theAdmin.orgGrowing a simple software business

I just found a great page on the C2 wiki called Mental State Called Flow. It has some good discussions about getting into a state of mind where you can get stuff done. I have found that when I work from 7am-4pm I can get at least four hours of hacking done before 9am. This is because for the first hour it is only me and a few other people spaced out in the office and then from 8-9 everyone is waking up, getting coffee, and checking email so interruptions are close to nil.

Eric Davis

Today I took some time to setup and try out Darcs, a revision control system.

Darcs is a revision control system. Darcs is simple to learn and use, with a powerful new approach to meet the needs of today’s distributed software projects. Darcs is decentralized, based on a “theory of patches” with roots in quantum mechanics. Darcs is free software, licensed under the GPL.

Coming from Subversion, I found Darcs really is simple and easy to use. I was able to migrate a Subversion Repo by hand into Darcs and I rather like it’s ease of use. To me the best part about it is that it does not put little .svn directories all over the place, it only has a _darcs in the root of the repository. I will be using it on my blog engine project which hopefully I can spend some more time on later this week.

Eric Davis

Well I have had my Video iPod for about 3 weeks now and have had a Z-Cover case for about 2 weeks. I absolutely love this case, it protects just about every square inch of the iPod. My favorite features are:

• The click wheel is covered with a thin layer of silicone so I can still use it but it will not get crap lodged in there.
• The dock connecter has a little flappy thing that has kept the majority of the crap out
• Best Feature it comes with a clear screen protector. This will keep the screen from getting scratched but it also has little silicone feet so it does not even rest on the entire screen.

Overall, for $30 it is great; the only complaint I have is that the case is almost too protective around the headphone jack. If you use the Apple headphones you are find but with any headphones that have more rubber around the external jack, you might have to adjust the case a bit as the case can prevent the headphones from connecting fully.

Oh yea, the stuff really is that stretchy as in the pictures.

Eric Davis

Well I did a demo of my Ruby on Rails at work yesterday and things did not go too well. First issue was the meeting started late and ran late. It was supposed to run from 2:30pm to 3:00pm but ended up running from 2:45 to 4:30. Also only about half the people showed up that needed to be there. Another problem was I updated the demo server it was on and for some reason about 3 major bugs appeared. Luckily I had my development laptop there so I could show the working system but it was a major error on my part for not testing the demo system fully. (Note: the code was fully tested and it ran fine but I believe that not all the required data was in the database. XP and their continuous integration is 100% correct) Oh well, I still was able to show off some more bits of it that worked and everyone like the graphical redesign (except for the IE’s broken rendering, only two small bugs though).

The main things I have learned from this demo:

• Integrate in the demo/staging environment after every checkin. It only takes a few minutes but will save hours of debugging (bye-bye Monday..)
• Have a backup in case all hell comes a calling (Thank you Dell 700m and Ubuntu)
• Keep on track on meeting, try to make them informal but stick to the time frame.
• Get regular reviews, this was my ‘weekly’ review from the first week of January. If you cannot get them push for a 10 minute update or stop the project and explain the costs of not spending the time.

Not bad for my first major software project, I kinda like getting some scars and war stories so I can tell all the future developers (and my audience here).

Eric Davis

{Sorry about the late posting, have been away.}

This is a really cool movie of a model jet. Pretty amazing stuff, I wonder how much it cost.

bq. Built out of kevlar and carbon fiber, this miniature figher jet can reach speeds upwards of 280 M.P.H. The models use small jet turbines, functionally identical to those used in actual full-sized jets to achieve remarkable speeds and flying precision. – YouTube

Eric Davis