http basic auth with Cocoa

// dataStr is a base64 encoded username and password in format username:password
NSMutableString *dataStr = @"Basic dXNlcm5hbWU6cGFzc3dvcmQ=";

// Set up the URL
NSMutableURLRequest * request=(NSMutableURLRequest*)[NSMutableURLRequest requestWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:theURL] cachePolicy:NSURLRequestUseProtocolCachePolicy timeoutInterval:1.0];

// append the http header for authentication
[request addValue:dataStr forHTTPHeaderField:@"Authorization"];

// Send the request to the web service
NSData *response = [NSURLConnection sendSynchronousRequest:request returningResponse:nil error:nil];