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st4u

ST 4U 239: Finding Open Editions

May 30, 2012 9:26:37.028

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at open editions in VA Smalltalk (using ENVY) - specifically, how to figure out which classes you have open (in which applications) at any given time. 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:

Open Editions.

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:


If you follow the recommended development process using VA Smalltalk and ENVY (detailed here), you'll need to track down and release your open class editions on a regular basis. If you're working in one or two applications, that's pretty easy - but what if you have a lot of them? There's some query support in VA Smalltalk that makes this easy. Go to the Tools menu in the launcher, and pull it right at Query:

Query

Results for each query are displayed in the Transcript, rather than in a pop up window. For instance, say you need to know about the open class editions:

Open Editions

You can execute a number of other queries from this menu - they all report to the Transcript

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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gadgets

When in Doubt, Reset to Factory Settings

May 30, 2012 10:18:04.901

We bought a second AppleTV a little while ago - my wife wanted one set to her account, and the pro=ice is certainly right for that sort of thing. However, the thing had issues right from the start. Whenever we would try to watch anything (even the settings screens), the TV would lose the signal from it every minute or so for a couple of seconds. I was pretty sure that it was a hardware issue, but went ahead and did a factory reset anyway. Lo and behold, the thing updated itself, reset, and now it seems to be working fine. We'll have to see if the problem resurfaces, but right now, it looks good. Weird problem....

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posted by James Robertson

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smalltalk

Concrete Type Inference for Pharo

May 30, 2012 13:39:41.000

There's a new blog up, on the subject of type inference for Pharo

posted by James Robertson

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law

Abolish the PTO

May 31, 2012 9:20:15.818

At this point, I think the only sane answer is to:

  • Eliminate all existing patents in the US
  • Rewind patent law to the state it was in circa 1787
  • Start over

Why do I say that? Well, consider the latest idiocy coming from the US PTO:

the company [Amazon] has just received a patent on what has become a common method of giving presents — a system for selecting digital gifts such as movies, music or e-books, sending an electronic notification to a recipient, and allowing them to download the gift.

Never mind technical expertise; what kind of utter moron thought that was worthy of a patent?

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posted by James Robertson

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js4u

JS 4U 162: Matching by Element

May 31, 2012 9:50:21.350

Javascript 4 U

Today's Javascript 4 You looks at a simple matching by element query in JQuery. 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:

By Element

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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games

Dawnguard Trailer

May 31, 2012 10:16:34.626

The trailer for Dawnguard is out - looks cool!

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smalltalk

Amber in the Wild

May 31, 2012 15:49:07.182

Spotted in Planet Squeak

http://smalltalkhub.com is not only a new website for Smalltalk. If you look at the bottom of the page you will notice that is based on Pharo, Seaside, MongoDB and also the client side Amber Smalltalk that helps running the nice looking pages.

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posted by James Robertson

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skyrim

Thu'umcast 24: Dawnguard and MMOs

May 31, 2012 23:38:25.411

Thu'umcast

Welcome to episode 21 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

We're back, and we talk about three things: the Dawnguard DLC that just had a teaser trailer released, the Elder Scrolls MMO that's been talked up, and the stuff going on with the Skyrim Steam Workshop

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.

Here's the trailer Bethesda let loose today:

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 24: Dawnguard and MMOs (AAC)

May 31, 2012 23:46:43.778

Thu'umcast

Welcome to episode 21 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

We're back, and we talk about three things: the Dawnguard DLC that just had a teaser trailer released, the Elder Scrolls MMO that's been talked up, and the stuff going on with the Skyrim Steam Workshop

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.

Here's the trailer Bethesda let loose today:

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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st4u

ST 4U 240: Making External API Calls

June 1, 2012 11:01:28.736

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at making external API calls using VA Smalltalk. 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:

External Calls.

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 take a look at how to make external API calls from VA Smalltalk. IN this example, we'll call the MessageBoxA API in Windows:

C API

The code looks like this:


| pf |
pf := PlatformFunction fromArray: #('C' 'MessageBoxA' nil 'user32.dll' #(#uint32 #pointer #pointer #uint32) #int32).
pf 
   callWith: PlatformGlobals::HwndNull 
   with: 'this is some text' asPSZ 
   with: 'this is a caption' asPSZ 
   with: PlatformConstants::MbYesno

To understand what's going on in the ByteArray of arguments, have a look at class PlatformFunction:

PlatformFunction

Bear in mind that this example is a bit artificial; the class CwPrompter exists in VA< and uses this API already. However, it does give you a simple example of making an API call, and you can follow the same pattern for your own work.

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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smalltalk

Image Based or Not?

June 2, 2012 9:30:12.000

Guille Polito has a nice roundup of the pros and cons of using - or not using - an image based system like Smalltalk.

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posted by James Robertson

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humor

Unclear on the Concept

June 3, 2012 0:56:05.199

What I always think of for Orange Juice (if you can't see the picture, click on it for the full size):

lemons wtf

posted by James Robertson

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podcast

IM 80: Fluid Positioning for VW

June 3, 2012 11:35:40.109

Welcome to episode 80 of Independent Misinterpretations - a Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson and David Buck.

This week we have David Buck talking about Fluid Positioning (automated layout adjustment) for VisualWorks at the STIC conference held in March, 2012.

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 80: Fluid Positioning for VW (AAC)

June 3, 2012 11:36:43.073

Welcome to episode 80 of Independent Misinterpretations - a Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson and David Buck.

This week we have David Buck talking about Fluid Positioning (automated layout adjustment) for VisualWorks at the STIC conference held in March, 2012.

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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games

More Than Casual?

June 3, 2012 19:20:05.664

Is Nintendo signalling a desire to expand beyond the casual gaming niche they've done so well with? Take a look at the "pro" controller they are showing off for the next gen console:

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posted by James Robertson

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st4u

ST 4U 241: Spotlight Style Searching in Pharo

June 4, 2012 8:22:20.258

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at the new Spotlight style search in Pharo. This is in Pharo 2.0, which is not released yet - so be aware that you may run into some rough edges with it. 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:

Search

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

PharoConf: Slides and Pictures

June 4, 2012 14:07:30.000

Spotted in Planet Squeak

PharoConf was held at Inria Lille the 24 and 25 of May 2012. Two days of Pharo, lots of talks, discussions and short presentations of companies using Pharo.

You can browse the slides (and see some photos snapped at the conference) here.

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posted by James Robertson

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js4u

JS 4U 163: Counting Elements Example

June 5, 2012 8:08:55.275

Javascript 4 U

Today's Javascript 4 You uses JQuery to count the number of elements (of a specific sort) 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:

Counting

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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st4u

ST 4U 242: Applications and Subapplications in VA Smalltalk

June 6, 2012 9:33:19.007

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at the standard development process using VA Smalltalk and ENVY. 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:

SubApps.

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 take a look at Applications and Subapplications in VA Smalltalk. In most circumstances, you can just build configuration maps from "flat" sets of Applications, but there are times that you might want to create sub applications. The most common example is one that exists in the system as shipped by Instantiations - platform specific code:

SubApp

What we are looking at is on Application - CommonFileSystem - and asset of sub applications. Some of them load regardless of the platform you are on, while others are specific to the platform you are on (Windows, Linux, Unix). Take a look at Application definition in ENVY:

App Definition

What we have here is a set of apps for all platforms with configuration expressions that specify which ones actually load. The Subapplications are hierarchically organized under the main Application, but can be set up to load only when it's appropriate.

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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smalltalk

Learn Aida

June 6, 2012 9:55:45.000

Interested in the Aida/Web framework, but don't know where to start? There's an online workshop between June 18 and June 22 - check it out!

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posted by James Robertson

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smalltalk

Deep into Smalltalk

June 6, 2012 19:54:37.669

Via Torsten:

The "deep into Smalltalk" school from ESUG is available online

posted by James Robertson

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