Tag Archive: progress


uploadingThe first image upload API is now finished. This API will now take images in any format and save it tied to a relevant record in a web neutral format to the archive. This work took more effort than I expected, but it’s making things move very well. I’ve also fixed several links so that development and production environments work exactly the same. The client is now pulling entirely from the new APIs and works when used over the VPN. For some useless statistics I now have over 100 active source files with about 110 lines of code on average per source. This seems very short but the reality is that there are several subclasses that are very tiny working off nicely complex but not obfuscated super classes. I am likely missing a tonne of material. There are also several test apps that are folded in there whose entire purpose is to test APIs. Once they are removed the numbers will be a little more realistic. However, the important thing in development is not the size of the work but the results.

On the downside I’ve been fighting a bad back for the past 3 days. I will likely be calling my doctor tomorrow to take a look and see what is going on there. On the upside, however, the only chair I find any comfort and support in is the one in my home office. So, as long as I discipline myself to work… the pain isn’t as bad. (Granted, a good bit of Aleve® helps quite a bit)

Tomorrow’s goals are to call the doctor. Implement the location uploader in the DataUploader utility, And make sure that I blog for the day.

 

hurdleA happy new year to all! May we all join in peace with the shared knowledge that for the next month we shall all be writing “20134″

The reason I put “Vacation” in quotes like that, is that when you are the sole coder on a project of your own devising for your own release for your own product for your own (intended) revenue. The only think that delays said revenue is said sole coder. So you find yourself working even when you say you won’t.

This week was predominantly learning Java and Servlets. I would be a fool to say that I’ve learnt it all. But, I seem to now have enough under my belt that I am successfully using Eclipse, making a minimal number of Syntax Errors per revision, pushing the class to the Tomcat server, and seeing the fruits of my work.

And what are said fruits?

Originally my client was pulling data from a JSON file that I belched out from a program that made the data than I entered by hand. This JSON file was a static resource that had to be kept up and verified with each data modification. This was a painful process.

Google-r Bruno Oliveira puts this very well: (click for a larger version)geeks-vs-nongeeks-repetitive-tasks

 

When left to our own devices, we will try to simplify long and annoying process. We may do so through some even more annoying process, but the payoff is ginourmous.

Last week I had a monolithic JSON file with every bit of data in one place. This week, I now have a MySQL database with the data broken into different tables and a Tomcat Servlet, making the necessary calls to create only enough JSON data  populate the view on the client. This is reduce some major overhead and going forwards will allow far better expandability, data management, and communications scaling.

Ain’t net tech awesome in the 2010s? This is so much better than trying to compress user level data into a few bits in a byte because you only had 400K to store your data and your BBS.

Big Edit: My boy is not on a breathing tube. I couldn’t come up with the term for an Inhaler Spacer. Sorry for the scare.

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All of my flow seems trapped at the pipe between the road and the house. It’s sort of cordoned off.

So I’m going to refer to this as Water-Gate.

Anyway…

Last evening we made a trip to “Red Bullseye Store” and got a case of 6 gallon containers of purified water. (I now know that it takes 2.5 gallons to flush a toilet.

This morning we ran to Top Market and got 2 5-gallon jugs of drinking water. I tried last evening boiling down some fresh fallen snow and then putting it through the Britta water filter. Even top layer snow was kind of scary looking and when I put the boiled down snow into the filter; I think I heard it whimper… or scream.

Planned dinner last night was Andrei’s famous Spaghetti and Sauce-Meat. With the discovery of water lacking yesterday.. that got pushed off. We decided to acquire food from the finest of France, “Les Arches d’Or.”

This evening however, I was hell bent on making the dinner come together.

I think I was able to do dinner on 1/2 gallon of water. And my conservation efforts worked miracles.

The pot the spaghetti cooked in was the lower pot of the steamer for the vegetables. The spaghetti pot drained into the sauce meat pot for cleaning purposes.

In general all of the dishes have been fairly well rinsed and can be cleaned completely with a damp wash cloth and some soap.

Dinner was appreciated by all.

So… tonight, H & a play with Bubble Wrap. “Buh-bool” is his newest word. He’s picking up a new word almost every other day. And they aren’t easy ones. This week’s have been “Puppy”, “Snow” and “Bubble”. Snow makes me very happy, because it is a consonant cluster. Hopefully, this wont mess up his eventual study of Japanese.

While on the topic of the little “a”… I showed them Madagascar last night. Amusingly; when the “Move It” song came on; Aiden started to dance. Real dancing. Bouncing up and down to the music, twisting his hips, and swinging his arms.

But the real story comes from Wednesday and Thursday night.

Many have scoffed at the fact that we put Aiden down ‘manually’ every night. This means we are in his bedroom with him from the time we intend him to go to sleep until he’s asleep. At one time this could be upwards of 2 1/2 to 3 hrs. We got an iPod speaker system and programmed up some sleepy music. This came as a result at marvelling how amazingly DayCare could get him down for noon time nap. AND!!! AND!!! have it stick for 2 hrs.

So… this has added to the effort which has been improving. I’d say over the last month we’ve gotten him down in 15-20 minutes. And truthfully… I really don’t mind spending bedtime with him 🙂

But.. the real struggle is getting him to stay down. Like clockwork he tended to wake up at 10pm and 1am. At 10 pm I’d work to get him down again. At 1am… I usually was in bed and just picked him up and put him back into bed with us.

Wednesday Aiden wandered out while I was in the bathroom after H had gone to sleep. C picked him up. I came out and took him. We went back in his room. I asked if he needed to be changed and he made a yes-ish noise. I turned to the closet; fetched what I needed, turned around and he was out again. Normally, getting him back down after he’s gotten out of bed is very difficult. This was an amazing change. He didn’t seem wet… so I let him sleep. At about 12:30 he woke again. He looked at me and made his sign for drink. (He makes the ASL sign for food and tips his head back as if he’s slamming a drink). I asked him to wait in bed while I refilled his cup. Again.. this is something we wish for that never happens. Well, until Wednesday. I brought him the cup, he took a sip and went back to sleep. I turned in assuming he’d not really gone back to sleep and I’d hear from him within 15 minutes or so. Or would I. When I heard him cry at the gate for our bedroom door I checked the clock and it was 3:15 am. A new Aiden record. Glee.

Until Thursday. Aiden slept in until 5:50 am. I get up at 6am typically. If I can get Aiden to stay in his bed until 6 am regularly. I consider that a complete win.

Last night was about 1:15am. About normal. But… I really think we’re making great progress. As for tonight… well.. it’s almost 8pm… So we’ll see how that went shortly.

No water… No real social life. Cancelled one of the few social events of the past 5 months that I have.

But things are going.

Fingers x’ed

Oh yes. One more thing…

Aiden is now fully capable to handle his inhaler. He can shake it, insert it in the breathing tube and knows where to press. He’s not quite strong enough on his own. He’s a marvellous growing person.