Bringing Peace Through Programming

Pagination in PHP

2011-12-06T13:47:00.000-08:00

As a developer, once in a while you come across a requirement in a project that requires you to go that extra mile. I recently moved from desktop development to web applications and have been enjoying the experience.

However, there are a few things we are used to on the desktops that are not available on web applications - like pagination, tabbing, portability and ease of development.

Whilst there are tons of examples of PHP Pagination online, only a few of them have a complete example that demonstrate how it actually works. The rest just show a little piece of code and tells you to figure out the rest yourself...nothing of real substance that you can adapt to fit your need.

That said, I came across a nice jQuery version which does almost what I needed - problem is that I would need to learn to use jQuery to use this example. So, what this means is that I need to learn a new framework to learn to use another. Hmm, that's online tutorial for you.

If you know of any good example of PHP Pagination, please leave a comment below and share it with us all.

You Should Get Yourself One of These Amazon Kindle Fire

2011-11-20T10:53:00.000-08:00

After spending a few days with the Kindle Fire I have been very impressed. I don't think it will ever replace my e-ink kindle but it is a great little deice. I have owned multiple Kindles including the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation devices. I have also read on android smartphones, an iPod touch, kindle for pc, and the cloud reader.

PHYSICAL: I love the size of the Fire, it can be held with one hand although after a while the weight forces some positioning adjustments. It is about the size of the past (non DX) kindles and around the size of a DVD case. The power button seems to be poorly placed in the center of the bottom of the device; Right where I want to put my hands. I frequently hit/hold the power button unintentionally. The speakers are surprisingly good for a device of this size although the max output could be louder. I miss the physical page forward/backward buttons of the earlier kindles and volume up/down buttons would make a nice addition. Overall, none of these problems are great enough to cause me to down-rate the device.

SOFTWARE: The carousel on the home screen is interesting. It is a good idea but can be too sensitive and spin when I intend to select an item. The favorites on the home screen remain stationary and are easier to navigate than the carousel for frequently accessed items. I currently have my favorite apps and the books I am currently reading as well as those on the top of my list.

NEWSSTAND: The pages of magazines are a little scrunched on the Fire's screen but zooming in helps a lot. I found that nearly half of my favorite magazines aren't available at all (yet). I don't tend to read magazines as much as I read books so this isn't a huge problem but for people looking at the Fire for magazine reading should check availability first.

BOOKS: The functionality of the reading is more like reading on a cell phone than reading on a kindle. The biggest missing feature seen on e-ink kindles and missing here are collections. There is very little ability to organize your books here. You can view all books you own (Cloud) or all books on the device. You can sort these listings by title, author, or most recently viewed. Kindle.amazon.com has a way rating books, listing books as want to read/reading/read/abandoned. It would be great if the Fire accessed this data and allowed for better user management of the list. My list contains just under 200 books and over time that number will only grow. Once you find the book you are looking for (I keep the ones I am currently reading and plan to read next in my favorites) reading is a simple and pleasant experience. The title of the current book is written at the top of the screen and other than that the only thing displayed during reading is text. A single tap in the center of the screen brings up the time, battery, network status, how far you have read, and various other buttons. The display color, margins, spacing, font size, and typeface can be changed through the menu. Font size cannot be changed by pinching.

MUSIC: The music plays well and can be organized into playlists. The music features are most useful if your music is on the amazon cloud drive. But music, and everything else in the cloud, can't be accessed when outside of wireless.

VIDEO: Watching free and purchased videos is a great experience on the Fire. Keeping track of the free Prime videos I want to watch is much more difficult. There is no queue or to watch list so every time you want to watch you have to search around for what you are looking for.

APPS: What's not to love about a free app every day? Some great android apps are still missing here but there are a lot of great options available and hopefully the list will grow.

Overall the Fire is a great product at a great price. A 3G options would be very nice.

Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World

2011-11-20T06:10:00.000-08:00

Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World - Michael Lewis spins an entertaining yarn, traveling about the world and joking about the personality traits that led to the varying economic disasters of 2008. One can learn a certain amount about what transpired in each country, but the strictly factual material in this book could probably be spelled out in less than ten pages.

The bulk of the book is composed of amusing vignettes and Lewis's attempts to define each country's travails in terms of broad cultural stereotypes. The Icelandic crash, for example, follows from the that that Icelandic men think they are Vikings and don't listen to women.

The Greek crash results from their inability to trust each other. The German problem comes from their trust in process and their fascination with fecal matter (I am not making that up).

I don't know that my understanding of the world has been advanced by this book, though the book is an enjoyable, quick read.

My Review of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

2011-10-29T03:42:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading Steve Jobs. Wow! I must say I'm breathless (once again). With the number of reviews already published, I'll focus on a few key points that made an impression.

1. Walter Isaacson tells a very engaging story. His narrative captivated me from the get-go. He elegantly wove the various angles of Jobs's work through the time-line, which wasn't an easy task when you consider all the projects that were developed concurrently. It's a magnificent read.

2. I found it interesting to read "Jobs in his own words." It was hilarious to discover how much he and Bill Gates cursed - something I could have guessed but was never made explicit in other works about him.

3. There wasn't all that much new information. I don't know if it's because of my interest in Steve over the past few years, but I already knew most of the content presented in the book. There were not that many "Damn, I was wondering about that!" moments during my read.

4. The book lacked a lot in terms of Jobs's personal life. I expected to read a lot more about it, given that Isaacson was an "authorized" biographer. I believed I would find more extensive interviews with the children and his wife. They appear to be completely peripheral to Jobs's life, although the book doesn't allow me to conclude that at 100%.

In summary, it's a great book on Steve Jobs. If you want to know more about the showmanship of Steve, there will be more interesting options on the market. I give it 5 stars because it is truly a fantastic read.

Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship

2011-10-27T12:56:00.000-07:00

There is nothing particularly new in this book. It just discusses how to write "clean code" -- the code that is really easy to understand and maintain. Nevertheless this book is worth reading just to remind you another time how important "clean code" is!

This book provides lots of concrete advice how to make your code "cleaner". It discusses importance of proper naming, code formatting and testing. It stresses importance of constant refactoring and provides several extended refactoring examples. But the most important advice the book gives is to always commit better code then you have checked out.

Some advices given in the book can be disputed. Some chapters are weaker (in particular chapters on concurrent programming are quite superficial). Still overall book is definitely worth time spent reading it.

JBuds J4 Rugged Metal In-Ear Earbuds Style Headphones with Travel Case

2011-10-13T12:52:00.001-07:00

I have owned numerous "midrange" earbud headphones over the years, ranging from Sonys to Sennheisers. All of these earbuds delivered the same things: great sound quality for the price, and flimsy construction. I estimate that none of these products, no matter how many buzzwords adorned their packaging, lasted more than 1 year with normal use.

Finally, after my latest pair dropped a channel due to an internal cord break, I deliberately searched for something with rugged construction, and came across the JBuds J4 model. The words "kevlar-reinforced cord" sounded great to me, so I ordered up a set, hoping I would not have to get another for at least 2 years.

Like every other earbud in this price range, the JBuds arrived in a plastic blister pack with several different sizes of rubber tip pieces. My ear openings seem to be rather small, so the smallest tips are usually the ones I end up using, and these were no exception. I did not care for the double-style rubber tips, but I find that the noise isolation from the single-style are more than sufficient.

Sound quality is as good as any competing earbud. Having never listened to "high-dollar" ($150+) earbuds, I have no idea what sort of auditory experience I am missing out on, though I hope to try some soon. Regardless, these earbuds are not lacking compared to the others on the market in this price bracket.

The cord is undoubtedly the best feature of these earbuds, and was the main reason I chose them. It is a standard Y-style cord, which I strongly prefer to the asymmetrical type, with no adjustable slider. Cord length is ideal for me (6' 2" tall) to keep my iPod/phone in my pants pocket and still have enough slack to do workouts at the gym without any binding or catching. The cord's flat design is ingenious in that it does indeed prevent tangling as claimed. The two separate channels may get tangled around each other, but they are easily undone, and most of the time the cord just shakes out. That alone is probably the most notable feature of the J4. In addition, I have now been using these in my normal (moderate) fashion for over 7 months, and they have not missed a beat. I will be sure to update the review periodically to reflect how they hold up compared to prior sets, but they seem promising.

Now, the big downside: The headphones are not very comfortable. This is obviously a huge factor in the earbud market, and sadly the J4's suffer a minor and seemingly easily corrected design flaw which causes discomfort and/or frequent adjustment in the ear canal. The body of the earbuds, rather than having a somewhat half-spherical shape like many others, is a long cylinder with an end cap, that tapers on the ear side to the speaker port. The transition between the straight and tapered sections is a sharp, hard edge, and this edge tends to rub against the ear, causing significant discomfort. Over time, I have gotten more used to the earbuds, but unlike others that I never had to touch, I find myself frequently shifting these around to get that sharp edge off of my ear. I compared them side-by-side with my older broken earbuds and noted that those ones were smooth and curved, preventing such issues.

Two other details about the earbuds are worth noting. First, the cord is quite bulky. I don't mind, especially since the bulk is largely due to the kevlar reinforcing fabric, for which I am grateful, but it's not easy to see how thick it is in the pictures. Second, the plug is straight, not 90 degrees. This is no problem either, but a detail that some people wish to know.

Overall, I am happy with the JBuds J4 earbuds, but their unfortunate sharp-edged design really detracts from their overall rating, due to the discomfort it causes in the ear. If JBuds could reshape the J4 to more resemble the J3, or the Sennheiser CX300, this would solve the only problem I have with them, and would earn the J4 earbuds a 5 star rating in my book.

Java EE 6 Development with NetBeans 7

2011-09-11T14:11:00.001-07:00

In any technical work, the author's primary problem is to target an audience, and to maintain that focus throughout. This is every bit as important as accuracy.

With the title of this book, you expect that the operational pieces in the Java EE 6 spec will be explained within the context of the Netbeans IDE. That's all well and good, but how much prior knowledge of both these Java standards should be assumed? Here one must avoid too many screenshots, with a singular focus on step-by-step procedure. At the same time, it must be assumed that a really seasoned developer is probably already familiar with Netbeans and would just want an in-depth focus on the somewhat newer Java EE 6 spec.

In view of this, some coverage of the UI of the IDE, with due attention given to the whys and wherefores of the Java EE 6 components, is in order. It's reasonable to expect an substantial audience for a practical guide that explains how this IDE can help a developer who wishes to stick with the facilities provided in the EE 6 spec. Additionally, one can expect the reader has a technical bent but could use help integrating the technologies in the Java spec. In other words, a reader in the moderate knowledge range.

So now I have to say that I'm a member of the above target audience, and I really liked this book.

I won't re-list the table of contents here, but I have to mention some highlights here. It's my opinion that JSF has evolved to the point where it is a serious contender; especially since PrimeFaces hit the scene. So I was really happy with chapters 4 and 5. It's wonderful to see such a concise Facelet template explanation. PrimeFaces is there because it is included with Netbeans 7. Although one sees a lot of Hibernate, it's cool to have JPA included- and the author sails right on into session beans. There is a great discussion of Web Services development to wrap up.

The book has a good selection of topics; and is approachable- but it isn't a lightweight in that it really explores, to some depth, what the current iteration of Java EE can do. After reading it, you definitely gain a new respect for Netbeans, too.

Don't expect coverage of things outside of Java EE 6 (except for PrimeFaces)- there is only so much room in one book. Given the title, this isn't a surprise or really a problem. Just be advised.

This book promises to be practical in approach; to integrate Java EE and Netbeans; to be concise and comprehensive; and for a wide range of developers. I think it pulls it off. I have to recommend this one.

Reviewed by: Kenneth Tindle

Trend Stetting: Hail to the Editor in Chief

2011-09-04T06:20:00.000-07:00

Regardless of your contribution to Barack Obama’s approval rating, you have to admit one thing: The man can give a speech. And to the delight of professional wordslingers the world over, toiling under deadlines and character counts, he tends to write much of each address himself (like another fellow who’s spent some time on Pennsylvania Avenue used to say, he “feels our pain”).

To figure out why the 44th president’s speeches have such an explosive impact on listeners across the party spectrum, seasoned political analysts Mary Frances Berry and Josh Gottheimer tackled the impressive task of parsing his language. Their forthcoming book, Power in Words, walks us slowly through 18 of candidate Obama’s major addresses during his ascent to the White House.

It’s a fairly wonky read, as you’d imagine, with plenty of citations and endnotes and an occasionally excruciating level of detail: “After a few days in the country spent traveling with a twelve-car motorcade, Obama and his entourage flew to the rural area of Kolego in the Siaya District of Nyanza Province, about 175 miles east of Nairobi.” But Berry and Gottheimer temper their academic approach with lively anecdotes about backstage tension and last-minute rewrites, as well as insight into the symbiotic relationship between Obama and his head speechwriter, Jon Favreau (not the guy behind Cowboys & Aliens—look for his younger, prettier Googleganger).

Here’s what I learned from their efforts: The president’s political savvy and famous preacherlike cadence play a big role in his ability to stun a crowd, but delivery only goes as far as what’s in the package. Berry and Gottheimer close every chapter with the full text of the speech they’ve just analyzed, and the placement is apt. It drives home the force of the words themselves—clean and precise and startlingly emotional, even on a two-dimensional page. You may or may not agree with them, but they’re impossible to ignore.

Scriptin' with JavaScript and Ajax

2011-08-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

There are lots of JavaScript and AJAX books out there now, but few really combine both skills into one book. A few books that do, are huge books (700+ pages) and really are impossible to read through and actually get through all the 'techo-jargen' to really get anything out of the book. Most people need a easy-to-understand, to the point with real-world examples book.

This book by Charles Wyke-Smith is the book you are looking for if you want to quickly get started learning JavaScript with all the latest features (including libraries) and how to incorportate AJAX features as well. Since AJAX is not a separate technology, but incorporate sepecific JavaScript objects to create AJAX-enabled websites.

The author assumes no previous JavaScript experience and goes through the basics of JavaScript covering variables, if statements, loops, arrays and how objects/classes work. Then the author goes into explaining the DOM works in modifying and referencing HTML elements of a web page as well as modifying CSS styles of elements (and child elements) of a page. This of course is the foundation of how to use AJAX properly and explained very nicely by the author will great examples to get anybody up and running easily.

The author then goes into explaining JavaScript events inrelation to how they affect an HTML page with window and mouse and keyboard events. The author also covers the Event object in talking about event delegation and working with the DOM in creating some complex JavaScript examples.

Then various JavaScript libraries such as jQuery, Adobe Spry, Prototype are explained with some really cool examples of using multiple libraries together which is very unique for most JavaScript books.

Finally, the author very nicely explains how the objects that work with AJAX work and how to create some really useful AJAX web pages with PHP.

Lots of good stuff to learn from this book and the author does a fabulous job doing it a relatively short book (300 pages).

A great book and worth buying if you want to learn JavaScript and AJAX the proper way!!!

The Linux Programming Interface

2011-08-29T06:58:00.000-07:00

If your nose is a bit sensitive, the physical book might smell of chemicals, or at least the original copy that I received did. I was able to get a less strongly smelling copy from the publisher, which helped a lot. The hardcover edition is fat and pricey but worth it - looking at the sample code from the kindle version it came with it was kind of hard to keep track of what's going on while flipping through screens.

Also - I was confused on this point for a little bit - if you're looking for coverage of user space processes like systemd or command-line filters like less or grep, this is not the book for you - it covers only the underlying kernel system calls and C API which those filters are written with.

That said, I'm learning a lot about Linux through this book - and C as well. I learned C++ before I learned Linux, in some programming class where we used it to build a simple calculator and similar tasks. Learning C a bit later was a pain because it seemed so archaic and there was no proper motivation. Reading this book, though, made me realize how C actually makes a lot of sense in its proper context as a tool primarily for systems programming, for which it was created.

It's still slow and dense to read and digest (I still have a long ways to go with it), but I don't think there's any way around that - there's a lot of subtle and good information here, and it builds up the foundations progressively.

Click here to learn more.

Logo Design Love: A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities

2011-08-25T14:53:00.000-07:00

I've done some graphic and web design in the past as part of a different job, but I'm now changing careers and will eventually be doing mostly freelance design. There are a lot of books out there that show you great designs, or that discuss only the more technical aspects of design.

But this book is unique in that it not only shows you brilliant works of design and branding, but shares the creative process behind them, focusing specifically on the critical task of creating brand identities that are lasting, relevant, and pleasing to any given client.

This book is visually inspiring while also being a great read... the perfect blend of eye candy and rich information! I'm about halfway through right now, and even if this was the end of the book, I would think it was worth picking up. But just when I think it can't get any better, I read a few pages more and love it even more.

David Airey just does a great job of demystifying some of the more daunting aspects of branding. Obviously I'm a beginner, but I have to believe that even seasoned designers who aren't as experienced in branding would find this very useful. Anyway, enough gushing. Get it. Love it.

PHPList 2 E-mail Campaign Manager

2011-08-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

Since I swapped my Java programming skill for Python in 2009, things have been going very well. In fact, it's turned out to be one of the best decisions I've made in my programming careers ever since I stopped developing in VB6. One cool thing about Python is the brilliant community out there that are working to make it one of the best languages for developers.

The first time I tried the Django framework I was hooked. There's nothing out there in the Java landscape that compares to the ease, less cluttered and well-documented power that Django provides. If like me you've used Java long enough, you will have noticed how bloated it quickly became with different people coming out with all sorts of frameworks - making an already crowded landscape into an XML-polluted jungle. Luckily, I discovered Python, saw the light and switched.

Talking about switching, we just started a new project last week which focuses on developing mailing applications for one of our clients. Unfortunately, they want it developed in PHP and not Python meaning that some of the folks on the team will have to either brush up on the PHP or start learning. As luck would have it, I bumped into this PHPList 2 E-mail Campaign Manager at the bookshop on my way home, so I picked up a copy.

PHPList 2 E-mail Campaign Manager is some of the best books out there on developing your very own mailing list. I have only read the first 3 chapters an can already see the amount of useful information that will come in very useful for my current project.

One of the problems with managing a self-hosted application like mailing list is that it requires an on-going security audit and protection from spammers. With this book, you will not only get to see ways to install and maintain it seamlessly, you will also get to opportunity to choose which of the many open source mailing list meets your need. There's no need in installing a 900 pound application on a server that will not stand the load, so knowing what works where and how they scale really matters.

I have just installed two of the many applications and can already see how they will cut down on our development and maintenance time. The other cool thing about this book is that I was able to apply some of the tips to Python.

Have you got a copy, did you find it equally useful? Would like to hear what others think about it. If, however you are looking for a great book to manage any sort of mailing list on your own, this book is a must. Internet marketers will hugely benefit from it as well. I can't recommend PHPList 2 E-mail Campaign Manager enough. Click here to get a copy now!

Jenkins: The Definitive Guide

2011-08-02T15:26:00.001-07:00

Streamline software development with Jenkins, the popular Java-based open source tool that has revolutionized the way teams think about Continuous Integration (CI). This complete guide shows you how to automate your build, integration, release, and deployment processes with Jenkins—and demonstrates how CI can save you time, money, and many headaches.
Ideal for developers, software architects, and project managers, Jenkins: The Definitive Guide is both a CI tutorial and a comprehensive Jenkins reference. Through its wealth of best practices and real-world tips, you'll discover how easy it is to set up a CI service with Jenkins.

Learn how to install, configure, and secure your Jenkins server
Organize and monitor general-purpose build jobs
Integrate automated tests to verify builds, and set up code quality reporting
Establish effective team notification strategies and techniques
Configure build pipelines, parameterized jobs, matrix builds, and other advanced jobs
Manage a farm of Jenkins servers to run distributed builds
Implement automated deployment and continuous delivery

About the Author

John Ferguson Smart, director of Wakaleo Consulting, helps organizations optimize their Java development practices and infrastructure. He provides training and mentoring in agile development and testing practices such as Continuous Integration, Test Driven Development, Build Automation, and Continuous Deployment.

Dive Into Python 3

2011-07-30T06:25:00.000-07:00

Mark Pilgrim's Dive Into Python 3 is a hands-on guide to Python 3 (the latest version of the Python language) and its differences from Python 2. As in the original book, Dive Into Python, each chapter starts with a real, complete code sample, proceeds to pick it apart and explain the pieces, and then puts it all back together in a summary at the end.

Dive Into Python 3 is a Python book for experienced programmers. Whether you're an experienced programmer looking to get into Python 3 or grizzled Python veteran who remembers the days when you had to import the string module, Dive Into Python 3 is your 'desert island' Python 3 book. If you've never programmed before, Python 3 is an excellent language to learn modern programming techniques. But this book should not be your starting point.

Get "How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python" by Allen Downey, Jeffrey Elkner, Chris Meyers and learn the basics. Then dive into this book. Dive Into PYTHON 3 was written by Mark Pilgram, and this edition is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License 3.0. * Money raised from the sale of this book supports the development of free software and documentation.

About the Author: By day, Mark Pilgrim is a developer advocate for open source and open standards. By night, he is a husband and father who lives in North Carolina with his wife, his two sons, and his big slobbery dog. He spends his copious free time sunbathing, skydiving, and making up autobiographical information.

Syma S107/S107G R/C Helicopter - Yellow

2011-07-16T17:12:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but my little boy likes one of these awesome toys. We got him a nice Syma S107/S107G R/C Helicopter - Yellow. The last time we bought him something of that sort, it ended up in the bin within days of buying it.

However, this particular one seems to last much longer. It does feel like the best of the Syma toys on the market right now for those with children especially boys. If you have a child and would like to treat him to a nice toy, I would recommend you get them this top of the range Syma S107/S107G R/C Helicopter - Yellow

Using Sep in Python

2011-07-10T12:42:00.000-07:00

If you have been working with the latest Python 3 to a degree, chances are that you will have come across some very tricky and trivial piece of code that would run easily on Python 2.* but not on Python 3. There is a huge number of changes that was introduced in this version, and sometimes you need to go back to the documentation to really work out how to use them.

Here's simple example of that in action:

place = "London"
print("Hello from ", place, '!');

If you run that, you will get

Hello from London !

The new print() method by default inserts a space at the end of its arguments. To avoid that space you will need to explicitly specify the 'sep' keyword.

print ("Hello from ", place, "!", sep="") # Note the explicit " " after "Hello"
Another goodie is that you can easily get useful information about modules, classes, keywords, and functions, e. g.

>>> help(print)

However, if you have a much bigger text than the one shown above, you will need to concatenate them before printing. Here's an example of how you might also want to use it:

output = "".join(["Hello ",name,"!"])  # thats an empty string to start

print(output)
As I have always said, use the >>> prompt to experiment to find which works best for you. It is one of the most powerful methods to learn how to use Python's huge collection of modules.

Skipping tests in Python unittests

2011-06-20T08:12:00.000-07:00

There are situations when writing unittests in Python you want to skip some tests - for example, you don't want to initiate process that could take some time to finish, e.g parsing huge XML.

In that case, Python's unittest allows you to annotate which of your methods in your test case you'd like to skip. Starting from Python 2.7, you could use any of these skip decorators in your code:

1. @unittest.skip
2. @unittest.skipIf
3. @unittest.skipUnless

Here's an example on how to use them -

import sys
import unittest

class TestSample(unittest.TestCase):
    @unittest.skip('Unconditional skipping of the test method')
    def test_skip_unconditional(self):
        self.assertTrue(True)

    @unittest.skipUnless('-smoke' in sys.argv,\
                         'Skipping the smoke test')
    def test_skip_unless_conditional(self):
        self.assertTrue(True)

    @unittest.skipIf('-quick' in sys.argv,\
                     'Skipping a time consuming test')
    def test_skip_if_conditional(self):
        self.assertTrue(True)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    # don't pass the args to unittest module
    try:
        sys.argv.remove('-quick')
    except ValueError:
        pass

    try:
        sys.argv.remove('-smoke')
    except ValueError:
        pass

    unittest.main()

The test test_skip_unconditional is skipped all the times. The test test_skip_unless_conditional is run only if the unittest is invoked with -smoke option while the test test_skip_if_conditional is skipped if the unittest is invoked
with -quick option.

Here's the result of running the code above:

$ python sample_tests.py -v
test_skip_if_conditional (__main__.TestSample) ... ok
test_skip_unconditional (__main__.TestSample) ...
skipped 'Unconditional skipping of the test method'
test_skip_unless_conditional (__main__.TestSample) ...
skipped 'Skipping the smoke test'

-------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 3 tests in 0.000s

OK (skipped=2)

As you can see from the result, it shows how many of our tests were skipped and if the test was successful or not. Apart from these commonly used decorators, the unittest module has more and equally useful ones you should check out.

Since discovering Python in the last couple of years, I continue to be blown away at how flexible and refreshing it is to program in a language as cool as this. Unlike Java and other languages, testing modules come as default with your standard Python installation. Apart from this default testing module, you might want to see another one. Pytest.org provides another awesome testing framework that is quite easy to use. The site has a huge documentation to get you started - so check that sites out to learn how to do more with testing your Python code.

But if like me you prefer not to download additional testing framework, then check out Unittest tutorial on Python site for more on how to write Python test code.

My Experience Learning A New Programming Language

2011-06-13T05:37:00.000-07:00

Since I left university several year ago, I have been programming heavily in Java and Python. In fact, my main language right now is Python. I have talked really well about it in this blog; and how I got into it in the first place.

If you came through any sort of university route, you will have been taught Java as well during your time there. But as you get into the industry proper, it soon becomes clear that you need more than Java to compete. You need more than just one programming language under your belt to get you anywhere as a software professional. What you learnt as part of your course is nothing compare to what you will be faced with in your day job. So, that's why it is important to have a good idea of what it takes to succeed as a software professional.

One of the best qualities of a professional software developers is the ability to adapt, learn and use the right tool or language for the task in hand.

We recently started working on a Windows-based project and we were all give a copy of Beginning C# Object-Oriented Programming to get us up to speed with C#. Although I have been programming for as long as I care to remember, I had never do any Microsoft Windows based development at all. Most of my work have been on Linux or Mac-OSX which will make this project a nice opportunity to explore Windows proper.

I spend the weekend on this Beginning C# Object-Oriented Programming and was surprised to see how easy it is to work with the .NET framework. If you already know Java and other Object Oriented programming, you can easily skip some of the chapters in this book. The first few chapters cover the logic and intro into .NET programming while the rest move deeper into designs along with more than 30 fully hands-on activities, you'll discover how to transform a simple model of an application into a fully-functional C# project, including designing the user interface, implementing the business logic, and integrating with a relational database for data storage. Along the way, you will explore the .NET Framework, the creation of a Windows-based user interface, a web-based user interface, and service-oriented programming, all using Microsoft's industry-leading Visual Studio 2010, C#, Silverlight, the Entity Framework, and more.

I totally recommend this book if you are getting into Object oriented development for C# and .NET. I didn't think I would like it, but was blown away at the pace, content and style of the writing. You won't be surprised to learn that the author, Daniel Clark, is a trainer.

Pro Python by Marty Alchin - Book Review

2011-06-08T15:47:00.000-07:00

Pro Python - This is one of those books you need to really spend time on to seriously appreciate what a great technical book should be.

I received it a while ago, other than the quick flip through the chapters, I didn't spend time reading it until now. I bought it during a project we were working on and needed something that would give me real practical ways on how to use Python. Most of the books I started with only touched on the basics as listed in the free Python book.

But Pro Python is entirely different. It contains one of the full description of decorator patterns in Python I've seen in any books. Despite spending countless hours on the web, no one actually explained those patterns. It might be that they don't know it or can't be bothered to go that deep. That's exactly where this book shines - it addresses some of the topics you will find useful for real life projects like the credit card processing application we were working on.

Despite being a pro book, it breaks down advanced topics into basics, functions, classes, meta programming, and includes distribution, not always covered by other texts.

This book does more to explain the Python mindset needed for clear, concise code, than some of the explanations I have read that seem to favor dictating a “Python Way” to the reader. Therefore, once you have learned Python basics, this book is a must for your library.

You can click here to buy it or read other people's review.

Bon Apetit!

Western Digital My Book Essential 3 TB USB 3.0/2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive

2011-06-05T10:01:00.001-07:00

My Book Essential 3 TB

I've been working with computers since 1994, back when there were no personal or micro-computers. Back when a 300 baud modem was hot stuff. My first 60MB hard drive cost $600 (back when $600 actually meant something) and measured about a foot long or more, about 8 inches high and six inches wide. So you can imagine my delight when this little 2TB drive showed up. It's no more than a tenth of the size of that first 60MB hard drive. Imagine, two thousand gigabytes.

There's an old saying in computing (or at least those old enough to remember it) that, no matter the size of your hard drive, you'd only have about 1MB of free space. Well, not no more. Given the performance of our other Western Digital drives, I'm pretty confident that the My Book drive will last until, well, until we don't need to preserve our professional, historical files anymore.

Now, before I buy things like terabyte drives or printers or laptops, I always check PC Magazine's Editor's Choice collection, and this one was highly recommended. Its speed, size, and simplicity make it a real standout. Furthermore, we've been using Western Digital's drives for over ten years and have been very pleased with them.

Unfortunately, though, Robin's Rule #2 is: all drives fail eventually, as do computers. (Robin's Rule #1 is: never pass a law you can't enforce, but we'll skip that one here.) My sturdy old Pentium 4 Micron computer is finally dying, after putting in several years of hard service, so it's time to move on to the laptops, especially now that we're retired and I'm no longer doing interface or other design work that really does need a large monitor. And moving to the laptops means it's time to transfer all our historical, professional data off the old machines, which is why I bought the My Book drive.

The real beauty of the Western Digital My Book isn't just its thundering capacity, it's the size and portability. Using a simple USB cable, I can move my main development data from one computer to the next in less than five minutes (Gee, just like the old days of moving SCSI drives on the Macs). So now every one of our computers with a USB port can become my main development and writing computer. Just as soon as I transfer that 1.5GB of old emails from clients and contact information for everyone I know (I used to use Outlook Express, but now I just let Yahoo take care of the mail), and things like my book-selling database files. The total data transfers have now taken up barely a fraction of the My Book's space. Out of a readable 1.81TB, I still have 1.78TB left. And that represents over fifteen years of developing database applications for clients like California state agencies and medical research projects.

Meanwhile, the My Book drive just sits quietly in the background, taking up almost no space and storing our entire professional history of database development. Yes, it's a ridiculously huge drive for a small company, but all those historical files are critical and, what with the recent tornado warnings (tornadoes in California? Really? Weird.), it's nice to know that all I need to do is unplug this one little drive and our critical data is safe. Or, at least, it will be safe just as soon as I finish transferring the data from the other computers sitting around here. That's an awful lot of reassurance for about $130.

Click here to find out more and buy.

My Review of Seven Languages, Seven Weeks, the beginning

2011-05-30T05:19:00.000-07:00

Last time I blogged about Seven Languages, Seven Weeks, the beginning, I was thrilled at how much you folks liked the book - which I got week before it went on sale on Amazon. I like to pre-order books especially when I know they will be classics like The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Collector's Edition. Since then it has been on my shelf gathering dust until now. Although I attempted to read it immediately I received it, I didn't really spend as much time as I wanted on it because work, other books and family commitments got in the way.

If you didn't know about Seven Languages, Seven Weeks, the beginning, it is written by Bruce Tate of Pragmatic Programmer fame - he's also the author of many other books highly regarded books including Better, Faster, Lighter Java.

This book covers seven languages over seven weeks (which is a big challenge) - breaking them into very manageable size for you to cover each of the languages in one week. What I love about this book is that it covers some of the latest top languages (Clojure, Haskell, Io, Prolog, Scala, Erlang, and Ruby). For those who already know other languages like Java, Python and C++, you will definitely enjoy reading this book. Once you've finished and attempted all the problems accompaning each of the languages, you will be ready to use them in anger.

Like I said in the initial blog post, I'm very happy that Python or Java was not used in this book - you don't want to be relearning the language you already use; so the use of these new languages is a wise move. It has been in my todo list to learn new languages, so when this book came on the radar, I could not contain my excitement. If you are a serious developer you will benefit immensely from this book as it will allow you to expand your programming knowledge and add these languages to your toolbox.

You can click here to buy or read more review on Amazon.com

Developing Android Applications with Adobe AIR

2011-05-24T14:10:00.000-07:00

If you want to use your ActionScript skills to build mobile applications for the Android OS, this Developing Android Apps with Adobe AIR guide will show you how to use the unique programming environment, architecture, and tools in the Adobe AIR for Android SDK. You'll get practical hands-on experience on a wide range of development topics, from device-specific features to optimization techniques and best practices -- including how expand your mobile development experience beyond Android to other platforms.
Developing Android Apps with Adobe AIR takes you through the entire development process, with ready-to-run example code that implements each feature discussed, including:

Touch and gesture events, and screen orientation
Saving and retrieving data on the device
Features such as geolocation and the accelerometer
Animation, scrolling, device resolution, and vector images versus bitmaps
Architecture for one screen at a time and breadcrumb navigation
Advanced topics, such as security, custom views, and optimization

About the Author

Veronique Brossier is Senior Flash Engineer at MTVNetworks and adjunct professor at ITP/New York University. She has worked on applications for the world of art and entertainment, including The New York Visitor Center and the 9/11 Memorial site for Local Projects, NickLab for R/Greenberg Associates, Cartoon Network Online, the Hall of Biodiversity at the American Museum of National History, and many more.

The Materials I Used to Learn Python

2011-05-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

The last time I posted a piece about how to download totally free Python ebooks and other materials, someone emailed me and wanted to know how I got into Python Programming as a lady. Like most things I have done so far in my life, it started when I was in school and didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. Luckily of me, one of the classes in school those days included a class in introduction to computers.

It was there that we first got exposed to programming in Modula-2. I picked it quite quickly that I was writing and debugging my own code properly within days of learning the language. It felt surprisingly natural and exciting to anything I had ever done. Imagine coming to class explaining to my colleagues how to get their programs to run. I was always moving from one desk to the other just helping people to get their program running. The buzz I got was awesome. The go-to girl :)

Fast forward several years later...having used Java, Perl, and C++, I thought I would learn Python Programming. I had many project ideals and wanted to work on some of them with Python and learn the language in the process. I did a bit of research and found wikiversity's introduction to computer science - managed by the same folks behind Wikipedia. This is good for beginners new to programming in general and Python in particular. Being a veteran of programming languages, I didn't find it too useful as it caters for beginners. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot to learn from that site if you are new to programming in general. In fact, it has a number of quality links to other resources you might find quite handy. You should get a solid understanding of programming background, problem-solving and what algorithms are.

That said, you might find Head First Programming to be a nice place to start learning python - it uses Python as the main language to teach the basics of programming. This is what I always recommend to those who enjoy having exercises at the end of every chapter. This Head First Programming assumes that you are just starting off in programming; as such approaches it from a teacher-student perspective. Be sure to look around for bargains, but you can pick one up for $12 on Amazon.

If you prefer to read online, I would suggest you check out Dive Into Python - there's a free online version - or you could download the PDF onto your computer. What I like about the PDF version is that it comes with searchable feature making it possible to jump around the huge file using the table of content.

I had the link to the MIT Open Courseware program, but can't seem to remember where I bookmarked it. I will post here when I bump into it again. But in the mean time, if any of you know the link please post it in the comment.

The book I have now that I'm working my way through as we speak is Programming Python - it is the latest version published in 2011, updated for Python 3 and still manages to cover all the advance topics you would expect. Click here to get copy

Using Version Control with Git

2011-05-22T16:02:00.000-07:00

Seeing how fast technologies move on, I have decided to get my hands on Git and learn how it works. During my years of software engineering, I have used everything from CVS to Subversion - so I know how these tools and technologies work. They all have areas where they shine, and other areas where they could be better. So, that is why I'm looking to try out this Git system.

You might want to see How Software Professionals Are Making Money Online.

I've heard a lot of good things about it - I figured one of the best ways to get started is create a free account on Github and download the client for your platform. I work on both Windows and Ubuntu Linux, downloading for these platforms is very easy especially for Windows. Here's a link on how to download and install it on your platform. There's nothing particularly difficult about getting started, just follow the simple installation process and you will be running in no time. Another thing I did after installation was fork an exiting project and start from there...easier than starting all over with a new project.

Although there are lots of free materials online for learning to use, I prefer to use books when there's no access to the internet. Apart from that, I like collecting books especially when they are the first edition of their niche; which Version Control with Git is.

I only just started using it and can't really tell how useful the book is, this is my first day of using it so in a couple of days to come I should be able to post my experience and thoughts. Remember you don't have to get the book, you can read the free online version of the book by bookmarking it on your computer. This allows you to get the up to date version every time the official documentation is updated.

But of like me you like to buy books and display them on your bookshelve after reading, then you can click here to buy a copy. I saw it on Amazon for $10 - so check in case the price has gone down since last week.

The IT Jobs Are Exploding in 2011. Are You Ready?

2011-05-16T14:44:00.000-07:00

Despite the state of the economy and the financial industry, it looks like the IT industry is seeing one of the biggest growth in the whole of the services industry. We have been hiring new staff members, and the forecast is that that trend is only going to keep improving.

You might want to see How Software Professionals Are Making Money Online.

As these jobs are coming fast and thick, are you ready to take advantage and see your earning grow as well? If you have not thought about improving your skills, I think now is the best time to really start considering it. There are more jobs in emerging technologies and languages like Scala, Python and NoSQL - as always, these jobs require new skills, so it is imperative that you keep learning.

One way to see how these new generation languages are spreading in the industry is to take a look at one of the top freelancing sites - Odesk.com. Some of the jobs on that site require that you use any of these latest technologies. There's no excuse not to update your skills...if you rely on the C/C++ you learnt over 10 years ago, you will soon become a dinosaur and quickly become extinct. But if that's not an option, you could start today. It all starts with a search online for sites that offer certificates on Python, Perl, Database and Linux/Unix administration, Java, PHP/SQL, client-side, Web, .Net, and Open Source programming.

The cool thing is that you can use tools like FREE Transcender demos! to help you learn all of these technologies for free from the comfort of your home. Most of developers I know use these tool and it has changed their life and massively broaden their job prospect.

Don't wait for some young college graduate to come and knock you off your job, download one of these FREE Transcender demos! videos and start learning to program for free.

The Harmony Project - Where is it Today?

2011-05-13T12:35:00.000-07:00

Back in 2005, I was fresh out of university where I was finishing my post graduate program. I had the whole time in the world to spend on open source projects and other personal stuff. It was then I managed to write the only commercial software I have ever written on my own and marketed it.

I still remember clearly remember where I was when I first heard about Harmony project; I was on the Underground Tube train and read about it in Computing magazine. When I got home I checked out the site, within weeks of that initial encounter quickly joined the project...working on testing and documentation. Soon after joining the project I posted this message almost a day to the day I posted it 6 years ago.

It was a great project - I spent most of my time working on it, answering questions in the IRC, keeping the documentations up to date...doing all that whilst still holding down a full time job else where. Sadly, it wasn't until the when Sun rejected our request for the testing kit that some of the guys became disillusioned.

I changed job, got married and started a family. All these did not give me the time to spend on the project, so I slowly lost focus and interest. It was not until this morning that one of the little reminders on my desktop popped up with a link to this post.

Not sure harmony is doing great, but would have been cool if they managed to persuade the then Sun to hand over the testing kit.

Mastering Regular Expressions Should Be In Your Toolbox

2011-05-07T14:04:00.000-07:00

If you work with Python or Perl on a daily basis, chances are that you will have used a great amount of Regular Expression for manipulating text as part of your project. For Perl programmers, regular expression is a major part of the language and you are expected to master it if you are to succeed using the language, but for others, you will only use it now and again on some projects that require it; so you may end up not requiring to know a lot of regex.

However, for most beginners, one thing they find quite challenging with programming is getting to grips with regular expression - even some experienced folks out there still find themselves struggling with it. It does not matter how long you have been programming, if you are not making use of this feature as part of your everyday project, it is easy to forget the syntax altogether. To make matters worse, most programming books do not cover it, instead they just make a passing reference to it. So if you have a need to use it in anger, you will most likely use one of the best and widely used resources.

Mastering Regular Expressions is one of the most highly recommended books on Regular expressions out there today. This book starts by looking out how regular expressions work and sets out to explore how you can create them in C#, Java, Javascript, Ruby, Python, PHP, Perl, VB.NET.

I have had this book on my shelf for as long as I can remember, only recently went back to it because of the recent heavy lifting work I'm doing in Python. The cool thing about Regular Expression is that it works across languages - you don't have to learn it all over again for each language. It is one of the few things in programming that is the same no matter what language you choose.

The writing style is great, it shows you clear examples on how regular expressions work and how to use them. It has definitely helped me to become a better Engineer. The cool thing about this book is, unlike most other one out there, it focuses wholly on Regular Expressions. It covers everything you will need to know regardless of language and platform. It does not matter how long you've been programming, this important feature for text manipulation is a vital programming aspect that everyone should master.

It doesn't matter what programming language you work with, if you are looking for ways to learn how regular expressions work, I highly recommend getting a copy of Jeffrey Friedl's book

Kanban by David J Anderson

2011-04-27T00:19:00.000-07:00

I've been in and around IT/software development for 10 years, and familiar with the Waterfall, Agile, Scrum and Kanban (or so I thought) methods. This was a very in-depth book on Kanban, opening me eyes to a much wider world than just being a task board. First 3/4 or so is focused on Kanban specifically, with good implementation ideas, and then the rest brings in quality practices and other areas of software development and how they connect or work within a Kanban environment.

My one gripe (besides the book's price) would be that this book is primarily for managers with the authority to implement serious change, which is ironic given the focus on the employee-empowering benefits of the discipline. Would have been nice to have some thoughts on how to introduce it without the WIP limits and negotiations with other teams; a way for line employees to push for change and prove the concept of task visibility, flow, throughput and bottlenecks w/o having to make externally visible changes right off the bat.

The way it's presented in this book, seems to be targeted at groups that are really struggling with their existing processes or already have a continuous improvement culture. I think the folks kind of muddling through with an existing process might find the "switching costs" to be pretty high.

Why My Server Is Still Offline!

2011-04-24T04:18:00.001-07:00

It's been almost 5 months now since I took my server offline. A lot has happened since then: moved home, changed work and google has updated their algo. This has been the longest time that my server has been offline. The few times I previously took it down was when I had a new hardware and was struggling to migrate vital sensitive data across; then a few days later, it was back up.

But this time, after moving city and home, I decided to give it while before powering back up, during this offline period, I have been loosing revenue ofcourse. The server had 12 sites hosted in it and it had thousands of pages indexed. These are the pages I worked hard to create and promote. So having them offline not only deny people great content and resources, it also costs me some nice and decent income as well.

The main reason why I have not brought it online since has been because of time and upto date hardware. The current hardware is a bit dated and showing its age...some weird sound come through now and again. So, I plan to get a much newer hardware before I can dust it off again.

Another reason is that I run a VOIP server as well, and that requires constant monitoring - which I can't afford at the moment. As you can see, there's a lot of work before it can be running again. But hopefully things should be back to normal before the middle of the year.

The only consolation I have is that most of the previously indexed pages are still online, all the backlinks are still there ageing and getting juiced up; but the only thing left now is when the server comes back online.

Free Python Programming Books

2011-04-22T15:04:00.000-07:00

One of the things new programmers find very hard is where and what books can be recommended. I spend some of my free time mostly on the Python Tutor list helping out there to answer questions; and sometimes help these new Python programmers deal with anything they happen to be having trouble with like some Python gotchas and cryptic error messages they can't understand.

By far the most common question we see is more about what free books and websites we could point them to. For some people, these online resources can be a great help because they don't have to pay for them. So, they can use them as reference as well as study material to master the language. I use them myself - in fact, I've had them in my bookmark for a very long time - going back to check up on one thing or another now and again.

So, with that in mind, I thought I would post here some of the free Python Programming Books I use myself in hopes that others might find it useful.

There are more out there - as I discover them, I will make sure to update this list. Of course some of you have bookmarks of your favourite Python books - would be great if you could share them here as well.

For those who are lucky enough to have one of those Amazon Kinde 3G, you could also consider downloading free ebooks to your device for free. See here for details and links

Update: Andre has sent us a link to Learn Python The Hard Way - You can take the online course as well as download the free copy of this book to your computer..Great for absolute beginners - complete with exercises at the end of each topic.

New Panasonic VIERA TC-P50GT25 50-inch 1080p 3D Plasma HDTV

2011-04-13T12:25:00.000-07:00

I bought this TV at Fry's Electronics, the price was $899.00 I could not believe my good fortune. A few years ago I tested a tcp-50g25 with very similar specifications at Paul's TV at the time the price was $1500, and I would have paid it if had I had the money. I spoke to a Panasonic technician as to what the difference between this TV and the more expensive tc-p50vt25, and he said not much other than 24hz frame rate handling, and some minor issues, IE. 1 less hdmi input, no 3d glasses.

This TV is without peer at this price range for having both 3d and just superb 1080p picture quality!
If you are buying a TV do not allow yourself to view any TV unless you see this, or any TV in both Blue Ray 1080p, and Digital Broadcast 1080i, If not do not conclude the TV is good or bad, or any TV that you are evaluating.

You can not tell what the quality of the TV is! Standard Def. will not tell you, it will not be quite as good, nor will a DVD be very good either, so beware this pitfall. 3d on this TV is good, but not as good as 2d in brightness and because of the yellow tint, but is still very satisfying. This TV likely dissipates 350 watts of power but that still is not terrible for this size a TV.
The sound is not very impressive, connect the tv to at least a 5.1 system. For some reason the TV does not send 5.1 out its optical port so you have to use a new amp with 7.1 or use your blu-ray players output to a 5.1 amp or 5.1 decoder amp combo.

Utube is good on the TV, the TV does not decode Divx when smart media is inserted into the smart media port. The DLNA does not recognize a lot of media on a computer, but a HDMI ported computer easily connect to it so this is not a huge issue.

View this TV in "Vivid" mode only or make sure your are in a completely dark room. In a show room make they put the TV in "Vivid" mode other wise the TV will look dull. The TV is not designed to be in a bright environment.

Also beware of Fry's "special financing", they neglected to put it on our receipt, so we had to fight to get the 0% interest for a year deal because of their mistake. So if you are smart wait for a sale and buy this TV for $900 and make sure you is buying at Fry's Electronics get the "special financing" in writing.

You could in fact pick one up right now on Amazon - there's a special deal going right now.

>>Click here to buy<<

Inexpensive and worth every penny

2011-04-02T12:01:00.000-07:00

I live in a converted warehouse loft and 90% of my floor space is old pine and maple hardwood flooring (sealed). Given that the amount of floor space is easily 1000+ sq. feet, mopping has been a huge chore and one that I don't enjoy doing - mostly because it never seems to really get the floor that clean and it seems to take forever.

After reading the reviews online and shopping around, I came across the Eureka 313A Enviro Hard-Surface Floor Steamer. It was well liked by the people who own it and use it, and at around $65, I couldn't say no. The 313A arrived within a few days, was well packaged and the assembly and instructions were simple and straightforward (seriously, if you can put water in a tea kettle, you can use the Eureka 313A). Within minutes of receiving the steamer, I was putting it to the test on the kitchen section of the floor (easily the area of the loft that gets the most traffic and builds up the most dirt).

The Eureka 313A Enviro Hard-Surface Floor Steamer heats up quickly and does a FANTASTIC job of cleaning and the fact that it doesn't use ANY chemicals in the process makes the air I breathe safer and healthier. Remember the first time you used a Swiffer instead of a broom, and you were totally disgusted and amazed at how much garbage your broom was leaving behind?? Well, that's what using the Eureka instead of a mop was like - the floor was visibly cleaner than it had ever been with a mop, sanitized, didn't smell like any cleaning chemicals and had a nice, natural sheen.

After steam cleaning all of the floors and leaving the house for a while, upon returning home and opening the door, the air in the apartment even smelled a little fresher, cleaner. You're going to be amazed (and probably pretty grossed out) by what this thing will pick up off your floors.

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

2011-03-29T01:42:00.000-07:00

There has already been a lot of discussion in the media and online about this memoir of a Chinese American mother's strict parenting practices. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is honest, informative, interesting and entertaining, and I believe Chua is making fun of herself and her strict, "Chinese" style of parenting as much as she is promoting her methods.

While I wouldn't suggest that Chua's very controlling parenting philosophies be universally adopted, I think she makes some good points that are worth thinking about. For instance, since it takes hard work to get good at anything, and since being good at something makes it more fun, Chua believes pushing your child to work hard is a way of making them ultimately happier. Also, Chua points out that her view of her daughters is complimentary. She drives them so hard because she sees them as strong. She feels that always letting a child give up is bad for their self-esteem and doesn't prepare them for the future.

That said, by the end of the book even Chua admits her approach doesn't always work. Her younger daughter Lulu pushed back with great defiance against Chua's controlling manner, but even Lulu admits she's glad her mother forced her to work hard when she was younger. It's not hard to see that Lulu's success at tennis and "improv" comedy, pastimes her mother did not sanction, is at least partly due to the determination and drive her mother helped instill in her.

Lulu's older sister Sophia had a long, well written letter to her mother published in the January 17, 2011 edition of the New York Post. In it Sophia thanked her mother in detail for how she was raised. Among other things Sophia said is that far from turning her into a robot she believes her mother's strict methods have helped her be an independent thinker.

Get the book here!

Totally Free kindle Books!

2011-03-16T05:01:00.000-07:00

Last week, I blogged about free Kindle ebooks that I read on my Android phone using the free Amazon Kindle app. The app is free for reading kindle ebooks on your phone if you don't have the Kindle device itself. I had Kindle 3G last year, but it's broken now and can't afford to replace it.

Here's a comprehensive list of free books that you can start downloading right away. The books work the same on the Android app as it does on Kindle - there's no difference. The only concern I have with reading on mobile devices is size of the texts - they could damage your eyes if used regularly. If you have the money, you could pick one shiny Kindle up or just look around for a used one. Other than that, it works just as great.

Click the link and scroll to the middle of the page, to the right hand side is the Search box if you have any particular title you'd like to search for. They are updated daily - so be sure to bookmark the page.

Enjoy.

The Millionaire Messenger: Make a Difference and a Fortune Sharing Your Advice

2011-03-07T10:34:00.000-08:00

Brendon Burchard is a Masterful Teacher and Trainer. His message and delivery has helped me and aided countless thousands of others to discover and enhance our voice, clearly define our message, and to properly package and present it to our audience and the world at large. For me, the journey has taken many years, tens of thousands of dollars and countless mistakes. Thankfully, there is now a roadmap and a framework that paves the way to sharing one's message with the world in a more effective and more fulfilling way.

In his latest 'Golden Ticket', "The Millionaire Messenger", Brendon Burchard has accomplished an incredible milestone having synthesized and distilled his many years of experience on the expert journey to GREATER INFLUENCE, IMPACT and BIGGER INCOME into a simple, easy to follow checklist. The result is a treasure trove of wisdom, insight and perspective rarely delivered in such an easily accessable format (without the tuition of years of searching and thousands of dollars).

The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. The journey to the fulfilment that comes from sharing your message with the world in a bigger way to make a bigger difference begins with the 10 Steps Burchard succinctly lays out in "The Millionaire Messenger". This blueprint is most assuredly the gift of another 'Golden Ticket' to all who appropriate and apply the message delivered by "The Millionaire Messenger."

This One Will Blow Your Mind!

2011-03-04T07:03:00.000-08:00

This image is mind bending... See it and try to work out how they did it
See it here

Poke the Box

2011-03-02T02:15:00.000-08:00

Seth Godin has been making the same plea in the last several books. "We Need You To Lead Us" was the subtitle of Tribes. Using reverse-psychology, Linchpin asked "Are You Indispensable?" to prod us into action. "I sell fireworks," he says at the beginning of Small Is The New Big in talking about how his writing encourages those with great ideas to get them done.

In Poke The Box, Seth removes the whatever directional intent there may have been in those prior works and imploring us to do something, anything. There are no barriers left.

Inger Kklekacz isn't photographing the Portland's live music scene because someone told her to. Modern Skirts' Gramahawk album was made up of music they wanted to make and a label didn't.The King's Sixth Finger didn't make sense to publishers, but it didn't stop Jolby. Amanda Hocking didn't wait to get picked and she sold 900,000 copies of her books.

If you are already doing, you don't need Poke The Box.

If you still need a push, here is it.

The Sims Medieval - Limited Edition Revisited

2011-03-01T13:54:00.000-08:00

The Sims Medieval - Wow, I'm thrilled at the level of excitement that my initial blog post on The Sims Medieval - Limited Edition created. A few weeks ago, just after putting up a post about my experience with the game, several other blogs and sites syndicated the post sending traffic here in the process.

What is interesting is that, although I had been playing computer and video games since 1998, I never really spent own money on any game. Virtually all the games I've played were either borrowed, given to me or played with friends at their place.

But this time, thing were different - I thought I would buy it after seeing this short trailer on Amazon.com website. This turned out to be a very wise decision, because days after owning a copy of this The Sims Medieval - Limited Edition, I posted the said review and things started rolling from there. I now own 4 more copies of the best games out there including Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty Collector's Edition and some more on the way.

I'm not someone who usually spend money of games, but that changes the moment I found out the fun, excitement and fulfillment one gets from owning one of the highly sort after collector items in the video game world.

I don't know how long the excitement will last, but one thing is for sure: I will keep having fun while I still have it.

I can't recommend it enough, if you too have a few change to spend, I strongly suggest you get one now. Not only because it is one of the best games ever made, but you are investing in one of the coolest collector's items out there.

Get it NOW!

My New Kindle Wireless Reading Device

2011-03-01T11:17:00.001-08:00

I didn't think I'd ever want an e-reader, because I love reading "real" books too much. But now that I own a Kindle 3, I can't imagine my life without it! I still read "real" books, but I can download magazines, email my kindle newspaper articles I want to check out, email my kindle work documents I need to read, and keep many books with me at all times. It comes in so handy to take out a "book" of short stories when I'm in line at the post office, or bring up a book while i'm in the doctor's office waiting room!

One of the things that most surprised me about the Kindle is how many really great books are offered in the Amazon Kindle Store for free! I thought it would just be old books with expired copyrights, but there really are a lot of new books that Amazon offers for free as part of a promotion!

Also, another thing I was pleasantly surprised about is that you can always download the whole first chapter of ANY book for free, and then buy the rest of the book (and download it automatically) if you like it! This is so nice, because many times as soon as you start reading a book you know it's not going to be something you're interested in.

Overall, if you're on the fence about this product, I say go for it! It will only IMPROVE your reading life!

Get your now

Modern Perl

2011-02-28T06:58:00.000-08:00

I really like this book for many reasons:

First it is about Perl and how to make most out of Perl. Perl 5 has been blessed with some great additions in CPAN, which are not covered in most other Perl books (at least not in those I read so far). This book explains those additions and some concepts behind them. It is interesting and informative.

Second it was written in the true Perl spirit which is in the open, i.e., you could go to the books website and get the chapters still in draft. So there is feedback and improvement already in this first edition. With other books you have to wait for the second edition to have those things.

Third it shows that Perl 5 is not an old-fashioned language that cannot compete with the new hip languages, but Perl 5 still has a future. You just have to write the right kind of Perl code and the book explains how to do this.

In summary, if you like Perl 5, I'd say you will like this book.

Modern Perl

The Hanging Shed by Gordon Ferris

2011-02-25T16:56:00.000-08:00

The book is set in the later forties in Glasgow. Douglas Brodie is drifting in London after leaving the army when he gets a call from his old friend Hugh (Shug) Donovon. Hugh is in prison, destined to hang for murder. Brodie travels north, reluctant to help because he and Hugh fell out before the war, over a woman. Brodie is rapidly drawn into a world he thought he had left behind as his roots overwhelm him with memories, and also a new world of murdered children, drug dealers and the underbelly of Glasgow criminal life.

Brodie meets Samantha Campbell, Hugh's defense lawyer and is persuaded to help her attempt to clear Hugh. Their efforts involve them with the Slatterys, hard men from Ireland who control the drug trade with a rod of iron and the threat of death, frequently more than a threat. A cast of crooked policemen, reporters and figures from Brodie's past jostle on the stage.

I have read mixed reviews of this book. All praise the writing, which I can only do as well. It is clean and tight and the descriptive passages and train of thought of a man coming to terms with what happened to him during and after the war, and what is happening to him now are striking and vivid. Gordon Ferris bring to life Glasgow, its sights and sounds and smells.

Some reviewers seem to be uncertainty about the reality of IRA gun-runners in the late 1940's, and whether the IRA were active at that time. As the child of a man who trained in Ulster in the early forties and told me that the only time he ever knew he got shot at during the entire war was south of Belfast, I can vouch for their presence. And the IRA link is not overdone in the book - it is a convenient means of sketching in the bad men, who are very bad indeed.

Overall I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys tough, hard edged thrillers. I am not always a big fan of books set just after the Second World War, but the strength of writing and vivid characterization, not to mention the twists and turns of the plot make this one of my top reads of the last year.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Collector's Edition

2011-02-25T05:50:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what some of the negative reviewers were expecting. We got a taste of "The Tales of Beedle The Bard" in "Deathly Hallows". For me, there was no confusion about what this book was going to be, as we got to read one of the stories(The Tale of the Three Brothers) in "Deathly Hallows". The story is also situated in the book perfectly- there can be no doubt about the fact that it is a FAIRY TALE and that is all.

Anyone who was expecting an 8th instalment to the Harry Potter series obviously wasn't paying attention.

That said, this is a delightful little book of fairy tales that gives us some more insight into the world of Harry, Hermione, Ron and friends.

The fact that Rowling is able to create perfectly crafted fairy tales to me is just baffling. Even as an English teacher who has spent many college and professional years writing both for work and fun, I can't IMAGINE being able to do this. Try it. It's harder than you would think to come up with a Grimm's-esque tale. It has to have the right mixture of magic and morality, and Rowling gets it just right.

The foot-notes by Hermione and Dumbledore are cute and amusing, and give devoted fans another small dose of the Harry Potter world they've been missing.

Is it an instant classic? In my home, yes. Around the world, no, probably not, but she wrote it as a fun gift for a few friends, and it ended up being published. They're selling the thing for 10 bucks a pop, and donating the proceeds to charity...it isn't going to be bloody Shakespeare.

Learn Objective-C on the Mac (Learn Series)

2011-02-25T01:16:00.000-08:00

After first reading a Wiley Publishing book on this topic, and getting lost in all the errors and the rapidity of the code (tell me if you got totally lost on Chapter 8 like I did?), my next book on the subject was this. WOW! While this book won't get you up and coding full-blown applications in a day, I truly believe that this should be every future Mac OS X developer's FIRST book on Objective-C. Only then should one move on to meatier things. While the other books get you building pretty apps, and you follow along as best you can, not fully understanding what every line of code means, and *maybe* you could rewrite the example code by memory a day after, this book gives you the confidence to tackle big projects, by building a solid Foundation(.h) of the basics, explaining the basics, and especially drawing attention to the differences between C and Objective-C while you're going along.

After completing the book once, and returning to the Wiley Publishing book, I was able to fully understand the examples in that book, and was able to even rewrite the examples to make more sense to me. I even had a good idea on how to formulate my Classes ahead-of-time, from looking at the purpose of the examples.

If you want to code the next lame Mac OS X or iOS program people won't download even though it's free, go ahead, choose a different book. If you want to make Cocoa/Objective-C your career, and give you the confidence to aim high, start with this book. I'm glad I did.

Peace from Broken Pieces: How to Get Through What You're Going Through

2011-02-24T04:15:00.000-08:00

I was familiar with inspirational speaker, author, and spiritual leader Iyanla Vanzant from her Oprah appearances and catching her life coaching on Starting Over from time to time, but I didn't know much about her life story. My mom checked out Peace from Broken Pieces from the library, loved it, and recommended it to me. I must say it's well written and insightful.

Iyanla starts off the book by reflecting on the Christmas morning her daughter died in 2003. She'd succumbed to a year long battle with a rare form of colon cancer and left a young daughter behind. As if burying your own child isn't traumatic enough throw in marital issues, financial problems, and just feeling like your whole world is crashing down on you. Something's gotta give!

It took Iyanla about 3 and a half years to pen this book because of fear. She was a best selling author of a number of self-help books and alot of people looked to her for spiritual guidance. Secretly, she felt like a fraud. Her personal life was barely holding up and she was afraid people would turn on her if she opened up about what was really going down. After much prayer and self-reflection, she took a good look at her life and the patterns and behaviors she'd been taught since childhood.

Although she lost her mother to breast cancer at the age of 2, Iyanla had made many of the same mistakes her mom did. She talks openly about her downright mean grandmother who subjected her to brutal beatings, but treated her older brother with only love and kindness. The father who abandoned her emotionally and one time nearly killed her after a savage beating. The uncle who raped her and the aunt who looked the other way. The husband who would disappear for days at a time and physically abuse her when he felt like it.

Even after raising 3 kids, getting off welfare and moving her family out of the projects, and making a name for herself, Iyanla was still Ronda Eva Harris, the abused little girl who never felt like she was good enough. The child who was always put down and mistreated and felt like she deserved it.

The death of her daughter was only one tragedy that lead Vanzant to a breakthrough. She writes candidly about her time with Oprah (who was very fair and kind to her) and the mistake she made by hosting her own short-lived talk show. I've always gotten a bad vibe from Bill Geddie, aka the "View Master", and the descriptions of his domineering chauvinism and disrespectful behavior didn't surprise me at all.

Kudos to Iyanla for finding her inner warrior woman and kicking all the crap to the curb in order to be her authentic self. Another big lesson from the book is the importance of addressing familial cycles of dysfunction and abuse in order to heal. It has to stop. Peace from Broken Pieces is a highly recommended read.

Go for it.

The Sims Medieval - Limited Edition

2011-02-22T04:33:00.000-08:00

The Sims Medieval is a brand-new direction for the popular single player Simulation game franchise, as the familiar gameplay mechanics of The Sims are blended with light Role-Playing (RPG) elements in a Medieval European setting. In this new incarnation PC and Mac players must both assure the happiness of their Sims on a day-to-day level, as well as support the aims of the kingdom they build and engage in all manner of quests which Sims can take on singularly and in groups up to three. New features include: a wide range of available Sims hero types associated with buildings constructed, each with a fatal flaw to overcome; a levelling system for characters based in replayable quests; and an overall player-chosen goal for kingdoms.

The Sims Go Back in Time and Get Medieval

The Sims Medieval takes The Sims franchise into the Middle Ages with all new features, new graphics and new ways to play. For the first time, players can create heroes, venture on quests, and build up a kingdom all their own. In an ancient land of adventure, drama and romance, players will be able to get medieval like nobody could ever have imagined.

Gameplay: Kingdoms, Heroes and Quests

As with all The Sims games, The Sims Medieval is primarily a Simulation game where the player is responsible for all aspects of their sims' lives. But The Sims Medieval expands on the classic The Sims gameplay formula by affecting the focus of players and their Sims via a change of environment and game mechanics. The game adopts a "what if" scenario, placing your sims in a Medieval setting, complete with castles, monarchs, knights, peasants, intrigue between kingdoms, etc. Thus the question is: What if a The Sims game was set in a Medieval European time period? The answer to this is that although the player must still be very concerned about the day to day happiness, or unhappiness, of their Sims, there are also other concerns appropriate to the time period, or at least the game's interpretation of the time period. This equates to the three-tiered approach to gameplay centered around: kingdom, heroes and quests.

Life in the kingdoms of The Sims Medieval revolve around castles and the other buildings and facilities that are added to a kingdom. As a kingdom is established players codify the overall ambition of their kingdom. These ambitions can reflect a variety of concerns, including political, military, economic, etc. and will serve as a sort of mission statement for everything that transpires among the Sims that populate a kingdom. In the end this initial decision affects both Sim happiness and the overall fate of your kingdom.

With each building that is added during the game players gain access to specific hero character types associated with them. These range from lofty roles like rulers, knights and wizards, all the way to the more humble physicians, craftsmen, etc. These different types of Sims can be customized in ways familiar to players of earlier games, including apparel and temperament, as well as the new fatal flaw customization, which must be worked out if players choose to work towards their sims prospering. The cumulative experience of this customization makes up the building blocks of a Sim's day-to-day experience, actions in the kingdom and happiness. Once the player's Sims are established, the game opens up into an additional crucial gameplay area, quests.

Quests in The Sims Medieval contains a certain level of role-playing game mechanics, which is new to The Sims franchise, and which offers players the opportunity to earn skill points, experience points and kingdom points. Following standard RPG game mechanics, points allow for leveling up of Sims characters and kingdoms. Thus, quests are also a crucial element of the game that drives the story of the game forward, depending on their success or failure, the temperaments of the participating Sims and the goals of the kingdom.

Simple quests can be taken on by a single Sim while more complex endeavors can require up to three Sim heroes. All quests contain multiple paths towards completion, which are further varied by the fact of the differing strengths and weakness of your chosen heroes. This type of flexibility in quests allows for maximum replay value of the game, as the outcome of quests can vary widely depending on the Sim heroes utilized.

Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel (Maximum Ride: The Protectors)

2011-02-17T08:26:00.000-08:00

Ok I loved the Max Ride series, probably the best I've ever read, but I think it should've just stopped at MAX, because I loved the whole Fang x max thing(Even though at times I found Max annoying, call me a critic...)And I immediatly fell in love with Fang(I mean c'mon who doesn't love the dark mysterious type!)

Then with Dylan along now and Max's "perfect other" It was hate at first sight.I knew there was going to be a love triangle sort of thing and I was cool with that, you know, adds to the plot. But when I finished FANG I was like "NO! THEY CAN NOT BE TOGETHER!" (If you havenot read ANGEL yet please do not read on)And with Max and Dylan getting cuddly with eachother I wanted to rip the book apart, and practically exploded when Maya came along.

I had honestly been hoping fang and Max get together and Dylan leave. For good. But now the chances arn't so high since we are at the end. But still waiting impaitently for the next book in 2012 and fingers crossed for The Dylan X Max to be over. But otherwise great plot!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1

2011-02-09T03:32:00.000-08:00

Harry Potter Years 1-6 Giftset (Widescreen Edition) is the best book in the Harry Potter book series and one of the best books I have ever read. Likewise, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 is (so far) the best movie in the Harry Potter movie series. As of this writing, I am confident that Part 2 will finish the saga nicely, and it will join the ranks of Part 1, to be better than all of the other 6 movies.

(Whether Part 1 or Part 2 is better than the other is less important.) But my main complaint right now is:

Why is the DVD of Part 1 being released before Part 2's theatrical release? I expected and hoped that Part 1 would not be on DVD until Part 2 was also ready to be on DVD, and that the two would be released in one DVD as "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," without it having to bother with a "Part 1" or "Part 2," or maybe with some minor note mentioning "Parts 1 & 2 together."

Either way, I will not own any Harry Potter DVD until all seven episodes (all eight movies) are together in one consistent DVD collection (hopefully including both parts of HP7 in one case within the collection).

Panasonic VIERA TC-P50GT25 50-inch 1080p 3D Plasma HDTV, Black

2011-01-28T01:46:00.000-08:00

This is our second Panasonic plasma. The first is still running strong after 4 years of outstanding performance. Before buying the GT25 we decided to try a top of the line Samsung LED LCD that was an utter disappointment, more on that later.
First I will begin by saying that before I understood 3D technology I had no desire whatsoever to buy a 3D set. It was only after researching the merits of 3D circuitry when viewing in 2D mode that I pulled the trigger on this wonderful TV. Panasonic's 3D circuitry is probably the closest to cinematic 3D of any set on the market. In order to qualify for "True HD 3D" the set must generate 2, 1080P images back to back. Without getting technical, this takes powerful 600Hz circuitry. However, I bought the TV for its superior 2D performance.
At the time I bought the set there was an excellent package deal on the glasses and a Panasonic 3D Bluray player so I ended up with "free" 3D capability. I will say that 3D is fun but not my cup of tea, however my wife loves it. I enjoy it also but don't care much for the required glasses.
A fringe benefit with the new Panasonic Plasma TV's is their low power consumption. In 2D this set consumes less than 150W which is less than half what my older plasma used. Plasmas of this type now easily compete with LCD and LED LCD on power consumption.
On to the TV itself. The GT25 is very handsome with the "piano black" bezel and base, even when turned off. Unpacking, setup and programming were simple and fast. My cable box, upconverting DVD player, and Bluray player all connect to a Yamaha RX-V567 receiver (purchased at the same time - also highly recommended) which connects to the TV via a high speed 3D certified HDMI cable. Over the air TV audio gets routed to the audio receiver via an Toslink optical cable. We are using Bose Lifestyle 5.1 speakers which are now amazing with the Yamaha and the Panasonic.
The GT25 is THX certified which is definitely an asset. We watch our movies in a customized THX setting which gives the films a very cinema-like patina. This is much nicer than what we have seen with the top of the line Samsung LED LCD TV which we returned after a couple days of unhappy viewing, playing with controls, and finally giving up. Plasma is vastly superior in my opinion.
Bluray performance on this set is astonishing - be prepared for goose bumps. The Infinite Black engine is awesome. After watching a couple of "space" movies it becomes apparent that they really mean "infinite!" The blacks are stunningly deep. Colors are very natural and the contrast is superb. Fine tuning the picture is easy on this set.
Overall this TV is a great value and will not disappoint. One can spend more on a higher-end TV but the picture quality will be only marginally superior. There are diminishing returns as you increase the price. This set seems like it hits a sweet spot for price/performance.

They were going for less than half the list price last night, click here to see if they are still on sale.

New JBuds J3 Micro Atomic In-Ear Earphones with Travel Case (Jet Black)

2011-01-27T03:44:00.000-08:00

I have been around high end Micro Atomic In-Ear Earphones my whole adult life. I consider myself an audiophile, albeit with 53 year old ears that have lost some high end. I am really impressed with these earphones, the build quality is outstanding and they are very comfortable to wear. For this week only, Amazon is selling then at -$60.00 the list price

Comfort was something that I was definitely concerned with since I can't stand to wear cheap ear buds, they just don't fit very well. These fit right in the canal and perform a great seal. I can wear for hours with no discomfort. Now to the sound quality, initially I was disappointed , there was definitely something amiss in the frequency response, a blooming in the mid bass area I would guess. But they say there is a break in period and so yes after some hours it definitely sounded better. For my older ears the sound seems to fit me very well, which probably means they have a high end bump.

For younger ears I would venture to say they will be bright. I am not into bass for bass's sake, so again I thought they were perfect for my ears, especially if they are pressed in tight to get the best seal. If you like heavy overemphasized bass (which seems to be for some unknown reason what younger people like these days) these are probably not for you.

Two small downsides. One is the noise from the cable rubbing on something gets acoustically amplified and gets annoying. I would not consider these for joggers, as the cord will be bouncing around. Second is the cord gets twisted very easily.

Check it out here!

Low Country Blues - Gregg Allman

2011-01-24T05:47:00.000-08:00

I love all the old blues musicians and I am a big fan of the Allman Brothers, but mostly of the Duane Allman era albums. Not that I dislike the current incarnation, its just that I tend to lean towards the early albums when listening. I must also say that I was never a huge fan of Greggs solo albums. But Low Country Blues is hands down a great album. There is not one song that I would consider to be filler. The production on the entire album is outstanding.

Each instrument adds as much to the song as Greggs voice. The entire album is laid back with a steady infectious groove. The songs are fairly short and concise, none overstaying their welcome in a too long jam session. Gregs voice fits these songs like he was born to sing them (which, with his voice, he certainly was born to sing the blues). I've seen another review of someone complaining that this was a T bone album with Gregg simply singing on it. The fact of the matter is I don't care who did what or why. This is probably my favorite blues album to be released in the past ten years and these traditional songs have only been elevated by the work of everyone involved on this project.

on a side note, Best Buy is selling this album including a t shirt of Gregg Allmans 1974 tour. It is more expensive than buying just the regular album, but I thought it was a cool addition.

If you love Greggs, you will definitely love this whole album.

All New Kindle Wireless Reading Device, Wi-Fi, Graphite, 6" Display with New E Ink Pearl Technology

2011-01-20T01:46:00.000-08:00

This is a review written roughly 2 hours after opening the delivered All New Kindle Wireless Reading Device.

There are other reviews out there that will give you an ample supply of pros and cons about this product, but my review will touch on none of that.

In my brief time with the Kindle 3G, I have found that it has taken the hassle out of reading. Pre-Kindle reading, for me, was always cumbersome. Not only would I worry about putting a crease in the spine of the book, but I would sit and lay at odd angles to keep the book open and align the text with my head. Since I have started reading on the Kindle, I've been able to lay it propped up against the wall and read on my stomach, hold it one handed while I lay on my back and side as well as the use the standard two handed method while sitting in an armchair. All of these positions have let me get totally swept away by the story instead of worrying about how I'm holding the book to easily turn the page or to even keep the darned thing open.

I did have one hesitation when playing with a friend's Kindle. I was worried that when I turned the page, that the split second negative image would bother me. I assume this was done to keep the micro-spheres from getting stuck and only displaying black or white. But I've found that while I'm reading, I hardly even notice this transition at all. In fact, most of the time I've found myself blinking during this process.

I'm looking forward to spending hours upon hours with my Kindle in hand and I'm wondering why I didn't get one years ago.

See the latest version here >>

The Social Network (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

2011-01-19T04:13:00.000-08:00

There are some movies that sound like they would be impossible to make or at least make entertaining. ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN, APOLLO 13, DOUBT, THE QUEEN, SEABISCUIT, FROST/NIXON are just a few that spring to mind mainly because we know how they will end or that the plot seems one-note yet they turn out to be immensely enjoyable. THE SOCIAL NETWORK definitely falls into this catagory.

It sounds like it couldn't possibly be all that interesting yet not only is it but it is uncommonly entertaining! Thanks to a terrific script,a fascinating musical score and a director who envisioned this story in a unique, almost mystical way THE SOCIAL NETWORK is quite a ride in an intellectual, nerd-filled amusement park. The film quality is first-rate and the acting is outstanding. If these roles were not handled by these particular actors, I'm not sure the film would have been as good as it is.

I found myself thinking and talking about this film days after I'd seen it so while I know everyone's taste is, well, their own, and while I hesitate to recommend movies (the last time I recommended a movie so highly was SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE and my friends and family threatened to disown me), I just can't help myself with this one. I found it to be the best movie of the year.

The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, Anniversary Edition (2nd Edition)

2011-01-18T01:29:00.000-08:00

Note: Original first edition dates from 1975 (!!!). I've readed the 20th anniversary edition.

The book talks about managing software development, in form of essays. Some of this essays talk about differences of developing a program and a commercial product, why people like/enjoy programming (and what the problems of it are), the problems of estimating projects (the incorrect assumption that gives name to the book of "one man equals one month" and thus to shorten schedules more manpower has to be added), optimism vs reality, slipping schedules because of not enough testing, the problem of "small sharp teams" on large scale projects (no matter how good they are, they are too slow for really big projects) and the surgical team solution (one person does the heavy tasks, some others support), Conceptual integrity, ...

It also talks about separating architecture from implementation (separate the what from the how), the "second system effect" (over-design: as a first version of something goes well, second version gets so much "ideas" that becomes impossible to acomplish), what and how should be documented, communication and meetings handling, programmers productivity, documentation (what, when, how much, where and who), prototyping and refactoring (throwing away "the first system built"), bug fixing and testing, ...

Other topics include tools for development, debugging, testing... One chapter mentions a way of "branching" source code and using sharedrepositories back when Subversion was not even a idea... Good people take as much as possible advantage given the possibilities, even if the tools are quite limited.

Teaches how to think about real facts and not illusions; An example sentence: "Find real solutions to real problems on actual schedules with available resources" (Development is sequential, and so restricted and constrained).

Other topics that the book fantastically covers and defines are debugging (multiple categories, types and situations), testing (he recommends using "dummy objects" and faking input data, our actual "mock object" definition), incremental iterative development (based on small individual changes, maintaining changelogs), estimation problems and misconceptions (doing "problems-actions" negative meetings instead of "status-reviews" ones) or the importance of documentation in any software project (self-documenting code and both good and bad practices).

Also, there are plenty of examples, studies and even calculations/formulae, but one problem here is that samples are a bit outdated sometimes (or too oriented to system design).

Finally, this author is also famous for the essay "There is no silver bullet", which appears in here too. The essay talks about the fake idea of thinking that there will be a "something" that will be valid for everything and ease a lot our development process. Explaining then that each project, each system, each situation is unique and thus, there is no single solution to all of them.

It is amazing how more than 25 years later the same text is valid and still true. It should be mandatory for project managers of IT companies.

Why so few companies follow this book advices then? I wish I knew...

Beginning iPhone and iPad Web Apps: Scripting with HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript

2011-01-08T12:45:00.000-08:00

It seems that everyone and her sister has developed an iPhone App—everyone except you, the hard-working web professional. And now with the introduction of the iPad, you may even feel farther behind. But the time has come where you don’t need to struggle through Objective-C or master Apple’s Cocoa touch APIs. WebKit’s support for HTML5 means any ambitious web developer can join Apple’s second mobile App wave and create compelling apps that address the unique features of both the iPhone and the larger iPad.

Beginning iPhone and iPad Web Apps: Scripting with HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript takes you through every aspect of the latest Mobile Web Standards as well as the specific features of the iPhone and iPad. You’ll go beyond Web 2.0 and Ajax to learn about WebKit and Mobile Safari, HTML5 and CSS3, Vector Graphics and Multimedia support. You’ll discover what built-in hardware features of the iPhone and iPad you can use and how to take advantage of these device-specific capabilities.

The market for Web apps is expanding and the combination of iPhone and iPad makes this a very hot area—as well as a competitive one. You’ll want to know about all the advantages available to get ahead and stay ahead, and Beginning iPhone and iPad Web Apps is the perfect starting point.

Wii Play with Wii Remote - $27 Only

2011-01-02T10:50:00.000-08:00

Must have.

Great party game. Great for young kids and Moms and Dads. Great for the occasional friendly competition.

Genius in its simplicity and in its introduction to Nintendo's wiiremote. No option and modes and extraneous bs. Basically one screen with ~8 game choices.

Still remains some of the best examples of controls done right on the Wii. And has that distinctive crisp Nintendo look and fluid animation that I personally just love.

Not sure how anyone could give this less than five stars. Many of the naysayers played these games for hours when they first got it and probably have popped it back in the Wii numerous times over the course of the nearly 4 years it has been out.

Ok at this point just buy the game by itself used because the included remote is the old version of the remote. The new remote with motion plus built-in (not inside the dongle) is the remote you should purchase at this point in time. So look on a used game site or store of your choice for the game only. Buy a new remote separate.

But by all means buy this game. Unless you hate giddy simple competitive fun.

Luckily, it's on sale this week for only $27. Hurry, buy one now before they are all gone.
Click here to buy

JBuds J3 Micro Atomic In-Ear Earphones with Travel Case for $9.95

2010-12-28T11:08:00.000-08:00

If there's such a thing as earbuds for everyone's ears, I haven't found them yet, and I imagine they'd cost a fortune even if they existed. I cannot possibly speak to every possible psychoacoustic experience waiting to be had with these earbuds, so I won't even try. Let me instead tell you why these J2s stand out in my book.

JLabs is a solid and dependable name in the earbud market, and their low street prices and contrastingly satisfying soundscape is well documented already. The J3s are no exception, and compared to their more beefy J2 predecessor, these buds are light, tight, mean and clean. Rich, transparent capture of the 1KHz-2.5KHz range makes bowed strings shimmer, synth pads float, and affords an impressive resolution in the range of vocals. The "singed" overdriven character of Simon Le Bon's vocals on the song "All You Need Is Now" lept up in the mix, but melted away to glassy, open-air trebly cleanness for the later choruses. The J3's ability to respond quickly to subtle dynamics changes was a delightful surprise; pizzicato notes plucked neatly even in a swimmy sea of washing pads.

I hesitate to call the new approach to bass a "disappointment," but I admit, I'm fonder of the J2's more visceral rendering of the bass frequencies, especially from 200Hz-450Hz. The J3 buds offer a clean approach with amazing clarity in that range -- John Taylor's trademark bass sound was reproduced very articulately, with excellent nuance of finger pressure -- but for those familiar with the dripping warmth of the bass of an old tube receiver, this chilly, glassy clarity might be a bit too brittle and digital, especially as coupled with the iPhone, iPod, or a similarly fidelity-over-character DAC. Percussive bass seems to be boosted a bit, but melodic bass gets lost under the sizzles above 650Hz. EQ on the phone's end improved the warmth a bit, but sometimes you just don't want that level of ultra-resolution clarity; some music is best with a bit of ear-level added saturation.

Symphonic pieces, whether classical or progressive, love these earbuds. Busy passages, such as the frenzied crowd-shouting of the original "Hair" cast album or the thick layers of Mike Oldfield's soundscapes, come through with impressive voice-isolating clarity, and horns and guitars (clean and overdriven) sizzle into rich, high-fidelity life, and cymbals ring exquisitely, but while the percussive low bass is excellent, the melodic bass range has a character that some might find too understated.

The durability is impressive; though the buds look fragile, they're markedly more solid than other buds I've seen in their price range, and certainly a quantum leap ahead of the bundled iPod buds. The slender plug fits even narrow-clearance jacks on devices with cases, and the range of cushions provided should make most folks quite happy for ear comfort. The buds' light weight, secure fit and sturdiness leave me very confident about their use day to day, and again, their workmanship and sturdiness is very impressive.

There's no such thing as a "perfect" set of earbuds for all ears and all source material. Still, the J3s clean up the plate at their normal discount price point, if perhaps not as thoroughly at their MSRP. Bass lovers may prefer the J2 instead, at cost of slightly added bulk, but folks who don't mind a less boosted melodic bass range will likely find the J3 buds a no-brainer first pick for happy private listening.

I haven't really seen a clear step up from the J3's sound quality until the price is quadrupled or quintupled, and that's rather telling, isn't it?

JBuds J3 Micro Atomic In-Ear Earphones with Travel Case

Amazon - The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman

2010-12-25T03:37:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty OCD about exercise and fitness... and business so I love Tim's insights and experimentations because he is a whole other world of OCD - and he's brilliant with it!

Sex, exercise, eating - definitely in the top 5 most important things in life (in my opinion). The only thing not covered is business and thats in his other book the Four Hour Work Week, which is AWESOME!

I think there is a lot to be learned from this book. As he rightly states/admits it's not all his own first hand experience, some of it is, a lot of it he has found experts and drawn conclusions from their work based on his own self experimentation - Brilliant! Thanks for doing the hard work!

Like any book like this (and as Tim states) you should pick and choose the bits most relevant to you.

It's a raw, OCD take on the human body - thank you for publishing this. Finally a book that acknowledges medicine though goes with what's actually going on. I highly recommend you buy this book even if you only learn one thing from it, it will be worth it.

Time to stop being fat and ignorant and take control and responsibility for your life!

Get a copy now

Monster Turbine High-Performance In-Ear Speakers

2010-12-21T09:01:00.001-08:00

I have had many sets of earbuds over the years, and these are by far the best that I have owned. They come with many different ear tips, so take some time and try the different ones, makes a big difference. I like these earbuds for working in the yard (snow blowing right now) and commuting on the train. With my other ones, I had to turn the volume up so high to cover up the background noise, that I thought I was causing harm to my ears.

With these, I only have to set the volume between 6-8, instead of 30. They really block out the background noises. They are metal, not plastic like most. The only thing I would change is the plug, it is straight, and I would prefer a 90 degree one. I have an adaptor so that is not a super big problem, just an inconvenience. I would recommend these, and the price is a great deal.

Monster Turbine High-Performance In-Ear Speakers

The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman

2010-12-20T14:21:00.001-08:00

I found this book to be a concise and excellent read. Entertaining and enlightening at the same time. I highly recommend reading this book to get things like diet and exercise boiled down and condensed to what works and what matters. Its unfortunate how many educated people are still teaching wives-tales based on the junk science of the past. I am in the process of going back through the book, taking notes and applying what I have learned.

I found the book to confirm some things I personally thought or suspected and other things I already knew. But it is loaded with things I did not know, have not heard of or have not been exposed to. I also like the encouragement to do self-experiment (in a reasonable manner) to fine tune and tweak what works for you. I am amused and impressed with Tim's ability to think outside the box, crunch data, deconstruct, and boil things down to get the 20% (application) that gives you 80% (results).

I was surprised that more ground wasn't covered in some areas, and that some "rabbit holes" weren't explored deeper. I guess that could leave things open for another book like it or an expanded edition in the future. I was reading this book like a madman as much and as fast as I could. I give it two thumbs up. I'm looking forward to a new me in the near future.

EVGA GeForce GTX460 768MB DDR5 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card 768-P3-1360-TR

2010-12-17T14:17:00.000-08:00

EVGA GeForce GTX460 768MB DDR5 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card 768-P3-1360-TR - Completed my first PC build a couple weeks ago and installed this card in my rig. Install was easy, initially installed drivers on accompanying disc and then updated to latest driver on nvidia's website, 260.99 version I think.

It plays Devil May Cry 4 perfectly at 1920x1080 with max settings and vsync on and frame rate never stutters. It plays Dirt 2 all maxed at 1920x1080 but I have to overclock card (used evga precision to overclock) to achieve 56-60 fps with vsync on, overclocked to 820 clock, 1640 shader and 1050 memory. It plays GTA EFLC perfectly playable but can't max out the game. Still looks way better than xbox and ps3 versions however.

I have detail at high, shadows at medium (night shadows off), anistropic 4x, no AA in the game, I have vyncd FPS always at 55. My rig specs i5 760 overclocked to 3.66Ghz, Corsair 1600MHz 4GB memory, Asus P7P55D-E Pro motherboard and Windows 7 Home premium (system builder version). Will probably get another 460 GTX soon and should be set for the forseeable future.

See the full specification here

Redemption in Indigo Author Karen Lord's Top Ten Books Read in 2010

2010-12-14T01:40:00.000-08:00

Last month, Karen Lord's marvelous novel Redemption in Indigo made Amazon's Top 10 Best SF/Fantasy for the year, coming in at #3. Along with the other writers who made the list, she's been invited to provide her own list of her favorite reads in 2010. (For these lists, the authors can list either books published in 2010 and enjoyed or just read in 2010 and published earlier, or a mix.) Here's Karen Lord's list, with short intro. Some great gift suggestions here!

Call of Duty: Black Ops - $47

2010-12-13T09:07:00.000-08:00

The title of my review is a recurring theme. In everything I find wrong with this game, it's always because Treyarch went for a wow-factor, but didn't sweat the small things. To be honest, I think it's that they didn't get enough previewing/game testing (or didn't listen to the advice they DID get).

Story (Singleplayer):
The story was great. It was a great idea, I think (It's hard to tell cause the ending was spoiled for me.), but that was not the issue. The issue was all in Treyarch's delivery.
They didn't get me to absorb their material. I didn't feel involved. In successful games and movies, I feel welcome and the creators make the journey seem like a fun roller coaster ride (after waiting in line and without feeling sick). Black Ops felt more like doing homework. The point of the game is to confuse you at points, but where they weren't supposed to, I felt confused. I was watching my character and another screaming at each other and I had no idea why. I felt left out, and that made me stop playing the campaign for a while.
Treyarch had the great structure for a moving tale, but didn't present it well. Maybe they didn't pass it by enough people to see how loosely the presentation involved the players.

Singleplayer Gameplay:
My teammates are useless. That's probably the only thing I didn't like in terms of singleplayer gameplay. In one specific example, three of us run up some stairs into a room. My buddies went in before me, and didn't kill the enemy in the room. I assume there's no one there then, and since visibility is rather low in this level, I don't see him myself. Then of course I die. It's frustrating when you can't trust your teammates; it begins to seem like you, alone, are fighting all the baddies.

Multiplayer Gameplay:
Treyarch included many cool weapons, like a ballistic knife or flamethrower attachment. The maps, I found, didn't catch my fancy. I suppose I just didn't like how few spots I could find to snipe from. There are small ones like Nuketown and larger ones like Array, and the playing style changes for what type of match you play (Team Deathmatch vs Search & Destroy).
What I found aggravating was the respawning issues. I found myself dying and spawning a turn around a corner away, just in time for the enemy to get a few rounds through my skull. Also, I found that players (allies and enemies) would spawn behind the enemy lines, where our foes were still occupying the space. It was very puzzling and certainly annoying. When it was ME spawning behind them, I sure got a few good kills, but I didn't really like that fact that I got an edge on them in such a way. Here is a video I found that illustrates what I mean: [...] (he doesn't really start addressing spawning until 5:30)

Connection (Multiplayer):
I found this part to be the worst for me, maybe because it has affected me the most times. First, I'm not certain how or why, but it seems I'm getting the game data a second later than others. Many many countless times, I have run to cover and been out of sight, but still gotten shot, and as I watch the killcam, realize why. It is because others are ahead by a second and in their gamestate, I'm still visible and very vulnerable. This type of situation has occurred countless times, and I understand that it can't be like real life, where everyone is synchronized, but I thought the difference would've been insignificant.

The fact that I play this game on a PS3 may have an effect on this point, but very often, I try to join a match and sometime before entering the game (anytime in between immediately after joining the lobby or until the match and map finally load), I get a notice telling me that I've been "Disconnected due to transmission error" I realized it occuring mostly when I try to join a team deathmatch. Just right now, I wanted to get the wording right for the quote above, so I joined once and got disconnected. Handy isn't it?

All around, I think Treyarch put in a lot of good effort to make this game a success, but in the end, didn't look enough into things rather simply solved with some good player testing. Maybe they were rushed by the release date.

Watch the short trailer here

Understanding pass by value and pass by reference - Python style

2010-12-07T09:37:00.000-08:00

Continuing with the Python theme -

One of the guys on our Python discussion list wanted to know the difference between pass-by-value and pass-by-reference. Seeing how this same question has been asked a few time previously, I thought I would try and make a blog entry to give a simple explanation to demonstrate how it works.

Some languages use pass-by-value, but Python on the other hand uses pass-by-reference. What is the difference you ask?

Well pass by value is exactly what it sounds like - you pass the value (a copy of everything in the memory). This is bad when you're passing a 10,000 item list to a function - because you now have *two* 10,000 item lists. It's even worse when you have many times that amount of data.

Python, OTOH passes by reference - instead of copying the list, a pointer to the list is passed, so when you see something like this:

def do_something(a_list):
a_list[2] = 4

mylist = [1,2,3,4]
do_something(mylist)

now mylist is: [1,2,4,4].

In call-by-value, the value of the arguments are copied into the function. There is no way to modify variables outside of the function since you don't have access to them, only to copies. C uses this, among many others:

int a = 5
void func(int b) { b = 6; }
func(a);

a == 5; /* evaluates to true, variable outside function scope remains unchanged */

The value b, inside the function, contains a copy of a. So when it is
modified, the original a remains unchanged.

Many people call python pass-by-reference, even though this is technically incorrect. The difference comes from the semantics of variables and values. In languages such as C, a variable is an area of memory that contains something. An assignment then, copies the value on the right into the variable (memory) on the left.
for more on why python is neither call-by-value nor call-by-reference:
http://www.jroller.com/bookreview/entry/python_3_object_oriented_programming

Have your own thoughts on how to explain the difference between the two? We would like to hear them in the comment below.

Using Python's imp Module

2010-12-03T16:35:00.000-08:00

There are a few modules I have not used in Python before. One of those modules is the imp - this module has been available since...well, forever in Python. But for some reason, I only recently came across it on one of the open source projects I'm contributing to.

I had a little need to temporarily change my system path, this would have required tweaking the system import path. As it turned out, I would use the imp module which has the mechanisms for loading modules in a package dynamically just as I needed. The cool thing is that it helps most especially when the name of the module concerned isn't known.

Finding Modules:

The first step to loading a module is finding. The find_module() function scans the import search path looking for a package or module with the given name. It returns an open file handle (if appropriate for the type), filename where the module was found, and “description” (a tuple such as those returned by get_suffixes()).

import imp
from imp_get_suffixes import module_types

print 'Package:'
f, filename, description = imp.find_module('example')
print module_types[description[2]], filename
print

print 'Sub-module:'
f, filename, description = imp.find_module('submodule', ['./example'])
print module_types[description[2]], filename
if f: f.close()
 
You can learn more about Python's imp module and how to use it and many
more great modules by going to the Python Algorithms here.

Amazon: Instant Savings on Select LG HDTVs - $200

2010-12-02T04:45:00.000-08:00

If you have been following this blog and others, you will have noticed that Amazon.com has been doing a massive product clearance for the whole of this week. They call it Cyber Week - meaning that prices on most of their products have been slashed.

One of those products going very fast is this selection of LG HDTVs. If you buy now, you will save upto $290 (depends on which one you buy). Click here and scroll down for all the TVs and offers.

Hurry now before they all run out - remember they are going very fast. The indication on the site should give you an idea of how fast they're going.

Click here to buy now and save!

Spring Persistence with Hibernate brings People to My Blog

2010-12-01T04:38:00.000-08:00

In the last couple of days over 745 searches for Spring Persistence with Hibernate came through Google to this blog. It is nice to see that there's still huge Java interested in the community, something a lot of folks have been arguing that it is dying.

If you didn't see the post that was bringing in the traffic, I suggest you have a look here.

Today, I sat down at the office and decided to have a go at the second half of the book. You should buy a copy if you are serious about software development - especially Hibernate and Spring. It has everything you'll need and more. I also recently finished a copy of Paul Barry's Head First Python. I miss languages and technologies because my work requires that I use multiple languages. Every developer should in fact, learn more than a few programming languages. See Seven Languages in Seven Weeks: A Pragmatic Guide to Learning Programming Languages

Beside that, I also checked out a set of these Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator In-Ear Earphones as they are on sale and going very quickly. At $72 each, I couldn't let the opportunity pass. I bought one over 2 years ago, but wanted another one because I truly loved the sound output and noise isolation that they provide. The headphone is great if you're working at your computer and don't want to hear any chatter going on across from you. See the full details here.

Those were the things that kept me occupied through out the week. In the mean time, I will post an update with full review of the Spring Persistence with Hibernate once I'm done reading it. Again, I highly recommend you get a copy of that book.

Click here to buy it.

Amazon: Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator In-Ear Earphones $72.24

2010-11-30T15:31:00.000-08:00

For a limited period only, amazon is doing a wonderful deal on this Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator In-Ear Earphones for $72.24 (List $99.99) . It comes with all the accessories you could ever ask for.

You can view the deal here: Amazon Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator In-Ear Earphones

UPDATE: Amazon has now reduced the price to $69 - Get it here NOW!

Head First Python by Paul Barry

2010-11-29T02:01:00.001-08:00

Ever wished you could learn Python from a book? Head First Python is a complete learning experience for Python that helps you learn the language through a unique method that goes beyond syntax and how-to manuals, helping you understand how to be a great Python programmer.

You'll quickly learn the language's fundamentals, then move onto persistence, exception handling, web development, SQLite, data wrangling, and Google App Engine. You'll also learn how to write mobile apps for Android, all thanks to the power that Python gives you.

We think your time is too valuable to waste struggling with new concepts. Using the latest research in cognitive science and learning theory to craft a multi-sensory learning experience, Head First Python uses a visually rich format designed for the way your brain works, not a text-heavy approach that puts you to sleep.

Click here to buy

My Passion for Design by Barbra Streisand

2010-11-28T06:42:00.000-08:00

A successful woman with oodles of money and time creates her own world to live in, down to the last bud on the last flower. Not since Joan Crawford published her advice books 40 years ago have we had a book written by someone so out of touch with the "real" world.

My Passion for Design is indeed stuffed with colorful photos and spreads to illustrate her gardens, rooms, closets, etc.; passages of comments from the author pop up throughout. Does she know what she talks about? Yes. Names, dates, and searches for what she wants are ponderously detailed. The issue is that only 0.02% of people can use this information. Can I whip out my checkbook and spend millions on chickens to lay green eggs? Or hire gardeners to come over and debate the nature of the color red for the perfect rose? In this economy, few people outside her fanbase of rabid fans are likely to buy this book.

One wonders if she makes her husband maintain his white hair so as not to clash with the decor. . . .

What could have saved the book from the cutout bin? Tone down the author's search for the perfect doorknob (hip readers will get my AbFab reference) and instead feature sections on "here is what you can do to spruce up your home and gardens with a limited budget. If I can do it, so can you with my help!" That way the average reader could relate to her and her book.

Ultimately, this is a handsome-looking book about. . . nothing at all.

I won't buy this book

Latest Nintendo Wii Hardware Bundle

2010-11-28T04:17:00.000-08:00

I just order a red Nintendo Wii Hardware Bundle for my sister and it just took two day to get to my house.I opened and was amazed on how nice this console looks I played the new super mario game for a little bit and its so fun I didn't wanted to put it away Also i like it so much I had to order a second one I'm a game pro and i give this game 5 stars and the console

I recommend everyone to purchase from Amazon.com itself because they are so good on any defects or issues that the item could have that they will send a label for return but to return its hily not likely Amazon number 1

See the game here

How I messed up the week playing games

2010-11-26T16:49:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how fast this week just flew by... I still haven't finished all the things I planned on doing. I recently bought a copy of Seven Languages in Seven Weeks and wanted to start reading it. Even if there's still time for that, what bothers me is not being able to stick to my scheduled takes.

Beside the book, I also wanted to join a few of the programmes as discussed on the 5 Guaranteed Ways For a Developer to Make Money This Christmas . If you have not seen it yet, now's the time to go check it out. It essentially shows you what you need to make some residual income as a software developer. I have only managed to join the hub party - and already have 2 post to my name.

Another thing that has been keeping from finishing my side project is the Call of Duty: Black Ops. I recently joined facebook and with a great facebook set up by call of duty fans, I have been playing in a multiplayer mode. Meaning that I spend most nights with other core players well into the wee hours of the morning. This game is terribly addictive. If you want to get something done, please take my advice and do not play this game on empty stomach and pile of tasks waiting on your to-do list.

Spring Persistence with Hibernate

2010-11-26T13:44:00.001-08:00

Persistence is an important set of techniques and technologies for accessing and transacting data, and ensuring that data is mobile regardless of specific applications and contexts. In Java development, persistence is a key factor in enterprise, e-commerce, and other transaction-oriented applications.

Today, the Spring Framework is the leading out-of-the-box solution for enterprise Java developers; in it, you can find a number of Java Persistence solutions.

Spring Persistence with Hibernate gets you rolling with fundamental Spring Framework 3 concepts and integrating persistence functionality into enterprise Java applications using Hibernate, the Java™ Persistence API (JPA) 2, and the Grails Object Relational Mapping tool, GORM.

Covers core Hibernate fundamentals, demonstrating how the framework can be best utilized within a Spring application context
Covers how to use and integrate JPA 2, found in the new Java EE 6 platform
Covers how to integrate and use the new Grails persistence engine, GORM

What you’ll learn

How to use Spring Persistence, including using persistence tools in Spring as well as choosing the best Java Persistence frameworks/tools outside of Spring
How to work with Spring Framework features such as Inversion of Control (IoC), aspect-oriented programming (AOP), and more
How to work with Spring JDBC, use declarative transactions with Spring, and reap the benefits of a lightweight persistence strategy
How to work with Hibernate and integrate it into your Spring-based enterprise Java applications for transactions, data processing, and more
How to integrate with legacy databases, as well as use best practices for developing web services and handling Hibernate proxies and lazy collections
How to the integrate the Spring/Hibernate persistence tier with RIA technologies like Ajax and Flash
How to integrate JPA for architecting a well-layered persistence tier in your enterprise Java application
How to move a persistence tier into JPA
How to use and integrate the Grails persistence framework, GORM, and how to leverage it within a standard Java Spring MVC application

Who is this book for?

Spring Persistence with Hibernate is ideal for developers interested in learning more about persistence framework options on the Java platform, as well as fundamental Spring concepts. Because the book covers several persistence frameworks, it is suitable for anyone interested in learning more about Spring or any of the frameworks covered. Lastly, Spring Persistence with Hibernate book covers advanced topics related to persistence architecture and design patterns, and is ideal for beginning developers looking to learn more in these areas.

You should buy a copy NOW!

I just joined Facebook to Play Call of Duty: Black Ops

2010-11-26T05:02:00.000-08:00

I didn't think I would in a million years join Facebook. Even after joining last week, I still don't like the idea of publishing and uploading every little thing I do on that site for all my friends and old school mates to see what I'm up to.

What made me sign up was how easy it was to find groups of other hardcore Call of Duty: Black Ops players. If you haven't played Call of Duty: Black Ops in a multiplayer mode, I would recommend you get someone to play with. There are people out there on the internet who are always online playing, but the majority of them are on Facebook groups.

If Call of Duty: Black Ops is not your thing, then check out World Of Warcraft as well. It's another multiplayer game with a huge community behind it. This is one of the biggest games on the internet with 100s of millions of monthly players. The community is HUGE...but the latest release of Call of Duty is the daddy right now.

I'm still getting to know my way around, until then I will just stick to the game and no uploading of pictures and other nonsense.

Call of Duty: Black Ops racks up sales record

2010-11-13T00:42:00.000-08:00

Call of Duty: Black Ops generated more than $360m (£223m) on the first day it was on sale, publisher Activision says.

In the UK, first day sales of £58m made it the all-formats record holder, says research firm Gfk/Chart-Track.

In the US and UK the game is thought to have sold more than 5.6 million copies, of which 1.4 million were bought by British gamers.

The previous record holder for first day sales was the Black Ops predecessor Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Independent figures for US sales are not yet available but UK figures suggest Black Ops smashed the sales record set by its forerunner.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 sold 1.23 million units in the UK on its first day in November 2009, says Gfk, but Black Ops racked up 14% more. Revenues generated by sales of Black Ops were 22% higher.

Publisher Activision said it expected Black Ops to beat the $550m (£340m) in revenue generated by Modern Warfare 2 in its first five days on sale.

The majority of sales were for the Xbox 360 version of the game, figures showed.

On the first day of release Josh Olin, community manager for Black Ops' creator Treyarch, said more than one million people were online playing the Xbox version at the same time.

Decision Points by George W. Bush

2010-11-10T00:12:00.000-08:00

This fascinating account of the life and crimes of former US President George W. Bush in Decision Points, is a riveting insight into one of the world's greatest criminal minds and mass murderers. Having remained silent for two years following his ousting as President, Bush now lifts the lid on the Whitehouse Murders and an array of other criminal activities that have blighted his past.

From his own admission as "the costliest mistake I have ever made" relating to his decision to not admit a 1976 conviction for a drink driving offence when running for the Whitehouse, to his friendship with fellow killer Tony Blair, whom Bush once alarmingly likened to Churchill, it's all here, the lies, the deceit, the condoning of water-boarding torture methods on Iraqi prisoners, the illegal invasion of foreign lands and the massacre of innocents in what has to be the cornerstone of any library dealing with True Crime.

The best read since "The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: An American Nightmare"... but it's not recommended as bedside reading when alone in the house. A truly chilling book!

Broke: The Plan to Restore Our Trust, Truth and Treasure Broke: The Plan to Restore Our Trust, Truth and Treasure

2010-11-05T01:42:00.000-07:00

I don't know if the mid-term election earlier this week has anything to do with with Glenn Beck's books shooting to the top of most bestseller lists.

This morning, my kindle app just alerted me that his latest work - Broke: The Plan to Restore Our Trust, Truth and Treasure Broke: The Plan to Restore Our Trust, Truth and Treasure; has made it back to the top for the second time. If you are a regular visitor, you will have noticed that I blogged about this book awhile back. Even then, it was on the way down. So, I'm surprised to see how things have seemed to change yet again.

So, what does this mean for him? From the sales figures on Amazon.com, one can get an clear idea of how many of his books and DVDs have been sold in the last couple of days.

To give you an idea, here's last month sales figure , and here's the latest figures - you judge the difference.

Programming Google App Engine: Build and Run Scalable Web Apps on Google's Infrastructure

2010-11-03T15:43:00.000-07:00

As someone who has been working with Java for the best part of 7 years, I recently took up Python programming. So, in a effort to drive that learning further, I have ventured in Google App engine with Python. What better way to get to know how it works than to get a good reference book and work from there!

I had been working with various online tutorials on programming google app engine, but none of them actually focused on good quality examples and working samples to set you up on writing your own with little difficulty.

So, if like me you too have been piecing together different materials, now is the time to get a book like the Programming Google App Engine: Build and Run Scalable Web Apps on Google's Infrastructure which not only shows you how to use Python on Google App, but also includes Java sample apps for those who use Java as well. Now that's cool because it will appeal to both camps.

To give you an idea of how cool this book is, have a look at the Amazon.com review to see what comments other readers have left.

How to search for Cheap Van Hire

2010-10-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

One of the few things that gets me angry is when companies advertise one thing but charges you something else. This was exactly what happened this last weekend from one of the local Van Hire companies around my area. A quick online search pulled up several van hire operators, which I narrowed down to a few that looked promising.

I decided on one and booked with my credit card. The service was supposed to cover insurance, the van itself, fuel and man - (van and man). I booked it for two days, meaning that it should be delivered to my door first thing Saturday morning and returned Monday morning. As it turned out, things didn't go according to plan.

First, the driver arrived late well into the mid-morning on Saturday with the van. Not only was he late, the van was not clean...you could see that it needed cleaning before you. I gently suggested that they should have brought a cleaner van, which he rudely replied that if I didn't want the van I should let him know. Of course, I should have turned down the van hire, but I had to move out to my new house that weekend, so I was not prepared to waste any more time.

The problem did not end there. One of my treasured paintings was torn and ripped from its frame. If this was any other painting, I would not have bothered in the slightest. But as it happened this was a painting that was passed down to me by my father. It has been in the family for over 90 years. So, you can understand how I felt that this van man did not think anything of it.

To make matters worse, my credit card was over charged for the van hire with tax and made to use their chosen insurance company, made to pay for full tank of fuel and late delivery charge. In all, I was not only ripped off, I lost a treasured painting, over charged and had a terrible experience. It later transpired that there was no company - it was the man himself who ran the business from his home. I initially thought of naming and shaming the company, but decided against it as I didn't want to give them any undue publicity.

So, my advice is to never rely on what these little dodgy companies post on their website, ask around from friends, neighbours and even colleagues for any reputable Van hire service. Chances are they will have used one themselves and should be able to recommend one. And if possible, avoid van and man, and go for van only of you have someone to help with the heavy lifting.

wxPython in Action

2010-10-25T02:57:00.000-07:00

This year I decided to take the plunge and try to learn how to program GUI interfaces. As I'd been learning Python for a couple of years on and off I looked at the available options - which seemed mainly to be just four - Tkinter, PyGTK, PyQt and of course wxPython.

I discounted Tkinter as it is frequently said to not be good enough for large programming projects, and PyQt because it isn't Open Source and briefly looking at the license details put me off straight away.

I then tried to find information on PyGTK and wxPython. PyGTK is probably a good option but doesn't have any books on the subject and the online documentation can be a bit confusing at times - its a pity that someone who knows PyGTK hasn't written a book on it yet !

Even though the wxPython book was written four years ago and therefore doesn't necessarily include full details of the current version (v2.8.11 at the time of writing) I decided to try the book. And I am very glad that I did - it turned out to be one of my best programming book purchases for some time. It is easy to follow (assuming that you know Python and object oriented programming) and has good examples for many if not most of the things which you are likely to want to use for GUI programmimg.

It has very good sections on creating Frames, text windows, menus, drawing to the Screen Device Context, Buffered Device Contexts where necessary to avoid constant redrawing of the screen, all the standard button and widget types, printing, many types of sizers to automatically arrange your widgets without having to know exactly where they all are on the screen, dialogs (I couldn't believe how easy it was to use the standard File Chooser dialog !) and a great chapter on keeping your code tidy - and after coding a few GUI programs I can see why :)

I have been a programmer for many years (COBOL mainly !) and all in all this book make learning GUI programming as easy as I could ever have imagined. I don't know if a new version of this book is planned but until then if you need to learn Python GUI programming then get this book ! After 2 to 3 months in your spare time & weekends you could be programming Python GUI's reasonably competently !

The Twelfth Imam - Joel C. Rosenberg

2010-10-20T01:50:00.000-07:00

Reading "The Twelfth Imam", political thriller, is very plausible, it's like reading today's headlines especially with the tension between Iran and Israel and the United States.

This novel is set forth on two "what if" plots. The first is, what if the world drags their feet too long and Iran really acquires nuclear weapons?

And, what if the so-called Islamic messiah known as the Twelfth Imam by Joel C. Rosenberg actually appears on earth? How would Iran respond? How would the Israel and the United State handle this?

This fits into Bible Prophecy as the antichrist beast of revelation 13, will probably claim to be the 12th Imam just like this novel... it is thought provoking!

This book should be a best seller and I highly recommend it to everyone! It is action packed that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

KaChing: How to Run an Online Business that Pays and Pays

2010-10-18T13:52:00.000-07:00

When I bought this book there wasn't too many reviews and so I relied a little on the title to sway me 'How to Run an Online Business that pays and pays'. That was what I was after and so I was hooked.

Initially I was a little disappointed, not much, but a little hence the 4 stars. I say this only because I felt the book largely centres around blogging your passion, your expertise or what interests you. Many of the tools, techniques and advice that Joel Comm discusses tie back to making money from blogging. Sure you can make money from your online business via blogging, but I just felt it was a little too one dimensional, as Joel Comm didn't look too much past this (blogging). Some online businesses are not just about blogging! Having said that Joel does discuss affiliate marketing and ways to make money from your site via membership and coaching programs but again its geared around your knowledge and doesn't touch on other online business strategies for those who may be trying to make money online via other initiatives i.e. selling products.

That said this book is easy to read and isn't overly complicated. Joel Comm delivers by providing a number of models on how to make money, most of which are geared around Google AdSense. He does though delve into AdSense discussing the importance of ad layout and formatting.

At times I found I couldn't put this book down and was getting carried away with how I, someone who has never considered blogging, could maybe make a living from it. Joel Comm inspires you and makes you believe you can. I've never heard him talk, but he writes passionately, which I believe gives what he says credibility. If he believes it then I will too. Importantly he is a realist, advising making money from an online business takes time, effort in building networks and then more time. It doesn't happen overnight.

If you blog and want to make money from it, then I'm sure this book will help as many of the tips, tools and techniques suggested are clear and easy to understand. If you run an online business selling a product then I believe there are better books on internet marketing, searching engine marketing etc.

Get a copy here >>

worth the money when its on sale

2010-10-17T11:56:00.000-07:00

I purchased this microSDHC Flash Memory Card to add more memory to my Archos 5 IMT 16gb. That great things about the Archos is that it integrates this SD Card, so it's like I have 32GB of memory, instead of 2 separate storage devices like most MP3 players with expansions bay have. Simply put, a great buy for what I needed it for.

I thought I would blog about it in case someone else wants to take the opportunity to quickly grab one whilst the sale lasts.

The Book of Python: A Real-World Reference

2010-10-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

The Book of Python is a complete reference to the Python programming language. It begins with a discussion of Python's programming environment (data types, packages, and modules), then moves on to more advanced topics, including object oriented programming, interacting with operating systems, creating GUIs and database interfaces, network programming, XML, and web programming.

Functions and modules are cross-referenced throughout and multiple examples illustrate how to use Python. The authors have extensive experience with large scale, mission critical Python applications-real world experience that forms an unusually solid foundation for a book of this sort.

The Ultimate: Fable III Limited Edition

2010-10-16T09:28:00.000-07:00

Ascend to the throne and become Albion's next ruler in Fable III . "The Fable III Limited Edition Signature Series Guide" picks up the story of life in Albion over half a century after the events of Fable II. Your quest is to overthrow a megalomaniac sibling and save a continent on its knees. This limited edition guide tracks the decisions you make, determining the type of ruler you become. Exclusive quest guides and maps provide an unprecedented knowledge of the games dig spots, gnomes and secrets.

Included is a stand alone art section, with a limited edition dust cover and multiplayer tactics for co-op and competitive modes. Fable III and The Kingdom of Albion have never been explored in such detail, but how will you gain and control the wealth and power you crave?

Here's a trailer to get your tongue wagging!

Noise-Cancelling Earbud Headphones

2010-10-15T06:31:00.000-07:00

My 'normal' headphones are earbuds and I like the loose fit. I was skeptical about getting noise-cancelling earbuds due to the 'tight' fit in the ear, but these Noise cancelling Headphones are DEFINELY worth it! Amazing the difference these make in noise reduction. Loud AC unit in my living room becomes 'silent'.

Took the headphones on a trip recently -- sitting at the airport gate, the headphones got rid of the din of noise yet let me hear the intercom messages. And once we were on the plane/in flight, greatly reduced the engine/air noises. Had one instance (in the airport) where I couldn't hear a gentleman talking to me when the headphones were on, but I can live with that!

Looking for Noise Cancelling Headphones, then check out this lot. There's definitely something there for every one.

Building Android Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

2010-10-15T04:15:00.000-07:00

If you know HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you already have the tools you need to develop Android applications. This hands-on book shows you how to use these open source web standards to design and build apps that can be adapted for any Android device -- without having to use Java.
You'll learn how to create an Android-friendly web app on the platform of your choice, and then convert it to a native Android app with the free PhoneGap framework. Discover why device-agnostic mobile apps are the wave of the future, and start building apps that offer greater flexibility and a broader reach.

Learn the basics for making a web page look great on the Android web browser
Convert a website into a web application, complete with progress indicators and more
Add animation with jQTouch to make your web app look and feel like a native Android app
Take advantage of client-side data storage with apps that run even when the Android device is offline
Use PhoneGap to hook into advanced Android features -- including the accelerometer, geolocation, and alerts
Test and debug your app on the Web under load with real users, and then submit the finished product to the Android Market

This book received valuable community input through O'Reilly's Open Feedback Publishing System (OFPS). Learn more at http://labs.oreilly.com/ofps.html.

JBuds J3 Micro Atomic In-Ear Earphones with Travel Case for $9.95

2010-10-14T11:51:00.000-07:00

I bought these as a replacement for my surprisingly durable apple ipod phones.

I have read reviews about a "trebly" sound. I did notice this when first listening. But read the directions! It says they sound better after playing for 24-48 hours; just leave your phones plugged in all day if you aren't using them during this period. I would say they really started sounding good after a little more playtime than this but not too much longer. And after using them for 6 months, I think they sound better than ever! Also keep in mind these are in-ear headphones. The lower frequencies depend on the whole phone vibrating in your ear, so don't be turned-off by the relatively small speaker mesh. The bass in these headphones seems pretty darn good.

Minus just one star for having the issue of banging on wires creating noise in the phones (although this is probably an issue with most in-ear phones of this type) and too short of a wire. This is not much of an issue with the J3s when sitting down. I have found that wrapping the wires around the ears almost eliminates the thud, but this makes the wire even shorter than it already is. I have not used the J3 much while exercising so I cannot give an opinion for this type of use.

I can say that the smooth wire coating on the J3s does a great job of eliminating any scratching noises, unlike fabric-coated wires.

At just $9.95 I think it's a steal!

The Heroes of Olympus, Book One: The Lost Hero

2010-10-14T06:15:00.000-07:00

Rick Riordan has not ceased to amaze me. Ever since I picked up a copy of THE LIGHTNING THIEF in 2008 and read the PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS straight through, I have loved everything Riordan has put out. From his Egyptian offshoot, THE KANE CHRONICLES, to even his entry in THE 39 CLUES, THE MAZE OF BONES, I am always shocked and in awe of his story-telling. And the first outing in the new HEROES OF OLYMPUS series, THE LOST HERO, is no exception.

I debated for quite a while as I read THE LOST HERO whether a new-comer to Riordan could pick up this book and just start in, and I came to the conclusion that if someone hasn't read anything by him, it would be best to go back to THE LIGHTNING THIEF and start there. Otherwise, THE LOST HERO would contain too many references to events and characters which wouldn't make sense to someone who hasn't read the books yet. So if you haven't finished Riordan's first series, PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS, I would say stop reading this review now and go back to THE LIGHTNING THIEF.

The story begins with a boy named Jason, who suddenly appears in a school bus in the middle of the desert sitting beside Piper and Leo, two classmates that he's supposedly been friends with for the past few months at Wilderness School. But Jason can't remember any of that. In fact, he can't even remember his own name or how he got there. I really don't want to say much more than that, because diving too deeply into the storyline will only ruin the experience.

Per usual, the story is action-packed, and coming in at a hefty 576 pages, THE LOST HERO, starts and doesn't slow down until the very last page. As I read, I couldn't help myself from gasping out loud. There was a new plot twist to almost every page I turned. At first, I kept wondering what on earth can Riordan do with the whole concept of Greek gods and mythology that he didn't accomplish in the first five books - and I will admit part of me was a bit afraid that THE LOST HERO was going to fizzle out and not live up to my favorite, THE LAST OLYMPIAN. But Riordan pulls out some unexpected ideas that meld seamlessly with the mythology he's crafted throughout the first series.

The book is told in third-person, which is a bit of a switch from either THE KANE CHRONICLES or PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS, which were both written first-person. THE LOST HERO switches off between Jason, Piper, and Leo, each getting two chapters and then switching to the next. This aids in the character development, which is stronger here than in other novels from Riordan. The things that Piper and especially Leo grow through in the book felt real and done in a way that made sense with the story. The author searched out a lot of the issues that face students today, including abandonment in its various forms. In a way, I think THE LOST HERO is one of his more serious books, and while there was definitely humor to lighten things up here and there, this one definitely came across as a much weightier story, for the characters and the plot.

While the story does center around Jason, Piper, and Leo, there are plenty of familiar faces around to tie things back to the first series. Cameos from people such as Chiron, Clarisse, Annabeth and others definitely were fun and added an interesting dimension to the storyline. Riordan also mines some lesser known myths in the Greek works and gives us some exciting battles with old foes that are just as deadly as anything Percy, Grover, and Annabeth faced - and sometimes, much, much worse.

THE LOST HERO ends up rising above and beyond anything I expected from Riordan, and will definitely get readers excited to revisit Camp Half-Blood and its demigods. And now, we only have to wait until Fall of 2011 for the next volume, THE SON OF NEPTUNE.

The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success

2010-10-14T00:33:00.000-07:00

The authors tackle a mighty big subject here. But I didn't know how big until I saw at the size of this book. And the thing is, most of the chapter subjects - social networking, blogging, vlogging, microblogging, Search, Gaming, etc - could easily merit several entire books unto themselves.

The authors rely heavily on what are probably recorded statements from industry leaders in the various fields, and verbal transcripts tend to ramble on a bit when committed to paper. The transcripts could have used some heavy editing, which was probably impossible due to bruised corporate egos.

I wouldn't call this book a "bible", mainly because the subject is much too large for any one book to cover in-depth. But this book is the best attempt yet to cover the scope of the rapidly growing and evolving social media phenomenon. And as someone in the search marketing field, the book really opened my eyes to exactly how big the Social Media field really is, and for that, I give the book 5 stars.

My new Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 12.1 Camera

2010-10-12T11:48:00.000-07:00

I pre-ordered this Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 12.1 camera, so I paid full price. I see that it has now dropped to $379 or so.
I would rate the camera a great value at list price, so it is a super-great value at the price you can now get it for!

I just spent two weeks in Portugal and Spain. I took hundreds of pictures -- inside cathedrals, outside of scenics and old castles, night shots, portraits, high dynamic range bracket shots, etc etc. This camera allowed me to get the best pictures I've ever taken, and I've been using SLR's since I got a Pentax Spotmatic in the 70s. The touch-screen interface, coupled with the easy-to-use and well thought out physical buttons, made adapting to the situation (for instance, underexposing a bit to get the proper mood in a cathedral's sanctuary)a breeze.

It reacts very quickly, so I didn't miss any opportunity shots. The image quality (I shoot RAW) is superb. If left on P mode or IA mode, the decisions it makes almost always result in the shot I want, and if I want to tweak it a bit (as mentioned above), it's quick and easy to do.

Both the LCD and the viewfinder are extremely bright. I typically use the viewfinder (old habit, maybe) and use the LCD for its touch screen capabilities, either to quickly change settings or to touch where I want the focus point to be. That "focus and shoot" option on the LCD is a hoot!

Highly recommended.

(For what it's worth, I also have a Lumix DMC-LX5, which is a great "little brother" companion to this camera. It also took terrific shots on our trip.)

Discover how to create Flash Lite mobile apps from the ground up

2010-10-12T06:36:00.000-07:00

Adobe Flash is an ideal choice for developing rich interactive content for "Flash-enabled" mobile devices; and with this book, you'll learn how to create unique applications with Flash Lite. Through a series of code samples and extensive example applications, you'll explore the core concepts, key features, and best practices of the Flash Lite player. Coverage reveals various ways to develop Flash mobile content, create applications with a cross-platform programming framework based on the Model, View and Controller concept, and use a number of open web and device manufacturer service APIs.
Professional Flash Lite Mobile Development:

Looks at Adobe Flash Professional and Adobe Device Central, the essential tools used in developing and testing Flash mobile device content
Explores object-oriented programming as well as the PureMVC framework
Shares techniques for extending the capabilities of mobile devices
Provides detailed insight into using audio, video, and images in applications
Introduces ways to extend Flash mobile apps beyond the features of the Flash Lite Player
Walks you through packaging and distributing complete Flash Lite mobile apps to different mobile platforms

Wrox Professional guides are planned and written by working programmers to meet the real-world needs of programmers, developers, and IT professionals. Focused and relevant, they address the issues technology professionals face every day. They provide examples, practical solutions, and expert education in new technologies, all designed to help programmers do a better job.

You're Better Than Your Job Search

2010-10-12T02:40:00.000-07:00

Since I found an excellent opportunity within a day of finishing the book, I can only admit that it was helpful... or maybe it's magical? The section on interviewing with a panel was actually a big help. Having read that section to prep for an interview in which I was expecting two interviewers, I still had all the tools I needed when I was seated in front of a panel of four.

Much of the information presented here is available via The Ladders, but still very handy to have it in book form, and the book is well-conceived and designed to be a handy reference. I've been reading posts from Marc Cenedella for years, and recommend his book for its same very positive tone.

Friends and family aside, it's nice to have someone rooting for you!
Great book, get one here

Our Kind of Traitor

2010-10-11T19:42:00.000-07:00

John le Carre is one of those authors that everybody tells me I should read, and whom I really want to read. But his towering body of work is... a little intimidating.

So I decided to start with "Our Kind of Traitor," his latest thriller. And it's a solid place to start -- new characters that don't require previous books to understand, heart-pounding suspense, and a genteel British gloss. It's an intelligent and gripping story, but at times le Carre seems to just lose his enthusiasm..

Young Oxford don Perry and his lawyer girlfriend Gail are on vacation in Antigua when they encounter Dima, a Russian millionaire with a large, grim family, a hearty love of the English, and a lavish hand with money. It turns out that he's a professional money-launderer in trouble with a mobster called The Prince. He's willing to spill everything he knows, as long as he and his family are kept safe.

Enter Hector Meredith, an aging spy who runs his own little sub-agency, and who is Dima's best chance of not getting killed. But Perry and Gail "have wandered by sheer accident into a richly planted minefield," and under Hector's guidance they soon find themselves whisked on an international adventure...

"Our Kind of Traitor" is a brilliant novel that's been hobbled. The first few chapters are mostly told in flashback, which saps some of the tension from the story. And the last few chapters feel as if John le Carre got tired of the story he was telling, so he slapped together an ending and pasted it on the end.

So as you can guess, the best part is the middle. Le Carre's prose is smooth, genteel and distinctly British, but fractured with some gritty looks at the underbelly of civilization. The cynicism is heaped high everywhere, whether it's contemptuous looks at the British government, the corrupt banking world, or the bleak, cutthroat world of Russian mobsters.

And le Carre does a pretty good job with the characters, who all feel realistic, flawed and sympathetic. Perry and Gail are a pampered, slightly self-righteous British couple who end up waaaaayyyyy in over their heads. Hector is a tweedy, outspoken old spy, while Dima is a sort of Russian Tony Soprano, whose genial exterior hides his fear and rage.

"Our Kind of Traitor" is a smooth, rich thriller with its ankles shackled -- great writing, rich characters, but it suffers from a limp beginning and a slapdash ending.

JBuds J3 Micro Atomic In-Ear Earphones with Travel Case

2010-10-11T05:31:00.000-07:00

I've had a pair of JLabs J3 earbuds for about ten months, and they are beginning to develop a loose connection near the base of the plug - which completely spoils the sound. In my experience this is a common stress point, and resulting weak spot for many earbuds, but ten months is a little premature for such an issue to arise on a set that lists for $80.

I'm not an "audiophile", but I know the difference between honest, full bodied sound reproduction, and the opposite. I'm satisfied with the performance of these buds, so I'll be buying them again, especially at the bargain price of $15, but I would suggest that JLabs attempt to reinforce this area.

I know that they value customer input, so I trust they will address this.

Get one today

150 Programming Interview Questions and Solutions

2010-10-11T02:53:00.000-07:00

Getting into one of the top companies in the software industry, is not normally an easy task. There are certain things they're looking for and if you don't know what they are and how to prepare, you'll most likely get the dreaded "Thank You" email or phone call.

This book will prepare you for what to expect from companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Yahoo and Apple. Then it will give you the tools to solve the problems that they will throw at you during an interview. Follow the instructions, and you'll have a chance to stay in the hunt. Try to memorize answers and you'll be eaten alive.

Get a whiteboard, practice the problems without looking at the answers until you're done. Don't use your IDE to help you and learn to think through problems without knowing the answer in advance.

This book helped me get into my latest company.

Good luck!

Trickle Up Poverty: Stopping Obama's Attack on Our Borders, Economy, and Security

2010-10-09T08:22:00.000-07:00

I must read for anyone who loves America. Savage details how both parties have left the average Americans' interests behind a long time ago. He provides a detailed plan for fixing our great nation, instead of just ranting on its problems. This book is enlightening, educational, inspirational and entertaining. It will give you hope that "We the People" can fix what's wrong with our country and return to the principles that made us great in the first place.

Read it and pass it on.

Hamilton to Leave McLaren?

2010-10-09T03:30:00.000-07:00

#F1 Lewis Hamilton has hinted that despite winning races and raking up points for the team, he'd like to move on to another team. Hamilton, has lost 50 potential points in the last couple of races, leaving him trailing behind in third on the driver's table. His problems were made even more difficult when he crashed just a few laps into the FP1 on Friday afternoon in Suzuka which meant that he missed most of the FP2 (Free Practice 2) until the last 10 minutes.

To further complicate things, there's another report that he will start his race by taking a five-placed gird penalty at Suzuka, once the starting order for the race has been decided. The reason for the drop in grip position is still not clear at the moment, but if the rumours are true, this could be one of the most difficult times for the British driver.

Drivers are allowed to change their gearboxes every four races without a penalty. Hamilton last changed his gearbox at Spa. McLaren are still deciding whether or not to run their new rear wing tomorrow.

PHP and MySQL Web Development (4th Edition)

2010-10-08T08:17:00.000-07:00

I come from a programming background and am not a professional web designer. However, some years ago I brought up a website written in Javascript and JSP running against an Oracle DB for an organization I worked at. I then dropped the programming end of things and just made minor changes to the website until recently when I was forced to redo the website in PHP and MySql, both of which I knew nothing about.

So I bought this book together with the PHP Cookbook published by O'reilly. My foremost question was: "how can I learn this stuff with minimal brain damage without going through 1000 pages?". This book did the trick to introduce me to PHP & MySql in a couple of days. The chapters on designing major applications such as building a shopping cart quickly showed me how to put the various code pieces together into a coherent whole.

However, when the rubber hit the road I ran into several problems. The major obstacle was in divining the pros and cons of using the Procedural vs Object Oriented paradigms. In many of the book's examples, both paradigms are used which was very confusing and caused me headaches getting my code to work. Once I told myself to settle on just the OO approach and ignore the Procedural approach things got much better, since I stopped confusing the two sets of syntax.

I initially downgraded my rating 1 star because of this most irritating and time consuming confusion. The sections on security I found most helpful. As a book to orient a person to PHP and MySql I give it 5 stars. As a future reference, I also give it five (5) stars. As a book to learn the nits and grits, I give it 3 stars......hence my overall rating of 4 stars. If I knew then what I know now, I'd still buy the book. I'm also writing a review of the PHP Cookbook.

The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values

2010-10-07T08:44:00.001-07:00

Sam Harris' latest book The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values hits on some themes familiar to readers of End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation. But pulling together the best from a wide variety of fields, Sam Harris is really carving a path for himself unlike the other three of the four horsemen (Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens).

The Moral Landscape asks interesting questions, and uses savvy "intuition pumps" (to use a phrase of Daniel Dennett, who is cited in several parts of this book) to challenge even those whose mind is made up.

Harris' neuroscience background allows him to explore themes that most philosophers can't touch -- like what belief really is.

I am already looking forward to where Harris goes next from here, and this is hardly the end of the ride through The Moral Landscape

Office politics - don't let it get into you

2010-10-06T15:29:00.000-07:00

There are a few things you learn when you work with people of varied level of maturity and experience. This unfortunately is common in just about any industry - especially in the software industry.

Today, one of the guys in my department placed in an order for 4 new books on the companies book budget. If you remember I wrote about how I spend some time on a book I bought and had to share my acquired knowledge with the team. Well, this guy thought he would go one better and ordered four and a Sennheiser headphone just to allow him to zone out while coding.

Ok, I know he's entitled to place an order for something that he thinks will benefit the company, but I don't see how a Sennheiser Headphone will benefit anyone other than himself. Come to think of it, there are even cheaper ones out there, so why spend that huge amount on headphones.

What really made my day was to later hear that although the book will be bought, headphones as well as other gadgets are not something the company would like to spend its money on. Meaning that eventually, he would either stay without one and put up other people's noise or spend his own money on one.

It will be nice to see the look on his face tomorrow.