Scorched Tortoise

New year, new work/fun ...

2010-01-10T16:28:00.002Z

It's been a pretty good start to 2010 for me. At the day job there was a major update that one of our data suppliers was doing between 31/12/2009 and 1/1/2010. When I say major, I mean a complete change required to every system that touches that data. Several teams had been spending the better part of 6 months preparing. Having only recently joined I wasn't deeply involved, I just helped prep and perform testing, but I was still very glad when everything went as planned.

As for my other main project things have been progressing well. I've implemented over half of the new design and had a wonderful few weeks discovering that JQuery really is one of the most wonderful things ever. Making the use of Javascript in browsers "just work" has made my life much easier and enabled me to implement far more interactive components than I had planned. I tip my hat to them.

Even though things have been going well I'm still a little bit behind schedule on the project, so lots of effort over the next few weeks to catch up. But, as I described in my last post ("In the zone ...") it is much more joyous for me this time around. This is also because I have made it much easier on myself. I spent a little bit of cash to pick up a second monitor (an Apple Cinema Display 23" second hand) and a new office chair/foot rest. The combination of these things makes working at home a lot easier than it used to.

Hopefully this will all have been a good investment and I can finish the new design so the rest of the team can relaunch the site and I can spend a little time on some new personal projects. I hope you are looking forward to the rest of 2010 as much as I am.

In the zone ...

2009-11-22T16:46:00.002Z

It's been a long time since I was "in the zone" on a personal project. The zone I am referring to is the developer zone not Twilight or Phantom. This is the zone where you start coding and then are amazed that many hours have passed when you next look up.

The project I've been working on for the past few years has had it's ups and downs. The past 12 months have mostly been downs. Something changed recently that reinvigorated my relationship with the project, that change was finally getting a great design.

Three years ago I implemented the first version based off some old design documents the team had commissioned but never implemented. That was tough, without the original designer around to fill in the blanks as needed, but I got through it and the project was still fresh and exciting. The next phase was a redesign triggered by underlying changes in the information model and the closest thing I had to a design was a suggestion that it should be "like the BBC site".

That work dragged. Every step of the way I was having to think about design, implement assets and tweak stuff on the fly with no overall look and feel guidance. After about the 50th time I suggested it the team finally got a professional designer in, though after the horrible made up design had gone live to little joy.

In 6 pages of PDF Paul produced something that both looked elegant and fitted the IA beautifully. So for the past couple of weeks I have spent my spare time "in the zone" implementing the html and css statically and loving every minute of it. By the end of the month I will be done with this phase and will then implement the design on top of the existing backend code. I can't wait.

Without the drag of a bad (or no) design weighting me down the implementation in code will be quick and also allow me to tidy up some of the code issues I have been meaning to get around to for ages.

Most startups realise the benefit to their users of a great design, but the benefits to team morale are not often mentioned. Right now I can safely say they are just about the most important thing that could have happened to this project. Oh, the redesign also give me a chance to move over to jquery finally and that's another pot of fun all to itself.

New week, new fun

2009-03-23T13:12:00.000Z

Finally this weekend I feel like I have caught up with life. Started a new phase on work projects, deadlines far off. Hit a happy point with a couple of personal projects and I'm ready to move forward with some others.

Now if I can just win at rolling tomorrow night ...

Many week rolling update ...

2009-03-17T23:49:00.001Z

... still not looking good for me.

Weekly 3 Game Average

4 Week Moving Average

If you wonder why developing a new rocket is complex and expensive ...

2009-02-16T23:17:00.002Z

People often wonder why developing the next generation of human rated rockets is so complex and expensive. I think the latest edition of The Big Picture from the Boston Globe answers this well. The sheer scale of some of the infrastructure, no matter the development of the multiple rocket stages, is amazing.

Whether you agree with human spaceflight or not, you have to be impressed by the engineering on show in these images.

I also have to recommend The Big Picture site generally, their collections of images from the various wire services and freelancers often show the many sides/faces of a story. Check out their coverage of both the Obama campaign and the Inauguration as examples.

Geeking weekend preparing for Snow Leopard ...

2009-02-15T16:46:00.009Z

While this weekend has involved great geeking with my Macs it was preceded by far more geek thought and concern. I blame it on/credit it to a couple of podcasts that I've been listening to for quite some time now; Adam Christianson's MacCast and The Mac Observer's Mac Geek Gab. I never used to worry about loosing data or machines getting fried from nearby lightening strikes, but a couple of months ago it began to creep into my nightmares.

You see, I"m a hoarder of data. I have the results of high school chemistry experiments, still have all the different versions of my final year degree project. Every CV I've had to write is still there, along with the letter of application for a years placement at CERN (I have the rejection letter in a file on a shelf somewhere too). However I always had a backup strategy of holding multiple copies of this archive on multiple PCs.

Then I moved to the Mac, and for a while I still had the drives and some of the PCs holding my archive, but eventually it just came down to bare drives that hadn't been used for years. I grabed myself a USB Drive adapter and copied the whole archive onto my iMac. At that point I had one single copy on one single drive. Then all I would hear in my head were the horror stories written in to the podcasts I mentioned. The constant advice of having multiple copies of everything.

When I upgraded to Leopard I bought a Maxtor 500GB external drive for Time Machine, which I thought should be enough to cope with my internal 300GB drive. After 3 months it start erroring on account of the fact that it was full. Time Machine dutifully started deleting old copies of things and I began to worry again. Finally I caved and bought a 1TB WD MyBook drive for Time Machine and then bought a copy of SuperDuper! to use the Maxtor for a bootable clone of my main drive.
Finally my mind could rest about only having a single copy of my data, I could handle 2 potential drive failures. At last restful sleep ... but of course not. My mind moved onto the next possible crisis, fried computer and all 3 drives(!) from a power spike, triggered by both the podcasts and the, getting more often, small power failures in our area. After a good search and taking advice from KC I've settled on the APC Back-up ES 700VA.

But that is for next month, this months tech concern is about the imminent release of Mac OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard. For those that don't know, and are interested, there is quite a large set of unknowns about this next release of OSX. Apple has stated that it will be primarily an update to the internals of OSX, with few new visible features. This is a platform for future releases, but as such is almost certain to be an Intel only release.

Traditionally Apple removes the previous version of OSX from sale when the new one is available. If this happens with Snow Leopard then what are those people who have yet to update their PowerPC machine to Leopard to do? This was my concern, we still have the little iBook G4 which Carly uses a lot.

Of course, and I'm sure that this is no coincidence, Apple has recently released the new versions of iWork and iLife and made them available in a set with Leopard, the Mac Boxed Set, at an incredibly reasonable price. All together this works out really well, I'm a version behind on iLife and 2 on iWork. So I got the set, iLife and iWork for my iMac and another Leopard license for the iBook.

Before installing Leopard on the iBook though a little surgery was required, it only had the built in 256MB of RAM. A quick order from the wonderful people at Crucial, and a 1GB chip was in my hands (1.25 GB being the max on that machine). Using the instructions from iFixIt the installation was a breeze, and I finally figured out a use for OSX's CTRL+Mouse Wheel screen zoom (instructions on the 24" iMac across the room as the printer is out of ink).

While Leopard was installing I installed iLife and iWork on the iMac, now all is good. A great geek weekend, now I just have to wait till next month and the APC UPS and maybe I can relax ...

Best rolling ever ...

2009-02-11T11:49:00.000Z

... and I still lost :(

Weekly 3 Game Average

4 Week Moving Average

Another day, another coffee ... or 3 ... or ...

2009-01-21T13:19:00.001Z

GeoTagged, [N51.49327, E0.14871]

I think best with coffee. All of my good ideas can be traced back to a coffee moment.

Today I've been in an email conversation with Craig who is bored at work. Ended up describing an idea I had for stupid comedy show. An idea from 10 years ago.

It raised it's head from my the back of my mind because I was listening to the Propellerheads album Decksandrumsandrockandroll which 10 years ago I had on heavy rotation. On my MiniDisc player!

Way back then that idea had come to me during my morning coffees at Ostbahnhoff in Munich. I stopped there on my way into work each morning. Haven't thought about that place in a long while.

It's been nice today, through the medium of music, coffee and conversation, to be transported to 10 years ago. Happy times and happy memories.

There was so much foul language ...

2009-01-21T00:19:00.002Z

... from me on the lanes, directed at myself of course. Looks like Rogue is back on form, although he still needs another win to take him back to the top in the 4 week moving average.

Read them and weep/sigh/cheer depending on who you are.

Weekly 3 Game Average

4 Week Moving Average

Bowling scores at last ...

2009-01-17T00:17:00.002Z

Here they are. After too much time away we finally arrive at 2 new bowling graphs.

Weekly 3 Game Average

4 Week Moving Average

With getting on for 2 years of data in them the graphs are becoming a little confused, I hope to do something about that pretty soon.

In the meantime be amazed at how Rouge and Onepin have been fighting for the weekly win and how I've bounced all over the shop but generally just gone downhill :( ... till next week of course ;)

2009 ...

2009-01-13T14:14:00.001Z

I started 2009 with a plan. I was going to clear the decks of outstanding tasks and move on to new and exciting things.

Now, 3 weeks in that's all out the window. Some how I've ended up gathering lots of new tasks I didn't really count on. You might think that I should have expected this, but really most of these were not things that you would ever plan for.

At a time of credit crunch I have managed to be placed on 3 projects at once at work. These along side 3 internal projects. My main full time client work is also extending each time we talk to our client.

On top of that there are 3 personal projects each requiring some time.

All of this is sitting in my task list far ahead of the other, less familiar and therefore more interesting, things I want to get to.

It's time to sort all of this out and re-plan my year. So here and now I say to myself that by the end of the week I will have got my head straight and plotted a course to sanity.

I will have gotten ahead of the plan at work and effectively delegate that which can be.

I will have moved into the next phase of personal project 1.

Finally I will, by next week have sorted out our bowling score graphs! Only then could guilt be remove and sanity return.

C Bet

2008-12-23T22:59:00.001Z

C Jan 2010 or 15 st
K Feb
M May
J Apr

£20

24x24 ...

2008-11-30T04:56:00.001Z

It has been 2 years since our last 24x24 (a season of 24 in one shot, starting with Jack and finishing with Jack). With the delay to season 7, and my generally chaotic calender we have only just gotten to season 6.

This season is another tough one. Starting, and therefore finishing, at 6am. Much like the season 2 24x24 we made the mistake of staying up far too late last night. So with 3 hours sleep behind us we embarked at the appointed hour, I'll mention it again, 6am!

As always, because episodes are not actually an hour long, we bank a bit of time for some longer breaks like lunch or for a bit of Rock Band.

Right now is the hardest part. It's 4:47am local time. Jack has just hit 5am. In order to finish with Jack we cannot start the next one till 5:22am.

Mike crapped out about 1am, Jon has drifted in and out since 3am and now, in the 40 minute break they are all asleep.

So sitting here alone I write this. Marking our 6th 24x24 and my (unconventional) stag weekend. Even though they snore around me, I know I have the best friends in the world.

Who's doing QA on iPhone podcasts firmware ...

2008-11-25T13:13:00.001Z

Much as I love my iPhone I am begining to feel like a second class user in Apple's eyes. You see I don't listen to much music, according to some my taste is so bad I don't in fact listen to any music. Mostly I listen to podcasts.

Lots and lots of podcasts. So unlike some I have become very familiar with how awkward the combination of iPhone and iTunes can be when dealing with podcasts.

Firstly there is the annoyance that each firmware update manages to set all the most recently listened to podcasts to an unfinished state thus re syncing them rather than removing them. The whole new, started and finished status issue is confusing enough without randomly resetting some of them.

The 2.1 firmware update showed an attempt to improve things. New indicators showing whether you have unlistened or partially listened to episodes within a podcast were introduced. Great but then they set the ordering to be latest first and to automatically play through the full list. So on finishing the latest episode the iphone would start playing the previous one!

In the recent 2.2 firmware the date ordering is correct but the indicators are gone from the podcast level and are only visible at the episode level. Also video podcasts are still in the wrong order.

Podcasts are obviously a bit of a loss leader for Apple, but come on. This is basic stuff and if you are going to start trying to fix things then you should pay a little attention to checking in all areas. My guess would be they either didn't look at the video section because they were only looking in podcasts? Or they needed to protect the ordering of videos to support TV series in some way. Really annoying is that the video podcasts do appear in the podcast section, in the correct order but will only play the audio part!

Normally the details of user interface design is one of the things us Apple fans can hold up high. What is currently failing in the iPhone QA team to let these issues past?

2008-09-27T12:23:00.001Z

Deadlines stacked but not loaded ...

2008-07-29T00:50:00.002Z

Looks like August is going to be a crazy busy month. 3 deadlines each either just before or just after the big trip to Vegas with the lads.

A holiday is definately required, and going to Vegas with my best mates from all the way back in high school is something I've been wanting for ages. But also sometime away from normality with C would be amazing. The next holiday we have planned is the wedding which is not till December so I need to come up with something else before then. Even if it's just a nice weekend away somewhere quiet for just the 2 of us.

Down time is important and there's not been enough of that this past year. We need some to get through the next one.

Done

2008-07-25T01:49:00.001Z

Lunch as it should be

Current frustrations ...

2008-04-14T00:38:00.002Z

In no particular order;

The aftermath of the Hollywood writers strike

It's not that I was opposed to the strike in any way, I fully backed it. But being somewhat addicted to TV it is now very frustrating that so many shows have either been a) dumped, b) curtailed or c) confused through a large season break. The next autumn season cannot come round quick enough.

A frustration that was good to write but on reflection removed

Writing things down, or typing them up (why is writing "down" and typing "up"?), is a very cathartic thing to do. But looking back on the one that was here (work related) I felt it best that I remove it. Will write about it at a later date.

My bowling scores

Since I started my current project I have missed many weeks of bowling and it shows. Recent nights have shown and improvement and my 4 Week Moving Average is now almost back to pre-project levels, although that's still not great. I really do feel like I am improving but that I just can't get past a certain point. It's also a downward spiral in that my frustration has an adverse effect on my game. As with life in general I find it hard to push work out of my head and focus on what I am doing. It's hard to bowl with code compiling in your mind.

Conclusion

All in all there's not much there really. Life is pretty good at the moment, although there's a couple of frustrations that I don't want to write up here (inevitably the bigger ones). If I can get my current project complete, my personal project moving and one or two other things finalised then life will be sweet. Not much to ask for is it :)

Rolling scores update for 2008-04-08 ...

2008-04-08T23:30:00.002Z

Here is an automated post of the latest bowling scores. 3 Game Weekly Average 4 Week Moving Average

Update: You'll notice that I have fixed the calculations behind the 4 week moving average chart. They were way off and not showing the latest results. All fixed now, as you can see by the way I am rapidly catching up to STS (Seven Ten Split) Onepin! ;)

Rolling scores update for 2008-03-18 ...

2008-03-18T21:19:00.001Z

Here is an automated post of the latest bowling scores.

3 Game Weekly Average

4 Week Moving Average

Back in the code playground ...

2008-03-18T01:48:00.003Z

It's been a very long time since I wrote anything substantive on this blog. Even the rolling scores updates have been far too few, gaining me a not insignificant amount of complaints from my fellow rollers, well deserved of course.

The reasons for my absence have been many, and all totally uninteresting to you dear readers. Well all that is except one. My current project at work which has been most consuming for me. It has been on a crunch timescale since day one, and client extensions have not helped. However, the interesting point is that it has finally got me back to, officially, coding at work.

Like a long lost friend with whom I have been reunited, coding and I have had much to catch up on. But, also like seeing a close friend after a long break, most has stayed the same and the familiar rhythm of friendship is soon resumed.

This has all been helped by some great personal projects that I am also undertaking in my, somewhat limited, spare time. One of them I cannot speak about just yet, expect more some time in the summer. The other though, might have come to your attention tonight if you read this blog via a feed reader like Google Reader.

If so you may well have notice an auto generated post for the latest rolling scores. It was a test, and a nicely successful one at that. I have finally admitted that I am never going to be organised enough to keep up to date with adding the rolling scores to the nasty spreadsheet I have and generating/posting the graphs to my blog. So instead, like any good developer, the desire to be lazy is the mother of invention.

I have written a little web app which will allow me to post the scores from my mobile phone, on the lane! It then saves these in MySQL, generates and posts the blog entry which includes 2 links to on-demand generated graphs of the 3Game Weekly Averages and the 4 Week Moving Averages.

The latter will be a little different from how they were before as they are now a true moving average of the raw data, rather than a moving average of the 3 game averages.

It's taken about 5 hours work to put together so far, most of which was learning the API's for JFreeChart and ROME. Obviously this is not the end. Time allowing it will eventually allow for some analysis of the scores, e.g. lowest deviation etc. Plus access to the all important, and embarrassing to me, raw data.

All going well the first live post should come after tonight's games, which are doubly important as we have decided to reset the no-show average to our personal 3 game averages from tonight. Not looking good for me, the current no-show is 120 and I've been scoring under that for some weeks (mostly the reason we are resetting them). Ah well, enough of these warm up games, on with the real deal ...

More rolling scores ...

2008-03-04T02:16:00.001Z

Big update, depressing for me though. Really need to improve as I only have a month before the company bowling night.

Here are the 3 Game Average and here is the 4 Week Moving Average charts from the last couple of weeks.

Rolling scores finally updated :) ...

2008-01-04T01:17:00.000Z

Here are the 3 Game Average and here is the 4 Week Moving Average charts from the last couple of weeks.

Happy Christmas one and all ...

2007-12-24T19:20:00.000Z

In the spirit of giving educational gifts that kids don't want, here is fun little quiz for all you Sci-Fi geeks like me.

	I received 72 credits on The Sci Fi Sounds Quiz How much of a Sci-Fi geek are you?
Take the Sci-Fi Movie Quiz canon s5 is

Rolling ever on ...

2007-11-13T16:41:00.000Z

Here are the 3 Game Average and here is the 4 Week Moving Average charts from the last couple of weeks.

Onepin is gaining on Rogue's, once thought unassailable, lead. As for myself, I take some pride in the consistency that can be seen in my 4 week moving average chart. Just need to take the next step.