Thoughts and Things

I Finally Got Curio 7!

2012-01-11T07:41:00.000-05:00

I wrote a while back about a cool app for Mac OS X called Curio. Just yesterday I was able to afford to upgrade to version 7 (and no, not because the upgrade price is too high--it's extremely reasonable). Just wanted to make a note about it here in a blog entry so I can remember to write about some of the cool new features it comes with.

Mumford & Sons

2012-01-09T08:00:00.001-05:00

So the other day I listened to a song on the radio called Little Lion Man from Mumford & Sons and I've been listening to it a lot. I love the song and the band is really cool. Check them out.

Addicted to Games I Hate

2011-09-10T20:37:00.000-04:00

This is not Moonlight Mahjong

I have been playing on my mac two solitaire card games and a mahjong game. I hate these games. I really do. But I can't stop playing them.

Moonlight Mahjong is a gorgeous version of solitaire mahjong with a 3D twist. There a lot of different boards and background, and a lot are 3D, which makes it more challenging because you can rotate the board any way you like, which you'll need to do to find hidden matching tiles. And playing it is just mesmerizing.

Why do I hate it? Because rather than doing my research or works, I just get too tempted to go into a solitaire trance. Sure, these kinds of games help reduce stress. But most of the time I use it as a means to procrastinate. Oh well. Gotta go. Itching for some 3D Klondike solitaire!

Learning is Expensive

2011-06-22T16:54:00.006-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

The title says it all. Learning is expensive.

Being really poor (yes, i am barely hanging on to my internet service and my old mac is, well, old), when it comes to discovering cool things (e.g. in science), I have to be content with reading, for example, blurbs of really cool articles on the Scientific American website. Or samples of books on my Kindle (it was a gift). I used to be a member of the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery), but the yearly dues are entirely too much for me and to be worth it, really, you need to also purchase the yearly subscription to their digital archive. And so of course I don't have access to all the great historical and modern scholarly works. Yes, I'm whining.

It's probably that I don't know what all is out there, but I was thinking. Wouldn't it be nice to have a digital magazine/website like Scientific American, but for free? A place where science geeks can go to simply learn, and rejoice in the learning of new things. Us independents I mean. Those who chose (perhaps not voluntarily) the private sector over academia and who would rather (perhaps) squirrel themselves away in a corner of the dark hollows in the depths of their own dank homes rather than tempt fate by coming up for air, light and human companionship.

Then again I really have no clue about people such as that. Honest. I don't. Really.

Anyway, learning is expensive.

My Kindle

2011-03-12T16:49:00.004-05:00

I love my kindle. Sure, it ain't an iPad 2, but it is a pleasure reading books on it. Because I can't afford to buy very many books, I've downloaded a bunch of free, classical literature books. Will I read 'em? I've read a few back in the days when I read real, paper bound books... remember those? But they'll probably just sit in my kindle taking up space.

When Sherri bought me my Kindle for my birthday in February, she also bought me $50.00 Amazon gift card so I did manager to buy a few books. Here is a list:

Of course there are the twenty or so book previews that I've downloaded. They really get you there. You read the first chapter, get hooked, click the menu button and click Buy This Book Now and that's it. Sucks, really. I found a few books I liked and was too tempted to click the Buy button and so I did and, well, no money, no book! Alas, there are plenty of book samples out there, so that should keep me busy reading! Heck, if I survive to my next birthday maybe Sherri will surprise me with another amazon gift card.

It has Been a Long, Long, Long Time

2011-01-28T16:14:00.000-05:00

So I work in Pittsburgh for a startup called Medallion Analytics Software Corp. We're a very small team--just seven of us. And we write software for the eMortgage industry, and it has been so fun. Not that I am particularly interested in mortgage, but the problems we solve are in themselves quite interesting. I get to do a lot of work with Java EE 6, building workflow systems, rule engines and all sorts of neat things that drive the whole process. Okay. Right now I am exhausted because I work every day and average 16 hours each day of the week. Wow. Okay. Time to pass out. Ciao.

I Got a Job

2010-04-13T18:58:00.000-04:00

I am so very thrilled to announce that I have finally landed a job in my field in Pittsburgh at a company called Medallion Analytics. Yee Haw!!!!

Marijuana in California

2010-03-29T12:09:00.000-04:00

This is an interesting story. I've been wondering when something like this might happen, and often I try to imagine the ramifications. Is legalizing marijuana like this a good thing or a bad thing? Is legalizing marijuana at all a good thing or a bad thing?

I think that legalizing medical marijuana was a good thing. If I were dying of some horrible, painful cancer, I would like to be stoned until the very end. Sure, there is morphine and other powerful opiates that you'd get as you wasted away in some hospital bed, but being high on pot might help you cope better.

Now that it is on the California ballot, I am very curious to know how things will turn out in the November general election. Also, should this pass, making marijuana legal to grow and possess (in personal quantities, that is), I wonder how the California economy will be affected. One thing that came to mind is that perhaps there will be an in-flow of new California residents. More people moving to California, buying new homes and bringing work would be a boon to the economy, I think. Then again, a whole bunch of stoned Californians might not be such a good idea. Of course being high, you wouldn't necessarily care about the economic woes. Everything would seem just fine. No worries. Just smiles.

Updated Resume

2010-03-27T15:04:00.002-04:00

Here is my latest resume.

Today on TV

2010-03-22T14:21:00.000-04:00

While trying to learn Objective-C and Cocoa programming on Mac OS X, I took a break to see what was on TV. Star Trek: The Next Generation is on SyFy all day. Yay! This should make learning Objective-C a little more fun. I think.

For the Love of Words

2010-02-25T10:42:00.000-05:00

I love words, and I'm always looking out for cool software that makes exploring them and their relationships to other words easier and fun. Today I came across this cool app, which has both a desktop and an online version, called Visual Thesaurus. Even though I can't afford it, and had only a few minutes to play with it before it required payment to continue, for what you get it is really inexpensive ($19.95 a year for the online version), and it's a lot of fun. Once you search for a word, you can see all the synonyms surrounding it, which are color coded to indicate the type of word (noun, verb, etc.) But what is really cool is that when you hover over a colored node, the software shows a small popup window that contains a short definition and a usage sentence.

As a geek, too, I am fascinated with graphs and how they can be used to visualize information, and the graph used in Visual Thesaurus is really cool. It's animated and when you select a node (word) it seems alive as it springs around a bit and comes to rest. You have to check this out and also check out the introductory videos.

Farmville

2010-02-24T22:33:00.000-05:00

My wife has gotten me hooked on this game called Farmville on Facebook.

Resolution

2010-02-23T16:31:00.000-05:00

I have resolved to write an entry in this blog at least once a day. And yes, this one counts as an entry.

Star Wars Marathon!

2010-02-20T10:56:00.000-05:00

Today my friend, Shawn, and I are going to sit our lazy buts down and watch Star Wars movies all day long, with the occasional break to get more junk food. I love Star Wars, but unlike my friend, I haven't really gotten into the lore and the larger universe, etc., etc. It's cool to listen to him explain all of these things. Now, I am a Star Trek aficionado, and because he has never watched Star Trek (he's young), I got to introduce him to it by way of the latest Star Trek movie, which is really cool by the way.

So my wife gave us pizza money for later (she is so nice) and, as if all the other junk food weren't enough, we'll be stuffing our bellies with more stuff. I think I am also going to try to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch. My wife and I tried the other day using the toll house recipe, but they came out like little hard and crunchy flat disks.

Anyway. That's my day.

The Pear 2

2010-02-05T19:12:00.001-05:00

Here is a pear drawn in charcoal.

J. D. Salinger Dead at 91

2010-01-28T13:54:00.000-05:00

A sad day. J. D. Salinger dies at age 91. This is a good story I found in the Dallas News online paper.

Apple iPad

2010-01-28T00:24:00.000-05:00

Now this makes me really, really happy. Of course it doesn't have a camera for video chat, but what the hell. I would use the iPad simply as a reading and surfing device, and perhaps for some games. I'm not much for socializing anyway. But what I really like is that it will make a fantastic e-book reader with the iBooks store. I can't wait until I can try this thing out. Of course it might be years before I'll be able to afford one, even at the low price. But still it is something to look forward to.

Dictionary Removed From School in a Reactionary Move by School District

2010-01-26T14:21:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to a story about a parent (no doubt an ultra-conservative christian fundamentalist in need of some serious head) who cannot keep her nose out of the crotch of her school district--itself apparently full of people in serious need themselves of some good head.

Rather than simply shield her own children from the world, keeping them ignorant and stupid, she spoke up to the school complaining that the Merriam-Webster 10th edition dictionary contained the term 'oral sex', which she found objectionable and age-inappropriate' (whatever that means), which then prompted the school district to pull the dictionary from classrooms and library book shelves. I suppose to this moron of a parent 'oral sex' trumps all of the other 'graphic' words in the dictionary, and perhaps this thinking reveals something of her own psychosis. Anyway, it is a shame that schools fall prey to the hysterics of a single stupid, ignorant person--perhaps she'd be better off moving to communist china where censorship is the name of the game.

Here, in fact, is a quote by a spokesperson who probably unintentionally hinted at her own ignorance and stupidity.

"It's just not age-appropriate," said school spokeswoman Betti Cadmus told the newspaper. "It's hard to sit and read the dictionary, but we'll be looking to find other things of a graphic nature."

I wonder if she also finds it difficult to read books and newspapers.

Censorship sucks. This woman and her christian friends will doubtless scour the classrooms and school libraries looking for anything that might sound the least bit offensive and not age-appropriate (whatever that means) and have these books removed in hopes of hurtling themselves and all those they affect back to the dark ages when repression and persecution ruled.

I so hope that the other, more intelligent parents, rise up against this censorship and even if they cannot get the school district to stop being reactionary, at least teach their own children that the dictionary is a good thing as is all knowledge and allow them, no matter what age, to think for themselves. Besides, could a child really even understand what oral sex means? And if so, what would it matter? Being sexually immature and so not even understanding what sex is, doubtless the term would be meaningless. Also, if parents really wish to shield their children, they can always throw away their own dictionaries, laptops and PCs, and send them to christian schools.

Puzzling Interview Leaves Me Puzzled and Still Unemployed

2010-01-24T15:40:00.000-05:00

Two weeks ago I interviewed at a company in Pittsburgh called Inmedius, Inc. I spoke with two people and then took a java competency test and I thought I did well, but it's difficult sometimes to tell how an interview goes, as it was in this case The recruiter who presented me there told me the next day that they really liked me and were just waiting for my test results, and that I'd probably be made an offer within the week. So I waited and waited and waited and finally a week and a half later I decided to call the recruiter since she bothered to not call me. She apologized, of course, and although I scored very high on the test and although they really, really liked me, they decided to pass on me. I guess I am more upset with the recruiter for making me call her and then for her to not press them for some details to give to me. All they did tell her was that I was lacking experience with some technologies but never mentioned specifically what they were. I really, really, really hate interviews and I am beginning to hate head hunters and, well, people in general.

That same week I had a phone interview with someone from general dynamics who said afterward that I would be hearing from them within a week or two. Still awaiting word, but I don't think the interview went so well. Sometimes I hit it off with an interviewer and other times its very difficult to read them, which was the case here. A similar thing happened when I applied to google here in Pittsburgh. But by the time I was finished with that phone interview I felt really, really stupid. This was a few years back, but I still feel stupid about it, but what sucks is that I figured out the answer to their main interview question sometime after the interview. Oh well. Maybe I am just slow and not so stupid after all.

Back Online

2010-01-10T11:18:00.002-05:00

I was wrong about losing my internet access at home. It is working again, but it seems to cut out intermittently, but mostly it's working. Still, I imagine that Comcast will cancel our service soon after which I will be relegated to going to our store every day where our internet access there is DSL only, which is painfully slow. But it's much faster than nothing at all, of course.

Lost My High Speed Internet

2010-01-09T17:21:00.000-05:00

My wife and I are unable to pay our bills, and this includes our Comcast cable bill, which includes our phone, high speed internet and television. It's curious that they don't cut it all off at once. I thought that it would all go away, but I think that they cut off what they think are the more popular services first. I suppose that internet access is more popular than television. I suppose the next thing will be the television and then the phone. But perhaps I am over thinking it. Maybe they can throttle and disconnect the internet access remotely but have to actually come to the house to disconnect the others.

Hell, I don't know. But soon we'll be without any of these services, and while my wife and her father will be put into a panic over this I'll just sit back with a good book, cup of coffee and something sweet. That's all I need. Now as long as we've paid the electric bill I'll have light by which to read my books. Perhaps I should stock up on candles and lighters.

Going Vegan in 21 Days?

2010-01-07T13:24:00.001-05:00

Check out this article. Very interesting. And then check out the 21 Day Kick Start web site.

Rise Against the Chinese Machine of Oppression, Fear and Murder

2009-12-22T17:09:00.001-05:00

I have read this article about Liu Xiaobo and as with all articles I read about Chinese oppression by the Chinese government, I get angry and I begin to think of horrible things. It's crazy to think that a government would want to silence its citizens about anything that the government does. It seems to me that if the Chinese government is so proud of its oppressive, communist rule, then it should be completely open about it. It should allow both those who praise and those who disagree with the government to write and speak. Human rights, equality and freedom need to be made universal. This quote from the first paragraph of Charter 08 is very powerful:

the Chinese people, who have endured human rights disasters and uncountable struggles across these same years, now include many who see clearly that freedom, equality, and human rights are universal values of humankind and that democracy and constitutional government are the fundamental framework for protecting these values.

The Chinese people--the oppressed, the imprisoned and the murdered--need to rise against the Chinese Machine of oppression, fear and murder and become the very force of bringing democracy and constitutional government to their country.

I believe strongly that the Chinese people, not only living in China but across the globe, need to rise up and crush the Chinese government. In fact I believe all people who believe in and defend the universal values of human rights and freedom need to help the Chinese people rise up out of oppression, conquer their oppressors and establish a new way of life, of freedom, liberty and equality.

Migraine Headaches

2009-11-24T17:21:00.000-05:00

I went to see my doctor today about my increasing frequency (and severity) of headaches. Now, I'm not insured because I am unemployed and cannot afford to pay for my own insurance. The doctor visit was supposed to be $75.00, but she was kind enough to charge me only $35.00, but I could only pay $20.00, which they happily took and said they would bill me for the rest. Anyway, after examining me and asking a bunch of questions, Dr. Cynthia Sainsbury (a plug for her; she's really good) diagnosed me with migraine headaches. I told her, too, about my memory which has been getting noticeably worse, but she said I needed to go to a neurologist, which is out of the question of course. I also saw her for horrible tendonitis (or bursitis) that I get in my shoulders. My left shoulder is so bad right now. She asked if I wanted a shot of cortizone but I had to decline because I couldn't afford the shot.

For my headache she prescribed for me the generic form of Imitrex, which is supposed to be a very good medicine. When I took it to the pharmacy and told them that I am uninsured and that I need a price, they said it would be almost $200.00! So I can't get that med., and my doctor won't prescribe any pain meds such as percocet because of my history of abuse (I am an addict). Taking over-the-counter pain medicine such as Excedrin Migraine or the tension headache one is bad for my liver because it contains the stuff in tylenol, and I have gastric varices (or something like that) and have a problem with ibuprofen. So I am screwed unless I can find someone in my family who has prescription pain medication and is willing to part with some.

I am luck at the moment because I haven't yet gotten a headache, but I've been getting one every day for the past two weeks so it's just a matter of time. I'll have to take my chances with the over-the-counter stuff and hope that my liver can take it.

It sucks very much being sick and having no insurance. For 19 years I have been working as a software engineer making great money and having great benefits, but I've not been able to find work on a year and a half and it is making me so depressed, and I don't know what I will do. I don't want to think about anything extreme at the moment. Oh well. This is life.

Some of My Artwork

2009-11-21T21:54:00.000-05:00

I have just uploaded some of my sketches and doodles to my art blog. Check it out.