David Raynes

Because tests and bugs are fun

2009-01-06T03:15:06Z

A colleague of mine just shared this particular frustration:

yargh. my test passes if all of the objects are created within the same second, but fails if not. don’t ask how long it took me to figure that one out.

I would have tweeted it, but it was a bit too long and I didn’t want to break it up. I found it pretty amusing, but I have an odd sense of humor and I have been spending alot of time with unit tests lately.

New Urban Fantasy Anthology: Mean Streets

2009-01-03T03:25:00Z

I was browsing through SF Signal’s latest books received post and I was happy to notice an anthology of urban fantasy containing stories by two of my current favorite authors: Jim Butcher (of The Dresden Files) and Simon R. Green (of The Nightside). This is in addition to stories by two authors (Kat Richardson and Thomas E. Sniegoski) I have not yet read, but I would certainly be willing to try out if they are included with the previous two.

That one went right on my wishlist. It’ll be out in a few days and I may just have to snag it.

Upgraded to MT 4.23

2009-01-02T03:52:25Z

So, yeah, it’s a month late or so, but I’ve been really busy. I finally upgraded this site to Movable Type 4.23. Maybe I’ll even write more plugins sometime soon.

I apologize about the feed updates

2008-11-22T05:27:41Z

I’m deploying a development version of my MediaConsumer plugin and a number of entries might appear as updated in feed readers as I start applying it.

Pilot Ordered for A Game of Thrones

2008-11-18T04:50:00Z

From Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist: ASOIAF on HBO: It’s a go!:

Martin fans rejoice! ;-)

Well, let me get things started by saying “Yippie!”

More information at The Hollywood Reporter: HBO conjuring fantasy series.

Legend of the Seeker premieres this weekend

2008-10-28T02:30:00Z

The television series based on the first novel of Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series, Wizard’s First Rule, premieres this weekend in syndication.

There are a number of folks out there that are very much not fans of Terry Goodkind, but I enjoyed the novel when I read it years ago; it was hardly the best novel of the 20th century to be sure, but I liked it. Between that and the fact that Sam Raimi is involved with it as executive producer, I am more than willing to give this series the benefit of the doubt and watch a few episodes before I decide to give up on it. If nothing else, I hope this will be at least a marginal enough success so that other great fantasy novels could be serialized into season (or longer) television programming.

Fiction Rule of Thumb

2008-10-02T01:53:34Z

xkcd: Fiction Rule of Thumb:

Forever will the term ‘younglings’ make me want to vomit, wherever I happen to find it.

One Step Closer to A Game of Thrones on the Screen

2008-09-11T22:47:48Z

Not a Blog News from HBO:

HBO has just exercised its option, and purchased the television rights to A GAME OF THRONES.

For those of you who don’t know Hollywood, an option gives a production company the right to buy a property (a book, a screenplay, whatever) at a certain agreed-upon price for a certain period of time (a year, six months, whatever). When that time runs out, they can let the option lapse, renew the option, or exercise the option and buy the property. The last is what HBO has just done.

What they have NOT done is greenlight the project. A GAME OF THRONES remains in development. They’re still budgeting, still looking at locations (Spain and the Czech Republic at present, I hear). No decision has been reached, so any celebration would be premature. In Hollywood it is always best not to assume something is going to happen until it actually happens.

If anybody is going to give this novel the treatment it deserves, it would be HBO. Here’s hoping this keeps making forward progress!

Plugin Writing 101

2008-09-09T03:04:56Z

So, I’m planning on writing up some entries about various aspects of plugin development. While I have a couple topics already in mind, I thought I’d ask you folks out there if there was anything in particular you would like me to write about.

Any requests?

Popsicles!!

2008-09-09T03:01:41Z

Thanks to this Penny Arcade comic, from now on, whenever I play D&D, my character’s battle cries will include a reference to a frozen sweet treat as often as possible.

The Olympics Make Me Want To Compete Again

2008-08-14T03:18:43Z

Every time the Olympics come around (most the summer ones) I always start to delude myself into thinking I could complete once again in the sports that took up so much of my time in high school (and that I enjoyed immensely).

Unfortunately, the only masters water polo (my preferred sport) team on entire east coast is in DC and that just isn’t going to work for me. You can’t shake a stick without hitting a masters team out in California, but it’s pretty barren out here.

So, second (but still good) choice is masters swimming; there are many clubs nearby, with hours I can actually make most days (i.e. really really early). The issue, unfortunately, is the ~$750/year in dues and fees. On one hand, shelling out that much (seems standard to do it quarterly) would certainly do more to motivate me to actually go swim than almost anything else. On the other hand, though, is the fact that, well, I can be a bit flighty and this wouldn’t be the first time I’ve tried to get back into swimming.

But, I need to start doing some form of exercise. If not for myself and my health, for my boys (who, I must say, are totally ripped for two year olds. I’ll get they could do like three hundred push-ups each). They deserve a father who can at least attempt to keep up with them. My biggest problem (as it is with most people) is motivation. While doing it for the boys will go a long way, competition will always be the number one motivator for me. Exercising with a goal. Getting healthy is just a nice side-effect.

Minimalist plugins are fun!

2008-07-23T02:49:23Z

Last night I whipped up one of the smallest plugins I’ve ever written. It is so small in fact that I was able to stuff the entire thing into the plugin configuration file, config.yaml. It adds a configuration option for mt-config.cgi that will pre-populate the path field in the asset upload page.

name: Default Upload Directory
id: DefaultUploadDirectory
version: 0.1
description: Sets the default upload directory

config_settings:
        DefaultUploadDirectory:
                default: assets

callbacks:
        MT::App::CMS::template_param.asset_upload: >>
          sub { $_[2]->{extra_path} = $_[1]->{cfg}->DefaultUploadDirectory }

Drop this into mt-dir/plugins/DefaultUploadDirectory/config.yaml and make use of the new config setting DefaultUploadDirectory in your mt-config.cgi file if the default value of assets isn’t going to work for you.

The Name of the Wind in paperback

2008-03-29T09:00:00Z

Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist: THE NAME OF THE WIND is now available in paperback:

Only the Bookscan numbers are in (it will be a while before we get a full tally), but it looks as though The Name of the Wind has surpassed the sales of both George R. R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones and Terry Goodkind’s Wizard’s First Rule.

Woah! If it beat out A Game of Thrones and Wizard’s First Rule, I am going to have to check this book out. I really enjoyed those two books, especially A Game of Thrones.

Arthur C. Clarke has passed away

2008-03-18T22:39:17Z

According to the Associated Press, Arthur C. Clarke has passed away.

[HT: Charles Stross]

Last Wish Giveaway!

2008-03-14T16:15:00Z

Well, somebody else is giving away a copy of The Last Wish. Over at Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist, there are four copies of the book available. I’ve already sent in my entry!

I am really looking forward to The Last Wish finally being available in the US. I have heard nothing but good things about the series.

Thanks to Orbit Books for linking to the giveaway, and for both getting the book to the states and making it available through a fellow blogger!