More New Beginnings

I pre-ordered John Mayer's Battle Studies last week and got it Tuesday (release day). To make the order more fulfilling, I got a book I've been meaning to buy for some time now: Joel Spolsky's Joel on Software: And on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers, Designers, and Managers, and to Those Who, Whether by Good Fortune or Ill Luck, Work with Them in Some Capacity, a great guide to running a software company.

I had seen the book every once-in-awhile when shopping in the programming sections of bookstores, but never really realized what it was. At the time of discovery, I would not have read it - the book is full of software project management and all that garbage related to schedules, estimates, supervision, etc.

After all the research I performed during my undergraduate studies, however, I have a renewed interest in software projects. Having learned what I did about software design (I have a degree in Information Technology with a concentration in Software Systems Engineering) I like the higher-level design and also like to code when I know what's going on. I discovered early on that coding directly from an idea in my head really results in wasting time and cognition. Even my little JavaScript project that generates MD5 and SHA1 hashes from strings took hours because I didn't have an end result in mind. That single page should have taken about 30 minutes to set up, but I admit that I was simply playing with DOM manipulation and just happened to think of something to do with it.

I have always supported design-before-build practices, and now that I have finished school I have an appreciation for the same principles applied to fabricating software.  The whole management thing is interesting now; I haven't had the chance yet to "manage" formally, as long as you don't count the "Team Leader" position I had at the auto parts store just after high school.  I supervised two people.  Ten years later, I haven't done it since.

The most super-cool thing about creating a software company is creating something that changes the way people do things.  Writing computer programs that many people use is the most powerful thing I can think of within my ability range.  When I write a little ditty that saves someone 45 minutes of manually editing an Excel spreadsheet, the user shares that with someone else, and it goes down the line.  I alone am able to save my current organization literally hours of time every week, with just a few lines of code.  I want to do that for the public, and I want to have at least some impact on how people use computers - whether they realize they're using a computer or not.

My main development focus at this point is on Android applications (sorry, iPhone users) because the platform is so open and I can do anything within the limits of the device.  I have to get it right the first time, though; the majority of folks who to post reviews about apps are not nice when they don't like the app, and don't seem to give much constructive feedback.  There's a lot to learn about the Android platform and the market, but there's even more to learn about customers.

I'm off to run five miles now, in an effort to get ready for yet another one of my ideas: joining the FBI.  Is that random enough for you?

Directions Please

I used to have a floppy disk I used to keep ideas on. I wrote on the disk: "Ideas for my Engineering Career." I think I might have it here somewhere, but today I couldn't find it to add something to. Also, I no longer have a floppy drive.

I thought of something yesterday that might help a group of people in a certain way (the ambiguity is intentional). I just wrote a quick summary out in my Maker's Notebook instead of typing something. The project has been named Furious Plutonium (more ambiguity there. You're welcome.) Now here's the dilemma:

How will I ever remember to build a prototype or perform further work on the project? I need to conduct more research, but after that I have to get to building and tuning. I am scared now that it will fall into my personal /dev/null, where all my other projects have gone with the exception of those I completed within a number of hours one can count on a single hand.

I've been saying for years that I need a proper workshop - I have nowhere to build anything, and no tools either. Time is a rare commodity these days as well.

Blog posts are supposed to come to some conclusion or provide some kind of solution to the stated problem. I have no solutions, because I can't pinpoint the problems. This post is getting off-topic, so I'll quit.

2009 Winterfest 5K

The Winterfest 5K in Valdosta will benefit Toys for Tots. The registration form was just released, and you can click here to get it.

Keep in mind that if you're crazy as I am there's another race that day in Tifton at 2:00pm, and you can finish that in time to get to the Winterfest at 4:30. Contact the Tifton Kiwanis Club for more information on that race.

30:33. Record Time.

I'm no track star, but yesterday I ran the fastest 5K of my life thus far. Either it was a good lung day or it was the 15 miles I ran in the previous ten days. The running seems to help, so I'll be running for the next four days, take Friday off, and see what happens at the 5K for Missions on the 21st. Today I'll just bask in my own glory.

Blazer Corps 5K

The form is here if you want it. I'll be running and I expect to get a much better time than I do on average. From my previous six 5K races, I'm averaging somewhere around 33 minutes. That's horrible, given that I need a much faster pace to join the FBI. I'm running every day until the 14th, so I'll see where that gets me.

Georgia Bike Rescue

New Project: a community-based, nonprofit venture that may actually get somewhere. If I get the support it needs.

I have started Georgia Bike Rescue, a little organization (just me right now) that accepts old bicycles to make new and give away. In celebration of this first day of the organization, I swiped the first bike out of someone's trash this evening. Kinda just happened upon it.

Anyway, gabikerescue.org is up and running, complete with analytics. The Facebook page has been created but no content yet. Please become a fan if you can stand the idea.

I had been thinking about doing this for a few months now, and the time came today to start something. I know I've started a lot of things without finishing them and I will never deny that. I just think this one can continue even without me, with the help of many local supporters.

What I can imagine happening is:

1. I get a group of people together who like this kind of thing and feel that it would benefit the community.
2. We collect bikes that are donated from around the county and maybe further.
3. We get the good parts from the donations and make complete bicycles.
4. We take the bad parts to the scrap metal place to get money.
5. The money is used for inner tubes, cables, materials, etc.
6. The finished bikes are given to local charities who then choose a recipient (in December).
7. We do it all again the next Christmas season.

So there it is. We need some things from supporters, however. We (I) currently do not have anywhere to store the bikes or perform the work. We (I) could use some storage/work space that is at least semi-secure. I don't have any bicycle-specific tools or equipment, so those things would be nice. For now I'll try to garner support and resources from the interested people and I'll see where that gets us (me). It is hoped that I will have more to report at some point in the near future.

5K For Missions

There will be a 5K race November 21 at 8 am to benefit Liz Norris on the World Race. From the form:

The World Race is an 11 month mission trip to 11 different countries. I will leave in January 2010 and return in December. I have to raise a total of $14,000. I am reaching out to the Valdosta community to help make this happen. For more information, visit liznorris.theworldrace.org.

You can get the registration form by clicking here.

St. John Road Race 2009

The St. John Road Race 2009 is being held on October 31 in Valdosta. The form is available on this site. Click here.

Think Pink 5K

I had some trouble finding the registration form for this one, so I'm sharing it.

Click Here. Hurry and register!

The End of the Weekend

It sucks thinking about it - back to work tomorrow. Due to furloughs, I had a four-day weekend and it seemed pretty long. I thought I'd have forever to get things done, but reality is to the contrary. I'm getting ready to run the Labor Day 5K in Valdosta, and then the day is pretty much over after that.

What's worse is that I don't enjoy my job anymore. When you don't look forward to going to work or talking to people about the work, it may be time to move on. My career is at a standstill at present and has been for some time now. I'm not allowed to touch computers in fear of a contract violation (sounds like a court order, doesn't it?) and I don't manage anyone. I manage information that is painfully extracted from those who care about these things less than I do. I see the job now as a futile effort to get things done and make things right. IBM has hosed this all up and there is almost nothing else to take apart. I'll say this: it takes at least five days to install a desktop printer and there is nothing I can do to make that any faster. Everything is officiated and nothing is efficient in State Government I.T.

So I just don't like it anymore. All we've been doing for three months is bitch and moan about how IBM/Dell/AT&T have come in and screwed everything up and GTA let them do it. And nothing has happened as a result of it. We are absolutely powerless. The things we say make a whole lot of sense, but no one hears it. It's like telling the CEO that the server has a security issue, to which he replies "...hmph. We'll have to look in to that," while never making eye contact. He doesn't care what you're saying. The sun is up and people are at work, aren't they? Everything is grand!

I am beginning to feel as if I'm rambling. I am losing the organization of my thoughts and that means it's time to quit writing for now.

Facebook Experiment Conclusion

The experiment didn't exactly go as planned, and I think the fact that I conceived, planned, and executed it within two hours could have contributed to its demise. The entire point of my exercise was to see how far and how quickly something can spread on Facebook. There is no other way (that I know of) to measure the note-sharing than to do what I did.

I like data and wanted to see the numbers grow. I expected more than 30 to respond, from all of Facebook. Turns out that my idea wasn't so well received as I'd hoped it would be.

Anyway, here are the final numbers, as the experiment is finished today with dwindling results:

30 Absolute Unique Visitors
All sourced from Facebook except for my own direct entry
Every visitor was from US or Canada (only one Canadian)

Overall result:



And by the way - if you want to shoot those numbers up, tell all your friends to go to http://fb.49times.com. There they can read all about it and continue the experiment, though I won't be watching or reporting on it unless it blows up as I had expected it to the first time.

9 Unique August 25

Sorry - I was reading it wrong. Google Analytics (hereafter GA) says the FB page has had 9 absolutely unique visitors yesterday. Again, more tomorrow.

12 Visits

Google Analytics shows 12 visits yesterday, and I guess that could be considered good since I sent it out at 1700 EST and not everyone uses Facebook every day.

We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see the results of today's visits. The counter was just at 36 page loads so I expect more than 24 unique visits as of today. We'll see.

Until then,

The Facebook Experiment Starts Now

I just thought of this today and will now begin the experiment. I've tagged 30 people in a note on Facebook that asks them to copy the note, paste it in a note of their own, and tag 30 people with it. Then they should follow the link in the note that goes to a single page I created.

I won't give the page away because I want every reference to come from Facebook itself. What I want to happen is to see 100,000 or more hits to that page over the next week. I expect this because social networking is viral (if people cooperate) and word can spread very quickly. I want to see just how quickly that is.

I will publish the results here and under the label "Facebook Experiment" as the project progresses.

Better Verizon Coverage

I went to check my BlackBerry last night for new messages, and couldn't help but notice a full signal meter. This was odd.

When we moved to Adel three years ago, we had great service in the then-out-of-area part of Verizon's network. We weren't charged for roaming or anything, and the signal was usable.

Some time last year, Verizon thought it would be a good idea to move in. They took Valdosta and put up towers in Adel and up to Tifton, covering a large area where they did not previously. I don't know how everything works, but their moving in and activating towers really changed things about service quality. For instance: I could not talk on the phone in my house. To send a text, I had to move toward an open door or window while holding up my phone until I got "Message Sent." I held conversations with people, but only in the driveway or the back yard.

So yeah, last night was odd - my personal phone also showed a very good signal level. I haven't confirmed any of this, but I believe it has to do with Verizon's acquisition of Alltel. We'll see if this lasts. And for their sake, Verizon better do something to keep service at this level - I was determined to switch at the end of this contract after five years with them.

But now I guess we'll stay. Seems a lot of nothing to blog about, but I'm pretty excited about my new ability to talk on the phone inside my house.

8 Mile

Well that sucked. Good movie, theatrics, whatever. I expected more at the end, like him getting a record deal or something.

At least I can say it sucked now having seen it. People who don't like movies they haven't seen tend to carry that mentality to other aspects of life. And that's why I try my best to watch every movie through to the end. I'm not a generalist.

May 12, 2009

It took the entire eight weeks of the 6-8 weeks for delivery to get it, and I'm still not sure it was worth all the time, tears, and money. It was just a few minutes ago that I decided to post it here to be archived.

The arrival of my undergraduate degree certificate was not a very special occasion. I thought I would cry when I finally reached that point in my life. After all, I did spend about eight years working on it. But no tears. Just back to work.

No raise, no added responsibility, no prestigious stance about me. No speeches. Just calls from Sallie Mae. No period of enlightenment or revelations. Just me. Same as I was out of high school, but with a whole lot more debt. And more kids.

I could be for and against higher education at this point, but either perspective is useless. The pursuit of education is at the personal level, and some people will sacrifice more than others to achieve their academic goals. Even after all of this, I still want to go to grad school. I might be borderline psychotic for that reason.

But Only So Much...

In these times of cost-cutting, I don't have a home phone. My company has no overhead or monthly bills beyond those services it provides to its customers. At home we don't really have or do anything extra. We live on one income and thrive on information from books and the Internet. No cable TV or satellite. I have a subscription to Xbox Live and Netflix - a combination unparalleled anywhere. I have considered cutting that, but tonight I am forever changed.

I'm sick today as I have been for the past two weeks with vertigo. I don't want to go anywhere and I slept all day. Beth is away with the kids at her parents' house, and I am left with nothing to do but put a Website proposal together (boring) and watch television. We don't get PBS because the DTV antenna I built doesn't face the right way. No public TV = no TV. I don't have the money to go to the video store, and that's usually not worth it anyway. Besides - I'm dizzy, remember?

Enter Netflix. Tie in Xbox Live. I picked at least 15 titles to watch this evening, to include movies I have only heard of and television series that I missed while in college. No, I don't think I'm going to cut that expense. I'm not out spending money when I'm on the couch. I just fell in love with technology all over again.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go get my money's worth while keeping my head as still as possible.

Needs Improvement

This was me near the finish line yesterday. I clearly need some training before the next one. Look at me - my stride is so short - stamina needs improvement. My cool Army PT shirt is getting soaked; I don't think it does what I was led to believe. Clothing needs improvement. I have two weeks until the Barnes Health Care 5K on the 18th, and I intend to finish a lot sooner. At least by a minute.

Off to RunnersWorld.com to get some training tips.

Post-Valdosta 5K - 34:18

The run was fun, as it should have been. Last night I decided that I wasn't going to go because I hadn't taken enough time to prepare. If you look back two posts, I ran 5K in 35:22 six days ago. Having not trained any since then, I still ran a faster time this morning: 34:18.

Now that I'm finished with college for a while, I actually have time to make this a hobby. I tried to do it in 2007, but as soon as I started back to school all the physical activity ceased. I don't have any more excuses to run more often. If I'm still going in to Federal service I had better get going.