My New Years Resolutions
I'm keeping my 2009 resolutions nice and simple so that I can - you know - actually achieve some of them instead of failing horribly. So in no particular order, here is what I'd like to accomplish this year.
- Get really good at Groovy. As folks know, we (we being Broadchoice) make heavy use of Groovy to power both the AIR and iPhone apps. Groovy reminds me a lot of ColdFusion - fun and practical. I'm not yet sure what I'll do to help improve my skills (outside of the work I do day to day), but I'll probably try a clone of one of my open source apps.
- Become an Intermediate Flex developer. I've been using Flex for quite some time now, but I haven't ever really gone beyond simple applications and demos. Luckily I've been able to work with some very smart Flex developers and see what a truly advanced Flex application looks like. My goal is to become a good, intermediate level Flex developer. Graduate from Padawan to Jedi Knight. I'll leave Jedi Master for next year. I've got a good idea for a game that will let me try various techniques I've seen over the past year.
- Thanks to my kind readers visiting my wish list, I've got enough books to keep me occupied for a good year or so. This year though I want to finally read The Fountainhead and The Landmark Thucydides. These guys have been sitting on my bookshelf for a while now daring me to read them and expand my mind.
- I'll talk more about this at the one year anniversary of the CF Biggest Losers Club, but physically, I want to work on my muscles and exercise routine. I've got a good workout now, but I'm not moving as fast I'd like to pure strength wise. I don't want to lose any more weight but I'd like to increase my arm strength quite a bit this year.
Anything I forgot?
Comments
Sorry, 2nd attempt at the link
# Posted By Seth
| 1/1/09 1:09 PM
"have you ever tried 21's? I want to cry during and for a little while after finishing them.""Try This" + "It will make you cry" = "um, no."
# Posted By Eric
| 1/2/09 8:25 AM
Good luck with The Fountainhead. In my book club, we're supposed to be reading Atlas Shrugged this month, but I just can't get into it.
# Posted By Dave DuPlantis
| 1/2/09 9:50 AM
Hi Ray - can you tell us how you define "intermediate" flex developer? Just curious.David
# Posted By David
| 1/2/09 12:19 PM
Beginner: Can 'speak' the language, can do basic work, can copy/paste other more advanced work with knowledge of what they are doing (ie, I would never have thought of this code, but I know it does foo)Intermediate: Can create more complex code than the basic stuff. Begins to understand that there may be 2 ways to do X, but way #2 is faster/better/more organized. Has a good understanding of when they are writing sucky code, but may not know the best way to make it non-sucky.
Advanced: Um, all of the above. ;) I think we all get what an advanced person can do. I'm just trying to get half way there. :)
# Posted By Raymond Camden
| 1/2/09 12:59 PM
Ray,I would priorities 'The Fountainhead' it is one of the best books I have ever read, truely life changing. Good luck with the rest of them it'll keep you busy.
Simon
# Posted By Simon Baynes
| 1/5/09 2:03 AM
Ray... I know you, so I'm comfortable saying this (and I'll only say it once):Never. Try. 21s. They will Make You Want To Die.
Your Jedi tricks will not save you if you dare to test yourself with this dread effort.
Put another way:
Do not try (21s). (With 21s) There no try, only fail. ;)
Seriously... I have done them. They aren't anything any fool human would do willingly... they are best done (and really only done) an overpaid, pushy athlete standing next to you screaming about what a unworthy worm you are and how your only opportunity to redeem yourself is by "giving [him] another one".
Seriously. Bah. ;)
# Posted By Jared Rypka-Hauer
| 1/5/09 4:26 AM
I'm reading Atlas Shrugged right now and really enjoying it. The context is a bit contrived or over-simplified like an allegory, but it is certainly keeping my interest. I'm 2/3 of the way through and will probably compare it to Dune (one of my all-time favorites) by the time I am done. Atlas Shrugged certainly has many parallels to the socio-economic climate we live in today. That is probably true of any time period and one of the reasons it remains very popular.
I had the Fountainhead checked out from the library but didn't find time to start it before Christmas. Booklist.Queue("Fountainhead"). Good luck with it.
# Posted By Nathan Smith
| 1/6/09 2:56 PM
Ray, I'd love to hear a beginner's guide/comparison between Groovy and ColdFusion. From the light references scattered around blogs I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything not looking into it, so if I am I'd love to hear it from you (me meaning general ColdFusion developers that read your blog).Groovy vs. ColdFusion deathmatch post 2009. Please. Thanks.
# Posted By David McGuigan
| 1/6/09 7:56 PM
Re: Biggest losers Could be fun too do again this year, I might take part, given the post I made about 'the' game :-)
# Posted By Tom Chiverton
| 1/7/09 4:10 AM
@DM: Maybe when I get better. ;) And I don't think it needs to be a deathmatch. At Broadchoice, we use _both_ CF and Groovy and they work very well together!
# Posted By Raymond Camden
| 1/7/09 6:44 AM
I’m a firm believer that big life changes come through small daily choices. It’s the habits of the daily routine that determine long term success. This is why I created BlotMarks (http://www.blotmarks.com). It’s a completely free online daily goal tracking service. You can share your goals with friends and have them keep you accountable. I’ve found it very useful for myself, which is why I created it in the first place. Enjoy!
Whether you celebrated Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa in December we all celebrated the same thing sometime in the past 24 hours - the New Year. There are many things that we commonly associate with the New Year. Many of us, never me, choose various ways to celebrate the passing year and embrace the new one. Regardless of how you choose to celebrate, many of us choose to make resolutions. I will not venture to guess what it is exactly, but I am sure it is an incredibly poor percentage of those resolutions that actually pan out. (This site has statistics, but I question how accurate they are) Some common resolutions range from ‘dieting’ to ‘exercising more’ to ‘quitting a bad habit.’ Some are more general like ‘make more money’ or ‘volunteer more.’ Whatever your New Year’s Resolution may be I am sure there is a reason for it. Some of you may do it at the request of a loved one or simply for personal gratification. Both of these reasons are fitting I guess.
www.palles.us - to continue reading
<a href="http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-do-Bicep-21s-Exer...;[vid]</a>