Chaos Magnet

I used to write a

I used to write a column about the real science behind science fiction called "Meanwhile, back in the real world ..." I just get a kick out of figuring out whether what we're looking at in a science fiction tv show or movie is physically possible. It's not that it spoils it for me if it's not; I'd never be the huge Star Wars fan I am, if that were the case! But I did enjoy Wil McCarthy's The Mathematics of Hulk.

I've been around for a

I've been around for a long time, and I'm perfectly capable of building my own blogging system. I just want to make that clear. But you know what they say: the shoemaker's children never have shoes. So here I am using Blogger. For now. We'll see what happens.

Why am I doing this blog? Because I've got several other blogs already running but none of them are personal stuff; they're all supposed to be "about" something, and that's fine. This one's just for me. Read it, don't read it, it doesn't make a difference to me.

But I write (tech stuff) for a living, and I never have the opportunity to just write whatever I feel like. So this is it. Enjoy the ride.

Making of MetroSphere, Part 14: Create a new theme

Now on IBM developerWorks: Making of MetroSphere, Part 14: Create a new theme (Tutorial) -- Look and feel are important in Web portal design. Learn how to develop themes -- which provide the look and feel for a group of pages -- and skins -- which provide the look and feel for portlets -- in this tutorial from the MetroSphere team. Topics covered include the creation of a new template theme, installing the new theme, adding WebSphere Portal functionality to the theme, accessing language-dependent text, creating URLs within WebSphere Portal, and creating and installing new skins.

The making of MetroSphere, Part 13: Installing an existing portlet

Now on IBM developerWorks: The making of MetroSphere, Part 13: Installing an existing portlet -- In this article, the MetroSphere team obtains a pre-written portlet application from the WebSphere Portal Catalog and installs it in their portal.

Making of MetroSphere, Part 12: Hands-on JSP technology intro: Creating a community weblog

Now on IBM developerWorks: Making of MetroSphere, Part 12: Hands-on JSP technology intro: Creating a community weblog (Tutorial) -- This tutorial is for developers who want to learn more about using JavaServer Pages (JSP) technology to build applications. It discusses the basics of JSP components in general, their integration with JavaBeans, and the creation and use of custom tag libraries.