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Author Archives: Patrick
Hexadecimal arithmetic in Google
Did you know that you can do hexadecimal arithmetic in Google? I didn’t, but I knew that Google’s calculator feature would often just do ‘the right thing’, so I decided to try it out. I wanted to use the Google Chart API to create a grouped bar chart. I wanted each of the four bars [...]
a tip to prevent deadlocks on database connections (or, at least detect them early)
It seems there were a lot of points in our code base at work that are ripe for deadlocking on database connections. We are acquiring a connection, and then calling some other methods, and a few frames down the stack, we acquire another connection (before releasing the first). This, of course, can result in a [...]
Posted in computers Tagged database, deadlock, java, performance, programming, testing Leave a comment
Bottle Conditioning in Growlers
Well, today seemed to be a busy day for people asking me beer-related questions on facebook. I like to repost things like this here, since the facebook wall doesn't really stick around very long.
So, a friend of mine who is just getting into homebrewing, posed this question:
hey, So the directions I have say no screw top bottles. I was planning on filling mostly just growlers, is that cool? and why is it that the net has so much contradicting information? mostly about the times for fermenting and carbonating
Well, I've experimented some with bottle-conditioning in growlers, with some mixed (but never disastrous) results. I've also heard the warning from people on the Internet about bottle bombs.
Read on for my response, which I elaborated on somewhat to fit this format (my blog), since facebook imposes character limits on wall posts and comments.
Hi Patrick, I have a beer question.
Today on Facebook, my mom asked me a question that I couldn't answer in the short limits that Facebook imposes on wall comments/posts. I reposted it here in full form.
Here is the question:
Hi Patrick, I have a beer question.
Unfiltered and unfettered Hefeweisen... I had that recently at 12 Crane and it didn't taste right. I am sure I have had it before, or at least tasted it at a beer bar in Boston with you and I liked it. When I asked the waitress about it, she said the beer was as it should be but may have seemed strange because of the "unfettered and unfiltered". Does that sound right to you or is she just a good waitress with an intelligent sounding response? I am keeping my question "filtered" because I don't want to cast aspersions on any beer makers.
love, Mom
Read on for my response:
Wedding photos are coming in!
This will be a very quick post, but the wedding photos are trickling in from everyone.
Be sure to browse and share!
Programming at Sea
Recently, on stackoverflow, Jeff Atwood has been concerned with 'joke' questions. One of these, which is now going to live in infamy due to all the discussion about it, is about "Programming at Sea". Now, I got curious about the questions when I heard about it, so I tried to find it. The Stack overflow moderators had already removed it, but I found it in Google's cache. I decided to exercise my rights under the Creative Commons license and repost the questions and some selected answers here, so it doesn't die forever. I, for one, think this post is both funny and interesting, though I agree that it probably isn't 'programming-related', so it doesn't really belong on SO.
So, here is the question, originally posted by Out Into Space:
I've decided to cast off from this dreadful economy and program out at sea.
I've acquired a 40ft sailboat. Should be sufficient for me and my cat (Ender).
What do I need to be a sailor/programmer? I have a basic sailing knowledge... so I'll wing that part. But the programming! THAT requires some juice which as I understand, is in short supply on long voyages.
So what do I need SO? A genset and some fuel? Would solar be enough to charge a single laptop? What about internet connection out there, got to be something?
So, my question is, what kind of setup should I create to sling code on the high seas?
Read on for some of my favorite responses...
Speed Improvements for Mapping Site