Scala, Java, Unix, MacOS tutorials (page 260)

Lightsaber

Lightsaber is a free, open source application for Mac OS X systems that plays “lightsaber” sound effects as you move your mouse. Once Lightsaber is running, you can switch to any other application, and Lightsaber will play the sound effects when you move your mouse.

Note: Lightsaber has been tested on Mac OS X 10.9 (“Mavericks”) and 10.10 (“Yosemite”) systems. (It may also run on OS X 10.7 and 10.8, but I don’t have any computers running those older operating systems, so I can’t verify that at this time.)

File and directory locations for Mac OS X Scala/Java applications

As a quick programming note, the following code shows how I determine where I can store files on Mac OS X systems when writing Java or Scala applications:

Picard one year, Riker the next (cancer recovery)

Very cool. From this Twitter page.

Using the Client JVM and controlling RAM when building a Scala/Java/Mac application

For my TypewriterFX application (which plays Mac OS X typewriter sound effects), I wanted/needed to control the JVM that was used to run the application. The way it works, TypewriterFX plays sounds as fast as it can -- as fast as you type -- so I needed the JVM to be more like the old client JVM than a typical server JVM.

Sometimes the elegant implementation is a function

“Sometimes the elegant implementation is a function.” Image from this Twitter page.

Java/Scala - How to get the path to your Jar file

Last week I ran into a situation where I was bundling a Java/Scala application on a Mac OS X system, which (as usual) requires you to bundle your code in a Jar file. I was working with the jnativehook library, where I saw some code like this:

Scala can’t find the JavaFX jar/library (SBT solution)

Something I learned the hard way yesterday ... JavaFX ships with JDK 7, but it’s not in the classpath. This image shows the solution for when you want to use JavaFX in a Scala/SBT application. I found this answer on the ScalaFX website.

A Scala version of the JavaFX “Hello, world” example

If you’re interested in seeing a Scala 2 version of Oracle’s JavaFX “Hello, world” application, here you go:

Where the name “lambda” comes from (in lambda calculus)

This image telling where the name “lambda” (in lambda calculus) comes from is currently floating around on Twitter.

Madison Bumgarner wins the 2014 World Series

On a night when I was listening to Marian Call singing in the Fiske Planetarium in Boulder, Colorado, Madison Bumgarner, er, the San Francisco Giants, win the 2014 World Series. Photo from here.

(In 2010 I was at the Talkeetna Roadhouse in Talkeetna, Alaska, when the Giants won the World Series. Crazy the things that a person can remember, but that was a fun night.)