Month: November 2010

Android – next steps

/ hsoi

Now that I’ve gotten some introductory Android programming stuff done, the next step is diving deep into the developer documentation.

Still working my way through it all, but just reading through the Android Application Fundamentals and gosh… what a bunch of neat stuff. Or at least, so it seems here on paper.

How applications aren’t these monolithic things, but instead a collection of components. There is no main(). The notion of Activities, Services, Broadcast Receivers, and Content Providers. That’s pretty neat. Then how those Activities group together in a Task, how components across the system can work together, pushing and popping off the task stack. That level of modularity and integration is pretty cool. It’s like the whole system is a giant plug-in architecture of sorts.

Olivia cigar

/ hsoi

In my recent cigar purchase I picked up some cigars I’ve never tried before.

One was a Olivia Cigar Serie G Maduro, Robusto.

It was good. It wasn’t as good, to my tastes, as that Rocky Patel Edge Missile Maduro, but it was good.

The cigar body itself was soft, and while smoking got softer… almost “squishy” in my hand. I didn’t like that. I also felt like some of the heat flowed back while I was smoking it… not bad, but just a little warmer and perhaps contributed to the squishy feel over the life of the smoke. An interesting note is the cigar itself is square shaped, but that faded of course as the cigar feel softened. I know W doesn’t like the square shape, and often when we have a Rocky Patel 1990 or 1992, those are hard and the square shape may not fade. So, he might like how this Olivia progresses.

Flavor was good. Mellow, a hint of spice but not overwhelming. I had a glass of Paul Newman Cabernet with it (Wife likes Newman products and so we thought we’d try his wine… it’s OK, something’s missing from it, hard to describe, subject for another posting some other day). Even now as I write this and feel the aftertaste of the cigar in my mouth, it’s a pleasant earthy flavor.

Draw was good. Lots of good smoke to fill the mouth.

Would I have this cigar again? Yes, but I think I might want to try a Belicoso size… a hair larger, and I want to try the “pointed” shape (sorry… don’t know the technical term for that “pointed” shape) to see how it would affect the draw.

How to get your car broken into?

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

If you want someone to break into your car, all you have to do is leave things in plain sight.

Austin Police has an effort underway to scan cars in parking lots and leave notices about such practices.

(of course, does that piece of paper become a “rob me!” flag?).

I used to work with a guy that used to work in the Maine legal system. I was surprised when we went to lunch one day and he left his car doors unlocked and said he never locked them. I asked why. He said because it doesn’t really matter. The majority of car break-ins occur because you leave attractive things out in plain sight. Money, cigarettes, CD’s… anything that’s easy to smash and grab, consume, or easily hock for money. If you leave nothing in your car but the car itself, what’s there to break in for? They’ll move on to the next car because there will always be a car with stuff left in it that’s worth stealing.

So what about the car itself? Well, there’s really no point. If they want the car, they will steal it. Devices like The Club? My friend said he’s seen so many cars with the steering wheel quickly sawn through to remove a Club.

I’ve had my car broken into twice. The first time I had just bought my car, factory radio which I replaced with a nice Kenwood. The Kenwood had a detachable face. Well, one day I was in a hurry and didn’t take the face. I didn’t get back to the parking lot until late at night and came back to find my door pried open and the radio gone. I replaced it with another Kenwood. A couple of years later in the parking lot of the apartment I lived in, I had become complacent and left the face on. I had also left CD’s sitting on the passenger seat. I went to leave for work and found a back window shattered. The police said a little piece of spark plug was all it took (Google about it if you’re curious). They ripped out the radio, took the CD’s, rummaged through everything, used the interior trunk release to pop the trunk… took all that was easy.

I learned.

My car is empty, save perhaps a soda can or candy wrapper.

There’s only so much you can do, but the easiest thing is to not let your car be an easy and appealing target. Keep your car empty, or at least, the appearance of empty.

Meat

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Dropped off the doe parts at Johnny G’s. Yielded about 63# of parts (meat and bones). Not a lot, really, but that one doe was pretty small. Getting backstraps cleaned up, roasts, a few ham steaks, the rest ground 90/10. If I want more venison to last through the year, I’m going to need to go back out and bag a couple more.

While at Johnny G’s I ordered one of their freezer packs. Good variety of meat, better quality, about the same price as at the grocery store. Their bacon is awesome. Also picked up an extra pound of bacon. Took some venison backstraps from last year out of the freezer (vac packed, so they will last longer in the freezer) and this weekend I’ll wrap ’em in bacon and put them on the smoker. Need to find a good marinade.

Wife and I surveyed the freezer this morning. It’s getting empty, so we figure once deer season is over and the butcher can handle it, we’re going to get a cow from Storm Ranch and have it fully processed. A full cow should last us a good long while… year at least, depending how much beef Wife wants to cook for me. 🙂  It’s a little more expensive than buying at the grocery store, but it’ll be hormone free, grass fed, aged, processed just like I want (e.g. thick steaks). It will be awesome. Never hand-picked my beef before… this’ll be a new experience.

And to think…. about 13 years ago I tried a vegetarian diet.

iOS vs. Android – programmer first impressions

/ hsoi

I did my first “Hello World” style Android app yesterday, and while it’s only a first impression I wanted to share my first impressions.

My background is that I’ve been a professional Mac software developer for about 15 years and a hobbiest Mac and Apple developer since I was a wee lad. I used to work at Metrowerks, makers of CodeWarrior, back in the day when CodeWarrior was “the thing” for Mac software development. So I’ve not only used developer tools, I’ve made them. That all said, I don’t have a lot of iOS experience from a developer perspective because I’ve only so much time in a day and just didn’t have time nor a job that required it. But that’s changing and so into the abyss I go. I say this because yes, my initial Android experience is going to be tainted by the world I’m coming from. I’m not saying the new world is bad, just different.

Java

Android uses the Java programming language. I haven’t touched Java in over a decade, and I know the language has evolved. First thing I did was pick up a book on the language. I bought Learn Java for Android Development by Jeff Friesen. The book has NOTHING to do with Android itself, it’s a pure language book. But I choose this book because the book is geared towards Android so it doesn’t waste time talking about matters irrelevant to Android, like AWT. I didn’t give the book a hard-read, nor did I bother with doing much of the exercises because I don’t feel I need it (famous last words?). I’ve used Java in the past, I’ve been programming for quite a while, and the book is geared towards someone who is starting from scratch. So talking about Generics? It’s akin to C++ templates so I just needed to get the details and differences. Container classes? Just give me an overview of what’s there, I don’t need to read 10 pages about all the various methods and what they do (that may come later for reference).

That all said, there’s a lot that’s changed in Java since I last really used it and I think a lot of the changes are good. Being able to “inline” a lot of things, nest classes, anonymous classes… it’s nice to just define your “callback” right there as you go along. It’s nice to have a language that’s more pure OO than C++ (Objective-C is pretty good at being true OO). It’s nice to see the library expanded, and things like Generics added. Yes there’s a lot of syntax I’ll have to get used to, but that’s how it is when you switch from one language you’ve used for years to one you haven’t. I should be alright.

But while the language is fine, the IDE is another story.

Eclipse

Oh…. I don’t like.

You see, every platform does things they way they do it because they believe they have something different and better. Mac OS X is one thing, Windows is another, Linux another… and everyone does their thing differently. Sure most of the core concepts are the same, but little details of interactions and how widgets work and the parts mesh vary. And Java apps seem to like to do things their own way, perhaps with a Windows-bias since many Java developers are Windows-based. Coming from the elegant world of the Mac user experience? Using Eclipse feels bizarre and klunky. I’m sure I’ll get used to it, but it still feels strange and like a step backwards in terms of human-computer interaction and experience.

One thing that really bugs me is I don’t like being forced into a tabbed single-window-only interface. I’m not that into tabbed interfaces, but I have come to appreciate when tabs are good and when they are not — for me. Apple’s really pushed a single-window mode of being on Mac OS X, and for the most part that’s alright. What I find I like is the ability to exist how I want to exist. Sometimes I want two windows because I need to arrange the content as I need to to do my work. Other times I want these “windows” to be grouped together and thus having the content in multiple tabs within the same window makes the most sense. I like options. If Eclipse allows me to escape this tabbed world, I haven’t found it yet.

Tools Install

You want to develop for the Mac? These days it’s pretty much Xcode. You download, you install, and off you go. All the apps you need, compilers, libraries, documentation, everything. It’s simple and rather painless.

To develop for Android? I had Eclipse installed from a prior thing I was working on, but now I had to get another version. So download that. Then I have to download the Android SDK and put that somewhere and tell Eclipse about it. Then I have to actually download and install all the API’s and tools for developing Android apps. Then more configuring. Finally, I can get going. What a pain. I don’t really blame anyone for this because the nature of the beast is so open, requires things from different vendors, and there’s a lot of flexible options. I do think options are good, but I also think there’s something to be said for providing a setup to get new folks started. It’s a high bar of entry, and I can only wonder how a total programming newbie would handle this. If Google could provide a “one click download and install” that gets you going, that’d be awesome. Sure it may provide more than is needed, it may bias towards one product or SDK or something, but get the n00b going, then once they grok the world they can sort things out and streamline later.

Nevertheless, things are going.

First App

A friend sent me this blog posting on writing your first Android app. I figured I’d give it a try before I went through all the Getting Started stuff at the Android Developer website. First, this blog posting was great because it gave better instructions on how to get the tools downloaded, installed, and configured. Thank you for that!

But as I worked through this, it helped me see how spoiled I am in the MacOSX/iOS world, especially with how integrated the developer toolchain is.

Designing the user interface. So, I have to hand-write XML? Holy crap… I thought we were in the 21st century! Oh sure there’s a little tool to work it, but it sounds like no one uses it and it’s very rudimentary. That everyone just prefers to edit the XML by hand. Man, that’s…. unacceptable in this day and age.

Then to hook your GUI into your code, you have to do all this manual labor in code to make it happen. Yes, I’m spoiled by the actions and outlets paradigms in Cocoa, where in my code I can just declare an IBAction or IBOutlet, then in Interface Builder just click and drag to hook everything up. It’s a small thing, but it’s there.

I do like Android Virtual Devices thing, where you can simulate any sort of device. That’s of course necessary, but it seemed to run a little smoother than the iPhone/iPad simulator.

As an aside, I got to learn about a cool prototyping/wireframing tool called balsamiq.  That app is way cool.

From here?

The first impression I’m left with? Android as a technology might be really advanced, but the developer experience is archaic. The toolset just feels really klunky, and I can see how spoiled I am with Apple’s tools.

That said, that’s the toolset and I will work with it. I’m sure I’ll get used to it and come to find things I love and things I hate. I’m still looking forward to delving deeper into the world of Android development. I’ve only begun and I’m sure my impressions will change, but first impressions are important and the impression I’ve been left with is one that desires more. Here’s hoping for the best.

Maduro

/ hsoi

It started back in college.

Three friends of mine from high school. We’d be away at school for a few months, then return to “home base” for holidays… and we’d get together for a “stogie night”. Thus, I started smoking cigars. Nothing serious, just the occasional thing. But it was fun to do every once in a blue moon.

Over the years I’d have a cigar now and then, but never really enough to gain enough understanding of different cigar types, fillers, wrappers, flavors, sizes, draw, whatever… all those characteristics that make this cigar different from that cigar.

A few years ago my buddy W, who likes good cigars, introduced me to Rocky Patel’s. Boy… talk about a quality cigar! And since I can find good cigars fairly easily in town (thank you, Spec’s), I’ve started to smoke cigars a little more often… much to the dislike of my children. 😉  (stinky!)  But it’s also a nice thing to be able to do now. I go outside, have a cigar, a glass of wine, spend an hour with Wife just talking in the evening in the backyard, and now that we have Sasha she comes and romps around in the yard. It’s a nice bit of quality time with Wife (and dog).

So I’ve been enjoying the Rocky’s, and with a generous gift from W a little while ago I got to try a bunch of different RP’s. And I started to say “ok, I like this… no, I don’t like that”. Like the RP 1961? Great cigar, but just not my thing. Why?

Well, one thing I’ve noticed? I prefer maduro wrappers.

For instance, the Rocky Patel Edge Missile with the maduro wrapper? I’d say that’s my present favorite. The corojo wrapper? there’s a “spice” to it that I find is OK, but not a strong preference. But the maduro has a smoother, more mellow flavor. And the way the Edge Missile is wrapped? It’s not too tight, I get a great draw, great smoke, great mouthfeel. Just good good stuff.

But I’ve also noticed, I prefer smaller cigars. The size of the petit corona, robusto… those tend to work for me. Even the Edge Missile is a little big for me in terms of when I get to a point of saying “OK, I’m done”.

So when I went to the store today to restock on cigars the criteria was: maduro, small size. I picked up some RP’s because it’s something I like, and I picked up a few more random brands that fit the criteria.

We’ll see how they go.

I just finished smoking a RP Edge Missile with a nice glass of red wine. Oh so good.

Such high regard….

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

Wow. Such high regard for your fellow man:

“I don’t think they should be able to, there’s too many people out there who make very irrational decisions, and I don’t think most people have the quality and intelligence to carry fire arms on campus,” said Jacob Wyers, a WTAMU student.

There’s so much wrong in that statement. It’s depressing.

KR Training November 2010 newsletter

/ hsoi

The KR Training November 2010 newsletter is now posted.

Prices lowered.

Some interesting upcoming classes, including a defensive knife class as well as Personal Tactics Skills, which I’d highly recommend for anyone that may have a CHL or be getting a CHL but haven’t had much “real life” training. If all you’ve done is patiently shoot holes at paper targets at the gun range but you have a gun with the expectation that you may need it to defend your life, you’d do well to get some training in more “real world” situations. Personal Tactics Skills is a good introduction. There’s no shooting (just uses plastic guns for simulation), it’s low-speed, pain-free, and conducted indoors. But it helps you get started in learning how to apply defensive tactics in real-life situations. Highly recommended.

Lots of other stuff coming up too. If Tom Givens will be back in the Spring for a shotgun course, I’m there.

 

Barnes Bullet performance

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

The bigger doe I shot on Saturday? There was no exit wound due to the angle I shot it at. Thus I knew the bullet was inside the deer and I wanted to recover it. We didn’t find it Saturday evening so I figured it was gone.

Not so!

Josh Storm emailed me this morning with a picture:

He said he found it lying on the slab where the deer was cleaned. So, we can’t know exactly how far it penetrated and where it came to rest. And tho the picture is a little blurry, you can see there’s perfect expansion, petals curled back, looks like no loss of petals. Looks great!

That’s a Barnes Bullet 85 grain .277″ TSX bullet (out of a Silver State Armory 6.8 SPC Barnes 85 grain TSX tactical load). That’s performance. I know it struck a shoulder, took care of the heart and lungs, and went in pretty deep after that. Solid performance there. The other doe was DRT but exit wound so no recovered bullet.

Josh is going to mail me the bullet. I’ll check it out more when it gets here.

But this is why I prefer Barnes Bullets for hunting. Always had solid, reliable performance with them. You can go “smaller” on the bullet than tradition would warrant for X-particular game, and things work out well.

Updated: The bullet came in the mail. Here’s some pictures:

I weighed the bullet on my beam scale. The bullet is about 85.0 grains, +/- 0.1 grain. I tried weighing it at 84.9 and 85.1 and both were not centered. 85.0 wasn’t precisely centered either but was the closest. So assuming about 85.0 grains from a fresh bullet hey… looks like we’ve got essentially 100% weight retention in addition to perfect expansion.

The only thing I wish I knew was where the bullet came to rest so we could measure penetration and perhaps path/deflection. Oh well, another day I guess.