Flutter Future Builder Example

The problem of how to execute an async function before the UI builds was vexing to me.

The answer turned out to be quite simple. Use the FutureBuilder option. Using this option itself can see vexing at first, but it is also simple, once you know how.

1. Specify the async function to execute before the build. In the below example, the function is called _doWork().
2. Set the name of the variable that can be tested to determine if work is completed. In the below case “canbeanyname”. It can be any name and does not have to be previously defined.

3. Write the _doWork() function. In this case, building a list of images that have network addresses and will be retrieved asynchronously.

4. Complete the build function

Full working code can be found here:

We must put an end to human trafficking

Image Source: I.am_nah on Unsplash

While I’m sure I should get better at letting things go, the recent news about “Fashion magnate Peter Nygard charged in sex trafficking scheme, including minors” really got under my skin, and I can’t let it go until I get it off my chest.

Truthfully though, I hope I never let it go. I hope I never stop being disgusted at what appears to be a rampant, amoral, hedonistic pursuit by the richest people in the country. …

Or anything really

A recent encounter with writing software has me thinking about high-level takeaways:

• NorthStar
• Lego blocks
• Architecture
• Radical Culling
• Defensive coding
• Testing

NorthStar

Having spent time in strategy, it is probably no shock that the “vision thing” is top of mind for me. Strategy literature is all about that one point of clarity which value propositions are focused on, and value chains self-organize around.

I feel the same way about software. It is too easy to be browsing community ecosystem libraries and see this shiny widget and think “wow, wouldn’t it be cool if that was put in!”. No, it would not. …

What the Timnit Gebru incident says about all of corporate America

If you are looking for an article about oppressed races and genders, this is not it. While that may be true, that is not what the Timnit Gebru incident is about at its core. It is about how Corporate America makes decisions on resolving differences.

Marginally it is about race & gender, because in this day and age when we are trying to drive diversity, many people feel minorities should be cut a little slack to make up for all the disadvantages they have; many people feel compassion for their situation extends to going out of our way to accommodate them and treat them specially. …

Sunday Reflections

Sundays are an opportunity to kick back, relax, and reflect on the bigger picture.

Time. What is it? It is a question that both physicists and philosophers ask. I am not a physicist.

To the extent I have any understanding of science, I view the concept of time as a circular argument.

· Distance = speed * time

· Time = distance / speed

· Speed = distance / time

There is no time without space, so much so that Einstein felt compelled to combine them in one concept, spacetime; so much so that some assert that time is an emergent property of a universe that has space — a reasonable claim, IMO. In reality, change / speed, space, and time are all entangled in one thing, how we measure time. …

All noise, no signal

The day that Donald Trump stood on the Republican Presidential Debate stage, and refused to back down from his comment that no one would vote for Carly Fiorina, because of how ugly she is, is a moment seared into my memory. In years gone by, it would have been impossible for someone to talk like that and be considered a serious Presidential candidate. Yet here we were, and here we are.

News flashes about Nixon resigning aside, my first immersive experience of American politics was in 1989, in the afterglow of a Presidential election, three old-school politicians, gentlemen by today’s standards, were in charge of the country: George Herbert Bush, Tom Foley, and George Mitchell. …

“After Life” from Ricky Gervais leaves something for audiences to think about, even if the critics are not fans of the mechanics.

I just finished watching “After Life” season 1 on Netflix. It is hard not to imagine that this Ricky Gervais creation is just a little autobiographical. A story arc that takes us from the depressed grieving widower who abuses everything and everyone, to the more hopeful widower who sees hope, and a distinction between those that truly deserve our ire and those that are simply struggling to navigate the crap in their life. …

The local ritual of watching the sunset every day.

After a hectic week of traveling on business, I decided to decompress by laying on the sand of a Northern California beach, Aptos. It was rejuvenating in ways that are hard to explain. I need this more often, perhaps like some people need a massage. This is a massage for my mind, which has benefits for my body as well.

As much as I enjoyed that experience, it was a different experience that grabbed me. As I stood and sat, with my iPhone in hand, waiting for the sun to go down, I noticed a sudden gathering of locals, walking their dogs, and also sitting on a wall. They had assembled to watch the sun go down. …