Archive for the ‘java’ Category

learning java

Monday, January 21st, 2008
Cover - Learning Java
copyright O’Reilly Media, Inc.

Learning Java, 3e
by Patrick Niemeyer and Jonathan Knudsen
2005 O’Reilly Media

While looking for a different text to use in IST 240, I found the text Learning Java by Niemeyer and Knudsen. This book has done nothing but impress me. While in the end it might make for a difficult text to begin programming in Java for the lesser experienced, as many O’Reilly texts can be, it is going to be a solid addition to the bookshelf of an aspiring information technologist. Hopefully this title will continue to evolve.

For a few semesters, I had been using Java in 60 Minutes a Day by Rich Raposa. That text was well received by the students and the content spanned the core material I needed for the class as well as advanced topics (Swing, network programming, JavaBeans, database programming) that interested students could engage if they so desired. Unfortunately, the book has become significantly dated. It is based on Java 1.4 and so is missing topics introduced in Java 1.5, generics being one of more important topics.

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my other clock is custom

Sunday, February 18th, 2007
Clock screen capture

Post title credited to my brother-in-law.

I’m a little overdue for a post but I’ve been working on and off with trying to create a clock for my desktop. Sure, I could use Yahoo! Widgets. They are very visually appealing but I’ve had problems with the Widgets in the past. They’ve probably improved things since I last used it. Aside from the issues I had with the engine, I like to tinker. I want to know how the widget engine gets the job done. So, with a pot of strong coffee brewing in the background and metaphorical rolling up of my sleeves, I engaged the problem. Besides, with my obsession to know what I don’t know it means I get to avoid other pressing tasks like taxes, laundry and finding a local place to get good bagels.

Why do I need a desktop clock? Recently I decided to remove the clock from my system tray. It takes up valuable real estate on the task bar and I only use it here and there. Plus, the desktop clock has both aesthetic and utilitarian appeal. In the end, to solve the problem I used C# for raw graphics rendering and Gimp 2 to create the clock face. Along the way I encountered a number of issues which I will address here.

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