Dynamic vs Static : Why I love Groovy

Steve Yegge hit's the hammer on the nail in why I like Groovy so much in this Tech-Talk about Dynamic Languages vs. traditional Static Languages.



Groovy allows both static and dynamic programming interchangeably. The most compelling argument I see in this video which really hits the point is that there is more information available during runtime. Groovy and the JVM is the future! ;)

ZOMG... The most random video you will ever see

When a friend of mine shared this video with me, here was the chat conversation that ensued:

friend: you're never gonna believe this
me: what?
friend: i just found yo mama's ex-boyfriend on youtube
me: lol
friend: <inserts video>
me: LMAO
that's your stepfather
friend: HAHAHHAHAHAHAHA
me: lol
friend: that's your real father
me: your mom's like a mini-market
friend: yo mama's "just like...she's just like... a mini mall!"
me: yo, this dude's scary
friend: "oh yeah, flea market"
me: Alabama would make a nucca look like a clown
friend: hahahahahahhahahaha
he's the pride of montgomery
the scary thing is, i bet his business has quadrupled after that ad
3+ million views on youtube
if i was anywhere near alabama, i'd drive there just in the hopes of seeing him
me: this must be the edited version... the original had your momma booty dancin on the plastic covered sofa
friend: HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
your mom's one of his many groupies
me: lol
your mom tailored his suit
friend: your mom's his roadie
hahahahahahahhaha
he got his suit at oaktree
me: the most unbelievable part is....
how he agreed to....
...cut off his jerry-curl
friend: hahahhahahaha
you know he's also gotta be a preacher on the side
me: yeah
usin' the money to go watch R-Kelly shows
friend: HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
me: down-lo, down-lo

Does he look like a bitch?

It's been a while since I've blogged. So here's some humor for ya.

What is America?

One of the very touching moments in the Obama campaign. Go Obama!

Developing Apps for Microsoft Surface: Show me the Code!

Surface is Microsoft's touchscreen technology.

This first video literally develops a basic photo viewing application in under two minutes using XML configuration and the C# language.


PDC Day 1 - Developing for Surface from Dan Waters on Vimeo.


In this second video, the guy codes tells Surface how to react to a particular physical object (painter pallet) by telling Surface its shape, position, and what do do, etc. Then uses this painter color pallet to actually paint things on Surface. It's kinda long, but make sure you watch minutes 3:00 - 4:00 and of course the end of the video.


PDC - Using the Surface SDK to "see" objects from Dan Waters on Vimeo.

Prepare your mind for Gears of War 2

Ok, time to get ready for Gears of War 2.... If you haven't watched the Dev Diaries you should really check them out. Here are 3 of them to start....

1. All about Sounds (Can really make a game)


2. A Pixel is Worth 1,000 Words


3. Stars, Gunfire, Drama, Romance


And the cool launch trailer...




Finally, the very cool "Last Day" trailer as we prepare for battle...

GMaven (Groovy + Maven)

I love Groovy and I love Maven but it was a bit of a pain at first to get GMaven working.

To make a long story short, my solution was to use the following parameters:

mvn org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-archetype-plugin:2.0-alpha-3:generate \
-DarchetypeGroupId=org.codehaus.groovy.maven.archetypes \
-DarchetypeArtifactId=gmaven-archetype-basic \
-DarchetypeVersion=1.0-rc-3

The real "gem" is having to specify the "2.0-alpha-3" since that's when the generate goal came into practice instead of the old-school "archetype:create." Once this is fixed, you'd be able to just do "archetype:generate." Also, once if the jira passes then you no longer will have to specifry the archetypeVersion, a parameter often missed by n00bs like myself.

G'luck!