Working like a GPS! (Update)

The internal building process is stable, almost ready to face the public.

On the side I had been wiring/connecting a feature that makes the gui engine work like a GPS. I do not think I mentioned before.

It knows at all times where the widget-under-test is. So what's the benefit? The benefit is that the engine knows where to position the cursor at all times. It does not miss a click.

The benefits of skipping capture-and-replay ;-}

Passing Away...

Some thoughts come at the most strange times. It is not hard to guess that I am tangled up working on the internal building process of the tool, after all it is Saturday night, around 10.

But in 2006, my uncle Alfonso and Clifford Antone passed away.

My uncle was the family's grinch, and the town's for that matter. I was one of the "fortunate" :-} few he invited for a beer.

He was a "rojo".

Those who familiar with the Spanish civil war know that every family has a bunch of members on each side. Some even switched sides during the conflict so they could be close to wives and children, if that tells something about the mindlessness of that conflict.

Anyways, my father was a "franquista". And while I was growing up, they engaged in these heated arguments about politics that had everybody else in the family taking sides or holding their breath. Even though the Spanish CW was long gone. As a child , this was extremely fascinating to me.

Antone (I never had the chance to talk to him, other than an occasional nod at Guero's) was another "funny" character but the amazing musicians and performers that I saw at his venues will never forget.

There was a particular occasion that Maceo Parker was playing at Antone's. He and his trumpet engaged in this solo/duet that I still get goosebumps from. Almost 6 years later.

Back In Barcelona...

I had to come to Barcelona for 4 days. I am still in Barcelona, flying back tomorrow afternoon.

It had been almost 13 years since the last time I came. A lot of construction, and new luxury stores, etc. But still a pleasure to visit.

The Gothic district with its thousands of antiquaries, vintage stores, churches is worth roaming around. There is a small restaurant where Gaudí, Picasso, Dalí, Miró used to hang out. It is still open for business.

Casa Batlló, my favorite Gaudí building, is open to the public, there is a fee to pay though.

The Eclipse plug-in is almost there. The trimmer is a lot more stable. The internal building process plays well with the trimmer.

Just an simple and easy test retrieval interface is missing...

Molasses...

I am still on ironing out and making DevRiot more stable (which is happening :-) but the latest developments around here are really hard to miss.

Well, the EU is launching a campaign to become more energy independent and efficient. It is extremely funny to hear this after Putin wrestled Yukos back from private hands several years ago.

It is not a matter of saying if it was illegal or not. That I do not know and I am not qualified to know. It should have been a red-flag of things to come period.

Few years later, the oil price spikes up. So, I wonder if France, England, Germany, etc, were on holidays or were reading the classifieds only.

This is the slowest reaction and processing of information that I have seen in a while. That USA is in the same boat? USA does not have the structural problems that EU has: demographic problems, higher taxes, employment and new business ventures creation, etc.

So, do not have the foundations to compete in this century and caught reading the sports section?

Spanish politics are a zarzuela. Now the debacle of the ETA negotiations and latests killings is because the opposition is obstructionist, according to the government. Let's see:

How come the opposition can be obstructionist if it has not been able to stop any of the government initiatives this term?

The government and its supporters in parliament have have passed every single initiative they wanted this term. The government put all its eggs on this anti-terrorist basket. The gamble failed.

They should stop the political marketing for a while, face the music, and pretend they are in control.

Code Generation + the perils of Political Marketing...

Well, apparently the Spanish government is starting the contacts with other political forces to create an anti-terrorism policy that has wide support. The funny thing is that they said it as if they were talking about where to buy bread. They are running a country.

So, what were they doing before? No back-up plan? After the 3rd broken cease-fire? Thinking that they were smarter, more illuminated than the rest of human kind?

The funny thing is that they take the same, or worse, attitudes of the foes they most criticized to get into office. Does it sound familiar?

And no, I do not like early elections. These are matters that transcend a poll.

Well, like a marketeer friend of mine, who has worked in political campaigns, said: there is so much you can do with the product you got.

I am currently working the IO/Instrumentation Units compiling/Trimmer. It is coming along fine. It was not as stable as I thought it was.

Running natively on Linux...

The following link will take you to another video of DevRiot running on Linux. Notice that by getting around the limitations of capture-and-replay, things are a lot simpler. For instance, there is no need to use Windows to test a Gui in Linux, or use JavaBeans for that matter.

The same applies to other devices like PDA, etc.

Well, here is the link