Android XiaoMi HongMi, and arsenic in rice

Installing the files specified here did install the adb drivers I needed for my XiaoMi HongMi device to be recognized by Android Studio.  The 2nd install specified in the instructions did not modify the MiPhoneManager to display in English though.

Mi 米 is the character for rice.  On a tangent, did you know that rice absorbs metals well?  As a result, it has a higher amount of inorganic arsenic than other popular grains, mostly absorbed from the soil.  Apparently the US has been used arsenical drugs for chicken for 70 years or more, and this has polluted the soil that is often now used for rice farming.

References:

• Consumer Reports: Report: Analysis of Arsenic in Rice and Other Grains November 2014
• Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries lists measured arsenic values for rice and other foodstuffs (there are links to reports for domestic and international results) (Japanese). I used this site to convert ppb to mg/kg.  Interestingly, the FDA has failed to set standards for arsenic in food.  Japan appears to have had a standard in place for a while.

adb: thanks to the interwebz

Ran into an issue where I was getting an adb error when trying to run my Android project.
The interwebz saved the day!

diving into agile

I have a lot to learn, but our first sprint is scheduled for Monday!

utf-8 in eclipse

A clear post on how to set up UTF-8 in eclipse.

Finestra Virtual Desktops

Testing out Finestra Virtual Desktops today, as my laptop has too little real estate!  Netbooks have their place, but they're not good as the main computer.
Note: I had to download the Visual C++ 2010 runtime as mentioned in the downloads page.

A pity about Glitch

Just started playing Glitch, as a friend mentioned that she was devastated that it was closing.

She gave me an invitation to play, and I signed up.  I can see why she's devastated.  It's a wonderfully detailed game that you can personalize and make your own.
An amazing, creative game that gives me hope among the gaming world filled with the surfeit of battle games like Call of Duty.  To be honest I'm not really aware of the current state of the gaming world, but a visit to Tokyo Game Show a few years ago wasn't really exciting for me.

Glitch probably is/was ahead of its time, built on a doomed technology.

It's a real pity that Adobe has decided that Flash will die, but such is the technology churn.

I'm half tempted to take a day off and play Glitch for the remainder of the time available.

Serge Lutens Tubereuse Criminelle

Bois de Jasmin review
I'm playing with a sample from a generous friend today. It's lovely so far; I didn't think I'd like it this much! I don't mind the petrol opening at all. Am I weird?

2012/9/25 update: Okay, the petrol opening is bothering me today.  Did I apply too liberally today?

By the way, the Android Blogger app by Google is total crap. Do not use! It will just lose your posts.

Galaxy Nexus - can hardly take a screenshot

So, with a Galaxy Nexus running Android 4.0, I'm supposed to be able to hold the volume and power button in order to take a screen shot.
The timing is super tricky though - so much so that I find it almost useless!
This link was helpful though - you have to hold the volume down portion of the volume button.

quick intro to junit 4

I'm new to JUnit, but this article is concise with clear examples:

http://www.cavdar.net/2008/07/21/junit-4-in-60-seconds/

some java basics

It's another hot, hot day in Tokyo.

Days like this make me realize how important it is to live in a place that has good air circulation (i.e. wind flow 風当たり). Of course, that's often difficult when buildings are built close together, meaning that convenient places tend to have less of a breeze.

Anyway, I came across some good articles clarifying some Java fundamentals. The basics are not necessarily simple.

Java is Pass-by-Value!
Specifically, Java passes object references by value.
* The above article includes a reference to an article explaining C++ Reference Variables, a good explanation of the general concept of reference variables.

Exploring Java: Threads

* What is a daemon thread? When should I use setDaemon() and why?

Use thread.setDaemon(true) to tell the JVM to make the thread a daemon thread.

According to Webster's, a daemon (variant of demon) is an attendant power or spirit. Daemon threads are typically used to perform services for your application/applet (such as loading the "fiddley bits"). The core difference between user threads and daemon threads is that the JVM will only shut down a program when all user threads have terminated. Daemon threads are terminated by the JVM when there are no longer any user threads running, including the main thread of execution. Use daemons as the minions they are.

[In short: daemon threads do not keep the program from quitting; user threads keep the program from quitting. -Alex]

Synchronized block vs. method:

The only real difference is that a synchronized block can choose which object it synchronizes on. A synchronized method can only use 'this' (or the corresponding Class instance for a synchronized class method).

- http://stackoverflow.com/questions/574240/synchronized-block-vs-synchronized-method/574253#574253
* http://stackoverflow.com/questions/416183/in-java-critical-sections-what-should-i-synchronize-on
* http://stackoverflow.com/questions/417285/equivalent-code-for-instance-method-synchronization-in-java

* http://www.coderanch.com/t/234017/threads/java/Threads

what I need is some accountability

Inspired by this blog, I thought that one way to keep me working on my personal programming project would to have some visible external record of my progress or lack thereof.

This week, I started fleshing out the design of my HappyTrack mood tracking program.

I went off on 2 tangents:

* unit testing:

http://blog.jayfields.com/2008/06/developer-testing-and-importance-of.html

http://blog.jayfields.com/search/label/Testing%20Refactorings

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test-driven_development

* Localization/internationalization

I'd like the app to support multiple languages in a relatively flexible, intelligent manner.

Once my program is reasonably usable, I'd like to play with Scala. As most of my experience lies with Java, Scala seems like a natural area to branch into.

However, next month I also start learning Haskell in earnest! I hope I can make faster progress with HappyTrack soon.

Expect another report in a week at the latest.

testing

Prompted by a psychologist friend, I'm writing a mood tracking app in Java, to refresh my Java skills.

In the progress, I thought I'd try to write the test cases as I designed and programmed the application.

I've never used any proper testing frameworks, so I'm starting with the easily available JUnit.

There seems to be a lot of information available on effective ways to write tests.

What makes a good unit test?

How to write good unit tests

The interesting thing about writing a test is that you have to be very clear about what behavior you are expecting. So you must have a clear idea of what you are trying to build and then test. This forces you to clarify the requirements before programming.

It may be difficult to pin down the requirements in advance sometimes. If you are just trying stuff out or just experimenting with functionality, you may not want to fix the outcome in advance.

However, even in such cases, it can be good to limit the functionality temporarily, write test cases for this temporary target, and modify the test cases as you adjust the functionality. It does depend on your individual programming style though.

stop doing things that temporarily have a large impact

Always make changes so that they can be quickly reverted!

You never know when you need to quickly undo something.

i.e. work smarter, not harder.

tab collection

Do you ever collect a list of tabs in your web browser? Tabs of pages that you've had open for ages but you haven't actually gotten around to reading? And every so often, your browser or your computer crashes or Adobe sneaks in a restart (annoying!) and poof! All the tabs are gone. Although Chrome can usually recover in the event of a crash.

My current list:
http://www.engineyard.com/blog/2010/resources-for-getting-started-with-ruby-on-rails/
http://rubylearning.com/satishtalim/first_ruby_program.html
http://creativecommons.org/choose/results-one?license_code=by-nc-nd&jurisdiction=&version=3.0&lang=en
http://racket-lang.org/
http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&srchtype=discussedNews&gid=1834482&item=41934584&type=member&trk=EML_anet_ac_pst_ttle - this is a group discussion on linked in so may not be viewable to the public.
http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/Introduction

just got an acer netbook

It's nice to have a new computer!

Gonna see if I can revive my Sony too.

Gotta start shifting my data over.

振込み詐欺のメール

リンク先に記載しているメールと同じようなメールがきました。
㈱オフト03-3406-1658顧客担当の村田と申します

みんなさん、こういう曖昧なメール、気をつけてください！

typing japanese on the ipad

Is it just me or is the system really slow?
It takes forever to type japanese on my ipad.
Maybe I need to restart the device.

I find the random safari crashes a little annoying too. Maybe this is another sign I need to restart. At least it usually recovers well.

experimenting with twitter

It seems like a good place to chat/babble about the daily minutiae - things unworthy of a blog post or email.

ergonomics in japan

The concept of ergonomics in Japan doesn't seem to have hit. I wonder if it will reach Tokyo someday.

I don't exaggerate when I say that tens of thousands of IT workers in Tokyo sit hunched over computers and laptops every day.

Companies like Honda and Toyota may take better care of their employees, but I can assure you that Sony and Canon don't!

tech: dropbox, amazon mp3 downloads, ipad, itunes/ipod

Dropbox.com is looking pretty cool so far. It syncs (good grief, I typed "sinks" at first! woe is my English) your files with any computer you download the client onto. Very easy to use interface. 2GB free, with a current promotion for an extra 250 mg for each referral.

If anyone's interested, haha.

U.S. Amazon's mp3 downloads service is great. Their search functionality is still lacking though. But the convenience of their service cannot be beat.

iPad. There are supposedly thousands of applications available for this. Can they improve the search functionality a little better? I just want to check out the free apps first... It looks slick, but I feel so constrained by the limited Yahoo Wi-Fi connectivity in Tokyo. I suppose I need to download videos and watch them on this. It's good for taking notes though.

iTunes seems to be sub-par software, and the iPod has a limited interface that I find frustrating. Surprisingly difficult to use - why do people think it's user-friendly? I want to delete songs from my iPod, but I guess this is too complicated a concept for the iTunes model of syncing.