Stuck on Java

If you hadn't guess by the title of this blog then you know now. I'm in a longterm relationship with Java. I get headaches when I don't drink it and I find it easier to write Java code then to write this blog. Back in high school we learned programming using Pascal, that was until we got actual computers; 5 Apple II's, which ran BASIC. My first program where a bunch of print lines to show the speed skating results of the speed skate world cup. Man it felt good to see the lines slowly being printed from left to right. No pauses necessary, the machines where slow enough all by themselves to get the desired effect. Next I was allowed to skip geography class to code Population Pyramid graphs. You punched in the current age distributions, the birth and death rates and it would slowly redraw the graphs for each year going by, but I'm digressing.

After BASIC, it was back to PASCAL, FORTRAN, C, C++ and finally Java. Java is just great. I've been doing Java for over 10 years now and it doesn't get old. I think part of it is the vast API combined with the enormous amount of Open Source code out there. That and the fact that I can write it once run it anywhere. Life in the Java world is good. I recently played with the JAI API. It took me a while to catch on but after I discovered the javadocs things got much easier. The Geotools guys are using it too. Something tells me I'm going to spend some time with JScience soon. Java rocks.

How to clean your ipod?

I own a ipod shuffle, and I guess last week it was time to give it thorough cleaning; it ended up in the washing machine! So a few hours of washing, my Miele super-spinning-washer centrifuged the last drop out of my 'laundry' I finally got my ipod back. Nice and clean. I didn't think the dryer would be a good next step, as it was already unresponsive the way it was. So I just let it sit for a few days, and then stuck it in my PC to see what would happen. And yes ... it still worked just fine!