Finally figured out how to fix some of the bugs and problems I had with jsTetris last night as I was laying down to sleep (I hate that).

Each list element needs to have a property, State, which takes one of two values:

• 0 when the list element is empty (no pieces in it) or the list element is holding an active block (a block that can still move).
• 1 when the list element is holding a fixed block (a block that can no longer move).

One of the big problems I had previously was that it was difficult to calculate when a piece could still move.  The method I was using was too inefficient and took too many lines of code.  It tried to examine each of the target blocks to see if it contained an inactive block.  This should make it easier by performing some simple math instead.

Each block of each piece must be examined in the direction of the move and simply do a sum between each block and the list element in the target block.  If the sum of the State is 0, then we can move the block.  If the sum is anything other than 0, then the block cannot be moved anymore.

Once a block stops moving, before the next buffered piece is moved (may have to cancel timer), we sum across the bottom most row up 4 rows and see if the sum in that row divided by the number of columns is exactly 1.  If so, this means that every list element in that row is holding a fixed block and we can move get rid of that row.  Once we've checked 4 rows, we can then move all of the remaining straggling pieces down before reactivating the timer on the buffered piece.

Seems like a plan.

I was also thinking about doing two other games last night. 

One of them would be based off of pipe dreams.  Remember that game where you have to move around blocks which contained pipes as this green ooze started flowing?  I think it can be done with .gif animations if each of the animations takes precisely the same amount of time.  There are a total of 7 different pieces.  6 of those pieces would need two sets of animations and one of them, a cross shaped piece, would need 4 animations.  This brings the total number of pieces up to 16.  The idea would be to cache each of these images and swap them out as the flow of the ooze moves through the pipes.  This one should be interesting.

The other game would be based off of a game that I had on my TI-83 back in my highschool days which is kind of along the lines of Dr. Mario or Tetris Attack, except without falling pieces.  Basically, you get a random m*n board, which is completely filled with pieces (maybe 5-6 different types).  When you have three or more adjacent pieces, those pieces disappear.  And "loose" pieces fall into the space left by those pieces and can cause "combos".  The objective is to clear the entire board with as high a score as possible (factoring in time and combos).  Like Tetris Attack (I don't completely remember the mechanics of Dr. Mario), you can manipulate two adjacent blocks in the grid at a time.

Neither of these seem too difficult and sound like fun.

Oh yeah, I'm also working on a ASP.Net Beta 2 based version of Chinese chess or Xiangqi.  The idea is to use Atlas to allow two players to play in real time, with the moves and chat being relayed using calls to web services from the client.  So far, I have the board and objects laid out.  I still have to figure out how I want to implement the game rules and how complex to make it in terms of supporting multiple games at once.  I'm also waiting for my Beta 2 hosting account from ServerIntellect, my webhost.

That's it for now.

I (pretty randomly) came across an awesome series of Photoshop tutorials on deviantart.com (good place to wander around if you're in a creative funk).

I haven't done any heavy Photoshop artwork in quite a while now, regardless, my technique never turned out results as good as hers.  Very nice work and nicely put together tutorials.

Makes me want to plug in my (severely) underused Wacom and work on some backlogged sketches.  Gah!  Can't make up my mind.  Am I a software developer, or an artist?

This pretty much sums up how I've been feeling every-freaking-day for the last few weeks/months:

I've never been more unsure about everything in the entire universe. I no longer comprehend what is important in the essence of everything. All knowledge and understanding I have aquired now all just seems meaningless and empty. I feel I am completely hopeless. My mind revolves so much around school and stale concrete fact. I don't really have a life. Right now I am just existing, going day to day with what seems like essentially no purpose or direction. I can't find my foundation for thought or reason or action. This is the worst feeling I have ever had in my entire life. Nothing is important, which in itself is sigificant for some reason. I think. I don't know. I feel so overwhelmed. I feel like I'm trying to wrap my head around life. Do you know what all is in life? A whole fucking lot. And my mind feels obligated to figure out every fucking bit of it at the same time. I feel like I'm trying to wrap a rubber band around a dumptruck. I'll either stay frustrated like this, or I'll somehow keep trying to stretch until it snaps.

In my case, I don't think I can even recall a particular point in time when this happened. It feels like I've been in this kind of funk forever.  I envy people, like my wife, who (at least on the surface) seem to have figured out exactly what life is about, what is important to them, what their goals are, and what they have to do to get there.  I think it's healthy to have goals; it gives you purpose and meaning in every action that you do.  Problem is, I just can't seem to solidify mine.

:Sigh:

For those of you who are curious, this is what my (tiny) "office" space looks like.

I finished my first "workshop" article!

Had a bit of free time and decided to finish it as it's something that I've been meaning to do for quite a while now.

As an aside, the "workshop" series of articles are meant to be my gesture of giving back to the community from which I've taken so much.  I know I've found tons of useful blog posts and articles online that have helped me greatly in the past, so I feel that it's only fair that I give back a bit.   I don't claim to be some guru or know all of the answers, but my hope is that the information that I provide in these articles can help someone out there get their job done more easily.  I'm also aware that someone out there may have already done something like this, but my own experience tells me that it's always helpful to work with various sources to gain different insights.

Now onto the article!

In March, I worked on creating a SQL Server DTS package to import data from various data files.  One aspect that grew tiring really fast was having to manually change the paths of the source data files each time I moved the package from one environment to another (or even from my machine to Kent's).  We had 6 datafiles at the time (early testing/development phase) in addition to various other settings that were environment dependent like mail server addresses and database logins.  I was simply too lazy to keep fiddling with the settings in DTS every time I had to send the package to the client or to Kent.

The solution I came up with makes use of DTS global variables, the powerful "Dynamic Properties Task" task, and some simple VBScript.

Still interested?  Then read the full article.

Feel free to leave comments, questions, and criticisms in this thread

Came across this article via Ars.

If you didn't know, I'm a huge fan of the cepholopod class of animals.  The giant squid is one of those rare beasts that we know exists via dead specimens that we've found, but have yet to observe, live, in the wild.

So this is a very cool discovery!

As I was browsing through the forums at Arstechnica, I came across a post titled "Alternatives to outsourcing?".

Being an IT consultant, this immediately caught my attention.

I read in Time, a while back, that a few companies were experimenting with insourcing, or the idea of setting up shop in areas of the US where the cost of living is low.

As the Net has spread and the amount of bandwidth has increased, to me, physical location is becoming less and less important as communication via the Net has become more accessible.  From video chat to VoIP, the reality of a truly distributed team unit is getting ever closer to reality.  Hopefully, WiMax will get us over that next hurdle of "the last mile" and truly network the entire nation.

What kind of strikes me as odd is that, even though most (probably every) software developer or IT consultant has a broadband connection, why I still have to show up at the office every day.  To be honest, for the 9 months that I've worked here, a total of 4 of those months were spent on "The Bench" (some refer to it as "The Beach").  I know some people that can't work at home due to the inability to focus or other distractions like spouses or children, but that's not the case with me and I'd happily and productively (somehow this doesn't seem like proper grammar) work from home.  It wouldn't be so bad if I could show up in jeans and a dress shirt, which I did for the first few months, but now we have this silly business casual dress code (yes, I'm being picky), and I have to wear khakis.  Tucked.  Blah!

Okay, back on topic .  To be honest, I could do my job just as well from my fictional house in rural Georgia or South Dakota, provided I have a broadband connection.  And I'd rather be doing that than living in Jersey.  Traffic congestion is horrible and I think it lessens my lifespan by 20 minutes each day (the amount of extra time it takes me to get to work due to traffic).  For the price of a small townhouse in Jersey, I could build a huge, 4 bedroom castle in Kansas.  In fact, Kansas offers free residential land to encourage people to move out there.  Not only that, they offer free commercial land and lots of monetary incentives to set up shop out there.

So the question stands, what's wrong with insourcing and why don't we see more of it?  Certainly, while it's not as cheap as outsourcing/offshoring, I think it's a better investment in the long run considering the state of our economy and the good press it can bring a company willing to invest in the American people.

There has to be other people out there like me.

I have issues.  Many issues.  We all do.  Perhaps the one that gets to me the most is that I'm a perfectionist when it comes to certain things, like designing software.  It's a curse, because I try to be perfect from the beginning and it adds to the inertia of getting the project started in the first place; getting that first, crucial prototype out the door is the key first step to any project.

This is an issue that I've had for a quite a while now and I know that software is supposed to be imperfect.  Particularly when you undertake to create something new, no one knows what it's supposed to look like; no one knows, 100%, what it's supposed to do.  Certainly, there is an idea of what problem a particular piece of software should solve with version 1, but I'm always trying to figure out what it's supposed to do in version 2, before version 0.1 is even complete.  Therein lies the problem.  My psyche forces me to understand the problem and solution completely before I can really start to make it a reality.

I have a pile of papers scattered around my desk at home and my desk at work with various projects that I've doodled or half started, but couldn't think through completely either due to waning interest or lack of time.  In all cases, I get stuck trying to see the whole picture before I've arrived at the destination.

As a developer, I know the importance of prototyping and building simple proof-of-concepts.  If fact, I do this often in my professional life.  But as soon as I start working on any type of personal project, this perfectionist drive just kicks in and immobilizes me from the get-go :-(

I can't be the only one that suffers from this afflictive emotion.  How do other developers deal with it?

One way is to work with others.  A couple of months back, I worked on a project with a friend I met while working at ITT, Blake Dubin.  It was great working with him as he had a vision of exactly what this tool needed to do, which relieved me from over-analyzing the requirements of the tool.  In addition, it helps that he prodded me to get the work done Yeah, the code was a bit sloppy, but it was done in under 15-18 hours and it's really pretty cool to boot.

The problem is that in my day-to-day life, I rarely deal with other developers/managers that I feel are as interested in building these things as I am.  One of the big problems is that I'm surrounded by slightly older developers.  That in itself is not so bad, as there is always something to be learned from experience in the industry, but the problem is, they're not old enough that they can kinda shake off the responsibilities of family life yet.  These guys are in their late 20's and 30's, so they have to, rightfully, place family ahead of self, especially since they have very young kids, which leaves them with little free time to work on anything else.

I have a few friends who are developers as well.  My college roommate, Joe, lives right around the corner from me.  But he's absorbed by World of Warcraft.  The man is practically glued to his computer desk.  In addition, he doesn't have the same passion for creating random pieces of software (I think he'll end up in management in a few years).

I'm sure this problem is not restricted to just software development.  So how do you guys deal with this?  It's even more annoying that I realize that this is a problem that I have, and yet I'm unwilling or unable to resolve it by myself.

Quite a long weekend.

It culminated on Sunday with the lecture given by the Dalai Lama at my alma mater, Rutgers.

I also attended a wedding the same night; quite a spectrum of events to absorb in one day.

I would like to preface by stating that I am an atheist.  I am attracted to Buddhism not for the spiritual/religious aspect of it, but rather the philosophical/moral aspect and the message of the Dalai Lama, one of peace, compassion, acceptance, and altruism without exception.

To be honest, I didn't know what to expect from this lecture; I wasn't sure why I plopped down $30 for the tickets.  I was first formally introduced to Buddhism in my Chinese Civ. class by a Dr. Peter Li (who, in retrospect, reminds me a lot of the Dalai Lama in mannerisms, speech, and approach).  As I mentioned, I'm an atheist and thus, Buddhism, to me, is not so much a religion as it is a philosophy of living.

Having been removed from that academic environment, I've been slacking in terms of my continued studies of Buddhism.  To that effect, I wasn't sure that there would be any purpose or value in going to this event.  Was it just to satisfy my ego?  Bragging rights?  I don't know, but I felt that I had to go, being that this might be a <cliché>once in a lifetime chance</cliché>.

The day began early for us as we took the scenic route to Rutgers (really scenic).  As we waited in the stadium, I found that I was quite surprised at the number of people that showed up (I'm not quite sure why, as I knew that the lecture was sold out).  It's an awesome sight to see so many people congregate in one place for a non-sporting event.  What struck Sandy and I the most was the incredible diversity of the group that was present.  In our day to day lives, I think that most people rarely deal with such a diverse population (be it your classroom or you workplace).

Aside: The population of Rutgers, and New Jersey in general, is incredibly diverse.  I recall sitting outside, waiting for my classes to start and watching as people of all races, cultural backgrounds, and religious beliefs passed by.  What's amazing is the level of acceptance demonstrated by everyone.  I mean, yeah, we had our share of bad apples (I recall some anti-semetic graffiti), but for the most part, the Rutgers student body is bountiful in its cultural and racial differences.

It was simply amazing to witness the event; as 10:40 arrived, the entire crowd of thousands of people sat in silence, focused completely on the presence of a single man.  The Dalai Lama himself is a simple man of simple words and simple ways.  He began by addressing the crowd in Tiebetan and had a translator translate his greeting.

For the remainder of the lecture, the Dalai Lama addressed us in English, only turning to his translator for a few terms here and there.  The lecture had a very informal feel to it.  In speech and mannerisms, we, his audience, were just as "old acquaintances".  I half expected a much more formal, more serious tone to his lecture.  Okay, actually, I fully expected it to be a very stale lecture.  To my surprise, the entire stadium would occasionally erupt with warm laughter as the Dalai Lama made small jokes throughout his speech.

The subject of the lecture itself contained nothing earth shattering (I won't bore you with a transcript of what was said, you can catch that from the videos); nothing that you or I haven't thought of before.  In fact, when Igor asked me what I had learned from the lecture, I struggled to figure out what exactly moved me so much? Why should it matter that these views were being conveyed to us by this man?  I thought deeply about this after the lecture and today as well and I think the reason it was such a moving speech (yes, I teared up at one point) was the absolute conviction with which he delivered his message; one full of compassion, understanding, acceptance, and altruism.  The very embodiment of the Buddhist philosophy.  Yes, I found myself moved to tears as I sat there listening to his views, in complete silence, along with 40,000 of my brothers and sisters.

What made the entire experience even more enriching is that you can only truly realize how down-to-earth and "everyman" the Dalai Lama is if you see him, observe his mannerisms, and listen to his speech.  He made it plain and clear that he is just like everyone of us and no different.  He has his moments when he suffers from afflictive emotions such as anger and jealousy.  He doesn't claim to know all of the answers; in fact, he states the opposite quite frankly.  When asked about this thoughts about the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians, he offered his views, but added a footnote that since his history of the region and the background of the two groups was insufficient, he was incapable of providing us with The Answer. 

The appeal of his message, and of Buddhism as a whole, I think, is the idea that there is hope for humanity.  No, there is hope for all sentient beings to live in peace and contentment.  And the solution lies not in some mystical god who works in mysterious ways, not in some relic, not in some religion, but in each of us.  The fate of this Earth lies in our own hands and we can only truly achieve peace through education, self cultivation (be it spiritual or otherwise),  compassion, and shedding our ignorance inherent in perception (as opposed to reality).

Igor asked whether I felt that this was a religious experience or an intellectual experience.  In reality, it was neither.  It was a humanistic experience that occurs but rarely in our lifetimes.

I highly recommend watching the video recap of the lecture (linked off of the Rutgers site above).  And if you should ever get the chance to see him in person, even if you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Black, Caucasian, Americn Indian, or Martian , I can only advise that you do not miss the chance as he is truly an extraordinary human being, whether he thinks so or not.

Over the weekend, I was looking for some nice .Net based, open source web based photo gallery applications.

There are only a small handful of such products, including nGallery and Community Server (which uses nGallery).

On the other hand, one of the slickest and most feature rich web based photo management apps, Alex King's Photos 4.1, is built on PHP and MySQL.  While Alex mentions that it's not a gallery app, it's simple to imagine that it could be with only a few small modifications.

In general, the entire .Net culture of create-and-profit is disheartening, considering the wide open community built around alternative technologies like PHP, MySQL, Perl, and so on.  Part of this is Microsoft's fault for not releasing free, full featured tools necessary to build the applications.  Yes, you could build ASP.Net web apps using only the SDK and command line tools, but then you increase the barrier of entry by relegating the technology to only the diehard nerds.

My hope is that, with the release of the Express line of tools and new development frameworks (like Atlas), we will see more open source tools that don't suck in the next .Net generation.

I'm currently debating on whether it's worth my time creating a web based photo management/gallery application (that doesn't suck) using .Net 2.0 and Atlas or WPF/E, which would limit the availability.  Any votes?

On a related note, this month's Wired mag contains an interview with Tim O'Reilly (of O'Reilly publishing fame).  As summarized by Stephen Levy, the "new Net" is built upon "a philosophy of participation and sharing and a sense that collective action will inevitabley accrue to the greater good." 

When asked to identify his passion with only three words, O'Reilly responded: "Harnessing collective intelligence."  I like to think that Microsoft is catching on and will truly lead us into the pack rather than away from the pack like the lone wolf that is sure to struggle without the support of his pack.  The vision that I see coming out of Redmond with this new generation of technologies is very promising in that respect.  And for that, we should be greatful and excited.  I hope that many of the incredibly talented developers out there who've traditionally shunned Microsoft technologies will give them a shot this time around.  There's just some really incredible free tools on the horizon that will enable developers to create the next generation of web based tools.