Blogging Roller

I noticed the link to Typepad, Six Apart's new Movable Type-based weblogging service, on <a href= "http://joi.ito.com/archives/2003/07/13/what_to_take_over_to_typepad.html"> Joi Ito's blog. The feature list and screenshots look awesome. The integrated photo gallery looks pretty appealing. The wizard-style weblog template builder looks really nice too. Not only does it support multiple weblog authors, each with different priviledges, it also allows you to invite guest authors. I'm judging from a couple of screenshots and a marketing blurb, I know, but Typepad looks powerful and really easy to use.

It's been more than a month since I refreshed the code running behind this site. I'm now running the latest Roller 0.9.8-dev from CVS. This means I'm on Struts 1.1 final (thanks to <a href= "http://brainopolis.dnsalias.com/roller/page/lance/20030702#upgrade_roller_to_use_struts"> Lance) and Hibernate 2.0.1 (thanks to the Hibernate guys). I'm hoping that I might actually get some time to work on Roller in the next couple of weeks. I need to. The natives are getting restless, but I'm going to the beach and you can't stop me.

Thank goodness. I was starting to think that the Java-GNOME project had died.

I'm still totally bogged down in my new job and in finishing up the ProJSP chapters for APress. That's not going to stop me from making time tonight to go see Matrix Reloaded at the IMAX theater.

I'm still at work now, but I'm waiting for my DB2 install to wrap up, so I have some time. I'm testing the limits of my new laptop by installing WebSphere, WebLogic, DB2, and Oracle. I need to learn the nitty-gritty details of J2EE/WebApp/EJB deployment on those platforms.

I also need to get back up to speed on XDoclet and EJB. To get a jump-start on the re-learning curve, I downloaded JBoss-IDE. JBoss-IDE is a plugin for Eclipse that does two jobs. Job #1 is starting JBoss, stopping JBoss, and viewing JBoss log files. Job #2 is providing a new GUI for configuring and running XDoclet. Take a look at <a href= "http://unc.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/jboss/Tutorial_1.1.0.pdf">the tutorial (PDF) for more information and screenshots.

The JBoss-IDE XDoclet plugin works like this. You use the GUI to configure XDoclet for your project, then the GUI generates an Ant script containing the code to run the XDoclet taks that you configured. You can then call this generated build script from your project's Ant script. This works pretty well and it is really helpful, especially if you are new to XDoclet or if your XDoclet skills have grown rusty. My only complaint is that I cannot figure out how to make JBoss-IDE generate relative jar paths, so I can't share the generated Ant scripts with other developers.

I've been shopping for a new phone and considering the Nokia 3650, the Treo 300, and a couple of other options, but I really like the soon to be released Treo 600. The 600 is not coming out until this fall, so I decided to keep things on the cheap and buy the $19.99 Sprint PCS Phone module for my Handpspring Visor. It looks kind of clunky, but a coworker has one and it seems to work fine. I'll let you know how it goes.

<a href= "http://brainopolis.dnsalias.com/roller/page/lance/20030702#upgrade_roller_to_use_struts"> Lance has moved the Roller codebase forward and has cross over into Struts 1.1 land. Hurrah! That reminds me... I really need to get the latest Roller 0.9.8-dev running on my site so that I can apply the RSS performance enhancements that I made to Roller 0.9.7 for FreeRoller.

OK, so there was no time for blogging this weekend and there was certainly no time for blogging at work today. That will change as soon as I setup a collaborative workspace for our group using a wiki-blog combo (JSPWiki + Roller). Unfortunately, you will not be able to see results because the server will be behind our corporate firewall.

I haven't been posting this week because I have been busy. I started my new job this week and it is great, but I've landed in the middle of a hotspot emergency project and I barely have time to check email during the day now. I'm also trying to wrap up my chapters in the Professional JSP book, configure my new laptop from work, setup my new Linux box at home, and be a good Dad. That leaves little time for paying attention to blogs, but I'll make some time this weekend.

<a href= "http://www.raibledesigns.com/page/rd?anchor=professional_jsp_2_0_update">Like Matt, I'm working on Professional JSP 2.0 again. The new publisher wants to change things around and I'm fine with that. He has a lot of good ideas about both of my chapters, but the changes are going to keep me busy over the next couple of weeks. On a side note, I'm finding that using a private wiki to organize my thoughts for this book, my weblog entries, and other activities (comparison shopping for example) works really well.

Cameron is doing a great job of <a href= "http://www.freeroller.net/page/cpurdy/20030628">blogging The Server-Side Symposium

<a href= "http://www.dominicdasilva.com/index.do?date=20030626#180750">Dominic Da Silva notes that JBoss has decided to go with JDO for POJO persistence. There is also a nice pair of articles on JDO at the O'Reilly site: JDO Persistence, <a href= "http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/excerpt/chap_07/index1.html">part 1 and <a href= "http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/excerpt/chap_07/index1.html">part 2.

Normally I do, but this time I didn't leave quietly. This time I thought carefully about the problems that caused me to resign and wrote an exit letter explaining these problems and my suggestions for addressing them. I tried not to rant, but when I write about things that frustrate it's hard not to get frustrated. I asked a couple of developer friends and my wife to review the letter, but I still think it was a little harsh. If the harsh talk gets the letter noticed, and the suggestions make a difference, that'll be great. Am I deluding myself? Do exit letters ever make a difference?

I'm looking forward to starting my new job next week, but I can't help but feel sad saying goodbye to my old company, old friends, to the promise of the integrated web application development environment to end all others, and (later) to the promise of the "Ariba-class" B2B software powerhouse that never materialized.

Sam Ruby is bringing the community consensus building powers of wiki and weblogs together to help define a new syndication format, an archive format, and an editing protocol for weblogs. Sam kicked off the effort with a discussion of the anatomy of a well formed log entry, opened a wiki for group discussion, and already has reached some consensus on metadata, security, and licence information. Now he is pushing the effort forward through a series of weblog posts to futher explore some of the issues raised on the wiki. This is a very important effort, with real go-energy, and all of the right people behind it. I look forward to implementing the resulting new formats and protocols in Roller.

Hard to believe that it has already been one year. Over the weekend, we had a very nice cookout and party for Leo, who just turned 1, and Mark, who just turned 40. Here is Leo on his brand new rocking horse:

<img alt="Leo" src= "http://www.rollerweblogger.org/resources/roller/leo-turns-1.jpg" />

How can you write an article, wait, I mean two articles, about "Wikis & Weblogs in the Java Developer Community" and not mention JavaBlogs.com, FreeRoller.net, Blojsom, Roller, SnipSnap, or JSPWiki? You're making the same mistake that Sun made: ignoring the existing, large, and thriving Java developer community of blogs and wikis.

Dan Gillmor: Sun is doing interesting things with its java.net site, including "community" functions such as weblogs and even Wikis. It's the most ambitious effort I've seen yet by a big company -- even though it's a tech company -- to use the Web in a more conversational way.

<a href= "http://www.theserverside.com/home/thread.jsp?thread_id=19897&article_count=154#86354"> Bill Burke - Chief Architect of JBoss: I'm sick and tired of the mud that's thrown at us on a constant basis against the nominal success we've achieved so far. I'm sick of the freerollers who chip at our hard work or try to make a name for themselves by bashing Marc or JBoss or JBossGroup in their ego-centrical Blogs. You don't see any of us writing blogs attacking these people. Hell, we don't even have blogs!

A couple of people have asked me if Roller helped me to land my new job. I'm happy to report that the answer is yes, Roller helped. I'll explain that, but first, realize that when I say "Roller" I mean a number of different things. When I say Roller I mean developing the Roller software, writing the Roller article for O'Reilly, participating in the Roller project, and writing for my weblog.

I must admit that I was a little worried that Roller might hurt my chances of getting a new job. I was concerned that an employer would see Roller, my weblog, and my writings as a diversion that would keep me from getting real work done, or, that some potential employer would read my weblog and either strongly disagree with something I said or decide that I am only rambling nut-job. That is only one small part of my personality. Those who know and love me know that I am much, much more than just a rambling nut-job.

Roller helped me out in several ways. Roller gave me experience with and knowledge of new software development technologies, techniques, and tools. I wouldn't have Struts, Velocity, XDoclet, Castor, and Hibernate on my resume if not for Roller. I also learned a lot about software project managemement including source code control, release management, issue tracking, developer/customer support, etc. This is why I listed Roller on my resume and gave it equal billing with my other previous jobs.

Roller also me exposure, but more importantly Roller exposed my code, my writing, and the ways that I work with others. My new employer did not find me via my weblog, but once they did find me they were able to download and review my code, read my technical writings, and could even have searched the Roller mailing list archives to see how I interact with other developers and end-users of my software.

Roller was certainly not the only factor, as I do have a strong resume even without it, but Roller was an important factor in landing the new job.