2007/11/01
Labels: joshua, chess, thermonuclear, war, games, wopr
This time from Alain Moran:
If you have a javascript debugger that can run command-line JS, then you can invoke some hidden code that will wipe out your data (well the hierarchies)
Navigate to the Builder Administration screen and then run the following code:
if (!confirm('How about a nice game of chess?') && confirm('Are you sure?')) ThemeAdminDWR.startGlobalThermoNuclearWar(new function (state) {if (state!=null) alert (state);alert('Youve gone and done it now!');});Then enter 'No' followed by 'Yes' and then 'space' or 'return'.
NB: do not in any circumstances run this code on a machine with lots of flashing lights and WOPR stencilled on the front.
I imagine running the code on a computer that answers to the name of "Joshua" would be an equally bad idea LOL
2007/11/09
Labels: internet, exploder, explorer, microsoft, script, debugger, editor, javascript, debugging, aptana, studio, professional, java, eclipse, windows, apple, linux
Ah, the joys of script debugging in Internet Exploder. I've been trying to track down a bug in the Layout Manager in the latest beta of Theme Builder and it's been a nightmare...
Enable Script Debugging
By default, Internet Explorer 7 doesn't do any debugging. Gee, that's useful.
So, before we can do anything else (other than look at useless "invalid property" dialog boxes), we need to enable debugging.
To do this, go in to the advanced options and look for the following options and... deselect them (intuitive as ever, thanks M$)!
Right, now we can debug... NOT! You'd expect that having enabled debugging, a debugger would suddenly appear when there was an error. Oh no, not in IE.
Microsoft Script Debugger
Having done a quick google, I found the free Microsoft Script Debugger and installed it and up it popped next time I hit a JS error. I was aware that Alain Moran had already tried this and got nowhere with it, but thought I'd give it a go just in case a second pair of eyes spotted something different.
Don't even go there. I'm not even going to waste blog space on this piece of <insert expletive here>. It really is truly pants.
Microsoft Script Editor (MSE)
After more googling and suggestions from the GeekUp list, I found that there was a better "free" (as in "bundled with a product I already own") offering from Microsoft - Microsoft Script Editor. This is possibly one of the better kept secrets of script debugging in IE.
From what I can tell, you need to have Office 2003 or later, or possibly MS FrontPage installed. Luckily, I have MS Office 2003.
However, the script debugger isn't installed by default so I went in to MS Word and under the Macros menu found a link to launch the script debugger which then prompted me to install from the Office CD (and I did just that).
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For a tutorial on using MSE, read the "How To".
It initially looked like this basic debugger would be just enough to help me track down some bugs, but it quickly became apparent that it really struggles with dynamically generated pages, AJAX and complex JS.
Before long I was being told that there were JavaScript errors inside style sheets, meta tags and even paragraphs on the page where there was clearly no JS involved. Rargh!
Microsoft Visual Studio
I was also told to take a look at MS Visual Studio. It's possible that Visual Studio is a great product, but I'm not going to install an expensive piece of bloatware just to do some simple JS debugging. Sorry.
So, it seems I'm out of options?
Aptana Studio Professional - to the rescue!
Just when I was about to give up hope, Stuart Grimshaw posted on the GeekUp list saying that he'd heard about something called Aptana Studio Professional that might be able to debug JS in IE. Michael James quickly grabbed a trial version and confirmed that it did!
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Oh my, what a life saver. Based on Eclipse, Aptana runs on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and pretty much anything else that supports Java. It works with both Internet Exploder and Firefox allowing consistent debugging between across multiple platforms and browsers.
The script debugging, which is awesome, is actually only one of the components within Aptana - it has tools for working with JSON, XML, AJAX and a whole lot more.
So far, it's successfully been able to track down every bug and provide extremely detailed drill-down information that makes bug fixing almost trivial.
At long last MSIE has something other than Visual Studio capable of doing proper JS debugging! It's well worth the $99 they charge for it just for the debugging features alone.
I'd write more about it, but I'm too busy playing with it. Expect Theme Builder beta 19 out early next week with full compatibility for Internet Explorer 7 in the Layout Manager 
2007/11/11
When I told my mum, who died of cancer a shortly after Adaptavist was founded, that I was going to set-up a company she told me never to talk about things like this. It's not the sort of thing you should do if you're a CEO. Customers won't like it. She might be right, but just because I'm a CEO doesn't mean I won't stand by my principles. To not stand up and say something about this would invalidate me as a human being.
My wife Karen and her friend Paula had a "wine and chocolate" party tonight – they both share the same birthday this week. The house has been filled with noise and mayhem of a veritable herd of women (I love women!!) all night while I've been sat upstairs working.
A lot of their work friends turned up - they all work for a local telecommunications company, just a few miles from my house.
Aside from the festivities, a common theme ran throughout the night. All of them hate their bosses and the company they work for. It's obvious all of them are passionate about their work – they want to do a good job, give a great service to their customers and further their career to benefit their families. However the company they work for is crap and seems to actively prevent them from doing so.
It's one of those big companies where the bosses have so much money and power they just don't care about their employees any more yet they pretend (even to themselves) that they do. All they want to do is make more money and of course keep the stakeholders sweet – not because they need to, just because they can.
They no longer need to make money – they've already got more than they can spend, literally. Their company goals have turned in to a game to see how much money they can make before it implodes under their terrible management and abusive nature to skilled staff.
The company in question has reached that stage that most large companies in the UK and worldwide attain – the point where they have the dominant market share to such an extent that nobody can really compete with them. A monopoly. It no longer matters if their customer service is crap and they treat long-term skilled employees as worthless minions. They're so big it no longer matters. They've achieved their end-game and need a new type of challenge to occupy their minds.
I've worked for companies like that in the past where the staff who absolutely don't give a shit about their jobs or the customers are worshipped and the staff who want to do things right are penalised and abused, then fired.
When I was a normal employee (regardless of position - even as a manager and director) I could never understand some of the seemingly crazy decisions made by the directors or founders of companies.
As a CEO I now understand the insane logic behind such acts, however I'm determined to walk a different path. After all, everyone told me Adaptavist would fail within the first year and we've conclusively proved them wrong. We've got universities and business gurus alike studying us, trying to work out why our business model works so well. To me it seems obvious, we actually care!
I'm a firm believer that a company that focuses on customer needs first and foremost will be successful and that's turned out to be true so far, to the extent that we have problems handling the constant influx of new customers.
A company like Adaptavist is hard to build but it's worth it and I'm determined to reward staff for their dedication. I've come to realise that while a CEO might set the overall direction of a company (and therefore it's ultimate success or failure) it's the staff who make it happen. Without them, I'm nothing. I wish I wasn't a multilingual illiterate and could find the words to explain just how much I appreciate them. Alas, I can't. Hopefully as our profits increase the money I pay them and the working environment I facilitate will convey my appreciation.
I've been asked several times tonight if there are any jobs up for grabs at Adaptavist (which there are for specific roles).
It's coming up to Christmas, an expensive commercialised festive season (under the guise of a religious holiday) here in the UK which is traditionally the time where big companies lay-off staff to ensure maximum pain and suffering of the affected families just so their stakeholders can have even more impressive parties at their expense.
It felt awful each time I had to explain that their skills weren't currently suited to what Adaptavist is looking for. The first time was traumatic, the second time even worse. As the night went on I felt the will to live slowly drain from me. I know all of them would have put in well over 100% effort just like all the existing staff at Adaptavist do.
It's one of the things that keeps me awake at night thinking about the future of Adaptavist. We're a highly successful company with a rapidly growing worldwide client-base – what if we eventually turn in to the sort of company that doesn't care about staff or customers? What if I turn in to the sort of dick-head that doesn't care about employees? What if I stop treating them as equals and treat them like crap?
I don't believe that the owners of large companies start out with an intention to lay off people just before Christmas. How could anyone be like that? Even deeply evil people would wait until the "New Year", surely? And why would they lay off people who actually care about the company and it's customers instead of people that don't give a shit (yeah, I know they cost a lot more, but they do a better job too)?
Something must happen to the founders as the company grows in to a monopoly. They must reach a point where they are so successful that other people cease to matter – all they are concerned with is becoming more successful than other successful companies. What if I turn in to that sort of person or if Adaptavist turns in to that sort of company?
If I do, or the company does, shoot me. I'm serious! If I end up like that I don't deserve the right to live.
I don't have a huge amount of faith in humanity but at least I still deeply respect the people I employ and feel privileged that they are willing to work with me and consider them great friends.
I still care about each and every customer and know that every member of staff does too - if a customer is ever being under-serviced, I get really harsh emails or IM messages from staff telling me to do something about it pronto.
It's really hard work but we love it. I might be considered by some to be a dreamer, but no matter what happens I still believe there is good in this world.
So, to all those people out there who are being shat on this Christmas (or at any other time), I'd like to say this: Don't give up. You matter. You do make a difference. Chin up, stand tall! Prove them wrong!
Man, after that last blog post I need something less depressing to talk about.
So, myself and Dan Hardiker are attending BarCamp Leeds in a weeks' time.
As the literature explains, it's an un-conference. There's no set agenda and the talks are presented by the attendees:
BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from participants. The name BarCamp was inspired as a complement to FooCamp.
I've never attended Bar Camp before so this is going to be yet another new experience for me.
I'm hoping to do a talk on "gung-ho business" - basically a talk on Adaptavist - which is just as well considering the 8th rule:
1st Rule: You do talk about Bar Camp.
- 3rd Rule: If you want to present, you must write your topic and name in a presentation slot. (can't do this 'till we get there)
- 5th Rule: As many presentations at a time as facilities allow for. (we're not in control of this)
- 6th Rule: No pre-scheduled presentations, no tourists. (ditto!)
- 7th Rule: Presentations will go on as long as they have to or until they run into another presentation slot. (ditto #2)
So, if any of you are attending come over and say hello! I'll be wearing one of our subtle (as a brick) Adaptavist t-shirts 
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See you there!
I really must go sleep soon (6:30am Sunday morning here in the UK) but one last blog post seeing as I'm on a roll (and also because I want to put the depressing evening behind me before hitting the sack)...
Ok, it's been a few weeks – I think? – since I got my geek bulb (scroll back through my blog for more info) so time for a final update on it's effects...
As I mentioned previously, all the advertised benefits have proved true.
It's cleaned the air, it's improved my mood, it's got rid of my headaches and so on. It's even, somehow, improved the softness of my skin (I'm sure I'm a woman trapped in a man's body)!
Anyway, one thing I wasn't sure about was the effect on my sleeping patterns.
Hrm... You see, the bulb provides daylight whenever it's on. That keeps me wide awake. It's 6:30am and I'm not really tired although my brain is telling me I should be.
So, with regards to sleeping patterns I guess the bulb would work wonders for normal people. However, I'm nocturnal – my body clock has aligned itself to our worldwide customers so my day generally starts at around 2pm in the afternoon (or my "morning" which I define as "the first 4 hours after waking up") through to around 2-4am in the morning.
Problem is, that this bulb has resulted in my body thinking that it's still broad daylight at 6:30am. Rargh!
If you're nocturnal, don't expect the geek bulb to sort your sleeping patterns - it'll make them worse. However, the over benefits still make it a very worthwhile investment!
Right, I really must get some sleep. Luckily I've consumed half a bottle of Blavod (I'll blog about that as soon as I get some pics from the manufacturer) so I should be out like a light (not a geek bulb though) as soon as my head hits the pillow.
TTYL!
2007/11/15
It's a bit like an intranet, only with added snowflakes...
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Dan Hardiker had quickly blogged in our intranet to remind everyone to choose their menu for our company Christmas meal in a few weeks time, then went to bed leaving the blog part finished.
After a day wading through paperwork (which I loathe!) I just couldn't resist playing with it. Alain Moran also helped out with a few of the icons to illustrate the food choices of the people who managed to respond before going to bed.
2007/11/20
Well, I've finally recovered from BarCamp Leeds - here's a few photos:
The end of my talk on "Gung-ho Start-ups":
The obligatory Wii tennis tournament:
Drinking £600 GBP worth of alcohol:
It was a most splendid day and the people and presentations were excellent. Thanks to everyone who organised the event and all the attendees!
