Version Control?

Nov 14

Posted by Scott in ColdFusion, Programming | 13 Comments

So, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m definitely not an advanced-level developer by any stretch of the imagination. I know how to do the things that I want to do, and that’s about it. Also, most of the projects that I’ve worked on have been things where I’m the only developer. Because of that, I’ve never used any kind of version control when coding (git, SVN, Tortoise, etc).

I read several blogs by various developers, and over time I’ve seen them all mention at least once that there’s “no excuse” for not using some kind of version control even when you’re a single developer. The only thing I haven’t seen to go along with any of these statements is an explanation as to WHY one needs to use version control for a project where there is only one developer. It seems to me like it adds an unnecessary layer of complexity. From what I can tell, though, using it seems to be something that EVERYONE agrees on. If someone could just explain it to me, I’d like to understand.

Apparently, I’m doing it wrong.

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Test Post

Apr 14

Posted by Scott in Miscellaneous | 1 Comment

This is a post which exists only to test various things. Please disregard.

The Fat Man Reviews: HTC Droid Eris

Nov 30

Posted by Scott in Reviews | 2 Comments

Disclaimer: In order to make sure I comply with the completely ridiculous new FTC guidelines about stating my own opinion on my own website: I’m writing this because my phone is awesome. Also, you are reading this because I am awesome.

First off, let me say that I love all things gadgety.  Unfortunately I also spend the majority of my life flat broke and unable to purchase all the lovely gadgets that I want to play with.  You can imagine my excitement, then, when I saw that LetsTalk.com was offering the HTC Droid Eris for free w/ a new contract.  For those not in the know, the Droid Eris is HTC’s newest phone running Google’s Android phone OS. It’s a completely touchscreen smart phone that syncs with various Google services like Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Contacts, etc.

Overall, this is probably the best phone I’ve ever used.  The on-screen keyboard is fantastic.  The predictive text is without a doubt the best I’ve ever seen.  As long as I basically hit somewhere in the general vicinity of the keys that I’m looking for, I don’t have to worry too much about typing errors.  Also, any time you find yourself typing a word that isn’t in the predictive text dictionary (torgorama for example) just click the ‘+’ next to the word you’re typing and it’ll be saved for future use.  HTC also replaced the standard Android user interface with their own proprietary Sense UI, which I love.  There 7 customizable panels on your homescreen that you can fill with a vast array of widgets, apps, and shortcuts.  If there’s something that the phone doesn’t do out of the box that you need, chances are good that you can find something in the App Market.  There are thousands of apps available that you can browse and download straight from your phone.  A few of my current favorite apps are:

  • Pandora
  • Google Voice
  • ShopSavvy (scan a barcode with the phone camera and get comparative pricing)
  • Amazon (this one is so good I’m reviewing it separately tomorrow)
  • Twidroid (Twitter client)

In addition to all of that, the general specs on the phone are just overall impressive: 3.2 inch touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera (w/ video), 8GB MicroSD card included, GPS, digital compass, blah blah blah blah (full specs can be found here). Basically, it has most of the stuff that you need.

Now that I’ve finished gushing about how awesome this phone is, let’s talk about the weak points.  There are a few things that are kind of disappointing and a few others that flat out suck.  The battery life is abysmal. I keep Wi-Fi turned off and under moderate use (some web browsing, text messaging, checking email and keeping up with Twitter) the battery lasts about four hours before it needs to be recharged.  With the Wi-Fi enabled, you can knock about another hour off of that time. Other annoyances include:

  • The camera has no flash and doesn’t function well in low-light (5MP doesn’t do you much good if you can’t see anything)
  • The phone is running Android 1.5 instead of the newer 2.0 release
  • No native multi-touch even though it’s supported by the hardware (HTC added support in the photo albums app for pinch-to-zoom goodness)
  • No turn-by-turn Google Maps navigation (only availble for Android 1.6 and higher)
  • Verizon’s data plans are confusing (the $29.99 plan is good for most everyone and does include unlimited data. It’s just limited to 10 email accounts)

After having the phone for a couple of days and playing with it almost non-stop, I’d definitely recommend it to just about anyone.  I’m not sure how long the free deal is going to last, so you might want to jump on it soon.

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You Learn Something New Every Day

Nov 9

Posted by Scott in Dork Stuff, Internet | 6 Comments

I’ve been using Dropbox for months now and I love it. For those who don’t know about it, Dropbox is a file sharing/syncing/backup utility that gives 2GB of free storage (you can pay for more storage if you need it).  It basically creates a Dropbox folder on your hard drive and any files that you drop in there are automatically synced to Dropbox’s servers.  It also allows you to share files/folders with other Dropbox users, and it’s all synced in real-time.  There are a ton of other features, too, but you can read about them at their website.

Tonight I noticed that I was running low on space on my C: drive.  Turns out that Dropbox keeps a local cache of files that have been deleted just in case you need to restore them.  It saves on bandwidth and time.  It’s a great feature, and I’m glad it’s there, but apparently there is no option in the Dropbox software to change the location of the cache folder.  My C: drive is only 10GB for system-related stuff and everything is stored on larger drives for data and program installation.  Since my cache was almost 5GB, it was making my C: drive slightly angry.

After poking and prodding around on the internet for a while, I found a solution workaround using a Windows feature that I didn’t even know existed.  Apparently ever since Windows 2000 (NTFS 5.0, really), Microsoft has hidden the ability to create Linux-style symbolic links through what they call ‘junction points’.  Basically it allows you to create a virtual directory in one location that actually points to a real directory somewhere else.  In my scenario, I’m using Windows Server 2003 so I had to install the Windows Resource Kit to get the tool for creating junction points.  Here are the steps I went through to fix my cache issue:

  1. Exit Dropbox (right-click on the icon in your system tray and select ‘Exit’)
  2. Create an empty folder named ‘cache’ in the location where you would like to move your Dropbox cache
  3. Delete your current cache folder (Stored in c:\documents and settings\username\Application Data\Dropbox\)
  4. Open a command prompt (Start->Run->cmd)
  5. Navigate to the Dropbox folder (shown in step 3)
  6. Use the following command: linkd cache <path to your new cache location>
  7. Restart Dropbox

I can’t believe I’ve been using Windows for as long as I have and had NO clue that there was the ability to create junction points.  I have a feeling I’m going to be using this on a pretty regular basis now.  It’s one of those features that you didn’t realize that you missed having until you find out that you actually DO have it.

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Want a Google Wave Invite?

Nov 5

Posted by Scott in Internet, Miscellaneous | 32 Comments

I have a bunch of Google Wave invites sitting around here.  I’ve already given away the ones I was holding for friends.  That leaves me with 17 67 to get rid of.  Time for a random drawing!!

You can earn up to three entries into the drawing by doing any or all of the following things:

  • Follow me on Twitter (@Torgorama)
  • Comment below with a valid e-mail address and what excites you about Google Wave
  • Re-tweet the following “Get a Google Wave invite from @Torgorama – http://bit.ly/LyoZ6″

Next Saturday (11/14/2009) I’ll pick random winners. This is my first contest, if it goes well,I’ll see about getting my hands on some REAL prizes in the future.

UPDATE: I just got another 50 invites to add to the pool.  That means I’m giving out a total of 67 Google Wave invites on Saturday.  If you haven’t thrown your name in, now would be the time to do it.

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Google Wave Embed Test

Nov 2

Posted by Scott in Internet | 1 Comment

I got myself all set up with Google Wave and now I’m testing the Embed API with the Wavr WordPress plugin.  If you have a Google Wave account, feel free to futz with the Wave below…

[wave id="googlewave.com!w+TyO9W9VgC" color="#000000" bgcolor="#ffffff" font="Courier New, Courier, mono" server="https://wave.google.com/wave/"]

Google Wave Invite Needed

Oct 16

Posted by Scott in Miscellaneous | 4 Comments

I think the title says it all.  I’m all crazy waiting to test out Google Wave.  The only thing I have to offer in return is a Google Voice invite.  Anyone wanna be awesome?

Guitar Hero 5 = awesome

Sep 2

Posted by Scott in Gaming | 1 Comment

We just got Guitar Hero 5 yesterday, and so far I have to say that I’m really impressed.  I’ve played every version of Guitar Hero and Rock Band that has come out.  They’re pretty high on my list of favorite games.  However, when Guitar Hero World Tour came out, I wasn’t particularly pleased with it.  I didn’t like the way the controls responded, it somehow seemed “clunky” to me.  I just didn’t have as much fun playing it as I did all of the others.

So far it seems that this time around, Neversoft has fixed all of the problems that I had with the last game.  The controls are just as smooth and responsive as the Guitar Hero I used to love.  Plus the addition of allowing multiple people to play the same instrument is awesome.  Whenever I played with friends, it was always a race to choose “Guitar”.  Now it doesn’t matter.  If we all want to play the same part, we can.

Also, thanks to Lisa, we have the best band name ever.  Keep an eye out on the leaderboards for “Unsigned Band”.  We will rock your face right the fuck off.  No lie.

Self Classification

Sep 1

Posted by Scott in Miscellaneous, Personal Life | No Comments

I’m a geek.  I’ve worked in IT for years.  Most of that time was spent as a network administrator, some of it was also spent writing VERY minimal ColdFusion and PHP.  I’ve never had a job as a full-on developer.  I’ve been using ColdFusion for 10 years, and I’m proficient with most of the ins and outs of how it works.  It’s mostly just been a hobby for me.  The only time I’ve ever been paid to do any kind of development was when I wrote a back-end tool to save some manual effort at a job of mine, and a few pieces here and there I did for Free Talk Live.  Sure, I’ve always wanted to be a professional developer, but that’s just not the way the career has gone up to this point.  It took me a while to figure out how to classify where my skill level and experience fit….

From this point on, I wish to be known as a “recreational ColdFusion developer”.

Anyone else?

Intuition Juice – Weight Loss Blog

Aug 27

Posted by Scott in Personal Life | 8 Comments

My girlfriend, Lisa, has recently started a blog at IntuitionJuice.com.  In the next couple of months she is going to be having weight loss surgery and has decided to chronicle her journey through the process.  She also posts advice for people who are considering the various types of WLS or are working through any kind of weight loss program in general.

What I really like are the product reviews for various foods, beverages and supplements.  Let’s face it, most “diet” food tastes like ass.  It’s nice that someone else is tasting it first so I know what to expect going in.  Of course, that doesn’t really help me TOO much in this case since I will usually have to try it with her.

I know from personal experience that trying to lose weight can be a hard (and some would say impossible) goal.  It’s nice to have a resource for advice and information from someone who is going through the same thing.  I still haven’t made the decision on whether surgery or another “diet program” is going to be the best way to go for myself.  But, at least now I have a place to start getting some good info.