Sam Soffes

Wrangling SVGs

Posted on

Cheddar uses SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) a lot. One of the big wins for using SVGs is they are vector, so they look great on Retina displays without you having to do any work.

Since I use Grater, everything looks great on iPhone, iPad, and desktops. I was using SVGs a few weeks before the Retina MacBook Pro came out. Since I had already optimized for the Retina mobile displays, I didn't have to do anything for the new MacBook Pro!

Anyway, I wanted everything to look crisp and was having trouble at first. After seeing GitHub do it so well, I asked a friend how to do it and spent the time to make them great. It's actually very easy.

Continue reading →

Retiring at 25

Posted on

Growing up, I always told my mom that I wanted to retire* at age 25. She'd laugh and say it's good that I have goals.

So, I'm 23. Two years to go.

A lot can happen in two years. Two years ago I could barely write Ruby and now I make a living (mostly) writing Ruby. Two years ago, I didn't know anything about making products, marketing, design, etc. I was just a programmer. (Not that there's anything wrong with being just a programmer.)

Continue reading →

How To Learn

Posted on

If you want to learn something, just start doing whatever you want to learn.

Learn by doing.

If you want to learn iOS, pick something to work on and start. "But I don't know Objective-C." Okay, Google "getting started with Objective-C" or buy a book. If you run into something you can't figure out, Google it, search StackOverflow, or ask a friend. This technique applies to anything.

Continue reading →