Category: Computer Programming

Vintage Jetpack Sign

A few years back, my pal Stephen got us a Jetpack sign for our now deprecated office. I’ve finally painted the old sign, which now can be considered vintage because the logo has been redesigned. I used One Shot paints to make the logo and lettering nice and glossy, and I used standard flat interior paint for contrast. I’m pleased with the results, and I plan on gifting this shiny thing to Derek. ( He doesn’t read my blog, so I’m not really spoiling anything for him. )

Anyway, have a peak:

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Measure, then act

Dan, a co-worker from Automattic wrote this in a p2 post today:

Measure, then act. Almost every major decision we made was in response to real-world data. Often we would be surprised and have our expectations challenged, both in terms of what was NOT possible, but also what WAS possible.

It reminds me of the old saying, “Measure twice, cut once”, and in software development, the more we measure, the more we discover.

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The Things We Save

Sorting through the old boxes of the stuff we save, I inhale dust and emotions. Here are a few of interesting gems.

This was a decoration from my dad’s 40th birthday in 1991.
I once worked as a photographer / photo salesman who solicited folks to stop for portraits on top of mountains.
A football trophy from The Munjoy Little Peach league.
A t-ball trophy I “earned” in 1987 playing for Amato’s. Ironically I would get paid to make pizza for Amato’s much later.
This ash tray was part of our family for as long as I can remember.

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Ferris Bueller, a hacker ahead of his time

Today, I’m taking  a break from battling software bugs so that my immune system can battle a fierce flu bug. I haven’t eaten anything all day because food makes my stomach burn. I’m overly hot one moment, and overly cold the next. Every muscle aches. I’m hoping a good night sleep cures it.

In my weakened condition, I started thinking about 80’s movie chararcter Ferris Bueller, and how he got his fabled day off by hacking into his highschool’s database from a home computer. The movie was released in 1986, and I wasn’t really using computers at the time. I was just six years old.

I don’t know about you, but I call bullshit! There’s no way Bueller’s highschool was storing records in a database that was accessible via the internet. Gopher servers first made their appearance in schools in 1992. I’d appreciate it if someone with a strong knowledge of computer history could weigh in.

Today I'm Cameron. Not faking it. "Let my Cameron go!" Drawing by samdrawsalot
Today I’m Cameron. Not faking it. “Let my Cameron go!”
Drawing by samdrawsalot

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Start your week off right

So I’m finding that it is good to start my week by watching a presentation on computer programming. It really sets the tone for the days to come. Today, I have my co-worker Enej to thank for sharing the following presentation by javascript developer Angelina Fabbro:

There are a lot of nice things to say about this presentation. It taught me what “grok” means, and it is a fine word. You can use it even if you are not a programmer. Look it up. The nicest thing I can say, though, is that is a helpful piece of advice for any intermediate programmer who is looking to get to the next level. Some key bullet points:

  • Ask “Why?” obsessively
  • Teach others, and speak a lot about the work you do
  • It is okay to be reckless when experimenting
  • Have opinions & principles
  • Think like a programmer when AFK

I’m thankful that this video fell into my laptop at this precise time. It is very inspirational and just what I needed. Let me know if you watch it.

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