robault.com

Proud Mommy Keeps On Cheering!

nbdeveloper@verizon.net — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 01:47:00 GMT

Logan finished his summer swimming experience with a BANG, as he attended swim camp and performed in his first mini-meet... bringing home 3 gold medals and one silver. You have to watch the video, it is priceless! I am soooo proud of both of my boys (notice on the video how loyal Brody is standing right next to the pool so he can be first to congratulate Logan!) and their amazing efforts this summer.

Intro to Robotics

nbdeveloper@verizon.net — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:14:00 GMT

So, been a while eh? I've been busy...blah, blah, blah. Heard it all right?

Well, I just ordered a Phidgets Interface 8/8/8 from Trossen Robotics.

http://www.trossenrobotics.com/

I had a request to build a light tree for testing 4wheel drag racing times out on the sand about 2 years ago and for some reason the idea just stuck with me. I was surfing one day and found Trossen Robotics. They've got a few videos on thier site (more on YouTube). They explain that one of the problems with robotics is that the bar is so high to get into it. Software, elictronic, mechanical...it takes a certain kind of person to actually do all three. Trossen's solution is to provide mechanical parts and a plug-n-play solution for application developers. The bar is lower but still requires the ability to turn a screw driver and write some code.

Hopefully I'll get the board by the end of the week. I also ordered a light sensor too. We'll see how easy it is to whip something up in Visual C# Express.

If things go well I've got a motorized gun turret idea that's dying to get built. Something like this: http://www.waterhobo.com/

Ok, no more tech stuff in the family blog, I promise. :)

nbdeveloper@verizon.net — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 05:06:00 GMT

I recall saying this before but this time I mean it. The last entry about where I am at in programming was entered into a child blog of the roault.com blog. Evidently DotNetNuke doesn't allow these entries to be isolated. The View module for the blog hasa setting for it but it either doesn't work or works different than what it appears the intent was.

At any rate, I've found another soltution to that. I am creating and publishing articles on the Code page that will allow me to spew technical stuff.

-- Robert

Why oh why, didn't I take the blue pill?

nbdeveloper@verizon.net — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 04:29:00 GMT

The title is a quote from the Matrix (first movie) by the character called Cyper. The actor is Joe Pantoliano, he's got a great site, you should check it out. Funny, the character that was hiding the fact he resented being set free from the Matrix is called Cypher. A good definition for Cypher can be found at nsa.gov's website. Its actually a site where kids can learn about coding and code making/breaking. Wish that had been around when I was a kid.

Had I only known earlier in life I would enjoy programming as much as I do...where would I be? :)

Doesn't matter now I guess. In managing clients remotely I've found being able to write scripts has helped tremendously. I would highly recommend programming to any IT shop. The value of control and efficiency far out weigh the cost of learning it.

The down side...you get weird. I am just at the point of emerging from a pretty intense couple of years learning TSQL, .NET, C# and being able to utilize some basic functionality in Visual Studio. I still have a long way to go to get near my own expectations but the path that I'm on has changed recently. Things have finally come together. I get Object Oriented Programming. I can identify the characteristics of a BLL and DAL in the data. Being able to architect a project like this only fosters a love affair between my mind and the data.

So, the object of my affection is a nod to the fact that I have opened the door to the world of OOP and the breeze is warm and sweet. It also nods to the fact that I've finally found the thing that I was built to do.

But the blue pill thing...there are days that the saying comes to mind quite easily. This is not baking a cake 101. I really like to equate the work of programming to playing chess for 8 hours a day. The mental mechanics involved give me the same swarmy feeling at the end of the day. Definitely nap time after a 10 or 12 hour day of coding. This is all fun but the issues where a single line or two that stop me dead in my tracks...ugh. These usually result in a day or two of Googling to find a solution. Sometimes related to architectural issues but sometimes related to simply not knowing the intent of the design in the object that I am trying to use (I am referring to objects in the toolbox controls or the .net classes).

As good as all the documentation is (and developers write really good documentation right? [tee-hee!] ) there are times where something just doesn't make sense. I've found many solutions in forums and blogs, so "Hello World, this is my return contribution to the budding .Net developer community". Hopefully you'll have wished for the blue pill less often than I have. :)

--Robert