BLOGical Thoughts

The North Idaho Linux Users Group meeting is tomorrow. Every time I get a spam email with an attachment, I think “This can’t hurt me, because I’m using Linux.” I do everything with Linux I ever did with Windows, and more. If you are tired of paying through the nose for your software, or just want to get off the adware, spyware, trojan, virus wagon, you should come to our meeting and find out about the solution to all those problems.

End of partisan rant.

I needed a couple of extra visual components for the program I am writing at home, so I went to SwingLabs and downloaded their SwingX package. Java doesn’t have much in the way of visual support for things like calendars and time, so this is the best way to get some support. I need to read the docs on how to use the components and then add them to the dialogs I am doing. Easy as pie, eh?

Silly sign of the day:

Free/Open Source Software

RIAA/MPAA/IFPI/BSA/SIIA/FCC

Stupid Patent Tricks, Copyright and Other IP Nonsense

Liberty and Security/Our Rights

Other News/Public Stupidity

The shop has just about finished working on my Dodge. It turns out that the exhaust manifold was not the part that had a hole in it. It was the pipe that the exhaust manifolds hook into that had a problem. They are also fixing a couple of other small things. I expect that they will be finished today or tomorrow.

The log program I was working on at work is finally finished. What a comedy of errors. It went from a single HTTPS stream to two streams to two threads with a stream each to one thread with two streams to one stream in one thread. That was basically the externals; the internal changes are what caused all the external changes.

I don’t know why my web host chooses to perform maintenance on the server that hosts my web site at 6am PDT, but they do. I had to delay posting this until I got to work, to give them a chance to finish up.

Silly sign of the day:

Free/Open Source Software

RIAA/MPAA/IFPI/BSA/SIIA/FCC

Stupid Patent Tricks, Copyright and Other IP Nonsense

Liberty and Security/Our Rights

Other News/Public Stupidity

I added another dialog window to my program last night. I am doing these on a simple to complex basis. The first was the About box, with only an Ok button. The second was the Login dialog, with two text boxes and two buttons. The third is very complex compared to the first two. It has three buttons, nine combo boxes and five list boxes. It looks pretty good, though.

I have probably spouted enough on this program. I will continue to develop it, but will only mention when I have a difficult problem or some other interesting event takes place.

The North Idaho Linux Users Group meeting is this Saturday. Since I posted a notice on the web site, and announced there would be no formal program, someone in the mailing list has asked if there is a formal program. No, there isn’t.

We really need a program director to arrange formal presentations. That might stimulate interest in the group. Currently, the only interest is in how to install and getting help after installing.

Silly sign of the day:

Free/Open Source Software

RIAA/MPAA/IFPI/BSA/SIIA/FCC

Stupid Patent Tricks, Copyright and Other IP Nonsense

Liberty and Security/Our Rights

Other News/Public Stupidity

I solved my final big problem with the user interface of my program last night. The dialogs were being properly displayed in the program, but they were always positioned in the upper left corner of the screen. I have figured out how to keep them on top of the main program window, which is where they should be. Next, I will be doing a lot more dialog windows. That will be tough because I am doing them without a graphical editor.

There is one more Dutch oven event scheduled for the year. We will be feeding a bus load of people, The Quilting Society from Libby, Montana, on October 18th in Rathdrum. Since I stayed away from the last event on purpose, I felt I needed to be present for this one.

Sarah Palin got an award. Check the bottom of this entry. Note: It isn’t very flattering.

Silly sign of the day:

Free/Open Source Software

RIAA/MPAA/IFPI/BSA/SIIA/FCC

Stupid Patent Tricks, Copyright and Other IP Nonsense

Liberty and Security/Our Rights

Other News/Public Stupidity

I just had to share this with you:

I added more to the Java program I am working on at home. I added a login screen and I finally figured out why the menu system events weren’t being processed. Newer versions of Java apparently do menu events a bit differently. I looked all over the Net for examples of how to do it, and most of them showed it was done the way I was doing it in the first place. I finally looked at O’Reilly books and found an excerpt from a book that showed the new method. I did it that way and all the menu system suddenly started working. If I can dig up the title of the book the excerpt was from, I may pick it up.

I will have to order the book online, as it certainly isn’t in any store around here. I went to Borders and Hastings on Sunday, looking for books on Java Swing. There were no books on Java, much less on Swing. Way to go, guys. It’s no wonder I order most of my books on the Net.

Silly sign of the day:

Free/Open Source Software

RIAA/MPAA/IFPI/BSA/SIIA/FCC

Stupid Patent Tricks, Copyright and Other IP Nonsense

Liberty and Security/Our Rights

Other News/Public Stupidity

I looked at the code created when I did the menu system for my project and decided it was way too long. So I put some of the strings and integers in arrays, then used some ‘for’ loops to do the work. I think I may have reduced the amount of code by about half. So now I can get on to the rest of the program. After the mouse and key processing and the graphic, I will add a window to take care of database setup.

I actually have no events scheduled for this weekend. So I will be doing more preparation for the upcoming winter. There is plenty to do, so I won’t be bored.

I haven’t heard anything from the shop about how they are doing on my Dodge. I guess they haven’t had a chance to look at it.

Amazing! I filled up my car a couple of weeks ago and at that time unleaded was $3.53 at Costco. I filled up again on Thursday morning and the price had gone down to $3.36. Then Thursday afternoon as I was driving home from work, I went past a station that was advertising $3.29. That means Costco must be down to about $3.27, at least. Nine cents in one day, and the wrong way for the benefit of the oil companies! Next, I will be seeing a flying pig….

Silly sign of the day:

Free/Open Source Software

RIAA/MPAA/IFPI/BSA/SIIA/FCC

Stupid Patent Tricks, Copyright and Other IP Nonsense

Liberty and Security/Our Rights

Other News/Public Stupidity

I started work on the program I am writing at home. I have created the main window and added all the menu items to the window. Next is to add key and mouse processing to the menu and add a graphic to the main window.

I am doing all this without a graphical editor, so that will take a certain amount of visual tuning. I will have to add a visual element, then compile and run the code to see what it looks like. Are we having fun, yet?

I put my LPI certification book up on BookMooch and it was snapped up in one day. I did that because I had purchased the second edition of the book from BookPool. I received it yesterday. The book is at least twice as thick as the first edition. I started reading the thing last night, and learned that the Linux certification exams expect you to know about a computer’s BIOS, as well as hardware and Linux. Interesting reading, though.

Silly sign of the day:

Free/Open Source Software

RIAA/MPAA/IFPI/BSA/SIIA/FCC

Stupid Patent Tricks, Copyright and Other IP Nonsense

Liberty and Security/Our Rights

Other News/Public Stupidity

I am still working on that log reader. The QA person keeps finding little problems with it. Considering its complexity, I’m surprised he hasn’t found more problems.

I will be using Java to write the application I have in mind. I have already determined I have the proper tools and libraries to create a GUI application with Java that connects to a database. It will be a lot of code, and Eclipse doesn’t have a graphical editor like Delphi or Visual Studio, but I may be able to work around that. I also have NetBeans and it does have a graphical editor. Hopefully, I can view the graphical classes I create in Eclipse with the NetBeans editor.

Silly sign of the day:

Free/Open Source Software

RIAA/MPAA/IFPI/BSA/SIIA/FCC

Stupid Patent Tricks, Copyright and Other IP Nonsense

Liberty and Security/Our Rights

Other News/Public Stupidity

I am trying to decide if I should create an application in Java, or should use a language I don’t know as well, like PHP. If I chose PHP, that pretty much limits the application to running with a web browser. If I chose Java, I can create a windowing application that will run on all operating systems and that can be converted to a web application later, if necessary. Maybe I already have chosen.

I am taking my Dodge to the shop this morning to get the exhaust manifold replaced. I tried starting the car last night, but the battery was dead. I hope that is not an omen of things to come, as that’s a fairly new battery. It’s just been sitting for a year.

Silly sign of the day:

Free/Open Source Software

RIAA/MPAA/IFPI/BSA/SIIA/FCC

Stupid Patent Tricks, Copyright and Other IP Nonsense

Liberty and Security/Our Rights

Other News/Public Stupidity

As part of my ‘getting ready for winter’ activities, I went up on the roof and switched television antennas. While I was up there, I surveyed the roof itself and determined that after 24 years, I’m due for a new roof. That’s an important task for next summer, though.

I hooked up the TV card in my workstation to the outdoor antenna, and I now have most of the digital channels available to this area. What I really need is a better antenna, though.

I am reading a book called ‘Effective Java’. It has some good ideas in it, but is hard to follow, as sometimes it ends up using some of the more esoteric pieces of the language. The most intriguing idea the book has presented so far is the use of builders to create a class where normally there would be many overridden constructors, or that uses many ’set’ methods after construction. There are several problems doing things that way that the builder design pattern overcomes. I’m itching to find a place where I can apply that pattern. I hope the rest of the book presents more such useful information.

Silly sign of the day:

Free/Open Source Software

RIAA/MPAA/IFPI/BSA/SIIA/FCC

Stupid Patent Tricks, Copyright and Other IP Nonsense

Liberty and Security/Our Rights

Other News/Public Stupidity