I haven't bothered to post anything in the last five months. With Christmas just around the corner, I figure this is as good a time as any to play catch up.
Padre-Plugin-PerlTidy
- A new release of this plugin -- changes made mostly by other people.
- Rather than using a base url for the data, you can now specify a number of url templates. This makes the module actually useful. Thanks to Chris Prather for working through this with me.
- A couple of releases with various refactoring bits and bug fixes. The folks at software77.net now produce a data file specifically for this module. I will ship an updated copy with every release. Refactoring this code has been pretty satisfying, though there are some parts of the module API which I detest but I will be unable to modify them.
- Various bug fixes thanks to some testing with a large dataset from Doug Moore and sixteencolors.net
- Released version 0.18, which prefers YAML::XS over any other YAML parser. This created a number of issues with the HTML::FormFu crowd as existing parsers allowed this sort of syntax "auto_id: %n" -- whereas YAML::XS complains about an exposed percent sign. The easy fix is to wrap the string in quotes "auto_id: '%n'"
- Fixed a nasty bug due to a missing my() which randomly broke the module on some platforms.
- A tiny patch for max_height included in this release. This still has some pending issues in RT -- though I have a hard time justifying spending any time on them as I don't use this module at all.
- Apparently, this module was basically broken. Fixed thanks to a supplied patch.
- Another kind user supplied some patches/info to support mod_perl and fully qualified template names.
- Removing use of UNIVERSAL->import from these module. Not even sure why it was there to begin with.
- A couple of release of this module. Includes some bug fixes, feature additions and Solr 1.4 compatibility.
- Although, as I understand it, auto_install now works in newer versions of Module::Install, I've decided to remove it from my dists to avoid any issues.
ksjaf;ljsdf
FoxSoccer.TV used to use Vividas as the platform, and while it wasn't spectacular it worked. It didn't work well, but it worked.
Then, come August they shut off the service and replace it with a countdown to August 15th. All new things, and now it is hosted by RayV.com. I was very hopeful that this would yield a better user experience, and bring in many improvements.
I wouldn't really know, because they completely removed my access. After complaining, many times, they gave me a 2 week account and assured me that I would get my original access restored before the 2 weeks was up. This was at the end of August.
I still don't have access. Their support is absolutely terrible. Every email about my account yields, "We'll restore your access in a few days". This has been going on since September 7th. A full month of "in a few days" and I still have no access.
The part that is chafing is that for the 2 weeks that I had access, there were no really decent games going on anyway (I missed the FA Community Shield, and it was in the season opener of the EPL). The games that I did catch were of fairly low quality, anyway.
Vividas and RayV video streaming was pretty similar. The user experience for finding a game was the same, but the new design is quite ugly.
All in all, you're paying for a service that will give you the worst support I've ever experienced and it is significantly reduced from Setanta-i. Setanta-i is $14.99 a month, FoxSoccer.TV is $14.95. The other thing is that the "Season Pack" expires May 31st, and it isn't prorated if you subscribe now. This makes very little sense.
Apparently that extra 5¢ goes towards crafting a user experience that isn't absolute garbage.
So, if you're looking for a TV over IP provider for watching soccer, pick Setanta-i or just grab torrents.
To content producers, really think about using RayV's services. Their claims of 24/7 support are greatly exaggerated, as all my emails require at least 24 (usually 48+) hours to be answered. The answers are also out of context most of the time (asking me for the same information, etc.) I will certainly never subscribe to any RayV service again, just because the terrible support.
sl;adfj;ajksdf
I've been following (and even contributing to) the Padre IDE project from very early on. I've watched it grow from very modest beginings into something quite impressive -- usable, even.
Its deep integration with Perl is such a killer feature. There are already a good two-dozen plugins, one of which I've been shepherding: Padre-Plugin-PerlTidy.
In light of Padre's first birthday, I decided I wanted to give something back into the Padre core rather than just an ancillary project.
I tend to use gedit on Ubuntu, and I rather liked the "right margin" option. This option puts a gray vertical line on whichever column you specify. It's an easy visual queue for long lines. It turns out that the Scintilla editor component supports this feature and all I had to do was enable the menus and dialogs to allow users to toggle the method.
...and there you have it. It didn't take very long, and it's not exactly mind blowing, but it's something I've found useful.
The Telegraph has a story about a smile-meter being deployed in Japan (for railway workers on the Keihin electric express). It's interesting to see the discussion on the internet and the immediate reactions. I think a lot of people who react negatively aren't familiar with Japanese culture (or, rather, in particular only familiar with Western culture).
Most reactions I see tend to be along the lines of opposition, labeling the company as oppressive or draconian. Remarks along those lines are often times added with, "give them a raise, and they'll actually be happy."
There are, however, some other points of view. Southwest trains their employees to smile and appear happy. This affects the bottom-line numbers, as well fewer complaints and incidences.
My view is somewhat more meta on this.
You are paid to do a job and to do it satisfactorily. A definitive metric of any customer-facing job is how your customers feel when they leave. In general, these positions are temporal. An employee shows up at a designated time, and leaves at the designated time. These points are not foreign concepts in any developed nation, regardless of culture.
In this scenario, the requirements of the job are adjusted. To do the job satisfactorily, you are expected to present a happy face to the customers. In my view, this is no different than a tidy uniform, honorific greetings and scripted speeches. All of those are customary, but adding in a smile somehow invites spirited debate.
If an individual is expected to do a job for an 8 hour shift, and that is customer facing, listing a smile as a requirement is reasonable. It doesn't cost any money, cause any harm or have any negative affects. People commenting they should get a raise may end up getting that, if they smile first. More profit for the business can trickle down to the employees, and the smile may boost profits by one or two percent. Simple change for huge gains.
So why the debate?
Because Western cultures are sarcastic bastards that love frowns and terrible customer service, that's why.
(I'm kidding. Mostly)
I suppose it could be my age, or maybe having kids. Whatever the cause, I'm finding myself eager to try all the things I told myself I would try as I grew up. One of those ambitious goals was set probably 15 years ago when I first went camping in the Columbia Gorge. I'm not even sure if I was in my teenage years yet, but I remember seeing the windsurfers around Hood River and being mesmerized. It was my first time seeing something like that, and it quite clearly showed a version of sailing that didn't strike me as so boring.
At the time then, and all subsequent trips, it just wasn't an option to learn to windsurf. I promptly forgot about my desire to learn how.
Last week, there was a ridiculously overpriced "Spend the Day with Thomas" event at Hood River. It was, as I mentioned, ridiculously overpriced. The benefit of going, aside from my son having a great time outside the expensive train, were two fold. First we consumed delicious ice cream products from Mike's Ice Cream. I also saw a huge group of people windsurfing and kite boarding.
My interest was immediately renewed and I immediately exclaimed my desire to learn how to windsurf. After a brief discussion with my wife, it was agreed upon. I shall learn.
After a google hunt, I have lessons scheduled for the Fourth of July weekend.
My first lesson was on the 4th, starting at 10am. The flags around the learning area clearly showed learning to harness the indefatigable power of the wind would be difficult, considering there was no wind. The dry land simulation worked as well as it could, without any wind a lot of it was made more difficult.
Entering the water I quickly found out how wobbly things are. My experience with snowboarding and slacklining was helpful, but the slipperiness of the board and shape made it difficult to find sure footing. As such, I fell rather frequently in the beginning.
The actual sailing aspect of it was very simple. You either turn upwind or downwind. You sail in a zig-zag line. I could tack effectively, and had at least one successful jibe.
All in all, I feel almost disappointed at how easy it is to understand the mechanics of sailing. It was much easier than expected. I'm at a point where I can understand the technique and what is supposed to be done, and just have to convince my bodily mechanics to make it happen. In other words, it's time for more practice.
So, off I go for day 2. Where I will be practicing jibing and have much stronger winds.
(Of note, I did have one rather "good fall" as the instructor put it. I stepped back and misjudged where my foot was and completely missed the board. The second amusing fall was when I was attempting a jibe, tripped over the mast and caught my foot between the sail and the board as I fell off. Good times)
Dear Module Author,
When preparing to upload a new release of your module to PAUSE could you please review your Changes file?
Did you remember to update it? Does it contain something meaningful? Here are a couple of examples of Changes entries which mean very little to me at a glance:
- Bug Fixed
- Foo::Bar Fixed
- Fixed RT #12345
Yes, this is old news. This is just a reminder.
