Hello folks!

I’ll start again with the business stuff then work into my commentary for the week.

If you didn’t se it yet, I did post last week about the new Update Frames button in Xcode 8.1. I’m trying to finish four Lynda.com courses at the same time, so I’ll try to get to fix it in the books soon as I can, but I’m swamped. You’ll find the article also on the Book’s webpage

The new lesson is up on the website. This week I’m showing you how to use actions and categories with your notifications. This is a cool way to execute bits of code directly from the notification without opening the app.

For the tip of the week, I found out that the newer simulators work just like their device counterparts. That means any use of 3d touch in a simulator requires you to have a 3D touch trackpad. If you don’t have a 3D touch trackpad, you can’t do all functions  on iPhone 6s, 6s plus, 7 and 7 plus simulators. As I’ll describe in the post, this has some serious repercussions, since the newer phones require a 3d tap to get the actions displayed. The workaround is to use an iPhone 6 or 6 plus to test notifications or other application using 3D touch in the API’s. This would be the latest phone without the 3D touch feature.

I have a new idea for this newsletter that I’m beginning to work on. I have two readers who were nice enough to send me their apps to look at. Both apps I like a lot, and I’m thinking they might be cool to review and constructively critique on the newsletter. I haven’t gotten permission from either person yet, so If I do this, it will start next week. If you are interested in submitting an app in the app store for review, send me a valid redemption code  at [email protected] with some info about you and your app and I’ll take a look.

Some of you might remember last week I promised to tell you about the second best memopry from my trip to Russia. That memory actually happened not in Russia but in Helsinki, on a stopover, but  on my way home.  It turns out I heard some news last week that dovetails into that story.

Restaurateur Jim Delligatti died last week at the ripe old age of 98. You might not know that name, but I’m betting most of you know of his innovation, one that the corporate environment he belonged to resisted. Delligatti knew  it would be a hit, because he listened to his customers more than corporate. His innovation is known world wide. While he lived in Pennsylvania, it was in Helsinki that I found his invention was the best sandwich I ever tasted.

In August of 1986, a few months before I went to Russia, the Chernobyl disaster happened. It changed our trip, cancelling the original stop of Kiev since getting there would require going dangerously close to the affected area. It changed the name of our dinner and lunch too. No longer was it called Chicken Kiev. It was Chernobyl Chicken.  Lunch and dinner every day for two weeks was Chernobyl Chicken. Even the ultra hot mustard condiment was not enough to make this tasty by the end of the trip.  After two weeks, I never wanted to see a butter stuffed breaded chicken breast again.

On our way back from the Soviet Union, we had an overnight layover in Helsinki. Many of my class mates and I went across the road from our hotel, to a restaurant there. I think we all ordered the same sandwich. The two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun I ordered with fries and a Coke was the best sandwich I ever ate.

Yeah it was a Big Mac. That was Jim Delligati’s invention.

There’s a lot to unpack there.