I have set a goal to raise $1,000 in sponsorship of my walk for the cure. I undertake these two important goals – to complete the Long Island 2 Day Walk to Fight Breast Cancer and to raise money for the fight against this cancer.

For anyone that is interested in making a donation for the cause, a quick online donation form can be filled out at https://www.li2daywalk.org/donor_info.asp?MEMBERID=10141

Full details about the walk can be found at https://www.li2daywalk.org

Establish structure before any coding

Probably the most important thing on this list is to get a high level idea of how everything is structured before any implementation. Catching problems earlier in the development cycle saves time at an exponential rate as you proceed from one stage to the next.

Become comfortable with a modeling language such as UML for structured code. For projects that consists of a database be sure to also create a schema or E-R Diagram before any creating any tables to hammer out data relationships. This will not only help you sort out your own ideas, but will also allow others to understand your proposed structure easily before any implementation. A great and free program I like to use for my UML modeling is called yED and for databases MySQL Workbench does a sufficient job for diagramming your data.

Refactor sloppy code

Ever find yourself faced with code that “smells” bad? Don’t just keep adding to the bad code, think of ways to improve the code base. Doing so will save time in the long run in maintenance and when new features need to be added.

An example of a common code smell: the same instructions are being copied and pasted in various places throughout the code with very minor differences. Abstract out any variables used, and then extract the logic into a method that you can call with the variables as arguments. This will ensure that if there is a logic change for your algorithm, changes only need to be made in one place as opposed to many. Otherwise, having multiple copies of the same logic would require searching for each instance and replacing it manually or through find and replace which is dangerous.

Write reusable code

Reusable code is related to common practices of refactoring but also deserves a section to call its own. When coding a class, method or algorithm that could be used for a future project, it is in your best interest to make it as flexible to change as possible. With a library of flexible code, you will have an already time-tested code base to work from.

Many books and websites illustrate the importance of using design patterns. Design patterns are coding structures that are accepted by the development community to make easy to read and extend code. A great resource to dive into design patterns is Head First Design Patterns; the book does a great job explaining each pattern and the benefit of using each one, without the need of large confusing code examples.

Coded for Android

AndEngine caught my attention because it isn’t simply a port of an existing engine that was originally written for another language/platform. Many performance concerns regarding the Java garbage collector should be more properly addressed with a game engine written specifically for Java.

Examples and community

Another great aspect is the vast number of example programs written to guide you along in the development of projects. If the examples are not enough, then the very active development community of AndEngine will surely be able to get you on track again. A nice detailed tutorial is available on their forums to get you set up quickly.

Closing thoughts

Overall, I am very excited to jump into this framework and make some killer applications without having to reinvent the wheel during the process. There will be occasional postings about this game engine as I dive in further, so stay tuned!

Angry Birds

Quite possibly the most widely known and popular mobile game available. Angry birds takes a quirky idea and runs with it. Your goal is the launch various types of birds, each with their own special launch abilities, to assault the evil swine that made off with their eggs.
The game features precariously stacked structures that you have to destroy with birds to defeat the pigs. Various physics components are present that make the toppling of these structures somewhat believable and challenging.

Cut the Rope

My personal favorite in this list requires the player to feed candy to a small green monster. This is accomplished by using various tactics such as cutting the rope(s) that suspend the candy in place.  Additionally, later on bubbles are introduced to allow the candy to float, various hazards in introduced such as electric current, candy stealing spiders and spikes. Beating each level is simple enough, but the true fun and challenge emerges when you try to collect the three gold stars in each level; as each requires an intricate set of steps and timing to do so.

A very well polished game that took a great and simple concept and built upon it as the difficulty level progressed onward. I eagerly await further updates for this game to see what new wacky element is added to spice up the game play further.

Finger Physics

A physics puzzle game that covers an impressive level of variety in game play. There are four different level types that  show up that I am aware of so far:

• Stack all the shapes they give you to create a stable building that reaches a target goal height. The higher you stack the more better rating you receive.
• Use all the shapes to create a stable building, height doesn’t matter but you are awarded a higher ranking based on how fast it is accomplished.
• Guide an egg into a basket somewhere on the level. Also on this one merit is based on speed.
• Stack an infinite amount of blocks until it ultimately tumbles. More points are awarded for each block added.

Now take those game types and add in the other elements the game has to offer. This includes magnetic blocks, exploding contact blocks, various odd shapes, and under water scenarios.

The Impossible Game

Before I start, this game is not for someone that gets frustrated easily. Your only control in this game is to tap or hold the screen to make a box jump obstacles to get to the end of the level. It may sound simple but this requires lightning fast reflexes and a good memory to get past this tricky fast paced game. Each level is approximately two minutes long which seems appropriate after you realize how difficult it really is.

A killer soundtrack also accompanies the game for each level when not playing in “Practice Mode”. Trying to beat each level without being in “Practice Mode”  is where this game really shines as an addicting/frustrating game simultaneously.

iBlast Moki

Out of all the games on the list, this one is likely the most polished. The best way to describe it is to reference the Rube Goldberg machine. Your goal is to use ropes, metal poles, balloons, gears and bombs which are all properly placed and timed to get Moki creature(s) to the goal. This game is all about precise timing and chain reactions to perfect each level and offers hours of fun game play. At $2.99 USD it may seem a little steep to some, but it is worth every penny.

Harry Potter

To kick off the list I will start with the Harry Potter series written by J.K. Rowling. The main character in these books is a boy wizard named Harry Potter, shocking I know… who survives a terrible tragedy as an infant.  As a result, he is known throughout the wizard community because of his survival. His celebrity status as well as his habit of doing what is good and righteous, each book has him face a new obstacle/dangerous situation which further rounds him out as a character.  If you have seen any of the movies and enjoyed them then definitely give these books a try, they offer much more depth than a two to three hour film can offer.

Dune

Possibly the most revered science fiction novel would be Dune written by Frank Herbert. A large number of books take place within the Dune Universe but the first book, simply titled Dune, in my opinion is the best one.

The majority of the story takes place on a desert planet that has a rare substance called melange that is harvested. Water is a precious commodity and dangerous gigantic sand-worms roam the desert.

There has been a movie adaptation to the book Dune, but I cannot comment on that since I have yet to see it.

The Hunger Games

A great trilogy of books written by Suzanne Collins which explores the darkness and exploitation of people by those that hold positions of power. You follow the story as Katniss Everdeen, who is a girl in a poverty stricken district where being able to feed yourself or family is a difficult task. There are a total of twelve districts which are controlled by a centralized city known as The Capitol. Early in the first book Katniss ends up participating in the yearly Hunger Games held by The Capitol. The games pit children from each district against each other to a last-man-standing arena fight to the death.

Very well told story with a lot of heart. I wrote a brief review a few months ago which can be viewed at http://staging.digitaldeems.com/2010/09/the-hunger-games/.

The Hobbit

The last book on this list is The Hobbit written by J. R. R. Tolkien. This book is the prequel to The Lord of the Rings books which were adapted into three movies in the early 2000’s. The story follows a simple Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins that is content with his life in The Shire. Until one day a wizard shows up after the visit Bilbo is convinced into taking a journey to a far off mountain for some burgling. While the tale is not as epic as The Lord of the Rings, it is a great place to start as it gets the land of Middle Earth familiar with the reader and is a very engaging tale.

Netbeans IDE

We will kick things off with a program where all of the coding will take place. Netbeans IDE is a powerful open source code editor with a large variety of plug-ins. This is the ideal IDE for PHP web development but works with other languages as well.

One plug-in for example, named Mercurial, allows a very simple method of versioning your code. Using this plug-in enables you to roll back code to previous versions you define while developing. The true power of this plug-in becomes apparent when you need to work on a website with additional team members. Changes to various parts of the site can be merged together and if any code conflicts are present they are manually resolved by you the user.

Built in FTP support in Netbeans enables easy syncing of files between your local development version and the remote server. A variety of options can be set, one particular FTP option of note is uploading your local files to the remote server on save.

The Netbeans IDE can be downloaded at http://netbeans.org/downloads/index.html.

jQuery

jQuery is a javascript framework that abstracts out a good portion of the DOM access in javascript. The biggest feature of jQuery in my opinion is the ability to select DOM elements by using CSS selectors. Other big benefits are the simplicity of making AJAX calls, animating HTML elements and much much more.

Also, jQuery will take care of most of the cross-browser javascript nuances that arise so there is less javascript debugging for multiple browsers. If it works in Firefox, or your preferred web browser, it will likely work in the others  as well.

The true benefit of using jQuery is that you have a tried and tested base for your javascript coding. No reinventing of the wheel when selecting DOM elements, making AJAX calls, integrating fields with autocompletion, etc… which leaves you with more time being graceful with your code and less on the testing/debugging of said code.

The javascript framework jQuery can be downloaded at http://jquery.com/.

Firebug

Firebug is the one stop tool to elegantly browse your HTML, CSS and javascript of a visited web page with the added bonus of editing each element’s code locally on your browser. A great tool for experimenting minor changes on a page by page basis without actually applying them to the live website. In addition to making small changes, it also has a very well made javascript code debugger which makes finding errors and fixing them in your scripts faster and easier.

Even using when the framework jQuery, listed above, you will need to test/debug your written code. It is unrealistic to think otherwise, logic can be flawed, there may be null pointers, etc… which is where Firebug shines.

Firebug is best used with Firefox but there is also a lite version that can be used for other web browsers. Check it out at http://getfirebug.com/downloads.

IE Tester

Finally, with your coded website you will want to ensure maximum compatibility to reach the largest audience possible. This usually involves the installation of multiple browsers on your development machine. The catch is that many different versions of Internet Explorer are still being used everyday and only one version can be easily installed on your machine.

To counter this you can download IE Tester which enables you to render your website using IE6, IE7, IE8, IE9 all within one environment. IE Tester may be a little buggy but it does get the job done at the end of the day without much of a hassle.

IE Test can be downloaded at http://www.my-debugbar.com/wiki/IETester/HomePage.

If you have any other preferred web tools feel free to suggest them in the comment section below.

Story overview

A few story lines are present in this book and they flow together very nicely. You have the following:

• Sookie’s brother Jason goes mysteriously missing early on in the book.
• Tensions rise against the a violent wiccan faction comprised of werewolves and shapeshifters that has recently migrated to the area of Bon Temps and Shrevport. The opposing factions of this new group are the resident werewolves, vampires and human wiccan residents of the area.
• Sookie must shelter Eric, the vampire sheriff of the area, and keep him safe. This is because the leader of the shape shifter/werefolf wiccans has placed a spell/curse on him that caused him to have amnesia and is actively seeking him out through the course of the book.

Final thoughts

So far in my opinion Dead to the World has been the best book in the series. It provides a good mixture of suspenseful story telling with action packed moments. This book should translate into a great upcoming season four of the HBO television series True Blood, if they remain somewhat faithful to the source material.

Rating: 4/5 – Will keep you interested in the series if you made it this far already.

The setting of the story takes place in a land once known as North America; under the rule of an empire known as The Capital. Each year the Capital holds a fight to the death tournament, The Hunger Games, that consists of twenty-four children from the ages of twelve to eighteen. The games are televised throughout the nation and are required viewing by all the citizens. These children are chosen through a lottery system, or in some cases a volunteer may take the place of someone picked from the lottery.

With the basics down, we follow Katniss a girl living in poverty from day to day that ends up in The Hunger Games. You follow her struggles to stay alive in the arena either by fleeing, killing or simply surviving in the harsh elements of the arena. Her life can also be jeopardized by the controller the games; if the game becomes boring they will intervene and spice things up with additional hazards.

The story primarily involves Katniss surviving the games but also has a lot of heart to it, which made it a great book. Her ability to put others before herself in even the most dire scenarios draws you closer to Katniss and her inner struggles.

Rating: 5/5 – A very easy book to get lost in and not put down.

This will mostly be a spoiler free comparison between the television show and novels.

The first three books of the novels are roughly 300 pages long on average, and the first three seasons of the show are twelve episodes long. As a result of this, in order to fill twelve hours per season the show creates additional story arcs that take place simultaneously to the one that Sookie follows in the book.

What is different?

• Most story arcs that do not focus on the main character Sookie never appear in the book, or mentioned very briefly. The book is narrated from the perspective of Sookie, so this is to be expected.
• The show is more exciting and dramatic towards the end of the seasons, this is typically where Sookie’s story line begins to deviate the most from the book. For example, each of the supporting characters have a dramatic end to their additional stories and Sookie gets merged into some of them to keep her character involved.

What is similar?

• Most of the characters that exist in the show also exist in the novels.
• Sookie’s story arc in the show follows the framework of the novel for most of the season.

Should I read the novel or watch the show?

The show is more of a companion to the novel with additional story arcs that can be easily enjoyed. The show builds a more complex view of Sookie’s life because it not only focuses on her adventures but also gives more depth to the people she associates with. I would suggest reading the novel and then watching the show in that order if both mediums are to be enjoyed.

Theme chosen for the site

This site’s theme is based off of the freely available Blog Design Studio New Blue. A clean minimalist two-column layout that is easy to personalize. A nice basis to begin as it complies to most web coding standards.