Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Development

What is a good programming tool for developing RPG games?

jibberish — Sun, 19 May 2013 08:27:32 -0800

I want to develop an RPG game based on a non-popular, out of print tabletop RPG - the game I'm developing will be for PC/Mac/(possibly mobile). So far, I'm looking into RPG Maker, which seems to be able to fit the bill most appropriately. I've also looked at Titanium for developing mobile games, but this seems like it's not necessarily a good fit for just hitting the ground running. Any ideas are welcome - priorities are that the system is flexible for development and is easy to begin with (I'm cool with advanced features, but don't want to have to hack the system in order to merely start bringing my ideas to fruition).

Puzzled by jigsaw

london302 — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:45:27 -0800

When my son was 2.5 years old he could solve jigsaw puzzle really really fast using some kind of mental math but when he was 3.5 years old he took longer. My friends with children also report similar trend. Does the brain develop in a way to explain this?

What happened to Kenya from 1998 or so to make its poverty rate rise?

smoke — Tue, 07 May 2013 23:10:49 -0800

So I'm going to Kenya in 5 weeks time for some work, and I'm meant to be briefing some colleagues (emphasis on brief) about some aspects of our work tomorrow. Something has leapt out at me, and I don't have the time to research it myself before presenting. Here is a graft showing Kenya's Human Development Index over time. The trend is clearly upwards, which, essentially, should mean that the country is "improving" on a range of measures.

However, several different sources of data paint a very different picture with regards to poverty rates in Kenya. Here is a representative example.

As you can see, the percentage of people living on $1.25 a day was headed down down down until around 1998 - something happens, and it starts racing back up there.

My question: what happened?

So far as I can tell, it wasn't just inflation (which would have blown a hole in the currency one way or another). Was it the impact of AIDS? Refugee flows from Somalia and Sudan? Something else? The health indicators dipped briefly but started recovering (which I put down to AIDS); all the other Human development indices kept improving. What is this, and why has the HDI increased despite the number of people living in poverty really grown a lot?

Important Note: guesses are fine, but they must be qualified, better yet referenced. I have plenty of my own uninformed opinion to go on; I require no more. Please don't use the question to play geopolitical Wheel of Fortune. Thank you in advance.

Talk to me programmers!

nel — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:19:56 -0800

Is it worth changing careers, getting a masters in CS? I received a BS in mechanical engineering from a decent state school. I currently work as a mechanical engineer at a small capital equipment company, making about $60k a year. I've been at said company full-time for about 2 years. It was my first job out of college. I've always been into computers, and I've done a decent amount of programming at my current job (mainly PLC and HMI programming), which I find to be fun and interesting. I've been fantasizing about going into software development, but I have some questions about it.

Is it worth getting a masters in computer science? If so, is it worth paying for a degree at a higher ranking school if I can even get into one? I have a pretty good record: 3.9 GPA, undergraduate research experience, 3 years work experience including 2 internships I did in college. I took the GRE without really studying and scored 500 verbal, 730 math, which I think is fairly average for engineering students. I think degrees in ME/CS would be an interesting combination, but I also still have $20k in loan debt to pay off from undergrad.

OR should I just hack it and start programming for fun in my free time and try to develop a portfolio? All the programming I do now I learned on the job. I've read that a lot of programmers don't have degrees in the subject. Would I get paid a lot less (vs. my current job and vs. degree'd people) starting out without a degree?

If you're in the industry, do you like it? Do you find it to be flexible in general (work hours, can easily switch jobs, work from home, etc.)? Do you think it's more profitable in the current climate to start a business that offers software products/solutions instead of hardware?

My feet are "winter tender"

PuppetMcSockerson — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:29:36 -0800

How do I speed up the blister -> callus process? Every spring I go through a period of what I call "winter tender". In essence, my feet are all soft and baby like and blister like a sonofabitch in every pair of summer shoes I own. (ANY shoe that is to be worn barefoot give me epic blisters. Always.) By June or so I usually have developed enough of a callus in the blister spots and my feet are tough enough again that I can get through the rest of the summer with minimal trouble. Up until that point, though, I deal with blisters on my toes, my heels, the top of my feet, etc.

A significant part of my problem, aside from my foot shape, is that I have often sweaty feet. When I'm wearing socks this isn't really an issue. Go barefoot, and it is friction city. Protecting the rub areas with moleskin/bandaids etc isn't something I can keep up every single day all summer. I have the "Blister Block" stick stuff but I don't find that helps much. Putting powder/corn starch/etc never works either. I just end up with white pasty feet and shoes. Building up calluses is my best option.

Is there anything I can do to speed this up? Is there a way to speed up the development of calloses?

And yes, I know, if my shoes all fit properly I shouldn't be getting blisters. The problem is that I have remarkably difficult feet to fit in shoes, so shoes never really properly fit. I don't have the money for custom shoes or extra fancy pants shoes or special things, and I live in a fairly back-woodsy area in Canada no where near any place that would carry the types and selection of shoes I need. Online shoe shopping isn't really practical because I am so difficult to fit that I would constantly be sending everything back. Finding shoes that fit in person in a shoe store where I can try everything on is extremely hit and miss. Last summer I went on an EPIC quest for sport sandals that would fit and not give me blisters but even they did and I had to develop calluses. I am actually going on a trip to the states in a month to attempt to find shoes for my wedding that don't destroy me but I am extremely doubtful that I'll find anything.

So suggestions on getting shoes that fit is obvious but not especially helpful.

Where Can I Learn About Mobile Software Development?

COD — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:30:49 -0800

I'm back in the web software development world after about 7 years selling already developed software. Mobile software development barely existed the last time I talked to a client about development projects. I understand the web side of things just fine still. Mobile I'm clueless on. Is there a good book or maybe website(s) that will help get me up to speed, and stay there? I'm running sales, so I'm not going to be writing any code. I actually can write small apps in python or php, and I know my way around the Wordpress codebase. So I'm not the stereotypical dumb sales guy. I mostly need to know what questions to ask when qualifying and sizing mobile projects. We develop for both Android and iOS.

Thanks.

Baby not mimicing...

bibbit — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:01:08 -0800

My first parenting question! Baby Bibbit is 11 months old. He does not mimic. Ever. Is this a problem? We have been unable to get our son to do simple things like wave or clap his hands, no matter how we show him (doing it ourselves, moving his hands, doing a combination). This is a kind of a pattern with him - he just has never mimiced us. He loves it when we do things like clap, make faces, dance, etc. FOR him, but he never tries any of it himself.

He's a generally happy, healthy baby. He's met most of his milestones fine so far except for language - he's making a lot of noise but still a lot of "ahhh" and "ennnnh" and not so much "mama", "dada" and "baba." And really no connection to who mama or dada is. I can't get him to mimic sounds, either. I say "Can you say mama?" and he'll just stop whatever he's doing and stare and smile. So it's like he's observing, and loving the attention, but not willing to give any of it back. The pediatrician, at his 9 month appointment, said my description of his language ability at that time would be considered "low normal."

Both my husband and I work full time, so he spends close to 10 hours at an in-home daycare where he's the youngest of about 6-7 kids ranging from 1 to 3 years. He's our only child so we spend a lot of time focusing on him. I don't know whether this is something to worry about.

Tool for building a reference guide website or document generator?

100kb — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 15:23:36 -0800

Is there a word for these types of web-based tools, and a widely-used way to make them? One: a way make a web-based reference guide / glossary / help centre. Two: a tool that will generate a custom 20-page PDF based on complex user inputs, complete with table of contents. Are there open-source, well-supported solutions for building these things? Maybe a way to combine some plugins for Drupal or Wordpress? I really have no idea how to tackle this. I have a client who has a unique need. I'm trying to figure out if I can provide what they're looking for, and if not, where I should point them. Let's call them a non-profit association (NPA). They support small member organizations (MO's) by providing legal counsel, and one of the legal services they provide is a toolkit for new non-profits to write their documents of incorporation and bylaws.

Currently this is a Word document that has all the legal language the MO needs, in several optional variations, with notes where they should cut and paste things or customize. The user (MO member, usually not computer-savvy) has to cut and paste this Word document into a new Word document and then figure out how to generate a new table of contents and change the text to reference that new table of contents. This is required because often the text says things like "(when such and such happens) see bylaw 2a subsection 3 (but if such and such doesn't happen) see bylaw 3c subsection 1," so numbering needs to be consistent. The process often goes badly and the MO has to send their document back to the NPA to be cleaned up and fixed, which creates a lot of work

The current Word document also comes with a reference guide which explains legal terms and bylaw implications. Currently this guide is produced as a static PDF or printed booklet.

The NPA has a vision of this all happening online, in a more controlled way. They want the guide to be an interactive help centre, linked directly to the working document. So as the user is working on selecting their bylaws, they could click on a term and go to a web page with a definition, or see a pop-up with an explanation. Furthermore, the NPA would like to have more control over the final document, ideally they'd like PDF output based on a limited number of choices, rather than a Word Doc. The process is complex enough that the user should be able to save their work and come back later, rather than doing it all in one sitting. The MO's already all have logins to the NPA's (Drupal-based) site where they access the downloadable resources, so Drupal makes sense as a starting place. Any ideas about how to tackle this with existing tools? Are they looking at paying $50k for a complete custom web app? Or is this just plain too big to tackle, and they should put the money towards hiring a bunch of legal assistants to deal with the workload from the current system?

Why do different phones / platforms respond differently to mobile sites?

lucullus — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:48:13 -0800

When businesses make mobile 'friendly' sites, is there a consistent rule of thumb for detecting mobile devices, and behaving appropriately? For example, I'm looking at one site on an iPhone and a Lumia 920 (Windows 8). On the former, it presents a much simpler site, clearly optimised for mobile use, and on the latter it just presents the usual site.

I'm aware there's some sharing of device information, and also aware that you can make a 'responsive' site which is smarter about how to behaves in different screen sizes, but I wondered if anyone could suggest why you might have a site which detects and deals with the iPhone but not the Lumia / Windows 8 ...

You're doing it wrong.

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:22:41 -0800

I make websites. I have an old client whose new vendor is, to be blunt, not a competent web designer and not a developer at all. She has been coming to me for help, and it's putting me in quite an awkward situation. How can I remove myself at all gracefully? While I was out of my area for a couple of years, an old client hired a new designer to redesign the website I built for them with WordPress in 2006.

A year ago, this designer came to me with questions that suggested she had no business building a website for anyone. I suggested at the time that perhaps she would like to design the look and feel, and I could write the front-end code. She wasn't into it.

In the intervening year, the few contacts I had with her simply reinforced my initial impression. Here was a person who did not have the skills or interests to adequately do the job she'd been hired to do. I've tried to be as helpful as I could. I've certainly felt helpless.

We are closing in on launch, and the final product of a year's worth of efforts is, in a word, awful. I personally think the visual design is underwhelming, but my subjective view there is irrelevant. Not in the realm of opinion though, is the sloppy, hackish, inefficient, and ugly code sitting under the surface. It pains me.

Now I am being asked for help again – this time to take the monstrosity live. I definitely won't do it, but I feel the need to justify, to this designer and to my old client, why I refuse to be involved.

My feelings are no doubt colored by disappointment that my work is being retired. Were it being replaced by something as good or better however, I would have no problem. But it is being replaced by something terrible and broken.

I care about this profession, and I definitely resent that there are so many people out there doing it poorly. It's depressing that most small website owners can't tell the difference between good work and bad. My own work is surely not perfect, but I go to great lengths to stay current and understand what I'm doing – including what I'm doing wrong.

I want to yell at this designer for ripping off my old client, people I care about, and for learning on their dime without apparently learning anything. I want to run to the client and warn them about the shoddy product they're being sold. The whole thing makes me sad and angry, and want to behave like a sad, angry person.

But I'm a grown-up, and I still have to live and do business in this small world.

I'm just having a hard time figuring out the grown-up thing to do.

Ideas?

Academic introduction to development and capitalism

jb — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 11:19:51 -0800

I need to begin to familiarize myself with the academic literature in two areas I haven't studied in a class: a) definitions of capitalism and transitions to capitalism, and b) economic development, particularly mega-projects and state-supported development efforts. I'm looking for good introductions to each of these, like an upper-year undergraduate textbook or standard handbook, where I can get a feel for the major ideas in each of these areas and maybe some key references without having to do a complete literature survey. Any suggestions?

Government of Mexico's Disaster Risk Management Strategy

msk1985 — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 08:35:24 -0800

I know this is a long shot, but does anyone have information on how the Government of Mexico was able to convince it's citizens that investing in disaster risk management (DRM) insurance/cat bond schemes was worthy of their tax money? Mexico is vulnerable to a number of catastrophic natural disasters, namely earthquakes. As part of their long-term strategy, the government decided to invest in insurance schemes and cat bonds to that payout if the natural disaster event were severe enough. Assessments of the merits of these investments aside, does anyone have information as to how (or if!?) if the Government of Mexico (GoM) was able to convince its taxpayers that premiums are a worthy use of money? I work on a DRM/weather insurance project at the UN, and I am trying to get a better understanding of what (if any) media campaigns were used to promote the idea of long-term DRM strategies, as opposed to reactionary approach. I know this is a long-shot, but any leads or contacts would be much appreciated!

Emotional Intelligence

jsturgill — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 13:11:01 -0800

What are some books, personal essays, articles, and videos that explore emotional intelligence and resilience as skills that can be developed in neurotypical people?

Is There a Replacement for FrontPage's old "Navigation View"?

dylan_k — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 18:18:52 -0800

When I was in college, and first learning to build websites, I began by using Microsoft FrontPage. It definately had it's shortcomings and I'm glad it has been retired. I've long since moved on to better tools and methods myself, but there's one feature I did enjoy called "Navigation View". This was a way to view your site as a tree-map, but it was also a way to build out a large and somewhat complex web of pages. I found it to be a useful outlining tool, for later building complex sites. Is there anything like that now? For those of you who might not be familiar with the feature, try a google image search for frontpage navigation view I tried looking on another forum for an answer, but the conversation there was not helpful to me at all.

I need to learn the basics of APIs

dylan_k — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:42:58 -0800

I'm a web developer who is very capable with HTML and CSS, but that's about it. I am fairly comfortable with SQL, but now I need to learn to develop an API. I'd like to read a good book on the subject. Is there such a book? All I can find are things that explain why an API is useful, or things that assume you already know what you're doing in order to build/use an API.

How can I be more assertive at work without being a jerk?

Anonymous — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 18:37:59 -0800

A new person started at work recently and has been trying to get the company to change course and use the tools they're used to. I've been taking the brunt of it and have ended up being really defensive. How can I be more assertive with this person, but also not end up coming off like a jerk? And how do I learn to work with this person? Snowflake stuff inside. I work at a small web development company. We've got our own de facto standards for development with regards to languages and frameworks. A new person recently started at the company in a mid-level to senior position, which makes them at the same level as me. In the short time they've been with us, they've managed to both chastise our current ways of doing things, and push really hard for us to more or less wholly adopt the frameworks they're used to. Here's an example: several meetings were held recently under the guise of "evaluating frameworks" but have really just been a way to point out the shortcomings of our standards and why this other system is so much better. This has made work for me extremely stressful. I've had to bear the brunt of this criticism, and have basically been forced into a defensive stance.

Despite it having been repeatedly stated that the company is not going to wholesale adopt this person's frameworks, they've repeatedly tried to get around this. I think this new person's close-mindedness to how things are currently done is detrimental to the company. In our discussions I've tried to be open-minded and accepting of a new option, but I feel like when it comes time for them to make decisions, they're going to fall back on their single option.

Since this person and I are supposed to be equals, I don't feel like I have the authority to tell them to pipe down. I've brought this up with our superiors, and they've talked to this person about toning down their rhetoric. I can't help but be paranoid that the company is going to go down a path that it probably shouldn't.

Now, here are my questions:

1. Other coworkers, as well as friends and family, have told me that I need to be more assertive with this person. I can't figure out how to do that without, well, being a dick. How do you push back on someone who's being that aggressive/assertive?
2. I'm going to monitor the situation and see what happens, but I feel like I should be more vocal with my superiors if I notice things. On the other hand, I don't want to be a tattletale. What's the right way to get around this?
3. Since we're supposed to work together, I feel like that means we should at least be of the same mindset when decisions need to be made. Is that a realistic thing to say, and if so, how do I get us to synchronize and move forward from here?

Dot Net development tools?

Flunkie — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 09:16:59 -0800

Any suggestions for good Dot Net development tools? I'm interested in suggestions for a wide range of tool types, for example (but not limited to) unit testing, code coverage, style enforcement, bug finders, profiling, code/API documentation generation, installer/distributable packagers, continuous integration, build systems, report generators, static code analysis, decompilers, IDE enhancements, etc., etc. Free or cheap is preferred, but not essential.

I'll be doing both backend stuff and GUI stuff, mostly for the desktop environment but probably with a little bit of web server stuff too.

I'll be using Visual Studio 2012 Professional, and targeting version 4.0 of the Framework. Likely almost exclusively using C#, maybe with a little bit of C++ and maybe a tiny sprinkling of ASP (or whatever the modern Dot Net ASP-like thing is).

I am (I believe) a competent programmer with experience in a wide range of languages, development environments, etc., but I'm pretty new to Dot Net. I was expecting to get into it a few years back, and looked into it for a little while, but then moved on to other things before getting very far. So I do know a little about it, but not a lot, and I imagine that what I do know is now out of date. It's now once again looking like I'm going to be getting into it, though.

Am I cut out for volunteering abroad?

pikeandshield — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 06:38:04 -0800

I have a golden opportunity to volunteer in rural Nepal for 3 months with an established organisation. I was excited at first as I've never been to a developing country before, but now I'm terrified that I'll die in a bus accident/food poisoning/rabies/political uprising, or just not cope with lack of technology, contact with home, electricity etc. Are such fears normal, or are these signs that I probably wouldn't enjoy this and should consider not going? It's a good opportunity on paper - cost is minimal and all logistics are cared for; the charity has been running in Nepal for 20 years; we will be paired with a local (bilingual) volunteer and staying with a family so it'll be a fantastic cultural insight; the project content interests me (sexual health, which fits in with my long-term goals of working as a public health physician). But it's also very rural, there may not be any internet connection or mobile coverage, and most people probably won't speak English.

I'm very culturally curious and am definitely not afraid of new cultures, living alone abroad, homesickness etc (I've done months-long stints before, albeit in Europe, China etc). However, the country was allocated to me so Nepal had never been on my 'must-go' places before, and now that the opportunity is more real I feel more anxious than excited - I understand that it's unlikely that I'll be in a life-threatening situation, but I'm more worried that I'll just constantly be anxious and just not enjoy new experiences (e.g. flying in a tiny aeroplane -> worry it'll crash in the mountains; travelling on a bus -> worry I'll get horrifically travelsick; exotic food -> get an upset stomach that won't require hospitalisation but just make me miserable, etc).

In general I'm very open to new experiences, but the minute there is an inkling of risk I always start to overthink it. The point of going abroad was to try and change some of this mentality, but perhaps I'm just not cut out for this kind of thing? If you've gone abroad before and felt similar to me before going, how did you overcome it? Did anyone ever regret going? Are there any things about the programme I should check before I commit? If you also had any Nepal-specific advice that would be great. Thanks!

Possibly relevant info:
- I'm female, Oriental and early 20s with no obligations (am on a gap year with med school lined up, fairly financially secure etc).
- I'm not particularly physically strong, and tend to succumb to illnesses or things like altitude sickness more frequently than others. Probably won't be doing the Everest trek...!
- Regarding ethics of volunteering - I am under no illusion that I will be 'helping people' etc. It's primarily for my own benefit to expand my perspectives, and perhaps spur a motivation to work in development in the long-term future when I *will* be able to offer more professional help. Having said that, please do speak up if you think this would be a misdirected use of my time/money.

900 people, get off my lawn

sararah — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 07:19:07 -0800

I live in a Midwestern college town, and we are homeowners fairly close to the university campus. A large chunk of land about a block from our house has been sold to a developer. The developer plans to turn it into student housing, provided they can get the required zoning changes. I'm looking for people who've had similar experiences dealing with local governments on zoning issues, and what I, along with my neighborhood organization, can do to cope in the months to come. The facts:
1. My street is primarily owner-occupied, although we are surrounded by streets that have a significant number of rental houses. The other side of the proposed development features owner-occupied properties.
2. The planned development is not high-density housing. Rather it's townhomes and small four-plexes, none of them greater than two stories. However, it's still about 900 new people living within a mile of our house. (We call this the best worst-case scenario)
3. The proposed development is rent-by-room, so each bedroom will have an individual lease. This doesn't really make it flexible for non-undergraduates to live there. Plus, it's really, really expensive and fancy. The developer assures me "anyone can live there!" to which I say "hahahahahaha forever!"
3a. The property has to be rezoned to medium density in order for the development to go forward as planned.

The concerns:
1. Since we live in between the proposed development and the bars, we're very concerned about increased late-night foot traffic, and the accompanying noise, trash, vandalism and peeing. Also vehicle traffic since we already have a lot of people that use our street as a speedy shortcut (pizza delivery vehicles driving 45 mph down my street, I'm looking at you).
2. Other neighbors are concerned about flooding in their neighborhood being exacerbated by the additional development. I'm concerned about the development having a huge impact on a tiny sliver of forested area that runs through the land.
3. The development will push homeowners out of the neighborhood, and after our property values plummet and we can't sell our houses, we'll just start renting them out like the rest of our neighborhood.
4. If student enrollment slows or falls off, we will be left with a huge, student-focused housing development that can't find tenants.
4a. Yes, this town is growing and it does need more housing. But it is my belief (backed up with limited research) that it doesn't really need that much more student housing (i.e. the university is already building more student housing as we speak). Obviously the developer stands to make a lot more money from the higher density housing versus low density reasonably priced housing (I doubt anyone would by a McMansion in my neighborhood, also McMansions are sooo 2005).

The actions:
1. We're already forming a neighborhood action association and meeting with a city planner.
2. On our street, we're discussing closing off the end adjacent to the development, or forcing the city/developer to pay for speed bump installation (this would be annoying, but I think I would glean a sick joy from hearing the pizza delivery guys bottom out on my street for the first few months.)
3. Installing razor wire in my yard. (I kid! I kid! Sort of.)

What else can be done? As my significant other put it, "the Council is going to vote how the City Planner tells them to vote, and I'm guessing the developer has already had significant discussions with the City Planner." So....Should I look up a whole bunch of demographic information and argue the detriment of this development to the neighborhood and the city? Do I start calling around to property managers to obtain my own data to refute the developer's stance that "there are no housing vacancies in this town"? Do I start a blog to rage against The Man? Or is doing a bunch of research just a huge waste of my time?

Assuming the developer does get rezoning and the project comes to fruition, what types of demands should we make upon the developer in order to mitigate the impacts as much as possible? (Some thoughts are increased police patrols in the neighborhood, speed bumps/dead end our street as mentioned above, private security supplied by the development on the weekends, requiring the developer to have some sort of neighborhood improvement/neighborhood cleanliness initiative, a shuttle bus from the development to campus/bars since public transit currently does not go past a large portion of the development, etc.) What questions should we be asking of the city, and what demands can we make?

How can I be more zen about this entire process? (I am most definitely NOT ZEN at the moment.)

tl;dr: get off my lawn

(p.s. cute, cozy, and recently renovated house with amazing patio and back yard for sale, message me for more info. I kid! I kid! Sort of.)

UK - Inherited a property with development potential. How to sell?

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 13:42:17 -0800

I have recently inherited half of a property that has development potential and am looking for some advice on what to do next. Prior to this inheritance I have never owned a home or even managed to save a small deposit for a mortgage, so I have absolutely no experience of the property market.If all goes well, selling the property could set me and my fellow beneficiary up for life - we each hope to use our shares to buy our own homes mortgage-free! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me and I'm anxious to get the best possible price for the sale! About me:
So, I'm currently renting and have no assets or savings whatsoever, and a little bit of debt too. My fellow beneficiary has a mortgage with their spouse for 50% of a home - a housing-association or somesuch owns the other half. Neither of us are used to having money and are completely unprepared for this situation.

About the property:
It's a large bungalow in about an acre of land. Estate-agents value it at about £240,000 as-is, with no planning permission. However, every estate agent we have spoken to talks about "development potential". So far, only one estate agent has come up with a proposal (destroying the bungalow and applying for permission to build 6 smaller ones, upping the value of the sale to £300k - the estate agent apparently has contacts with council planning and several interested builders). Another has recommended that we contact the council planning department directly and ask them to come out to see the property and give us an idea what sort of planning permission they might allow.

So, what's the best way to proceed from here? Is it wise to talk to the council myself, or should I speak to more estate agents? Should I approach developers directly? Should I seek independent advice, and if so, from whom? I'm completely lost and desperate not to screw this up!

(Just in case I wasn't clear enough above - I'm wanting to sell the property for development, not to fund a development and sell the end product. So I think that means I want to get planning permission and sell. But I'm not sure - which is why I'm asking for help!)

Many, many thanks!

Throwaway: propertyenquiry111@gmail.com

Help me choose a framework for my mobile app

dudeman — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 09:55:52 -0800

I want to build a mobile application (iOS + Android) that communicates with a server. It'll be a fairly simple application - fill out a form or two on the mobile device and post it, along with a photo and geolocation info, to a server. My background is in Java/J2EE and I'm looking to branch out into more modern technology. What frameworks / languages / technologies would you recommend I investigate? I'm building this application on a shoestring budget, so it has to be cheap and simple to build, host, and maintain. Eventually there will be a desktop-web-browser interface and possibly a user forum (such as phpBB) but that's not a day 1 requirement.

As I said above, I'm a Java/J2EE programmer by trade, I have decent experience with JavaScript and HTML coding.

I'm building this project both for its own sake and as an opportunity to learn more modern technologies. I'm not afraid to try something new. Some technologies I am looking at now:

PhoneGap
NoSQL DB (i.e. MongoDB)
Amazon hosting
FaceBook API integration

I expect that I would expose the interface to the back end as a set of web services, and invoke those services from PhoneGap.

Not sure what, if anything, I need between PhoneGap and the NoSQL DB on the back end?

Help me look a step ahead

agentofselection — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 14:16:48 -0800

What will the next type of major land conversion in California be? California has a short, but tumultuous history of land use. First, California's native grassland/wildflower fields were converted to annual grassland by seeds introduced by Spanish ranchers. Then, valley-bottom wetlands and grasslands were converted to field crops by draining and/or irrigating. Those same field crops were converted to orchard crops and urban development . Baylands were converted to urban development by dredging and filling. More recently, foothill grasslands and oak woodlands are being converted to suburban housing and vineyards.

These are all fairly large-scale habitat conversion trends in California. So, what's next? If someone wanted to predict the next conservation crisis in California, what emerging economic influence, technologic development, or social trend, should they have their eye on?

Is it deserts being levelled for solar farms? Or will vineyards and suburbs continue to be the biggest habitat destroyers for the coming 50 years? Or something else?

Market=Grocery?

mmiddle — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 12:32:33 -0800

Are a small corner market and a major grocery chain store typically subject to the same licensing requirements? A building on our block has been grandfathered into our residential-only neighborhood as a market, which everyone understood to mean selling dry goods. For years, its tenants have also cooked there and used it as a restaurant. The owners are now recruiting a new tenant by advertising it as a "market," leaning on the idea that major stores like Publix and Kroger's cook on site for their delis, and may have small eating areas. I can't find a legal definition of market in local or state code. But is there some custom of the trade that distinguishes a Publix from a mom-and-pop operation?

Easy app maker?

AceRock — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 19:30:36 -0800

I'm creating a simple mobile app for a class project. What is the quickest and easiest way to develop a "proof of concept" or prototype for someone with limited technical skills? No harm in telling you exactly what I need it to do: a person using the app would be notified at randoms points in the day to open the app (could be either native or in the browser at this point) and click on an area of an image map (which would be recorded and associated with some sort of unique identifier for that user) then on the next screen answer a very short survey. The app would need to also record location data and associate it with the survey and which area of the image map was clicked. As mentioned before it would do this several times a day over a period of about 2 weeks. That's basically it. Ideally the notification piece would be automated and randomized, but I can make do manually doing it.

I have looked at Sencha, Phonegap, and Appcelerator but even they seem to be a bit over my head.

Creating a badass online class?

Equiprimordial — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 15:29:42 -0800

Looking to develop a 30-40 hour online class. What are the best companies that develop online courses? Any other resources that you might recommend? Looking for something more like Khan Academy than Coursera or a MOOC.