monkinetic weblog | redmonk.net

[via Jim] Poynter.org has an article about different kinds of weblogs and the uses they can be put to in the corporate or news world.

I had a thought about weblogs and newspapers. Newspapers could host weblogs, then run an (at least) internal aggregator. Make it easy for users to blog articles from the newspaper, then let editors use the aggregator to find content for the editorial page.

As some of you know, and some of you have figured out, and some are about to discover… I’ve been out of work for about a month now.

This is a situation I’ve never been in before - unjustly terminated from my last job, seeking new employment, and watching our emergency funds account like a hawk. It’s hard to talk about - I’m still learning to hear myself feel about it. (Yes, I know it sounds weird, but that’s the best way to describe it.)

I find I’m having a bit of an identity crisis. When you find that you’re not doing anymore what you were doing, you have to do something else. My identity as a member of the workforce has been shaped by a variety of unique experiences (as has everyone’s) and which of those experiences are going to support the future is hard to judge.

Right now I consider myself a web-focused Java developer. Or a java-focused web developer. I guess I’m foremost a web developer - the role and title I chose for myself at the beginning of my web-based career 6 years ago. I’ve always considered the “developer” part of my title to be a generic, boundary-crossing descriptor that has a creative bent to it. That creativity inspires both the form and function of the work I try to do.

Perhaps that’s because I have a degree in Graphic Design, and a good eye. Before discovering the web I worked in several design shops. One was an assembly-line beach mag where I put together quarter-page advertisements 8 hours a day. The other was as a production artist for a real Design Studio. There I learned about the creative process from people who had been in design and advertising for 20 years or more.

So here I am, looking for work. I have a chance to develop skills that have gotten rusty, and - in a sense - shape myself for the positions I’m seeking. But the difficulty is - what DO I want to do? What am I willing to do? What am I capable of? The tech market here isn’t exactly jumping. I’ve been brushing up on my servlet skills, b/c most java+web employers around here are looking for that. I applied for a position on an Interaction Design / Human Factors team. Heady stuff. I have a few areas I can pursue… knowing what is the hard part!

I just completed a… 12 hour coffee-powered hack-a-thon. I got a bee in my bonnet about halfway through, convinced I could find a way to get at the content data in a servlet’s HttpServletResponse. No dice. I’m implementing (as part of my learning experience) some templating idioms you’ll find elsewhere.

The servlet spec recently got Filters (link later), which I assumed to be similar to these. One BIG difference however: a Servlet Filter does not in any way seem to have access to the content of the http response to be returned to the client. Which (IMO) removes about 95% of the reason to have them. Harumph.

I did finally find a way to do what I wanted, but it’s a hack. Phbbbt.

Goodnight.

I’m posting this in the hope that after Google indexes it, it will help some other poor soul.

I’m working with the Velocity template engine; templates are HTML files that (usually) have a “.vm” file extension. I could not for the life of me figure out how to get Adobe GoLive 6 to open the file as an html file, nor could I find anything on Google, Adobe’s site or forums, or on the velocity lists about how to do so.

Well, I finally started digging around in the GoLive directory, and quickly found this file:

<golive home>/Settings/FileMappings/default.aglfmi

Adobe has done a Good Thing™ here and used XML to define their file mappings. Simply add a line similar to the one below to the section at mapping->extensions, and GoLive will happily open your “.vm” or “.wm” (WebMacro’s standard extension - change “vm” below to “wm” of course):

<map ext=”vm” mime=”text/html” transfer=”text” base=”html” mac=”TEXT/R*ch”/>

Wow. I’m in the process of dredging up some long unused knowledge from my brain, and trying to weld some new knowledge onto it. What a pain -).

The old stuff involves servlets, and the velocity engine, and ant. I’m also going to try to learn some about unit testing with junit. Meanwhile, I’m having to learn Resin (couldn’t get tomcat running OMM).

So… my head is going in circles. But it’s good - just as my body has needed a reminder of what it’s capable of, my mind needs it too.

I rode another 8 miles this morning, in approx 30 minutes. I don’t own a watch, so I have to guess on the time, but the distance is easy to judge. Here in the valley, major intersections are all 1 mile apart, so ust count intersections to find out how far you’ve gone. -)

This morning, my first two miles were into a brisk wind, so I was hunched over, trying to present as low a profile as possible… man that’s a lot of work. My butt and hamstrings are complaining now. Feel the burn!

Jodi went running this morning. She’s out there now, getting fit. We both need it - we’ve been complaining of our lack of proper diet and exercise, and corrensponding lack of energy, for some time. My bike gets out of the shop today (after a much-needed tuneup) so I’m going to start riding again.

Being out of work right now, I can’t afford some of the extras I’d like (like clipless pedals!) but it’s going to feel so good to once gain teach my body who’s boss. It’s been in charge for far too long now.