The Lighter Side of Code

I was working with jQuery today and I had an unusual issue.  Some users were getting incorrect data when using the app and others had no problem at all.  After checking the code and the queries I started looking at the app using Firebug, the best plugin ever.  After a few minutes of trial and error, I was still stumped.  I could not understand why only a few people were getting wild results.  Well, the final straw was when we changed the caching rules in the browser to automatically reload data and never load new versions of the page.  That was when I finally was able to reproduce the problem.

It turns out that ajax calls will cache your requests unless you append a different value at the end of each request.  You can also stop the cahcing if you use the jQuery post method instead of the get method.  I had no idea that ajax did that, but thanks to Ken Foubert’s blog post for clearing that up.

Lu Sancea AJAX

I am pretty excited about this software and I bet that some of you folks will be as well.  Thanks to a wonderful podcast called Security Now, I have been shown the way!  The program that I am talking about is Sandboxie.  This is a very complicated program with a simple purpose, to keep your programs from doing anything stupid.  I have to say bravo, this application is awesome and very good at what it does.

So, what does Sandboxie do?  Well, in a nutshell, Sandboxie takes your programs and runs them in a space that prevents them from making any permanent changes to your data or your system.  You read it correctly, you run your programs in a sandbox which makes your programs think that they are running on the system, but they aren’t.  Once you decide to delete the sandbox all changes the program made goes away.  Sweet huh?

Think of it this way, let’s say you are using Internet Explorer and you decide that you want to go to a shady website.  Let’s say the site has evil code on the page that tries any number of javascript hacks to break into your machine.  Well, if you did you would probably have a bunch of viruses and trojans on your machine.  You probably wouldn’t know it happened either.  Does that sound like fun?

With Sandboxie you can open your programs in a Sandbox.  By doing that you will be able to do the same things you did before, but with added security.  If you took the same scenario from above and did that in Sandboxie, you would still get the virus and trojans and all that crap.  However, this time you could delete the sandbox and, poof, there goes all the crap!  I know you are excited and I was too.

There are many applications for this software, for instance you could install a program, install it, and if you don’t like it simply delete the sandbox and it’s gone.  Or how about running your email in a sandbox and if you click a bad link and corrupt your machine, just close it and there goes the problem.

I know, too good to be true or what about the files you want to save.  Well, Sandboxie is designed to give you the ability to assign programs the rights to save files when you want them to.  That means only files you want saved will be able to be saved.  I can’t suggest this software any more than this, it’s awesome.  But there is one more thing that makes this software awesome.  Once you buy it, for $30 bucks, you get a lifetime registration and you can install it on any computer you own.  Go get it now…that is all.

Lu Sancea Security Security

Hello again folks!  I am walking in a march of dimes walk coming up in a month and I wanted to post this to see if anyone wanted to sponsor my walk.  It’s all part of my change of lifestyle, I have started doing charity work in my spare time.  Oh and by the way, my workouts are just as grueling and my pants are getting loose.  Anyway, I will post more in depth about that later, for now if anyone wants to help I appreciate it.

Lu Sancea Fundraising Fundraising

I was working out this morning and I had an idea that would be interesting to watch.  What if there was an Ultimate Programming Showdown?  They have a hacking contest at security conferences, we developers should have a programming contest.  I would go to see that, especially if you add in beer and cheerleaders.

Let’s think about what would happen at this event.  We could take all of the best developers in a given language and put them down in front of neutral machines, much like a gaming contest.  Then each person would be given a small app to build within a given time frame.  Of course there will have to be some ground rules to keep the .NET and PHP folks from being cute and here are some I have been mulling over.

First, there can’t be any pre-built modules or classes, everything needs to be built from scratch.  That means database connections, DAO objects, etc.  The idea is to see which language would be the best and fastest to develop a project.  Now we all know how this will end up, but I think it would definitely help the lemmings of the world see the power in each language.

I was also thinking that there would be a bracket system and rounds.  I imagine the under the table betting on that would be spectacular.  But besides that, it would be fun to watch and trash talk!

I am guessing that ColdFusion is going to smoke the competition in this type of competition, but I think it would be fun to watch.  Here are the people I think would be top seeded:

1. Ben Forta: Because he British and well…he’s Ben Forta.
2. Ray Camden: I mean the guy is a Jedi.
3. Luis Majano: Simply because ColdBox is wicked complicated!
4. Hal Helms: Because I have nicknamed him ‘The Duke’ and I want to chat that someday.
5. Sean Corfield: Because I want to see Ray Camden and him battle it out.
6. Joe Rinehart: ModelGlue is pretty nutso as well.
7. Ben Nadel: Because he will probably show up with something kinky.
8. Adam Haskell: Fusebox…the first framework I learned.
9. Matt Woodward: Mach-II people.
10. Mark Mandel: Transfer.

I know I am missing some folks but those are the people at the top of my mind.  Who else thinks this would be cool to see?

Lu Sancea Coldfusion, PHP .NET, Coldfusion, PHP

Another week is over and I just finished up my free day.  I don’t think I have lost any weight, but my clothes are starting to fit better.  I am also getting the old college strength back.  I was playing with my daughters today and I was able to toss my eldest up in the air way higher to her delight.  At any rate, this system works pretty well, even though I am not using their products.

If anyone tries to use the program, I advise staying on the plan for at least 3 weeks.  It will suck really bad for that amount of time and then the annoyance goes away.  I used to get really hungry and I would get crabby, but now I am feeling better and my appetite is changed.  I hope some of you out there try it.  The beauty is that it works even without the products and whatnot.

Lu Sancea BFL BFL, Health

I have decided to start the Body For Life program after many months of waffling.  I figured I would be blog about it so others who want to lose some weight might be inspired.  I have taken my before pictures, but I haven’t downloaded them yet, but I will shortly.  I have been on the plan for about two week now and I have lost about 10 pounds so far, pretty cool huh?

The Body For Life program is a 12 week program with an emphasis on diet and intense workouts.  I work out 6 days a week, trading off weights and cardio on each day.  I of course hate cardio, but it’s a means to an end so I do it.  The idea behind the system is that you will eventually have the eating and workout habit down by the time your body goes through the initial transformation.  From then on you keep living that lifestyle and by default you stay healthy.

This is how the workouts go:

Monday: Upper Body workout (46 min max)
Tuesday: Cardio (20 min max)
Wednesday: Lower Body workout (46 min max)
Thursday: Cardio (20 min max)
Friday: Upper Body workout (46 min max)
Saturday: Cardio (20 min max)
Sunday: Free Day (Eat whatever you want)

The free day seems like it’s pretty cool, but let me tell you it isn’t all that great.  By the second week you will probably start hating the free day and won’t eat too badly.  The first day I was the Tasmanian devil in the kitchen, but the day after I felt like a dirty rag.   The diet is pretty simple and there is a cookbook that helps plan out the meals.  As with everything, you have to plan in order to work this plan and it’s not for the timid.  It’s worth it though, wish me luck!

Lu Sancea BFL BFL, Health

I was reading a CNET article and thought that I would post it so others who haven’t seen it can see it.  It’s basically and update list of companies and positions that are open.  The tech gigs are in all kinds of different languages, but there are some Flex and CF gigs in there.  I hope it helps someone.  Happy hunting!

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pvAQUc696A97In0oEsHb5Qg&chrome=false&gid=0

Lu Sancea Jobs, Misc Jobs, Misc

This post is really to test out the Wordpress app on the iPhone. I think that the app is fairly good for the quick post. I doubt I would write anything more than a few paragraphs, but it does quench my need to write more than 140 characters. I have gotten a lot better at typing on the keyboard which helps a lot. The one thinng I have noticed is that it’s pretty annoying typing out URLs, but there is image support so that’s good. Other than that it’s not too bad, and I can’t wait for the update.

Lu Sancea Coldfusion, Freelance Coldfusion, Freelance

I came across this site, and I had to spend some time making a rebuttal video to all the stupid articles about CF dying.  I hope you guys enjoy it. 

Lu Sancea Coldfusion Coldfusion, Video

This is as much a call for help as it is a mini venting session for me and a problem I had this afternoon working with the Blackberry Bold.  I don’t know if anyone has played with writing apps for the Blackberry, but there are some interesting things that happen across the different models and their browsers.  Well, this afternoon I was told that one of the ‘Back’ buttons, in the app I have been working with, was not working.  Well, upon further inspection I found that this was a weird happening that happens on the Blackberry Bold.  For some reason all of these variations failed to give me the desired effect.

window.history.back();

window.history.go(-1)

history.go(-1);

history.back();

I am not sure what else there is, but all those failed on the Bold.  Has anyone out there see anything like this on the Bold?  Does this happen on any other Blackberry models?

Lu Sancea Coldfusion Coldfusion