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Recently a client hired me to create a PHP script to populate a MySQL database based on data in a series of XML files. A simple enough task, but the client had recently spent $80 on a product called Magic Parser and so wanted me to use the tool in my code. While I am sure the expenditure would have been worth it had the task been different, I was not at all impressed with Magic Parser's performance with this particular task.

I just read this article on programming and I thought it would be worth sharing. Since I work with strings a lot most of this wasn't really new to me, but I did find it interesting since at Fox we do use Java as one of our introductory languages (the other being Python.)

It's about the need to understand what goes on at the low level of the machine in order to write good high level software. It uses string processing as an example.

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000319.html

I have been trying to make money online for over two years now. I succeeded with FriendBlastr and then proceeded to fail with everything else after that. FriendBlastr, I now see, was an outlier. It worked not because I was good at what I was doing but because the market was so hot. I had a few good ideas that certainly helped, but I do believe my approach was all wrong. Looking back I suspect I could have made more money than I did because of a fundamental flaw in my world view.

I may have spoken too soon in that last post. It turned out there are a few very problematic bugs in the WinForms library that are keeping my application from running properly. While I realize that converting everything over to GTK# would probably solve my problems, the proposition is not one I am at present willing to undertake. Thus it seems I am back to developing solely for Windows on the whole. I do have plans to try porting the application to Java at some point though.

I came across an error while porting to Mono. It read: "Unhandled Exception: System.Resources.MissingManifestResourceException: Could not find any resources appropriate for the specified culture or the neutral culture."

This is the long-winded story of how I solved the problem.

To everyone out there: may the holiday season be a time of happiness for you!

I don't write nearly enough. I think it's because I tend to put way too much on my plate and then forget about the things I've been meaning to do. Has it really been ten days since I wrote last?

I'm sitting in my apartment drinking lemongrass green tea and listening to my friends, Jon and Felix, playing some of Jon's music. They're prepping to open for one of Cindy's drama productions.

Life is happy. :-)

Plug: Jon has a website over at http://primotivnation.blogspot.com/

I started out November 1st and stuck with it until I'd finished the first draft my novel, Waterdeep. It takes place in the same universe Connelly's story does, but at an earlier point in time. All in all it clocked in at 50,193 words. Now to write the second draft! I'm already seeing places where it can be tightened up and fixed. I've got a thick stack of paper on which every word has been printed. Soon a smattering of notes will line the margins, I'll start making outlines, and I'll be on my way to an even better version.

This summer I'm going to be trying to put together a bunch of cover songs and posting them to YouTube in an attempt to promote my band! Lauren, my bandmate, is doing the same. You'll find her videos and lyrical ponderings at http://trashpianorock.blogspot.com/
My own videos you can find under the "Videos" tab above or at http://www.youtube.com/user/originalsoundtrash