Where Has The Time Gone?

Wow...What else can I say. It's almost been a year since a posted ANYTHING to this blog. The time has come to revitalize this blog, get it's heart beating and start kickin' some ass.

Over the last year, I have been tinkering in other ventures other then .net and I have to say that although at times I really hate Microsoft, DAMN can they make a user friendly IDE. My attempts at learning Objective-C and using Apple's X-code and Interface Builder has been in vein. I must say though, I have not given it my all. Time is very tight these day/nights. I have not given up on it yet. I still want the ability to program for Mac and iPhones. I just don't like the user experience that X-Code and Interface Builder deliver.

Call me spoiled but there is nothing like Visual Studio. All in one, no messing around, it's just easy. Switching back and forth from X-Code to IB and then back is cumbersome. Not only that but why the hell do I have to drag links from the property settings to the controls on the interface? Setting up control actions seems backwards to me. Why can't they just allow you to drag a control onto the interface and double click on it to write the code for it? I guess I just don't get it. When working with Apple's product, I constantly think I should change the name of my blog to "Coding In The Dark" cause that's just how I feel about Objective-C! I shall try to give this some more thought later in the year as I have some ideas I'd like to implement on the iPhone.

Now, an update to the Mas-500 "add-on" I've been working on... This will be the 3rd year that I have been adding features to a program that supposedly could do everything I needed and then some. Well let me tell you, if your a fisherman cast your lines this way because I'll most likely swallow it hook, line and sinker! I called my application simply "Management Suite". Why Management Suite? It's simple...When you need a Suite of over 60 unique screen, 50+ reports, 90 new SQL tables, too many new views and procedures to count and thousands of lines of vb and SQL code to help Manage another application, it deserves it name. And I'm not done yet. Not even close. I have to admit that this "little" project of mine has improved my coding and definately increased my knowledge of SQL.

I will be giving more time to learning Silverlight this year. I have started to redesign my company's website but want to give it a little more zing. Nothing over the top, just some simple effects that look clean and professional.

That's all for now. I'm hoping to update this site a little more often and try to get new content up for you to look at. Until then....

Time Needed

It's been a few weeks since my last post. I am once again finding myself buried under too many projects, too many hours of work and just not enough time. BUT I thought I'd take a few seconds and let you know what is going on.

It's been over a year now since I started working on extending MAS 500 for my "day job" and am currently still adding features. It might have been simpler to write the entire program from scratch and not even have bothered with the "out-of-the-can" system. After creating several modules, I now have the pleasure of creating the custom reports and am sure that I'm going to have to go back and redo some of the modules after the system goes live.

I have also been working on a pawn shop website on and off for the past month. Work has halted for now until I get more info from the owner. At the same time I have been developing a front-end app that will allow him to easily modify the website from his store without having to learn html or knowing how to upload to the website.

In the coming months I will also start work on the Edmonton's Soroptimist site. It is an organization that helps out various women's groups around the world. I will be volunteering my time to create a site that describes their group at the local level. I'm looking forward to start work on this. It's time that my work be seen on a larger scale. I just hope that I can deliver the quality that they are looking for. More on that soon.

GRAPHICS, GRAPHICS, GRAPHICS

Now to get away from the programming aspect, I have also been creating ads for my "day job" and also flyers for Soroptimist. The following Ostrem ad, created in Photoshop CS3, will be shown in Manufacturing Today in the March/April edition and the Soroptimist flyer, created with Illustrator CS3, was handed out for their annual "International Woman's Day" awards. Take a look...

I have just started working on a mini-brochure for a local artist that wants to show some of his portfolio to people at the art shows. I will post that one once it is completed.

TIME TO READ

I just purchased 3 new books today to help me learn more about SQL Server and Crystal Reports. Thanks to the recent help I got from a great SQL analyst/programmer, I realized that I needed to upgrade my SQL skills. Although I could do simple queries and such, I never took the time to actually dive deeper than that. With the help of these books, I should become more efficient and actually be able to do more complex tasks. Here is the list of books I purchased:

• SQL Server 2005 Bible
• Professional SQL Server 2005 Programming
• Crystal Reports Xi Official Guide

So there you have it. I'll be busy for quite some time but I will make sure to write another blog soon. Bye for now.

Malarky No More...

I have decided that my other blog, Nocturnal Malarky, had to be put down. I was finding it too difficult to concentrate on any one subject and as a result I decided to create Coding After Dark. I will mainly be concentrating on .NET development as well as some other minor subjects. So come back soon and check up on me.

Oh before I go, I just want to say: "It's about FN time!!!!". The war is over and BLU-RAY has come out on top. Now I hope that all the studios can concentrate on the Blu-Ray format and deliver high quality movies that we expect in HD.

Jack of all...Master of...You get the picture.

- originaly posted on Nocturnal Malarkey (Jan. 6, 2008)

Well 2008 is here, the mad rush of the holidays are over and I can now gladly say that I have all my Christmas shopping done and in record time!

Welcome to Coding After Dark. This is a new venture for me as I have never entered the world of blogging before. Hell I haven't even kept a private journal in my life and now I'm going to post my thoughts on the net. God help us all. Anyways, I just wanted to take time in my first post to give you guys (ya you, you know who you are) a quick, dirty look at who I am and the kind of posts I'll be doing.

I'm a 34 year old Information Technologist that is currently employed at one of Western Canada's leading manufacturer of cleaning compounds and specialty chemicals. I have been employed nearly 14 years there, only taking a year hiatus around the 7 year mark to explore other avenues. I started out as a labourer in the manufacturing plant until there was a position available for someone with a little computer knowledge. I have since written 2 major components for their everyday operation, developed their website, and implemented and maintain their network. I am in the process of creating a 3rd application to extend the functionality of their new MAS-500 ERP system. And finally, I am also the graphics designer for the majority of private labels and brochures used for our distributors.

Don't let the title of this post mislead you, I am quite well versed in Visual Basic, am getting better with SQL, and sure know my way around CorelDraw. But that's enough about me for now.

On this site, I plan on touching on computer related issues that are in some way related to what I am working on, be it at my "9-5 job" or my recreational time. I will also be offer, from time to time, my thoughts on the video game industries (my passion, been doing it since the late 70's) and the occasional news on my new adventure of learning C# and game design. I will be mostly discussing vb.net, asp.net and sql topics.

Finally, I just want to say that I am not an expert at pretty much anything. I am always learning and love to hear what people have to say. But I have one request, please make ALL comments productive and relevant to the topic or please don't bother posting. I already have too much to sort through in my head.

Once again, welcome to my blog.