garmin forerunner 405 and garmin connect...AWESOME

SO...my christmas present to myself was the garmin forerunner 405. it has almost ever feature that i would want in a training device:
heart rate monitor
gps
developer tools
+ all the normal training watch features

the major downside: windows only. they say os x support in the "first quarter of 09" but we'll see when that comes out. seems that it's only because they have yet to create the drivers for that ANT+ system they use for the wireless data transfer, so hopefully it's not long until they get that worked out.

since the only win machines i had were all emulated, and i couldn't figure out how to get the ANT+ stick to follow through to them, i had to install xp again on an old laptop. after about 10 hours of total work(2 -> garmin connect, 8 -> xp install) i go this:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/1903407

as a developer, a page like this can do so much for inspiration. if i only had an extra couple days a week...

coding style - an underlying factor

today at work i was pondering what is the thing that makes me unique and strong at what i do. so obviously i spent my time comparing myself to what my co-workers to figure out why i can get all my work done so fast and still have time to let my mind take breaks (to me this is reading blogs) and still get all my work done much faster than i should. the major difference i came up with was efficiency in coding style.

i constantly keep thinking about the structure of the current project i'm working on, from front to end. my mind pretty much stops when i start thinking serially (one thing after another) and i don't have a choice but to think in parallel because of my ADD.

one thing i get when analyzing other programmers though, is everyone thinks that they are the most efficient at their style. in my opinion, that is completely the wrong way to think. 100% efficiency is something you never achieve when coding. also people who think it's not worth the time to put into learning a new technique, i also think you're wrong.

i think this is exactly why i can do things much faster than others. my main techniques are as follows:
Aptana(eclipse mod) IDE intelisense: i can't live without this amazing tool. i've got everything memorized and can write my code over twice as fast than i can with a normal text editor or vi. the majority of my friends use something like vi which is great, but i'd love to challenge a vi master against my


massively repetitive code: i have 3-4 files i use that has all my repetitive code in it, always readily availale in an open tab. if i need to use my observer pattern or select list create foreach loops or anything i use at least once a week i push in there and know exactly where it is.

efficient use of OO pattern techniques: in every language that you can write class-like objects and extend them, learning OO patterns has been the most amazing thing ever to me. i write mostly javascript and just today i used about 3 different patterns for new code. if you can't write OO code, i'm sorry, but it is amazing.

another thing i'm constantly doing is working on my efficiency. if i know i'm working on something i'm going to have to do in the future, i try 3-4 different ways of how to write it so i know what the fastest way will be in the future. most coders should naturally do something like this, but make sure you're conscious that you're doing it. think about your technique all the time and make yourself better. it really pays off.

iBlogger

Trying out iblogger on my iPod touch. Pretty good so far. I'm also thinking about switching to wordpress in the relative future which this says it can post too. Also has the ability to post pics.

It's almost worth the $.99 I paid for it and I NEVER pay for apps. Simple and does what it's supposed too. I like that.

Mobile Blogging from here.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]