innovez - Ramblings & Ruminations...

Lafayette Zombie Competition (With a twist!) and another hit for AMC with "The Walking Dead"

2010-11-11T06:42:00.000-08:00

I love it when my home town gets a mention for Zombies. It happened once while I was in Austin, and now it's happening again in Lafayette, LA!

It turns out that a local Architectural Firm, Architects Southwest, is sponsoring a design competition for the best zombie-apocalypse survival shelter. You can vote for the one you think is best, and you should do so IMEMDIATELY, if for no other reason than to support a local Lafayette firm with a great sense of humor and a clever knack for marketing in this web 2.0 world of ours. There's a cool discussion starting up at the voting site, with even funnier ones in full swing on Fark.com and io9.com where I originally picked up the thread.

Did I mention that you should go vote right now? I loved the boat concept, but agree that it might not be practical on the Mississippi, what do you think?

Add your 2 cents in the comments!

I found the competition particularly timely since Sam and I have recently fell in love with Frank Darabont's new AMC (Mini?) Series "The Walking Dead." I wasn't really sure if even he could pull of a multi-part dramatic series in the Zombie milieu, but so far I have been impressed with the writing and the acting (but Frank is writing and directing the episodes and I'm a pretty big fan of his, so perhaps that's not entirely surprising).

Even if you're not a Zombie / Horror fan, Frank has written / directed movies you have loved, including Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and many others, and I think you'll find that the quality of this effort ranks up there with other AMC notables like Mad Men and Breaking Bad. You should t least watch the first two episodes and give it a shot - you might be surprised :)

Introduction to iOS / iPhone Programming - Developing a simple flashlight application with a custom logo

2010-10-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

Introduction

I am enrolled in Technical Writing this semester at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ENGL 365) and for my final project I chose to do an instructional presentation on how to develop a simple iPhone application. Many of my fellow students were unaware of the free resources available to anyone who is interested in learning how to build an iPhone application. So I developed this brief instructional guide to cover 4 main topics:

Equipment & Supplies
Registration with the Apple Developer Program
Downloading & Installing Developer Tools
Creating & Testing Your iPhone Application

I had originally also planned on covering how to transfer this application onto your iPhone for testing purposes, but I have to keep my presentation to between 10-15 minutes and also allow for Q&A so I'm going to provide a few links at the end that discuss testing applications on real devices.

Equipment & Supplies

There are not many pieces of equipment and/or supplies needed for following these instructions, but the minimum requirements are:

Mac computer running OS X (Leopard, Snow Leopard, or higher)
Internet Connection
Email Address

Registration for Apple Developer Program

You have 4 options to choose from when you are deciding which Apple Developer Program for which to register. Additional details and a complete breakdown of each are available at http://developer.apple.com/programs/which-program/.

Individual - $99 / year
Company - $99 / year
Enterprise - $299 / year
University – Free (enroll in iPhone Development Course)

NOTE: Although the website does indicate that you need to pay the fees in order to complete your enrollment in the program, you may register for the Individual program and wait to pay any fees until you are ready to distribute your application on the App Store. If you just wish to practice / study iPhone development, you are never required to pay the $99 registration fee.

NOTE: The registration page also indicates that a technical requirement for developing applications is a Mac computer running Snow Leopard (OS 10.6 or higher). This is true if you download and install the latest version of XCode, but I will cover steps on downloading older versions in case you are running a previous version of OS X (Leopard). These links work now, but may be removed by Apple in the future.

To register for membership in the Apple Developer Program, follow these steps:

Open http://developer.apple.com/programs/start/standard/
Choose the type of account to setup. If you have an existing Apple Id you use with iTunes or any other Apple Online service, you may choose that here. For the purpose of this demo, I will create a new account.
Choose your account type. For most of you who are reading this, and for this demo I would suggest an Individual account.
Complete Apple Profile - fill in whatever information is required by Apple and save your profile.
Email Confirmation - you will be sent an email at the address you use for registration. You should receive it quickly, but you must wait until you receive it before proceeding!
Enter your Billing Info into your profile - You won’t actually be billed unless you complete checkout which isn’t necessary unless / until you want to publish your Application on the App Store!
Choose Developer Program Types - For this demo, we only need to join the iOS developer program (it's focused on iPhone / iPad development). However, you may also join the other two if you are interested in learning about Mac or Safari development.
License Agreement - You must review and accept all the terms of the License Agreement. When you complete this step, your account will be active. There is no need to go any further unless you know you want to pay the $99 / year fee to be able to publish applications in the Apple iTunes App Store.

Downloading & Installing Developer Tools

Your Mac shipped with a base installation of the developer toolkits called XCode & Interface Builder, which are Apple's Integrated Development Environments for designing and building Mac applications. In order to build iPhone applications, you must download an updated version of XCode and Interface Builder that come along with a specific iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK).

If you already have the latest version of Snow Leopard installed on your Mac, you can use the link that is offered when you first register and enter the iOS Dev Center - http://developer.apple.com/devcenter/ios/index.action.

However, please note that you can not install that file if you have any version of Mac OS X prior to 10.6. If, like me, you have an older version (Leopard) and you don't want to upgrade to Snow Leopard just to install XCode, you can download and install a previous version, but the version you install must match the version of your Mac OS. The XCode Wikipedia Page has a complete breakdown of the versions for you to review.

For this demo, I am running Leopard (OS X v10.5) so I will be using XCode 3.1.4 with the iPhone SDK, which is available on the Apple site (for now) at http://developer.apple.com/ios/download.action?path=/iphone/iphone_sdk_3.1.3__final/iphone_sdk_3.1.3_with_xcode_3.1.4__leopard__9m2809a.dmg. Apple has a tendency of removing deprecated versions after a while, so you should grab that quickly or prepare yourself for upgrading to the latest version of Mac OS (Snow Leopard) if you want to proceed.

If you have an even older version of Mac OS, you can find additional links to download their appropriate versions of XCode at http://iphonesdkdev.blogspot.com/2010/04/old-versions-of-iphone-sdk.html. No matter which version you want, you will be required to register and login to the Apple Developer Program to complete any of the downloads I link to above.

Once you have completed downloading the installer disk image (.dmg) you can mount (double-click) the image and run the setup application.

You won't need to change any of the default values for the purpose of this demonstration. You can click "Next" at each prompt to accept the default installation parameters which will install XCode in approximately 10 minutes or less.

Creating & Testing Your Custom iPhone Application

This section is divided into two sub-sections:

Creating & Testing Initial Application - The goal is to create a simple flashlight application for an iPhone that displays a white screen to light up an area when it is launched and tested in the Simulator.
Updating Application to Support Additional Features - This section's goal is to update the application to remove the status bar and include a ULL Logo Image.

Creating & Testing Initial Application

Launch XCode (You can access from the Finder as shown above)
Create New Project [File -> New Project]
Select Window-based Application. This will create a blank application project and open the project resources in XCode. When prompted, name the application "Flashlight"
To test, choose [Build -> Build and Run] from Menu. This will open up your iPhone simulator and launch your application.

Updating Application & Testing

Open XCode.
Expand Resources and Open your <APPNAME>-Info.plist file as a plain text file. To hide the default status bar included on your application, add the following entry:
<key>UIStatusBarHidden</key>
<true></true>
Click [Build and Go] to launch the simulator with the updated application without a status bar.
Drag and Drop the ULL Logo Image into the Resources folder in XCode. I have downloaded an image to use in this demo from a page on the ULL website - http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~jjm9638/ull.gif
When prompted, click “Copy items into destination group’s folder (if needed).” You can leave the rest of the default options selected. Click “Add” button to finish.
Open Interface Builder by expanding the [NIB Files] Group and double-clicking the [MainWindow.xib] file.
Notice the [Library] panel and the blank [Window] panel that opens up. Click the [Media] button to view the media files that are available in the project.
Drag and Drop the ULL Logo image onto the main [Window] panel and position it the way you would like on the screen.
Click [Build and Go] to launch the simulator with the updated application without a status bar and with the ULL Logo.

That completes this instructional guide on creating a simple iPhone application flashlight.

If you would like to know more about copying this application onto your own iPhone / iPad for testing purposes, please note that there is a rather lengthy process that Apple requires developers go through to authenticate their code and sign it with an encryption key before allowing you to transfer an app to any iPhone or iPad.

You can find detailed instructions on completing these steps at http://mobiforge.com/developing/story/deploying-iphone-apps-real-devices & http://stackoverflow.com/questions/246422/how-can-i-deploy-an-iphone-application-from-xcode-to-real-iphone-device

Robot Lovin' - Not Just For Geeks Anymore!

2010-07-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

It's so great to be able to share this awesome tidbit about one of my good buddies, Nick DePalma. He was featured (nice photo, Nick, btw) in a great article over at the New York Times, for the work he's been doing over at Georgia Tech in advanced machine learning and robotics.

The article covers an diverse range of fascinating research being done at several universities in the area of cognitive machine learning and human machine interaction. As I'm also concentrating my Computer Science studies in the Cognitive Science group at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette's Computer Science Program, I loved the article, but I'd recommend it as a must-read for anyone interested in how we'll be interacting with intelligent machines in the not-so-distant future.

The Wedding Shoebox

2010-07-08T10:51:00.000-07:00

Val Metrejean, the AMAZING events coordinator who planned our wedding has recently posted a great review and photos from our wedding. Sam found her on our first try, and I can't say enough about the wonderful job she did for us. If you're considering tying the knot anywhere near South Louisiana, YOU NEED TO HIRE HER!

Here's the link. check it out and let us know what you think: http://theweddingshoebox.com/?p=2631

Wedding Photo's

2010-05-10T07:20:00.001-07:00

Sam's put together a collection of photos from our big day from everyone who shared their snapshots! Check it out at http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=500027182&k=56E32YVSWTXD4KGEPK4VPVVPVUBB5T&oid=1447594438300

Wedding Website

2009-11-23T21:40:00.000-08:00

Sam and I finally got our wedding website finished and the Save the Dates are being ready as I type! Check it out at http://www.samandbjswedding.com/

Resumes & Job Searching

2009-09-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

So after recently dealing with some unexpected medical events, I found my new position at ATG (ARTG) cut short. Although I was asked to re-apply for the position after completing my medical leave, I decided to update my resume and see what other opportunities might be available to me here in the Austin area.

You might think (as did I at first) that since I had been keeping my resume updated throughout my time at Dell (DELL), and that since Dell hired me with this resume, that this would be a relatively easy task. Was I mistaken! It appears that I had created a monstrosity of a resume that was unlikely to make it through the first wave of pruning by a busy HR hiring manager. You see, I had succumbed to what may be a rather common mistake among job-hunters - the dreaded over-written resume.

Through LinkedIn, I managed to connect with a resume and career consultant named Perry Newman from FirstImpressions who offered me a few bits of advice on how to improve my resume. Actually, he joked that what I had written might be classified as a CV, but was definitely not a resume :| Perry pointed me to a few posts he had written on his blog about writing a great resume, which I devoured along with as many other good tips I could find (links are at the bottom of this post).

I haven't completed the updating process, but I thought I would document the results of my efforts here on my blog and also provide some links to the resources I found online that I used to help me improve my resume. Please provide any other ideas or hints in the comments if you've got some of your own to share. I'll be uploading my resume (before and after) once I'm done with my review with Perry, so check back for more of the gory details!

Here are the links I found that I thought were helpful in this effort:

8 hours & a lunch: marketing 101 - your resume - http://debowen.typepad.com/8hours/2007/08/marketing-101--.html

Developing "WOW" Accomplishments for Your Resume - http://jobsearch.about.com/od/resumewriting/a/resumewow.htm

Digital Resume Databases and Resume Blasting Services Whats in it for Job Seekers - http://www.kristidaeda.com/2009/08/10/great-effective-resume-keywords-bring-resume-success/

How Many Resumes Do You Have? - http://www.brazencareerist.com/2009/07/29/how-many-resumes-do-you-have

Interview AND Resume Tip- The Job Description Is Just The Starting Point - http://www.thejobbored.com/interview-and-resume-tip-the-job-description-is-just-the-starting-point_560/

Is your résumé ‘interview worthy’? - http://www.careerrocketeer.com/2009/07/is-your-resume-interview-worthy.html

Job Hacking: Resumes - http://jobhacking.typepad.com/job_hacking/resumes/

Resume Critique Worksheet for Job-Seekers - http://www.quintcareers.com/resume_critique_worksheet.html

Resume SEO: Get Your Resume to the Top - http://www.careerrocketeer.com/2009/05/resume-seo-get-your-resume-to-top.html

Resume Writing Hints That Work - http://www.careerrocketeer.com/2009/06/resume-writing-hints-that-work.html

Squawkfox » Series: How to Write a Resume (that gets job interviews) - http://www.squawkfox.com/2008/11/16/series-how-to-write-a-resume-that-gets-job-interviews/

The 80/20 Barrier – Can Your Résumé Get Beyond It? - http://www.careerrocketeer.com/2009/07/i-had-another-very-busy-week-helping.html
Writing a resume summary statement: Quantify, quantify, quantify - http://www.kristidaeda.com/2009/04/21/writing-a-resume-summary-statement-quantify-quantify-quantify/

Your resume needs specifics - http://cuberules.com/2009/04/14/your-resume-writing-needs-specifics/

In addition to these resources, I found the following Sample Resumes quite useful in helping me decide how to cut my resume down to 1-2 pages:

For those of you who are reading who are recent graduates or have been out of the job hunt for an extended period of time, you may also find the following links helpful:

Resumes 101: A Ten Step Crash Course for Recent Grads - http://www.brazencareerist.com/2008/08/15/resumes-101-a-ten-step-crash-course-for-recent-grads
Three Powerful Words For Your Resume - http://www.brazencareerist.com/2008/06/14/three-powerful-words-for-your-resume
Writing a resume: Resume objectives - http://www.kristidaeda.com/2009/04/27/my-resume-objective-eliminate-yours/
Your Strongest Resume - CAMP Chicago Career Symposium - http://www.slideshare.net/kristidaeda/your-strongest-resume-camp-chicago-career-symposium

I've finally got my LinkedIn Profile mostly complete...

2009-08-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

It definitely took me way longer than I expected, but I figured since I recently left Dell I would go ahead and update my LinkedIn Profile to try and make sure I kept in touch with the many great people I've had a chance to work with over there. It took longer than I expected because I really didn't realize how much stuff there is on LinkedIn!

I had a few friends shoot me notes about joining LinkedIn, though I pretty much procrastinated on getting my account setup (sorry for those of you who've been inviting me over the last couple of months!!!) If you haven't checked it out yet, you definitely should - if for no other reason you'll have that fun Facebook friend experience for those people who you connected with at your previous jobs / schools. Funnily enough, I described it to Sam the other day as Facebook for grownups...of course now that everyone (including my Mom) is on Facebook, I guess that description may not be as accurate...

Shrimp En Brochette Recipe

2007-02-13T13:40:00.000-08:00

I had a chance to work on this recipe a bit more for a Potluck we had at work. I have to admit that cooking for one's self is a completely different challenge than cooking for a large group of people. Thankfully, I've had a lot of guinea pigs...uh...I mean tasters to use for feedback ;)

I managed to hammer out a recipe that produces a great tasting treat and it's easy to double or triple the quantity based on how many you want to serve. So without further ado...

Ingredients

1 lb Shrimp (Stay between 20-30 count for best results)
1 lb Thick Sliced Bacon. You may need more depending on how many you wish to prepare.

8 oz. Philidelphia Cream Cheese Whipped
1/4 Cup Diced jalapenos
2 tbsp Butter (salted)
1 oz. Tiger Sauce or Cajun Power Garlic Sauce
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
2 drops Tabasco

Preparations

Take your shrimp and peel, clean, and de-vein them. I normally don't season them, but you can sprinkle some salt and pepper or Tony Chacherie's (lightly) on them and put them to the side.

In a large mixing bowl, take the rest of your ingredients (except the bacon) and mix them together. I fold them in by hand, then mix with an electric mixer.

Take your cream cheese mix and cool it in your fridge for about an hour to help the ingredients thicken.

Take your bacon and cut the entire package in half, down the middle. This should double the number of slices you have. Each "half slice" should be laid on a cutting board and flattened thin with your fingers.

Place a shirmp on one end of the bacon slice, then spoon in about 1/2 tsp of the cream cheese filling you prepared earlier. Wrap the bacon around the shrimp / filling mix and fold end over end until the entire shrimp is wrapped in that bacon-ny goodness :D

Place these wrapped shrimp in a Pyrex baking dish (if you plan to broil these tasty treats) or put them in a container to bring out to your grill.

When cooking these, you have two options:

1) Broiling for about 20 minutes on full-out broil. Remember to keep your oven door open while broiling!!!!

2) Grilling them for about 15 minutes on each side. This is more time consuming because you HAVE to flip the shrimp, and doing it one by one can take a while. I prefer them grilled, but I have to admit I don't always have the patience to do the work before eating the little treats!

That's pretty much it. You can see the pictoral results from our last batch in my last blog post - enjoy and good eating!

Fun With Seafood

2006-10-08T10:04:00.000-07:00

Sam recently celebrated her 22nd birthday with me here in Austin. We had a great time together and I cooked her a birthday dinner extraordinaire ;)

My Mom taught me how to make a delightful dish called Shrimp En Brochette. Literally, that translates into "Shrimp out of skewer," according to Babelfish. Depending on how you wind up preparing it, you may, in fact, skewer the little crustaceans.

Basically, the dish is a raw shrimp wrapped around a cream cheese & jalapeno filler, then wrapped in bacon and either grilled (my favorite) or baked to a crisp. It really is sublime, and works great as a finger food appetizer or a fantastic side dish to a main entree. For Sam's birthday I did them both ways (grilled and baked) as a side with a Grilled Ribeye entree.

I've posted a couple of pictures below, and there are a few more over at my Flicker site. I'll post the recipe soon:

Facebook | BJ Hoffpauir

2006-05-26T23:35:00.000-07:00

Facebook | BJ Hoffpauir - Ok, so I broke down and joined Facebook. I couldn't resist or something. Yeah, that's it!

Sam has been working to get me in there. Apparently I received an offer I couldn't refuse. It's a pretty easy to use social networking site, and I've got some pictures up there on my profile.

Barton Creek Adventure

2006-05-24T03:55:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting post - I get to photoblog and try out some technology at the same time!

I went mountain bike riding a few weeks ago with my friend Kevin over at Barton Creek. There are some great photos of the area on the City of Austin's website, but the Austin Chronicle also has a great guide. The complex has a private trail that takes you down to the creek trails without having to deal with the throngs of people and traffic near Mopac, which is nice.

At any rate, it was an amazing experience. It was, of course, challenging. I am not an advanced rider by anyone's stretch of the imagination, and this was 'technically challenging,' as Kevin put it. I got to do this one climb that was....amazing.

And, instead of posting photos on the blog directly, I've created an interactive map of the ride using the Google Maps. It's got the important points setup, and when you click on them, you'll be able to see the photos I snapped on the trip:

You can view the full screen version of my map if you'd like to play around a bit more.

So I was able to embed that directly in this blog post by using a free service called Community Walk. They make it REALLY easy to do this - much more so than coding it all directly using the Google Map API. I'll tackle that task in another post...

Jazz Fest 2006

2006-05-11T13:27:00.000-07:00

I was able to wrangle a day off of work to head down to New Orleans for the last weekend of the 2006 Jazz & Heritage Festival. Truth be told, I didn't manage to make it to the festival fairgrounds proper. I had a couple of friends in from D.C., along with some s, ightseeing to do.
Truth is, I've lived in New Orleans (while Mom was doing her masters work at Tulane) and I hadn't been back since Katrina hit. I left Louisiana to come back up to Austin the weekend before it struck, and I've kind of been intentionally avoiding returning for a visit.

So, I went down and had a blast. Of course, it was depressing to see the extent of the damage (even after all this time, until you've seen it with your own two eyes, it seems unreal), but all hope is not lost. I was able to visit with my brother and some friends, and we passed a good time, cher!

For all of you who revellers who were there with us in New Orleans, you can view the pics Samantha and I took from Dinner at my Flicker Site. Download and enjoy.

First, we went to dinner at an AMAZING restaurant - John Besh's latest, "August" The meal was amazing, and the atmosphere was divine. It was one of my best friends' (John Stubbs) birthday, and we celebrated together with his two brothers (Nathan and Drew) and a few other guests that had come down from DC. A couple of high notes - sitting next to us after his show at the Jazz Fest was Jimmy Buffett:

The picture's pretty dark, I know, but that's him. We were trying to be polite and not disturb Mr. Buffett by using our flashes while he was having dinner. That's John being non-chalant and trying to tell us that Jimmy Buffett was behind him. Heh.

Here's one of John and his lovely wife, Victoria (right), with myself and my better half, Samantha (left):

After much fun and rejoicing, we adjourned for the evening. Well, Samantha and I did, anyway. As I heard it, the rest of the birthday crewe went out and partied as one can only do in the Big Easy until like 7:30 AM. Ouch! Plus, brunch with the parents that morning? Nice. Here's the party after dinner:

Jimmy Buffett wasn't the only celebrity having dinner at August when we were there - Willie Garson (Stanford from Sex & The City) was also sampling some of the delicious morsels from Chef Besh's kitchen. I managed to take a couple of pictures through the window while out for a smoke break, but I (once again) didn't use a flash and the pics came out WAY too dark. But seriously, he was there.

Swamp Romping

2006-05-11T12:51:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since my last post, but worry not, loyal reader(s?), I have been busy.

My most recent outings have been (mostly) documented by my trusty RAZR's phone-cam.

A few weeks ago, I was lamenting about how much I missed home. The music and the food are one of a kind, and I was longing for the spicy flavor of boiled crawfish and the funky chank-a-chank of Zydeco. I happened to be riding my bike in downtown Austin and came across the 2nd Annual Louisiana Swamp Romp.

Sweet! They had crawfish & Zydeco & Traditional Cajun music a-plenty. I really enjoyed it and was able to get some decent shots from the festival:

Fellow Passers of a Good Time. These two were cutting it up to a little Zydeco. Who was playing, you ask? Well, none other than Corey "Lil' Pop" Ledet, all the way from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.

Incidentally, Breaux Bridge is the self-proclaimed Crawfish Capital of the World. Although I'm not sure exactly what that means, if you ever have a chance to visit during their Annual Crawfish Festival, you should. It's pretty amazing - the food is unbelievable and the music is top notch.

The above two pictures are from The Bluerunners. They're a great band from my hometown of Lafayette, LA. I picked up their new CD, Honeyslides, which is pretty damn entertaining. You can check it out on their MySpace page if you don't want to buy the album now (but you should buy it anyway ;) )

Introducing....The Beastles!

2006-02-14T05:46:00.000-08:00

I ran across a really interesting site yesterday hosted by djBC - The Beastles .

He's a pretty solid DJ from the U.K. that is quite a fan of both the Beastie Boys and the Beatles. Who isn't, though, right?

He's quite adept at mixing together songs and loops / hooks from each into pretty intriguing tunes.

I found that at first they were a little weird to listen to - I've grown up as a mega fan of each band, and when you've listened to a song thousands of times, you come to have a feel for it that is shaken when you hear a remake. These really don't even qualify as a remake - or a re-mix really, they're "mashed-up" - interweaving samples from different songs of each artist together.

However, djBC has skills, and I think his love for the original works really shines through. The music offers an unexpectedly refreshing twist on some of my all-time favorite melodies.

Give them a listen and let me know what you think :)

Where You From?

2006-02-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

For me, the answer to that question is the small Cajun Community of Lafayette, LA. I've spent most of my life there, and it is truly where I call home.

My small town was in the news today, covered by USA Today for it's struggle against BellSouth in providing Fiber Optic Internet to the parish. I'm so happy to see the direction that the community is heading in this area. It really shows a solid grasp of the long-term potential of these technologies and serves as a reminder that not all parts of the state are completely controlled by the "good old boys."

There's a great blog covering the blow by blow at Lafayette Pro-Fiber. You can obviously tell from the title of the site that it's going to lean in one direction, but I'm in favor of the project so go figure?!?!?

I just wanted to throw a little link lovin' and kudos to my friends and family back home who are fighting to give Lafayette a solid technological edge to compete economically.

Apples & Bounties?

2006-01-24T07:36:00.000-08:00

I'm sure this will be all over the blogosphere, but there's a guy who stuck his neck out on the line (and put his money where his mouth is) to try to get Windows XP to dual boot on his newly purchased MacBook laptop. You know, Apple's new Intel-based laptop.

He basically told his boss to buy him one, and not to worry because it would run all his Company's windows stuff fine. HEHEHE. So basically, he offered a bounty of $100 to anyone who could make it happen.

Needless to say, he's also accepting donations for the bounty fund, since $100 isn't likely to motivate many hackers, but the fund's up to around $3,300 as of this writing. I've donated $25 bucks, and thought you readers might be interested in contributing to the cause.

I know, I know - I work at Dell, and I'm contributing to this? It's one of my dark secrets - I'm a Mac wannabe, I guess. I like the design of Macs and have been an Apple fan since I first started programming on the Apple ]['s WAAAY back in the day.

So, donate to the cause! It'll help buy some crazy hacker caffeine-loaded water, which they'll probably need if they're going to finish the project by the March deadline.

Nimble Fingers

2006-01-21T21:10:00.000-08:00

I am just returning home from what will likely be one of the coolest experiences of my life. I went to see a performance hosted by the Austin Classical Guitar Society. I joined a few months ago, but I haven't made time to attend any of their events until now.

If you are in Austin, or may be here soon, make some time to attend one of their shows.

Tonight's featured performer was an incredibly talented and breathtaking guitarist from Karlovac, Croatia : Ana Vidovic.

Amazing.

Honestly, that word barely does Ana justice. I've tried to find another that might more accurately portray the passion and intensity she brought to the fretboard, and I must sadly admit that I could not find any.

Here's a few pictures of the virtuoso that I snapped after the performance while she was signing autographs:

I managed to get in line first and nabbed an autograph. She even spelled my name right without asking. SCORE.

HEHE.

So, if you haven't already bought her CD from her website that I linked to above, you should do so IMMEDIATELY ;) You can also get it at Amazon.com - The one she was selling at the recital was from the 1998 International Francisco Tarrega Competition, Benicasim where she took first prize.

Keep an eye out for her, and do try and make a recital if you can. Even if you're not a huge fan of classical music, you'll enjoy her performance.

I'm Denny Crane...

2005-12-14T10:15:00.000-08:00

So, you're tired of Law & Order - Unique and Rare Coin Theft Unit?

I must admit, there was a time when I watched the show's re-runs daily. This was before there was more than one version of the show. And who doesn't love the late Jerry Orbach? I mean, he practically personnified the grizzled & glib New York cop, for pete's sake!

But I'm sad to admit that until very recently, my love affair with tv shows about the legal profession had languished. They just seemed to lack that panache I had come to demand from my evening entertainment. I guess I can blame Dick Wolfe for stepping away from direct involvement with Law and Order.

At any rate, I'm happy to report that my love for television court room drama has been re-kindled, and oddly enough, it's largely due to Murphy Brown & Captain Kirk.

Yes, that's right, I admit it - I LOVE BOSTON LEGAL.

The show is quite comedic, despite the fact it's ostensibly billed as a drama by ABC. And oddly enough, it's almost a polar opposite of Law & Order. I guess that's probably because L & O is actually a drama, whereas BL comes off as more of a comedy, with dramatic interludes.

And I would say that although L & O had some great characters in the series, it was primarily driven by its story lines. Boston Legal, at least to this fan, appears to be a character study that happens to occur at a Law Firm.

William Shatner's character, the self-obsessed Denny Crane, is delightfully crazy. Even to the point of claiming he's got "the mad cow disease."

I mean, come on! How do they write this stuff? It's hilarious to say the least.

Shatner plays the role so deftly against the backdrop of other characters in the firm, cheif among them Bergen's portrayal of Shirley Schmidt and James Spader's Alan Shore.

I have always been a fan of the legal drama / comedy. I suppose my step-father's interest in the law has influenced that to a degree.

If you're looking for a sharp, witty, and outrageous hour of entertainment, tune in. You won't be disappointed.

Surviving & Winning Hands

2005-12-08T21:11:00.000-08:00

Tonight's poker game was pretty kewl. David, one of my co-workers from Dell, hosted the game at his home. It was incredibly nice to meet his wife and hang out in a social setting away from work. He and I wind up talking a lot at work, as I support one of the applications for which he is a lead developer.

I was astonished as 20 people showed up to play. With a $20 buy in, unlimited re-buys for the first 4 rounds, and a $20 add on, the prize pool grew to a respectable size.

I even busted a pair of Aces. When it counted. ALOT.

Of course, they were David's, which ALMOST made me feel a little bad, but he wound up placing 2nd in the tournament so the guilt was short-lived.

I wound up finishing 3rd, which is nice for my first poker game here in Austin. I won a few hundred, nothing to brag about, but enough to cover my travel for my XMAS trip back home. I'm definitely going to be back there for the next event.

The only disappointing thing about tonight was that Survivor was pretty tame, especially considering the DRAMA of last week's episode. Poker games always leave me with an Adrenaline rush, so maybe that was why I couldn't get into the episode.

Cindy got her Aces busted in tonight's episode. Looks like the Car Curse is still alive and well. Oh well, I like the last episode the best anyways.

Poker & Crawfish Etoufee?

2005-12-08T08:08:00.000-08:00

I think I'll hold off on preparing it until maybe this weekend. Or at least tomorrow when I'm off of work. I mean, it isn't like it's a complicated dish or anything, it's just that I got invited to play at a Poker Tournament tonight held by one of the guys on a Dev Team here at work.

Did I mention this is SCHAWEEET! Why, you ask? Well, one thing I failed to consider before moving out here to Austin was the SHOCKING lack of organized gambling in the state of Texas. Living in Louisiana has conditioned me to expect Casino's on every other highway exit, I suppose.

Now, don't get me wrong: You'll never find me playing Video Crack or even Black Jack or any other game where the house has a statistical edge. Those games are for suckers who erroneously think they can beat the house. YOU CAN NEVER BEAT THE HOUSE.

I think this would hold true even if the house was NOT a multi-billion dollar company, but they are. As far as those who try and beat the house...I think the following says it all:

"A fool and his money are lucky enough to get together in the first place..."

I certainly can't feel bad for seeing them part ways. At any rate, I have much more faith in my ability to outsmart, outwit, outplay, and I guess out-luck other people than the proverbial "house" which is why you will pretty much only ever see me play poker.

Since moving here, I haven't found a regular game or anything. Which explains why I'm stoked about getting invited to the Tournament.

The etoufee isn't going anywhere, especially since I'm cooking it. But I did promise to post the recipe, so here it is:

Ingredients :

1 lb. Crawfish Tails

1 can Golden Mushroom Soup

1 Bell Pepper

1 Large Onion (Yellow or White)

3 Shallots / Green Onion Tops

3 oz. Sliced Mushrooms (1/2 Can or 5 Medium Fresh Mushrooms)

1 tbsp. Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning

1 tsp. Garlic Powder

2 drops Tabasco Sauce

1 stick Butter (or 1/2 Cup of Margarine)

Preparation :

Dice Onions & Bell Peppers to medium size.

Heat 2 Quart Pot to Medium-High, adding butter and sautéing Onions and Bell Peppers until onions are translucent.

Reduce Heat to Low Simmer, and add Golden Mushroom Soup along with Tony Chachere’s, Garlic Powder, Tabasco Sauce, Mushrooms and about ¼ of a soup can of water. You can suit this to your taste, but do not add too much water to the Etoufee, as the Crawfish tails contain a good portion of water and you may wind up with a mix that is too watery after you add them later. Cover & simmer on low for about 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add Crawfish Tails, replace lid, and continue simmering for approximately 5 minutes. Do not leave crawfish in for too long, or they will shrink up, become stringy, and lose their texture.

Add Green Onion Tops, replace lid, and continue to simmer for about 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat, remove lid, and allow it to cool for about 5-10 minutes before serving over rice. It’s not a soup or Gumbo, so remember to serve with more rice than Etoufee. I prefer it served with a little more than 1 cup of cooked rice per ¾ cup serving of Etoufee, but suit it to taste.

Notes :

You can substitute 1 lb. of fresh raw shrimp for a delightful Shrimp Etoufee. If you do so, remember to peel them first and let them cook for 15 minutes before adding the Green Onions (They’re raw vs. the pre-boiled crawfish used here). ½ Cup of Chopped Celery is also a great addition to the Shrimp Etoufee Recipe.

This dish is also a fantastic topping for grilled chicken breast, fresh fish fillets, pork chops, and even (My Decadent Favorite!!!) RIBEYES. Just remember to loosen your belt BEFORE you dig in!

Wil Wheaton Roxx!

2005-12-07T05:12:00.000-08:00

Ok, I know I'm probably too old to be a fanboy. And I guess that's not too hard for me to concede. And I'll even admit that my fanboy-dom for Wil even includes a bit of pre-adolescent / adolescent obsession with his Wes Crusher character on Star Trek: TNG. I've been a geek for a while, ok.

Whatever.

He is still a great actor and quite funny. So you haven't really thought of Wil since you caught the last re-run of Stand By Me? You should check out his blog. It's pretty damn funny. And thoughtful. I've followed it off and on over the last few years. Usually I wind up reading it for a while when he posts on Slashdot.

Why am I still a fan? Well it's primarily because Wil's a real guy. And doesn't pretend otherwise. He writes about things that you can tell are important to him. He's obviously interested and passionate about these things, and that makes him interesting. I find it refreshing that someone can go through the insanity that is a child acting career and turn out to be a pretty ok guy. That gives me hope for the rest of us.

Well, a little anyways.

Anyway, he's got a new book, and if you're a geek you should really check it out. Or if your brain is soggy or tired you can get his audio book also. It's a good read. If you really consider yourself a geek (and that's probably not far off if you're reading this), I can guarantee that you'll find a few stories that hit close to home.

This isn't an ad or anything for Wil. I'm just a fan who thinks anyone interested in my ramblings might find his intriguing as well.

That's all for now, but come back tomorrow. I'm making Crawfish Etoufee for a friend, and I'll be posting my mom's recipe.

Ca c'est bon, cher!

Great new book!

2005-12-05T10:24:00.000-08:00

I just got my copy of "Writing Secure Code" by David C. LeBlanc and Michael Howard. So far, I'm only at the chapter on Threat Modelling, but it has proven to be quite an enlightning read. I'll post a review here when I'm done with the book.

I heard about it in a course I took in training called, aptly enough, Developing Secure Software. It's a required course for all developers and testers at Dell which is where I am currently employed. It was presented in a lab format by a representative from St. Edwards University's Professional Education Center. The thing that really pulled me into the class was that it covered development of web apps, C/S database apps, and code in both C# and Java.

They walked us through both the apps in question, the techniques used to compromise said apps, and even the code / technical solutions to the vulnerabilities. Definitely the coolest training I've been able to attend to date here.

If you write and/or test code, even in non-Microsoft environments, you should check out this book. I got my copy on amazon for $7.95, so it's not even a particularly expensive learning tool. Don't you just LOVE a good sale ;) ?

Finally Settling Into Austin

2005-07-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

Aahhhh...the sweet sensation of having a new, clean apartment. How nicely that coincides with the feeling of leaning back in my too small cubicle chair here at my Dell Cube.

I love Austin. Was there ever any doubt?