Tuesday, December 15, 2009

What I've been reading



Latest Read
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami (book cover from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville Library site)
 The first book of one of my favorite modern and still living writers. I picked up a copy of this while I was in Amsterdam's airport while on my way home to the US.
 Stylistically it seems very similar to the other books he has written in the sense that it is about the protagonist trying to find their identity. The major difference is that there isn't an alternate reality portrayed such as with Kafka on the Shore, The Wind Up Bird Chronicles, or my introduction to his work- The Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. It was a relatively quick read. I think I finished it in about 4 or 5 hours while on the plane and in the airport.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Link dump -=11-4-09


Dead Like Me-Netflix


I've been watching this show for the last couple of days over Netflix instant view over my laptop.

It's an older show but it's witty and clever. It's not a typical show. Here's the rundown. The main character is named Georgia Lass when she was 18 and conscripted to become a Grim Reaper while living a normal life. The show is more about life than death.

The sense of humor is a tad bit morbid, but if that's your cup o' tea. This is a show worth watching.


IMDB entry

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Google Wave (pt2)

A closer slightly closer look at Google Wave shows that it doesn't do well in waves with lots of participants. I was in Lifehacker's public wave (or at least one of them) and made Firefox 3.5.3 almost unusable. That particular wave made the tab Chrome 3.0.x sluggish. Keep in mind, from a technical or even an organizational standpoint collaborating with 200+ people in a wave is not likely and not efficient between so much movement in the wave at any given time making it hard to read, hard to manage, and slow to load.

My other complaint is that there are so few people that I know in real life that it isn't really worthwhile (yet). I think it's only a matter of time before people I have stuff to collaborate with have access to it. But I do see a lot of potential once there are more adopters.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Google Wave

I managed to get a Google Wave preview account. I don't think any of my friends are on it and I don't have any invites (yet) unfortunately. So I'm kind of dead in the water on what I can do with it.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Reading list-online

From time to time, I'll share what I'm reading in print (magazines + books) and online.

This is my top 10 reading trends from Google Reader.
  1. Techcrunch
  2. Techmeme
  3. Lifehacker
  4. Forbes.com News
  5. Boing Boing
  6. Wired Top Stories
  7. Ars Technica Front Page content
  8. Wired Gadget Lab
  9. Hack A day
  10. The Economist
Why do I use Google Reader for RSS?
It integrates nicely with all my social media sites i.e. Feedburner syndication and it integrates with sites such as Digg and Facebook. Also the interface is pretty intuitive 

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

It's okay to fail

I admit it I'm a perfectionist and I over commit myself. This leads to all kinds of stress. So once in a while I end up dropping the ball. And while that can be frustrating and sometimes embarrassing but fear not, by removing the fear of failure we are free to do as well or as poorly as we would like.

I recently ran a half marathon during a rather busy week at work and in my personal life. I hadn't run in about a week and a half. So I was unsure how I would actually do. There is the chance that I would have run really really well and run a PR or run really poorly. Unfortunately I ran much worse than I would have liked. But hey, I finished without injuring myself.

But I got to thinking about why I didn't meet my own expectations and why that bothered me so much.
  1. Not every effort can be your best. There is a prioritization of time and energy that needs to be applied and your end result will reflect that.
  2. Preparation+preparation makes a big difference. In this case, I was going through bad dehydration and I went out (for the first 5 miles) at a pace that was about 20 to 30 seconds faster than I should have.
  3. It really doesn't matter as long as you learn from any mistakes or have some sort of improvement opportunity. In fact, that makes it worth it.

Friday, September 18, 2009

New toys...err purchases

    Fitness
  • TravelTrac Century fluid trainer (link)

  • Mission Skincare sampler

    Electronics
  • iPod Touch Generation 2 with firmware 3.1.1
  • Fujifilm Finepix s1500


Friday, June 19, 2009

Product Review: LG enV Touch


I got this phone several months ago because my old one (Motorola KRZR K1m) completely bit the dust. It wouldn't even boot up would I can import my contacts. I went to a the Verizon Store to check out my options. I didn't check out any of the phone review sites like I usually do when I'm going to buy a phone, but then again how often does your phone just die. I was debating between two phones- LG Dare, enV 3, and the enV Touch. After talking to the folks there, they said that the Dare's keyboard isn't good for someone that does a ton of texting. So that was off the list. I ended up chosing the enV Touch because it had the QWERTY keypad and the touch screen.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Book Review-iWoz

I, Woz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon: Getting to the Core of Apple's Inventor

This book is essentially an autobiography from Steve Wozniak. I received this book as a gift from a friend in college about a year ago and I'm just getting to reading it now. It was a pretty quick read. I think it took me about 3 days to finish it. On the whole, I found the book pretty entertaining and interesting probably because I'm a bit of a computer geek. I feel some of the stories went into a little too much detail such as when he would talk about some of his pranks and his childhood. I understand that he was into electronics and math as a kid but it seems like he went on too long. It's not a huge deal but it is something that I noticed. So this book could have easily been 20 pages shorter.

I feel this book was written for someone that really isn't into computers as much as for someone that is into computers. In some of the sections, he explains why some of these advancements in technology were critical in the personal computing revolution.


The sections that I found the most interesting were when he talked about when he created the Apple I and the final section that was written to encourage the entrepreneurial and the inventor's spirit. In this final section, he also talked about why he decided to write a book—to set the record straight about his involvement and his leaving (in a matter of speaking) Apple Computer.

Amazon link

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Garmin 405-Product Review


I admit I'm a little late on getting a GPS/HR monitor to help in my training, but I didn't want to buy one and have it sit around like so many other things I have bought.

Price-$210 including $50 dollar rebate from Garmin during REI's Anniversary Sale.

Features
  • Wireless transfer to PC via USB dongle (RF signal)
  • Lithium Ion battery that has 8 hours of life in training mode and 2 weeks in power save mode.
  • GPS
  • HR monitor
Use of use
  • I only really needed to use to Quick Start guide to get it working with my computer/charged.
  • The user interface is pretty straight forward. Setting it up for auto pause (so the timer stops while I'm waiting at a traffic light) or auto lap.
Comfort
  • This watch is much smaller than it's predecessor which definately stood out. This looks and feels like a normal watch.
  • The chest strap took some getting used to, probably because I didn't use a heart rate monitor regularly in my training.
Things I'd change
  • Auto turn off for receivers on GPS/HR monitor- I left it on a couple of days and drained the battery.

Minor annoyances
  • Sometimes it's hard to use the touch bezel with sweaty hands.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

boxee media center

I'm sure many of you have heard of boxee, if not you should check out their website(link). A little background on the project. It's a social media entertainment system that is on Apple TV, Linux (there's a repository specifically for Ubuntu but you can download packages for other distros), OS X, and Windows. The project is a fork of the pretty popular XBMC system. The system integrates nicely with Twitter and will tweet what you're listening to or what you're watching. This feature can be disabled very easily, in your boxee account online. You can also have it tweet your rating of a song/movie. It also integrates with podcasts, NPR, Hulu, with the OS X version there's Netflix, and Last.FM just to name a few of the features.

My boxee rig
This essentially was my computer from college
  • AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (1.8Ghz) Venice core
  • 1 Gb dual channel DDR 400
  • Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard
  • ATI x800XT video card connected to a Sony 53" rear projection TV with a DVI cable
  • Using on-board sound, I'll probably use my Audigy 2 when I get around to setting it up. connected to a Sony 5.1 receiver by SPDIF.
  • Trendnet PCI wireless 802.11g network card
  • Stripped RAID 160 Gb (2 Seagate Barracudas using SATA)
  • 500 Gb SATA drive
  • 1 Tb SATA drive (new purchase)
  • Windows XP Pro
  • Wireless keyboard with trackball. It's something awesome that I picked up on a for sale/trade forum that I post to regularly. It uses IR so it's line of sight only.
  • DVD+/-R DL 16x internal.
Areas to change-
Get more RAM, get a dual-core processor.

My thoughts

It's an awesome project but there are a few things that I hope that they add to it. What I found to be very interesting is that the developers are using a system called GetSatisfaction to crowd source their changes to the project. A user can post a problem or feature request such as a shuffle -play all feature and other users can vote on it to show that the community of users is interested in this feature. A few things that I'd like to see besides the shuffle -play all feature is
  • Netflix instant playback in Windows,
  • file mangement within the program,
  • pod cast downloader type functionality-ability to subscribe
  • Have the weather gadget be much larger

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Upcoming Concerts

I'm kind of a concert junkie so here are some of the concerts that I'm thinking about going to. I've seen a few of these bands before: Andrew Bird, Death Cab for Cutie, Nine Inch Nails, and Guster x2)

April
  • GASLIGHT ANTHEM, HEARTLESS BASTARDS Bottom Lounge, 4/3, 8 PM, 18+.
  • ANDREW BIRD Civic Opera House, 4/10, 8 PM, on sale Sat 1/17, 10 AM.
  • DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE / Cold War Kids / Ra Ra Riot at Aragon – Friday, 4/17 39.50
  • Thu Apr 30 - Guster @ Marquette University - Milwaukee, WI (link)
May
  • Sat May 16 - Keane @ Aragon Ballroom - Chicago, IL
  • Fri May 29 - Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction @ Charter One Pavilion @ Northerly Island - Chicago, IL
  • May 29th -The Doves @ the Vic
June
  • Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood United Center Chicago, IL Wed, 06/17/09
  • VAST Beat Kitchen, 5/16, 6:30 and 10:30 PM, early show is 17+, two show pass on sale.
Aug
  • Thu Aug 20 - Rise Against, Enter Shikari, The Subways, The Prodigy, Pendulum, Mando Diao, Fm4 Frequency Festival @ Greenpark St.Polten - Dixon, IL (Link)
  • Lollapalooza - rumored line up includes Jane's Addiction, Depeche Mode, The Beastie Boys (Link)
Sept

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Musings on life after college

Like many of my peers, after finishing college I searched for and found gainful employment. I feel that there are pluses and minuses to that but more on that later.

Social life

Something I struggled with is meeting different people outside of work with different interests. There are things that can help you with that, one that I found pretty helpful is meetup.com. There you can find people that share hobbies with you. There I found groups like wine tasting clubs, scrabble and euker clubs, and ultimate frisbee groups. Also since I'm into running, I found out about a running group and a nearby running store. The idea is go to where people of similar interests will go and you'll find out if there's anything going on. The library notice board is usually a good resource. Groups like Toastmasters will post when they meet.

Reach out to your friend's circle. Maybe a friend of a friend or relative lives in the area you have moved to or are moving to. Yea, it could be awkward. Then again, think about the alternative.

One of the more noticeable differences I've noticed is that-yea, sure you can go out every night of the work week but you need to be able "ring the bell". For those unfamiliar with the phrase, you need to be functional the day after while at work, that is not hungover with bloodshot eyes.

Work Ethic
I've heard over and over from mentors that during first couple of years of your career you need to prove yourself very early on. This way you've got a reputation of being a high performer. Not only does that help you with advancement, it also helps you keep the job you have.

Looking to the future
If you get the opportunity to learn more about something at work, take it. Don't even hesitate! There is a lot of info out there to indicating a graying workforce and there is a lot of opportunity for high performers that want to learn.

Business Week's B-school articles give the impression that you should wait around 5 years after college to start your MBA coursework so that you have lots of real-life business experience. The friends that I have that went to do their MBA directly after undergrad definitely had a harder time to find a job than those without an MBA. This could be because of the state of the economy or more likely an MBA over-qualifies you for entry level position but you are still under-qualified for positions that require a few years more experience.

I hope that helps you with your transition from college to the working world. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Running goals

I am a pretty avid runner. During my peak running I run probably 50 miles a week. I really got into running last year after I graduated from college and discovered that I really needed a way to stay fit because I have a desk job. It's turned into an obsession for me. If I skip a run, I feel like crap just like most avid runners.

Here are some goals I came up with for the year with the races I'm planning on running at this point:

  • Shamrock Shuffle (8k)-40:00 minutes.
  • Illinois Marathon(Half Marathon) - I'd like to PR with a 1:50
  • Chicago Half Marathon -1:45
  • Oakbrook Half Marathon -1:40 (last year 1:55)
  • either Milwaukee or Chicago 4:15 (last year 5:05)

To accomplish my goals, I am following the Higdon Intermediate I plan (link). The Higdon plans are the 'go to' plans for many marathon runners. I'm also going to be doing yoga once a week. Runner's World talks about the health benefits and the cross-training benefits for runners all the time (link). I'm going to be doing speed work once a week.They're tough but they're very helpful in getting better as a runner. I'll be doing two work outs on Monday (running at work 5mi and the Dick Pond fun run 5 mi) and two work outs on Wednesday (yoga at work and speedwork). Needless to say my Tuesday and Thursday runs will be light ones.

Things that I'm worried about
  • Shin splints-they flaired up last year and I had a scare earlier this year when running outside.
  • IT band issues-My IT bands are ridiculously tight so I'm hoping yoga can help me out with that.
  • Ultimate frisbee-I started playing ultimate again on Sundays, so I'm hoping I don't hurt myself like so many of my friends have done before.

Return to Blogging

I used to blog while in college, but I stopped (about 3 years ago) because I couldn't keep up all my commitments (Fraternity life, work, classes, and extra-curricular activities) and blog. So blogging fell by the wayside.