@TheKeyboard Always code as if the person who ends up maintaining your code is a violent psychopath who knows where you live.

With summer half over, I’ve realized that I’m just too damn busy during the summer. As a result, my blogging suffers. So, I’ve decided to turn things around and bit and ask my readers what they would like to see in the next month or so.

Using Mint I do get to see what visitors are looking at when they visit, and it’s a mixed bag. Which is good. Many of my tutorials and smaller posts have gotten lots of visits and lots of great feedback. Again, which is good. Feedback lets me know if I’m being clear in what I’m posting. But now I’ve sort of hit a lull and run out of topics. I’m sure nobody wants to read about my struggles at softball or the intricacies of politics in my job. You know, the boring non-technical stuff. Instead, I want to give YOU more of what YOU want.

In the comments, let me know what stuff you’d like to see. Follow-ups to existing tutorials, my thoughts on certain topics, explanations on other things I’ve blogged about. I’m sure that some of the existing content might be slightly out-of-date, so if there is enough call for revision I’d be glad to revisit things and give them an update spin.

As most of my commenters know, I do moderate every single comment that comes in and only dump the spam that gets through Akismet. Don’t be shy, let me know what sort of stuff you are looking for.

Taken from a discussion with my friend Kevin via IM earlier today (warning, may contain bad language):

webslinginfool
or try pida
which _is_ what you wanted no?

Chris Hartjes
pida?

webslinginfool
*sigh*

Chris Hartjes
not really

webslinginfool
http://pida.co.uk/files/screenshots/pida_0-5-2_17.png

Chris Hartjes
if I want that, I can go with Textmate

webslinginfool
true
very true
actually , why dont you use textmate?

Chris Hartjes
I do use it
but you get me looking at that vim stuff

webslinginfool
ahh
a man of weak faith
tsk
tsk
tsk

Chris Hartjes
very weak when it comes to editors

webslinginfool
wait, let me halt construction of your monument
i've never met anyone like you actually

Chris Hartjes
in what way

webslinginfool
editor waffling

Chris Hartjes
yeah, that's pretty rare
I dunno why I'm like that

webslinginfool
i've never even  heard of it
you should totally add an "editors"
section to your blog and simply detall
your experiences
oh, and make friends with a bishop

Chris Hartjes
fuck
YOU

webslinginfool
because you'll start a holy war!

Kevin is a vim guy, and is always giving me tips (solicited or not) on how to make my vim experience more enjoyable. A lot of what he gives me *is* useful. I probably have a vim setup now that will work okay for me, and I did give vim a two-week audition as my main editor a while back. However, it didn’t have the GUI file drawer / file explorer crutch that I’ve gotten used to. Besides, I think my arguments about why I use each editor are just lame.

• Komodo - got a free license after talking at the Vancover PHP conference last year (please, go to Open Web Vancouver this year so they can get enough money for me to fly business class ;)), cool editor, nice debugger…but I find it slow and unresponsive at times.
• TextMate - one of the first OS-X apps I ever paid for, nice and snappy, great syntax highlighting…but doesn’t have the tooltip stuff that Komodo does. I did find a cool plugin that shows me what files I’ve modifed in version control right there in the file drawer, but it’s not an IDE like Komodo is
• vim - very powerful, pretty much does everything I need in an editor…but all those damn commands to remember, and where’s my pretty GUI file explorer?!?!

Those are three of the lamest statements I’ve come across in my talking to people about the editor I use. Editors are usually a religious issue amongst developers: you can pry the one they use every day from their cold, dead hands.

So, maybe it’s time to grow up as a developer and stop switching between editors. But can I do it? Yes, I know you’re not used to reading my angst-filled posts about what editor to use. Damnit, why am I so weak on this issue?!?

This post is not intended to become a holy war on what editor to use, I’m just expressing my frustration at my inability to decide what to do here. If I look at it objectively, it’s about what tool I would be the most productive in. The problem is, I can’t figure that out…probably because I keep switching all the damn time.

Is it fear of commitment? Fear that I pick the wrong editor for what I need? I have started branching out into other languages, so my editor needs to support those as well. All three can do it. *sigh*

Komdo vs. TextMate vs. vim. Maybe there is no winner, just a loser. Me.

One of the thing the Pragmatic Programmers said (when not trying to get us to buy their books all the time) is to settle on one editor, whatever one that is, and learn ALL it has to offer because you might be surprised what it can do for you. Flipping back and forth is no way to do that. More like a delaying tactic from someone who doesn’t want to HAVE to pick, maybe?

Well folks, that day has come. I must pick and stick with it for once. I’ll let you guys know at the end of the week what I picked. Go back to making fun of me in the other posts, okay?

Full disclosure: my wife works as a job recruiter, dealing in full-time permanent positions. If you live in Southern Ontario and are a fit for this position, please contact her.

Manufacturing Engineer - Waterloo, ON

Full Time
Salary: Neg.
Required Skills:

Bachelor of Engineering degree in Industrial, Manufacturing or Mechanical Engineering

Experience in Lean Manufacturing, Concurrent Engineering and familiar in utilizing various statistical tools desired

Candidate with 2-5 years engineering experience in high volume electronic manufacturing preferred

Experience on outsourcing projects

Project management experience with demonstrated ability to use resources to complete projects on time and within budget

Demonstrated leadership and communications skills

An experienced technical problem solver who can work with cross functional groups to execute continuous improvement actions

Job Description:
The successful candidate will be aligned with specific new product introductions and will play a pivotal technical role principally during the Product Development Process (PDP), but also through to product end of life (EOL). The responsibility will apply to products built within Manufacturing and our Outsourcing partners. The Manufacturing Engineer will be primarily responsible for identifying new product´s DFM/DFA requirements, and working these through to completion with the product development teams. The engineer will be required to establish with the design teams the development process and product milestones, specifications and assembly process deliverables inclusive of standard time, routings, new process qualifications and will lead the DFA/DFM, build analysis, issue tracking and resolution to meet the defined goals
Contact: Claire Aucott
Phone: 416-823-7554
Email Address: claire@npssolutions.ca

I get emails all the time from recruiters, and I usually politely respond that I’m not interested since I’m usually pretty happy with the job I have. I recently got one from Jason Squires at Squires Resources that I thought I should share with my readers. Please be advised that I am not receiving any sort of compensation from Squires Resources in exchange for putting this information up here. I just thought people should be aware of the kind of cool opportunities that are out there.

Technical Solutions Specialist - Development
A unique opportunity awaits in sunny, sub-tropical Bermuda!

On behalf of a premier ISP/Communications company in Bermuda we are seeking an experienced and motivated Developer who would be interested in relocating to join their dynamic team.

The successful candidate will be involved in:
- Applications design, Online (live web) and offline (supporting)applications development applications development, and Recurring HTML content.
- Working with engineering in evaluating requirements and developing plan for project resolution.
- Coordinating with Engineering on quality and design changes.
- Providing technical support to internal resources on internal systems.
- Providing superior customer service either on site or over telephone.

Requirements
- Degree/Diploma in Computer Science or equivalent work experience.
- Must have: Excellent PHP skills including Object Oriented Design
- Excellent knowledge of web development technologies such as XHTML, CSS, XML, Web Services, SSL, OOD, AJAX, ASP.NET.
- In depth knowledge of SQL, PL/SQL language
- Zend Certified Engineer would be a strong asset but not required

Our client offers a competitive compensation and benefits package (with only 4.75% tax!) along with the opportunity to live and work in beautiful Bermuda. Due to the relocation involved, candidates should be highly mobile and adaptable, with outside interests that correspond to Bermuda’s idyllic and unique living environment.

For more information or to explore this unique position, please contact Jason Squires, Squires Resources Inc. 705.725.7660 ext 23 or jason@squiresresources.com

Thousands of professionals are enjoying unique careers and exceptional lifestyles in Bermuda and the Caribbean… Please visit us online at www.squiresresources.com to find out how you can join them!

Like I said in a previous post, I’m never out of work for too long these days. Besides, it makes the wife nervous about our ability to pay the mortgage if I sit around the house in grubby clothes not doing anything of substance. Starting Monday I will be working with the folks from XMLTeam from the comfort of my basement lair, doing programming work for them. Yes, another telecommuting job. Better to be lucky than good.

So why am I working for them? Besides the opportunity to continue working from home, they are in the sports data business. They provide data feeds, in XML format using the SportsML standard, and have some pretty impressive clients on board (many subscription-based clients) and some of the upcoming projects sound exciting (two pretty cool baseball-related things). Since I’m a baseball freak, this is right up my alley.

Sounds good, right? Well, not everything is perfect. They don’t use CakePHP. ;). They preferred CodeIgnitor when they needed some framework stuff done. Not that there is anything wrong with CodeIgnitor, as it has it’s place. My problem is that I can’t keep jumping from framework to framework all the time. My brain gets confused about how to solve things sometimes.