ironcoder

Based on our previous post it looks like sponsored prizes for Ironcoder is a good idea. I’ve begun e-mailing a few people who I think might be able to provide cool prizes but I really don’t want to spam every Mac OS X shareware developer in existence. So this posting is a call for sponsors.

So if you’re a Mac OS X software developer and wish to contribute one or more free product licenses to Ironcoder please either email me directly at schwa at this domain. or attach a comment to this thread. There is no need to provide licenses right now, just commit to providing a license at the time of the next Ironcoder contest (which tentatively looks like it will be scheduled for just before WWDC).

Sponsors will probably not gain much in the way of fame and glory from sponsoring Ironcoder. We will not be plastering adverts for sponsors over ironcoder.org but will be listing and linking to all sponsors during the contest. No one will be tattooing icons onto any body parts. The main reason to sponsor Ironcoder would altruistic, to help the contest thrive by attracting more entries.

We’ve had two Ironcoder contests so far. Ironcoder v0 was a definite success. We had ten entries, most of which were on target with theme and API (mine excluded) and one entry is even being turned into a product. It is good to see something permanent come out of Ironcoder.

Ironcoder \01 had only one entry. I for one would like Ironcoder 2 (0×02?) to have more entries than that.

What can we do about this? The format of Ironcoder was completely arbitrary and decided during a late night session on the #macsb channel of freenode.net. In fact the whole idea stemmed from a semi-joking comment of mine on the channel along the lines of “we need a #macsb ironchef contest”. I don’t think anyone involved with ironcoder is particularly tied to the format of the contest, so if a format change will help improve Ironcoder then we will be all for it.

So I ask anyone interested in Ironcoder to please step up and comment on how they would like to see the next Ironcoder improved.

(See also: Jesper’s blog entry)

Submission closed an hour ago, and it’s time for some judging.

Unfortunately, this contest was not as well-attended as the last one. Gus Mueller’s Emily Dickinson Keywords was the only entry.

EDK looks at the song that is currently playing, and searches a list of poems for one which matches a word from the song metadata. It’ll then display the matching poems in a lovely calligraphy font.

Congratulations, Gus. You’re the Chairman next time around.

With just a little over four hours left, it’s time to detail the submission process.

Zip up (or tarball, or whatever) your entry, including full source and a built copy. Put your name in the filename. Keep your file under 5 meg.

Go over to the submission page. Get yours in by 6pm Eastern today. Judging will begin shortly thereafter.

Your theme this time is….

Emily Dickinson

The American poet died 120 years ago this week. Since I celebrated a birthday this week, I thought we could all celebrate her deathday. The non-Americans in the crowd (or Americans who slept though high school English) may want to read the Wikipedia article.

You now have 24 hours to complete your task. Check this page for instructions on where to submit your program, due by 6pm Eastern time on Sunday.

And you thought the API was bad.

iTunes visualization!!!1!

As hinted at this means that the address space limitation is relaxed this time around. Try not to make me regret it — still no haxies.

See the official documention at TN2016. You can also use a wrapper like VizKit, just make sure you highlight what’s yours and what isn’t, and do something extra cool.

The previous entries from Ironcoder v0 have been uploaded to /entries/ironcoder_0/.

Don’t forget: Ironcoder \01 is just a few days away.

I have selected the theme and the API. Naturally, you need to wait until Friday and Saturday to find out, but I like to tease.

Here is your hint:

The API will require bending one of the rules of the game.

I thought it would be nice to start some permanent “general purpose” pages for linking to from outside blogs, etc. I have added an overview and schedule page to the blog for easily referencing the general rules of the contest as well as dates of current and past contests.

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p> These are always accessible from the Pages section of the sidebar. I would probably suggest using the “overview” page as a link destination.

In the last competition, the wise Chairman Rentzsch was charged not only with selecting a worthy victor, but also a capable successor. With his entry, Symphony, Lucas Eckels secured the position.

But what do we really know about the new Chairman Eckels? From the rules we know that he hasn’t yet taken the plunge into Intel-Mac-hood. Even though he consorts with Mac small business people in #macsb, he himself has no such business. What motivates him?

Join the competition to find out.