This weekend, I'm planning on heading up to the hills for two fun-filled days of great Colorado skiing. Since it snowed a bit in Denver tonight, I figured I'd check the weather forecast:
Thursday Jan 31, 2008: 3 to 4 inches of accumulation
Friday Feb 01, 2008: 3 to 5 inches of accumulation
Saturday Feb 02, 2008: 3 to 5 inches of accumulation
Sunday Feb 03, 2008: 4 to 7 inches of accumulation
Sweet.
Friday Update: It looks like we'll be skiing at Steamboat tomorrow instead. Checkout their Straight Talk Snow Report from this morning:
Snow Report
* Time: 02/01/08 05:00 am
* Conditions: Powder
* Lifts: 16/18
* Trails: 163/163
* 24 Hour Snow: 18"
* 48 Hour Snow: 22"
* Base: 77"
* Total: 308"
Steamboat Straight Talk Snow Report: 2/1/08
Good Morning to you, indeed!
Remember earlier in the week when we had a loud, brash, windy storm
roll through the mountains and bring us snow? Last night while no one
was looking, a quiet storm tiptoed in like a whisper, under the cover
of darkness, and silently dumped a foot and a half of the choicest
"Champagne Powder" while we all slept. All over town, people woke up,
looked out their windows, and let out a "Holy Cow"!
I could write this report with fill in the blanks, as in... My first
run down___________ (insert any trail name) was sweet. I got face
shots the whole way. Then I skied over to the __________(insert a run)
trees and the snow was just blowing over my head.
I think you get the picture. The whole mountain is in epic condition.
On one chair ride, my chair mate said, "You know it's a good day, when
you hear Monkey noises coming from the forest." Everywhere folks were
hootin' and hollerin'.
Weekend warriors, don't despair, there is plenty powder left to be
skied tomorrow.
Have fun. Be safe. Look out for your buddy. Peace.
Straight Talker
Kat Murphy
Grinning like a Chimp
Telemark Skier
For the last week, I've been knee deep learning more about Rails and Grails. The reason is because I think developers (and companies) are going to have a hard time deciding which framework is best for them. The real question is: do they both do the same thing or are their different applications for each? Is "Grails vs. JRuby on Rails" a "Struts 2 vs. Spring MVC vs. Stripes" argument - where they're all so similar it probably doesn't really matter which one you choose?
Of course, the Stripes folks will object, but I really don't think it's that much better than Spring MVC 2.5 or Struts 2.1. Sorry guys. 
If it is a Spring MVC vs. Struts 2 type of argument, then it seems to make sense for a company to standardize on one -- don't you agree? Does it make sense to allow both frameworks in a company if they're so similar?
Google has had much success in restricting its allowed programming languages to C++, Java, Python, and JavaScript. Shouldn't other companies do something similar? It seems like a good idea to restrict allowed web frameworks to a few as well. For companies with successful Java infrastructures, it seems logic to allow one Java-based web framework and Rails or Grails for getting things done as fast as possible.
Here's the sticking point: Ask any Rails developers and they'll say Rails wins hands down. Ask any Grails developers and they'll say Grails is the easy choice because it builds on top of Java's strong open source projects. Blah, blah, blah - where's the objective voice that's identified the "sweet spot" for each?
The Relevance guys, particularly Stuart Halloway, has a post about How to pick a platform. The logic in this post seems to imply that both frameworks do solve the same problem - just in different ways. Stu seems to recommend Rails for most applications, because Ruby is a better language. He says Grails might win if you have "an established team of Spring ninjas".
I know Stu and believe he does know his stuff (in both Java and Ruby). So is this the definitive guide on which framework to choose? If you have a staff full of Java developers, they should start learning/using Rails rather than doing the easier transition to Groovy, which they pretty much already know?
I don't know what the answer is, but that's what everyone seems to be saying. The problems is, the authorities on this matter (Rails vs. Grails) are often "head honchos" in companies that have a vested interest in seeing their respective framework/platform succeed. Since the Relevance team employs some Grails developers, it seems they're less biased. But who knows.
Is Rails really head and shoulders better than Grails? I don't think so, but I've only been programming with both for a week.
This weekend, I'm planning on heading up to the hills for two fun-filled days of great Colorado skiing. Since it snowed a bit in Denver tonight, I figured I'd check the weather forecast: