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http://www.optera.net this space intentionally left blank Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:13:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 http://www.optera.net/2010/02/excuses/ http://www.optera.net/2010/02/excuses/#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:13:16 +0000 M. Holger http://www.optera.net/?p=81 So, the last time I bothered updating this thing was in July of 2009.  Over half a year ago.  Now, that’s not too unusual, but this place probably deserves more than that.  So, I could ramble on about how I’m going to refocus my efforts, make it a goal to write more, rehash the same [...]]]> http://www.optera.net/2010/02/excuses/feed/ 0 http://www.optera.net/2009/07/getting-cozy-with-android/ http://www.optera.net/2009/07/getting-cozy-with-android/#comments Tue, 14 Jul 2009 23:57:54 +0000 M. Holger http://www.optera.net/?p=77 Having been using a T-Mobile G1 “with google” for quite some time now, but it wasn’t until recently that I managed to actually make myself feel at home with the device. The original wrap of Android that comes installed on the “with google” branded phones is pretty spartan, and only integrates Google’s apps.  This is understandable, [...]]]> http://www.optera.net/2009/07/getting-cozy-with-android/feed/ 0 http://www.optera.net/2008/11/the-language-of-urls/ http://www.optera.net/2008/11/the-language-of-urls/#comments Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:18:20 +0000 M. Holger http://www.optera.net/?p=55 So, here’s a thought that occured rather spontaneously this afternoon.  What if URLs had a codified set of rules, akin to linguistic grammar?  Right now there is a minimal required form, that of protocol://host/<arbitrary-and-optional-stuff>, which is perfectly reasonable in a limited fashion.  What I’m suggesting is that <arbitrary-and-optional-stuff> have a set of rules as well. Earlier [...]]]> http://www.optera.net/2008/11/the-language-of-urls/feed/ 0 http://www.optera.net/2008/10/personal-development/ http://www.optera.net/2008/10/personal-development/#comments Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:31:27 +0000 M. Holger http://www.optera.net/?p=40 Muddling through the interwebs, as I do every day, I came across a few interesting thoughts on personal development, “Business-2.0,” and blog categorization. Starting with the last element, is the addition of a “Thoughts” category.  A good place to drop half-formed ideas, random thoughts, and things that just don’t fit elsewhere yet deserve better than ‘Uncategorized.’  [...]]]> http://www.optera.net/2008/10/personal-development/feed/ 0 http://www.optera.net/2008/10/switch-case/ http://www.optera.net/2008/10/switch-case/#comments Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:28:57 +0000 M. Holger http://www.optera.net/?p=43 While working on some code recently, I noticed a preponderance — neigh, an outright overabundance — of swith/case logic blocks to control content.  What’s worse is that the input variable to the switch block happened to be the value of a specific hash key, which got me to thinking — what is the purpose of [...]]]> http://www.optera.net/2008/10/switch-case/feed/ 0 http://www.optera.net/2008/06/more-on-code-as-data-as-code/ http://www.optera.net/2008/06/more-on-code-as-data-as-code/#comments Thu, 05 Jun 2008 23:54:15 +0000 M. Holger http://www.optera.net/?p=33 As an addendum to yesterday’s little writeup on data-driven design, here’s another little (perl) trick I’m particularly fond of, that relies on storing perl code as a hash element. The cool thing about this approach is that you can actually have a configuration file written in, say, XML, that can then reference procedures which [...]]]> http://www.optera.net/2008/06/more-on-code-as-data-as-code/feed/ 0 http://www.optera.net/2008/06/data-driven-designs/ http://www.optera.net/2008/06/data-driven-designs/#comments Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:45:45 +0000 M. Holger http://www.optera.net/?p=32 One of the main paradigms I’m interested in working with when writing new bits of code is the concept of ‘data driven’ logic. On the surface this seems simple enough, but for the uninitiated the premise is that one should be able to dictate the logic of a routine via the input data, while [...]]]> http://www.optera.net/2008/06/data-driven-designs/feed/ 0 http://www.optera.net/2008/05/wordpress-as-a-cms/ http://www.optera.net/2008/05/wordpress-as-a-cms/#comments Wed, 14 May 2008 12:00:30 +0000 M. Holger http://www.optera.net/?p=28 I don’t want to tip my hand too soon, but there’s a few things about WordPress that I find myself writing code for that, really, I shouldn’t have to write code for. Especially since the foundations of making things “just work” are all already in WP, and in most cases, have been around for [...]]]> http://www.optera.net/2008/05/wordpress-as-a-cms/feed/ 0 http://www.optera.net/2008/05/arduino/ http://www.optera.net/2008/05/arduino/#comments Tue, 13 May 2008 21:15:34 +0000 M. Holger http://www.optera.net/?p=27 I broke down and ordered an Arduino (ok, the Freeduino SB, specifically) from HVW Tech.  Piece of advice – to save on the $5 handling fee “on orders under $30″ — add an L293D motor driver for to your order for $3.95.  You know you’re gonna need one anyway… ;) Share this on Facebook Tweet This! Share this [...]]]> http://www.optera.net/2008/05/arduino/feed/ 0 http://www.optera.net/2008/05/picaxe-arduino/ http://www.optera.net/2008/05/picaxe-arduino/#comments Wed, 07 May 2008 12:12:18 +0000 M. Holger http://www.optera.net/?p=21 So, I ordered a PICAXE 28X1 board from Advanced Micro Circuits (aka World Educational Services), and it arrived yesterday. It’s a bit smaller than I expected (which isn’t a bad thing at all!), but it was also sans-interface cable, which was a bit of a let down (the cable is, however, en route!). [...]]]> http://www.optera.net/2008/05/picaxe-arduino/feed/ 0