HappyPappy Blog

The iPad, a Canadian perspective

Happy — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 13:28:20 +0000

As one of what I imagine is a minority of Canadians I thought I’d report my thought on this device.

I happen to have family in the US and I happened to have a visit planned there the week after the iPads launch so I took advantage of my family’s US address and pre-ordered a 64gb iPad from the Apple store.

The apple store let’s you have a different billing address from your shipping address otherwise this wouldn’t have worked.

I placed my order and sure enough the device showed up exactly on launch day as promised by Apple. Oddly enough about 48 hours after I placed my order Apple ran out off stock and further iPad shipments were delayed until a week after launch.

On initial brush the device was wholly underwhelming, to quote Steve Jobs “it just works”. It had to connect to iTunes to setup but then just worked on it’s own from there.

No wifi issues for me, I just started using it.

The one difficulty however was using the iTunes App store; unlike the Apple store, it insisted that I have a US based funding source, in other words I couldn’t use a credit card with a Canadian billing address. No luck with pay pal or cross border gift cards either. The only solution was to setup an iTunes account without a funding source and go buy iTunes gift cards from the local Best Buy.

About a month before international launch however the computer based iTunes app store now has iPad apps while the Canadian iPad based app store still won’t connect. In the end it was a pain to get apps but not impossible.

Loaded with an iPad under my arm I said my goodbyes and headed home. I was a bit nervous about crossing the border with the iPad but I thought I would only have to pay GST at worst. I declared the device and the customs agent simply waved me through, go figure.

A week later my appreciation of the iPads capabilities and the imagination and enthusiasm of iPad developers continues to impress me. As I learn how to use the device better each day, it becomes more powerful and useful to me.

I’m fairly certain it will replace my laptop shortly.

– Post From My iPad

Finding or viewing a deleted file in SubVersion (SVN)

Happy — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:45:51 +0000

Yes it does happen that sometimes a file is deleted either inadvertently or on purpose and you either need to get it back or you just want to see what was there.

Since I keep forgetting on how to do this I thought I’d write it down.

The first step to recovering the file is to find the version in which it existed; to do so either go go to the directory it was in (or as close as you can get to the directory it was in) and run:

svn log –verbose

Note the revision of the file you are looking for.

If you want to restore your file to your current source tree then issue an

svn up -r [revision number] filename

If you just want to look at it then just go to any temporary folder and issue an

svn export -r [revision number] repository path (in the form of http://../filename)

Not that for the export notation you could use the parent folder name to get all the files in that folder at the same time.

Using JavaScript with a Wicket LinkTree

Happy — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:37:15 +0000

I have to say that so far I really like Wicket, after years of developing J2EE Web application it’s a big relief to be able to develop Web application without having to maintain reams of URL or Action mappings in XML files.

Wicket offers a programming paradigm much closer to standard Java Swing instead which makes Web development much smoother.

There are a few pitfalls unfortunately as nothing is perfect but so far it’s been great.

One problem I’ve run into is when using Wickets LinkTree component (an Ajax based explorer like tree structure) is that it assumes that I always want to do an Ajax update from the server. But what if I want to run some JavaScript or simply redirect based on the clicked node.My solution is convoluted as I will admit that I am NOT a Wicket expert (yet) but to date I have not found another work around.

The gist of the solution is to override the newNodeComponent method which allows you to substitute your own code for the creation of tree nodes and I also overrode the onNodeClicked method as I wanted to expand and collapse tree nodes if the user clicked the nodes and not just the + and – icons.

Code:

…
_tree = new LinkTree("catalog", treeModel) {
@Override
protected Component newNodeComponent(String id, IModelObject model) {
// Our user object stored in each node
final CatalogItem item = (CatalogItem) ((DefaultMutableTreeNode) model.getObject()).getUserObject();
// Is this a leaf node?
// Your own condition may be different
if (item.getItem() != null) {
// Override standard node creation so we can setup our own component
// This kind of blows since if the standard LinkTree implementation changes we
// may be hooped, pooched, or even twaddled
final LinkIconPanel panel = new LinkIconPanel(id, model, this) {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
@Override
protected void onNodeLinkClicked(Object node, BaseTree tree, AjaxRequestTarget target) {
super.onNodeLinkClicked(node, tree, target);
onNodeLinkClicked(node, tree, target);
}
@Override
protected Component newContentComponent(String componentId, BaseTree tree, IModelObject model) {
return new Label(componentId, getNodeTextModel(model));
}
@Override
protected void addComponents(final IModelObject model, final BaseTree tree) {
final BaseTree.ILinkCallback callback = new BaseTree.ILinkCallback() {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
public void onClick(AjaxRequestTarget target) {
onNodeLinkClicked(model.getObject(), tree, target);
}
};
MarkupContainer link = tree.newLink("iconLink", callback);
add(link);
link.add(newImageComponent("icon", tree, model));
// link = tree.newLink("contentLink", callback);
// Which return an AjaxLink or we can setup our own component instead…
link = new WebMarkupContainer("contentLink");
// Add our own JavaScript
link.add(new SimpleAttributeModifier("onclick",
"ezprint.setSku(‘" + item.getItem().getPartnerCode() + "’);return false;"));
// Standard node creation resumes
link.add(newContentComponent("content", tree, model));
add(link);
}
};
return panel;
} else {
// Standard node creation
return super.newNodeComponent(id, model);
}
}
@Override
protected void onNodeLinkClicked(Object object, BaseTree tree, AjaxRequestTarget target) {
// Expand or collapse a node if the user clicks on a node (in addition to the +/- signs)
final TreeNode node = (TreeNode) object;
if (!node.isLeaf()) {
if (tree.getTreeState().isNodeExpanded(node)) {
_tree.getTreeState().collapseNode(node);
} else {
_tree.getTreeState().expandNode(node);
}
// and else here would handle your leaf node
tree.updateTree(target);
}
}
};

Sending Javascript functions using JSON and Java

Happy — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:41:53 +0000

I originally got my inspiration from this article on how to send Javascript functions over JSON and most of this work here is based on it.

By default every string attribute specified inside a JSON string is bounded by double quotes which works fine most of the time except when you are trying to pass a Javascript function in which case you have a string but it needs to be without double quotes.

Every JSON implementations that I’ve seen (both in PHP and Java) does not allow this in that every string is returned bounded by double quotes.

So short of implementing my own JSON tools in Java my only solution was to somehow work around the results products by the various JSON implementations.

The essence of our solution is to append some unique string values to the beginning and end of our Javascript function name and then remove these and attached quotes from our resulting JSON output.

I wrote a simple wrapper around the GSON implementation to do this:

import com.google.gson.Gson;
import com.truecool.stagetwo.utils.StringUtils;
public class GsonUtils {
// Magic strings are delimiters used to denote the start and end of a string
// you don’t want bounded by double quotes in the resulting json string
public static final String MAGIC_STRING_START = "ycaBQm9T8UPT—";
public static final String MAGIC_STRING_END = "—1IRJDEPhW";
public static String toJson(Object object) {
Gson gson = new Gson();
String json = gson.toJson(object);
json = StringUtils.searchAndReplace(json, "\"" + MAGIC_STRING_START, "");
json = StringUtils.searchAndReplace(json, MAGIC_STRING_END + "\"", ""); return json;
}
}

Standard GSON/JSON up to the point where we replace our double quotes and magic strings with an empty string (“”).

To properly invoke the serialization method I use a map which I stuff with a value that surrounds my actual function name with the magic strings as follows:

…
public void setReadyCallback(String readyCallback) {
// getAttributes() is a map
getAttributes().put(READYCALLBACK,
GsonUtils.MAGIC_STRING_START + readyCallback + GsonUtils.MAGIC_STRING_END);
}
…

Which in turn produces this; notice that someFunction is a string without double quotes.

{"elementId":"test","height":100,"readyCallback":someFunction,"width":"80%"…

Good Times

Happy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:07:33 +0000

Was cleaning out my desk and found this….

We spent the weekend in Seattle with our friends, ate good food, visited Pikes Market, the Boeing Flight Museum, and went to the game (Green Bay at Seattle).

Le Sigh.

Pictures here.

“Remember Gary? Gary from the office, good times.”

Crying Plover

Happy — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 20:37:15 +0000

Went for a walk in Fish Creek Park in Calgary and just at the southern end of Sikome Lake we heard a bird crying.

Looked like a little plover and it sounded like this.

Coolest Bus Stop Ever…

Happy — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:25:04 +0000

Wish we had these…

In Italy, futuristic bus stops to blend practical, chic | Planetary Gear – CNET News

Unfortunately where I live they probably wouldn’t last fifteen minutes; notice the nice white paint and the missing glass (smashed)…

Fix sleep and network issues on Mac Leopard 10.5.7

Happy — Tue, 19 May 2009 03:28:32 +0000

Not sure what caused the actual problem but it seems that shortly after upgrading Leopard on my Macbook Pro to 10.5.7 my Macbook wouldn’t fall asleep properly and wouldn’t show all my shared computers in Finder.

I tried a variety of things but finally the simplest solution worked, I deleted the SystemConfiguration folder inside the /Macintosh HD/Library/Preferences folder and rebooted the computer.

This fixed both the sleep issue and the shared computers not showing up in Finder issue.

Good Luck.

It’s the content stupid

Happy — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:11:39 +0000

I recently powered though the new Resident Evil 5 title in about 10 hours (rounded up from 8.9) which was fairly disappointing for a $60 game. Technically the game was superb both in terms of graphics, controls, and gameplay. But the story and length of the game were severely disappointing. Not sure why but the Japanese game makers make technically great games but their stories are so convoluted I usually give up trying to follow any of it (see if you can make any sense out of Metal Gear Solid 4) and just pound my way through the levels and then I get rid of the game.

I also recently played Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune which had a story that I was able to relate to much more deeply and which in turn provided me with a more enjoyable overall experience. Took me about 40 hours to play the game and I’m actually considering a replay

Point being that what makes a game great is the content rather than the actual technical achievements. Look at World of Warcraft’s success, it’s the content, not the technical achievement.

Another thing that seems to be happening in gaming is that the game makers now throw content creation back at the user rather than investing significant effort into an actual game story and associated levels and maps.

If you notice most games have a fairly short campaign or story mode but then try to encourage repeat play or gaming through the use or provisions of online gaming where other users effectively create new content. This can work very well if done correctly if one was to judge by the success of titles such as Left for Dead or Team Fortress 2.

I guess the moral of the story is be careful which games you decide to play and look at both the content as well as the actual technical achievement of the game.

Photography Equipment Tip #1

Happy — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:29:13 +0000

Modern cameras have become very powerful and have myriads of features to help us take better and more pictures.

Unfortunately with all that power comes significant complexity which sometimes makes it hard to use these cameras and gear effectively.

Carrying books and manuals when you already have a pack full of gear is not fun either.

Enter the iPhone (although there are probably similar solutions for our friends using CrackBerries) and a simple and easy to use application called Air Sharing (which you can purchase from the App Store).

Air Sharing lets you transfer a number of file formats to your iPhone and then read them when required.

In my case I was able to download Canon manuals for both my G9 and my 50D onto my iPhone and reference these as required in the field.

Hope this helps, happy shooting!!!