What open source JS Engines existed at the time Roku launched in 2002?
410 karma · joined July 10, 2013
Jeffry current released a training course that willt each Flex Developer's about AngularJS. Check it out at http://www.lifeafterflex.com . Some books are free.
Jeffry is the Brains behind Flextras, a library of Open Source Components which extend Apache Flex. He has a Computer Science degree from the days before business met the Internet and has solved a problem or two in his programming career. In 1999, Jeffry started DotComIt, a company specializing in custom applications with technologies such as HTML5, Flex, and ColdFusion.
Jeffry is an Adobe Community Professional and one of the initial contributors to Apache Flex. He has spoken at user groups and conferences all over the US and is the creator of three ColdFusion books, over 30 articles, and hundreds of podcasts.
In his spare time Jeffry is a musician, old school adventure game aficionado, and recording engineer. Find more about Jeffry’s new book series at http://www.lifeafterflex.com. The Flextras library can be found at http://www.flextras.com or you can read his personal blog at http://www.jeffryhouser.com
I offer mentoring as a consulting service. It's often a followup of some longer training. It's lots of fun when it happens. We usually talk once or twice a week and discuss "the problem of the moment". Contracts like this usually last 3-6 months, and I probably do one every couple of years.
There isn't a huge demand for this sort of 'one-on-one' training since most programmers with moderate experience can "Google until it works"
Even though the company is just me, I approach it as a business and do a mix of hourly projects and fixed fee projects. At any given time I have 1-3 projects going on at once.
What I work on depends primarily on the client. With some clients it is all about the 'why' and we do real business analysis. These are massively rewarding.
Other clients treat me like someone who "Shovels poop for money" and just want me to do whatever they say. These are not as rewarding--but are often profitable.
That said, I disagree that everything you learn is getting deprecated quickly. Sure, some things change 'on the cutting edge'. But, there are tons of existing applications--and even new development--not using that stuff.
The knowledge and concepts you learn will help you keep going.
To me, I've used Windows for >20 years and it is the devil I know. Windows 10 is fantastic.
My attempt to convert to a Mac / OSX machine was just a confused mess that I abandoned. Like they go out of their way to do things different. [I'm not sure if they 'they' in the last sentence is Apple or Microsoft]. One thing I never got used to was that the mouse scroll wheel detection was reversed between the two OSes. And I had lots more crash problems on the Mac than I ever did on Windows.
I would expect a Surface Book purchased today to work without all those launch issues.
Biggest complaint I see, though, is that it doesn't have USB C yet; which I guess you don't care about.
King's Quest 7 from 1994
Zork Grand Inquisitor from 1997
The Longest Journey from 1999
Blackwell Legacy from 2006
Pretty much, this has been the standard interface for most P&C games since the mid 90s.
My experience says yes. The people hiring programmers usually have no ability to validate a programmer's skill. The only thing they care about is a working application that solves a business problem.
The bulk of code I come across as a consultant is "sloppy and full of technical debt". There are various reasons for it, not all of them reflect on the programmer.
My Surface Book was a spotchy experience for the first 6 months or so. by month 6 it was running acceptably.
I love it; and move sporadically between standing and sitting. Standing is better for conference calls.
Writing prose, emails, books, and blog posts are better done sitting down.
In terms of writing code, I could go either way.
Often switching between standing and sitting is a really good way to fix a problem I'm having focusing.
That said, I go through spurts where I stand a lot and spurts where I sit a lot; there is no real rhyme or reason, I'm not as religious about swapping every hour.
It surprising how natural it feels to stand and work at the desk, and once I get in a zone it doesn't matter if I'm down or up.
There was a big stink around Jobs "Letters from Flash" and all AIR applications were put on indefinite hold in the app store review queue with no explanation. Adobe stopped development of their iOS stuff. Then after a few months all the apps were approved, Adobe resumed development, and no one had a problem since.
What is FlexDeveloper? Do you mean Flex Builder [now Flash Builder]? It wasn't really killed, just abandoned, if there is a difference.
Additionally, I'll add that we can use Adobe AIR to build native apps for iOS or Android or Desktop computers and that's been around for even longer.
I assume the Adobe AIR will live on, which is basically "Flash Player for Desktop and Mobile Apps".
No, seriously, that is what the contract said.
In reality, the bulk of developers used whatever they wanted with no consideration. I assume other contractors were under similar legal terms, but not sure about employees. I was seen as a pain when I kept asking for formal permission for stuff.
Go to everything you can find that is related to programming / application development /web development, even if it isn't in a technology or topic you know or care about.
I know some super financially conscious folks who purposely stay one "Game system behind". Nintendo Switch is coming out? Buy a Wii U and collect games for super cheap. Hour of entertainment at a fraction of the cost.
Generally I make around $50 a month. I'm not laughing all the way to the bank; but it isn't nothing.
I assume most self published [technical] authors are in the same boat financially. There are a few 'lottery winners' out there, such as ngBook, but most probably trickle along.
I'd have to look up dates and run financial reports to figure out how long and how much. I don't spend too much time running the numbers for that aspect of my business.
I published "Life After Flex" which was explicitly targeted to Flex Developers who want to learn "HTML5" applications, primarily focused on AngularJS. That used the "Authority" model; so high price with lots of extras.
I retooled that into the "LearnWith" series which builds the same app in different technologies. It is intended to be "no frills" approach and I sell the books for $6.99 through Gumroad and Amazon.
I'm copy editing the Angular 4 version of it now; and with any luck I'll be working on a React [or maybe Vue?] version before end of year.
Passive Income the easy way: Invest money in an S&P 500 Index fund. Routine dividends are easily count as passive income. You need a lot invested for this to be a significant amount, though.
The reason this may be easier for a web developer than, say, a retail cashier is that the web developer most likely has a higher salary.
--- Owning a company, whether services company or SaaS is also another way to get passive income. However, unless you have huge capitol to hire folks to do the work, or put a lot a time in to build the company [and then replace yourself] it may not be practical; and it definitely isn't immediate.
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I've done the writing route, writing, and self-publishing, technical programming books. It is a great way for passive income. Once it is published you get residual income each month.
Much to my surprise, I've found that programming books have a much longer tail than I would have expected.
Advertising has often been comparing yourself to other brands. As one real world example: The Pepsi Challenge from the 80s. People drank Coke and Pepsi blindly and chose which one they liked better.
It is not illegal in the US and not inherently a misuse of trademark law. I'd be surprised if you were to tell me that Uber and Lyft are not buying ads against each other's search terms.
What type of jobs do you think you'll be going after later in life?