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Author: Jason

My name is Jason Spitkoski, I live in Toronto. I am a computer programmer / consultant. I am also an aspiring entrepreneur who provides employee scheduling solutions at Schedule Bin. I enjoy programming games in my spare time and have done a few games in both C++ and Actionscript.

Mobile Flash’s Growing Pains

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I’ve recently commented on the lack of games on Android and thought that the Android market could use a good tower defense game. Of course, it would be nice to make money on my side projects, so I thought it would be really good to port my game to iOS and other modern devices, maximizing my potential market and ideally, selling a lot more games. The problem is that me and a friend working on a game don’t have the time, energy or mental fortitude to port our game to…

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Java must be stopped

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Java has passed its expiry date. It is no longer the only cross platform, fast language available. There are few examples of widely used Java applications. The few popular ones there are are noticeably slower and more resource intensive than native apps. And as a developer, I waste far too much time worrying about types in Java and generally writing out a lot of boiler plate code. Here are some examples of Java compared to Python (a more modern language): converting an integer to a string in Java: String aString…

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The State of Mobile Application Development

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It is amazing to see the amount of enthusiasm people have for their smartphones. Many iphone users not only like their phone, but regularly put on a sales hat for Apple and convince others that the iphone stands alone in its awesomeness and to not have one is the same as losing a sense. Android too isn’t without it’s feverish supporters, though I think most are just happy to have a decent device that isn’t an iphone. It is fun to watch and participate in such meaningless fanfare, but it’s…

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Cold calling for hackers

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As a hacker, you live by what you think is a high code of ethics and standards. You pride yourself on your good work, you take your work very seriously and it’s not uncommon to work every waking hour to meet a deadline. Every year or two you invest lots of time and effort learning a new technology, be it a new programming language, server platform or design paradigm. When you stroll into the office every morning, you can almost be forgiven for having what appears to be a chip…

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The boogie-man that is internet cloud security vulnerabilities

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After participating in a recent online discussion about security vulnerabilities in internet clouds, I was a bit surprised at how many people still seem to think that using publicly-exposed internet clouds are less secure than clouds or networks sitting behind private firewalls. It’s important not to be distracted by buzz words, a cloud is a large network of servers. The servers are set up to talk to each other to share the load. This has been something that’s been around for many years.

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Why Android Market Has No Games

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After a few days of Nexus One ownership I began looking for games, preparing to be hypnotized by games as amazing as the Nexus One itself. After my first search, the list of games I found was the following: Robo Defense Lite (an ok tower defense game), Labyrinth Lite, Poke A Mole, Pinball and BreakTheBlocks Lite. The list of games after the top five were similar and included many more brick breaker, whack-a-mole, snake and pong games. Underwhelmed hardly describes how I felt…

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Adobe’s Flash: Good, Bad or Just Ugly?

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I have a few beefs with Flash… its security sandbox seems more restrictive than helpful. Most Flash vulnerabilities have something to do with null pointer exceptions rather than what programmers write, which one could point at and say “ah HA! Flash is bad!”. But when you think about it, what software doesn’t have security vulnerabilities? I mean, Apple recently dealt with a vulnerability that lets would-be hackers send an SMS that allows them to eaves drop on conversations and make your iPhone part of a botnet. Where was the outrage…

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DHL Having a Problem with Google Nexus One Thievery

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I recently ordered a Google Nexus One phone, it has been years since I have turned my back on the world of mobile gadgets but thought it’s time for me to give it another try. My excitement and mirth shot up when my phone came in a box that seemed too light to be believable. Upon opening the box, to my astonishment, I saw the Nexus One box ripped open, the phone and its accessories missing and immediately felt the palpable weight of a $600 vapor phone on my visa…

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