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I love tools. And I really love tools that make pictures.

WireframeSketcher meets both those needs.

WireframeSketcher is a software tool that helps you quickly create wireframes, mockups and prototypes for desktop, web and mobile application.

If you are still laying out web pages by firing up Fireworks, or worse yet, by hacking code in Dreamweaver stop what you are doing and embrace wireframe mockups.

There are lots of benefits to using a tool like WireframeSketcher vs coding early or doing mockups in a graphics program like Photoshop or Fireworks.

1. WireframeSketcher comes preloaded with a huge library of elements you can easily drag and drop on the screen. Need an input form? Calendar? Drop down?  They are already there!
2. It’s very easy to make changes.  does the client want to scrap the navigation bar and add breadcrumbs instead?  It’s much easier to make those sort of changes in a mockup vs code!

Available WireframeSketcher Widgets

In the past I’ve used Balsamiq with great success. The two tools are very similar.

The big benefit I find  with WireframeSketcher is that 99% of the time I always have Eclipse open so there is no context shift to stop and open another program.  And since it runs on Eclipse, WireframeSketcher runs on Linux, Mac and Windows.  ( Balsamiq is an Air app and is cross platform as well. )

Installation is like any other Eclipse plugin via an update URL.  Once installed you can access both a well documented User Guide and a tutorial that steps you through the basics.

One feature I really like in WireframeSketcher is their idea of “Masters”.  These are like CFIncludes for your mockups.  You can layout a login form for example, then reuse that layout in your other mockups.  If something changes you simply need to update the original mockup.  Nice!

Another nice tweak is you can alter the font of your mockup. So if you are not a fan of Comic Sans you can select something else!

It’s also affordable. A license only costs $75 and there is a fully functional trial available with the following limitations:  a watermark in exported files and a reminder dialog that will popup after 1 week.  Certainly good enough to give it a try on your next project.

If you haven’t tried a mockup tool I strongly encourage you to checkout WireframeSketcher.  Especially if you are coding in Eclipse for the majority of  our day.

Is it better than Balsamiq?  I think for the most part they are very similar.  The big benefit I find with WireframeSketcher is the fact that it run on Eclipse. If you don’t use Eclipse then Balsamiq may work just as well.

At first glance the book is very entry level. The discuss setting it up on both Windows 7 and Ubuntu Linux.  They also go into installing guest additions and sharing folders.

But digging deeper into the index they also cover more advanced features like running seamless windows and 3-D hardware acceleration. Later in the book they discuss storing data on virtual hard drives and also go into network configurations quite a bit.

The book seems well laid out. Each chapter introduces you to a concept then they get into details. The author then offers up a simple pop quiz to test your knowledge and then he summarizes the information covered in the chapter.

I will post a more comprehensive review once I’ve finished reading it.

Helmet

Shoei RF1100

I just purchased my new Shoei RF-1100 helmet in December for Christmas and I’m glad I did.  Looking at the damage sustained in the accident I’m not sure of my older Nolin N-102 flip up helmet would have protected my noggin as well.  You can see a giant crack on the chin bar and  I’m assuming that was the first place my head touched down.   I’m not sure if the flip-up chin bar on the Nolin would have held up as well.  Not sure what happened to my face shield but otherwise I thought the helmet held up well.  I will definitely be replacing it with the same model.

Roadcrafter Suit

Roadcrafter Suit

My beloved Aerostich suit.  It was cut to shreds by the EMT.  Overall I think it held up extremely well.  There are only a few small spots were it wore through the first layer of ballistics and I had no road rash whatsoever.  I was quite surprised after the accident that  I had no hip, back, knee or elbow pain.  I’m assuming the padding did its job.  This will certainly be replaced with the same thing.

Boots

Oxford Matrix

My old Oxford Matrix boots held up well.  Actually the night before my accident I had picked up a tube of ShoeGoo and had repaired the sole on one which was falling off in a few spots.  The boots came through the accident with just a few minor scuffs. They were due for replacement and I will consider replacing them with the same model.

Gloves

My worst injury is my hand.  I’m not quite sure what happened during the accident and I’m missing my right glove.  I’m guessing due to the damage that the bike fell on it at some point. The left glove has a few abrasions and nothing more.  I’m assuming the EMTs cut my glove off and it simply wasn’t recovered with the rest of my stuff.
I will be investigating a new pair of gloves but  probably not the same Aerostich Roper gloves.  They had no padding and no armor.  I’m not sure if either would’ve helped during this accident but it certainly wouldn’t have hurt anything.

Overall I’m very happy with my gear. Had I not been wearing a full face helmet I most certainly would be eating soft foods through a straw at this point.  Without my suit I would probably be looking at some extensive road rash and quite possibly more broken bits. The gloves were the weak spot and I’ll be researching whats out there and getting something with a bit more protection.

As far as my bike goes – it was totaled but I plan to replace it with another V-Strom DL-650.

I’ve been using Oracle SQL Developer I think since the very first initial betas.  I could never stand the TOAD interface and the few bugs I encountered with SQL Developer were never bothersome enough to stop using the tool.

Over the years SQL Developer has matured very nicely and now is very stable and feature rich.

When someone from Packt contacted me and let me know there was a book on the way I was very excited.  Oracle SQL Developer 2.1 by Sue Harper covers the latest release for SQL Developer – 2.1.  This release brought a lot of stability to the project and also introduced the new Data Modeler from Oracle.

I’ve been skimming through the book for the last week or so.  I honestly thought since I’ve been using SQL Developer for so long there would be very little new to me in the book but I’ve been pleasantly surprised and have picked up a lot of small tips that have helped me work smarter and more efficiently with SQL Developer.

The book covers quite a bit:

• Install, configure, customize, and manage your SQL Developer environment
• Includes the latest features to enhance productivity and simplify database development
• Covers reporting, testing, and debugging concepts
• Meet the new powerful Data Modeling tool – Oracle SQL Developer Data Modeler
• Detailed code examples and screenshots for easy learning

A few useful tips I’ve picked up since reading the book have been:

• The ability to highlight and filter data in the grids.  This is really useful when you are trying to dig through some complicated data looking for very particular information.
• Using bind variables in the worksheet.
• The code formatter – cleaning up my mess!

What else does the book cover?   There are chapters devoted to PL/SQL, dubugging and tuning, extending SQL Developer, source control integration (using Subversion) and a large chapter on the Data Modeler which I’m just waiting for a new project to start to begin exploring that particular tool.

If you are just getting started using SQL Developer I’d highly recommend the book.  It will get you up to speed quickly and seems useful as a quick reference.   If you are an experienced SQL Developer user I still think the added section on the new Data Modeler will be quite useful.

Right now there appears to be a bug with it and Ganymede (Eclipse 3.4) and I have no idea how to contact Adobe about it…  The issue is documented on this post and I’ve taken the screenshot below to illustrate:

Adobe Eclipse Extension Bug

Right now I can make an RDS connection but when I expand my directory (A) I get an error (B) if I click on the directory to expand it.  What is odd is I can then click on the navigation arrows (C) and navigate through my directories and while it works it is tedious.

Anyone from Adobe read my blog and care to comment? :)

Update - same issue appears with the RDS Dataview:

Dataview Issue

Same issue – You can connect (A) but never get a list just “Contact server…”.  However you can open the Query Viewer and see a list of available data sources (B) and even query against them (C).

I’ve got the SciFi covered, and I don’t particularly  care for coding related books (I absorb enough of that via the web).

What I AM interested in is processes, management, inspirational, presentations, marketing, change control, etc.

Right now I’m reading:

• The Big Moo edited by Seth Godin (who has several other really good looking books that I’ve got on order from library)
• Roadshow by Neil Peart (Drummer from Rush – “A concert tour by motorcycle”)

A few on my radar from my wishlist:

• Wikipatterns
• Presentation Zen
• The Productive Programmer

So, what are your reading??  Fire away in the comments!

By Thomas A. Limoncelli
First Edition  November 2005
Pages: 226
ISBN 10: 0-596-00783-3 | ISBN 13: 9780596007836

I’ve had this book for a long time and recently re-read it. While it’s targeted at System Administrators (which I used to be in a previous life) a lot of it pertains to application developers as well.

He basically breaks it down into a series of steps:

• Staying focused and avoiding interruptions
• Getting into routines
• Setting up a “cycle” – dealing with To Do lists, email and calendars
• Setting priorities
• Dealing with email and stress
• Eliminating time wasters (Twitter how I hate thee)
• The importance of documentation
• Automating things to save time

I’d say I’ve gotten better at a lot of these since the first time I read the book.  I’ve been managing my calendar and email much better.  I’ve begun using tools like Ant and AutoHotKey to automate all those pesky chores. Still struggling with To Dos and priorities but after re-reading the book I’ve got some ideas on how to improve in those areas as well (carrying my ancient Palm Pilot around again!).

Overall a great read. Check your local library for a copy.  O’Reilly also offer it in PDF format as well as the hard copy.

I had never been to the Lincoln Theatre and was surprised at how tiny it was. It reminded me a lot of the old Cat’s Cradle in Chapel Hill. The show was sold out and soon the place was packed with a mix of old Zappa fans, young kids and several people their with their son/daughter, mother/father.

The music was loud, and I should have had some plugs with me, but it wasn’t obnoxiously so. The mix was great, no one was overbearing and Dweezil had an awesome tone throughout the whole show. They played a great mix of Frank’s tunes. Dweezil joked at the end that they could keep doing this awhile as they “had plenty of material to choose from”. The played some old stuff, they played some classics and several times near the end they seriously jammed, Dweezil throwing his hands up in the air to tell them to ‘keep it going’ which the band did with ease. Dweezil has some awesome musicians backing him up. Frank’s music is challenging and everyone on stage gave an amazing performance.

Dweezil really shone. He was one of the happiest looking musicians I’ve ever seen on stage. Frequently he would be pulling off these amazing riffs while casually looking over at one of the other musicians with this huge shit eatting grin on his face. He just seemed to be soaking up the energy of his father’s music from his bandmates and the crowd. The crowd was feeding off it as well and at one point a pair of panties even made it up onstage!

They played for almost 3 hours only taking a few breaks to tune or fix something. After the show it was nice to see Dweezil out on stage, talking to fans and signing autographs. Usually after most shows I go to the band scurries off to the bus never to be seen again.

Dweezil mentioned that he hopes to keep this show on the road, sharing Frank’s music with old fans and especially introducing new fans to the music.

I hope he comes back to Raleigh again. I’ll be there.

Information is not knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is not truth. Truth is not beauty. Beauty is not love. Love is not music. Music is THE BEST… ~ “Packard Goose” (Joe’s Garage)

For more info – including a few good blog posts about the Raleigh show – check out the official Zappa Plays Zappa site.

Andy Allan, Peter Amiri, Mike Brunt, Sean Corfield, Mark Drew, Adam Haskell, Jordan Michaels, Alan Williamson, Matt Woodward and Andy Wu

LOTS of good names on there and some really nice quotes but obviously I’m going to have to step up and volunteer for the committee myself.

“formalised language”… “masterful clustering-replication mechanism”…

Huh?

Not one of them mentioned the dreaded ‘f-word‘…. Can’t anyone say it??! Me of shallow pockets (have you priced kid sneakers lately?) will…

OpenBD is Free!! (it even rhymes – marketing will love that)

OK. Now I feel better.

On a serious note – I am happy to see such prominent names on the committee and I’m really looking forward to seeing where all this goes. Exciting times!

Watched a few movies this weekend:

The first – I Am Legend. Ugh. I had recently re-read this book and I wish I had left it there and not seen the movie! Why is it Hollywood can’t leave well enough alone? This movie – much like I Robot only shared the title of the novel. Otherwise it was complete garbage. A Hollywood flick that totally missed the point of the book. If you haven’t read it – go visit the library!

Next was The Host. I had been reading Cloverfield stories for the last few weeks and this movie kept popping up. We were in Blockbuster getting a movie for the kids and I grabbed it. It was surprisingly good. I reminded me a lot of a Mystery Science Theater 3000 movie. :) Filmed in Korea it seemed like it was dubbed over. But overall a good, unique ‘monster’ movie.

The final one I watched was Sunshine. I haven’t seen a good science fiction movie in quite awhile but this one blew me away. It had a really unique storyline, a great cast of unknowns, and awesome cinematography. I wish I had seen this one in the theaters… If you like scifi – check it out!