New Box

This past fall I picked up a new personal box for development.

On the local box:

• XCode
• Dropbox - File syncing at it's best
• TextWrangler - A nice text editor.
• KeePassX - A nice encrypted password store.
• Amazon KindleApp

Given my experimentation with Ruby and Python I've also added

- RVM - Ruby Virtual Machine

- VirtualEnv - a similar stack for Python.

These tools allow me to create specific versions of Python and Ruby Apps without polluting the global space. If I need a new set of gems/modules I can cut a new environment to test against. I also don't have to worry as much about conflicts or upgrades of individual packages.

I've also started using Divvy and Evernote. Divvy is a nice little app for slicing up windows and placing apps nicely on the screen. I've started trying to use Evernote to track notes, plans and todo lists across machines.

I just got a new box for work, and I'm setting up most of the same tools. A few additions: I'll be making: VirtualBox and Vagrant for setting up unix environments cheap and easy. Need to look at Puppet vs Chef, but that'll wait for another night.

Sharpening the Ax

I haven't been doing a lot of coding the past few weeks, but I have been working and studying. Getting familiar with Algorithms and Patterns. Going back and looking at algorithms for the first time since I was in university was interesting. In may ways easier for me to pick up now than it was then. What seemed pointless then has much more meaning to me now. I suspect that's the difference experience makes. I see a project in my future to actually play with the lowlevel algorithm implementations for a good exercise.

At a higher level I've been looking at Patterns. I've been exposed over the years to various Patterns from the GoF. MVC, Facade I've put to practice in quite a few projects, but this was a chance to look at all the patterns. I ended up reading "Head First Design Patterns". What a great book! Highly recommended to anyone trying to see what's what with Patterns. An engaging well written book that put even my old friends MVC and Facade into a new light for me.

Reading Seth Godin's "Linchpin" as well. Inspiring read. Reminds me of Daniel Pink's Brand New Mind. Important to recognize we've entered an era that forces us to compete against the world on skills. Internalizing the lessons learned from the luxury brands : there is more to compete on than price. Service, quality and customization can still pay off.

I realized recently that part of the reason this resonates so well with me is that these are the same messages my father gave me growing up. Looking at it from a different perspective it helps motivate me towards some new goals and projects.

Lent 2010

I'm not a practicing catholic, but my wife's family has a strong Catholic background. A few years ago I started practicing Lent with the family. In previous years I've used it steady my eating habits and curb my processed carbs.

This year I'm taking a more Additive Step, doing something positive instead of removing something negative. I'm working on doing some application development work. So what's on target? Not sure yet. I have a few more iPhone apps percolating in head. Maybe another Web App. Experimenting with Clouds? Something with Firefox?

Perhaps a mix of all 4. I plan to post daily updates and see where it takes me. Goal is to have an idea by Friday and start the process.

a touch at a time...

Built my first iPhone Application tonight. Only targeted the simulator, and it was an out of the box example. But I got it to work. Going to try and go back and fix my botched application next. It is essentially a very raw hello world, but it is a start. Getting the hang of Xcode and the tools associated with it.

Also made it out for my first run in a few months. Only hit up a mile, and I was hurting at the mile mark. Did about a 10 minute mile, but I have a lot of those to put in before I can get to the half marathon. Did find an appropriate amount of clothing so that felt good. Also tried to get some pushups in. That went ok-- I'm following the hundredpushups.com program. My baseline was 27, I have the option of starting at Week 3, but I think given my general conditioning from the last few months, I may roll back to Week 1 and build slowly.