Howdy, this is my personal online journal for whatever I feel like writing about.
The Hanged Man’s Song
The Hanged Man’s Song by John Sandford is the fourth in his “Kidd” series of thrillers, but the first that I’ve read. It’s probably best classified as a techo-suspense novel I guess.
In it, super hacker (their words not mine) Kidd and his cat burgler girfriend seek to solve the murder of even more super hacker “Bobby”, who until his untimely demise was the leader of a hacking ring. Kidd, who improbably lives in St. Paul Minnesota, is also improbably, an up and coming painter (art, not houses) by day.
All this sounds cheesey now that I describe it, but it’s really quite entertaining. The computer stuff and the hacking is only mildly modified for public consumption, and still retains an air of authenticity. I’ve enjoyed this book, and wish Audible had more of the series available for download. In fact, I may just buy physical copies of some of the other’s in the series.
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Nothing Like it in the World
Nothing Like it in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, was written by the late, great historian Stephen Ambrose. While this is not one of my favorite Ambrose books, it’s still a very interesting read.
It tells the story of the Transcontinental Railroad, from its early stages before the Civil War to its completion and growth through the end of the 19th century. It’s a story about engineering, business, government, and pioneering spirit.
Beyond the obvious historical facts, it taught me several important points truths, namely that Governmental corruption is not an exclusively modern trait, nor is dishonest contractors.
An interesting lesson learned was how the Central Pacific (heading East from San Francisco) viewed cost issues. Cottonwood was the local material for making ties, but only lasts a few years. More durable materials would have to be shipped overland from the East, at terrible expense. Since they were racing the Union Pacific for land, every day lost was money lost.
A little accounting showed them that it was actually more profitable to use the local Cottonwood, build faster, and then replace all of the original ties with wood from the East once the track was completed. Such was the cost of overland freight before the railroad and the value of the lands awarded to by the Government.
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Death in the Long Grass
This is an entertaining read written by Peter Capstick, the famous “great white hunter”. It’s primarily about wild animals eating people. Each chapter focuses on a different animal (mostly African) and its particular nasty points.
In each chapter the author relates some background material and then lots of anecdotal stories. Some from personal experience, some from friends and colleagues. It’s kinda like sitting around the campfire and hearing hunting stories or listening to those guys in Jaws discuss how they got their scars.
The author has been around the block for sure, but he’s an excellent writer. Surpisingly, he was a stock broker before moving to Africa to become a guide and big game hunter.
The usual suspects such as Lions, tigers, and crocodiles are there of course. What was suprising however was just how deadly other animals can be. Zebras, hippos, elephants, and other animals apparently are nastier in real life than in the cartoons.
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Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer
I really enjoyed this book. While it is certainly historical, it is in no way dry, stuffing or boring. It’s fantastically exciting. More like an adventure narrative than a text book, its style is akin to that of The Killer Angels.
Based on letters, newspaper accounts, trial transcripts, and other first-hand accounts, the author breathes life into a story that we think we already know.
I was really surprised how much I didn’t know about the Lincoln conspiracy, Booth’s capture, and the country’s reaction to the murder. If you like history or adventure, you’ll love this book.
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IntelliJ IDEA in Action
My latest book is now available at Amazon, and other fine book sellers everywhere. This book covers the ins and outs of IDEA, the amazing Java IDE from the folks over at JetBrains.
It’s current through the 5.X release, and covers everything from debugging to project management. If you haven’t tried this IDE I recommend you do so. You can get a free evaluation at the JetBrains website.
Even though I’m currently doing .NET development, I’ve been using this IDE for about 4 years, and can honestly say it doubled my productivity. While it’s got oodles of great features, the best has got to be its refactoring capabilities.
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It’s not delivery, it’s Django!
Django is a classic Spaghetti Western in the style of the more popularly known Clint Eastwood movies like “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly”. Django is, surprise, a mysterious drifter with a dead on aim and quick draw.
Apparently he likes to fight men in groups of six, where he can kill the lot of them in one quick burst, without having to reload. He does this several times during the movie, and you’d think the bad guys would figure out that they would have much better luck if they would travel in groups of seven.
Django is an equal opportunity gunfighter. He kills banditos, evil henchmen, Fedaralies, and the dandy town boss. Likewise he helps out poor farmers, barkeeps, and wayward women. All in one movie!
Don’t let the sappy, 60’s intro music fool you. It’s a hardcore, shoot-em-up western through and through.
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Refactoring
Your class library works, but could it be better? Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code shows how refactoring can make object-oriented code simpler and easier to maintain. Today refactoring requires considerable design know-how, but once tools become available, all programmers should be able to improve their code using refactoring techniques.
Besides an introduction to refactoring, this handbook provides a catalog of dozens of tips for improving code. The best thing about Refactoring is its remarkably clear presentation, along with excellent nuts-and-bolts advice, from object expert Martin Fowler. The author is also an authority on software patterns and UML, and this experience helps make this a better book, one that should be immediately accessible to any intermediate or advanced object-oriented developer. (Just like patterns, each refactoring tip is presented with a simple name, a “motivation,” and examples using Java and UML.)
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The Pragmatic Programmer
Programmers are craftspeople trained to use a certain set of tools (editors, object managers, version trackers) to generate a certain kind of product (programs) that will operate in some environment (operating systems on hardware assemblies). Like any other craft, computer programming has spawned a body of wisdom, most of which isn’t taught at universities or in certification classes. Most programmers arrive at the so-called tricks of the trade over time, through independent experimentation. In The Pragmatic Programmer, Andrew Hunt and David Thomas codify many of the truths they’ve discovered during their respective careers as designers of software and writers of code.
Some of the authors’ nuggets of pragmatism are concrete, and the path to their implementation is clear. They advise readers to learn one text editor, for example, and use it for everything. They also recommend the use of version-tracking software for even the smallest projects, and promote the merits of learning regular expression syntax and a text-manipulation language. Other (perhaps more valuable) advice is more light-hearted. In the debugging section, it is noted that, “if you see hoof prints think horses, not zebras.” That is, suspect everything, but start looking for problems in the most obvious places. There are recommendations for making estimates of time and expense, and for integrating testing into the development process. You’ll want a copy of The Pragmatic Programmer for two reasons: it displays your own accumulated wisdom more cleanly than you ever bothered to state it, and it introduces you to methods of work that you may not yet have considered.
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Design Patterns
Design Patterns is a modern classic in the literature of object-oriented development, offering timeless and elegant solutions to common problems in software design. It describes patterns for managing object creation, composing objects into larger structures, and coordinating control flow between objects. The book provides numerous examples where using composition rather than inheritance can improve the reusability and flexibility of code. Note, though, that it’s not a tutorial but a catalog that you can use to find an object-oriented design pattern that’s appropriate for the needs of your particular application—a selection for virtuoso programmers who appreciate (or require) consistent, well-engineered object-oriented designs.
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Web Development with JavaServer Pages
I co-authored this book with Mark Kolb. This was one of the best selling books on JSP and has been well received by a number of publications, the development community, and several major universities who are using the book as their classroom text. It has been translated into seven languages.
You can download the Sample Code, but keep in mind it was writtein in 2000, and has not been updated to the latest and greatest version of JSP.
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