JamieMcQuay.com -

SciBarCamp Palo Alto - July 8-9, 2009

jamie — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 18:47:04 -0700

I'm pleased to announce to we are in the planning stages for a SciBarCamp (July 8-9, 2009) in Palo Alto!
Thanks to Attila Csordas who was the instigator of BioBarCamp which took place before last years SciFoo, we've decided to carry on this tradition that he started. I'm also happy to pass on the news that Attila will be planning another BioBarCamp event later on this year.

Blocking calls on the iPhone

jamie — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 22:53:05 -0800

I've been getting annoying telemarketing calls from 818-870-9190. The call is an automated message that my car warranty is about to expire... after some searching online I found out (here and here) that this is a scam.

It's not you, it's me...

jamie — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:01:02 -0800

I got an email from Microsoft the other day that started off with:

Dear JAMIE,We’ve noticed that you have chosen to stop receiving communications from Microsoft. We’d like to take this moment to ask you to reconsider.

Since when did Microsoft start using the ex-girlfriend play book? What's next, will we start "accidentally" bumping into each other on the street?
Mircosoft, it's not you.... it's me... I'm leaving you for Open Source products and communities that actually give a damn about their developers.

I love you Eclipse...

jamie — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:06:01 -0800

I just discovered the best feature ever...
When using Eclipse with Subclipse you have the option to role back code for every save that you've made locally.
This might not sound like much but I've been burnt several time in visual studio where I think I'm deleting the correct file and click OK to the "This file will be permanently destroyed" message.

Scimatic now on Twitter

jamie — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:40:57 -0800

I've started a Twitter feed for us at Scimatic. Jim and I will be using this account to announce new blog posts and general science/work related news.

If you have a Twitter account, please follow us at twitter.com/Scimatic

The OS is the Framework

jamie — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 07:54:02 -0800

We've submitted a proposal lately that involves bringing a popular Mac application to Windows. When doing research for this proposal, I've finally figured out the claim "Macs just work". My answer to this claim is that:

The Operating System is the framework.

By this statement I mean that the engineers at Apple have put a lot of thought into what support developers require. They make sure that this support is bundled with the Operating System and a nice touch, it is all free.

Open Office for the Mac

jamie — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:14:01 -0700

I switched to a MacBook Pro about a year ago. A dirty little secret is that I do all my word processing in Windows. I needed to purchase Office 2007 for a client project a while back and its price tag made the decision for me.
On the Mac I wanted an open source solution for quickly editing documents. I know that Pages is great and Office for Mac can be ok at times but I already paid for Office 2007.

AnIML Tools 0.2.1 Released

jamie — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:23:09 -0700

A small update to the AnIML Tools project was released today. The functionality to navigate between AnIML nodes in the Colobus viewer was moved to the Main Menu and Toolbar.

AnIML Tools v0.2.0 released

jamie — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:31:09 -0700

I have finally found the time to put a bit of development effort into the AnIML Tools project again. Today version 0.2.0 was release and hopefully will make the introduction to AnIML formatted files a little easier for new comers.
This release was many usability improvements. A much improved installer in now implemented, an online help system has been built into the project. There are also now direct links to the feature and bug reports on the project's sourceforge page.

Switching to Python

jamie — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:39:03 -0700

I've been developing software for the past 10 years using Microsoft tools (VB, C++ with MFC and C#). Up until now it's done the job, but now that we're developing our own products I've come to realize that it is time for a change.