The Complacent Developer

I've grown complacent in my current position.
I like what I do. Despite being challenging and stressful at times, I find it satisfying. I've learned a lot about bad programming over the last year.
I'm being paid to do it, not the amount I would like, but enough to survive.
I like my team. I work with a nice bunch of people.

And as it must happen, my bubble is burst, as it was today.
One of my team members is leaving. The developer I've worked closest with, who started with me, and is the only other developer who knows the applications as well.

It was a bit of a shock, but not completely surprising.
I can only speculate his reasons for leaving: corporate culture is not a good fit or holding back creativity, wanting a domain change or just to work on another project, and of course money.
I can understand all of these reasons for leaving, except money.
Apparently at this time I feel having a great team and project to work on is more important, otherwise I would be looking elsewhere (or maybe this is just my complacency).

From an outside perspective, he seemed bored, or maybe his norm is regularly browsing the internet/news.
I wouldn't describe him as the best coder, considering mistakes and missing details at times, but he is great at pushing ahead (getting to 80/90% quickly). He's someone to commit code without running the unit tests and then needing to commit a fix after the build breaks. But he has great ideas, especially on technologies, and wasn't afraid to speak up or against. I'll miss this input. And he was easy to get along with, not abrasive, not annoying.

The last time I lost a team member like this, I left shortly after.
Because I knew that things were headed in a direction that didn't feel right, and I lost the only person I enjoyed working with.
But thankfully I am not in the same place.
For now, I still have other good developers and fulfilling work. If and when that changes, I'll reevaluate. Maybe he was right to leave. Time will tell.

I say it wasn't completely unexpected because I knew it had to happen at some point, especially since I felt fairly dependent on him.
With him looking at the path moving forward, I was able to focus on the details and sweep up the crumbs.
He was also able to handle at least half of the meetings/issues/questions, freeing me up at times.
Now I will be put to the test of standing alone as the developer with the most historic/overall knowledge of the applications (possibly the only go-to for info and questions).
And I'll need to dig in and learn any of the pieces I've been able to ignore so far.
Time to step up.

New Spider-Man

I saw the new Amazing Spider-Man film in 3D.

Here was my attitude going into the movie:
I don't have a huge motivation to see this in the theatre, I could wait until it's out on NetFlix or somewhere else. I do like the main actor Andrew more than Toby, but I can't imagine the story is different enough. Hopefully I will be proven wrong.

Well, I'd say it was worth the trip.

To me it felt less campy, almost realistic (if you ignore some of the over-the-top only-CG sections) and a bit raw.

I like that Peter's not perfect, he's human (for the most part). He's awkward at times, injured, struggling to control his abilities, learning on his own, creating his suit, causes his uncle to be shot and cannot save him, seeks revenge against a bully and his uncle's killer. He brings some nostalgia to me as a hoodie-wearing chain-riding and skating kid. And of course I'm glad he's not a wrestler in it but I like the reference to creating his mask.

We see his parents with a better backstory (apparently to be continuted in later films).

I really liked the few funny scenes like the smart-talking spidey "i'm scared of knives" (reminding me of the animated TV series a little) and the Stan Lee's cameo in the library. Oh and the accidental beat-down in the subway "sorry sorry".

I also didn't like the number of people that saw his abilities as Peter: kids at high school playing basketball, people on the subway, police and public out in the street. Maybe it goes to show how inexperienced and vulnerable he is starting out.

I'm not a big fan of the lizard, definitely low in my rank of enemies, but it ended up being a great start to a series of films. I had completely forgotten about Dr Connors appearing in the earlier Spider-Man 2/3 films (not as the Lizard but as a professor/physicist).
The film did have me wondering about how Spider-Man and the Lizard were transformed.
For Spider-Man, did the spider bite transfer part of the spider DNA with the serum to allow merging across species/materials (assuming spiders were spliced with a strong material).
But Peter's appearance does not change to look like a spider (as happens to the Lizard). He gains speed, strength, senses, climbing ability. Is this from such a small exposure allowing a partial transformation with possibly multiple bites from the spider required?
Since the Lizards transformation is different, I assume the formula/serum used is also different. Was the formula from Peter's father wrong? If so why? Did Peter's write it down wrong (he did just memorized it)? Or had his father left it flawed in-case found? It's interesting since both point to Peter being flawed (not remembering correctly or being in over his head).

In comparing this film to comics/animated TV:

• Core theme of Spider-Man is the same as the comic: relatable teen with no mentor, learning for self.
• Peter bit by modified spider (not sure if radioactive as in comic).
• Spider-Man shooting web from devices is same as comic (but unlike earlier films).
• Peter does not catch his uncle's killer (not yet atleast), unlike the comic (and earlier film).
• Peter's parents backstory is different from comic (meeting and death, and probably also working for CIA)
• Peter meets Gwen in college in the comic (some also have this in high school).
• Gwen's dad is a cop and does have a fight with Peter, but he instead dies from Dr Octapus in the comic.
• Gwen is an intern with Dr Connors similar to the animated TV.
• Lizards backstory is different from comic (lost arm in army and works from home in Florida) but similar in animated TV (lost arm from accident, working for Oscorp).
• Lizard also wants to turn NY into lizard-people in animated TV.

There are many different comics and TV shows, so there is sure to be a combination of these that can match the movie.

So why was this film needed?
Apparently there were stories missed in the earlier films that can now be explored. 
An obvious opportunity is a tie in to the Avengers, such as Dr Connors working for SHIELD or a Captain America connection with the Red Skull and Peter's parents (similar to the comics, although probably not since the film appears to blame Oscorp).
I missed the ending providing a sneak peak ahead into the next film, but hopefully we find out the truth about his parents.

Code Warfare and Seam

pinned down after a short skirmish the previous day
it was too quiet, spirits were dampened
earlier morning brought some hope, help would be coming
which eroded throughout the day, it was not enough
deep in the trenches, we waited still, scounts had not returned
our only option was to retreat and go around
all were hesitant, so i made the move...

summary: i hate jboss seam
or rather we all do at this point

for the past 2 days, we (the entire team including even other teams) have been researching seam issues.
including class conflict issues, instances not matching expected classes, not being able to cast, for seam core classes.
the errors had been occurring for the past few months but not caused any observable issues... until now.
and were threatening to hold up deadlines.

today we found what appears to be the cause: having two seam ears in one jboss 4 server
this apparently causes the apps to randomly step on each other,
including loading/creating core seam components from wrong classloader, from other ear.

eventually, i gave up on trying to find out why, as we all slowly did.
it didn't make any sense, all ear isolation settings had been set and no obvious causes.
many fixes/attempts were made, many possible solutions, but none had any effect.

in the end, i went forward with removing seam from one of them.
since it had been added recently for one and thankfully used very little.
so it was a viable option, and better than setting up a new jboss to run each ear in its own.

... and so the battle was won,
but the war will continue
(haha war, get it? ear-war, ok, over and out).

More Star Wars Reading

Continuing my earlier Star Wars post,
I finished reading Dark Lord: Rise of Darth Vader and Labyrinth of Evil from the library.
I enjoyed both these stories filling the gap in between the films (before and after episode 3).

Walking Dead S2

I finally came back and finished season 2 of the Walking Dead
After recovering from the (disasterous) end of season 1
but thankfully the second season moved a little closer to the comic

Of course there are things i didn't like about season 2
the obvious one is dragging out sophia missing, i know it had a purpose but it was annoying to EVERYONE

It's hard with such a popular show now to avoid SPOILERS (which there are of course some below), so i knew most of the big surprises

and on that topic, i didn't like sophia getting turned and killed

sophia made me realize how different the tv show is from the comic,
i think of them now as the two universes or timelines (like Fringe), with the same characters (roughly) but different outcomes, which is good, anything can happen.
it's fitting that rick should be the only one willing to shoot her, making me think back to the beginning of the pilot.

the sophia search was an interesting twist, where shane is actually right that it was a waste of time, and rick admits to being wrong, which fits with rick's struggles to lead in the comic.

also fitting that otis was the only one who could have known where she was.

Dale! i was shocked to find out he would be dying this season as well.

the opposite of shane (in many ways on the show), his time was cut short compared to the comic, but close in gruesomeness.
but he avoided being bitten twice and being eaten by cannibals, and eventually was shot (per the comic).

his death fit well with the episode, representing the humanity of the group.

great to have a couple episodes with rick struggling over killing the innocent to protect themselves, where rick fails to shoot in front of carl or to end his friends suffering.

i didn't like that shane was still alive, but this was eventually fixed. 
and he was shot by carl matching the comic. well except the was a zombie. 
we get to know shane a lot more in the tv show. how bad of a person he really is (killing otis). and i think it's a fitting end for him, since he hates zombies so much, it's his worst end.

great to have an entire knock down fight episode with shane versus rick.

and of course the best part of season 2 is the ending.

getting some idea on the rules of zombies and how this all works. apparently romero based with any death resulting in a zombie. and we see zombies eat animals as well.

and then there's the finale with the herd/horde, rick being solidified as the leader, and then a teaser of michonne and the prison.

such a great season, despite having its differences with the comic. it's standing on its own.

as for the comics, i am months behind at the moment, not entirely into it being in a slow spell, still back on the hilltop issues and wondering what is to come.

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

As mentioned earlier, 
ever since I heard about Abe Lincoln and vampires being mixed together I had to check it out. 
And now 3 months after listening to the audiobook, I finally got the chance to see the film.
SPOILERS below about the film and book.

The beginning of the film including his childhood felt rushed in comparison to the book. It does include his father being in debt to a vampire and the death of his mother but then skips ahead, missing 1/3 or more of the book. 
I can't say these were my favorite parts of the book, with his drunk father and moving around. But in the book he avenges his mother as a child, staking his first kill.

In general the film chops out a lot of character development, personal connections, and motivations. Abe's father explaining the truth about vampires is replaced with a rushed version by Henry.
There is no slave friend in the book to push Abe to fight slavery. Instead he sees the truth of slavery with his own eyes, seeing vampires kill slaves on a plantation after an auction.
Actually, there's not much of a link between slavery and vampires in the film. And the film is also missing examples like vampires snatching children as reasons to kill them.
I don't remember silver having any big signifigance in the book, but it is the primary/only weaspon against vampires in the film. For example, although the emancipation proclamation is shown in the film, it is not the cause for winning the war, but instead silver wins the war.

In the end, the biggest missing piece for me in the film is Abe and Henry's relationship.
The film treats Abe like just another vampire hunter to do Henry's bidding. There is no reason given for Henry to save Abe's life or train him. He doesn't even appear to like him in the movie.
And then there is the ending, which was another huge disappointment compared to the book. We don't see anything about Abe's death: we have no backstory on Boothe as a vampire, we don't see Henry fighting Boothe to avenge Abe, we don't see Abe as a vampire in current times.
Instead, we see Henry in current times, but it has no real meaning. To me, it seems like this film should fit into a larger series of vampire hunter films, where Henry goes to recruit famous people from history.

I walked into this movie knowing the Rotten Tomatoes rating of 35% and expecting the critics to be wrong. But this ended up being the percent of the book in the film (small snipets from the the middle), which is strange since it was written by the author of the book.
I personally didn't like the overuse of CG for vampire faces and the chase over horses during a stampede.
My hopes were just too high for this film and it didn't live up to the book.

Snow White and Huntsman

Yesterday went to see this in the theater and gave it a mixed rating. Somehow it felt pretty shallow, like the over 2hr running time wasn't enough.

I think it came down to a few specific points:

1. I really enjoyed the beginning, following the classic story setup and some cool fighting/CG. Basically the scenes before Kristin Stewart appeared.

2. The dark forest didn't feel dangerous enough. Scary mostly from trippy mushrooms? Only one troll? And he gives up after losing a staring contest? I wanted more monsters and more threats.

3. Aweful ending? Feels like it rushes to a predictable end and then unsure what to do, just lingers on the last scene. I would have preferred jumping further into the future to show the land and people recovered.

4. So it's not a love story? Not that its a requirement, but there's the love triangle for the last 1/3 of the movie. And its unresolved so she ends up with no one? Is the huntsman the real "prince"? His name is in the title, he revives her, and there is that last look at each other.

Firefox Plugin QA

I was troubleshooting a browser image plugin that would not install, and found a few interesting things:

1. There was no indication that an error was preventing the installer from completing. Message says it completed successfully. Fail.

2. After running the installer step manually from the command line I could see the error, which was simply that the path it was trying to install the plugin didn't exist (Firefox plugins directory). This is a fairly new install of Firefox. It worked after I created the directory, but the installer should have handled this. Fail.

3. After installing, the version of the plugin in the browser showed as different from the installer version, making it difficult to determine when to update. Fail.

Of course I contacted the plugin's site to fix these and hopefully do better testing for their next release.

Star Wars

As I said before, I haven't been much of a star wars fan in the past.

But after read the last Darth book I found more at the library.

I flew through two Darth Bane books including Path of Destruction and Rule of Two.

I really enjoyed them and I'm waiting on the third to arrive.

JMS and UI Automated Testing

My first real experience with using Selenium was not for testing but to automate a process.
ActiveMQ doesn't have a bulk move feature for moving messages between queues, which I needed. It only allows moving a single message in the web UI.

I could have created a JMS queue listener to bulk move messages, but instead I wanted to try some UI automation. My last experience with automation was using AutomatedQA TestComplete and JScript, so it was about time.

So I automated navigating to the queue, clicking the message link, choosing a new queue name in the dropdown, and finally clicking the move link. It was all easy, after I chose to use the deprecated SeleneseTestCase to extend (which just worked as expected) with:
setUp("http://localhost:4444", "*firefox");

I made it a little more complicated by extracting the timestamp and details about the message. To get these I used the CSS and XPath locator formats to pull from the HTML on the page (such as a specific row and column in a table):

css=div.message pre

xpath=//table[@id='header']//tr[11]//td[2]

These allowed me to add more logic, such as deleting messages before a certain date or not moving messages with specific content.

The only real issues I faced were timing and browser support. 
For example, the page load times varied per environment making me add in extra time for loading to work in all. I used Thread sleep in some cases since the waitForPageToLoad was not always reliable. 
Originally I started using Firefox (*firefox) but it stopped working after updating to version 14. I switched to Chrome (*googlechrome) which worked without issue.