12/19/2003
Returning to my Roots...ervers...
Seems to be a Latitude type of day...
I'm a computer geek. For all my dreams of getting a PhD in Music Theory, I'm still a computer geek. One mention of RSS from the Dude and I'm off reading about syndication and XML/XLS/XHTML/whatever for an afternoon and thinking "damn! I gotta get me some of that!" It's gotta be a sign when you look back fondly upon times where you were wrestling with browser compatibility issues in JavaScript, messing around with SQLServer parameters through a windows control panel, or hitting the key sequence for another buggy build of your project.
Along those same lines of Nostalgia, I visited Latitude on my roadtrip out to Santa Barbara back in September (we stopped in Silicon Valley for a bit). I said hi to some of the folks there and had a chat with Ted, VP of operations. Ted was (is) a Brown alumn and was our (me and al) extra-CS connection to Latitude originally. We were also recruited by Ted in the beginning. When I went to chat with him this time, he threw out the possiblity of my working for Latitude again, even if just for the summer, and now I'm really considering it. I want to take the next half a year and get back in CS gear. Start getting familiar with all the new standards and ways of doing things (.NET still makes me think of spiders...). Maybe tackle a couple of small projects for fun. I'm such a nerd.
But after all, I am a music theorist. I need to do some work in the area of the theory of music. But with all these CSish plans, what am I going to do with music? Fear not, I have come up with a theory, a law, a rule, as it were, that will revolutionize music and I will no doubt live off the fruits of this divine inspiration for the next half a year at least (with no need for additional work!). And this great idea of mine is:
Metallica Kicks Ass
Don't any of you steal this idea or anything...
Damn it...I want to switch to movable type...
// posted by Me @ 12/19/2003 12:41:00 PM
Go Latitude
Whoa.
Latitude was acquired by Cisco.
I worked at Latitude for a summer back during my CS days, as did Al. We had a blast there. The people were cool, it was our first time living in Cali, and the pay was better than anything I'll ever earn again ;) We worked on some dorky features of their main product, Meetingplace. Not like any of it is in the product still (we both would feel bad if it were...), but they treated us lowly interns like developers and that was damn cool. I went back for a winter break after that summer and worked on something which I did not really understand (*mumble mumble T120 mumble load-balancing mumble*). After a couple weeks of futzing around, it didn't quite work. And then The Dude[1] (my boss) came over and fixed a line or two and it did sort of. Uhm...cool. Apparently, some of that code is still in Meetingplace...frightening :)
[1]The Dude is not The Dude Lebowski Dude, though this Dude abides as well, I'm sure.
// posted by Me @ 12/19/2003 06:44:00 AM
12/18/2003
Homeward Bound
Well, I am already back here in good old Rhode Island. No, it's not Long Island. It's not part of New York. It is a state. Really.
No easy connection to the net so uhm...I'll probably be negelecting the blog for a while...Happy Holidays!
// posted by Me @ 12/18/2003 07:37:00 AM
12/14/2003
Competence Rules
Competent people rock!
So I notice yesterday evening that I've got a flat tire...but the puncture or tear where it is can't be big, cause I drove around with a 3/4 flat tire and it didn't deflate much. So I drive it to CostCo to get it fixed by they require a membership, which I don't gots none of. So I come back to the house all defeated and get lazy. Get up this morning, changed to a spare, and started calling places. Not many places open on a Sunday but a firestone center is, so I drive up.
Dude at the counter listens to my problem, goes and takes a look at the tire, airs it up, finds out it's a leak in the valve and not the tire itself, replaces the valve (in 30 seconds literally...not sure how valves get replaced so quickly), jacks up the car, puts the tire on, airs up the spare, and we're done. The whole thang took less than 5 minutes and there's no charge. The great thing is he didn't just throw away the old and replace it with a new. The great thing is he knew exactly about how long it would take to fix it. The great thing is, he actually knows his stuff and can toss something like this off quickly without some sort of procedure. Yay. He's got my business...I'm going there for my brakes. So anyone in the Goleta area need tires/brakes/fluid changes, go to the firestone car center.
Firestone Tire & Service Centers
3948 State St, Santa Barbara, CA 93105
(805) 569-1451
Good stuff indeed.
// posted by Me @ 12/14/2003 03:33:00 PM
News Snippets
Saddam has been caught. Even Slashdot reported this one ;)
Some pictures.
Powerpoint makes you stupid.
But wow...a dark era ends, so claims Bush. I'm not sure that's true for Iraq or the US...but at least one more bastard is caught (ignoring the costs, of course).
// posted by Me @ 12/14/2003 01:04:00 PM
Check Your Premises
1) I am stupid.
2) Stupid is as stupid does.
3) Unreconciled problems need to be reconciled.
4) Cowardice through denial is powerful.
5) Kidding around as a mask is useful.
6) !Sabado Gigante!
Well, that wasn't all that subtle now was it...Ayn Rand would be...confused.
// posted by Me @ 12/14/2003 04:15:00 AM
