A project I’m working on needed to secure the Core Data database on-disk in iOS (the nature of the content demanded it). When asked about this I instinctively said, “Sure! iOS has data protection APIs that easily allow that!”

I should stop answering so quickly.

Yes, there are APIs for that. The ones you’ll find mentioned all around the Internet are the additions to NSData and NSFileManager that let you use the NSFileProtectionKey attribute and set the protection class of the file and — MAGIC! — the file is encrypted and the keys are managed for you. The very first thing I did, then, was to naively write:

At first the idea that a collection in Swift could only be one kind of object bothered me, but I’m slowly seeing a useful pattern emerging from this — one that Obj-C made tedious due to its grafting of an pass-by-reference-only object pattern on top of another language.

In the specific case that I just solved, for example, I have a table controller with a static list of choices and actions that would be performed when clicked. In Obj-C I’d probably do something like:

Cathode is a fully customizable terminal app with a look inspired by classic computers. Don’t let the playful exterior fool you; under the hood there’s an advanced emulator designed for serious work. Whether you prefer crisp, clean text, or a flickering, glowing mess, Cathode is the perfect tool for hacking in style.

This thing is gorgeous, and highly usable.
Cathode

Thanks, Restrictions! Can we block the Tips app, too? THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

Hey, podcasters: shut up sooner. I can only keep up with so many 90-120m episodes a week.

Radio shows have turned meeting a mark into a science. Listen to a few and figure it out. Science Friday is a great example (of pretty much everything regarding an audio show).

reasonsmysoniscrying:

Me: “Boys, eat your vegetables.”
Wife: “Right! How do you think superheroes get so strong?”
Me: “Well, radiation mostly…”
5yo: “RADIATION!”

Yep.

The Epic Effort to Bring a Groundbreaking Online RPG Back to Life:

Yet for all the precedents it set and its significance in gaming history, Habitat is largely unknown beyond hardcore fans. And among those who know about it, few have played it. Handy wanted to change that.

“Videogame history is nothing if not preserved in a playable form,” he said. “Without being able to play a game, one cannot appreciate it fully. Imagine walking through an art gallery with the lights turned off.”

Former Apple managers discuss hectic work culture: “These people are nuts. They’re just there all the time.”:

I’ve also tried to explain to people by using analogy, ’cause they ask, “What’s it like being around Steve and Avie [Tevanian] and Bertrand and Scott and Phil and Tim?”

And I said it’s a lot like working in a nuclear power plant but you don’t get one of those protective suits. It’s a lot of radiation and you either learn to survive it or you die.

US top cop decries encryption, demands backdoors:

"It is fully possible to permit law enforcement to do its job while still adequately protecting personal privacy,” Holder said

Well, maybe if you’d tried that first we wouldn’t be here, now would we?

ComputerCOP: the dubious “Internet Safety Software” given to US families | Ars Technica:

Furthermore, by providing a free keylogging program—software that operates without even the most basic security safeguards—law enforcement agencies are passing around what amounts to a spying tool that could easily be abused by people who want to snoop on spouses, roommates, or co-workers.

EFF conducted a security review of ComputerCOP while also following the paper trail of public records to see how widely the software has spread. Based on ComputerCOP’s own marketing information, we identified approximately 245 agencies in more than 35 states, plus the US Marshals, that have used public funds (often the proceeds from property seized during criminal investigations) to purchase and distribute ComputerCOP. One sheriff’s department even bought a copy for every family in its county.