Changing that yucky cygwin prompt colour

We have a very cool script here at work that everybody uses when they want to upgrade their local database, run their local jboss server, load the data that's used by the app, etc.

The problem, for Windows users, is that it's a Linux script. :-(

No problem - cygwin to the rescue. The script runs just fine under cygwin. But the command shell colours basically (in my opinion) suck. Yucky green against a black background is hard for me to read.

So after a little research (i.e. Google search), I found a post that told me how to change that. And, even better,  it was easy.

All you have to do is go to the folder where you installed cygwin. Mine's c:\cygwin. Then go to the etc folder. In that folder, you'll find a file called profile. Open it in your favourite Windows text editor and change this line:


PS1='\[\e]0;\w\a\]\n\[\e[32m\]\u@\h \[\e[33m\]\w\[\e[0m\]\n\$ '

to:


PS1='\[\e]0;\w\a\]\n\[\e[255m\]\u@\h \[\e[255m\]\w\[\e[0m\]\n\$ '

and this line:


^[[32m${USER}@${HOSTNAME} ^[[33m${PWD}^[[0m

to:


^[[255m${USER}@${HOSTNAME} ^[[255m${PWD}^[[0m

And Bob's your uncle! Actually, Bob is my kids' uncle, but that's another story for another day.

I now have a cygwin prompt I can read. Woohoo!

My forward slash key is misbehaving

I was doing some Java programming in Eclipse, and I wanted to type a comment for my code. Simple enough. Just type two forward slashes, followed by the actual comment.

Alas, my keyboard was not cooperating. When I typed a forward slash, I got an "e" with an accent above it. In the spirit of looking for my misplaced keys in the same place I've looked several times already, I kept typing the forward slash, somehow expecting it to magically fix itself. It did not.

So, time to ask my technical expert (Google). After a couple of attempts, I found this post that told me how to fix the problem.

If this happens to you, just press and hold the left Ctrl and left Shift keys simultaneously for about two to four seconds. That should fix it.

Time to get back to writing code...

Why does agile software development work?

I know a lot about the "how" of agile software development, but I'm not afraid to admit that I learned a lot from this video by Martin Fowler and Neal Ford, who work for ThoughtWorks.

Sometimes, agile software development seems unintuitive, or even counter-intuitive. A lot of teams try doing agile software development without knowing why it works. This can lead to some missteps. In the video, Martin and Neal explain why.

If you're interested in learning about, or even doing, agile software development, you really should watch the video.

Fixed our clothes dryer - followup

Just recently, the clothes dryer started squealing again, especially when I started drying a heavy load (a couple of bathrobes, some towels, etc.). So it looks like the "cleaning" thing from the previous post didn't quite take.

So I bought the bullet and ordered the repair kit. It took just about a week to get here, which was what I expected, and it wasn't expensive (less than $40).

This time, I took the drum out, vacuumed out the lint, replaced the idler pulley, and put it all back together. The whole thing took just over 30 minutes.

The next time I dried a heavy load, the noise was totally gone. And I don't expect it to come back.

If you own a Whirlpool/Kenmore dryer that measures 29 inches across and has the lint filter on top, this repair is pretty easy.

Fixed our clothes dryer!

We just got back from a two-week vacation and had to do laundry. Simple enough. I've done laundry lots of times. You just wash the clothes in the washer and then dry them in the dryer.

Well, the first part worked fine. I washed a load of clothes. Then I took them out of the washer, stuck them in the dryer, and turned it on. WHOA! WHAT'S THAT NOISE????

The dryer was making this horrible squealing noise. I immediately opened the door to stop it. Then I looked for the "Work Properly" switch. There wasn't one. :-(

The easiest thing to do was, of course, call someone to repair it. But what's the fun in that. :-)
I decided to do it myself.

Problem #1: How do I figure out what to do?
Answer #1: Look it up on the internet. A few Google searches got me to this page (http://www.davesrepair.com/DIYhelp/DIYWPLdrycleanlube.htm), which told me what to do.

I didn't actually remove the drum or lubricate anything, but I did clean it up once I had it open. And when I put it back together, the squeal was gone.

If it starts to squeal again, I'll follow the entire procedure but, for now, I'm happy. And so is my wife. And isn't that what life is all about? :-)

Build a tower, build a team

This seven-minute video clearly demonstrates the nature and benefits of collaboration, in a fun way.

Important: You do not have to be a developer to understand and enjoy this video.

Since collaboration is an essential part of Agile Software Development, I found it particularly interesting. I hope you do, too. If you believe in agility as a success factor in software development, this should enforce your belief. If you don't, maybe this video will convince you. :-)

Keyboard problem solved

This morning, all of a sudden,the keyboard on my wife's Dell Studio 17 laptop stopped working. And not having a working keyboard is very problematic for a technical writer. Not good news...