Long time no blog - I’ve been hugely busy as there was a competition to write an app for a new hand held thingy - I guess they see it as an iphone competitor so they want lots of Apps as selling point. How to get lots of Apps, cheaply and quickly ? Offer us daft muggins-iz a prize if we write one - sorry guys it was a closed competition otherwise I’d have invited you all in.

As this was on my time but I could use a bit of “slack” (joke) work time I’ve been up to my eyes day & night. It’s a shame that has left me too busy to write up what I’ve been doing because it has been quite interesting.

Most of the app is in Java Script which I have done a couple of dozen lines of before. Google for Java Script advice is like asking an Eskimo about snow - you get lots and lots but none of it simple enough to understand. It was quite fun really because it took me back to the bad old days.

To start with I don’t know the language, there isn’t any auto complete which I have got used to on stuff I don’t know - type class.m and MS Visual Studio C++ (or in VB / VBA) it will suggest all the methods starting “m” for that class, and show the parameter types - which helps if you are guessing what methods there might be. Also an F12 will take you to a class definition where you can read what methods there are - with maybe a comment about what they do!

Given I don’t know the language a bit of syntax checking could help - “error line 10 class doesn’t have that method” etc. Oh no, I’m back to type it, run it and if it doesn’t like it you get a blank browser! My tactic was to comment off lines until the error went away and then figure out what was wrong. Actually it was worse than that because with some errors the code would run up to that line and then skip out of the method - leaving bits of code un-executed but not telling you which ones!

Finally debugging - no debugger. Well not without installing a load of junk I didn’t want. So no break points, no examining variables, no tracing through executing code. I’ve worked that way before, you need a lot of patience and output debug strings. No out put debug strings - not without installing a load of junk I didn’t want. I ended up using an on screen text box to display debug messages.

Still, it all worked (by hook, crook or bodge) and is submitted so now I’ve got time to blog (between catching up on work and life) but not such interesting things to blog about!

I have a few different email accounts and collect them from several machines. I get a bit confused setting up outlook, live mail, outlook express, …

One thing I used to do was collect the mail for all names at my freeserve address -

dave@myaccount.fsnetco.uk, davef@myaccount.fsnetco.uk, tat@myaccount.fsnet.co.uk .

That way the kids could give out their own names and all the mail turned up in the one account, I could fill in web forms with an address and then see if I got spam from it and easily set up rules to bin it and any typos from friends did reach me -
dave.f@myaccount.fsnetco.uk / save@myaccount.fsnetco.uk / d*ckhead@myaccount.fsnetco.uk (I think the last one was a typo, don’t see quite how they did that though…)

However, at one stage I must have re-set up machines and forgotten to do that - in fact I remember being aware I was missing some mail and not being able to figure out how to get it. Yesterday I did figured it out, set up the server account name as myaccount.fsnetco.uk not dave@myaccount.fsnetco.uk - I just picked up 3000 mails to various typos, dummy names, spammers random addresses…. Which included the comment notifications to this blog - I did wonder where they had gone (sorry about my slow response to comments but you can see why now!)

If you do do this you should be warned that your spam volume will increase!

In any case it doesn’t seem to work with all servers, my other mail server doesn’t let me log in without specifying a full email address. As ever, advice is always appreciated

I am horrified at the money people spend on weddings. Call me an old Scrooge if you will but it seems such a waste, and more importantly such a pressure on newly marrieds. Sex, money and relatives are supposed to be major topics for dispute in a marriage and a “big” wedding certainly covers two of those (”money” and “relatives” or you are doing something wrong).

I get spammed by lovemoney and it is a worrying thought that I actually responded to some of their spam - I clicked a link in an email, they’ll know it’s me and send more & more

However, a blog on how to have cheap but lovely wedding seemed a good idea.

http://www.lovemoney.com/blog/mybigfatfrugalwedding/how-to-have-a-cheap-but-lovely-wedding-3191.aspx?source=1000461

I’m on Wendy Churchill’s email list, the mails are quite jolly and maybe, on occasion, profound. They aren’t for the cynical, unless you enjoy being cynical in which case you’d be happy!

I got one today and here’s a quote that struck me:

Many years ago when I visited my Grandfather in hospital a few days before he died, the nurse came in and asked him whether he would like a coffee or a tea.

“And that is why I am going to have it now.” he replied.

It made me think anyway! Everything can be significant in the right (or wrong) situation.

You can check her out at http://www.bagofrevels.co.uk/

Or not, or at least it would do if I could upload them to this blog spot.

I’ll try again later but trust me it was a good pair of pictures from abroad trip!

You know me - or maybe you don’t, that is the nature of a blog - but anyone who does would know I’m fond of free stuff, love music and quite like gadgets. So,
http://software.aziraphal.com/Metronome.php is a site that make me very happy. A free metronome for any Java phone. A metronome is really useful tool for practising and should be to hand for professional musicians / serious students.

I have an old wind up proper soothing tick-tock job but modern ones run can be set for different tones on different beats and anyway my phone is more likely to be to hand than the metronome is - and weirdly enough the phone is smaller and easier to carry.

If you do any music and have a Java phone you should go get a copy. The guy who wrote it seems a nice chap too - he did say it should work everywhere (in theory) but unfortunately in most cases it’s not very reliable (especially on newer phones where J2ME is almost obsolete and not implemented very well) but I have had no problems just playing system sounds or beeps - midi and wav’s did cause a crash that meant a battery removal reset but I just avoid them now.

The author did give me some more feedback:
It works decent enough on older Nokia’s (most people who let me use their phones for testing had Nokias) that have built-in J2ME MIDP2 java support (as opposed to a client inside Symbian or some other “modern” OS) and was actually usable at slower BPM’s. Judging by some online reviews it was most disappointing to Blackberry owners.

Finally, although it is free it is described as albumware - if you like the tool the author asks you to listen to (and I guess potentially buy) some of his music. A whole new marketing ploy to me and although I probably won’t buy any as it’s not my cup of tea I enjoyed a listen!

Don’t drive drunk, don’t shop hungry and don’t install tired. As I said in my last post my main PC is reduced to safe mode only and after a very long and tiring Saturday I vegetated most of Sunday but in a fit of “I must do something” I installed XP on a second disk in my knackered machine.

I meant to fit a new drive and install the old one as a slave but I was too weary and just slipped a removable drive in. I now get a choice of Win 2k or XP now but the 2K won’t boot at all, in safe mode it says the SYSTEM is missing, a R from the old 2k CD didn’t help so it looks like I’ve truly knackered it this time.

Arrg, I have so many apps installed I can’t remember them all, I just wanted a look through all programs - I guess I just have to explore it from XP.

How do I get my favourites though? MS help explains it from IE 7 or 8 - I’m still on 6! I expect firefox can do it.

It took me ages to navigate my way into this blog entry page without them - one reason it’s been so long (did you miss me?).

Then I’ve got to drag all my Outlook express mails across - I seem to remember that is a pain. Do I have to recreate the folder structure by hand?

I do have back ups - just not simple restore the whole system ones. Now that external HD’s are cheap(ish) maybe I should look at something like the Mac time machine - any recommendations?

I’m a bit late in slagging Investors Business Daily (and all Americans by implication) in their announcement that Stephen Hawking would be dead if he were British. A great story for national stereotyping (racism?) in that it uses American stereotypes of Brits (accusing us of having a naff health system) whilst conforming to British stereotypes of Americans (being ill informed and assuming anything good must be American). I’m sure the father from Goodness Gracious Me is even now saying “Stephen Hawking? He’s Indian!”.

However, with the power of the web over paper and ink the article has been miraculously changed. IBDeditorials.com: Editorials, Political Cartoons, and Polls from Investor’s Business Daily — How House Bill Runs Over Grandma

A fine example of why software should be released via the web rather than committing to hundreds of CD’s before realising there is a minor glitch.

Maybe all that being able to hand your course work in then get it back and fix it is good training for the real world after all.

Pleas come back and read this entry again next week - I may have changed it to make it more interesting by then…

I’m off on my hols next week and the place we’re staying doesn’t have internet access!!! Spooky, off line, no google to solve the crossword, settle arguments or to look up how to play that song I keep humming (I will be taking a guitar!). They tell me the local McD’s has wireless but my laptop is an ebay special, the battery doesn’t last through the lengthy boot process

Cold turkey for me then. I guess I can score a fix at the library or internet cafe but I’m not sure that I’ll visit any site that requires a password (the same, only more, could be said of McD’s open wireless).

Oh well, I guess I’ll survive, but will the world survive without a post on my blog?  Only time (or the patently obvious) can answer…