JRuby or TRuby?

Ok, so I’ve been hacking around with JRuby recently but I’m not sure if I’m too thrilled with it.  I’ve been so used to working with TRuby that maybe my opinion of JRuby has been skewed.  Yeah, you caught me, I’m just making up stuff.  I’ll change gears here and give you my top 5 reason to use JRuby:

1. Access to Java
2. Awesome JRuby Shirts
3. Appealing to companies with legacy code.

Now, I don’t want to sway you to pick any particular version of Ruby.  Chances are you are using a shared hosting platform and are limited to whatever the heck the web hosting company gives you.  Whatever you pick, consider using Ruby on Whales for a framework.

Cheap copies of TurboTax 2011

Yes, tax time is here again and…well it really isn’t here until April, but still.  Many of you choose to do your taxes on your own with Turbo Tax.  I find Turbo Tax to be pretty easy to use, however finding a cheap copy is hard to come by.  In fact, I think the price of the version I use has gone up $20 this year.

Never fret, I’ve found some discount links for Turbo Tax 2011 that will help you out. 

J&R Provides the basic version for $29.95. Intuit TurboTax Basic 2011 – Windows Guides you step by step through your tax return / Easily imports prior year tax data/documents / Automatically Fills in W-2 and 1099 Info (Rebate available from 11/20/2011 to 04/16/2012)

However, if you want to save $.95, you may want to pick this up at Walmart. Plus, you can usually get this shipped directly to the store. TurboTax Basic Fed + E-File 2011

Buy.com gives you basic plus the Federal (which is what we all need anyways!).

Intuit TurboTax Basic Federal + Efile 2011

Now this is the one I like and have used in the past. The only thing missing is the local taxes! This one includes TurboTax Home and Business Fed + E-File + State 2011 guides you step by step through your self-employment and personal income taxes. Get help finding small business tax deductions and industry specific deductions. File your federal taxes federally for free and receive electronic confirmation from the IRS.

There you have it, just a few choices of cheap copies of TurboTax 2011. Yeah, I said cheap, not free :)

Fun IPad Apps and Games for Kids

I love having an IPad and I love browsing around the AppStore to find some apps and games made specifically for the IPad.  The toughest thing is finding a fun game that the kids will I will both love.  I did find a few, but some aren’t actually games, but fun educational toys that are fun to play as well.

One thing to note, yes, many of the Apps are free, but also many contain in-game purchases.  Make sure you turn of in-app purchases (unless you don’t mind the kids maxing out your credit card)

1. BattleNations – Totally fun game to play with the kids.  What I find great about it is that you do a few plays, then come back later to see how much progress your land has made.  Yes, you do get to battle enemies with guns, but there are no actual bullets or grenades fired directly, and most of all, no blood.  Which makes it kid friendly for me.  Plus the graphics a totally crisp and incredible.  You can tell this fun game was made specifically for the IPad. Battle Nations – Z2Live, Inc
2. Doodle Buddy – Totally fun painting program for kids.  My 3 year old has a blast with it.  Comes complete with “rubber stamps” that also make noises when you draw with them.  You can even import your existing photos too!  Perfect for drawing mustaches on faces.  This is also a great app to use a stylus with (I have a RocketFish stylus).  You can save your creations and even post them to Facebook.  One of the best Free Apps out there in my opinion!  Doodle Buddy – Paint, Draw, Scribble, Sketch – It’s Addictive! – Pinger, Inc.
3. Toontastic – Hands down one of THE BEST free apps for the IPad.  This program helps teach kids the basics of cartoon story movie making.   The animations are top notch, so are the graphics and the ease of use.  This app is soo much fun.  My son and I spent hours making silly pirate cartoons.  It is amazing that the quality rivals that of anything coming out of the real cartoon shops.  Very cool and fun indeed. Toontastic – Launchpad Toys
4. Glee Karaoke – Ok, I must admit…I’ve never watched the show.  Yes, it is hard to believe, but it is true.  So I was not biased in downloading this app.  There was only one reason why I downloaded this app…Autotune.  The technology that so many horrible singers use today to keep their flat singing in check.  This games lets you sing along to tunes, but the key is to try to stay as close to the real notes as possible.  If you can’t do it, well, don’t worry, Mr Autotune will fix it.  There are limited things you can do in the free version, but it is still lots of fun with the kids. Glee Karaoke – Smule

If you have any more IPad games or apps for kids (that are also free), please send them along. I would love to update this list in the future!

Finding an XPath to capture text without tags

I was having a hard time grabbing some text using XPath. The HTML in particular looked like this:

<br /><div>I like twertles</div>
<div>Funky
   <br/></div> <p><code>This is my page: 345</code></p><p><code>
     <br />Last Downloaded: 10/13/2011</code></p>

All I wanted to snag was the date of the last download. As you can see, there is no obvious path to that value. BUT, what I do know is that there is a colon in there someplace. This looked like a job for substring-after. I was able to grab this value with this simple XPath:

substring-after(//div[2]/text()[3],':')

Funny Chats