Current Brainstorms
Sunday, March 31, 2002
The title of
actual country songs
I'm So Miserable Without You, It's Like Having You Here
How Can I Miss You If You Won't Go Away
I Hate Every Bone In Your Body Except Mine
I Still Miss You, Baby, But My Aim's Gettin' Better
You're The Reason Our Kids Are So Ugly
And My personal favorite
May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose
11:54 PM Posted by Big Dave
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Translation: Get all 'users' where the user has a clue. Unfortunately nobody has a clue.
7:26 PM Posted by Big Dave
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Friday, March 29, 2002
You know... sometimes the old addage is right. If you can't beat them, sneak around them. I have decided to use Yahoo! photos to as my photo album. It's nice b/c it doesn't tap into the bandwidth or space for this site. Unfortunately I don't have complete control. Regardless, the galleries are open.
Take a look
7:27 PM Posted by Big Dave
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Thursday, March 28, 2002
The Graduation Song
(To the tune of "We Wish You A Merry Christmas")
4:17 PM Posted by Big Dave
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This has been a very tough week. I have really been struggling to hold in my temper. Those who know me really well know I have a very bad temper. Fortunately however, I also have an incredibly long fuse. With all the stuff that's been going on, I was doing my best not to start yelling at people.
So yesterday, when I woke up with a bad sinus headache, I called in sick and took a mental holiday. I finally came to the conclusion last night that I should start programming again. Whether or not I finish the project is not the question. I enjoy the work. I guess it's oddly therapeutic. I'm not very creative. But I can create with the computer. I love the challenge of matching what I see on screen with what I have in my head. I'm not sure if you realize it or not, but computers are really stupid. They only do what we tell them to do. Maybe it's my control freak nature coming out. Maybe it's just a big puzzle.
I'm really good at puzzles. I scored 800 (out of 800) on the analytical portion of the GRE. I remember getting bored with the questions since it was the same pattern repeated several times. I'm not trying to brag, I'm just trying to explain a little about how my brain works. I think in a logical stepwise pattern. Maybe that's why programming has always been easy for me. And why other people who think in a true stream of conciousness format have such a hard time with it.
I never thought I wanted to be a programmer. I'm always envisioned a programmer as someone stuck in the corner pounding out code for 8 hours a day. I'm too much of a people person for that kind of work. I do code for many hours straight, but only on very rare occasions. I spend a lot of time talking with people. Gathering requirements and making sure what I have is what they need. Finding out what would make their lives easier. It's fun. When you get to be really good, like my friend Max, you can see patterns well in advance and have a tool ready for them before they know they need it. I want to be on that level. I strive to be an übergeek.
I guess that's all I have for the moment. For those of you who are travelling for the Easter Holidays, be safe. Have a great weekend. If you are looking for a church to go to this Sunday, you're more than welcome to join me at
mine.
Email me if you have any questions about it.
3:56 PM Posted by Big Dave
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Tuesday, March 26, 2002
Now, I realize nobody but me will care, but venting will make me feel better, so here goes.
I have been spending a lot of time looking around for the "ideal" photo gallery web page utility. I have several constrictions that I have to work around given my service provider, but I thought I had found a solution with the
Snipe.net -
Snipe Gallery. I installed it and it worked great.
Until I uploaded a picture.
It appears that the PHP upload goes to the /tmp directory on the server, but I can't open anything below my webspace. I asked the tech support guy if they could change the configuration script for this virtual host. His response was that he couldn't do that. Even though it's not going to affect any other sites. All it would take would be to add the /tmp as part of the available directories. I could even walk him through it if needed, but they won't do it. You know if you're a host and you support PHP, wouldn't you expect your people to take advantage of the scripting capabilities? GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
So now, I'm instead forced to resort to a low-tech solution such as a
dumb php script (no offense web monkey) or using something like
Express Thumbnail Creator
Like I said I'm just going to piss and moan for a bit. Stupid hosting company.
1:22 PM Posted by Big Dave
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I saw a
trailer for
Jason X. You know; Jason from the Friday the 13th films. Well now Jason is in space and attacking kids on a spaceship. The trailer line says "Evil gets an upgrade." Now I have several thoughts at this point. The main one is this, "Why do people go see this crap?" Studios wouldn't make these movies without people paying to go see it. I just have to shake my head and wonder. I can give you a basic plot outline now and I'm only seen a 30 second trailer and a couple of the other movies. Well at least the other people in the theatre to see
Blade 2 had the same attitude I did. They laughed. By the way. Blade 2 rocked. and I want the soundtrack.
On the job front, Marconi's stock closed at $0.20 yesterday. I think it might be a good deal if I wasn't worried about the stock being de-listed from the NASDAQ. No announcements except to say they didn't know what's going on either.
Something Humorous:
Reasons Why should someone go out with me? [via
julie]
I think I need to start working on my own list. But I don't think I could be anywhere near that creative. It sure is amusing though. My favorite is reason #313: Some people have children to buy toys. I feel it's cheaper and more dignified to cut out the middleman and buy toys for myself.
9:08 AM Posted by Big Dave
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Friday, March 22, 2002
I liked my fortune cookie that I got with lunch: "The superior man is modest in his speech, but he exceeds in his actions."
1:41 PM Posted by Big Dave
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I think I have scared off the non-geeky consituency of my reading public. (all 3 of you)
Well I have been trying to keep myself busy at work. I have no desire or motivation to do anything productive for
work. My original peppy upbeat attitude has been lost through the attrition upper management has caused. They still have not released "The List," therefore no one can make plans for certain. Well I can guarantee no one else is being productive. Sigh...
If you want to see the nasty things the stock market has to say about Marconi, go
check it out.
So basically, I haven't wanted to say anything b/c I didn't have anything nice to say.
9:33 AM Posted by Big Dave
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Tuesday, March 19, 2002
I once again fall victim to the bright shiny syndrome. I can get the APIs for Nokia's phones and program my own toys for my
cell phone. I'll have to check it out.
Nokia - Java Development
On a related note. I dowloaded and installed Robocode and tried to get a robot that could kill everything. It did well against one or two robots but would die with a bunch of them in the arena. I'll have to work on it more later.
11:09 AM Posted by Big Dave
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I happened to be flipping channels last night and came across a show called
Fear on
MTV. The people there had to accomplish a series of "dares" in order to get $50,000. Now the thing to take into account is that all of these "dares" take place in places with reported paranormal activity. Some of the things they had to do where just flat freaky. They would tell these poor people stories about what went on there and have them either recreate it or sit in the dark with a flashlight and no radio contact for an extended period of time. Plenty of time for your mind to play tricks on you.
I believe in ghosts and things we can't see, but I believe the hardest part of what they were doing would be the time. It was like the
Blair Witch Project on a weekly basis. (BTW. I absolutely hated that movie b/c I thought it was so fake) Regardless, I had a hard time going to sleep last night.
9:16 AM Posted by Big Dave
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Monday, March 18, 2002
A buddy sent me this link today.
IBM AlphaWorks presents
Robocode.
"Build the best. Destroy the rest. In Robocode, you'll program a robotic battletank in Java
tm for a fight to the finish. The game is designed to help you learn Java, and have fun doing it... from a simple 10 line robot to a very sophisticated, intelligent robot that destroys the competition!"
Now I haven't tried it yet, but I have to admit it definatly seems fun. It will make sure you are intimately familiar with Event-Listener programming. They have a tutorial for going about building your first robot. For those people who are remotely interested in learning Java, this would be a great tool. I can only imagine the competitions that will insue in Computer Science classes across the nation.
12:24 PM Posted by Big Dave
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Friday, March 15, 2002
Went to see Resident Evil tonight. I've wanted to see it since I saw the first trailers. I expected little more than eye candy with some action, but I was actually really impressed for a couple or reasons.
- Milla Jovovich
- LOTS of action (Same director as Soldier and Mortal Kombat)
- It had a plot and a story. Now this may seem an obvious statement, but this is after all a video game movie. Plots are usually hard to come by for those.
- The eye candy was there, but not just the actresses. Great creature and special effects work.
I'm not impressed with the
IMDB's description of the plot but here it is. Trust me, it's better than this makes it sound.
Plot Outline: A special military unit fights a powerful, out-of-control supercomputer and hundreds of scientists who have mutated into flesh-eating creatures after a laboratory accident.
11:09 PM Posted by Big Dave
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I'm getting drool all over the keyboard.
Cappuccino GX-1 Mini-PC
1:34 PM Posted by Big Dave
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Something useful for when you're trying to figure out where a call is coming from.
ZIP and Area Code / Exchange Functions Page
11:05 AM Posted by Big Dave
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Thursday, March 14, 2002
Take a break. Check some of these out. I really like
Different Footsteps.
Inspirational Christian Stories
9:29 AM Posted by Big Dave
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Tuesday, March 12, 2002
Ok, so it's time to do some work on the site. My comments system is one of my own creation. I plan to upload the source code for that along with the blogger template I use and the database schema. It's derived from
DotComments, but I just took the PHP parser and rebuilt the thing. I had my own ideas on what I wanted. Anyway... it's soon to be up and available for all. I know there are a number of different comment systems already out there, but I like to have choice. I usually know exactly what I'm looking for and am looking for a tool either comes closest or I can modify to fit my needs.
Other plans include a database driven picture gallery and something to populate the rest of the "Under Construction" pages.
One last thing. If you're an extreme geek and looking for something to do the 3rd Saturday of each month, you might check out the massive LAN party at
DFWFrag.com. They have one scheduled for this weekend. March 16,2002. When I looked they had 86 people planning to attend. How crazy is that?
11:50 PM Posted by Big Dave
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I think I found my dream job. I have faxed them my resume and cover letter. Now I plan to email them every day. I'll wear them down by attrition if I have to dang it!!!
Lucas Digital Ltd. LLC - Job Opportunities
For those of you who don't know. Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) is the special effects company George Lucas created during the making of the first
Star Wars
Blogger is being a trouble maker.
2:52 PM Posted by Big Dave
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How about this for a quote: "Sound too complicated and like too much work for you? Welcome to the real world of work. Life's tough. Get a helmet." -- Bill Jensen in Work 2.0
7:48 AM Posted by Big Dave
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Monday, March 11, 2002
CNN.com - Next target for viruses: cell phones - March 10, 2002
This is an interesting article on the security implications of cell phones. While cell phone viruses aren't currently widespread, it's coming. But sooner rather than later we are all going to be walking around with the power of today's desktop computers in our pockets. The same security will need to apply to cell phones as every other computer.
2:58 PM Posted by Big Dave
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Sunday, March 10, 2002
I wish I had great things to report. I have pretty much taken the weekend off. I went to see
The Time Machine with Matt and
Christi. We hung out and met up with Matt's college roomie John. We ended up at
The Flying Saucer. It was fun to just kick back and relax.
I have noticed a dramatic change in my personality. I'm a lot more laid back. I guess my expectations for leaving Marconi has lifted a great burden from me. I think I've been watching this come down the pipe for a long time now. To be honest, I've already removed most of my belognings from the office. Part of me is always trying to analyze why I do the things I do. I'm still working on the sudden release of tension, but when I figure it out I'll let you know.
It appears I was mistaken in an earlier post. It's not the Warren Act. It's the
WARN Act. (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) That may explain why I couldn't find anything on it when I did a search.
2:46 PM Posted by Big Dave
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Friday, March 08, 2002
How about something like this?
Programmer/Analyst
Nothing like working working on top of a nuclear stock pile. I don't think it would be a bad job, but in today's world I'm sure they are paranoid as all get out.
9:44 AM Posted by Big Dave
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Well the announcement has been released so I can comment more. Basically what's going to happen is that Marconi is going in sustaining mode. They are ceasing new research and development. They are going to be supporting existing contracts, but nothing more. Staff will be reuced to a minimum. For me, that means that out of 323 people in this building, 119 will be left.
There are some benefits to this size reduction. The Warrant Act will go into effect. That means that once they announce the who will be let go, we will be "employed" for another 60 calendar days. I know it's for cleaning up and shifting the effort the unfortunate souls who are still around, but I'm betting most people bail.
So now I'm scanning web sites and looking for a new position. I think I would relocate if I liked what I saw. Some of the places I've been considering are Las Vegas, Reno, New Orleans, Northern California, North Carolina, and the Washington/Oregon area.
I think my parents are more upset about this than I am. I've been watching this come down the line for a while now. I have the lyrics to the
Caddyshack theme song stuck in my head. It's
"I'm Alright" by
Kenny Loggins
I'm alright
Nobody worry 'bout me
Why you got to gimme a fight?
Can't you just let it be?
9:36 AM Posted by Big Dave
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Thursday, March 07, 2002
FInancial Times Article on Marconi by former CEO
Talk about hitting below the belt. He's getting his jabs in while Marconi's already in a tailspin. I have several opinions, but none of them are proper to share.
3:43 PM Posted by Big Dave
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Wednesday, March 06, 2002
Well rumors are flying around Marconi about a future layoff. As such I have added another layer of pollish to
my resume. If you know of a web programmer or java developer position
let me know. I'm not expecting to be with Marconi by the end of the week. Of course, that will leave me with more time to ride my mountain bike.
Last night was a
Disney movie night. For those of you who don't know, I really enjoy animated movies. The artistry and the music are what I enjoy most. Well last night I put in the
Lion King and
Mulan. Wonderful movies. I don't even have to actually watch them. I know them all by heart now.
Ooh. I just went to
Disney's web page. They are releasing a
sequel for
The Hunchback of Notre Dame. A lot of people really didn't like that movie, but I loved it. SANCTUARY!!!!
9:44 AM Posted by Big Dave
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Monday, March 04, 2002
I spent a lot of time looking for a good domain name that wasn't already taken. Below is a list of some of the contenders with a little explanation. Let me explain now that blue is my favorite color.
Possible Domain Name Contenders:
- TamagotchiDave.com - Tamagotchi explained
- BigBlueTurtle.com - Turtles are some of my favorite animals. I used to draw a little turtle on the chalk board all the time.
- ImSuchADork.com - Does this really need an explanation?
- BlueBabyBear.com - BabyBear is a nickname my buddy Christi gave me in high school. BabyBear was taken from the big baby bear in the looney tunes version of Goldy Locks and the Three Bears. He was oversized and kept repeating "I'll hug you, and squeeze you, and call you George!" I loved him!!!
- TechnoSmurf.com - You know what the smurfs are don't you?
- SuperBlueGoober.com - I just love the term goober.
- VeggieTalesFreakBoy.com - VeggieTales is a popular christian kids series
- Extreme-Geek.com - This kind of stuff is my bag baby!
Hmmm... you decide. :-)
11:05 PM Posted by Big Dave
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Here's a stumper.
If God made us in his image and exalted us to slightly lower than the angels, how can it be that we are so imperfect while He is perfect?
2:12 AM Posted by Big Dave
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Friday, March 01, 2002
A wonderful story:
A Fund Raising Dinner
8:40 AM Posted by Big Dave
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