CJLWS

Currently working my way through  my project plan  for my Udacity Capstone project.  I'm going to go slightly off-piste at the start as I'm not 100% which libraries I'm going to be using and therefore not 100% sure what to put in my Gradle files so I'll just update them as I go along.  So today's task is to build the skeleton of the app. Building the skeleton My  app design  consists of three main sections: The main landing page where the user can swipe through articles deciding whether or not to read them An article viewing activity where the above selected article is displayed in detail A stats activity where the user's reading habits can be displayed. On top of that I want to support both phones and tablets with the app displaying as two panes on a tablet.  Last time I created a phone app and then tried to 'convert' it to a two-pane version I found it really buggy so this time I have decided to create it with two panes in mind from th...

I'm currently working my way through the Udacity Android Nanodegree and, way later than planned, I'm finally on the last project.  Overall the course has been good and it has been interesting watching it develop as I have been working through it.  One downside is that the course fees are paid monthly, so for each month that you are on the course you hand over another chunk of money.  If you have lots of spare time and can work uninterrupted then it could be seen as a major bonus - get the course completed quickly and it actually works out pretty cheap compared to other courses.  However, if like me things like work and life in general have got in the way then you'll see one month after another roll past and you'll realise it has actually cost you a pretty penny.  Oh well. Anyway, here I am, finally(!) on the final half of the final project.  This project is down as a Capstone with the idea being that you create one app that displays everything you have l...

B-52 Stratofortress at RIAT2017 A while ago I picked up a Nikon 1 series camera for probably the same reason as most of the other owners - it was being sold off on the cheap.  I think it was something like an S2 or one of the other entry level models, coming as a kit with a basic lens and case.  I must admit I wasn't exactly blown away on first use.  There were many things to like such as the small size and surprisingly decent build quality (for the price) however there were an equal number of things not to like such as an odd lack of physical controls despite there being space.  Much like making stone soup I started to purchase extra bits and pieces to go with it in the hope I'd finally end up happy, every time moving further away from the original kit. Fast forward a couple of years and without noticing I'd amassed quite the Nikon 1 collection - apart from a couple of items I think I either have or at some point have had pretty much everything that has been...

I'm currently trying to learn Python using the excellent resources at  https://learnpythonthehardway.org/book/  and, in a move that I'm sure would enrage the author, I want to use Microsoft's Visual Studio Code as my editor.  The reasons for this are mainly that a. I actually quite like it and b. I already use it for a number of other projects.  If you haven't already then I suggest checking it out by downloading it  here . When I'm developing or learning new stuff I tend to find myself moving between a variety of systems in different locations including but not limited to an iMac, a MacBook, a Windows desktop and a Linux laptop as well as a few other bits and pieces.  This is another reason I went with Code - it works the same across all my platforms.  One thing that annoys me is when I have been working on one machine and want to seamlessly pick up on another with everything nicely synced.  Some time ago, due to wanting to answer the need...

So, here we go again... This is the obligatory first post to mark the start of yet another social channel.  Like my Flickr  and YouTube  accounts I don't really know what I'm going to document or share here.  Chances are there'll be Coding, Cooking and Photography for starters but I imagine all sorts of randomness will pop up.  Although whatever happens I'm sure it will fare better than my Tumblr efforts! One thing for sure is this won't be a regular thing - so if you're reading this then don't hold your breath for the next instalment!