flash

it's been a few weeks now since the flash forward conference and i am loving flash more than ever! it is so easy to use once you spend some time in it. the actionscript is OO based, so there is little learning curve to most programmers. i find it works much like javascript.

my experiment this week was to connect to the database and display data dynamicly to the swf. the method i decided to use was to read an xml file created from a java servlet. just simply read the data as normal from the db in java and output a standard xml file. parsing the xml is very simple in flash was very simple. what's sweet about this approach is the servlet has access to all the session/request/response objects for the http server. so you can pass parameters to and from the servlet so everything is truely dynamic. and the sesison object can be used for security. this method also works for reading an RSS feed from a blog.

i pride myself in knowing html so well that i can work through any limitation it has... but it ends up getting really messy! pulling in all those elements into a fla file and compiling a swf means there is always only 1 file to upload to the web server. usually i use tons of images (like 15, 30 or more) for interactivity because of html when it can be simply done with a single file in flash. and the code ends up being just as messy. i love my jsp pages, but they can get kinda messy. just because we are supposed to be able to seperate the design and code using jsp and servlets, it doesn't always happen. this approach with flash sorta forces the issue.

i guess my next experiment is to do some "true" web services testing. reading and writing xml both directions. oh boy... this is just too cool! finally, a decent programming environment for the web client.

caffe greco

ya know how movies, hotels and resturants get those stars. i have to give this coffee shop a 5! (assuming 5 is the highest... possibly reserving 6 for a better-than-best option). caffe greco is located in the little italy section of san fransisco. it is as italian as it gets. well, i've never been to italy, but since i could barely understand the owner... i guess it authentic. coffee option this time: latte. awsome cakes too!

SBC Park

oh yeah!!! giants vs. rockies. giants won of course... the rockies didn't even beat the sky sox in pre-season. (the sky sox is the minor league team which feeds into the major league rockies team). this was the 4th game of the season i think. giants were up like 6-1 most of the game. rockies came back 8-6 in the 7th. they were freakin' out! of course they didn't realize that 2 innings was more than enough for the rockies to give up a good lead. ha! after a giant run in, dude ends up winning on a 2 run homer about 4 inches from the left field foul pole... just above the fence. the place went wild!!!

but checkout this view! you can see clear across into the bay and over to oakland. over the right field wall is where the dude in the boat always snatch the balls hit into the bay. that is where we spent most of the game.

ok. so this makes it my 4th mlb ballpark to visit. yanks, braves, rangers, and giants. i've been to the astrodome, but not for a game. guess that doesn't count.

too bad i didn't get to see barry bonds play. steriods or not... that would have been pretty cool to see him hit.

house of nanking

oh dude. i can't stop thinking about this place! the house of nanking in san fransisco has to be the best chinese food i have ever eaten. crazy thing... we sat down at this hole in the wall resturant and the owner (that's him in the middle of the photo) comes and takes the menus from the table. he says he was going to order for us. not usually a good idea. but if you ever get the chance to visit... oh dude it's good!

daily observation

don't try to make a left turn in san fransisco

Apple's Corporate Headquarters

had the chance to visit Apple today. my team from work and i are in San Fransisco for the Flash Forward 2005 conference and we were able to setup a tour and get some lunch. thanks to our sales rep for hooking us up! got a free t-shirt too!

anyway, here we are standing in front of Apple building 1 in Cupertino, CA. this is the main entrance and executive building where Steve Job's office is. i know you can't see too good, but that's me standing on the left with debbie, mike and rick.

it's hard to belive, but except for a couple small signs by the road, you wouldn't know the building is the apple hq. i was expecting grass and shrubs cut in the shape of apples, and possibly ipod shaped gravel rock beds. i duno, i'm just glad they put in more effort into their product vs the office building.

raton snow

this photo was taken just outside of raton, new mexico on our way back from texas. a nice pretty day... just a bit of fog or haze in the distance.


i know it's hard to believe, but this is photo was taken exactly two minutes later. amazing to have 4 inches of snow instantly appear. crazy huh?!

abernathy, tx

This is for ben. We've passed by here several times on the way to the ranch in the past, but I always seem to miss the photo. Well, I got lucky on the way back this time. Abernathy is a small town just south of Amarillo, TX. Don't blink... you'll miss it!