After a few weeks of running around, working, doctors appointments, and prom send-offs/graduations, I declared this weekend "Me Weekend" and spent the entire time parked in front of my laptop, tinkering with all things I've been too tired to deal with during the week. Here's what I worked on.
1. Attempted Bug Fix - Renegade calculation error
I tried to fix the bug that was causing one of my calculations to sometimes be off by a penny. My efforts failed miserably, so I'm back to reading my Ruby book (Beginning Ruby, by Peter Cooper) in hopes of finding some new information.
To be honest, I don't even know how to fix this right now. I also want to spend some time this week reading documentation for other programs dealing with currency in hopes of finding clues.
2. Attempted GUI Creation
Deciding to leave the bug alone for now (I can sight check my calculations), I also tried to construct a GUI using VisualRuby. It took all of 5 minutes for me to create the GUI itself using drag and drop. Except VisualRuby crashed twice when I tried to save it. And every time I restarted my computer to try to get it working, I had to reinstall the newest version of Ruby (because it wouldn't work otherwise). And I couldn't find any help for the error messages I was getting.
Then I attempted to use Glade by itself, but couldn't figure out how to get it into the code. The cool thing about VisualRuby was that it was easy to incorporate it, but Glade on its own wasn't so simple.
I also couldn't seem to get the Shoes gem to work. I'd actually spent some time working with Shoes before, but that was on Windows. Linux has been a whole different beast.
I'm still trying to create a GUI, but I am also considering the merits of learning Rails and building Renegade in that. It would be wonderful preparation for the WindyCityRails conference in September.
3. Fun with Arduino
Last Friday I bought a SainSmart Mega2560 Arduino kit. I finally got the chance to play with it today.
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| My "traffic light", before I figured out how to make each light blink separately |
I'm sitting here now with glass #2 of Malbec, watching a South Park marathon on Comedy Central, wondering if I can tap into the Ballmer Peak.
Sometimes you have to just escape from the world and relax, and spend time working on the things that really matter to you. This was a much needed escape from the world.
Until next time,
XO - Demiera
