Who can remember the difference between a schooner and a frigate? I always have to look it up. The word "schooner" has a precise definition. A schooner is a vessel with a front mast no taller than its other masts. Clear enough - to be a schooner, the front mast must be shorter than or equal to all other masts.
[Spanish version of this article, machine translation which may contain mistakes]
The term "frigate" is less precise. It's more like the term "HTML5" - a marketing word that refers to a family of related, compatible features. In the case of a frigate, it means "warship generally built for speed and maneuverability". In the case of HTML5, it means "a modernization of HTML, to play rich media, support web apps, and do other useful things."
The frigate ARA Libertad, at anchor in Buenos Aires harbor
This is the frigate ARA Libertad, at anchor in Bueños Aires harbor, Argentina. Each ship in the Argentine Navy has the prefix ARA (Armada de la República Argentina) before its name. The ARA Libertad is a tall sailing ship for cadet training. Brass rail polishing must be one of the most important elements of sailing, because that's what all the cadets were practicing when I walked by the frigate this morning.
The MOTODEV team is currently in Buenos Aires, Argentina for the 7th stop in our App Summit series. This worldwide tour helps developers get up to speed creating apps for the XOOM tablet and ATRIX smartphone. As well as sharing tips and techniques with developers, we also listen as developers describe their apps to us. Buenos Aires-based developer James Robinson showed me his app, which looks like this on a smartphone screen.
OpenSignalMaps app reports wifi or cell signal strength
The OpenSignalMaps app reports the wifi or cell signal strength at your location. The screen shot above was taken in the hotel in Buenos Aires where we held the MOTODEV app summit. The center of the circle is you. The blue lines radiate from you to nearby cell phone transmitters or wifi routers. You can click on transmitters to get more information, then you can use the data to walk to nearby places with a better signal. The tower data is crowdsourced, supporting an app that combines entertainment with a practical purpose.
This is a free app available in the Android market. It is very popular, and you can visit the Open Signal Maps's website to contribute to a global map of signal strength and wifi points. The best part of this app (for developers, like you and I) is that it was created by a small group of friends who originally got together to write an e-commerce website. They quickly succeeded in that venture, and the e-commerce now funds the development of this much more interesting project! I have seen other developers follow that approach, too - write a bland but practical software to make some money. Use the money to fund the development of the more creative app that is your passion.
Following up on my earlier mention of HTML5, I showed a picture of this local statue in my "Webtop Advantage and HTML5" presentation, and asked if anyone could identify it for me. I had seen the statue on the corner of Avenida del Libertador and Avenida General Sarmiento, while walking around Buenos Aires.
Monumento de los Españoles
Several summit attendees were able to tell me that I had seen the Monumento de los Españoles. This monument was a gift from the people of Spain in 1910 to the people of Argentina, to commemorate the first 100 years of Argentina's existence as a country, its constitution, and its four provinces. A generous and magnificant gesture in marble that can be enjoyed today.
I'll wrap up this blog post by inviting anyone present at the Buenos Aires App Summit to share their feedback and perceptions below. And I'd like to thank tweeters @Cristianbadenas, @Nictronics, @ghtomas, @jayjota, and @matistoledo for their kind comments.
Cheers,
Peter van der Linden
Android Technology Evangelist
Buenos Aires, Argentina
