Hellboy 2 Trailer is out

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

Really excited for this one. I loved the first one and the trailer looks awesome. Guillermo del Toro is directing this one too, thank goodness. He directed Pan’s Labyrinth in the mean time, which only made me like him more. I hate when they switch directors in a series and it shows (ahem X-Men: The Last Stand). Anyway, lookie lookie and wait for the next trailer to hold you until summer.

Back Home

Whatever home is these days. Back in the States at least. Having traveled so much as a kid, home doesn’t quite mean the same thing to me as most people. I never got too attached to a place cause I knew we’d be leaving. We always left.

I remember my roommate in college got all upset when his parents converted his room into a guest bedroom. Seemed like he was over reacting to me, but then again he lived in that room for 18 years. Maybe I’d be upset too.

So Newport News is my home base for the time being. Nothing here quite makes me want to stay any length of time. But it’ll do until I figure things out.

Paris. Winter. Awesome.

Okay another quick one. Again having a great time. Funny how that works, when compared to Troy or Newport News. I wish I were staying here for New Years. But I told my mom I’d be home for the holidays. Oh well, at least I'll be able to see my new nephew.

Bozeman out.

Quick update from Sydney

Having fun. Too much fun really. I don’t really want to go back any time soon. I’ve been up and down the east coast of Australia, going through sunscreen like there’s not tomorrow. More later. Here’s some choice photos.

Off for while

…to Australia! I’m going to catch up with some friends there and just take my time and explore. Explore = bum around. But it should be fun. I’ll be kinda off the grid since I don’t want to worry about losing my laptop.

After that I think I will try to swing by France or Germany, since I love being on planes for days. Here’s to spending my savings and ignoring my bills.

The Green Man

I just got back from my first Burning Man. I am exhausted but had one of the best times of my life. The atmosphere there was like nothing I have experienced. Everyone is really friendly and chill. There is no money, no advertising. The only thing you can buy outright is ice and coffee (thank goodness for coffee). It’s all about bartering and sharing.

The art was pretty amazing. There were some ingenious contraptions, like the two semis bent into a ‘s.’ My favorite part was the scavenger hunt that went throughout the city. And it really was a city. There was a city plan and streets. Only bikes and only a few cars that were really more art pieces than cars. It even had an airport, which always sounds like a joke.

I am avoiding putting up any of the art here because the agreement Burning Man. I might put on some Adwords or something to this blog later and I don’t wanna break the spirit. But here are some pics pre-sunburn.







Of course there was the incident of the early burning. Being my first Burning Man, I was bummed to miss the first burning. Some of the people who had been year after year thought that the whole thing had become too commercial and too planned, so it was a return to what it should be. Anyway, it was rebuilt and the then we all got to share in the burning.

It was a lot of fun and I’m definitely considering going next year. I feel like I might need to rest a whole year to be ready for it though.

Scott Hanselman's 2007 Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tool List for Windows

Longest blog title ever. But still, the 2007 list is out. I have been looking at these lists for a couple years and they get better ever time (as one would hope). I kind of measure myself on how many I’ve heard of.

Some new ones from the list that I am particularly fond of:
• Process Monitor
• KDiff3
• Humanized Enso

There’s lots to play with there. Check it out: 2007 list

Just my mood today

Coder Tricks

Found this while looking for a simpler the solution this program I am working on for a friend. It didn’t quite answer my question, but might be a good resource if they keep going. It does more than my blog, so I gotta give them props.

Coder Tricks

Last Day of Work Yesterday

Well that’s that. The research job at RPI is done. It wasn’t a bad gig and I learned a lot of stuff, but it just wasn’t the place for me. I want to get out there and do something bigger. The life of a research assistant isn’t exactly glamorous by any stretch of the imagination. I haven’t made any strong ties in Troy, I know I want to do some more traveling before I take another job. Oh and I have tickets for Burning Man so, I am getting psyched for that.

So I guess I’ll head to the folk’s house. As much as I’d like to avoid that, I probably should to save money.

Dramatic Chipmunk

39 Ways to Live and Not Merely Exist

Great list. As I am packing up and getting ready to travel, the ones that seem most right for me: Travel, Slow down, Rediscover what's important. All good things.

Ones I can’t get around: Stop playing video games. Umm, no. Be in the moment. I like being in the moment, but I feel like my life has always been about being in the moment. Traveling around so much when I was young, I kinda stopped getting attached to anyone or any place. I’ve met some amazing people, though. And if there’s one thing they tried to teach me it’s that you have to settle somewhere. You have to take a stand and make a choice and just be. Somewhere. For more than a moment.

39 Ways to Live and Not Merely Exist

Coding Horror: In Programming, One Is The Loneliest Number

Great article/summary of articles by Jeff Atwood. Basically, keeping the code to yourself only keeps you from seeing what works and what doesn’t.

If you're serious about programming, you should demand to work with your peers.


In Programming, One Is The Loneliest Number

Skycar

(I would turn down the sound unless you can understand Russian)


How cool is this? It sure needs a better name than Skycar, but how cool could it be to roll/fly into work in one of these? This guy Paul Moller has been working for decades to get thing off the ground (couldn’t resist). I love that this guy heard about the idea of a flying car and was like “yeah, I could do that.” Of course he didn’t slap something together and call it a day. If you go to the site, there was version after version. The current design is pretty slick and has some motorcycle styling too. Much better than the flying saucer models of the 70s. But he is still at it, and I’m sure there are still people telling him he’s a little crazy. Good for him for having a dream and having the guts to see it through. As one of my gym teachers used to say, “can’t means won’t.” Maybe his gym teacher told him the same thing. Now he just needs to finish so I can have my flying car. And I would need the money to buy one. Hmmm, I guess he has a little more time then.

NOTPRON

“The hardest riddle available on the internet”

Well I am beginning to believe it. I found this earlier to day and started going at it. Every time I go away, I think of something else to try and it sucks me back in. I love this stuff. Drives me crazy, but in a good way. Cause I know the solution is right there in front of me. The site says only 0.001% have been certified for finishing the game. I want to be in that 0.001%.


I so want one of these with my name on it. Stupid need for sleep…

Panda Bounce

I don’t know what it says, but I do know I wasted 30 minutes playing it.

Panda Bounce

Bored

I wanna get away. Away from Troy. I think maybe go visit my friends in Australia. They’ve been saying I should come. I just need to go somewhere. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say Troy is not where I’m meant to be. Hopefully there is something a little bigger out there. Or at least in a better location.

Ultimate Revenge on Ex

Ultimate Revenge on Ex

I saw this a while back, but it makes me laugh every time. I guess my breaks ups haven’t been this bad.

The programming language cycle

Love this programming language cycle from Megginson Technologies:

1. 
   Elite (guru) developers notice too many riff-raff using their current programming language, and start looking for something that will distinguish them better from their mediocre colleagues.
   


2. 
   Elite developers take their shopping list of current annoyances and look for a new, little-known language that apparently has fewer of them.
   


3. 
   Elite developers start to drive the development of the new language, contributing code, writing libraries, etc., then evangelize the new language.
   


4. 
   Sub-elite (senior) developers follow the elite developers to the new language, creating a market for books, training, etc., and also accelerating the development and testing of the language.
   


5. 
   Sub-elite developers, who have huge influence (elite developers tend to work in isolation on research projects rather than on production development teams), begin pushing for the new language in the workplace.
   


6. 
   The huge mass of regular developers realize that they have to start buying books and taking courses to learn a new language.
   


7. 
   Elite developers notice too many riff-raff using their current programming language, and start looking for something that will distinguish them better from their mediocre colleagues.
   

The Landlord

I’m an Uncle!

My sister just had a baby boy. His name is Jordan. I can’t wait to get to meet my little nephew in person. Kinda makes me feel old. I used to be the baby in the family and now there’s a grandchild. And I’m sure this will start back a discussion on how I should think about settling down, how I should try to meet someone nice. Or just meeting anyone.

Coding is easier. Let’s hear it for logic.

Countdown to 25

One week to the big 2 5. One week till I have finally fulfilled my promise. I promised my mom I wouldn’t get a motorcycle until I was 25. Her dad had an accident which shook her up, and she’s convinced bikes are evil. Finally, I can think about getting a bike of my own. I really want an classic Indian , but I’m a little short on cash. Make that, a lot short on cash. And it’s not like the family’s gonna chip in on that one. A Harley would also be good. They’re both pretty sweet rides.

I think there’s something cool about keeping the family tradition alive. Family’s important to me.

All the glory of the universe, in a single Flash app

"We are able to view all entities, from the microworld to the universe, from a single perspective. By setting them up against a scale, we are able to compare and understand things which cannot be physically compared. Today, using the electron microscope and astronomical telescope, we can see the objects which we have not been aware of its existence before. Are you able to fathom, or even roughly grasp, these sizes? See our Universcale and experience the sizes of various objects."

Universcale

Old school video game music

Okay don’t hate, but I love old school video game music. Something about it just takes me back me back. To my happy place, when all I had to do was play video games and reach the next level before I had to go to bed. I know it’s weird, but I love listening to it when I am deep in a coding session. It just puts me in the mindset of solving problems. I don’t blast it, but it’s a good background music to keep me going.

Here’s one place I really like: Kohina.org See I’m not the only one.

MyVisual DNA

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Pretty cool. Neat approach to all those personality test floating around.

MyVisual DNA

Welcome to my blog

This is my first stab at this blog thing. I can’t promise to be funny, interesting, or even write that often. Maybe I’ll do get around to making this better design-wise. But no promises.