12Robots.com - Jason Dean

Board and Card Games at cf.Objective() 2012 - Birds of a Feather

Fri, 11 May 2012 10:28:00 -0400

The Birds of a Feather sessions for cf.Objective() were just announced, and my suggestion was accepted. So we'll be having a BoF session on board and card games. We did this last year and it was such a big hit that we're doing it again. I will be bringing a bunch of games you're welcome to bring some too. Here is what I plan to bring:

I encourage others to bring their favorite games. Unlike last year, this BoF is scheduled to run pretty much as late as we want to go. Last year we could only schedule two hours (we ended up going for four). This year I believe the room is being reserved until the wee hours of the morning. So even though on the BoF schedule this BoF is only listed for 1 hour, it will actually run for 5+ hours. Awesome. Since I cannot, obviously, spend the whole session teaching people to play all of these games, I would LOVE to get some volunteers who know these games or are willing to learn them to sign up to "host" a game. One or two hosts per game would be great. Also, feel free to offer to host your own game of whatever you like. We'll be in the big room so we can have several games going at once and not bump into each other too much. Last year I think we had at least 5 games going in different areas of the room with no problem. We likely had room for more. Please feel free to add a comment to volunteer to host a game and to add the game you want to bring. Note: I will also be brining some very simple pick-up games that take a short time to learn and I'll bring a normal decks of cards. So even if you can't stay the whole time or want to play something simple, please stop in. These will include:

Catherdral (two-player)
Normal cards (Spades, Hearts, Cribbage, etc)
Spite and Malice
Zombie Dice
Yahtzee

Last year this was so much fun. Please come join us either right away or after the other BoF sessions. Drop in any time, grab a game and have a blast.

Seriously? Come On!!!

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:06:00 -0400

So it seems like no one has an interest in the Birds of a Feather sessions or Lightning Talks at cf.Objective. Why the hell not? This two things are two of my favorite parts of cf.O(). Perhaps you guys are just lazy sacks who can be troubled to spend a few minutes going to the Engage app to submit ideas or even to vote on your favorite ideas. Or perhaps you don't understand what these are and why you might want to do it.

Birds of a Feather Sessions

A BoF session is NOT another presentation. It is a group of people with a common interest that get together to discuss it. It might involve demonstration, group discussions, small group breakout sessions, or any number of other things. It can be an opportunity for someone who is new to a subject to sit down with others who are more experience to ask questions and seek advice. It could also be an opportunity to socialize instead of sitting in your room watching pay-per-view after the conference. So far this year, very few BoF ideas have been suggested. I have suggested a couple, one technical and one social. And I have voted on those others that I would like to see at the conference (whether or not I think I would be able to attend the BoF). Now it is time for you to do your part. What BoFs would you like to see at cf.O()? Make suggestions or vote for those you would like to see.

Lightning Talks

Lightning Talks are fun. They can be about any subject, and they can give you the opportunity to speak at a conference like cf.Objective() (For about 6 minutes). If you would like to try your hand public speaking and have some fun doing it, submit a proposal. Lightning Talks are a simple idea. You get 20 slides for 20 seconds each. They auto-advance. So it is important to have your timing down. That's it. They can be on any subject you like. I have seen fantastic presentations on:

Relationships
Leadership
The history of Volkswagen air-cooled engines
Technology Projects at the Free Library of Philadelphia
International Adoption
And more

You can do your presentation on whatever you like. Be it Technology, hobby, activist, or whatever. So get on that. Fame and fortune will follow.

ColdFusion, CFML, Open Source, and Friends

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 13:10:00 -0400

This is a blog post I have been contemplating for a long time, and I want to make sure I pick my words carefully so as not to send the wrong message. I am currently an Adobe Community Professional and have been involved in the ColdFusion community for some time. I have been seen by my peers as an Adobe Fanboy, and, for the most part, I have been OK with that. I still like Adobe, I still support Adobe, and I actively use Adobe ColdFusion. But the part I need to get off my chest is that I am NOT against the Open Source CFML alternatives (specifically Railo and OpenBD). In fact, I believe that Railo and OpenBD, along with other open source projects like Mura CMS, ColdBox and ContentBox, FarCry, Slatwall, Razuna, and many others are vitally important to CFML's future. Let's face it. ColdFusion and CFML do not have a great reputation. It's unfortunate that so many ignorant assholes spout off about ColdFusion because they once had a bad experience, or because they used it 10 years ago and assume that nothing has changed but them. But however you slice it, ColdFusion is looked down upon by much of the rest of the web development world. I believe that much of the disdain over Adobe ColdFusion is because it is a commercial, proprietary, closed-source system. I also believe that much of the reason our current community is becoming divided is for that same reason. [More]

Mura CMS, Git, Submodules, and project structure ideas - Seeking feedback

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:41:00 -0400

So I have been working with Mura CMS a lot lately and I have also migrated all of my projects to Git. But I find myself in a situation that I don't really like. I have an idea of how I might fix it, but I am not expert enough in Mura or Git to know if this is a good idea or if I will find myself in a tough position with it in the future. [More]

Deleting .svn folders recursively on OS X and Linux

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 10:08:00 -0400

Here is a handy tidbit that I came across while I was switching some of my projects from SVN to Git.


find ./ -name .svn -exec rm -rf '{}' ';'

While in the project's root folder, when you run this it will delete any .svn folders that it finds in the project folder and any of its subfolders. This made removing the SVN version control quite simple without having to run an SVN export on every project and make copies of all of them. Mostly I am blogging this so that I have it for my own reference, but I thought others might find it useful too. I am no expert on bash command line scripts, so I won't pretend to understand exactly what is going on here, but it seems obvious that this script will do a find on the current folder and its subfolders for any folder/file named '.svn' and run 'rm -rf' on if. The -rf attributes tell the rm command to recursively force-delete any folders and its children. This is needed since .svn matches we'll be finding are directories. Be careful when running this, it will NOT ask you if you are sure. Of course, this will work with other files and folders as well. Like if you want to delete all of those .DS_Store files that OS X likes to stick everywhere.


find ./ -name .DS_Store -exec rm '{}' ';'

Since .DS_Store files are not directories, the -rf options are not needed.

Dynamically loading the correct PhoneGap.js file for Android or iPhone

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 09:55:00 -0400

I am in the process of putting together a mobile development class and have been trying to figure out the best ways to get students who are new to PhoneGap and Mobile development going on cross-platform development. One of the issues I have been trying to solve is the fact that PhoneGap apps use a different phonegap.js file on each platform. This is a problem that I do not feel is well documented and one that is not easily and cleanly solved. Since PhoneGap applications require these different JS files I have been unable to find a good way to start building a PhoneGap application in, for example, Eclipse with the Android Development Tool as an Android project and then be able to quickly and easily switch over to XCode and launch the same application as an iOS app. I always need to go and replace the phonegap.js file with the iOS one first and then switch it back before I go back to working in Android. Not a great workflow. I could probably solve the problem with custom build scripts. I could set up build scripts for both iOS and Android to properly retrieve the correct file and stuff it into the build prior to compilation, but this is not something I want to take the time to do in the classroom (I also don't want the students to have to worry about trying to set up ANT at home). This also prevents me from having an application that can simply be downloaded from GitHub and run without modification. It's also more code to manage. I would need to maintain X number of build scripts (one for each platform) for all of my projects. Sounds like a PITA. [More]

The importance of Mura (and Plugins)

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:00:00 -0400

What I've been thinking about

I've been thinking a lot lately about Blue River Interactive's Mura Content Managent System (hence forth referred to as Mura CMS or just Mura), probably because I have been working a lot with it lately. I am in the process of converting a large, mostly static, web site to Mura, and I have been amazed by its power, versatility and ease-of-use. I have been especially pleased with how easy it is for me to make plugins for it. While thinking about Mura, I have realized something important. Mura CMS is an incredible products with the potential to change the way that ColdFusion and CFML are viewed. And this needs to be recognized. It also has the potential to become a very popular, open source product used outside of the ColdFusion/CFML community. [More]

cf.Objective() 2012 call for speakers and topic suggestions (with voting) now open

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:48:00 -0400

Last week our benevolent dictator of the cf.O() Content Advisory Board (CAB) announced that the Call for Speakers and Topic Suggestion application is now open and ready for our submissions. I know I have started adding my suggestions already and have started voting as well. You should too. As a member of the CAB I can tell you that this application was a HUGE part of the success that cf.O(0 saw last year in brining the attendees a fantastic line-up of sessions. It makes the planning process SOOOOOOOO smooth. Please, take the time to vote. You, the attendees of the conference, are the audience. We care about what you want to see. So if you want to have a hand in planning this stellar event, then get going. From Bob's Blog:

The Topic Suggestion Survey and the Call for Speakers for next year's cf.Objective() are both now officially open. For more details please check out the announcement at the cf.Objective() site, or if you're keen to get started, visit the Engage app right now to suggest and vote on topics or to propose to speak.

Accessing FORM and URL variables via $.event() from an admin-side plugin page in Mura

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 16:49:00 -0400

I have been learning a lot about Mura the last couple of weeks while building my first Mura plugin, but I have also had a lot of frustration because some things work differently when you are developing for a front-end page vs. a back-end (admin) page. In the Mura Developer Documentation it states:

The Event scope simply wraps the current request's event object which contains merged data from both the CFML FORM and URL scopes.

If then goes on to say that the following code should return values from those scopes.

So if I have a URL variable like ?test=123, then this code should return the value '123':

This seems to work fine on pages I create for Mura display objects for the front end of the website, but for pages in the admin area of the site, this method only produces [empty string]. [More]

cf.Objective() 2011 Keynote - Something New

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 10:33:00 -0400

This year at cf.Objective() we'll be trying something new with the Keynote address. Specifically, instead of being addressed by Adobe, you will be addressed by members of the community. I am proud to be one of those members, and I will be joined by an amazing group of people.

We'll be talking about several topics, and you are not going to want to miss it.

Oh and we need speakers for the Lightning Talks!!

For those that attended cf.O() last year, you may remember that the Pecha Kucha was a HUGE hit. it was almost as well attended as the keynote address and it was a lot of fun. We are going to do it again this year, but this year we are calling it "Lightning Talks". These presentations are fun, short, and can be on any topic that you want. If you are interested in presenting a Lightning Talk, go to http://engage.cfobjective.com/ and submit a topic. Anyone can present a Lightning Talk. You do NOT need to be a cf.Objective() speaker already. This is a great opportunity to get up and try your hand at speaking to a group and having some fun. And again, it can be on ANY subject. Lightning / PK talks that I have seen in the past include:

The Evolution of the Air Cooled Volkswagen - Jim Leether - NCDevCon 2010
People-centric software design - Ben Nadel - cf.Objective() 2010
Stress Management - Doug hughes - NCDevCon 2010
Life can be hard, or life can be easy - Jason Long - NCDevCon 2010
5 Bucks Is Change - Janet Kennedy - NCDevCon 2010

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at cf.Objective() 2011

XSS mitigation in ColdFusion, Part 1: Understanding HTML Contexts - Security Series #8.5.1

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 12:00:00 -0400

A long, long time has passed since my first post on Cross-Site Scripting. Looking back on it now, I realize that I have learned a lot since then. I do not think that post cuts the mustard anymore and I will need to do some writing to make up for that. In the meantime, the topic of XSS came up on a discussion board a few weeks before I started writing this, and again on Ray's blog today, and I wanted to take some time to explore it in more depth. One common misconception about XSS mitigation in ColdFusion is that the best way to handle it is to use HTMLEditFormat() to output any user generated data. I had this same misconception for a long time and have helped to spread it. While it is true that HTMLEditFormat() can stop many attacks in many locations in your applications, it is not a catch all for XSS. HTMLEditFormat() only works in the HTML block content context of your applications. Your applications have several other contexts where, if you use dynamic code, you can open up XSS vulnerabilities that HTMLEditFormat() cannot stop. In this post, we will discuss these contexts, what the are, and why they need to be treated differently. [More]

Whose responsibility is data security?

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:29:00 -0400

This is an important question and one that you need to ask yourself. Last week this article was released about a faculty researcher at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The article describes how the University recently found out that a machine that stored 180,000 social security numbers (used for research) was compromised back in 2007. The University is now hanging out the researcher to dry and not claiming any fault of their own. There is no report yet on what is happening with the programmer/system admin that she hired to maintain the system. [More]

Call for speakers - cf.Objective()

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 12:22:00 -0400

Hey, in case you didn't notice, the call for speakers for the super-awesome-fantastic-amazing cf.Objective() conference is now open. you can submit your proposals here: http://engage.cfobjective.com/ Even if you don't submit a proposal, you should definitely come to cf.Objective(). It is best ColdFusion conference there is. And remember that cf.Objective isn't JUST for advanced/enterprise developers. cf.Objective() is also about becoming an advanced/enterprise developer. So even if you feel like cf.Objective() might be over your head, if you're an experienced developer who wants to take the next step in your learning, cf.Objective() is the place for you! So get on it!

My Presentation Files from the MN Government IT Symposium

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 12:08:00 -0400

Last week I had a great time presenting a couple of topics at the MN Government IT Symposium. Here are the slide decks from my presentations: [More]

Getting your BlackBerry PlayBook development environment set up - Part Three

Sun, 28 Nov 2010 13:43:00 -0400

In this post, we're going to look at setting up FlashBuilder 4 to talk to our BlackBerry PlayBook virtual device. We'll also create our first PlayBook App. Note, Parts one & two of this series are prerequisites to this part.

Something New

My last two posts were SO LONG, and took a while to load. All of the screen captures and images really annoyed me. So I decided to do this post using Adobe Captivate. [More]