet-enabled devices, instead of just one. While tech-savvy people raced to buy iPads as soon as they were released, the transition into the mainstream is still beginning. And the need for view-later apps like Pocket is even greater when you have multiple devices. This market has the potential to be huge.

Right now, our biggest competition is not the existing competitors in the market, but the existing hacks people use to save stuff for later. Similarly, our target market is the vast majority of people on the Internet who aren’t already using a view-later service like Pocket. Anyone who’s ever emailed themselves a link, or starred something in Google Reader to find later, or favorited a tweet so they could find it easier already knows the value of time-shifting media on the Internet. Today, they’re using a pretty rudimentary workaround to achieve this goal. We’re hoping tomorrow they’ll find Pocket.

NB: Are there any other projects you’ve worked on that you would like to share?

SS: For the last few months, all of my attention has been focused on making sure Pocket was the best view-later app on the market. Once this release settles a bit, I’ll have a bit more free time to develop some of the ideas that have been floating around my head.

NB: While spirited, the old-school Mac vs PC had a fun element to it. What are your thoughts on the ongoing “war” between iOS and Android fans that seems to be getting uglier by the day?

SS: This mobile computing thing is in its infancy. We’re still trying to figure out the essentials. iOS has clearly nailed many aspects of the mobile experience, but are catching up in others (e.g. notifications in iOS 5 being a prettier yet less functional copy of what Android has had for years). Android came at the notion of a phone from a completely different direction, and has some really compelling and useful features, but has been playing catch up in the areas of user experience.

Some people choose to pick sides, and that’s fine. People have certain requirements of their mobile devices, such as an amazing user experience, or of total flexibility, or of price, or how it feels in your hand, or what apps it runs. It’s pretty clear there is no one device or one platform that will satisfy every need.

Some people call Android devices terrible, or attack Apple for not allowing more open development. I take a more optimistic view of the market. I celebrate all this insanely cool tech that is as powerful as any computer, yet has a persistent Internet connection and fits into your pocket. It is a crazy exciting time to be in tech right now, and choosing sides when this is all so new and moving so quickly seems short-sighted.

When I was a kid I was an unabashed Apple fanboy. The PC market had matured to the point where legacy ideas from the 80s were holding back progress. Apple, the underdog, clearly had the best product in the Mac, and its only competitor, Windows, was awful by comparison. These days the innovation is flying fast and rapid changes are being made on multiple platforms. My current favorite now (and I’m sure 15 year old Steve is screaming at me right now) is actually Windows Phone 7, who is trying to do something really different with their UI, and who is doing it in a way that seems a happy medium between the openness of Android and the user experience of the iPhone. It’s truly a shame that platform isn’t able to pick up more traction. But I still celebrate all the mobile platforms.

I just wish we all had a little more respect and a little less animus for each other’s choices in device.

NB: Steve, thanks so much for taking the time out to share some insight with our readers. We really appreciate it!

You can find Steve all over the web. Check out his website, and make sure to follow him on Twitter.