Joe Enos - Blog

One-Click Web Deployment with DubDubDeploy

blog@jtenos.com (Joe Enos) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:36:44 GMT

After months of development, DubDubDeploy, my one-click web deployment product, is now available to download at DubDubDeploy.com. The beta period will last through the end of March, and the beta licenses will be good through the end of April. After that, the product will be available for just $299 per year - very affordable for small and medium-sized development shops, and well worth it.

This has been an incredible experience for me. I've spent most nights and weekends working on this product for the past several months, and made huge sacrifices. For example, I missed practically the entire season of Dancing with the Stars. I've had to learn to like coffee after spending several entire weekends in coffee shops. And I was forced to take a nice weekend trip to Payson and work outdoors, where I came dangerously close to experiencing fluorescent light withdrawal.

But it's been worth it. I have a great product, and a list of enhancements that I'll be working on over the next year or so, and the first product for my new software company, J T Enos LLC. Hopefully this is just the first of many to come.

Best of 2011 - My Tweets

blog@jtenos.com (Joe Enos) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:43:51 GMT

Here is my 2011, broken down into short 140-character bursts:

11/11
Why is it that in the 24th century, that they make coffee tables so breakable that they shatter under the lightest stress? #tng

10/30
Nice work Cardinals - I was getting worried there for a second that the 21 point lead might actually hold.

10/24
My Verizon bill is 5 cents more this month than it has been, looks like a tax increase. This is totally unacceptable. I blame Obama.

10/16
Hey people who use the wrong capitalization for Bps/bps (Bytes/bits per second) - It's an order of magnitude off, so it's kind of important.

8/11
Such a great feeling - opening a package of 10 tortillas and finding 11. I'm eating good tonight.

10/7
Stupid karma - only 9 tortillas in this 10-pack.

9/7
Well, my brain hurts now - the dumbest thing I've seen in a while - JSONx, a format to represent JSON as XML. Really. http://jturl.us/ILYB

5/27
Wow, there's a Flash update available? What a shock! Been a loooong time since the last one, almost a whole week.

5/16
Oh, NOW I understand why these pens were 20 for $1.

3/16
Keebler has a new cookie, Coconut Dreams - identical to the Girl Scout Samoas, for a lot cheaper. Guess what's for breakfast tomorrow.

3/15
You asked for it, you got it. Actually, nobody asked for it, but here it is anyway..."March of IDEs". http://jturl.us/e1l0

3/12
Channel 5 is doing some serious reporting here. Let's see what people say about Japan on our Facebook page.

3/1
Replace all drug education in schools with one clip - http://jturl.us/Dl24 - kids will never do drugs again, for fear of becoming a jackass.

2/27
My predictions: 6/24 - I could've done just as well if I had a blind drunken monkey throw darts at the nominees http://jturl.us/o45n #Oscars

2/27
ABC: Body of Proof - I liked it better when it was called Crossing Jordan.

1/15
Liam Neeson is...Sandra Bullock in...The Net (aka Unknown)

1/14
Mmm...burgers with thick-cut pepper bacon and havarti cheese on bakery buns for dinner. That's my home-cooked meal for this month.

1/8
Great job Seahawks! 2 more wins and people will stop calling the Cardinals the worst team to ever make the SuperBowl.

DubDubDeploy Status Update - December 2011

blog@jtenos.com (Joe Enos) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:06:17 GMT

Here is the latest status update for DubDubDeploy. I'm about a month away from a working beta, and hoping to have a full product out for release by April 1.

Watch on YouTube

Best of 2011 - Celebrity Deaths

blog@jtenos.com (Joe Enos) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:18:02 GMT

Steve Jobs (10/5)
I spent most of my life making fun of Apple products, until this year when I actually bought a few. I'm very happy with my iPad and MacBook Pro, and looking forward to moving up from my Droid (which started out fine, but has started to suck lately) to an iPhone. I don't know much about Jobs, but he seemed like a good guy.

Watch on YouTube

Harry Morgan (12/7)
Harry Morgan was best known for playing Bill Gannon on Dragnet and Colonel Potter on M*A*S*H. Funny guy.

Watch on YouTube

Kim Jong-il (12/17)
Kim Jong-il, AKA our dear sweet little general soldier leader boy, was best known for his role as the North Korean dictator in Team America: World Police. He was a total nutcase.

Watch on YouTube

Jack LaLanne (1/23)
Apparently this guy was like 150 years old or something, and did nothing all day except exercise and drink juice. I never saw his old stuff from the 50's, but I remember an informercial for his juicer, where he made some kind of statement about how juice is all about life, and meat is all about despair and death. I think I was eating a giant steak the first time I saw it, and it really made me think - if guys like this can live for a long time and never eat meat, then maybe, just maybe, there will be more left for me.

Watch on YouTube

Harmon Killebrew (5/17)
The only thing I remember about this guy is that he was on Home Run Derby, which I used to watch as a kid.
Watch on Hulu

Heavy D (11/8)
He never got much notoriety as a thin rapper named Skinny D, so he put on a few pounds and reinvented himself as that guy who did the In Living Color opening theme.

Watch on YouTube

Frances Bay (9/15)
Frances was best known as Happy Gilmore's grandmother in the Adam Sandler masterpiece. Great movie, unlike the crap that Sandler's been spewing lately.

Watch on YouTube

Muammar Gaddafi (10/20)
This guy holds the record for the most number of spellings of his name. Aside from that, the only thing I know about him is that he was the head of the country that tried to kill Doc Brown, so I think the world is better off now.
Watch on YouTube

Osama bin Laden (5/2)
Good riddance to this piece of garbage.

Best of 2011 - Restaurants

blog@jtenos.com (Joe Enos) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 19:45:47 GMT

I started at a new job shortly before 2011 started, so I had to find a new set of places to eat. Here is the list of the restaurants I visited most often in 2011.

#1: Babbo Italian Eatery [Yelp]
6855 North 16th Street
Last year's rank: #3
I've been coming here regularly for years, and always loved the place. Great food, great service, and really nice people.
Favorite dish: Buffalo chicken caesar salad (when I'm eating healthy) - otherwise the Three-Cheese Mac and Cheese

#2: YC's Mongolian Grill [Yelp]
3206 S McClintock Drive
Last year's rank: #6 (different location)
A great place to go when you want to eat reasonably healthy, without sacrificing taste. If you do it right, you can put together a very healthy meal that's still very satisfying.
Favorite dish: Turkey, onions, green onions, celery, tomatoes, carrots, bell peppers, noodles, with YC's Own, orange, garlic, and ginger sauces

#3: Chipotle
4423 East Thomas Road
Last year's rank: N/A
Made with quality ingredients, and served fast even with a line, this is always a good place to stop for lunch.
Favorite dish: Chicken soft tacos with cheese, hot sauce, corn, and lettuce

#4: The Barbecue Company Grill and Cafe
4636 South 36th Street
Last year's rank: N/A
This place is off of the main roads, and only open lunch hours, but it's always busy. They do a buffet once a month, and the place is just packed. They've got some great sauce, and lots of very good barbecue meats.
Favorite dish: Smoked beef brisket sandwich with seasoned fries

#5: Sonora Mesquite Grill [Yelp]
4613 East Thomas Road
Last year's rank: N/A
These guys make some delicious tacos - quality meats, with tasty toppings and excellent salsas.
Favorite dish: Barbacoa soft tacos

#6: Spinato's Pizzeria [Yelp]
11108 North Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard
Last year's rank: #4
Favorite dish: Thick crust pizza - I like to experiment with the toppings. Everything I've had has always been good.

#7: Cornish Pasty Company [Yelp]
960 West University Drive, Tempe
Last year's rank: N/A
These guys put together pastries with one of a couple dozen different fillings and dipping sauces. There are a lot of good items on the menu, so definitely a place to go to multiple times to try them all.
Favorite dish: Chicken Alfredo

#8: King's Fish House [Yelp]
35 South McClintock Drive
Last year's rank: N/A
I'm not a seafood guy, so the menu's pretty limited for me. But it's a nice place, good service, and what I do get is always delicious.
Favorite dish: Bowties with Chicken

#9: Hap's Pit BBQ [Yelp]
4801 East Washington Street
Last year's rank: N/A
Good barbecue sandwiches and sides, and the fact that it's within walking distance of work makes it an easy choice.
Favorite dish: Beef brisket sandwich with garlic mashed potatoes

#10: Joey's of Chicago [Yelp]
4280 East Indian School Road
Last year's rank: N/A
I love a good Italian beef sandwich, dripping in meat juice. These guys definitely deliver that.
Favorite dish: Cheesy Italian beef sandwich and fries

Insanity!

blog@jtenos.com (Joe Enos) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 17:13:18 GMT

I just finished a 60-day workout routine known (accurately) as Insanity. This was a very tough couple of months, where I started out completely out of shape.

I joined a group of friends at the gym every weekday morning at 6am, which meant I had to drag my butt out of bed two hours earlier than usual - not easy, but I managed to make it happen.

The program is pretty tough. The first day, we were all worn out after about 10 minutes of what seemed like extreme training, only to find out that this was just the warm-up. Next came about 20-25 minutes of much more intense workouts. There were probably 4 or 5 different routines for that first month, all tough, but after the first month, I started to be able to handle most of it reasonably well.

But of course, that wouldn't last. Phase 2 started, which meant the 35 minute timer was now 55 minutes, and the exercises even more intense. After another month of this, the program is finally over.

The best measurement for me personally isn't in pounds or inches, but rather in what I'm capable of doing. The program includes a fitness test, which has you track how many of a set number of exercises you can do in a minute. We did this I think 4 times, and each time was a major improvement for me. At the beginning of the program, I was in horrible shape, hardly able to exercise for 5 minutes without collapsing. Now, although I don't have that 6-pack yet, I'm nowhere near up to the level of the people in the videos, and I'm still having problems doing some of the harder stuff, I'm significantly better than I was 2 months ago, which was the goal.

I considered quitting shortly after phase 2 started - it really is difficult, and it does hurt sometimes, and it would have been much easier to just give up. But after just a couple days off, I was right back into it, knowing that it would all be worthwhile, and it has been. I'm now considering what to do next after taking the next week off - either starting up the program again, or do something different like traditional cardio and weight training, or possibly getting in running shape for something like a half-marathon.

I'd never have even started, let alone finished, without the support of my friends. If you're going to start a workout program, I'd absolutely recommend doing it with other people - it made all the difference in the world. So thanks to Donte, Noel, and Tina for keeping all of us inspired to stick with it.

See video on YouTube

Best of 2011 - YouTube Videos

blog@jtenos.com (Joe Enos) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:44:00 GMT

Here are my favorite YouTube videos for 2011 (warning - not all are safe for work or for people without a sense of humor):

#1: Carrie Underwood with Vince Gill - How Great thou Art

A beautiful rendition of the classic hymn:

Watch on YouTube

#2: Software Engineer Learning To Dance On The Job

This all started with a ringtone or something, and turned into my co-workers trying to teach me how to dance. "I got rhythm!"

Watch Part 1 on YouTube
Watch Part 2 on YouTube

#3: Eagles Are Turning People Into Horses: The Movie

From the brilliant minds of BriTANick, this tells the incredible story about eagles that turn people into horses. This is the strangest short film I've ever seen, and one of the funniest.

Watch on YouTube

#4: Awesome Truck Commercial

The Ferd F-Teen Thousand is the king of all pickup trucks:

Watch on YouTube

#5: Saved By The Bell Interactive Game

This feels like you're actually living the life of one of the Saved By The Bell characters:

Watch on YouTube

#6: VCR into Cash

An awesome commercial showing how you can get rich just by selling your old VCR:

Watch on YouTube

#7: Doctor: Symptoms

These guys have put out a ton of hilarious videos over the last few years. This is my favorite of theirs in 2011:

Watch on YouTube

#8: SICK Wiffleball Pitches

I used to play Wiffleball, but never like this:

Watch on YouTube

#9: Can You Solve This?

Real world applications of those word problems you learned in school:

Watch on YouTube

#10: See You On Monday - Chick-Fil-A Song

Another Chick-fil-A song:

Watch on YouTube

#11: $5.99!!! You miss this, your gonna miss life! Don't let life pass you by!

I was there at Babbo Italian Eatery when they filmed the first part of this clip:

Watch on YouTube

#12: Coffee vs. Tea

The story of Karen Alloy trying to quit coffee:

Watch on YouTube

#13: 3D No glasses by Jonathan Post

I've got to get one of these - watching 3-D without glasses would totally be worth it:

Watch on YouTube

#14: Most Bites of 3 Apples While Juggling Them In 30 Seconds

This guy's my hero:

Watch on YouTube

#15: Elapsed Time: Heavy Traffic

An hour of airport footage condensed into less than 3 minutes.

Watch on YouTube

#16: Winning - a Song by Charlie Sheen

Auto-tuned Charlie Sheen:

Watch on YouTube

#17: A Letter to the Aliens

Kind of a funny speech where a guy explains humanity to an alien civilization:

Watch on YouTube

jQuery Synchronous AJAX Calls

blog@jtenos.com (Joe Enos) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 19:29:33 GMT

Have you ever wanted to make an AJAX call without the asynchronous part? Of course you have, who hasn't?

98 times out of 100, asynchronous is just fine, but on occasion, I'd like to wait for the server response before continuing the process flow.

3 seconds of Googling, and I had my answer - a simple parameter, async, to pass into the ajax function:

jQuery.ajax({
    type: "post",
    dataType: "json",
    contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",
    data: JSON.stringify({/*object goes here*/}),
    url: "SomeUrl",
    success: someSuccessFunction,
    error: someErrorFunction,
    async: false
});

The only meal I know how to make

blog@jtenos.com (Joe Enos) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 20:53:11 GMT

Just thought I'd share my favorite recipe. It's actually the only meal I know how to make that has more than one ingredient, is not terribly unhealthy, and doesn't come out of a box. So I end up making this about once a week.

Step 1: Salsa

I've been working on this for a few months, and have it just about where I want it. Great flavor, just the right amount of heat.

4-5 Roma tomatoes
1 yellow onion
1 orange bell pepper
3 cloves garlic
1 ear of corn
3 jalapenos (leave seeds in)
2 habaneros (leave seeds in)
about 10 leaves of cilantro
juice of 1 regular lime or 2 key limes
black pepper

Blend in food processor until it looks like salsa.

Step 2: Taco Seasoning

Mostly borrowed from here:

I don't measure any of this - just "some" of this, and "a little" of that...

onion powder
garlic powder
black pepper
ground cumin
cayenne pepper
crushed red pepper flakes
chili polder
oregano
paprika

Step 3: Meat

Brown a pound of ground turkey. Add a small can of sliced black olives infused with jalapeños. Add taco seasoning.

Step 4: Enjoy

I usually just get whole-wheat low-fat tortillas, and whatever cheese I'm in the mood for, and enjoy in burrito form. Delicious.

Certified Barbeque Judge

blog@jtenos.com (Joe Enos) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 16:48:11 GMT

I've always loved BBQ - by far my favorite type of food. I've followed a Twitter account called AZBarbeque casually for awhile, and noticed yesterday that they were putting on a 4-hour training course to become a certified judge for the Barbeque Championship Series. I was free and looking for something to do anyway, so I signed up.

It was a great time. About an hour of discussions about rules and procedures, followed by a couple hours of eating. We went through chicken, ribs, pork, and brisket, as a simulated competition. In each round, we discussed how and why we ranked the items, talking about what types of things merit low or high scores.

So I'm now a certified judge, and while I don't know if I'll have the time to do this on a regular basis, it's definitely something I'd be interested in participating in once in a while.