Monday, October 27, 2008
Another Birthday Came and Went
Another Year, another birthday. Another weekend of blurry memories.
I'd like to honestly state that my reckless, feckless, and boundless partying was getting less over the top and less self-indulgent as I grew older and my ability to recuperate by Monday gets weaker. However, that's not the case. It is some measure of improvement that this was the first time I got black out drunk in six years. I had not been that close to lit up. I'd like to add that I'm dealing with circumstances where I am not driving, have no stairs to navigate, am surrounded by friends, most of our valuables are locked up, and one of the roommates is sober if there were an emergency.
All that aside, I'd like to introduce a new house party benchmark: The Wilson Index. Its the number of unintended overnight guests, plus the number of people who have memory blackouts, plus the number of people who ended up getting some form of ass that night, divided by the number of roommates present at the party. In this case, the Wilson Index was something like 3.33333. Good times.
Party aside, this feels like one of the busiest months of my life. A friend of mine is working at a venture capital corporation after leaving a failed start up. He's following the startup's CEO and CTO. He's pitching ideas and having me sneak a peak as he searches for funding. Reviewing his applications, providing decent feedback in both a business sense, and a technical sense, as well as working and classes has been exhausting.
I actually have a decent costume for halloween this year. I'm going as Sweeny Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. I'll post pictures of the costume later. I wore it to WVU's Halloween Swing Dance. It can get very hot swing dancing in two layers of clothing. Leaves me out of breathe.
So here were my birthday goals.
But assuming all goes well, I've got the perfect knock-knock joke to break the ice.
I'd like to honestly state that my reckless, feckless, and boundless partying was getting less over the top and less self-indulgent as I grew older and my ability to recuperate by Monday gets weaker. However, that's not the case. It is some measure of improvement that this was the first time I got black out drunk in six years. I had not been that close to lit up. I'd like to add that I'm dealing with circumstances where I am not driving, have no stairs to navigate, am surrounded by friends, most of our valuables are locked up, and one of the roommates is sober if there were an emergency.
All that aside, I'd like to introduce a new house party benchmark: The Wilson Index. Its the number of unintended overnight guests, plus the number of people who have memory blackouts, plus the number of people who ended up getting some form of ass that night, divided by the number of roommates present at the party. In this case, the Wilson Index was something like 3.33333. Good times.
Party aside, this feels like one of the busiest months of my life. A friend of mine is working at a venture capital corporation after leaving a failed start up. He's following the startup's CEO and CTO. He's pitching ideas and having me sneak a peak as he searches for funding. Reviewing his applications, providing decent feedback in both a business sense, and a technical sense, as well as working and classes has been exhausting.
I actually have a decent costume for halloween this year. I'm going as Sweeny Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. I'll post pictures of the costume later. I wore it to WVU's Halloween Swing Dance. It can get very hot swing dancing in two layers of clothing. Leaves me out of breathe.
So here were my birthday goals.
- Get "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" Season 3 on DVD.
- Pay off half my credit card debt.
- Ask someone to dinner.
But assuming all goes well, I've got the perfect knock-knock joke to break the ice.
Me: Knock, Knock.Anyway, I have one exam left -- really my own exam, since I quit Data Mining due to Professor Blowhard's arrogant attitude towards the value of my time vs. the fruits of my labor for him, but I don't feel prepared for it. I would like to do well on it, so as to have some breathing room for the last stretch of the class.
Them: Who's there?
Me: Socially Awkward Guy.
Them: Socially Akward Guy who?
Me: (Awkwardly Panics).
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Links From Today's Lunch Break.
Since I posted a small rant last night and have yet to get any comments, I figure I'll dazzle everyone with a small list of links that I stumbled on today while taking a break from the research I'm doing for one of my software projects.
Rhapsody Music is selling 114 songs in DRM free 256kpbs MP3 format from the smashing pumpkins. That's $.18/song. Its all rarities or B-sides. This won't last long, so if you're got the $20 to spend on the album, go for it.
This post on the consumerist gives the skinny about the "non-mechanics" at a Jiffy Lube intentionally wrecking a new Pontiac G6's oil plug when the owner requests that they leave it a little loose now that "her husband will be changing her oil from now on". It goes without saying that places like Jiffy Lube and Grease Monkey employ people willing to work on cars all day for $6/hour and have no vocational school training (at least, none is required) or any certifications. That's why its always a good idea to either do it yourself (if you're capable) or take it to a trained, skilled, and (hopefully bonded) mechanic. Consider any difference in price "piece of mind".
If you are in the market for a new car, say because you've found out that Mazda, Honda, and Mitsubishi are all offering 0% APR for 60 months (that's a long time) for qualified buyers, or because you're getting married and need to lay the old clunker to rest before its wheels fall off, Consumer Reports has published a list of the top 10 most fuel efficient cars in price per mpg. That means getting the most fuel bang for you buck. The Honda Fit Sport leads the pack, with the Mazda 3 and Toyota Prius following close behind it. Not seen on the list: Any American made economy cars. Let's hope GM's still around to release the Chevy Volt in 2010.
Speaking of the Chevy Volt, if the idea of a plug in series hybrid car that's almost as aerodynamic as the Honda Insight that can get nearly 40 miles range on its electric motor, there's an "Unofficial Wait List" to indicate interest to GM. They also want to know what you think the Volt is worth (as in your ideal MSRP) and what you'd put down on one as a down payment/deposit.
Even though the Volt is planning on being released in 2010, don't expect to see too many of them. GM is having them built by hand just like the EV1. That means production is going to be limited to 10,000 vehicles the first year. And it means its very easy to shut down production because the labor is costly (making the car more expensive) and the factory doesn't have to be re-tooled. Expect GM to bet that the price of oil will drop, gas will level out at $3.50/gallon for a year or two, and people will feel comfortable with a V6 Chevy Tahoe "CrossOver". The American auto industry's tombstone will read "They just didn't get it".
On a lighter note, here's a post titled "10 Things You Should Know About Asian Girls...Revised". If you're well adjusted, this is going to read as "common sense". Things like "Don't assume I speak bad english. I could be faking it to get away from the creepy old guy." and "Don't assume I get turned on by you knowing Kung Fu." and "My family will want to see if you're interested in just me, or also interested and accepting of my culture."
So it may not be an interesting read for you. Its the tone that I like. Its written like its talking down to the kind of D.C. douchebag that bemoans that "dating is sooooo hard" and that from now on, he's only dating Latina or Asian women exclusively, because white women figure out his passive-aggressive bullshit before he could even mention that he "used to be a millionaire on paper". Old soapbox postings like that get me all choked up, if just because the level of pathetic and stupid mixed in such a douchey way.
Lastly, after that rant, I'm going out on a classy note. Here's an article talking about the easiest income source for hot chicks: Internet Money. You don't even have to get naked or be a cam-whore. These days, so many people are online, that a video of you playing Wii Fit in your boyfriend's t-shirt and a bikini bottom might be enough to earn you some crazy AdSense cash. Didn't really watch any of the videos since YouTube is kinda "not acceptable use" but I'm sure someone, somewhere is offended at the idea of "hinting about showing your boobies == money".
Rhapsody Music is selling 114 songs in DRM free 256kpbs MP3 format from the smashing pumpkins. That's $.18/song. Its all rarities or B-sides. This won't last long, so if you're got the $20 to spend on the album, go for it.
This post on the consumerist gives the skinny about the "non-mechanics" at a Jiffy Lube intentionally wrecking a new Pontiac G6's oil plug when the owner requests that they leave it a little loose now that "her husband will be changing her oil from now on". It goes without saying that places like Jiffy Lube and Grease Monkey employ people willing to work on cars all day for $6/hour and have no vocational school training (at least, none is required) or any certifications. That's why its always a good idea to either do it yourself (if you're capable) or take it to a trained, skilled, and (hopefully bonded) mechanic. Consider any difference in price "piece of mind".
If you are in the market for a new car, say because you've found out that Mazda, Honda, and Mitsubishi are all offering 0% APR for 60 months (that's a long time) for qualified buyers, or because you're getting married and need to lay the old clunker to rest before its wheels fall off, Consumer Reports has published a list of the top 10 most fuel efficient cars in price per mpg. That means getting the most fuel bang for you buck. The Honda Fit Sport leads the pack, with the Mazda 3 and Toyota Prius following close behind it. Not seen on the list: Any American made economy cars. Let's hope GM's still around to release the Chevy Volt in 2010.
Speaking of the Chevy Volt, if the idea of a plug in series hybrid car that's almost as aerodynamic as the Honda Insight that can get nearly 40 miles range on its electric motor, there's an "Unofficial Wait List" to indicate interest to GM. They also want to know what you think the Volt is worth (as in your ideal MSRP) and what you'd put down on one as a down payment/deposit.
Even though the Volt is planning on being released in 2010, don't expect to see too many of them. GM is having them built by hand just like the EV1. That means production is going to be limited to 10,000 vehicles the first year. And it means its very easy to shut down production because the labor is costly (making the car more expensive) and the factory doesn't have to be re-tooled. Expect GM to bet that the price of oil will drop, gas will level out at $3.50/gallon for a year or two, and people will feel comfortable with a V6 Chevy Tahoe "CrossOver". The American auto industry's tombstone will read "They just didn't get it".
On a lighter note, here's a post titled "10 Things You Should Know About Asian Girls...Revised". If you're well adjusted, this is going to read as "common sense". Things like "Don't assume I speak bad english. I could be faking it to get away from the creepy old guy." and "Don't assume I get turned on by you knowing Kung Fu." and "My family will want to see if you're interested in just me, or also interested and accepting of my culture."
So it may not be an interesting read for you. Its the tone that I like. Its written like its talking down to the kind of D.C. douchebag that bemoans that "dating is sooooo hard" and that from now on, he's only dating Latina or Asian women exclusively, because white women figure out his passive-aggressive bullshit before he could even mention that he "used to be a millionaire on paper". Old soapbox postings like that get me all choked up, if just because the level of pathetic and stupid mixed in such a douchey way.
Lastly, after that rant, I'm going out on a classy note. Here's an article talking about the easiest income source for hot chicks: Internet Money. You don't even have to get naked or be a cam-whore. These days, so many people are online, that a video of you playing Wii Fit in your boyfriend's t-shirt and a bikini bottom might be enough to earn you some crazy AdSense cash. Didn't really watch any of the videos since YouTube is kinda "not acceptable use" but I'm sure someone, somewhere is offended at the idea of "hinting about showing your boobies == money".
Labels: blogging, cars, gas prices, links, music, Reddit, soapbox, video, youtube
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Everything you need to know about Tucker Max in a nutshell.
Tucker Max is trying to make his "I hope they serve Beer in Hell" book into a movie. The script is laughable. Piss poor laughable.
Here's pretty much all I have to say about it:
Yeah. So, um, let's hope this Tucker Max walks out in front of someone's 3-series, brah.
Here's pretty much all I have to say about it:
9:33:29 AM) redrobotXXXX: because trying to play 1 upsmanship with a bunch of douchebags is like trying to go somewhere with a blind driver.
Yeah. So, um, let's hope this Tucker Max walks out in front of someone's 3-series, brah.
Labels: blogging, books, crazy people, IM conversations, links, me trying to be funny, today's generation
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Chest Pain
Yesterday I woke up with some "insanely painful" chest pain. I think it was a delayed effect of all the hedonism from this weekend. I barely made it to my car pool.
Today, however, I'm happy to report, involves waking up without any tightness or pain in my chest.
Oh, another thing about the party I threw this weekend: Someone stole my deodorant. Really. It was the one thing missing from my room. You think someone would take my playstation 2. Or my digital camera that was being passed around. Or one of my iPods. But no, someone stole a used stick of deodorant. Puzzle over that during the rest of the day. I know I have.
Today, however, I'm happy to report, involves waking up without any tightness or pain in my chest.
Oh, another thing about the party I threw this weekend: Someone stole my deodorant. Really. It was the one thing missing from my room. You think someone would take my playstation 2. Or my digital camera that was being passed around. Or one of my iPods. But no, someone stole a used stick of deodorant. Puzzle over that during the rest of the day. I know I have.
Labels: blogging, crazy people, friends, personal, ramblings, thoughts
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Nepotism Trumps Competence
This article on the dailywtf.com sure brings back memories. The shithole that was my last job sounds exactly like this place. And it reminds me of a story I want to tell. Maybe one, depending on comments/feedback, I might submit to TheDailyWTF itself.
Its all in how it looks.
My last task at my former workplace was to develop a CRM Portal. CRM stands for "Customer Relations Management". Essentially, I was overhauling the entire company website, and adding on a "private" section where clients (or potential clients) could log on, and view their projects, and see the development and test versions of their software projects. It would also house all the project's documentation and requirements. So, if you're a software developer, think of a customized install of Trac. Written and developed by one person, who's got about a year of experience writing .NET web applications. Who's doing everything from database design, documenting requirements, developing the code, testing the code, and prettying up the frontend.
To top it off, since we had nothing like this at all in our infrastructure, it was "Priority #1A" that I get this application up and running. It was also "Priority #1A" that I rush the application out the door because, as the President of the company put it, "You don't have a charge code. You're burning up overhead." (At this point, we had burned something like $200K in overhead in money we didn't have on various un-billable tasks.). Most of our tools had been various "re-invent the wheel from scratch" tools, done only half-right and only working half the time, because again, in the words of our infinitely wise President, "I'd rather spend $10K on you guys (who we referred to as his "A-Team") than spend it on software where we don't have control of the source" (and yet, we couldn't use Open Source Software because we were ".NET shop".)
So despite pressure to just churn out a finely polished turd, I knew that whatever I did, there would an incredibly long list of changes to the look, feel, and behavior of the "portal" application as soon as it was presentable. Instead of following our "one, true, established way" of creating applications -- the monolithic approach with lots of copy and paste, I actually tried to separate function and form. This meant I was building a layered application, with separation of duties between business objects, a data access layer, and presentation. As a shop, nobody had really tried to do that, as any realistic schedule to get a functioning application out the door was quickly slashed so that we were forced to just churn, churn, churn. Our president did not believe that architecture and testing paid for themselves.
Finally, having reached a presentable status (meaning: I had pages that behaved like an actual web application), the company president finally got to review the portal. He was already upset at how it was taking so long, and that until this point "I had nothing to show for it". If you haven't already guessed, the president of our "software division" had no idea of the complexity of code behind any of our pages, and just judged applications on whether they worked like he expected them to, and if they had lots of .NET controls on every page. Never mind how complicated or simple the business logic behind the pretty page was.
As an added bonus, I'll freely admit I'm a horrible web interface designer. While we were supposed to master web application development "from top to bottom, front to back", my previous assignment (which lasted nearly 4 months) had been writing PL/SQL stored procedures for another application. While other team were becoming more proficient at CSS-based layouts, I was learning how to best optimize our applications database logic. So I was naturally more skilled "on the back end". I hadn't learned what the company president liked to see in a web page, or expected to see (again, no documented requirements on how this "portal site" was supposed to work. Simply a "you figure it out" command).
Needless to say, expecting changes in page layout, I didn't really commit much time to a "stylish design". I figured a minimalist design could successfully showcase working features, and could be styled up. I even stated so much in the first review.
The first review did not go well. Aside from picking apart my "minimalist" design for lacking decorative colors, "webby javascript stuff" (direct quote there), and "looking very much incomplete", my boss failed to appreciate any of my hard work. Most of the features worked! Of course, functionality lost over form. Nitpicking the layout seemed to be the purpose of our review meetings.
And so that became my daily routine. The all-hands morning meeting. My one-on-one with the president, where he'd always give me a day's worth of UI overhauling (and contradicting yesterday's design decisions) and then going back to my cube to implement the changes.
On day 3 of this routine, I was informed that I'd be getting an intern to help me out. One of our client's had a high-school aged son with some web layout experience. He had no programming experience, but he was his high school's ultimate frisbee club's webmaster.
I sat him down and showed him how the application was laid out. He basically knew HTML and CSS (and had a better sense of style than I did) so after a quick run down on what it does he was able to get up and running. Our daily meeting was delayed an hour or so because the President had more pressing business, and a co-worker needed my help dealing with a database problem.
I come out my co-worker's cube to find that the meeting between the company president, myself, and the intern had started without me. The intern was showing off the styles he'd applied to the master template and the president seemed pleased. I feel relieved. Now we can actually start using this thing. I can move onto a project that's bringing in revenue and not have to deal with our presidents daily musings on what is "webby enough" to represent us to the internet.
About an hour later, a co-worker tells me that the intern is being put in charge of the remainder of the portal project. Not understanding cascading style sheets, it turns out our company president believes that the intern entirely recoded the web pages he showed off (including the back end functionality) in the sitdown meeting, instead of just applying new styles and layout. In his mind, with that kind of programming skill, he was more qualified to finish up the project than I was. I was re-assigned elsewhere (to another "re-invent the wheel from scratch" app) shortly before being laid off (something about being $200k in the red because of project mismanagement).
So it turns out its about how something looks, and not how it works.
I'd appreciate comments, especially advice on how to cut this down in to a more reasonable anecdote.
Its all in how it looks.
My last task at my former workplace was to develop a CRM Portal. CRM stands for "Customer Relations Management". Essentially, I was overhauling the entire company website, and adding on a "private" section where clients (or potential clients) could log on, and view their projects, and see the development and test versions of their software projects. It would also house all the project's documentation and requirements. So, if you're a software developer, think of a customized install of Trac. Written and developed by one person, who's got about a year of experience writing .NET web applications. Who's doing everything from database design, documenting requirements, developing the code, testing the code, and prettying up the frontend.
To top it off, since we had nothing like this at all in our infrastructure, it was "Priority #1A" that I get this application up and running. It was also "Priority #1A" that I rush the application out the door because, as the President of the company put it, "You don't have a charge code. You're burning up overhead." (At this point, we had burned something like $200K in overhead in money we didn't have on various un-billable tasks.). Most of our tools had been various "re-invent the wheel from scratch" tools, done only half-right and only working half the time, because again, in the words of our infinitely wise President, "I'd rather spend $10K on you guys (who we referred to as his "A-Team") than spend it on software where we don't have control of the source" (and yet, we couldn't use Open Source Software because we were ".NET shop".)
So despite pressure to just churn out a finely polished turd, I knew that whatever I did, there would an incredibly long list of changes to the look, feel, and behavior of the "portal" application as soon as it was presentable. Instead of following our "one, true, established way" of creating applications -- the monolithic approach with lots of copy and paste, I actually tried to separate function and form. This meant I was building a layered application, with separation of duties between business objects, a data access layer, and presentation. As a shop, nobody had really tried to do that, as any realistic schedule to get a functioning application out the door was quickly slashed so that we were forced to just churn, churn, churn. Our president did not believe that architecture and testing paid for themselves.
Finally, having reached a presentable status (meaning: I had pages that behaved like an actual web application), the company president finally got to review the portal. He was already upset at how it was taking so long, and that until this point "I had nothing to show for it". If you haven't already guessed, the president of our "software division" had no idea of the complexity of code behind any of our pages, and just judged applications on whether they worked like he expected them to, and if they had lots of .NET controls on every page. Never mind how complicated or simple the business logic behind the pretty page was.
As an added bonus, I'll freely admit I'm a horrible web interface designer. While we were supposed to master web application development "from top to bottom, front to back", my previous assignment (which lasted nearly 4 months) had been writing PL/SQL stored procedures for another application. While other team were becoming more proficient at CSS-based layouts, I was learning how to best optimize our applications database logic. So I was naturally more skilled "on the back end". I hadn't learned what the company president liked to see in a web page, or expected to see (again, no documented requirements on how this "portal site" was supposed to work. Simply a "you figure it out" command).
Needless to say, expecting changes in page layout, I didn't really commit much time to a "stylish design". I figured a minimalist design could successfully showcase working features, and could be styled up. I even stated so much in the first review.
The first review did not go well. Aside from picking apart my "minimalist" design for lacking decorative colors, "webby javascript stuff" (direct quote there), and "looking very much incomplete", my boss failed to appreciate any of my hard work. Most of the features worked! Of course, functionality lost over form. Nitpicking the layout seemed to be the purpose of our review meetings.
And so that became my daily routine. The all-hands morning meeting. My one-on-one with the president, where he'd always give me a day's worth of UI overhauling (and contradicting yesterday's design decisions) and then going back to my cube to implement the changes.
On day 3 of this routine, I was informed that I'd be getting an intern to help me out. One of our client's had a high-school aged son with some web layout experience. He had no programming experience, but he was his high school's ultimate frisbee club's webmaster.
I sat him down and showed him how the application was laid out. He basically knew HTML and CSS (and had a better sense of style than I did) so after a quick run down on what it does he was able to get up and running. Our daily meeting was delayed an hour or so because the President had more pressing business, and a co-worker needed my help dealing with a database problem.
I come out my co-worker's cube to find that the meeting between the company president, myself, and the intern had started without me. The intern was showing off the styles he'd applied to the master template and the president seemed pleased. I feel relieved. Now we can actually start using this thing. I can move onto a project that's bringing in revenue and not have to deal with our presidents daily musings on what is "webby enough" to represent us to the internet.
About an hour later, a co-worker tells me that the intern is being put in charge of the remainder of the portal project. Not understanding cascading style sheets, it turns out our company president believes that the intern entirely recoded the web pages he showed off (including the back end functionality) in the sitdown meeting, instead of just applying new styles and layout. In his mind, with that kind of programming skill, he was more qualified to finish up the project than I was. I was re-assigned elsewhere (to another "re-invent the wheel from scratch" app) shortly before being laid off (something about being $200k in the red because of project mismanagement).
So it turns out its about how something looks, and not how it works.
I'd appreciate comments, especially advice on how to cut this down in to a more reasonable anecdote.
Labels: blogging, confidence, corporate culture, me trying to be funny, pittsburgh, ramblings, web 2.0, Web Development
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Dollar Dollar Bill Y'All
This guy should realize that you don't post a photo on the internet unless you're comfortable with people everyone re-posting it, using it in every way imaginable.
Labels: blogging, crazy people, links, pictures, Reddit
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Here goes nothing
Well, one person has demanded and update, and an update she shall get!
I've been exhausted because the pace of life lately has been running at a pace where its always a few steps ahead of me. This is probably because grad school makes me feel like i'm in over my head -- it could also be just that I'm at the age where when given a shit-ton of (at least to me) pointless busy work that does not serve to teach my anything, i focus on things that actually seem worth my time. I'm dragging myself across the finish line. I think next semester I'm going to try to take courses that interest me more, even if the workload turns out to be more.
Another thing that kills me is most of my friends are on cruise control because they're graduating in a month or so. So I go out way more than I should. Then again, I say yes to everything.
I went swing dancing in Pittsburgh this past weekend. I find it especially hilarious that I'm even more spastic when I swing dance. There is the occasional moment where I'm graceful, but when I'm with someone I know pretty well, and I find we both end up giggling like idiots and trying not to crash into anyone else on the dance floor. I'm glad the new club president seems more open to organizing "away" events more than once a semester. Considering that Pittsburgh is one hour, twenty minutes away (less the way I drive) its not really that hard.
A friend of mine that I've known since my college days might be doing a start up company in Pittsburgh with an idea I basically came up with all by myself. I'm not upset or jealous -- I'm actually quite excited for him. I've kind of abandoned the idea because I wouldn't want to do an "advertiser funded" business plan for a web based start up. Its a "young man's business model" -- where you build something cool (both from a technical and non-technical definition of cool) and attract eyeballs. Once you have the eyeballs, you can make money via google adwords. I'd prefer something with more of a plan B, but I'm psyched he's gonna take the risk, or might take the risk. He's meeting with venture capitalists trying to fund Pittsburgh based web-start ups in the next week. I'm pulling for him. Also, if he's reading this and does strike it rich, remember it was my idea and I make a great entourage member. I can drive you around places and carry spare laptop batteries.
One reason I haven't been posting as much is that Reddit.com has taken over my web browsing. And I've gotten into too many arguements with idiotic trolls. Its sad that no corner of the internet social media trend is free from 9/11 conspiracy whackos, ridiculously scornful libertarians who believe the free market can fix everything, global warming deniers, and pro-creationism douchebags. Allow me to state the following without being bitter: If a defense computer ever does become self-aware, and nukes most of humanity, like Skynet, I will be okay with it, as long as all of the above are completely wiped out. No matter what I comment on, I attract these idiots. And I've apparently lost my mutant ability to make idiots who keep bothering me drink anti-freeze.
My friend Vanessa started talking to me again. I thought out friendship had died out on the wayside. Its good to see one come back from the brink.
Labels: blogging, personal, ramblings, thoughts
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Ramblings in the key of Log Base 2
Wow. Been a while.
Is anyone still reading this?
Soo.... updates:
I canceled my spring break trip to NYC to visit JSC and EK because I had a terrible head cold that left with a cough that vaguely resembled a death rattle. Didn't feel like trying to make the 7 hour drive on cough medication. Didn't feel like giving an already ill friend a dose of somebody else's germs. Also, I've been busy on a 'side project' with my friend from college Antique. Its kept me busy, but there are times where I'm just so burnt out from being in front of a computer that I need to do something else, so progress up to this point has been slow.
My laptop is back in action. I've restored what pictures and music I managed to save from my Hard Drive crash. It feels like a part of me is made whole again. One less little nagging voice in the back of the "to do" list part of my mind. Still a few kinks to work out with leopard, but I am loving spaces. Its not as good as multiple monitors, but I definitely like it for separating work/play desktops.
Grad School continues to drag on, with this semester about as intriguing as a sack of potatoes. I'm hoping I step it up and get at least a 3.5 again this semester, but I'll have to really suck it up to get through this semester. My side projects are more interesting.
People are graduating this year. Just like last year. Its this odd thing being a grad student with younger friends. The people you care about graduate and move on. Just like you did. And right now it sucks because it seems that outside of a few grad students who's lives are more stable, I'll be losing a large "crop" of friends each coming year. On the other hand, the crazies are bound to graduate and go away, so in this dark cloud, there is a silver lining.
I was recently in one of those minor emergencies. While driving to work with a co-worker, her car's brake lines failed and we lost braking power. Ever have to help out in driving a car that's going 75mph downhill that needs to stop? It made for an interesting morning. Everything turned out okay, but it was definitely a change to the morning routine. Thankfully, one of the hyper-mileing techniques is called "DWB" -- "Driving Without Brakes", so I wasn't exactly coming into the situation unprepared.
My company's casino night was pretty off the hook this year. It felt like it went a lot faster, but it could just be the completely free martini bar that I took advantage of. Either way, it rocked, and I took advantage of its proximity to Leesburg to check out the Leesburg outlet mall, where I managed to purchase some stuff on the cheap, the notable purchase being my new Diesel Messenger bag which I'll use for school when I'm not hauling around my MBP. I also had no idea that people in this country were stupid enough to pay $300 for a pair of jeans. Jesus.
There's your six pack of updates for now. More soon.
Is anyone still reading this?
Soo.... updates:
I canceled my spring break trip to NYC to visit JSC and EK because I had a terrible head cold that left with a cough that vaguely resembled a death rattle. Didn't feel like trying to make the 7 hour drive on cough medication. Didn't feel like giving an already ill friend a dose of somebody else's germs. Also, I've been busy on a 'side project' with my friend from college Antique. Its kept me busy, but there are times where I'm just so burnt out from being in front of a computer that I need to do something else, so progress up to this point has been slow.
My laptop is back in action. I've restored what pictures and music I managed to save from my Hard Drive crash. It feels like a part of me is made whole again. One less little nagging voice in the back of the "to do" list part of my mind. Still a few kinks to work out with leopard, but I am loving spaces. Its not as good as multiple monitors, but I definitely like it for separating work/play desktops.
Grad School continues to drag on, with this semester about as intriguing as a sack of potatoes. I'm hoping I step it up and get at least a 3.5 again this semester, but I'll have to really suck it up to get through this semester. My side projects are more interesting.
People are graduating this year. Just like last year. Its this odd thing being a grad student with younger friends. The people you care about graduate and move on. Just like you did. And right now it sucks because it seems that outside of a few grad students who's lives are more stable, I'll be losing a large "crop" of friends each coming year. On the other hand, the crazies are bound to graduate and go away, so in this dark cloud, there is a silver lining.
I was recently in one of those minor emergencies. While driving to work with a co-worker, her car's brake lines failed and we lost braking power. Ever have to help out in driving a car that's going 75mph downhill that needs to stop? It made for an interesting morning. Everything turned out okay, but it was definitely a change to the morning routine. Thankfully, one of the hyper-mileing techniques is called "DWB" -- "Driving Without Brakes", so I wasn't exactly coming into the situation unprepared.
My company's casino night was pretty off the hook this year. It felt like it went a lot faster, but it could just be the completely free martini bar that I took advantage of. Either way, it rocked, and I took advantage of its proximity to Leesburg to check out the Leesburg outlet mall, where I managed to purchase some stuff on the cheap, the notable purchase being my new Diesel Messenger bag which I'll use for school when I'm not hauling around my MBP. I also had no idea that people in this country were stupid enough to pay $300 for a pair of jeans. Jesus.
There's your six pack of updates for now. More soon.
Labels: blogging, crazy people, personal, Web Development
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Why I believe in electric cars
The power grid is already more efficient than hydrogen fuel cells or ethanol or Bio-Diesel.
Labels: blogging, gas prices, pictures
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Not a bad start
Grades are in on STAR.
Three point five. Not bad at all. Not a bad start to a graduate program in computer science.
Three point five. Not bad at all. Not a bad start to a graduate program in computer science.
Labels: blogging, confidence, personal
Friday, November 30, 2007
Randoms
Yesterday I bought my first ringtone ever. At the $2.99 price, and the very limited utility of it, I'm doubting I'll do it again for a long time. But it was "novel".
I also recently went suit shopping for my company's annual Christmas party. I'm really pleased with the outcome, and am excited to get it back from the tailor. I am going to look pretty good, and its going to be a good time drinking with friends and co-workers. My friend Jen was essential in helping me keep my spirits up and remain confident that there would be a positive outcome. Also, her fashion sense definitely complimented mine and the salespersons.
I'm excited for my company's christmas party. Always a good time to drink top shelf stuff on somebody else's dime.
I'm actually considering printing up pre-apology cards for people's significant others because I know I'm going to over-celebrate this year.
Its not definite yet, but I might be in Miami for New Year's. I'm excited for it, but its all about making sure I can afford the trip.
I've had a recent first hand illumination on a bad habit (of my past, I hope) where you're arguing not to prove a point, but simply to prove to yourself that you're right. I realize I haven't conquered that, but I can at least recognize that kind of anger in others now. And because I try to believe in selling bridges instead of burning them, I've learned to ride out these people's tantrums.
And I tell myself that with a little patience I can get through this. We walk not long upon the earth. No need to tread the paths that lead only to bitterness. With Patience, I can outlast someone's pettiness and see past what they are in the moment.
Less than two weeks left in school and I'm looking at straight A's for grad school. Not bad for a first semester.
Beowulf 3D was not that bad of a movie. Next up: Hitman.
Back to school stuff.
I also recently went suit shopping for my company's annual Christmas party. I'm really pleased with the outcome, and am excited to get it back from the tailor. I am going to look pretty good, and its going to be a good time drinking with friends and co-workers. My friend Jen was essential in helping me keep my spirits up and remain confident that there would be a positive outcome. Also, her fashion sense definitely complimented mine and the salespersons.
I'm excited for my company's christmas party. Always a good time to drink top shelf stuff on somebody else's dime.
I'm actually considering printing up pre-apology cards for people's significant others because I know I'm going to over-celebrate this year.
Its not definite yet, but I might be in Miami for New Year's. I'm excited for it, but its all about making sure I can afford the trip.
I've had a recent first hand illumination on a bad habit (of my past, I hope) where you're arguing not to prove a point, but simply to prove to yourself that you're right. I realize I haven't conquered that, but I can at least recognize that kind of anger in others now. And because I try to believe in selling bridges instead of burning them, I've learned to ride out these people's tantrums.
And I tell myself that with a little patience I can get through this. We walk not long upon the earth. No need to tread the paths that lead only to bitterness. With Patience, I can outlast someone's pettiness and see past what they are in the moment.
Less than two weeks left in school and I'm looking at straight A's for grad school. Not bad for a first semester.
Beowulf 3D was not that bad of a movie. Next up: Hitman.
Back to school stuff.
Labels: blogging, personal, ramblings, thoughts
Friday, November 09, 2007
Confessional Debugging
In Steve McConnell's "Code Complete", he describes a debugging (aka problem solving) technique called "Confessional Debugging". It goes a little something like this:
Non-geeks would call this "sharing" or even "theraphy" when taken to extremes. Here's a snippet of confessional debugging that I recently had.
(4:02:29 PM) redrobot5050: being self-aware doesn't make one less crazy
(4:02:33 PM) redrobot5050: often times, it makes you more crazy
(4:02:43 PM) redrobot5050: and realizing a problem and reacting to it like a mature, intelligent adult
(4:02:48 PM) redrobot5050: are separate issues
(4:03:02 PM) redrobot5050: i can understand after all that happened if [redacted] views part of me with ugliness
(4:03:54 PM) redrobot5050: anyway, i've kept you
(4:04:00 PM) redrobot5050: i just felt like clarifying for your own sake
(4:04:15 PM) redrobot5050: [redacted] is not a bad apple
(4:04:21 PM) redrobot5050: but [redacted], apparently
(4:11:19 PM) redrobot5050: anyway
(4:11:24 PM) redrobot5050: have fun whether or not you go or don't
(4:11:25 PM) redrobot5050: and take care
Talk to someone else about the problem. Some people call this "confessional debugging." You often discover your own error in the act of explaining it to another person. For example, if you were explaining the problem in the salary example, you might sound like this:"Hey Jennifer. Have you got a minute; I'm having a problem. I've got this list of employee salaries that's supposed to be sorted but some names are out of order. They're sorted all right the second time I print them out but not the first. I checked to see if it was new names, but it didn't seem like it was because I tried some that worked. I know they should be sorted the first time I print them because the program sorts all the names as they're entered and again when they're saved ... wait a minute ... no, it doesn't sort them when they're entered. That's right. It only orders them roughly. Thanks Jennifer. You've been a big help."
Jennifer didn't say a word, and you solved your problem. This is typical, and is perhaps your most potent tool for solving the most difficult errors.
Non-geeks would call this "sharing" or even "theraphy" when taken to extremes. Here's a snippet of confessional debugging that I recently had.
(4:02:29 PM) redrobot5050: being self-aware doesn't make one less crazy
(4:02:33 PM) redrobot5050: often times, it makes you more crazy
(4:02:43 PM) redrobot5050: and realizing a problem and reacting to it like a mature, intelligent adult
(4:02:48 PM) redrobot5050: are separate issues
(4:03:02 PM) redrobot5050: i can understand after all that happened if [redacted] views part of me with ugliness
(4:03:54 PM) redrobot5050: anyway, i've kept you
(4:04:00 PM) redrobot5050: i just felt like clarifying for your own sake
(4:04:15 PM) redrobot5050: [redacted] is not a bad apple
(4:04:21 PM) redrobot5050: but [redacted], apparently
(4:11:19 PM) redrobot5050: anyway
(4:11:24 PM) redrobot5050: have fun whether or not you go or don't
(4:11:25 PM) redrobot5050: and take care
Labels: blogging, free expression is vital to the growth of every human being, personal, ramblings
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Pattern Recognition
Finished Gibson's book "Pattern Recognition" and I loved it. It was brilliant. I've got to free read more.
Labels: blogging, books, personal
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Steroids and Caffeine don't mix
So I'm sick, and I've been prescribed an oral steroid to boost my immune response. And since yesterday was my first day on the regime, I naturally thought nothing when I got a fountain drink of Mt. Dew when I met up with my Algorithm study group at 8pm last night.
I was counting sheep till 2:30. I decided I didn't want to make things worse by throwing sleeping pills into the mix.
I can't seem to escape that Wednesday is my "hell day" -- both classes (and possibly a lab) and a full shift of work. And I can't seem to get to bed on time. But thankfully, steroids and caffeine mean I'm not really lagging behind either. Its a weird state of energy. An elevated state of mood.
So I'm sorry if I seem edgy to anyone. I haven't quite been myself.
I was counting sheep till 2:30. I decided I didn't want to make things worse by throwing sleeping pills into the mix.
I can't seem to escape that Wednesday is my "hell day" -- both classes (and possibly a lab) and a full shift of work. And I can't seem to get to bed on time. But thankfully, steroids and caffeine mean I'm not really lagging behind either. Its a weird state of energy. An elevated state of mood.
So I'm sorry if I seem edgy to anyone. I haven't quite been myself.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
A few of my favorite things
I thought I'd post a few of my favorite things on my website. Friends are of course welcome to comment.
First off: Favorite Bond that does not involve Sean Connery:
What can I say? The Bad Boy Bond rocks.
This next picture is a "screw up". I was trying to take a self portrait of Melissa (my friend's wife) and me when home for thanksgiving this past year. I ended up photographing a picture of her eye, and my teeth. She constantly tells me I'm a horrible photographer. She probably hates this picture. Me, I love it. Even though its a screw up, you can tell we were happy when this picture was taken. That's all the picture was meant to say. And it makes me smile when I think of the good times with hometown heros, especially when I miss them.
Here's the finished product. Its not half bad, either.
Here's my favorite "Me Expressing My Thoughts About the Greek System @ Pitt" Picture. But I'm not bitter.
Favorite Cat / Chinese Cooking Picture.
My new thing is shoes. I guess the "drool for shoes" aspect of JPOD (by Douglas Coupland) rubbed off on me. I'm really into cool shoes. These are my new running shoes -- Addias Goodyears. They're made from recycled race car tires. They're designed for distance road races. They look like golf cleats. And they were $39.99 on sale.
Here's my other favorite pair of shoes. These are "Diesel" brand shoes. Very, very comfortable. I'd recommend a pair to anyone that can afford them. (They're $80 when not on sale, which is pricey to me.) Girls, don't miss out. If you have big feet, see if you can fit into a men's size 8 and try them on.
Favorite Car Picture I've recently taken: This one. Its a Lotus. It was parked in the last line of parking spaces at my grocery store.
Favorite Comedian: David Cross. His stand up is incredibly raw and political and angry, and I like it that way.
Favorite License Plate: This one.
First off: Favorite Bond that does not involve Sean Connery:
What can I say? The Bad Boy Bond rocks.
This next picture is a "screw up". I was trying to take a self portrait of Melissa (my friend's wife) and me when home for thanksgiving this past year. I ended up photographing a picture of her eye, and my teeth. She constantly tells me I'm a horrible photographer. She probably hates this picture. Me, I love it. Even though its a screw up, you can tell we were happy when this picture was taken. That's all the picture was meant to say. And it makes me smile when I think of the good times with hometown heros, especially when I miss them.
Here's the finished product. Its not half bad, either.
Here's my favorite "Me Expressing My Thoughts About the Greek System @ Pitt" Picture. But I'm not bitter.
Favorite Cat / Chinese Cooking Picture.
My new thing is shoes. I guess the "drool for shoes" aspect of JPOD (by Douglas Coupland) rubbed off on me. I'm really into cool shoes. These are my new running shoes -- Addias Goodyears. They're made from recycled race car tires. They're designed for distance road races. They look like golf cleats. And they were $39.99 on sale.
Here's my other favorite pair of shoes. These are "Diesel" brand shoes. Very, very comfortable. I'd recommend a pair to anyone that can afford them. (They're $80 when not on sale, which is pricey to me.) Girls, don't miss out. If you have big feet, see if you can fit into a men's size 8 and try them on.
Favorite Car Picture I've recently taken: This one. Its a Lotus. It was parked in the last line of parking spaces at my grocery store.
Favorite Comedian: David Cross. His stand up is incredibly raw and political and angry, and I like it that way.
Favorite License Plate: This one.
Labels: blogging, cars, cat, Frat's Suck, movies, personal, pictures, ramblings
Monday, March 05, 2007
On Rotten College Students -- Part 2
I'd like to respond to a comment left by RainDog:
In a recent playboy interview by Simon Cowell, the "Asshole we love to hate" of American Idol fame, he points that brutal honesty is a rare commodity for teens, and when he tell a 17 year old singer at their first audition that they will never have a career in singing, some of them actually say, "Thanks for being upfront. You've saved me a lifetime of embarrassment and humiliation."
Anyway, for the sake of argument, since I have a feeling that if I do a good job of arguing my point, RainDog, with his poker face wisdom and succinct writing will promptly skewer me in a way that's both entertaining and education for all.
I don't think American Idol is narcissistic, unless of course, democracy and soap operas are by nature narcissistic. American Idol is basically a soap opera meets talent competition. There are some competitors you hate from the get go. Some you root for because you identify them as the underdog. Others are the clean cut, all American musician. Their character, or their persona, if you will, strikes a chord in us by resembling an archetype we easily identify with either positively or negatively.
And towards the end of the show, the text messaging/dialing in votes for a nominal fee is the way the finalists "win" American Idol.
How is this narcissistic compared to the old days where they only way a musical group could get any traction in the mainstream was endless self promotion that resulted in selling out to whatever recording representative decided to make you offer?
If anything, American Idol teaches us what's wrong with democracy, not kids these days. People should be charged for the right to vote (and no, I don't mean taxes, I mean a simple, "To vote in today's presidential election, it will cost $1.99" surcharge. When you consider how many people will vote over and over for their favorite artist, spending in excess of $10 on text messaging the show, it seems that a little bit of marketing and commercialism could perhaps raise our pathetic voter turn out. Maybe Simon should be moderating our next presidential debate.
The other "big two" people point their fingers at when denouncing this modern generation are the social networking sites that target the young. Namely, Facebook and MySpace.com.
However, these arguments are basically groundless and here's why: Its just a website. Where people share news and photos. Do you think that the college republicans of previous generations didn't have a scrapbook of photos and a historian? Do you think the fraternities and sororities of the last generation didn't assemble their photos into albums or make copies of photo prints for their friends?
They did. Its just that now the process has gone digital. And more and more people are being a little bit more open about -- the barrier of entry to one of your peer's social group has been lowered. If just slightly. Can a complete stranger find embarrassing pictures of someone they know on Facebook? Sure. Could this damage someone's career? Maybe, but I'm going to say doubtful.
I find the whole "these pictures of drinking and smoking will make it harder for you to get a job" argument to be essentially groundless. Lost opportunities? Is it an opportunity to work for an employer that's going to turn around a month after hiring me and say, "Who is this person? They're not at all like the person I interviewed a month ago...". I think not.
Our generation is living in a time when openness is revealed as the idea. 50 years ago, psychologists would been busy committing anyone who admitted they were a homosexual. Society tried to brush it under the rug as a mental disease. Now, if you're on a college campus, you'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't have a gay friend. And while ignorance, intolerance, and bad jokes are still prevalent, the tolerance displayed today is a bit more than a baby step from electro-shock therapy.
What is one of the most unifying rallying cry of both left and right with respect to U.S. politics? Transparency. Its another word for openness. Release the notes and attendance log of the energy policy meetings. Release the intelligence behind Iran's "meddling" in Iraq (or at least cite a source).
The argument has been made before, and will be made again, that the leaders of past cultural movements -- the Dylans and Doles, played their part during the times both because of their ideals and their profit motive. So while previous generations look down for our narcissism, we look back in hindsight and do the same.
Why is it narcissism when a teen rails against having a curfew in his blog, but altruism when Eric Meyer or Jeffery Zeldman rail against the poor Cascading Style Sheets support in IE7? Is Eric or Jeff being altruistic, even when conferences all across the country are offering them moneybags to come speak at keynotes and teach workshops on web standards and and clean layout design? Or can we concede there might be a bit of narcissism in their profit/reputation oriented blogging as well?
In all seriousness though, I think the problem of young people being too narcissistic is very real, and all it takes is looking at American Idol to see the sort of self-delusion people get themselves into. There is value in finding the right balance between modesty and self-confidence. None of that gets inherently gets in the way of having a good time in your youth.
In a recent playboy interview by Simon Cowell, the "Asshole we love to hate" of American Idol fame, he points that brutal honesty is a rare commodity for teens, and when he tell a 17 year old singer at their first audition that they will never have a career in singing, some of them actually say, "Thanks for being upfront. You've saved me a lifetime of embarrassment and humiliation."
Anyway, for the sake of argument, since I have a feeling that if I do a good job of arguing my point, RainDog, with his poker face wisdom and succinct writing will promptly skewer me in a way that's both entertaining and education for all.
I don't think American Idol is narcissistic, unless of course, democracy and soap operas are by nature narcissistic. American Idol is basically a soap opera meets talent competition. There are some competitors you hate from the get go. Some you root for because you identify them as the underdog. Others are the clean cut, all American musician. Their character, or their persona, if you will, strikes a chord in us by resembling an archetype we easily identify with either positively or negatively.
And towards the end of the show, the text messaging/dialing in votes for a nominal fee is the way the finalists "win" American Idol.
How is this narcissistic compared to the old days where they only way a musical group could get any traction in the mainstream was endless self promotion that resulted in selling out to whatever recording representative decided to make you offer?
If anything, American Idol teaches us what's wrong with democracy, not kids these days. People should be charged for the right to vote (and no, I don't mean taxes, I mean a simple, "To vote in today's presidential election, it will cost $1.99" surcharge. When you consider how many people will vote over and over for their favorite artist, spending in excess of $10 on text messaging the show, it seems that a little bit of marketing and commercialism could perhaps raise our pathetic voter turn out. Maybe Simon should be moderating our next presidential debate.
The other "big two" people point their fingers at when denouncing this modern generation are the social networking sites that target the young. Namely, Facebook and MySpace.com.
However, these arguments are basically groundless and here's why: Its just a website. Where people share news and photos. Do you think that the college republicans of previous generations didn't have a scrapbook of photos and a historian? Do you think the fraternities and sororities of the last generation didn't assemble their photos into albums or make copies of photo prints for their friends?
They did. Its just that now the process has gone digital. And more and more people are being a little bit more open about -- the barrier of entry to one of your peer's social group has been lowered. If just slightly. Can a complete stranger find embarrassing pictures of someone they know on Facebook? Sure. Could this damage someone's career? Maybe, but I'm going to say doubtful.
I find the whole "these pictures of drinking and smoking will make it harder for you to get a job" argument to be essentially groundless. Lost opportunities? Is it an opportunity to work for an employer that's going to turn around a month after hiring me and say, "Who is this person? They're not at all like the person I interviewed a month ago...". I think not.
Our generation is living in a time when openness is revealed as the idea. 50 years ago, psychologists would been busy committing anyone who admitted they were a homosexual. Society tried to brush it under the rug as a mental disease. Now, if you're on a college campus, you'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't have a gay friend. And while ignorance, intolerance, and bad jokes are still prevalent, the tolerance displayed today is a bit more than a baby step from electro-shock therapy.
What is one of the most unifying rallying cry of both left and right with respect to U.S. politics? Transparency. Its another word for openness. Release the notes and attendance log of the energy policy meetings. Release the intelligence behind Iran's "meddling" in Iraq (or at least cite a source).
The argument has been made before, and will be made again, that the leaders of past cultural movements -- the Dylans and Doles, played their part during the times both because of their ideals and their profit motive. So while previous generations look down for our narcissism, we look back in hindsight and do the same.
Why is it narcissism when a teen rails against having a curfew in his blog, but altruism when Eric Meyer or Jeffery Zeldman rail against the poor Cascading Style Sheets support in IE7? Is Eric or Jeff being altruistic, even when conferences all across the country are offering them moneybags to come speak at keynotes and teach workshops on web standards and and clean layout design? Or can we concede there might be a bit of narcissism in their profit/reputation oriented blogging as well?
Labels: blogging, narcissim, personal, ramblings, thoughts, today's generation
