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smalltalk

All ESUG 2010 Video Online Now

December 13, 2011 7:43:18.235

Everything that was recorded at the 2010 conference is now uploaded to the ESUG Video Channel

Update: Video from the 2011 conference is still being processed. They have over 4GB of raw feed, and trust me - it's a lot of work dealing with that :)

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posted by James Robertson

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js4u

JS 4U 114: Cloning Page Elements

December 13, 2011 8:35:46.273

Javascript 4 U

Today's Javascript 4 You looks at the clone() function in JQuery, and contrasts it with the appendTo() function. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube.

Join the Facebook Group to discuss the tutorials. You can view the archives here.

To watch now, click on the image below:

clone()

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

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posted by James Robertson

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ST 4U 170: Using Sequence Numbers with Glorp

December 14, 2011 9:59:21.327

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at how to use sequence numbers as part of your table description with Glorp; in the process of doing that, we modify our simple table description, drop the table from Oracle, and then add it back. Finally, we add new data and check that the sequence number was used as expected. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, click on the image below:

Sequence Numbers.

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:


Today we'll make some changes to our simple example - adding a real primary key. That key will be a sequence number in the database, so we'll have to do the following:

  • Drop the old table
  • Modify the descriptor and mapping class in Smalltalk
  • Add the table back to the database
  • We'll then add some data to the table again to see whether our sequence generator works as expected. First, add an "id" variable to class Emp, and then make the following three changes to class EmpDescriptor:

    
    classModelForEMP: aClassModel
    	aClassModel newAttributeNamed: #id.
    	aClassModel newAttributeNamed: #firstName.
    	aClassModel newAttributeNamed: #lastName.
    
    
    
    descriptorForEmp: aDescriptor
    	| table |
    	table := self tableNamed: 'EMP'.
    	aDescriptor table: table.
    	(aDescriptor newMapping: DirectMapping) 
    		from: #firstName
    		to: (table fieldNamed: 'first_name').
    	(aDescriptor newMapping: DirectMapping) 
    		from: #lastName
    		to: (table fieldNamed: 'last_name').
    	(aDescriptor newMapping: DirectMapping) 
    		from: #id
    		to: (table fieldNamed: 'ID'). 
    
    tableForEMP: aTable 
    	(aTable createFieldNamed: 'ID' type: platform sequence) bePrimaryKey.
    	(aTable createFieldNamed: 'first_name' type: (platform varChar: 50)).
    	aTable createFieldNamed: 'last_name' type: (platform varChar: 50).
    
    

    Note two things: the type of our id variable is "sequence", and we made sure that it's the primary key. Now let's drop the table (in a separate transaction from where we'll add it back)

    
    "we have updated the table description - need to drop the old table and re-add. 
    If that's not practical, mod it with db tools"
    accessor dropTables: session system allTables.
    
    "now create with the sequence"
    session inTransactionDo: 
    [
    	session system platform areSequencesExplicitlyCreated 
    	ifTrue: 
    	[session system allSequences do: 
    		[:each | 
    		accessor createSequence: each
    		ifError: [:error | Transcript show: error messageText]]].	
    session system allTables do: 
    	[:each | 
    	accessor createTable: each
    	ifError: [:error | Transcript show: error messageText]]]
    
    
    

    If you turned SQL logging on, you'll see the transactions in the Transcript. Now let's add some data - note that we do not set the id - Glorp handles that for us using Oracle facilities:

    
    "Now insert one"
    emp := Emp new.
    emp firstName: 'Fred'.
    emp lastName: 'Flintstone'.
    
    
    "insert"
    session beginUnitOfWork.
    session registerAsNew: emp.
    session commitUnitOfWork.
    
    

    Using SQLPlus, let's have a look:

    New data with PK

    And that about wraps it up for today

    Need more help? There's a screencast for other topics like this which you may want to watch. Questions? Try the "Chat with James" Google gadget over in the sidebar.

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posted by James Robertson

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books

Amazon is Better

December 14, 2011 17:22:21.000

Farhad Manjoo has pretty much summarized how I feel about Amazon, when compared to physical bookstores:

Compared with online retailers, bookstores present a frustrating consumer experience. A physical store—whether it’s your favorite indie or the humongous Barnes & Noble at the mall—offers a relatively paltry selection, no customer reviews, no reliable way to find what you’re looking for, and a dubious recommendations engine. Amazon suggests books based on others you’ve read; your local store recommends what the employees like. If you don’t choose your movies based on what the guy at the box office recommends, why would you choose your books that way?

Consider the kind of history books I look for - I tend to get interested in a period, and then I want other books on that period. At the local bookstore, I'll be lucky if I can find even a single book on the topic at hand, and no one there is likely to know anything about it. At Amazon? I have a nearly endless selection, and the recommendation engine pushes things that I'm highly likely to be interested in.

So sorry, I can brew my own coffee, and the chairs in my house are pretty nice, thanks :)

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js4u

JS 4U 115: Finding Empty DOM Objects

December 15, 2011 9:05:40.435

Javascript 4 U

Today's Javascript 4 You looks at testing for empty (no children) DOM objects on a page. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube.

Join the Facebook Group to discuss the tutorials. You can view the archives here.

To watch now, click on the image below:

testing empty

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

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smalltalk

Pharo, ODBC, Windows 7

December 15, 2011 14:43:46.925

Spotted in Planet Squeak

This post summarises the result of discussion on the pharo-project mailling list where I sought assistance getting ODBC working on Pharo 1.3.  Credit goes to Mariano Peck and Eliot Mirranda for assistance troubleshooting, providing a slightly older configuration that worked, and then the latest VM build.  I am happy to report that ODBC appears to be working with the Pharo 1.3 image on MS Windows 7 using CogVM version 2522.

There's a lot of detail in the post, so go ahead and follow the link for all of that.

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posted by James Robertson

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st4u

ST 4U 171: Setting up a Wiki with VisualWorks

December 16, 2011 7:46:40.516

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at setting up a wiki using VisualWorks. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, click on the image below:

WikiWorks

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

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smalltalk

Smalltalk in London

December 16, 2011 13:00:07.514

The next UK Smalltalk meeting is on December 19th:

Just a quick reminder that the next UK Smalltalk User Group ( http://www.uksmalltalk.org/ ) meeting is on this coming Monday, 19th December at 6.30pm at it’s usual location The Counting House.
It has a Christmas theme. Mulled wine and mince pies courtesy of Cincom when you arrive and drinks at their expense for the evening.
If that isn’t enough to tempt you we are discussing the ideas for next year’s meet ups. We have around 50 ideas and only 12 evenings. This is your chance to help decide which will make interesting and entertaining events.

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posted by James Robertson

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skyrim

Thu'umcast 11: The Dark Doorway

December 16, 2011 23:20:04.265

Thu'umcast

Welcome to episode 11 of "Thu'umcast" - a podcast where Michael Lucas-Smith, Scott Dirk, Austin Haley, Makahlua and I document our trials and tribulations in Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

The Thieves Guild quest line looks like the longest one in the game - we talk about that, the Dark Brotherhood quests, and how patch 1.3 doesn't seem to have completely fixed dragons yet. Also, check out Austin's new website.

If you liked our work on That Podcast, you'll probably like this. We intend to stay with the same idea - a gameplay podcast. If you don't want spoilers, don't listen - we are going to be talking about how we play the game, and what we ran across as we played.

You can subscribe in iTunes (or any podcatcher) using this feed, or this one for the AAC edition. We'll add the iTunes specific links as soon as they are available. In the meantime, join the Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter. If you play on Steam, join the Steam Group. Like the music? Pay Sbeast a visit, we thank him for letting us use it!

Links to all episodes and other information can be found on the Thu'umcast page

If you want to download the podcast directly, we've provided it in three formats:

Got feedback? Tweet us!. Enjoy the podcast, and we'll see you in Skyrim!

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posted by James Robertson

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skyrimAAC

Thu'umcast 11: The Dark Doorway (AAC)

December 16, 2011 23:20:41.375

Thu'umcast

Welcome to episode 11 of "Thu'umcast" - a podcast where Michael Lucas-Smith, Scott Dirk, Austin Haley, Makahlua and I document our trials and tribulations in Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

The Thieves Guild quest line looks like the longest one in the game - we talk about that, the Dark Brotherhood quests, and how patch 1.3 doesn't seem to have completely fixed dragons yet. Also, check out Austin's new website.

If you liked our work on That Podcast, you'll probably like this. We intend to stay with the same idea - a gameplay podcast. If you don't want spoilers, don't listen - we are going to be talking about how we play the game, and what we ran across as we played.

You can subscribe in iTunes (or any podcatcher) using this feed, or this one for the AAC edition. We'll add the iTunes specific links as soon as they are available. In the meantime, join the Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter. If you play on Steam, join the Steam Group. Like the music? Pay Sbeast a visit, we thank him for letting us use it!

Links to all episodes and other information can be found on the Thu'umcast page

If you want to download the podcast directly, we've provided it in three formats:

Got feedback? Tweet us!. Enjoy the podcast, and we'll see you in Skyrim!

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copyright

Copyright Madness

December 17, 2011 11:21:10.618

The Megaupload/Universal spat tells you everything you need to know as to why SOPA is a really, really bad idea. If you give the clowns in the entertainment industry this kind of power, it will be abused. Heck, since SOPA lets them shutdown (without any warning, mind you) any site that links to allegedly infringing content, no website is safe. Which I'm sure the MPAA and RIAA are happy wth.

Meanwhile, Eric Raymond has a wake up call for the many good netizens who are shocked, shocked to see this happening. As he says, what did they expect?

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posted by James Robertson

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general

The Computer Boneyard

December 18, 2011 16:49:42.189

We got my wife a new Mac Mini - the old PC died, and she's about had it with Windows. Setting it up we discovered a few things:

  • The old LCD monitor she had is shot
  • The Mini has no DVD/CD drive ( I knew this, but forgot about it)
  • We forgot to get a USB keyboard (her PC had an old style connector)

So... off to my boneyard. We grabbed an old CRT, a USB keyboard I had lying around, and a really old external CD/DVD drive - and it all worked fine. Good thing I didn't throw my "junk" away :)

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posted by James Robertson

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podcast

IM 58: Adventures in Teaching Smalltalk

December 18, 2011 19:52:24.368

Welcome to episode 58 of Independent Misinterpretations - a Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson and David Buck.

This week I have a recording from ESUG 2010 - Nicholas Paez, talking about adventures in teaching Smalltalk.

You can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes (or any other podcatching software) using this feed directly or in iTunes with this one.

To listen now, you can either download the mp3 edition, or the AAC edition. The AAC edition comes with chapter markers. You can subscribe to either edition of the podcast directly in iTunes; just search for Smalltalk and look in the Podcast results. You can subscribe to the mp3 edition directly using this feed, or the AAC edition using this feed using any podcatching software. You can also download the podcast in ogg format.

If you like the music we use, please visit Josh Woodward's site. We use the song Troublemaker for our intro/outro music. I'm sure he'd appreciate your support!

If you have feedback, send it to jarober@gmail.com - or visit us on Facebook - you can subscribe in iTunes using this iTunes enabled feed.. If you enjoy the podcast, pass the word - we would love to have more people hear about Smalltalk!

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podcastAAC

IM 58: Adventures in Teaching Smalltalk (AAC)

December 18, 2011 19:53:13.008

Welcome to episode 58 of Independent Misinterpretations - a Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson and David Buck.

This week I have a recording from ESUG 2010 - Nicholas Paez, talking about adventures in teaching Smalltalk.

You can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes (or any other podcatching software) using this feed directly or in iTunes with this one.

To listen now, you can either download the mp3 edition, or the AAC edition. The AAC edition comes with chapter markers. You can subscribe to either edition of the podcast directly in iTunes; just search for Smalltalk and look in the Podcast results. You can subscribe to the mp3 edition directly using this feed, or the AAC edition using this feed using any podcatching software. You can also download the podcast in ogg format.

If you like the music we use, please visit Josh Woodward's site. We use the song Troublemaker for our intro/outro music. I'm sure he'd appreciate your support!

If you have feedback, send it to jarober@gmail.com - or visit us on Facebook - you can subscribe in iTunes using this iTunes enabled feed.. If you enjoy the podcast, pass the word - we would love to have more people hear about Smalltalk!

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st4u

ST 4U 172: Modifying Completion Settings in Pharo

December 19, 2011 10:58:59.907

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at configuring the code completion in Pharo to not do "smart character" matching.. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, click on the image below:

Code Completion

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

s

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skyrim

Thu'umcast 12: Windhelm or Solitude?

December 20, 2011 0:07:53.379

Thu'umcast

Welcome to episode 12 of "Thu'umcast" - a podcast where Michael Lucas-Smith, Scott Dirk, Austin Haley, Makahlua and I document our trials and tribulations in Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Today we go into a bit of depth about the Civil War quest line - and cover some of the things to watch out for in glitches.

If you liked our work on That Podcast, you'll probably like this. We intend to stay with the same idea - a gameplay podcast. If you don't want spoilers, don't listen - we are going to be talking about how we play the game, and what we ran across as we played.

You can subscribe in iTunes (or any podcatcher) using this feed, or this one for the AAC edition. We'll add the iTunes specific links as soon as they are available. In the meantime, join the Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter. If you play on Steam, join the Steam Group. Like the music? Pay Sbeast a visit, we thank him for letting us use it!

Links to all episodes and other information can be found on the Thu'umcast page.

If you want to download the podcast directly, we've provided it in three formats:

Got feedback? Tweet us!. Enjoy the podcast, and we'll see you in Skyrim!

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skyrimAAC

Thu'umcast 12: Windhelm or Solitude? (AAC)

December 20, 2011 0:08:38.859

Thu'umcast

Welcome to episode 12 of "Thu'umcast" - a podcast where Michael Lucas-Smith, Scott Dirk, Austin Haley, Makahlua and I document our trials and tribulations in Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Today we go into a bit of depth about the Civil War quest line - and cover some of the things to watch out for in glitches.

If you liked our work on That Podcast, you'll probably like this. We intend to stay with the same idea - a gameplay podcast. If you don't want spoilers, don't listen - we are going to be talking about how we play the game, and what we ran across as we played.

You can subscribe in iTunes (or any podcatcher) using this feed, or this one for the AAC edition. We'll add the iTunes specific links as soon as they are available. In the meantime, join the Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter. If you play on Steam, join the Steam Group. Like the music? Pay Sbeast a visit, we thank him for letting us use it!

Links to all episodes and other information can be found on the Thu'umcast page.

If you want to download the podcast directly, we've provided it in three formats:

Got feedback? Tweet us!. Enjoy the podcast, and we'll see you in Skyrim!

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js4u

JS 4U 116: How Many Checked Items?

December 20, 2011 2:41:42.051

Javascript 4 U

Today's Javascript 4 You looks at selecting the checked checkboxes (or selected radio buttons) on a page. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube.

Join the Facebook Group to discuss the tutorials. You can view the archives here.

To watch now, click on the image below:

checked

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

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posted by James Robertson

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