Functionality is very literally bare bones (status updates) at the moment and GUI almost non-existent but still, I’m glad I’ve gotten somewhere. Was getting very frustrating getting endless 401 errors from the server while I figured out how to POST and GET – not very well documented online in Java. Anyway, must start thinking of some way of making Jitter different somehow; a quirky feature or quality that every other Twitter client out there dosen’t have already. In the meantime going to try build on the basics untill it’s comparable to say, TwitterFox, in functionality. I have little to no experience in GUI programming (outside of 2D graphics, that is), or HTTP/web in Java so it should be a good learning experience.

Anyway, presuming your aware of the usefullness of the search bar, you may be unaware of search keywords. Not sure how these escaped my notice for so long, but basically you can assign keywords to each search, allowing you to use your address bar for quick access to various sites. So for example, if I type “gmaps UCD” or “imdb Terminator 3″ into the address bar…. Well I’m sure you can guess the rest. May have been obvious to most but it’s a new one on me! Click below for instructional screenshottage: (a picture says a thousand words, after all)

Simple and usefull

Decided to take the plunge earlier and installed Windows 7 Release Candidate. Before I go any futher, will have to admit I’m slightly ashamed I let it leapfrog Jaunty in my OS priorities: my relationship with Linux is still more as a mistress than a staple partner! I even uninstalled Windows altogether in exchange for an Intrepid/OpenGEU combination at Easter, but this ended up being shortlived: my gaming appetite shone through. Will definitely be installing 9.04 once I’ve settled down with Win7 though, why let yourself get too comfortable eh…

Anyway moving on, had originally been meaning to have Win7 as a dual-boot just to try it out first, but two things made me just go for the straight swap with XP. Firstly it’s been getting rave reviews- I literally cannot recall having heard a bad word about the RC so far. And secondly, I’ve been using Vista SP2 a bit on my mother’s new laptop and *shock horror* it’s actually not as bad as I remembered- I’d been wary of Win7 being in the same mould.

Thankfully, it seems to bring together some of the best parts of XP (Performance, Stability) and Vista (Security [in relative terms], Hardware Support, Searching, and of course a flashy UI!). Frankly I was startled by how responsive it feels, finding it to be more or less on a par with the heavily speed-tweaked XP setup I’ve been running up till now. But yet it’s still a joy to look at, even moreso than Vista, which is a nice improvement for someone accustomed to years of XP and with little Mac experience.  On the whole, it feels like everything Vista should have been, had it been properly cared for and nurtured, rather than thrust into the limelight half-baked.

Feel like I should get to know it better before I go on a rant about it’s features, so perhaps that is what I will do. (Number 1 on my list is checking out this much reputed built-in drive imaging support). I’l do a new post in a week or two with screenshots etc. methinks.) Parting comment however: yes it may be as responsive as XP once it gets going, but it’s taking a sluggish 55 seconds to boot up this evening. Didn’t seem that long this morning so I suspect it may be a driver issue!. Speaking of drivers, was great to only have 2to install, as opposed to the normal 8 or 9 for an XP reinstall!

In other news, must get around to making a dent into the SCJP course soon: last 48 hours have been spent basically stripping my bedroom of all the junk I’ve accumulated over the years. Rewarding but tiring in it’s own way!

Edit: They’ve put a new version of Paint! Ok it’s no GIMP but still, mspaint is an institution. Cool.

So anyway, to keep myself busy when I’m not landscaping part-time or watching rugby, I’ve set myself a few projects:

• Finish my checkers/chess Java applet
  Inspired by a book I came across on Java Game Development. Hoping to move onto a different Java project once I get a 2 player game working, and then come back to do the AI at some point. At the moment I’m pondering a redesign based on using a skip list as the board, but can’t decide if its worth doing or not.

• Take the Sun Certified Java Programmer (SCJP) exam
  Recommended to me, and seems very worthwhile, both out of interest and career prospects. Expensive and time consuming but hopefully something I’l get through. Still don’t know much about it so my next port of call once I finish this is some research. Not sure yet if getting it finished before September is practical.

• Finish the Silverstream website
  I’ve never been particularly creative artistically, so web design isn’t something that really comes naturally to me, but I’m doing my best to make a site for my dad’s landscaping company, Silverstream (using Dreamweaver, lovely piece of software). Did the bulk of the layout at Christmas and never got back to it, hoping to add some content and a scripted gallery of some sort, and then get the whole thing online

• Read. Alot.
  A little more abstract this one, but in terms of what I want to achieve over the summer and going forward, I want to get back into reading. I figure it’d be a shame to get out of the habit, because I grew up as a total bookworm, but then tapered off as I got older (although I do go through phases). Found a great website a while back (www.awesomebooks.co.uk) selling 2nd hand books, so took advantage and bought myself a reading list. Have read Band Of Brothers and The Beach by Alex Garland so far this summer, both great reads (The movie adaption of the Beach w/ DiCaprio was horrendous though, but I’m looking forward to watching the BoB mini-series). Trying to get a nice balance of fiction, non-fiction and technology stuff in, so I’m currently reading The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, River Out Of Eden by Richard Dawkins (the world’s biggest atheist: v. interesting stuff, the guys a bigger Darwinist than the man himself) and then a huge tome on Software Engineering in general, that I somehow can’t ever see myself finishing. (I didn’t realise there was that much you could write it, naive much?)

Hopefully I’l be able to make progress on the above as time goes on. Also have more vague aims in mind like “Go places”, “Eat better” and “GET A JOB” but those will have to wait for now. Although, in terms of the latter, I was in touch with a few Software companies around Co. Wicklow (yeah, I didn’t know there were any either!) over the last few days so hopefully I’l have a few more replies by Monday in that regard. (For the record, have 2 “We’re sorry, not in this economic climate” responses so far).

With a bit of luck and continued motivation, hopefully this blog won’t start gathering cobwebs and join the giant graveyard in the sky marked “Good intentions”. Might start a few categories and write a starter post or two for each over the next day or two to get myself into it. Am itching to share my rugby opinions with the world even though the whole point of starting this was not frivolously wasting time! Am wearing my Lions jersey as we speak so I guess at the end of the day, you can’t expect a leopard to change it’s spots..

- Darren