Free Things – February 6, 2012
Recently I tinkered with some javascript to generate a typing game. It’s not complete, nor advanced. You might find it fun to pick apart and understand how you might use the techniques in your own works. Be sure to check it out — typeWordGame. If you wish, DOWNLOAD a Zip archive of the game.
The object of the game is to type the word in the text input box before it reaches the bottom of the blue canvas area. The words get faster!!!!
Want a free ringtone for your Android based phone? Try my new free app: Ringtone – These Two Minutes. Did I mention that it’s FREE!!!!
News Junkie
The older I get the more I am becoming a news junkie. It’s a simple confession I am making now. 
With that said and out of the way let me share a couple of interesting links.
I find the article above by Susan Cain refreshing. I tend to be a loner when it comes to my work. I’ve worked in all kinds of scenarios through the years. I don’t really enjoy the pack mentality, or group think. I know I am risking my future by saying so on a blog. I am throwing caution to the wind. Maybe, just maybe, all those recruiters who leave me messages, and send me emails will now stop! Yay!!!!!
Enjoy the article! It’s well written.
I liked the lone statistics class I took in college. I am not the super duper math type, but it was fun. I found the following link an interesting run through. It’s always cool to see our world in numbers and to see how the various data we generate, but we neglect to think about, is collected and categorized.
http://royal.pingdom.com/2012/01/17/internet-2011-in-numbers/
Finally a personal note to my friend Ben… I know you will read this sometime. Take a deep breath. Pause for a second. Now start the work of writing your movie script. Enjoy the journey, as much as you look forward to the conclusion. Nothing is wasted, if you are learning and having the time of your life. Run the race with all that is within you!!! Cheering for you — Wayne.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to you! Ok, the old timers were right. The older I get, the faster time flies.
Well the New Year is off to a great start! This week the Java gurus, who work behind the scenes making NetBeans, released a new version — 7.1. I can tell it’s faster. The editor’s intellisense is faster too, or at least it sure seems that way! Whether you do HTML5 / Javascript / jQuery development, PHP, or Java, you will want to take a look.
In just a few weeks, I will break the six year mark of being an Apple Mac convert. Though I used my wife’s Mac Plus some years ago for a while, I had never purchased my own. The old Mac Plus has been gone for quite sometime, but the two Macs I purchased are still in daily use. I never owned a Windows machine that lasted this long, nor ran as well after multiple upgrades! Thanks, Apple.
Today my son and I hung out at a Mac Authority store while my wife and daughter did some shopping nearby. Something cool caught my teenage boy’s eye — A StompBox! Check this thing out….http://blog.griffintechnology.com/archives/stompbox-is-a-guitar-pedal-for-ipad-iphone-or-ipod. I could instantly see this on stage being played with an iPad attached!
A SQL Search Tool – FREE
Recently I noticed that SQL Search from Red Gate is FREE! If you do SQL Server work via SQL Server Management Studio, download and get this freebie! It’s great for searching to see which tables contain a particular field name, or what procedures contain a certain parameter. It’s fast, and it’s free!!!!!
Here’s the link – http://www.red-gate.com/products/sql-development/sql-search/.
Later!
SQL Server MSDE 2005 & Integration Services Issue
Tonight when I got home I booted up the Macbook Pro and the Parallel’s Workstation where I run my Windows XP Pro and Visual Studio 2005 / SQL Server MSDE 2005. At the office I’ve been running some SSIS packages written by others. I want to get more into the SSIS technology. I see the benefit of using it, as compared to the past, when I wrote numerous SQL scripts to do data migrations, imports, and massaging.
Well the issue is that I did not have the Business Intelligence Development Tools (BIDS). I pulled out my Visual Studio 2005 Pro box and the respective SQL Server MSDE CD. I thought it would be as simple as installing the tools portion from the Setup utility. Well, not so! It was a little more involved. My hope is to share here in a quick entry what I did so that it might help someone.
One problem I had was that my PC was running both the SQL Server MSDE and SQLExpress. I first uninstalled the SQL Express items. After a reboot I opened up the Windows Control Panel. I selected my SQL Server MSDE instance and clicked the change button. On the dialog that follows there is a section where you can tell the SQL Server MSDE version to uninstall the Tools. I selected that and uninstalled the tools. (I think I rebooted after this step too!)
Finally I mounted the SQL Server MSDE 2005 CD and ran the install again with the tools installation option. Viola! Now I have access to the BIDS tool. In addition I also gained access to the Microsoft SQL Management Studio, which was installed from the MSDE CD too. The SQL Management Studio is more full featured than the Express version of the tool.
I hope this helps someone!
Sept 4 — Random
Yesterday I sat with my Macbook Pro in lap watching the LSU vs. Oregon game. I had Eclipse Helio opened to put some finishing touches on my Android app — myTimeTracker. Since I returned to contracting just a little over 90 days ago, I have had to keep up with my hours in a little tighter fashion. My little android app helps me track my time. I haven’t spent a lot of energy putting a gloss on the user interface (UI) since I am primarily using it for myself, but even so it looks really good, in my humble opinion. (No screenshot at this time!) :-)
Once you start writing for Android and you see some results, I think you are hooked. It’s quite easy to crank out something that has function and ease of use. I believe that once a developer gets that first app under their belt, it’s quite easy to start brainstorming other things one can solve using Android and the SDK (software development kit).
Having written in several languages for various platforms over the years, I have found it hard to get excited about much over the past two or three years. Well I think I might have gained my passion for development again.
I know that the web is replete with examples of programming language wars (i.e Java vs. Net). I work in .Net by day. It’s what the company uses. That is fine. Yet I have to admit that I like Java. I like being able to develop on my Mac and to run on Windows, Mac, and Linux. I know that there are those who say that the UI is simply not as beautiful as the UIs built in native languages. (Honestly I don’t see this being the case.) That’s okay with me. I’d rather have portability and function over sleek and shiny.
Am I trying to start another language war? Not hardly. In this economy a developer of any age would do well to know as much as possible about two or three languages, development methodologies, and related libraries. This past week I found the following articles interesting:
http://www.cio.com/article/688978/Age_Bias_in_IT_the_Reality_Behind_the_Rumors
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/02/icloud_runs_on_microsoft_azure_and_amazon/
The Times Are A Changin’
While I personally need more power found in a laptop / desktop because of my development habit, I can see how the general consumer market is trending toward tablets and Chrome OS like machines. The appeal of a fast booting ‘instant on’ operating system can spoil one. I personally use my Android phone, a Samsung Captivate, to check emails, view calendars, and read general news / weather. I am honestly booting up my MacBook Pro less these days, only doing so for software development, or recording music.
Interestingly nowadays when I have a software application idea, I am thinking to myself, how would that work on an Android phone? Would folks be interested in that kind of information on their phone / tablet? I’ve had an idea in my head for the past three, or so, years. While I won’t get into the details, it would consist of a lot of image data. At first I thought to myself that it would not be suited for a tablet, or smart phone. Well time has changed my opinion!
Have a great week!!! I will try not to wait a century before I write again.
July 7, 2011 – Random
For a long time I have used the Wacom Graphire tablet with Photoshop. Personally I have a MacBook Pro running Photoshop CS3 with the Graphire. Well this week at the office, I got a new Wacom Intuos4. I was totally satisfied with the Graphire. Now I find myself thinking that I could hand the Graphire down to the kids and move up to the luxury of the sleek new Intuos4.
Pinch me please! I cannot justify the upgrade. Wacom tablets are simply made to last and perform. I may long give out before the Graphire does.
The new Wacom Intuos4 comes with a really nice stylus, extra nibs are found in the stylus holder. The mouse that comes with the Intuos4 is weighted and handles very nicely! Additionally, the Intuos4 tablet has buttons that are programmed to allow the user to speed up their work flow! While I have not mastered them yet, I can see their functionality is a huge tool! Man, I need to stop now. I am so sold on this product.
Now I am waiting on the Adobe Creative Suite 5 to come in! Come on Mr. Postman!!!!!
So why do I need all this stuff? Well I am working on creating the new web design for my customer. Not only am I knee deep in graphic design, I am just as deep into HTML/CSS and making it come alive with jQuery! I am really having fun. PSSSSST! It’s great to be happy at what I am doing!!!!!!
All Things — July 2, 2011
It’s been a long week! I spent my day job doing lots of photoshop and design work with a mix of jQuery. Things are coming along quit well.
At home, I have a list a mile long of things to do. One project I am presently doing is refinishing the stairwell. I am nearing the stage where I can start applying stain.
This week I had contact from a former boss. Interesting to hear that they are doing some Android development that will integrate with their application. Android seems to be everywhere these days! I enjoy hearing how others are doing things with Android development, as well as HTML5 development.
I have had a long love affair with the guitar. I am planning on starting some acoustic recording soon. I will keep you posted. Thanks to those of you who write me about my music. I am still alive and writing in the hills of Middle Tennessee. Funny thing is that while Nashville is Music City, U.S.A., I played more in South Louisiana. I miss my music buddies back in South Louisiana!!! While my body is in Middle Tennessee, my heart is still back in in the land of the bayous.
I hope you have a great 4th of July! Celebrate the freedoms you still enjoy, because life is too short and many have given their lives for you and me. Happy Birthday, America!!!
Netbeans: HTML5 & jQuery intellisense
To be honest, I moved from using Netbeans to Eclipse for Android development because most of the books one finds do things from the Eclipse angle. Additionally, Eclipse has tabs for debugging directly in the same IDE in which you use to develop your logic.
I won’t lie either. I find working in Netbeans a much more pleasurable experience. This may well be because I have spent most of my years doing Microsoft development using some version of Visual Studio. Netbeans is, in my opinion, the Visual Studio of the Java world. It is makes getting software written and working faster, especially if you are not a veteran of Java development.
All that said, the real reason to mention Netbeans today is HTML5 and jQuery. Okay, maybe you are scratching your head now. Netbeans is already known to be one super versatile IDE, but now add more cool functionality.
From time to time I hit the Netbeans web site to see that status of the project and community. The phrase ‘supports HTML5′ caught my eye. I opened my copy of Netbeans and proceeded to take updates. After restarting Netbeans I created a test Java web app project. I dropped in jquery-1.6.1-min.js and referenced it in my html header.
Now I dropped down into the body of my html file and added a <canvas> object. I followed that by adding a <section> tag. Each time I was greeted with intellisense that showed me Netbeans indeed knew what I was talking about!
Likewise I scrolled up and added some short jQuery goodness. I added some css changes so that I could visually see my changes on the page. As I typed in the jquery ‘$.’ I again saw intellisense guiding me with jQuery syntax.
I was stoked! I have downloaded a few IDEs, over the past year, with the hopes of finding one that was easy to use, provided HTML5 support, and jQuery intellisense. Well the search is over.
In a nutshell the benefits to choosing Netbeans for your HTML5 / jQuery work are:
- FREE
- Works on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux
- Supports, and provides intellisense for: Java, C++, HTML5, javascript, jQuery framework
- Is responsive, does not lag (this is my experience on Mac OS X)
- Strong community support behind the product / project
Learn A Real Language?
Today at the office I was sharing with a coworker some of my developer history. I shared with him how, when I was young and working my first computer department job, I used Borland’s Turbo C 1.0. The funniest part about the story is that one of the COBOL developers told me that I needed to ‘learn a real language’. That struck me as strange and funny all in the same breath.
All these years later, I wonder where that guy is? I wonder if he is making the big bucks because COBOL developers are a rare find in certain parts of the country and there is still a lot of legacy code out there from what I have heard? Or did he move into some other role doing management, or teaching, or even perhaps truck driving?
Granted that I.T. has changed a lot over the years. I have been blessed enough to have worked in a field that I have enjoyed. I did not lie and tell you that I have always loved my job.
I have written a vast array of systems over the years on various platforms (DOS, Windows, Mac OS X, HP3000, Pocket PCs, Palm). I have worked in C, C++, embedded C++, Visual Basic, PHP, ASP.Net, C#. I even wrote a little COBOL in my early days.
These days I spend my day doing ASP.Net (C# & VB). I spend my personal time working on a MacBook Pro writing HTML5, PHP, C, Objective C, and Java as time permits. I am particularly hooked on Android development using Eclipse at the moment.
All these years later, I attribute my joy of computing from the introduction to a powerful, but terse language, called C. Thanks Kernaghan and Ritchie!
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