GiftParrot.com

Want one source to put your wish-lists for people to view, shop from and mark things off your list (w/o you seeing it... unless you cheat)?



Check out GiftParrot.com!

It let's you build multiple lists, add things to the list (name and description) and then will give you a URL to send to people to view the list.

They can mark things off your list (so others won't see it, but you won't see it changed in your editing).

Google Web Toolkit (GWT) using VistaFei w/ RPC, etc.

I started looking into GWT and after many revelations about what it does and doesn't do, I fell in love. :)

I went thru several tutorials and projects on my own to learn a bunch of stuff and thanks to the many forums and such for helping.

I wound up checking out VistaFei and it's been a great help.


I checked out Googlipse which was cool too, but w/o the GUI editing I wasn't convinced I needed it.

Also this tutorial by Robert Hanson was VERY helpful to get started.

To download VistaFei, you have to register w/ the forum and then go to this post (or this post for mac). It only shows the links if you're logged into the forum.

You'll need some things (see this post) like Java5 and the GWT of course.

So I went thru the tutorials and such from the forum. Very cool and played around with it on my own.

A few things that were helpful to learn...
- the GWT page on IsSerializable doesn't mention that a Serializable class needs an empty/default constructor
- GWT seems to only allow/support JUnit testing for the 'client' package
- VistaFei regenerates all the generated code so back up your changes
- RPC callbacks need a way to communicate their results back to the entry point class

These last 2 points are my focus here...

Generated code

When VistaFei generates the code, it overwrites the existing code which makes sense. However, if you've made changes to that code, you'll need to back it up somewhere. Currently, I put all my code at the bottom (and fully qualify the references so that I don't have to change any imports) and back it up to a file named <file name>_code.txt. I intend to write a script to find those files and put the code w/in the last curly-bracket in the appropriate file (or you can and send it to me unless someone has a better option???).

Similarly, the RPC server implementation classes are overwriten w/ the default (relatively) empty methods. I wrote 2 .bat files that back these files up and restores them... when I remember to do it. :)

Using the VistaFei properties area, I added code to the onClick event and such. I tried to keep it simple like 'handleAddEvent();' so that it doesn't ever need to change. Then I add that method at the bottom.

RPC Callbacks

When it uses RPC, I usually call a class like ControllerRPC w/ static methods to handle the RPC. I pass in the caller ('this') for any callback processing. The ControllerRPC gets the appropriate ServiceManager class that VistaFei generated and runs the request method. I create the callback w/ the success and failure methods.

Since I have the calling class, I can call whatever method I need to on it (generally something I write since most of the members/methods of the caller are private since it's the entry point class: generated, gui).

So the entry point (MyApp.java) gets the onClick event for the 'Add' button and calls handleAdd(). That method calls ControllerRPC.addItem(sName, this) which gets the AddItemServiceManager.INSTANCE and calls requestAddItem(sName, callback) where the callback is defined w/ the 'accept' and 'failed' methods. Something like this (forgive the formatting)...

public static void addItem(final String sName, final MyApp theApp)
{
AddItemServiceManager asm = AddItemServiceManager .INSTANCE;
asm .requestaddItem(sName, new AddItemIResponse() {

public void accept(Object result) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
System.out.println("accept");
theApp.setItemAdded((AddedItem)result);
}

public void failed(Throwable caught) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
System.out.println("failed: " + caught.getMessage());
}
});
}

The parameters need to be final if you're going to manipulate them. The above method is the way it's done in the VistaFei RPC tutorial but I cdn't tell it from the website. I had to download the source which is on that same page.

Dig around the VistaFei forum and the GWT doco - in particular the Developer's Guide. Also, the blog, forum, developer's groups, etc. are helpful of course.

BTW, I'm using db4o for my backend, server side database and it rocks.... HARD!

I hope some of the above is useful to someone. Please leave comments/questions either way.

Also, if anyone has better solutions for protecting your custom code in the generated classes, let me know.

Blingo! - win stuff searching on Google

This site searches w/ google and gives out prizes at times. If you sign up w/ the link below, then whatever you win, I will too. :)

Free audio books

www.audiobooksforfree.com

www.freeclassicaudiobooks.com/

I've downloaded a couple, but haven't listened to them yet.

FREE Senseo Coffeemaker

Fill out the questionaire and you might be eligible. I was and it only took a couple days to get the email saying so. You don't even pay shipping. I'll update this post if anything negative happens before I get it.

Click here
(I'm not an affiliate, I found this on singleservecoffee.com)

You don't have to put any personal info in until you've
been approved (it took like 2 days). And I didn't have to
pay for shipping or anything.

Open Command Prompt from Windows Explorer

Windows XP sometimes (I can't figure out when and when not) had a right-click menu item to open a command prompt at the folder selected. However, sometimes it doesn't??? Here's one way to help...

If you need to open a (DOS) comman prompt from Windows Explorer, put the file (link below) in the zip file in your 'Send To' folder. Usually that's somewhere like:

C:\Documents and Settings\your-username\SendTo

Zip file

Add Outlook/vCalendar Entries to Google Calendar

I use Thunderbird for email which means I'm left w/o a decent calendar option. I looked into adding vCalendar (.vcs) file entries to Google Calendar w/o success. So I wrote some html and Perl to do it for me.

There's a few steps back and forth btwn your server and Google to get authorization and such. The Perl (source below) takes care of that. It takes the input from the html including your Google id/pw and the vCalendar text and hits Google calendar for you. If it's successful, it then redirects you to the calendar.

You'll have to update the html w/ the right url for wherever you put the Perl (gcal.pl) and you might have to update gcal.pl w/ your Perl location (first line).

Source code

Known uglies:

• Date/Time handling: it's limited and ugly. If you help it, please post here.
  
• Attendees: I didn't see a way in the Google API to add them.
  

Helpful Links:
http://code.google.com/apis/gdata/calendar.html#add_event

http://curl.haxx.se/mail/lib-2005-07/0101.html

http://relationalspace.org/gcaladd.html

http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/WebTechniques/col63.html

"Stadium Seating Funeral"

or "That's Why You Never Give a Gun to a Dog"

Ok, so I had this dream last night...

I was going to a funeral. I wasn't sure if I knew the guy, but there was only like 6 people in there so I felt sorry for him and thought I'd go in. Plus, the funeral parlor had stadium seating and I was drawn in my by the novelty of that. Would it really be that much better?



The seating was like those giant carpetted stairs at some sight-seeing theaters or highschool library media rooms. In other words, it was a classy joint.

After a couple of young girls, looking like they fulfilled a dare, viewed the body, I decided to go up. There was music playing. I can't remember what it was, maybe something by "Chicago." The body was casually dressed and looked a big like John Travolta.

Another novelty this funeral home had was they somehow wired the bodies up to move. Not a lot of movement, but an occasional position change somewhat synced to the music. Not exactly Bigmouth Billy Bass, but some movement.

To me, it was creepy, but sometimes new things are a turnoff at first. Think: leg warmers and calculator watches - now we can't live without them!

Another bonus to this parlor was one wall was lined with shelves of liquor for sale. Their thought was, most people have a gathering after the event so why not make it easier on them. A one-stop shop, if you will.

Somehow, as only dreams do, the front of the parlor turned into a checkout counter furthering the liquor sale motif. A slouchily dressed guy was sitting on the counter talking to everyone; I think we were waiting for more people.

He started telling us about a hilarious video he saw online about a guy and a dog. Somehow he was then able to show it to us all (dreams!).

So the video starts and there's a guy trying to load a shotgun with one hand and an old, beat up hound dog taking a dump on a dead horse. The guy loads the shotgun, but it goes off and some of the buckshot sprays up off the ground and grazes the dog.

I can't remember if the poop flies out or goes back up, but he gets off the horse and starts to run. The guy starts to run too. They're both chasing something they want to shoot. I think the guy, still using one arm, shots again and I think he and the dog both somehow get hit with some. It's a bit funny somehow. It's gruesome, but only because even in my dream it should be though nothing really noticeable happens when they are shot. It's more of a feeling.

Anyway, they keep running. Whoever is working the camera for this video is amazing, by the way. The framing is perfect. So then they run off chasing whatever it is and shooting and then a pack of dogs comes into the shot also chasing either the same thing or the guy and dog. Either way, there's one kind of leader dog in the pack and he has a shotgun too.

Since it's hard to run, as a dog, with a shotgun, he tends to shot at the wrong time and in the wrong directions. Other dogs are being taken out left and right. It just seems everyone is getting shot and it's just not working out at all.

One of the people watching the video with me made the sobering comment "That's why you never give a gun to a dog." We all agreed.

Moller Skycar

Some day. ;)

RiffTrax

From the beloved hoset of MST3K, Mike Nelson, comes a 'play at home' version...

RiffTrax



I found this on the MST3K official site. Enjoy!

IndieAnimation

New forum for independent animation.

I started a new forum to help others in my same boat of starting out as an independent animator. I have 2 urls for it:
IndieAnim.com and
Christianimation.com

I hope it will be a place to help others in a community type setting.

Supplements and food purchases (Maker's Diet "style")

After reading Magnolia Brook's Natural Health Detective article and
speaking w/ her on the phone, which was very helpful, I bought these products from livesuperfoods.com - Richard - 800-481-5074:

• Grainfields Super Greens 150 grams


• fulvic acid - quart (didn't buy: Humate - quart)


• EM Concentrate 1 liter 33.8 oz


• Kefir Starter Culture 6 packets

The first 3 items are similar to what wd be in the supplements from Garden of Life (i.e., The Maker's Diet). The kefir is a good source of fermented probiotics.

Then today I went to Sprout's and got some other items:

• Food for Life - Ezekiel 4:9 (original) cereal


• Kashi - Good Friends (High Fiber) cereal


• Simply Fiber - All Natural Crunchy O's Cereal


• Back to Nature - Classic granola


• Rice Dream - Original Classic (rice milk)


• North Dallas Pure Honey


• Desert Essence - Organics Hair Care - Italian Red Grape Shampoo


• Desert Essence - Organics Hair Care - Italian Red Grape Conditioner

I didn't bother taking the time to find links to the above. I'm sure they are easy enough to Google.

I'm mostly doing this to document when, where and what I got to keep an account of how things go.

Generally I prefer to make our own granola for cereal, but I wanted to try these and also have backups for when we don't have our own.

Adding Closed Captions to a DVD

There's a few steps and it's not super easy, but it's also not
that difficult...

BTW, this is meant to be a solution to adding closed captions to your own created DVD as opposed to an existing movie or something. I just had a hard time finding out how to do this so I wanted to make sure I made notes.

You'll need a few tools:

• SubCreator
  
• SCC Tools (including subrip2scc.exe) from McPoodle (download)
  
• Adobe Encore 2.0 (at least the trial version)
  

The short explination is this:

1. Use SubCreator to create subtitles for your project (output: text file(s))
   
2. Use subrip2scc.exe (SCC tool) to convert to .scc file.
   
3. Use Adobe Encore to load project and add .scc file above.
   
4. Render and burn.
   

The long explination is this:



1. Still basically the same. Nothing too big or complicated. Load your .avi (or whatever) into SubCreator, load your script into the lower screen, hit CTRL+A on each line as it sd appear while previewing the video.

Use the 'export' feature to convert the subtitles to .srt format (click the srt option in the list and click convert) and save to a file.

2. Open a dos prompt and run subrip2scc.exe w/ the -u parameter and feed it the .srt file (run subrip2scc.exe alone to see the options).

3. Open Adobe Encore and creat your project like you'd expect. Here's a step-by-step:

1. Drag the avi into Encore.
   
2. Right click and create a timeline.
   
3. In the timeline panel, click (or double-click) on the video.
   
4. The properties panel sd appear for the video.
   
5. On the lower part, there is options for 'field 1' and 'field 2'.
   
6. Click 'browse' by 'field 1' and select your .scc file created above.
   

4. Hit F2, check the project and burn (you may need a menu and some other
settings, but if it finds problems usually you can click on the problem and
it bring up the offender).

Bonus: You can use the subtitles you created in SubCreator in Encore. However,
I needed to change the format of the file slightly:

From this:
00:00:16.3:Everytime I try to do something to tell people

To this:
00;00;16;3 00;00;18;7 Everytime I try to do something to tell people

(colon and dot in times to semi-colons, remove colon after time and add
an end time).

I just created a macro in TextPad to do this using the start time of the
next line as the end time of the current line. Then in Adobe, on the timeline,
you can right-click and select 'import subtitles' w/ the text file option.

I hope this helps someone - I certainly wish this were available when I
was trying to figure it out! :)

The Maker's Diet broken down a bit

After reading The Maker's Diet and then some articles online (in particular The Natural Health Detective) I'm just starting to get a grasp on the fundamentals of the plan's supplements.

There's a lot involved w/ your health including exercise, diet, lifestyle, etc. The diet is basically a couple things: eating organic, clean foods and some supplements. The diet itself is, to me, basically a good, organic diet.

The big mystery seems to be the supplements - what are they?

The Natural Health Detective breaks it down really well. Here's what I did...

Not being well versed in the topics she talks about, I went to my local health food store to talk to the best supplement source I know: Pablo. He knows it all. I went thru w/ him what I learned and he recommended a few things.

From my understanding, the Garden of Life's Primal Defense is 3 things: detox, EM/probiotic and fermented grasses. These can be humate (or fulvic acid) for detox, EM Concentrate for EM/probiotic and Grainfields fermented grasses.

I haven't seen an online source for humate/fulvic acid. My best guess is that the Grainfields Wholegrain Liquid is the fermented grasses.

My 'consultant' at the store wasn't convinced humate/fulvic acid is a proven source though I'm sure others are. So concentrating on the other areas, I got a few things...

For my probiotic, I got DAILY DOPHILUS™ AM/PM Complete Probiotic System. Instead of fermented grasses, I got some 'super greens': Just Barley · Cereal Grasses and Hawaiian Spirulina · Nutrient Dense.

There are a lot of options out there and it's pretty overwhelming trying to navigate it all. As in many cases, I feel like unless you start buying books to study it all yourself or read a TON of web pages, there really isn't too much to break it down to the basics.

My understanding, in a nutshell, is...

The EM/probiotic is helpful bacteria for your GI tract: it gets your system more efficient in breaking down food, processing it, etc. It's the same type of thing as eating yogurt w/ acidophilus but moreso. I choose the Daily-Dophilus b/c it seemed to have the most varieties of bacteria and b/c of their MAKTrek Bypass and ProBioFlax delivery systems.

The 'greens' are 'super foods' which are just really, really good for you. I asked Pablo about JuicePlus and he said that's more 'table' greens and fruits as opposed to 'super greens.' From the Pure Planet website about the barley:

Among nature’s most potent leafy green vegetables are the cereal grasses, unique plants that are so packed with a broad spectrum of nutrition that they are sometimes referred to as nature¹s multivitamin.

About the spirulina:

...today Hawaiian Spirulina is considered one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet. ...An excellent source of the rare but important fatty acid GLA, Hawaiian Spirulina is also superabundant in antioxidants.

I chose my 2 products mostly based on Pablo's information and recommendation.

I hope to observe overtime the benefits/effects of these supplments and maybe make changes to my plan. I'll try to post the updates here.

Resources

• The links above to products and such - click on the various links w/in them.
  
• The Natural Health Detective
  
• Live Superfoods
  
• Vinny Pinto
  

Booples!

There's a great new Bible verse DVD on the market: Booples!

Booples DVD - Bible Song Videos

Booples DVD - Bible Song Videos

The Booples first DVD includes 3 animated shorts (about 5 minutes each) with a Bible verse song each. Each cartoon shows the Booples dealing with an issue which they seek wisdom from the Bible to solve.

A song for the Bible passage (including Bible verses) tells them how to better follow God's Word.

Excellent for helping children learn and memorize Bible verses.

Escapa!

This one will drive you nuts!!

Escapa!

The object of the game is to move the red block around without getting hit by the blue blocks or touching the black walls.

If you can go longer than 18 seconds you are phenomenal.

It's been said that the US Air Force uses this for fighter pilots. They are expected to go for at least 2 minutes.

Motivator: Inspire! Motivate! Mock!

Motivator: Inspire! Motivate! Mock!

mine here

IVR Cheat Sheet(tm) by Paul English

IVR Cheat Sheet(tm) by Paul English

IVRs ("interactive voice response") are the annoying computers that answer phones. They can sometimes be useful (check flight status etc), but consumers should be able to decide when they want to speak with a human, simply by pressing 0.