This is something funny that I think you might enjoy. My brother David and I had some spare time over Christmas to do something we’ve wanted to do ever since we saw Scary Mary on YouTube: edit together a horror trailer for Frank Capra’s classic film It’s a Wonderful Life. This is what we came up with. Enjoy.
Category: General Interest
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I’ve made the switch (to an iMac)
I’ve been a PC user my whole life. That all changed two weeks ago when I purchased my first Mac. Most of my friends who are software developers had already switched so I figured I’d better go forward with the grand experiment now rather than later. I haven’t looked back since.
The model I purchased was an iMac 20″ with the Intel Core Duo processor, 2 GB of RAM, and the 256 MB Radeon video card. It’s zippy. The UI is quite responsive. I can have dozens of apps open at the same time without an appreciable slowdown, and the video editing capabilities of this little beauty have been quite impressive. The main reason I switched was because my friends were reporting a marked increase in their effeciency while using a Mac. I’m happy to report that they were 100% correct. Here are some of the reasons why I like my Mac:
Everything can be automated. Tasks that used to take several steps in Windows can now be performed with a single click. Apps like Quicksilver make it dead simple to launch an app, perform a numeric calculation, or switch to the next song in my iTunes playlist… all with a couple of keystrokes.
The UNIX command line rocks. The Windows command line is best described as “castrated.” There is just no comparison between it and a standard UNIX command line. Even something as simple as being able to directly execute Ruby scripts without manually calling the interpreter becomes a benefit when it’s repeated dozens of times per day.
Tests run FAST. A typical stack of Rails tests takes about a minute to finish on my Windows box. Under OS X, the same tests take 15 seconds or so, and most of this is startup time.
Editing videos and burning them to DVD actually works. I experimented with several different software packages on my PC and two different DVD burners, none of which gave me the results I wanted. Capturing from my VCR left minor glitches in the video when a background process was running. On my Mac, the screen saver is automatically disabled when capturing video and the Core Duo processor removes the negative effects of background processes.
The Apple Remote. A very clever addition to the iMac is the Apple Remote, which lets me control the system at a distance. I don’t need to head downstairs to use the TV and DVD player anymore. I can just scoot my chair back and bring up a movie in Front Row.
Nice touches. As you’ve undoubtedly heard from other Mac owners, it’s the nice little touches that count. The magnetic holder for the Apple Remote. The blinking white sleep light on the front of the bezel. The built-in mini-DVI port. The simplicity of the System Preferences pane. It all combines to make for a computing experience so much more pleasant than it used to be.
All is not peachy keen, though. I’ve had the iMovie editing software crash on me a couple of times. I’m not sure why this happened, but the good news is it didn’t take down the rest of the system like it might have on Windows. Also, software for the Mac is quite pricey, as is hardware. You’ll definitely pay a premium for an Apple system, but if you stick with craigslist and eBay you might get away with paying much less than retail.
In summary, I feel much more effecient on this Mac and so I think the purchase was well worth the price. This little beauty makes computing FUN again! I really suffered while I was on Thanksgiving vacation since I didn’t have my Mac around. If you’ve been thinking of making the switch to a Mac yourself, I encourage you to give it a try. You can always sell the system if it doesn’t work out for you. My bet is you won’t.
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Installing Mongrel on a shared host
Can this be true? Could it really work? I think I’ll find out.
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An encouraging story
It’s always good to hear some positive news for a change. Three fisherman lost at sea for over nine months have been rescued. Read the full story at MSNBC.
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How does one handle busy days?
My new consulting business, Adeptware, is in its second month and today I got slammed. Phone calls and e-mails with potential clients, a trip to the bank to get my new DBA forms copied for my accounts, an evening planning session with the calendar, installation of a new domain name and web site for a client, etc. My rhetorical question is this: how does one handle such days? A day with barely any time to breathe. A day in which I’m happy to have new business, but wondering how to fit it all on my calendar. I don’t expect an answer. Tomorrow will most likely be dead, except for the Ruby Meetup which I’m hoping will be packed again like it was last month. I’m beginning to think that’s just the way it goes for us self-employed chaps.
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If it’s not your problem, whose is it?
My friend, Alan, made a post on his blog yesterday that hit a nerve for me. The gist of it is that an unnamed airline left a friend’s bag out in the pouring rain by accident, then when asked if they would replace the bag and its contents basically said, “It’s not our problem.”
Who is ultimately responsible for any customer interaction gone bad? I like this quote from the post:
The boss is responsible. The cashier who faces the customer is responsible. The person who sends the email is responsible. The interface point is what the customer (or employee) sees, not the organizational structure behind the activity.
There have been many times when I’ve gone through similar situations at local stores. Oh, I haven’t been told directly that “it’s not our problem,” but I’ve seen indications that the cashier or floor manager I’m speaking with doesn’t really care about me and probably wishes I would just go away.
True customer service seems to be a rare thing these days, and getting rarer all the time. There is a huge market out there for businesses that will treat their customers with honesty and integrity. It’s just not that common anymore.
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What’s with the new theme?
You may have noticed that I’ve changed my blog’s theme again. Why, you ask? Why persist in this maddening switching of graphics and templates? Simply that I haven’t found the ideal layout yet. I’m hoping that this new theme will be something I can stay with long-term. I really like it. The dual sidebars are wonderful because they give me more room to post information. The theme is widget-enabled, it’s fairly pretty, and it seems pretty logically organized to me. What do you all think? Keep it or trash it?
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Waiting rooms are evil
If we could recapture the time wasted sitting in tiny rooms waiting to be called on to see the doctor, we could solve world hunger and declare global peace in a single day.
Why yes, I did visit the doc today. How ever did you guess?
After being told to show up a half-hour early to fill out paperwork that took 5 minutes to complete, then sitting around for the next hour reading ancient copies of Parents magazine, you can imagine the mood I was in when I was finally called. God is obviously trying to teach me patience through these ordeals, it’s just my own thick skull that’s getting in the way.
God must also be testing my tolerance for pain since this is the third time in the past few months that a doc has found the need to “practice” (yes, it’s a pun) an especially painful procedure on me, albeit for my own (eventual) good. At least the pain brought about some immediate good by making me consider an interesting question: do we place the same amount of faith in God that we do in medical professionals?
Ahhh, the theology of the doctor’s office!
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I’ve gone independent
Yes, I’ve left SAS, the world’s largest privately held software company. What would make me do such a thing? There were many factors involved in the decision, of course, but the primary reason was the opportunity to work full-time with Ruby on Rails from home. This will give me more time with my family. I’m also looking forward to doing more writing, speaking, and volunteering during the remainder of the year. Leaving was a difficult decision because I’ve enjoyed my last three years at SAS very much, but I’ve been wanting to get into independent consulting for over a year now. When the opportunity came up last month, I felt led to take it.
My primary purpose in making this post was not to cast for offers, but I do want folks to know that I’m available now. My specialties are Ruby, Rails, Java, .NET, and PHP. I’m interested in using these technologies to develop world-class applications, especially web-based applications. I also have a passion for testing and continuous integration. I’m interested in helping development teams build and install automated testing frameworks and continuous integration servers. My background in agile development processes makes these interests a good fit.
I’m not sure what the future holds for me in this area, but the freedom I’ve experienced so far is incredible. I know this is where God wants me right now. I’m looking forward to enhancing my development skills and branching out into new specializations. I’ve always enjoyed learning (due in large part, I think, to my background as a home schooled student) and now I’ve been given the chance to do so on a level I wasn’t able to before. What an adventure!
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Whatever happened to a kid-safe Fourth?
I remember when the Fourth of July was a family friendly holiday. It doesn’t seem to be kid-safe anymore judging from what I saw last night.
My family opted to stay home yesterday instead of fight the crowds to see live fireworks. Our plan was to watch the fireworks display at Boston Harbor that is televised each year. Last year’s display was truly spectacular. Leading up to the main event, a live orchestra played a number of patriotic favorites. The orchestra then accompanied the fireworks as they went off. The display lasted for well over twenty minutes. Wonderful stuff to see, even on a low definition 27″ color Panasonic.
This year was somewhat different. In addition to the Boston Pops, several pop and country musicians were hanging around to “do their thing” every now and then. In other words, they rendered butchered versions of our favorite songs using electric guitars and drums. The entire event was hosted by Dr. Phil (why him, I wonder?) and some other lady I didn’t recognize.
The sad part was when the fireworks started. The orchestra would play a wonderful patriotic song for a few minutes, then a rock song would come on over the loudspeakers. The music kept switching back and forth between the good stuff and the junk. This was quite annoying because we had to keep muting the junk. What was even more annoying was that our television displays closed captions when the volume is muted. This meant we had to read the lyrics of these songs as the fireworks were going off. (Have you ever tried NOT reading closed captioning on a TV? It’s very difficult!) Judging from the lyrics (some of which were quite horrid) the songs had very little to do with the Fourth of July or fireworks in general. Go figure. If there had been young kids in the house who could read, we wouldn’t have been able to watch the show at all.
I now wonder how long it will take before such televised fireworks displays are accompanied exclusively by rock music. When will the network execs finally decide that their sophisticated audiences shouldn’t be subjected to any more of these traditional patriotic tunes and would prefer to be serenaded by the “melodious” strains of Aerosmith and Garth Brooks?
Is it normal for me to want to hear traditional music on the Fourth of July, or am I just a crazy old-fashioned American boy?