UPDATE: Google Maps

I just learned that you can now reroute your directions on Google Maps just by dragging the blue line... awesome!!!



Until next time
Les

That's not how it's done

Growing up as an aspiring guitarist I used to take my acoustic to school and play on the lawn during lunches. It was fun. I always enjoyed playing. Trying to tackle new riffs or old ones, it kept me busy. Sometimes the funnest thing to do was take a song I'd been hearing a lot of and make my guitar play the same notes. Of course there were always tabs which were a very easy way to learn any song. But sometimes it was more interesting to work it out just by ear.

One song I learned by ear was a popular one from the Goo Goo Dolls. When I was playing it at school one day a friend stopped me mid-intro and said.... "That's not how it's done." I stared for a second and asked what he meant. He informed me that he had the sheet music from that album and the way I was playing wasn't the way that was written in the book. I asked the rest of the group what song I had just been playing and they all agreed it was the song in question that was coming from my guitar, but my friend wasn't interested in what it "sounded like", he was learning to play based on the exact way the artists themselves played. Forget music theory or the fact that there are multiple variations of the same notes/chords across the fretboard of a guitar (same as any other instrument). He wasn't really interested in understanding music or the instrument, he was only interested in understanding the way the artist played it.

Exit the world of rock guitars and enter the world I'm currently in: software programming.

Many coders don't have a grasp on what it is that a programmer does. The funny thing about that is that in many businesses the 2 types are paid pretty much the same compensation. For the coder it's only relevant to know that a piece of code is written in comparison to any other code they can find to copy from. Their only true requirement is that it meets user requirements. A programmer is more of an engineer. It's not good enough to just borrow code that meets requirements. The programmer has to know more. Why does the code do what it does? How does it work? Can it be made better?

Oh yes, the coder will take pride in the claim that they know the business requirements but they can't explain why they can't deliver successful products in a timely manner with quality rock solid code. By knowing the business requirements the coder can easily find other code that meets those requirements and voila they've written a program by use of a few right clicks of their mouse.

What does it take to separate yourself from these copy/pasters? For one, have a growing knowledge of your tools. By tools I mean the platform you're developing for, the language you're using (including libraries and the way the language works with the machine), and even the IDE you'll be using (i.e. Eclipse). If you're going to work in this industry you have to be a nerd and that's not as bad as it seemed when you were in high school. Now that we're in the real world a really good nerd can bring home a way better bottom line than the most popular jock in your high school (who's most likely working in a local factory pulling in just over min. wage or working at his uncle's auto dealership). So don't worry, be a little nerdy. Spend some time reading technical books and articles that help you immerse yourself in your craft (although don't forget to take the time to do other things you enjoy, like spending time with family and friends, because nerds do have friends here in the real world).

end of rant
Until next time
Les

For the record

I don't know if you are a Harry Potter fan or not, but I've been sucked into the series like a trailer park into a twister. So in 2 weeks the 5th movie hits theatre and yes we're going on opening night... and we're going to the Cine Capri in Bricktown. But really what I'm anticipating is the release of the final book, The Deathly Hollows.



I just want to go on record, until I read the final book and am determined incorrect, that after the details given in book 6 I believe that Harry himself is the final horcrux and must either die to defeat Voldemort, or he could possibly have some loop hole of salvation which provides that if he sacrifices himself willingly for the better good then he saves his own life... a Christ-like twist that I'm sure isn't overlooked by any other person willing to make a guess.

There, I said it, now to wait for the truth.
Until next time
Les

Which are you?

a blogger named Danah Boyd has made some serious observations regarding social networking and the 2 major camps (Facebook and Myspace). She's taken a lot of flack for her words...



check it out here:



http://www.danah.org/papers/essays/ClassDivisions.html



Which are you more prominently on?



Until next time

Les

New systems of management

I found this little post pretty humorous yet frighteningly accurate:

@$$hole driven development

Whatcha think?

Until next time
Les

Memories

Isn't it funny how the human memory will work. For instance I always associate music with an event or time of my life. I don't ever remember trying to associate things... it just happens.



If I listen to any music from the album Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park I'm instantly reminded of Syphon Filter on the Playstation, I clocked a ton of hours on that game in my dorm and jammed that album while doing so. When I hear anything from August and Everything After by Counting Crows I'm reminded of the journey of Jack Sawyer in the novel The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. It's wierd how fresh those memories are just with the sound of that music.



So, what reminds you of those memories past? A sound, a smell?



Until next time

Les