Category archives: Knight Errant
Questing and jousting and other entrepreneurial details
Java Jokes
Written by
on
in
Knight Errant,
Snaking.
So I ran across a snippet of code today in a Java codebase:
additionalCommands.add(new XYZAdminClientMenuItemAdditionalCommand(START_COMMAND, "Start Cluster")); additionalCommands.add(new XYZAdminClientMenuItemAdditionalCommand(STOP_COMMAND, "Stop Cluster"));
additionalCommands.add(new XYZAdminClientMenuItemAdditionalCommand(MON_COMMAND, "Start Monitor the Cluster"));
which, to any Python programmer looks like someone is pulling your leg.
Here's a Java version that doesn't seem quite so crazy to a Python programmer:
protected static ...
Free Million-Dollar Idea of the Day
Written by
on
in
Knight Errant.
Add a SquareMap-style visualization to accounting software, instant visualization of your entire company's expenses, revenue, budget, etceteras. Perfect for including in reports to CEOs, Shareholders and the like. For bonus marks, make it explorable, with a web-based tool to which I upload simple tree-structured data-sets.
Learning Curves
Written by
on
in
Knight Errant.
Sat down to clean up some dojo widgets for a project today. Basically these are "explorer" like collections of sets-of-things, with the desire to allow for filtering the set, viewing a detailed-list view, you know, standard stuff.
So I figured I would work on the detail-list stuff. It's a simple grid control, dojo has a ...
Expanding Micro-Tasks are Demotivators, Communicate your Strategy
Written by
on
in
Knight Errant.
You start washing dishes, and someone sees you doing it. To ...
Back from the Tropics
Written by
on
in
Knight Errant.
Spent yesterday on personal errands, little cleanup tasks for various projects, and ...
But I just need 1 little function...
Written by
on
in
Knight Errant.
I'm working on a side project at the moment, just a clean-up for an old customer who was acquired and needs to be migrated off our old systems and onto their parent company's systems. To do that, we need to make a single, simple calculation. About half of the time so far in the project ...
Channeling...
Written by
on
in
Knight Errant.
Been thinking a lot lately about how to direct my energies into socially beneficial channels. I'm still reasonably convinced that we need to focus on education, without that you're pretty much doomed to fall back into chaos with every blow. I'm also reasonably convinced that some of the things that need to be taught are ...
TurboGears Weirdness (Validators don't Run)
Written by
on
in
Knight Errant,
Snaking.
Ran into a weird situation with TurboGears validators on a client project. It seems like they're just plain broken for the most common use case, at least one other user seems to agree. That's disturbing me primarily because it means I'm somehow "missing" the normal pattern for validator usage (people can't be using them in ...
Mind Numb (22.5 billable hours in two days...)
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on
in
Knight Errant.
Have had high-priority issues show up half-way through two days in a row now, pulling me from one client to another. Result has been 11+ hours billable each day (on top of not being particularly rested from the weekend). I'm getting well toward mind-numbed.
Some (tired) thoughts:
Pre and post condition checks are good things ...
C++ and Accounting (Not as exciting as you might think...)
Written by
on
in
Knight Errant.
Spent the whole day on C++ memory-leak hunting. C++ really is a tool that no-one should use without some mechanism to take away the memory management. Without automated handling it's just way too easy to lose track of a reference and wind up with a couple of hundred KB lost.
Got some book-keeping stuff taken ...
Mike C. Fletcher, the VRPlumber, is a philosopher of design turned computer programmer based in Toronto, Canada. He works primarily in the Python programming language, and maintains a large number of Open Source software packages. You can reach him at: mcfletch@vrplumber.com.