One guy's take on the web, programming, cigars, politics, Philadelphia, and whatever else comes to mind.
I'm sitting in Mahogany, a cigar bar in Philadelphia, smoking a cigar, enjoying free WiFi and learning Model-Glue. That's right Ryan... working and smoking a cigar. (I have to pretend I not unhappy that I'm not at CFUnited.)
It's all part of my plan to spend one day a month working out of the office, but not at home. It's actually been pretty good. Thanks to Ray Camden's 11 part series on writing a Model-Glue application, I now understand view stacking a bit better.
You can use Word 2007 (Beta) to edit your blog entries, even with tools other than the ones Microsoft says they support. I use mine to connect with my Movable Type Blog, and here's how to do it:
Note that it doesn't handle categories, and I don't think it will handle posting notifications, so I typically chose to "Publish as Draft" which is available by clicking the small triangle under the "Publish" command on the ribbon. Once that is done, I use Movable type to add categories, and publish. I recommend you do the same. The way I see it, this isn't too bad because Word gives me excellent spell checking, grammar checking and undo. This all speeds up my blogging process immensely.
I also recommend you install the NaughtyWordChars plugin from Andy Yaco-Mink, as "smart quotes" might screw up your blog entries.
I've been progressing for awhile with Model-Glue: Unity and I'm liking it more and more. I do have some questions about how to do certain things in it though. I figured I would ask here, instead of bugging Joe directly for a couple reasons:
Question 1
Is there a good way to hold on to an event through an interrupting event like... say... a login request?
I'm going to event=object.edit?objectID=1. This requires a login, so the request gets passed on to a login form. Ideally the behavior after the login, would be to pass back to the original request.
I've tried a bunch of cludgy ways of doing that. I was wondering if there was a really elegant way of doing so?
Question 2
What is the best way to override the default events associated with scaffolds?
I've done a lot with using the reactor.xml file to connect records to reference tables like countries or states. In the list view, I would like to show the connected records.
I'm pretty sure I can write the right query using the query object syntax in Reactor, but I just don't know where to do it. Build a new model cfc? Write a new function in one of the auto generated data cfc's?
If anyone can point me to something I would be very appreciative.
Update: I think I've got a decent answer for 2. I created a view that I scaffolded only just for type="list". Then made the result of my object type=list scaffold objectView.list. Then I just rewrote the view for objectView.list to send edit,delete,and view requests to those methods in object, not objectView. Is there a better way though?
Without wanting to start a whole frameworks argument, I will state that I traditionally don't like them. I think I've had to work with too much bad code written in them. It took me a long time to figure out that there's a difference between bad frameworks, and bad code written within a framework. Despite realizing that they weren't the actual problem, I never really gotten into them. I guess I was set in my ways.
That is until I tried Model-Glue:Unity. I have to say, the lazy programmer in me is intrigued. If you aren't into frameworks, I highly recommend that you give Unity a real look. If you don't feel like looking at the code and documentation to get a feel for it, check out this video of building a blog in Unity. The cool thing is that it really is that simple once you get going with it. I think it will be enough to convince you to give it a download.
It certainly convinced me. I'm writing my next personal project in it, so that I can really wrap my mind around it.
Recently, I was working on the tools that Wharton Computing uses to write from ColdFusion to our Exchange servers. I was getting them ready to be installed centrally on our development servers to open up this functionality to the rest of the developers here. I remembered that back in December Ben Forta posted on his blog about Exchange Integration with ColdFusion, and received a bit of interest in it. It hit me that maybe more people might find use for what I have been working on.
So, I componentized the code, and did my best to make it portable. I'm sharing it with the community.
Here's what it does:
It does nothing on the client to do this. The communication is all between the ColdFusion server and the Exchange server. I make no guarantees that it will work in your environment, (however if you drop me a line, I'd be happy to help you troubleshoot within reason.) Feel free to modify it and use it to your heart's content.
Enjoy: Exchange Item Creator.
As you can see (or not see due to caching or RSS). It's done. Which means I forgot something that I can't remember.
If you catch something that looks wrong drop me a line.
The third of my alternative happy hour cigars, this was an impulse buy after a number of drinks. It was a happy impulse as it was another good choice.
Construction: I repeat myself. This cigar had fantastic construction. The draw was perfect. I let it go out to eat a sandwich and had to relight it with no ill effects.
Taste: This cigar was very good tasting. It was very spicy, with a bit of a kick to it. I liked it, even though I usually don't like this type of taste.
Stats: It's mostly Honduran, with some Nicaraguan thrown in to the filler. It was 5 3/4 inches by a 48 ring gauge. It costs $5.10 at Holt's but I paid $9 for it at Mahogany.
Overall: For $5.10 it is a great value. For $9 it is a great value... if you are drunk. Definitely go for the cheaper option.
This is the second of my alternative happy hour cigars. I figured I would give Rocky Patel another try. I was extremely happy with my choice.
Construction: Perfect. The burn was geometrically perfect. The ash was perfectly white. The draw, as you may expect, was... perfect.
Taste: The cigar was fantastic tasting. It was very full-bodied but not overpowering. It did a good job standing up to the scotch I had.
Stats: It's made of Dominican and Nicaraguan filler with a Nicaraguan binder and Honduran wrapper. It was 5 1/2 inches by a 50 ring gauge. It costs $6.50 at Holt's.
Overall: For $6.50 a pop, this cigar is a great value. Additionally, you can buy them in a box of 20 for $116.95. Definitely give these a try.
Three words: Alternative Happy Hour. We started this tradition back up, and I can't believe I did without for so long. Dan, Joe, Andrew and I spotted Scott on our way down and we dragged him out too. It was the longest we ever had.
I wanted to go with an old standby, one that I knew I would like. So, I figured I would give an Ashton Cabinet a try. Can't go wrong there, right? Well maybe not quite.
Construction: No complaints here. As always, it burned perfectly. The draw was a little rough, but no huge deal.
Taste: Here's where I was a little disappointed. It was good, but a little milder than I expected. I expected rich and creamy, but I got a weak and inoffensive.
Stats: Like most of your Ashton's its mostly Dominican, with a Connecticut wrapper. It was 5 1/2 inches by a 50 ring gauge. It costs $9 at Holt's.
Overall: It was good, but not great. It certainly didn't warrant $9. Who knows, I may have to remove Ashtons from my pedestal.
On the heels of announcing that I was going to redo my site, I got a notice from my host that I had gone over my bandwidth allotment. Therefore, in addition to my other goals, I added "making a leaner site over all." So I took some inspiration from a few sites and came up with a site that comes in 50% - 60% leaner than the current design.
In order to come up with the site, I went to my usual inspiration sources. I went to css Zen Garden but nothing grabbed me. Then I went to Web Design from Scratch's Current Web Style rundown. (Cool site, by the way, and runs on CFML.) From there I was going to go with a design inspired by Carlos Cabera's site, but I couldn't quite get inspired without outright stealing, so I had to ditch it. Then I saw Riding Rails, the blog dedicated to Ruby on Rails. I really like that strong logo, and minimalist design, and decided that I liked that, and could emulate without stealing.
The other thing I decided to do was use the new fonts from Microsoft that are going to be part of their next set of software releases. Now I know it is a little too early to be using them, but I just couldn't resist. I think you can still find them out there in the wild if you know how to search for them. I have to say, I really like the way the new site looks in them.
By the way, the whole bandwidth thing happened not because I had a surge of popularity, but rather because I got slammed by some MySpace users directly linking some of my odder pictures:
Trackback Spammers
I don't want to know where to buy Viagra, Tramadol, or Valium. I'm not sure what it means to "Chart Live Sex", but I can tell you I don't want any piece of it.
You know what I want a piece of? A punch to your dong.
I've been sitting here using the WiFi provided by King Corona Cigars in Ybor for two days now, but I've been brining in my own cigars. I felt kinda guilty so I figured I would buy one here. However they didn't have their own brand from what I could tell, so I figured I could get away with buying a ringer.
Construction: It's an Arturo Fuente maintained in a proper humidor, so it should be perfect. But I'm finding it a little tougher on the draw than I prefer. Just a bit, but enough to mention.
Taste: Perfect. It's medium bodied with a wonderful set of tastes, that are common in Dominican cigars. Again, I'm going to be short on specific flavors, but there's some chocolate, and some creaminess to it.
Stats: It's almost entirely Dominican, with just the wrapper being the wildcard, and it comes from Cameroon. It's 5 and 3/4 inches by a 52 ring. I bought it here for $10 and change, but Holt's has them for 2 dollars less. I don't think this is an outrageous difference, especially in a specifically cigar touristy area.
Overall: This cigar was extremely good, as expected, for $10, it better be. At $10, it's value is a little dicey, at $8 it's still not quite perfect. However, you won't be disappointed by it. Additionally, the joy of having it indoors, with WiFi, in 90 degree weather is just priceless.
It's been close to 9 months since my last site redesign. Obviously, a redesign is in order. However this time, I'm going to approach it in a more professional manner. I'm going to define goals ahead of time and see if I can come up with a plan to reach them.
First off, I should define the overall goals of my site, which are
Now for the goals of my upcoming redesign:
Who knows when I will get this done, as I've got a wedding to go to this fall, and some prep work to do for it. But I wanted to get that out there so I would remember to do so.
I was lured into the La Herencia shop by its logo, which looks awfully familiar to another cigar company. I picked up one of my favorite sizes and figured I would just give it a whirl. I got no input from the store at all on my purchase.
By the way, I'm smoking it as I type. Also, I'm drinking coffee with caramel and cayenne in it. I'm not sure if that's cool or a little wussy. Either way, it's really good.
Construction: Really solid, the draw isn't effortless but it's close. It's burning evenly, and I haven't had to relight or anything.
Taste: The taste is also pretty good. It's a medium to full-bodied cigar, it's got some sweet notes that my aforementioned coffee is bringing out.
Stats: I can't find any info about the tobacco. If I had to guess I would say it was Honduran and or Nicaraguan. I can say that they are constructed here in Ybor. They sell them for $5 a pop in their store or online. That price goes down if you buy them by the bundle.
Overall: This cigar was very good. At $5 a pop, they are pushing it a little when it comes to value, but that could easily be worth it to someone who really has a subjective preference for the taste of these cigars. All in all, I would say, give them a try.
In contrast to my experience with Havana Dreams, this place was all content, no production value. I call it "Tampa Cigar" but frankly I have no idea if that was the real name of the place. We (Mensch and I) were lured into the store by a salesman, and it was the happiest little impulse buy I've had in a while.
They also bribed us with free refills of Cuban coffee, which is sort of like espresso, but with sugar being a bigger portion of the ingredient list.
Construction: They were rolled right there in the store (although not while I was there,) and man did they do a n excellent job on it. The draw was perfect, just perfect. It burned perfectly even too. Ash? You may have guessed, perfectly white.
Taste: It tasted wonderful. I don't have details on the taste, but it was a medium bodied cigar that went perfectly with the coffee.
Stats: The filler was Dominican, the binder was Nicaraguan, and the wrapper was I think Connecticut. (The sales guy had a bit of an accent.) They sell them for $5 for one, $20 for 5, or $75 for 25.
Overall: This cigar was fantastic, and at their prices a great value. However the store was an incredible place to hang out. If you're ever down here I recommend you seek it out. Unfortunately, I can't remember the address. But it's on 7th Ave. I want to say 1725 7th, but I'm not really sure.
As I write this, I'm in Ybor City, which is part of Tampa, and a Historic District that used to be home to many domestic cigar factories. Now it's sort of touristy section of the city, but not too touristy. It feels a little like South Street in Philadelphia, but with less Goth teens.
After a few days of being down here in Florida, but unable to get my hands on one, I grabbed the first one I found. I bought it at Havana Dreams, which is a cigar shop in the new entertainment center of town.
Construction: I have to admit, I've been spoiled by Holt's. I'm just not used to poorly constructed cigars. This cigar had an extremely tight draw. It also tunneled. After that, it doesn't matter what color the ash is cause it's too much effort to smoke. I didn't even come close to smoking the whole thing.
Taste: It tasted okay, but not fantastic. It was very tobacco-y, but not much other flavor going on. Frankly, it was so hard to smoke, that I didn't get much flavor out of it.
Stats: I didn't get any information on what the cigars were made of. I imagine that they used tobacco. Where it came from I can only guess. If I had to guess, I would say Nicaragua, but It's really only a guess. I can tell you that according to the store ,they were made in Florida. This cigar was $5 a pop, but they sell it for a bit more at their online store.
Overall: The store is really nice on the inside, and it looked like it would be a great place to sit down and relax with a cigar. I just don't recommend that you buy one of these.
I'm heading out tomorrow night to beautiful Tampa Florida. I'm doing a little vacationing. I'm going crash with my friend Mensch. He's promised to show me all that's cool about his adopted city. I'm especially excited to check out Ybor City, where supposedly I can get the freshest cigars in the U.S.
Hopefully I will return refreshed, relaxed and no longer quite as high strung as I have been.
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Squidhead creates scaffolds for MS SQL based applications using stored procedures.
Copyright 2003-2008 Terrence Ryan.
This is a personal blog. The opinions expressed here are mine and not those of my employer.