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st4u

ST 4U 365: DateAndTime in Pharo

April 3, 2013 10:26:57.078

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at the DateAndTime class in Pharo. 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:

DateAndTime

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js4u

JS 4U 259: Geometric Lines on Maps

April 4, 2013 10:23:26.930

Javascript 4 U

Today's Javascript 4 You looks at the using the geometry library for drawing in google maps. 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:

geometry

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general

They're Back.....

April 4, 2013 11:45:11.504

Oh boy, the 17 year Cicada cycle is arriving again this May. I have to say, I haven't missed them :)

In places where they’re going to be present, it’s going to be spectacular. There could be as many as one billion cicadas emerging per square mile,” Michael Raupp, a professor of Entomology at the University of Maryland, told 1010 WINS

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posted by James Robertson

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stic13

Speaker List for STIC 2013 is Up

April 4, 2013 20:16:19.409

The schedule should be available soon - for now, check out the list of confirmed speakers for STIC 2013. And then go register :)

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posted by James Robertson

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st4u

ST 4U 366: Errors and Exceptions in VA Smalltalk

April 5, 2013 11:08:53.575

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at the difference between exception handling and error handling in 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:

error handling.

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:


In most Smalltalk code, you look for exceptions when there's a chance that your code will fail - typically, when dealing with something like file handling. In VA Smalltalk, there are two patterns in use - exceptions, and errors. For some of the system libraries (networking code, for example), you mostly won't see exceptions on failure; you'll get an error object back instead. You need to know what to look for in order to deal with the situation properly. The common Smalltalk pattern might look like this:


"Catch exception"
input := self getValueFromUser.
[10/input]
  on: ZeroDivide
  do: [:ex | ex return: 1].


Here we have code that might get a divide by zero error, and we handle that when it happens. If you use some of the VA libraries, here's the alternative error pattern:


"look for error"
client := (SstHttpClient forTransportScheme: 'http') startUp.
response := client get: 'http://www.5678jnbf.com'.
response isSstError
  ifTrue: [Transcript show: 'Error'; cr].
client shutDown.

Here, we don't get an exception when trying to get a nonsense url (in practice, you would be getting a proper url, but looking out for server errors, socket errors, etc). Here we need to check the response object - is it an actual response, or an error object? This is more akin to the pattern you see in other languages, where you need to check the return value for error codes.

The important thing to keep in mind is that both exist in VA, and you simply need to know which one to look for with the library you are using

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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general

A Long Time Ago...

April 6, 2013 19:55:54.002

My daughter is in college now - so this gives you an idea as to how long ago this photo was taken:

posted by James Robertson

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general

Always Flash

April 6, 2013 20:50:35.833

I've come to the conclusion that Flash's true purpose is to consume CPU cycles. The display of video is just an obscure bug, and I'm sure that Adobe will eventually figure out a fix....

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law

How Bad is the CFAA?

April 7, 2013 13:50:26.097

Your kid has probably committed numerous felonies by the time they hit 18, and given the way the Feds went after Aaron Swartz, if your kid is outspoken about things that irritate the wrong federal prosecutor, well....

Seventeen highlights the absurdity of giving terms of service the force of law under the CFAA. It boasts a readership of almost 4.5 million teen readers with an average age of 16 and a half, and yet, until today, the average reader was legally banned from visiting Seventeen.com. That’s right, for a magazine dedicated to teen fashion, the publisher’s terms explicitly restricted online access to readers 18 and older. What’s worse, the Justice Department could choose to bring the might of the government to enforce this contract against a Seventeen reader who may never have even seen the agreement.

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podcast

IM 122: A Look Ahead to STIC 2013

April 7, 2013 20:46:55.104

Welcome to episode 122 of Independent Misinterpretations - a Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson and David Buck.

This week Dave and I talked about teh upcoming STIC 2013 conference. The list of speakers is available now (schedule to be posted shortly) - but we took a look behind the scenes, to give you an idea as to what's coming.

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 122: A Look Ahead to STIC 2013 (AAC)

April 7, 2013 20:47:36.121

Welcome to episode 122 of Independent Misinterpretations - a Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson and David Buck.

This week Dave and I talked about teh upcoming STIC 2013 conference. The list of speakers is available now (schedule to be posted shortly) - but we took a look behind the scenes, to give you an idea as to what's coming.

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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posted by James Robertson

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st4u

ST 4U 367: Command Line Handlers in Pharo

April 8, 2013 10:15:32.267

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at command line handling in Pharo - how to set up and work with your own. 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:

Command Line

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posted by James Robertson

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games

The Best in Corporate Cluelessness

April 9, 2013 9:39:07.697

You have to admire the clueless "we're proud to be awful" response EA's Peter Moore has for us. Yet again, EA is competing for worst company in the world, and his summary is:

Every day, millions of people across globe play and love our games literally, hundreds of millions more than will vote in this contest. So here’s my response to this poll: We can do better. We will do better. But I am damn proud of this company, the people around the globe who work at EA, the games we create and the people that play them. The tallest trees catch the most wind. At EA we remain proud and unbowed.

There are a few reasons people have taken to disliking EA - one of the primary ones is their dogged insistence that every game they produce has to have a multi-player aspect - even if MP simply does not fit the game in any way, shape or form. Confronted with a massive success like Skyrim, they stand there confused - and then move along to add more micro-transactions.

Criticism of DA2? To hear Peter Moore tell it, it's all about the gay characters. Not the map reuse, not the inability to equip party members, not the really, really tiny playing arena - nope, it's the gay characters. Sure Peter - you keep telling yourself that.

Then there's the ME3 ending. The criticism was so loud they felt compelled to push out the "Extended Cut" - which, of all things, managed to make things even worse. Casey Hudson, arrogant twit that he is, added the "screw you" ending as a way of telling fans what he really thought of the criticism. You want to repair EA's reputation? Firing Hudson for that would be what we call a good start.

I'd comment on SimCity, but I have friends who've warned me off that game - not due to the launch issues, or even the always on aspect - but due to the utterly broken gameplay. SimCity is broken, but hey - it has micro-transactions, so it's all good.

What I love most about Peter Moore's response to gamers is his entire PC approach - "we support the conventional wisdom, which makes us courageous. By googling really hard, we found a few trolls who hate us for stupid reasons, so we get to ignore all of the thoughtful criticism". EA has well and truly been taken over by the marketdroids. Peter Moore will be one of the shocked ones when it all falls apart.

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posted by James Robertson

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js4u

JS 4U 260: Place Support in Maps

April 9, 2013 9:56:28.053

Javascript 4 U

Today's Javascript 4 You looks at the places library in maps. 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:

places

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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weather

Contrasts

April 10, 2013 8:11:48.374

I think I'm happy to be working remotely (from home) this week:

posted by James Robertson

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st4u

ST 4U 368: Using Athens

April 10, 2013 9:53:39.785

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at teh Athens vector graphics package for Pharo - more specifically, at the nice tutorial that comes 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:

Logging

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.

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posted by James Robertson

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