Samer Sadek's blog

I was getting a hibernate error nonuniqueObjectexception. This happened when CF sends flex the same object twice (the first is an object, the second is a reference to that object).
Found this link
http://groups.google.com/group/cf-orm-dev/browse_thread/thread/36c5543b0...
and I replaced entitysave with entitymerge. This solved it for me.
Anyway, just thought I'd share....

I have a long commute, and I often listen to podcasts. I thought I'd share what I listen to, and a quick note about a few of them.

• CF conversations: I think this is the oldest ColdFusion podcast. The host, Brian Meloche had stopped recording for a while, but is now back. Sometimes the sound is not the greatest, but it has improved lately. Interviews are with one or more guests, often in the form of a round table discussion, and are about a framework or methodology.
• CfHour(): Michael Sean Becker and Dave Ferguson discuss ColdFusion and related topics. When they talk technology, it's good and interesting, but they wander sometimes into random topics. I know most people find these stories interesting and a nice break from all the geek talk, but I, personally, am not interested in how to kill a fly like a ninja or how to make a celeb follow me on twitter.
• Chariot Tech Cast: This podcasts expands my horizons beyond my ColdFusion/flex cocoon. Topics include Eclipse, Ruby on Rails, Java, HTML5 and many many more.
• Cloud Computing Podcast: I listen to this sometimes, just to try and stay up to date. Sometimes there are parts that I do not understand, but at least I hear the new buzz words and get a feel about the topics being discussed in the cloud computing world.
• Digital Planet: I listen to this just because I like the bbc show Click, and this is a sister podcast. It's not really a technical podcast, it's more about how technology affects our society. I listen to it when I feel like something light that I do not need to focus on.
• The Flex Show: As far as I know, this is the only pure flex podcast. Usually in the form of an interview, John Wilker and Jeffrey Houser have a chat with a guest who is an expert about some flex-related topic. They also have every now and then a 'news' episode where, instead of a guest interview, they chat about the latest flex-related news. If you are a flex developer, you should listen to it.
• InsideRIA: Good show, with a lot of useful information. But, just like the cfhour podcast, I prefer podcasts that get straight to the point, dive right away into the geekiness. This show contains a bit more humor and entertainment.
• RIA Weekly: A very good podcast, also usually an interview on a wide range of topics. What is also great about it is that they post the transcript of the podcast on their website, so if you do not have time to listen to it, you can read it or if you need to come back and revisit something, it is there for you.
• RIA Podcast: This is my favorite podcast. These guys get straight to the point, talk about interesting topics, and the sound is usually good. If you are only going to listen to one podcast, I'd recommend this one.

All these are free, and I imagine take a very long time to prepare, record, edit, post. The developers of these podcasts (podcasters?) do this on their spare time and spend a lot of money on equipment. So to all podcasters, thank you so much for sharing the knowledge.

I have always been a PC person. I’ve always used Microsoft products. My first programming language was VBScript. I like Windows 7. I even liked Vista (after SP2). More important, I have a lot of respect and admiration to Bill Gates and what he is doing on a humanitarian level with his Gates foundation. This guy single handedly is saving more lives and doing more good than millions of us put together.

And I am not a big Apple fan. True, some of their products are very creative and explore new boundaries, but I do not find Macs as intuitive as everybody says they are. It took me a long time to get know how to use iTunes (as opposed to Windows Media Player 11 that I love). And without getting into the Apple/Adobe issue here, I am annoyed by this closed iTunes store model. There is something to be said for the more open Windows model, even if you end up with a lot of junk. (And seriously, it's about time for a right mouse click instead of the 2 finger backslide touch with a double flip reverse).

So when I was shopping for a new phone, I decided to give Windows Mobile a chance. I am with AT&T, so I got the HTC tilt 2. The phone has some neat features: The keyboard is very practical. I liked the little vibrate effect when I typed a letter. The camera is good. The processor is OK. The speaker phone is the best I have ever seen. But the OS was lagging. The programs are in three different locations and it is not easy figuring out which program is where and why. Syncing it was a pain even when I used windows mobile. Then it took me two hours to sync it with my Google calendar, and there was still an error message that I ignored at the end. It froze three or four times during the three short weeks that I owned it. In general the experience was unsatisfactory.

Come on Microsoft! I am rooting for you! Good job on Windows 7. MSSQL is a good database. SharePoint is doing very well (for some reason that I still cannot understand), and Google docs is not making a big dent in Office (I know I am comparing apples and oranges, sort of). But building an operating system is your bread and butter. If you do not have a good OS, nothing else matters. Why are you spending time and money on office mobile if the OS that it is running on still needs a lot of work?

I am returning it tomorrow and will give an Android a shot.

I just came back from NCDevCon2010. Thanks for the organization committee, especially Dan Wison and Jim Priest, who did a great job. I gave two presentations there: Air Desktop Capabilities and Writting readable code.
Thanks also for all who attended my talks. Here they are attached. And here are the recordings of these talks.
Desktop Capabilities
Writing readable code

The next Capital Area Flex User Group meeting is Wednesday, May 5th starting at 6:00 pm. Please note we are meeting in a different location, see below.

Christian Cantrell from Adobe will be presenting:
Adaptive Application Development: Writing One Application That Runs Everywhere
Christian will demonstrate how to write an application that can run on seven different platforms including: Windows, Max, Linux, Web Browser, iPhone, iPad, and Android based phones.

This is a popular topic and I anticipate a high turnout for the meeting so I have arranged for space at a hotel near the metro. The meeting will take place at:
The Legacy Hotel
1775 Rockville Pike
Rockville MD 20852

The hotel is near the Twinbrook metro station in Rockville across 355. The hotel won’t let us bring our own food and their catering service is expensive, so we are going to walk over to a pizza place nearby for some food and social time after the meeting.

It looks like we have found meeting space in Virginia. If everything works out the June meeting will take place in Chantilly Virginia. Hopefully this will cut down on the commute time for those people who live in Virginia and allow other people to attend to the meetings. The current plan is to alternate months between Maryland and Virginia, but we’ll see how things pan out.

If you can't make it to the meeting you can still participate online through Adobe Connect at the following URL: http://adobechats.adobe.acrobat.com/capfug0510/

The meeting starts at 6:00 and presentations will begin promptly at 6:30pm. For directions and more information visit www.dc-flex.org

Thank you for all who attended my talks. Attached are my 2 presentations: Air Desktop capabilities and Setting Up Robust Communication Between Flex and ColdFusion.