Animation in user interfaces: not just for coolness anymore!

ORIGINALLY POSTED JULY 26, 2009   A question that gets raised a fair bit in my line of work is that of animations in UIs.  Nowadays, most UIs have some sort of animation going on in them: windows expanding and contracting, menus fading in and out, comboboxes that slide open, that sort of thing.  As… Continue Reading Animation in user interfaces: not just for coolness anymore!

Software Engineering == Marriage … sort of

ORIGINALLY POSTED JULY 19, 2009 You know, programmers love to build layers, especially us (primarily) Java guys. For some reason, a language named after a caffeine-heavy beverage brings out the need to abstract away everything from everything else, to extend this and that, to build parts on top of parts on top of yet other… Continue Reading Software Engineering == Marriage … sort of

Making JSON-P web API calls more robust

ORIGINALLY POSTED JUNE 17, 2009 Recently I had a discussion with some online colleagues about JSON-P web services.  There was a post on Ajaxian about how Microsoft Bing wraps their JSON-P results in a try..catch block.  I thought this was a neat little addition to JSON-P, which I’ve felt for a long time is an… Continue Reading Making JSON-P web API calls more robust

Star Trek v2.0: Sometimes, rebooting really IS the right answer!

ORIGINALLY POSTED MAY 11, 2009 So, this weekend saw the release of the Star Trek reboot from J.J. Abrams, the genius behind Lost and Fringe, two shows I totally love.  Was it any good you ask? (ok, so no one actually asked me, but I have a blog so you’re going to get my opinion… Continue Reading Star Trek v2.0: Sometimes, rebooting really IS the right answer!

The end of Battlestar… genius or cop-out?

ORIGINALLY POSTED MARCH 24, 2009 So, Battlestar Galactica ended this past Friday, and of course, that loud sound you heard were billions of geeks suddenly crying out in terror together at the prospect of having their Fridays available once more to not get dates. So, what did I think of the final episode?  I know… Continue Reading The end of Battlestar… genius or cop-out?

The path to becoming a better developer

ORIGINALLY POSTED FEBRUARY 7, 2009 This whole thing is likely to come off a bit conceited, but please believe me when I say I’m not trying to impress anyone and not trying to toot my own horn- not that I’d never do those things, I certainly would- it’s just that this entry isn’t about that… Continue Reading The path to becoming a better developer

Just some random thoughts

ORIGINALLY POSTED JANUARY 30, 2009 Here’s a collection of random thoughts I’ve had over the past few days… this should give you a nice insight into just how wacky the inside of my skull is! Cerberus, the multi-headed dog in Greek and Roman mythology, guards the gateway to Hades… why exactly does the entrance to… Continue Reading Just some random thoughts

Another lazy-ass post from the annals of blog history

ORIGINALLY POSTED AUGUST 17, 2008 My son is eight years old. The other day I called him into my home office. I showed him the wallpaper I had just created (wow, I gotta admit, I wasn’t aware of the trick for having a “single” wallpaper span two or three monitors… sweet!). On one monitor I… Continue Reading Another lazy-ass post from the annals of blog history

Oldie (and possibly goodie): The humor of morbidity

ORIGINALLY POSTED OCTOBER 5, 2007 WARNING!!  This is one of my patented “not suitable for all audiences posts”: profanity, depraved thoughts, insanity, all are on display here.  If you are easily offended by what is meant to be humorous, go away now!! You know, this is going to sound horrible, but… I find myself laughing… Continue Reading Oldie (and possibly goodie): The humor of morbidity

The Day the Earth Stood Stupid

ORIGINALLY POSTED DECEMBER 14, 2008 Futurama fans will undoubtedly be laughing right now based on the title alone! Beware of possible spoilers below!  If you haven’t seen The Day the Earth Stood Still and don’t want to know any specifics of the story, turn away now! I took my son to see The Day the… Continue Reading The Day the Earth Stood Stupid