Codex.org

I have a project at work that I have to implement. It is a web based site that I have to put together. Technically, I could use almost any technology that I want, provided that it will run on a Linux/Solaris platform. So I could write this app using PHP, perl, Python, or Java. For reasons that would take to long to explain at this moment, the option was chosen to go with Java.

Now like PHP there are about 9342 different frameworks that could be chosen for developing a web application in Java. Of all the technologies out there wee are mainly looking at JSF 2.0 using JFaces or some other tech to add AJAX support. From the looks of it there are both pluses and minuses to using JSF. One main factor in the decision was dealing with the popularity of JSF. Once the prototyping starts we will see.

The other framework that I was looking at was Wicket. While this is not as popular in the mainstream, it seems to embrace the way that I approach stuff more. I am sure that either will meet the needs of the project. However, I am working with another developer other than just myself so compromises had to be made. One of those compromises was JSF.

So as of yet I am not sure what I am getting into with JSF. About 4 years ago I messed with it when they were still working on the 2.0 spec. From what I remember it was not that bad to work with. At the time I was not working on an application as complex as the one that I have planned. This time the project is a bit more involved and will be used by more than just myself and a few other people.

So I am going to dive in head first, and see where I land. That is of course unless I review wicket, and decide that this is the better project. I must be insane.

It seems that there is never enough time in the day to do all the things that I would like to be able to do. Between work, family, and sleep, it is hard to find time for much of anything else. To be honest the first two take up the most time, while I strive to survive on as little sleep as possible. Luckily for me, I can survive on 5-6 hours of sleep a night for about 2 weeks before I need a good 8 hours of sleep.

Most people that know me, understand that I have an almost unhealthy addiction to mountain bike riding. The unhealthy comes from the fact that I am almost always more than willing to share with others thoughts and ideas or recent rides when it comes to mountain biking. The funny thing is that I am not the fastest or the best rider out there by a long shot. The truth of the matter is that I am faster than the slow group, but not quite able to hang with the fast riders. Sure, I can keep up for an hour or two, but on longer rides I lag while they keep punching away at it.

The brings me to the topic of discussion for today. Last year I started to ride in 6 hour endurance mountain bike events. On my first race I came in dead last. Since then I have ended up in the middle of the pack slowly, but never anywhere near the top of the rankings. I have also shifted from riding a geared bike to a single speed, and from clipless to platform pedals. So, this year I want to be able to do better in the races that I am going to enter into.

So recently I found out about a program geared for mountain bikers. It is by James Wilson and is a simple Dumbell Strength program. The entire program consist of a warmup, 2 main exercises, and then a couple combos that fluctuate depending on the day. My goal is to go through this program, and to see how well it helps. While the program does not look like much, once you read through all the documents and watch the videos it answers most of your questions.

To be fair, I am in my second week of the program. I was planning on doing 3 days the first week and on every week after, but instead I only got in 2 days of the program done the first week. Having seen the videos, and then doing the work out, I am able to say that it does beat you up a bit. Overall, for a guy that does not like working out with weights, it is an easy to follow and fairly fun program. The fact that I can do it with just 2 dumbbells does not hurt either.

So the goal is to stick with it for the next 11.5 weeks, and see where it gets me. I think that it will take a couple of weeks before I know if it is going to provide great results, but only time will tell. I can say that so far so good.

Oh man, I had something I was going to write about, and then this classic movie Weird Science came on. Classic movie from the 80′s that got me completely distracted. Now, my wife thought it was kinda silly and stupid in some spots. Overall I think she liked it.

That was not what I was going to talk about. What I was going to mention was the state of a certain section of the site. One thing that I do way to much is read. While I tend toward the Fantasy and SciFi stuff, almost any book will suit my fancy. The problem is, I want to be able to share these books that I read with others, by reviewing and listing them. I am sure that it will take me a good 15 – 20 books to review before my English gets to a point that is worthy of reading, but I will try.

Only issue that I have is getting those pages organized. It could be as simple as throwing it up there and then putting links. The issue is long term maintenance and organization. Normally the best time to get a good design installed is at the beginning. So all of the time that I am spending now is so that I do not have to rework everything in the future. If I was not sick all of last week I might have been more productive. Bear with my while I work on testing these changes that I have cooking in my head.

Another word that I am going to throw out is that I am probably going to be putting up an advert or two. I am not going to bombard anyone with an overwhelming number of ads, but I was just going to throw that out. Hope you don’t hate me for it.

For that last couple of days I have been sick. Not sure how to classify it other than to say that I have had a fever and body aches. I made it to work on Wednesday, but yesterday I ended up staying home. So much for going to work while being sick.

The funny thing is that I would have thought that if I was sitting home sick, maybe I would get some stuff done on the site or on some of the other projects that I happen to want to work on. Haha, that is a very funny thought. To bad my head is pounding so much that clear thought is not always possible. Heck, even looking at the computer screen is sometimes a painful experience.

So instead of getting any work done, I am sitting on the couch, trying not to cough, and generally just feeling miserable. I did feel better yesterday for a bit, and was trying to work on planning a vacation to Disney World. Shortly thereafter my fever spiked and I was back to laying around and doing nothing. Well I have been trying to read, but mainly to keep myself entertained.

Today, I yet again woke up with a fever. Never fun to wake up in the middle of the night with body aches and such. Hopefully whatever is attacking my body will go away soon. Even if I am sick all day today, I am going to attempt to get some work done. Just because I demand it of myself.

As I move forward with the design, more issues pop up that have to be dealt with. Not all of them have solutions. In an ideal world (my ideal world) the software that I want/need would be readily available, and would do exactly what it is that I want it to do. If this were the case, I think that I would either move onto other projects or would quickly grow bored with computers and never touch them again.

That being said, initial configuration of a site can be an awful drain on a person. It probably does not help that I have been sick the last couple of days with a headache that is not severe enough to send me straight to bed, but bothersome enough that there have been times when I could not stand to look at my monitor for fear of being sick. Even if it was not for that, I am sure that I would have issues with the layout and design of the sight. On the plus note, the design phase has been going much faster this time around, and that is making me glad.

Now if only content would magically appear, then I would be overjoyed. Too bad that is not going to happen. No need to remind me to backup my database (which I still have not done). Overall I think that I like the dark theme, but I am looking at trying out some lighter colors just to test the waters. A person can handle only so much darkness without wanting to scream or run away into the dark. So do not be shocked if this site iterates through a couple of changes for the next couple of days.

Some of the pages on the site might also appear and disappear. This will be due to trying to get things arranged to suit my needs. As a result, some of the information will be moved or morphed as I progress forward. Considering how little content is currently on this site, I would be shocked if anyone is upset about any of the changes. If they are, then they have a strange opinion as to what is meaningful content.