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Our move to using oAuth for authentication in Spaz is going well. Many people have stepped up to help get the SpazCore libraries working, and Spaz Desktop has been updated to use the new authentication methods, both in the 0.8 branch and master.

However, Spaz webOS still hasn’t had work done on it to get oAuth working. July 16th is the Twitter Basic Auth cutoff, so we don’t have much time.

Here’s the big news: Palm has donated Palm Pre Plus phones for AT&T for me to GIVE AWAY to the top 3 contributors to Spaz webOS from now until July 12. That’s the day (I believe) we need to submit Spaz webOS to Palm for review, so it can be ready by the 16th.

So, you want a free phone? Get your ass in gear. Download the SDK now: http://bit.ly/duAHNg

To get through Palm’s review process, I believe we need to submit by July 12th. So before then, two things need to happen in Spaz webOS:

• Twitter accounts need to use oAuth to authenticate, using xAuth to exchange username/password for auth keys initially
• Image uploaders need to use oAuth Echo to post

We’ve already accomplished this in the Spaz Desktop 0.8 branch, so doing it in webOS is very doable. Whether it gets done in time is up to you. I am on Twitter, available via email, and in #spaz on irc.freenode.net regularly to answer any questions.

Palm has been a major supporter of open source, and Spaz is (AFAICT) the only open source microblogging client available on the platform. Help me keep it going, please.

I really don’t like to toot my own horn. Well, actually I do, but I’m also embarassed by it, so writing the title for this post was a bit painful. Nevertheless, I do think it’s accurate: Spaz webOS 1.0 is now available in the Palm App Catalog, and that’s a significant milestone for the project, and for open source on webOS.

I first started playing with webOS a year ago, over Christmas break at my day job. In June, Spaz webOS was in the App Catalog at release, and back then I was quite proud of the fact that we’d been able to ship a truly open source, transparent app on the first day of a new platform. And now, a year since I first cobbled together a Hello World in Mojo, Spaz has reached a reasonable level of maturity – at least as mature as something called “Spaz” will ever have.

Originally I was going to call this release v0.6. I am shy of using 1.0 because I am painfully aware of all the flaws in my software, and it certainly never feels “done” or “ready” to me. However, a recent discussion with Keith Casey led me to think more seriously about using the “1.0” designation – Spaz webOS is very much Safe To Use, but a pre-1.0 version might make some potential users to think otherwise.

And potential users are a bit more of a consideration now, because in a couple weeks (probably the week of January 11), Spaz webOS will start charging $2 for App Catalog downloads in the United States. This is something I’ve been planning for a while, but it’s still stepping out a bit, both for me (I’ve never charged for software before) and for open source software in general. To be clear, here’s how it will work:

1. Spaz webOS will cost $2 to download in App Catalog markets that support payments. Right now the only market that supports payments is the US. It will be free in all other markets.
2. Spaz will still be completely open source. The full source code will always be available.
3. I will not stop users from packaging and installing Spaz webOS themselves. In fact, I encourage it! I always need more testers, designers and developers. Hacking, patching, and messing with Spaz are fully endorsed. If you can’t help in one of these ways, consider donating to the SpazCore project.
4. Revenue made from paid App Catalog downloads will be used to support development and offset equipment and hosting costs. I’ve never made any money from Spaz, and despite some generous donations over the past couple years, I’m still well in the red. I don’t do this for the money (obviously), but lightening the burden and compensating myself and other people who have given their time for Spaz is reasonable, I think.

Another thing that isn’t changing is the principles that guide the Spaz project. I wrote up a statement of purpose a while, back, which I’ll replicate here:

1. Spaz was built for the sake of building it. It is not a means to an end. However, creating it has had several good consequences.
2. Spaz demonstrates that making things is good, and sharing how you make them is better.
3. Spaz is a necessary counter to closed, hidden technologies. Spaz must always be open.
4. The value of Spaz does not lie in the judgements of others, but in the process of building it, and the enjoyment derived by those who use it.
5. We welcome anyone who wishes to participate in the Spaz Project with open arms, as long as they understand and respect the purposes of the project.
6. The Spaz project values clear and open communication between participants.

This is how I think software should be made. If you agree, I hope you’ll consider supporting what we’re doing in a way you see fit. We always need help!

Thank you for making Spaz far more than I could have imagined.

No more travels for me until SXSW in March, I believe. I’m far too tired.

Did I say that? I actually knew very well that a week later, I would be traveling to San Jose for ZendCon 09. Foolish me.

I spoke at ZendCon on Building Desktop RIAs with JavaScript and PHP. I’ve given this talk other places, but this time I showed off some fun PHP-powered jQuery within Titanium. Here’s a snippet:

<script type="text/php">        
    /**
     * run the passed function when DOM Ready event runs 
     */
    $jQuery()->ready( function () use (&$jQuery) {
        /**
         * set some CSS properties 
         */
        $jQuery('#phpjQ')->css('display', 'none')
                        ->css('background-color','#333')
                        ->css('padding','10px')
                        ->css('border','2px solid #000');
        /**
         * bind a delegated click event to the passed function 
         */
        $jQuery('#invokePHP')->live('click', function () use (&$jQuery) {
            /**
             * set the text color and reveal 
             */
            $jQuery('#phpjQ')->css('color', 'red')->slideToggle(500);
        } );                
    } );
</script>       

Building Desktop RIAs with JavaScript and PHP

• Slides
• Code: Server-side PHP, AIR, Titanium

Unlike some others, I only participated halfway in CodeWorks 09, doing the east coast leg of Atlanta, Miami, Washington, D.C., and New York City. It was an enjoyable adventure, and I liked being able to try different approaches in my talks and see what worked best.

I was able to record audio with the voice memo app on my iPhone. Getting hour-long recordings off is a bit of an adventure – they refuse to appear in the voice memo playlist in iTunes, so you have to find the files in the MobileSync backups folders and do some renaming work – but they turned out pretty well.

Introduction to CodeIgniter

• Slides
• Code
• Audio (recorded in NYC)

Building Desktop RIAs with JavaScript and PHP

• Slides
• Client Code, Server Code
• Audio (recorded in DC)

No more travels for me until SXSW in March, I believe. I’m far too tired.

A few of you may know of a small app I did in AIR a while back called Searchatron. It’s mostly a proof of concept, but does have some usefulness in making it a bit easier to track multiple Twitter search queries. Searchatron uses an MVC-style pattern similar to how the next version of Spaz will be built, and much of Searchatron’s code provided the basis for the SpazCore component library.

As more of you may know, I’m very interested in the new Titanium platform. It’s similar to AIR, but fully open-source, and much more extensible. In order to learn more about Titanium, I tasked myself last week with converting Searchatron from AIR to Titanium. The whole process only took a couple hours. You can download the result from http://get.titaniumapp.com/app/12GKqr3.

What’s interesting is that Appcelerator, the creators of the Titanium platform, are running a contest right now. Two $500 prizes will be awarded for the most downloaded app, and the highest-rated app, respectively. If Searchatron wins either of these prizes, I’m pledging now to use the prize money to support further development of Spaz and the SpazCore project, in the form of cash gifts to our most giving volunteers. It might not be a lot, but it does mean real money is going to people working on open-source development. I hope to continue doing so when feasible and prudent.

If you’re interested in helping, this one is pretty easy: download Searchatron, and if you like it, suggest others do the same. Feel free to point them here if you like. By doing so, you’ll be doing a lot to encourage the continued development Spaz and its related projects.

• Download Searchatron
• Searchatron Source
• Titanium App contest