HunterTech Blog

Take action.

2008-01-27T18:34:00.000-05:00

Recently I read a moving blog post from a colleague of mine who also happens to be a volunteer fireman that serves my neighborhood.
I am asking you do two things:

Read the post for yourself here
Call your local volunteer fire company or ambulance squad and ask what you can do. The easiest thing to do is to write a check to help them out. However, many volunteer outfits are always looking for new people and I'm sure they'd appreciate you joining up.

These are your people Dad

2007-10-30T23:01:00.001-04:00

My Dad is a car enthusiast. He likes all cars, but has a soft spot for Ferrari. Whereas I can recognize a Ferrari when I see one, even the earlier ones, my Dad can tell you the model and year and can give you a rough estimate of the current value. He can probably even tell you if the paint color is original. Me - I just know its a Ferrari, and that I like it.

It was then not surprising that my Dad announced that he was going to the Concours d'Elegance held at Radnor Hunt and he wanted me to come with him. We had went two years ago and really enjoyed it so I said I was game.
This years event was fantastic. The published start time was 9:30am. Dad didn't want to arrive too early - worried that we'd have to sit in the van waiting for the gate to open. This was not the case. We arrived around 9:15am and were definitely not the first to do so. In fact, the parking area was quickly filling up and the event was in full swing leading to me to comment to Dad "these are your people".

Some of my favorite cars from the event include these two turn of the century models that offer a rather striking contrast to one another given they are only a year apart. The 1902 Covert Runabout on the left looks vastly more primitive than the 1903 Pierce-Arrow Rear Entrance Tourer on the right

Another favorite of mine was this 1919 Pierce-Arrow Vestibule Limousine Series 51 used by Woodrow Wilson. This is the first presidential limousine. Apparently President Wilson liked it so much that he bought it for his personal use after leaving office.

And of course there are all those Ferraris.

1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4

1956 Ferrari 500TR (Testa Rossa)

1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona

1966 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2

Needless to say, we're looking forward to next year.

Gestalt

2007-09-14T11:20:00.000-04:00

According the Merriam-Webster on-line, gestalt is a German word meaning:

a structure, configuration, or pattern of physical, biological, or psychological phenomena so integrated as to constitute a functional unit with properties not derivable by summation of its parts

Huh?

I prefer Aristotle's definition:

The whole is more than the sum of its parts

I think Aristotle would have liked Gestalt (the company, not the confusing definition for the German word). We embody the true spirit of the quote - each individual employee is great in their own right, but only by working together do we reach our full potential. Only by collaborating, un-selfishly, do we reach true gestalt - a whole that is much more than the sum of its parts.

This week I celebrate my four year anniversary with Gestalt, LLC and as I reflect on my time here and the people I've collaborated with and the accomplishments we've collectively achieved, I am truly humbled. I look forward to starting my fifth year of service with the same enthusiasm I felt on the first day. The future can be scary and at the same time exhilarating – but I know that together we can continue to reach our gestalt.

Hello, My name is Bryan and I'm a soft drink addict

2007-08-31T10:42:00.000-04:00

That's right, I am addicted to soft drink (or 'soda pop', or just pop depending on where you grew up). I would drink Coca-Cola™, Pepsi™ or root beer several times a day - typical two 20 ounce bottles each day.

But, as of September 2006, I gave it all up and went cold turkey. I haven't had a single drop of soft drink since. Mind you I still crave it wildly, especially around 3pm when my energy level is low and the thought of a cold, carbonated, and sweet libation would be just the thing to pick me up.

But alas, I am strong.

Now, I know this isn't the same thing as an addition to alcohol or drugs. But for me, someone who has been drinking soft drink for probably at least 30 years, sometimes more out of habit than true desire, it remains a powerful draw - one that is constantly reinforced through society.

So, what do I drink? Lots of water, milk, tea, coffee and the occasional adult beverage (but not at work of course).

I'm not sure I'm any healthier for this choice, but I certainly feel empowered by my ability to stay "on the wagon" for a whole year now.

Google Earth Sky feature - this is way cool

2007-08-29T15:35:00.000-04:00

Our friends at Google Earth have posted a short video with Sally Ride that gives a quick, but enticing, overview of the new Sky feature introduced in Google Earth 4.2.

This is way cool. The video itself feels very scripted - and I'm sure it was - but it does a nice job in presenting the possibilities and firing up the imagination.

Experiment with Twitter and getting to know our co-workers

2007-08-29T13:07:00.000-04:00

My company holds an all-hands off-site once a year where the entire company comes together to meet and share ideas.

This year our off-site was held in July and brought together over 200 employees from all our locations spread across close to ten states.

One of the major topics of discussion was focused around how we can get to know one another given we are so widely dispersed and don't have many opportunities to interact.

We use the normal means of communication one would expect: instant messaging, email, and when absolutely necessary the telephone. But these means don't necessarily provide us with a sense of who we are talking to.

As an experiment, our CTO (Chief Technology Officer) created a Twitter account and invited the entire company to also create Twitter accounts and follow his account and he would in turn follow theirs.

I think I'll try this out for a while and see if it helps me to get to know my fall-flung co-workers.

My Twitter account is HunterTech

My only concern is that the only people who join in are the ones I probably already know.

I'll check-in periodically to let you know how its going.

Property Laws of a Toddler

2007-08-23T16:19:00.000-04:00

My Dad sent me this a few months back - though he didn't originate it. As a father of a toddler, I totally understand these laws.

If I like it, it's mine
If it's in my hand, it's mine
If I had it a little while ago, it's mine
If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way
If I am doing or building something, all the pieces are mine
If I saw it first, it's mine
If it just looks like mine, it's mine
If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine
If it's broken, it's yours

Google Reader and my "Shard items"

2007-08-15T22:45:00.000-04:00

I recently began to use Google Reader (requires a Google account) as my RSS feed reader of choice. This was done partly because I was getting fed up with my "fat" clients and trying to sync feeds on multiple systems and partly because of some pretty cool capabilities that Google Reader provides (see Doing the Shuffle from the Google Reader Blog).

One of the cool features of Google Reader is that you can mark articles that you may find interesting and think others may find interested as "Shared". Google Reader then provides a RSS feed of your shared articles so that others can see what you've shared.

My Google Reader shared feed can be found here.

If you're so inclined, check it out. I currently subscribe to 85 different and diverse feeds so you never know what might pop up.

I've also included the feed here on my blog site. This is the "HunterTech's shared items" box on my main blog page. I try to keep up with my subscribed to feeds so this list should change nearly every day.