Tim’s Blog

I am working on a project that requires me to deploy files to Firefox’s plugins directory.  The biggest challenge was finding the location of this directory.  People can have multiple versions of Firefox and may change the default install location.  Since the project targets Windows machines a coworker recommended reading the registry.  The idea sounded good, but it had been a while since I had cracked C++ (let alone Visual C++).  So I took to the web for some examples.  I came across this (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms235431.aspx) on Microsoft’s web site.   It is a list of sample code for various Visual C++ tasks.  It helped me throw this together.  Below is source for a program that will write out every installed version of Firefox along with the location of the plugins directory.  Enjoy….


// registry_read.cpp
// compile with: /clr
using namespace System;
using namespace Microsoft::Win32;

int main( )
{

RegistryKey^ rk = nullptr;
rk = Registry::LocalMachine->OpenSubKey(”SOFTWARE”)->OpenSubKey(”Mozilla”);
array^subKeyNames = rk->GetSubKeyNames();

for ( int i = 0; i < subKeyNames->Length; i++ )
{
RegistryKey ^ tempKey = rk->OpenSubKey( subKeyNames[ i ] );
RegistryKey ^ extensionKey = tempKey->OpenSubKey( “extensions” );
if (extensionKey!=nullptr)
{
Console::WriteLine( “\nFound {0} here is the plugins dir {1}.”, tempKey->Name, extensionKey->GetValue( “Plugins” )->ToString() );
}

}

return 0;
}

This is awesome on both a comic and technical level.

Ummm…This was a surprise.  Did anyone see this coming?

Oh and you gotta love this guy’s reaction:

Okay so I am hot on the trail of a bug in my AS3 application.  I save my application only to notice the following error message:

Unable to resolve resource bundle “styles” for locale “en_US”.

I say to myself “WTF” and just assume that my workspace is hosed.  I the rebuild my workspace only to be greeted by the same error message!

After about 4 hours of headbanging I am ready to reinstall Flexbuilder when I figure out what went wrong.  It turns out that I accidentally tried to include a class in the mx namespace in to an ActionScript project.

Here is the moral of the story.  If ever you find yourself with the above error message and you are working in a pure ActionScript project make sure your code does not have an import statement that references mx.

I am really proud of my father’s accomplishments as a Martial Arts instructor.  An online magazine entitled “Martial Arts Warrior” just did a story on him.  Check it out here.

Today is a big day for me. There is a release that I have put my all in to. I have learned so much about the importance of patience tthroughout this project. To all of my friends and family: I apologize for ignoring you over the past few months. Please know that I think of you all as I work long hours. Making you proud is what drives me to continue working when I want to give up.

I made a promise to myself before I signed on to Searchme.com that I would not just go in and “ride the wave”. I set a personal goal to “stir stuff up” and it is with great satisfaction that I acknowledge the accomplishment of this goal. I honestly feel like some of my efforts have had a tremendous impact on the product.

I want to publicly thank all of my teammates on this project. You are some of the most talented and chill people I have ever worked with. Look at

Check out these videos for more information.

Check out http://www.searchme.com to see what I am talking about.

Tomorrow I will write a brief post to tell you guys why I am going to reward myself with this.

I remember when I was a kid and I bought a bootleg one with a ticking (not sweeping) hand. The crown fell off and I still wore it.

Leaving Snapfish.com…
About a year ago I left behind everything I knew and moved to San Francisco to take a job at HP Snapfish.  Looking back the experience changed my life (an explanation is the topic of another blog post that will never be written).  In my short time at the company I created a slide show, image editor, text editor and other widgets that are used by millions of people in many different countries.  I would like to thank the people at Snapfish who believed in me enough to give me such an opportunity.  Not for one second did I underestimate the amount of faith you had in me. 
 
Moving on…
I have often said to my friends that the reason we have yet to start a business is that we have not found an idea we truly believe in.  I hold the belief that when I feel I am on the verge of greatness it will take a powerful force to stop me.  About 2 months ago I was surfing YouTube when I stumbled upon a demo video for **** (let’s protect the names of the innocent).  I thought to myself “damn what a rad idea.”  I was so passionate about what I saw that I sent the following email to my friends:
 
These fools are headed straight to the top…Damn I wish I thought of that.
  
The next morning I woke up and thought to myself, “what are the odds that this company is in California and would let me be part of their team?”  I went to their website to see if they were hiring.  They were, but not for anything I was qualified for.  Nonetheless I continued to follow the company.  Something about what they were doing had won me over.  They were accepting applications for beta users.  I signed up.  A few days later I received an invitation to be part of their beta plan.  I logged in to their site and while I was there I saw that they were hiring ActionScript developers.  Finally an area where I could contribute!  I sent them the following email:
 
Hello

My name is Timothy.  I was given access to the ****beta today.  After browsing the site for a bit I was truly blown away!  The innovation the site brings … is inspiring.  I am sincerely interested in being part of the **** team.  

Please consider me for the ActionScript Engineer position.  Recently I have done some JEDI level ActionScript for Snapfish.com, but my skill set is much broader (see resume).
Thanks

Timothy Huertas
 
The next morning BAM!! I get an invitation to interview.  To make a long story even longer…I am leaving HP Snapfish in pursuit of a dream.  I really think I have found something that will inspire me to work with ferocity; a job that will move me to not want to do anything but “tear it up!” 
 
Stay tuned..