Tag Archive: weekend


javaNow, I’m honestly trying to not work on the project specifics except during the work week of Monday – Friday. Granted, like everyone else; I find a project I like; I dive in with both feet. Ironically, the average diver would probably hazard trying to go in hands first. But, then again; I’m not a diver.

What this means is that I spend the weekend trying to refine the work that needs to be done. I spend it learning technologies, experimenting with them and dreaming how they will incorporate. Despite being a holiday weekend (well, Yulishmash spill-over) I knew there wasn’t going to be much to get done. Also, with family in town, I really can’t kick them out of my home office when it’s also the guest room. (Yes, my home office has a Thinking-Queen-Sized-Bed)

So, it was down to sitting on the couch with laptop and hashing out the following. First was refreshing Java. I touched Java aeons ago. This was probably back when you could count Java’s age on one hand. Java is not yet 20, though it did become legal this year in the states. I’ve done a boatload of C and a shipload of Objective-C, and maybe a dinghy of C++. But Java was something that I kept getting pulled back from spending too much time in. Believe it or not; I’ve survived as a third-party Apple OS developer for over 25 years.

Java itself isn’t so much the problem. Object-oriented code with some syntax adjustments. Obj-C protocols are Java interfaces… sort of. The problem with most OO languages are the libraries and the build processes. In java is comes down to Packages, Jars, ClassPaths, and the like. So to learn Java I also brought in Eclipse. Eclipse is a popular Java IDE.  Well, after watching 5 horrendously painful lectures on the baby steps of Java for non-programmers, I was able to get the ever joyful “Hello World” up and running. But why stop there?!?

Next up was loading Tomcat. Tomcat is a web server that runs mini Java programs (known as Servlets). This allows me to do dynamic generation of content dependent on calls to a server. The server takes the request and passes it to the Servlet. The servlet uses java to parse the request, do stuff, and return data. So my next job was setting up Tomcat on my internal server (on the scared side of my firewall) and trying to write a Servlet.

This stage didn’t go quite as smoothly. Servlets have their own brand of packaging that goes even further into the world of Java. Thanks to some helpful folks at StackOverflow I was able to get a better handle on WEB-INF directories and my Java crashing web.xml file. Granted, after all that, the Servlet still wouldn’t run. After many hours it was sleep time.

Today, undaunted, I went back to the Servlet. I tried to figure out why the samples that came with Tomcat worked but mine belched “Resource not found” errors. Then I learned about how Tomcat Servlet paths worked and there was my happy “Hello World!” Servlet running on my Tomcat Server. (2 notches on the tinkerer’s belt)

So, obviously “Stuff” means fetching from the data store. We go to MySQL for that. This is a low effort relational database that will let me keep the data that I will pick and choose for my web requests. Client calls URL, URL hits Servlet, Servlet parses request, Servlet fetches from MySQL, Servlet pushes response out to client.

For those of you who do this all the time like it’s a piece of cake. Remember, some of us have been working on an entirely different kind of pastry. So, I salute the work you do so effortlessly. I hope to get there soon-ish.

Some fine tuning on a quick install of MySQL, a mini throw-away database and VOILA, Servlet is responding and showing a nicely formatted table. Now going back to the client; as previously mentioned I’m going to be using a data format called “JSON.” JSON has a lot of clients and APIs that can consume data in that format and turn it into something usable. So, next up on my agenda was finding a JSON library my Servlet could consume.

Remember, this is all seat of the pants, and I’m likely doing half of this all wrong. But if I can get a working proof of concept that looks good enough for seed money, then I can hire in people who do this for a living to do it right. So, I find an open source JSON java library. I even figure out how to turn it into a JAR (Java Archive) and soon was able to have a sample java program burping out my data in the much hoped for data format.

So, next up is moving this JAR and JSON code into the Servlet. Once that is there, we have an end-to-end request from MySQL JSON generator. But by then it’s the end of the weekend and it’s back to working on the client proper with the hand coded data set.

All this and I had a cold this weekend, too. It’s quite an adventure and I’m really thrilled with what we’ve accomplished so far. We being now a team of 5 contributors (including myself) even if half don’t really consider themselves contributors yet.

As we get closer to our Proof of Concept I will endeavor to get less vague.

Til next time…

Back to code!

So, the weekend started with me doing a presentation on programming in a new language to my team. My first presentation and about 80% of my team is in there. Lots of people. No pressure 😉

Afterwards we had a Friday celebration for a really cool guy on the team that has now been in our group for 10 years. I spent the bulk of that period discussing Doctor Who and Highlander and explained that Highlander IV was actually a really amazingly good movie.

I get to the car. There is reggae music playing. shimmeringjemmy really doesn’t like Reggae… so… weird.

I get in the car and she looks at me and says, “Sorry I don’t have room to get down on one knee… but, would you like your ex-girlfriend’s ring.” Which she then placed on my finger.

This unto itself requires explanation…. A really cool person I was involved with about 1 year and a half back and I exchanged rings. After we broke up she asked me to keep the ring she gave me. And I wear it daily. I took it in last week for a cleaning to a jeweler we use.

H picked it up today while I was at work. But, in our family sense of humour.. she couldn’t merely hand it over. So, she came up with the contrived sentence above. Which between the reggae, the class, the discussion on Highlander, and everything else… my brain went FWEEEEEEE!

Guess it’s time for a new Doctor Who… At least that’ll make sense. It’s not like unexpected relatives are gonna pop up out of nowhere for the Doctor.

This weekend we had the stunning SkinnyWhiteChick, S.J. Tucker (aka s00j) along with stealthcello for an evening of music, mirth, and stories.

We didn’t realize that we could put 63 people in our basement. But now we have to figure how to raise the bar.

It was an honour for our first FreePeople concert to be s00j and stealthcello. If the wind is with us, it won’t be the last concert we host and we certainly will see these two beautiful women and hear their stunning music again.

Everyone seems to have had a very good time and I’d put a call out to anyone I didn’t know to drop me a line so we can keep in contact with them for future FreePeople functions.

I’m not really going to go into the weekend concerning the Horizon Oasis officer’s retreat. I will summarize by saying it was wonderful, productive, and I have great enthusiasm for the body’s direction.

I also did a LOT of work with Eleusyve Productions producers on the upcoming Rite of Venus

I got home in time to watch the Superbowl. I really had little interest in who won. The first half was good, the second half… well, Sexy Rexy and the Bears kinda collapsed on themselves.

But of course… the ads.

This year’s winner hands down had to be “Career Builder.” The monkeys never really worked for me and this years Corporate Grind meets Survivor was stunningly well done.

2nd place goes to Budweiser (whose Bud Light feel-good ads got old) who may have been hit or miss but the King of the Crabs spot was wonderful.

Points to Diamond foods for the most surreal moment with Robert Goulet.

But a special nod to the challenging of middle America with two very non-standard sexual moments.

I believe it was snickers that showed two men kissing. (right near the beginning) but the Bulls-eye had to be an incredibly tame and entertaining Prince mini concert right down to the shadow show of his AMAZINGLY phallic guitar.

I just never noticed that in the old “Glyph” and boy did he show it on TV.

Interestingly… no news agency has commented on this.

So… quiet Superbowl. Good, productive weekend. Long week ahead.

Hopefully more soon.

So this weekend I head to Boston to see friends, loved ones and hit a con.

So to get myself ready for a flight at Oh-dash-really early in the morning I’ve decided to make a night of it before heading out.

This evening I’ll start with a very quick visit with tzaddi_93 to drop off some stuff with her and maybe some chicken soup for poor jonah777 and lazuli93.

Later, I’m off to ‘The Spot’ in Seattle for some dancing and frivolity. Anyone else gonna be there tonight? Let me know.

Afterwards.. to keep my adrenaline running I’ll be dropping by the Silver Dollar casino to visit a local Sister who deal the Blackjack tables. I probably won’t gamble very much at all.

Morning flight takes me out to Boston and everything going on out there.

A lengthier version of this will be posted in my S&F filter. As always, feel free to comment here if you want on.

So.. who’s going?