• PHP
Yeah, PHP isn’t the new, cool kid on the block, but it’s dynamic and it does the job. If everything goes as planned, I’ll be porting to RoR once our version 2 release is done.
• CodeIgniter
On the surface, CodeIgniter looked like it would be similar to RoR (Active Record, MVC, etc), but it’s a pale, pale version of RoR. It’s missing most of the ActiveRecord goodness, and the MVC framework rewards discipline and attention to detail.
• MySQL
MySQL is the second best part of the LAMP stack. The performance is nice, and it works well with my chosen IDE (emacs, what else?).
• Linux
I can’t put into words the comfort I feel using Linux for day-to-day development. The tool set is full featured, using the mouse is entirely optional, and I feel like I could recover from just about any disastrophy.

This environment isn’t perfect by any means. I’ve had a few problems with NetworkManager and lockups, which rock my world to the core. The combination of LAMP, a great startup environment, and working at home has me feeling pretty special, though. It’s nice to be able to walk upstairs, gently wake your son at 10am, cook him some breakfast, and go back to work.

I’ll be posting snippets of code when I can. Hopefully I can help others using the same set of tools.

As far a the polyphasic goes, I’ve been experimenting fast and loose with my schedule to try and accommodate my day to day and job responsibilities. I’m still on the plan, and am moving back toward a more classic Uberman schedule. It’s working, and working pretty well. Some days, when there’s lots of work to do, my laptop never gets cold.

• Sunday Morning (4-8)
• Monday Morning (4-5:30)
• Tuesday Morning (midnight – 1:45

I hope this is not a harbinger of things to come. I’ve been using a timer app on my Android phone to wake up :30 min later. I’m going to switch back to using the trusty (and low tech) egg timer and see if that makes any difference.

So far I’ve felt really good. I exercised Monday morning at 2am, rode my bike to the Dr (1 hr), and was able to awake after :30 every time other than the incidents mentioned above.

I’ve decided that I’m going to take measurements of my mental acuity from time to time. I’ve got a “brain training” Nintendo DS game and a particular high score. I’m interested if I’ll be able to beat my high score, perform dismally, or something in-between (and normal). I’ll post results.

I just took a job with Learning Earnings, and I’ll be working at home most of the time. There will be the occasional client meeting, collaboration session, or video shoot, but most of my work life will be spent hammering out new features using a LAMP stack of tools. Perfect time for another run at polyphasic sleep. This go-round, I’ll be taking my “naps” at 8,12 and 4 (and 8, 12 and 4).

Right now, it’s “day” 2. I started polyphasic sleep yesterday (6-Jun-2010). Most of my sleep cycles have gone well, but yesterday I ended up sleeping for the entire 4am to 8am cycle. I’m going to chalk that up to the boundary condition of starting the cycle. If I’m still sleeping for 4 hours at a stretch by next week, I’ll have to seriously consider curtailing this experiment.

So far, I’ve felt fine. I’ve wanted to lay back down and catch a few more minutes of sleep, but that’s to be expected during this first week of of the cycle. Onward and upward.

Thankfully the wedding has reminded me that my anniversary is drawing nigh. We celebrated our 25 wedding anniversary back in December by taking a cruise, but I’ll still need to acknowledge the wonderful past 25 years to my wife on the actual day.

As we toured the newly constructed dormitories, I noticed a small kiosk in the lobby. This kiosk (no bigger than a gas station ATM) allowed the students to print documents from a flash drive (for a fee). This is a great idea, since it allows students to complete the document on their computer, and print it when they need it.

I really need to post some pictures of the underquilts that I’ve made. I promise that Version 3 will get a decent photo history…

#Ebook Deal of the Day: Learning Rails: Live Edition – Only $9.99! Use code DDRAS http://bit.ly/cfevxN

I’d never seen this “Live Edition” term, so I decided to check it out. First of all, it’s a pretty good deal ($19 discount), from a reputable source. The “Live Edition” indicates that it’s an interim release of updated material (in this case Rails 2.0.0 to 2.3.5). Also, it appears that “Live Edition” means you can re-download the book if the content changes (i.e. Rails 2.3.5 to 3.0.0). That sounds like a pretty good deal.

The deal isn’t quite as good as the PeepCode deal, but it’s worth a try. I bought the E-Book, and will read it over the next few days. Downloading updates to the content is like of like having technical knowledge life insurance.

In your config/application.rb file, put the line:

config.generators.colorize_logging = false

And that’s all there is to it. It wasn’t as hard as finding some low cost business insurance, but it did take me a few minutes to find. Hopefully, this helps someone else.

I found some material at Wal-Mart for $1.50 / yd, have some similarly cheap fiber-fill, and am busily brushing up on my sewing skills. Finished pictures posted later, unless I end up needing some tretinoin cream.