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!
Sweet Cocoa
Today I took my lunch break and zoomed over to a local Nashville used bookstore that I like. I picked up a used copy of Cocoa Programming Developer’s Handbook by David Chisnall. I am excited about digging into the tome. I may work doing ASP.Net for my day job, but I really enjoy working with Cocoa at home.
In so many ways, working in Cocoa/XCode reminds of me of my early days of working in Borland’s Turbo C 1.0. (Showing my age, huh!) I think it’s the excitement of something new and different, and lots of fun.
Today marks the start of my third week at my new job. I am glad to be there. I’ve been busy doing some design work and some logic. I like the balance.
I have a friend back in Baton Rouge, who shared his mentor’s words once. The saying goes: Not all gains are good; not all losses are bad. This can be applied to lots of things, from employers to relationships.
One thing I’ve been trying to teach my kids over the past few years, is to find a way to work in the arena that is your passion. Learn to live on the money that it pays you. If you don’t make lots of money, you will be happy. That is worth a fortune.
Likewise, I enjoy Cocoa development for Mac OS X. While naysayers may say that the Mac desktops are a small amount of the market. That is fine with me. I am doing this because I enjoy it.
Well I am going to read…. :0)
Random Things for May 23, 2011
A New Job
Today begins my last week with my current employer. I will be moving on, and working with Robert Half in Nashville doing contract ASP.Net development. I am excited about the change! If you are a programmer and need help finding work, give Robert Half a call. They have offices and customers all over the country, and the world.
Cognition 4.4.5 ROM Upgrade
On another note, I wanted to tell you that I downloaded the current Cognition ROM, version 4.4.5, for the Samsung Captivate! If you like battery life, you should check out this Android Froyo based ROM. It’s snappier, prettier, and down right smooth! Be sure to check it out! DesignGears has done a terrific job on each release. I favor this one.
A Birthday Too…
I’ve been busy getting older too. I recently turned 44. Wow! So as they say, time really does fly when you are having fun. I am very blessed with lots of wonderful people in my life, like my wife, children and the folks at Calvary Chapel of Dickson, TN.
jQuery Based Concert Calendar
Last month I worked up some jQuery sweetness in the form of a PHP based concert calendar for musicians. Sadly, though, I could not get it installed and working permissions wise on the account of one of my customers. Sometimes working with shared hosting accounts can be a pain. I used Dreamhost.com for years and found their systems a pleasure to work with. Nonetheless I have packaged up the project into a Zip file and plan to share it for free in the near future.
Android Development
I recently moved from NetBeans to Eclipse for doing my Android Development. I have started working on a Calorie Tracker app. It’s a personal project so I am not going to set a deadline to deliver it. 
Be sure to check back…
BWC
Where Are the Heros?
This week a couple of online headlines caught my eyes. The first one, was that Reverend David Wilkerson had passed away in an auto accident in East Texas. This man was one who put his life where his mouth was! He saw great needs in the streets of New York and was moved by God to start a church in a place many pastors would cringe about being themselves, much less bring their families. Surely, as was stated in a email from his son, His was a life lived well. Amen.
David Wilkerson, author of the The Cross and the Switch Blade, was the lead Pastor at the Times Square Church. I was blessed to have seen and heard him speak in Baton Rouge at Jimmy Swaggart Ministries, back in the 80s, at the midday devotionals held just before lunch. This was my first computer job and first time to see David Wilkerson, who I would come to value as both a holy man of God, and a hero.
My prayers go out to God for the Wilkerson family. This event this week led me to think how I could better live so that in the end it might be said that I lived well for my Lord. Even in dying this Brother challenges the way we think, live, and walk this walk. I hope my life will be that way as I grow closer to Christ.
The second headline that caught my eye was the announcement that Superman, the comic hero, would be renouncing his U.S. citizenship in order to be more relevant to the rest of the world. You can view it here – superman-renounces-us-citizenship. This one surprised me almost as much as the passing of David Wilkerson.
As a boy I had inherited the original Superman comic and others from my step father’s boss, who’s son was going off to college at the time. I loved reading those things as a young boy.
Superman has been the hero icon of several generations now. How sad it is to see the hero become so politically correct from a globalist perspective. I think the writers got it wrong. I won’t be supporting this agenda with my hard earned dollars by purchasing the comic series for my children, or grandchildren.
As an American, I love this country. I am very concerned for her though, as I watch so many things in decline. I don’t personally believe that the answers to our problems can be found in Washington D.C., or in the agenda of a Democrat, or Republican. Our great nation is at a major crossroads.
As an American, you have the absolute right to disagree with me, or many other things. It’s part of what makes American great! You can voice your belief, or your opinion, without fear of attack. I personally believe that the only hope for this Nation, and our World, is the hope found in Jesus Christ, as Messiah, and Son of God.
This may turn you off. I am sorry if it does. It is what I believe. You are welcome to believe otherwise.
A Long Time Coming…
Today I made, what to me is, a hard choice. I have finally concluded that I can no longer spread myself so thin, as to work a full time development job, and maintain a design / development business on the side. No matter how small, or irregular the side line business is, it always comes, and goes, at the worst of times for my work and family schedules.
If you, by chance, were considering me for your web design work, please take note of the following two firms that I can highly recommend. Contact Kerry at http://b-sidewebsites.com/, or Rob at http://www.brainwavestudios.net/. These are the best designers / developers in the Nashville area.
Thanks to all of you who have allowed me to work with you over the past 5 years of this adventure in Nashville. I’ve put off the inevitable, and now it’s time to move on. I wish you continued success.
Wayne
Connect-a-dot HTML5 Canvas Demo
I am a simple guy. My wife might say otherwise, but really I am.
The following HTML5 Canvas example is simple. With that in mind, please read on.
When I was younger, like in the single digits age-wise, I would occasionally work one of those connect-a-dot style worksheets. These worksheets were largely blank sheets of paper with abstract images to be formed into more intelligible images. This was done by simply making a line from one dot to the next as defined by the letter, or number, sequence. I think many kids loved those things.
Well one day I was thinking about HTML5 and the canvas object. I thought to myself that it would be fun to work up a connect-a-dot type web application. I did!
Before we proceed let me tell you that building this HTML5 application is the easy part. Making templates to load into the canvas for actually displaying the connect-a-dot page is another thing. It’s a little time consuming to work up a template from one of your own works. Also making it flow in sequence without backsteps, where you might have considered labeling a single dot more than once, can pose quite a bit of a challenge logically.
For this project we can simply use one HTML5 canvas object. We will load our image(s) into it, setup our mouse cursor to look like a crosshair and then draw on top of our load image. It’s really that simple in a nutshell.
Let me say upfront that sadly my example uses what jQuery folks call ‘obtrusive javascript’, meaning that I included the javascript hooks in the body of my html. This will be my last such work since I am now reading the 2nd edition of jQuery In Action by Bibeault and Katz. I agree with the philosophy found within the first chapter and will there subscribe to it for future work.
The HTML encompasses 38 lines. Some of which, includes a manifest file link, and meta tag descriptions that will allow the demo to run on an Apple iPad, or Android tablets. Admittedly, I have not tested this design on an iPad at this writing.
Though not the recommended way of doing things, I hard coded the list of my connect-a-dot drawings into a select object. One drawing is of a bird that I had vectored some time ago. A second drawing is of essentially what looks like two shirt boxes stacked neatly. Finally the third option is a blank.jpg (white / #fff) to allow the users to just draw and fiddle around.
I had plans to go into the details, but things have gotten rather busy. I didn’t wish to hold out too long and then never get this example work out there. My expectation is that you know something of HTML syntax, CSS style syntax, some javascript, and don’t mind fiddling with things to see how they work. That is the method by which many of the developers I know today do things. We tend to remember the things we have to dig into for answers.
You will want to inspect the Tracer.js file. It contains the core logic. In Tracer.js, you will find three javascript functions: init(), loadPic(), and setupDrawingCanvas(). Yeah, I know there is not a lot to this. The setupDrawingCanvas function contains the logic to handle touch and mouse events.
If you have questions feel free to write me. I am sure that if you spend any amount of time fiddling with this demo you will probably find a way to do something that you like better than the way I did it. Change it! Have fun with it.
After I had completed my little project, I googled for others. I found one of particular interests and wanted to share it with you: http://blog.mehdi.biz/2010/02/having-fun-with-jquery-and-html-5.html.
You can download the zip file containing the source for this project. You can simply take it for a test drive by running it from my site.
Wayne
One Saturday Morning (Acoustic Improvisation)
This morning I recorded some acoustic guitar improvisation tracks. I got super creative with the title of one of the tunes — One Saturday Morning. Check it out on my site, on the music tab… http://music.waynecater.com.
Hope you enjoy,
Wayne
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