"Programming Stuff" written by Jim on estrip.org

08/28/07 08:58 - 84ºF - ID#40791

Programming Stuff

In Ruby 2.0, a new hash literal syntax (like javascript!)

{a: "thing"} # ruby 2.0

{:a => "thing"} # ruby 1.8

array('a' => "thing") # and PHP

Succinct.

Permalink: Programming_Stuff.html
Words: 23
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: life

08/28/07 05:29 - 84ºF - ID#40787

Decisions, Decisions

Oh Estrip, give me your advice:

Should I give up my business which is finally starting to come together after 2 long years of struggle, and go back to school and try to get a nice permanent job sometime next year at Roswell with (e:Enknot) and (e:Paul)?

Or screw security and keep working at Roswell a couple days a week for the next year or two and try to be awesome the rest of the time / the rest of my life as my own man? After all, big things could be in store!

Lifetime security versus trying for the stars? I have to choose what to do in the next month.

Edited to add: Well thank you everyone! There's really no need to make a decision this month, now that I think about it, I'll just keep trying to do it all :)

tinypliny writes at 09:47:56 08/28/07 - Comment #23305: I didn't realize that. And I agree. Getting a diploma/degree just as a bureaucratic requirement is an appalling waste of time. It seems absurd to me that Roswell would function like a federal body with rigid rules about such pre-requisites. If your vitaé includes prior experience, references and proof that you have the skills required for the job, couldn't they overlook the alphabet soup?

jim writes at 09:36:05 08/28/07 - Comment #23303: I know what you mean tinypliny, but for me it would be intro programming classes - stuff I already know, and I would learn nothing. It would be merely for a piece of paper so that an employer could check that box off on a form. That is the lamest reason to do something ever.

tinypliny writes at 09:30:11 08/28/07 - Comment #23300: A little late, but I think school does take a lot of your energy and time away if you want to finish it well. So multi-tasking could be a problem.

But I would take going back to school any day over not going back to school and repenting later.

jim writes at 08:15:35 08/28/07 - Comment #23292: imk2,

I am just freaking out this week about it because I'm making two pretty big pitches to big clients, and it is not possible to turn it on or off like a faucet. Doing really small jobs is not worth it in terms of money and time, and the bigger jobs require a certain amount commitment. If someone is paying thousands and thousands of dollars for something, you can't put them on hold if you have exams.

I've got to find out from Roswell just exactly what the hiring requirements are, so I'll talk with my boss about that tomorrow and what I can realistically expect as a potential career path there.

jim writes at 08:04:39 08/28/07 - Comment #23289: Yeah, I am going to do all three for at least the next year, or as long as Roswell will have me.

imk2 writes at 07:52:16 08/28/07 - Comment #23287: why not do all three? you work at roswell part time, right? so go to school part time, one or two classes a semester, work at roswell part time and do a little business on the side. you may have to cut down on the business part, but you can always pick it back up when you are done with school or if you should decide that either school or roswell are not for you after all.

paul writes at 07:14:48 08/28/07 - Comment #23283: I obviously made the choice to settle on the moderately high income in a city with a moderately low rates instead of going the self employment route. It is not like working at Roswell is deciding to work at a low income job.

Moreover, I like the feeling that no matter how inane some of my projects are they all contribute in some way to the eventual treatment and cure of cancer and not to some materially obsessed sales objective for exotic whatsits.

There is also plenty of money to be made at Roswell beyond the regular pay. As part of a fulltime employee contract you split patent proceeds from you inventions 60% Roswell, 40% inventor/inventors. Depending, what you make that could be huge. I am sure doctors probably make more money off patents and publications than they do off salary.

Also, as I said at lunch, other benefits include stability of payrates vs self employment ups and downs, and that the job lets you concentrate on what you are good at doing (programming/design) instead of having to do business - which stresses me the hell out. Not to mention the union, pension and health care benefits.

Either way I would go to school and get a degree, so that if it doesn't work out in the future with self employment you don't have to go back when you are 40 and feel really weird about it.

I also just like having you there. Its great to work with someone who is really into what they are doing.

zobar writes at 07:13:30 08/28/07 - Comment #23282: "...I tell you, my man, this is the American Dream in action! We'd be fools not to ride this strange torpedo all the way out to the end."
"Indeed," he said. "We must do it."
"Right," I said. "But first we need the car. And after that, the cocaine. And then the tape recorder, for special music, and some Acapulco shirts."

- Z

mrmike writes at 06:30:43 08/28/07 - Comment #23280: Dare to be great!

james writes at 06:29:57 08/28/07 - Comment #23279: You should have asked me first Jim.

ANd I think you should give it all up to become a stripper to the stars! Just imagine shaking your expensive booty on Star Jones' lap!

jason writes at 06:08:51 08/28/07 - Comment #23276: Anyhow, something more helpful here. If you can land one of those cushy government gigs, why not go for it? Those kinds of opportunities are highly sought after, and 10 out of 10 sane people would take it if they weren't their own boss. Plus, going back to school is something that personally I think is fantastic.

Of course, you would be sacrificing potential big bucks that may come through your business. I give you tons of credit, Jim. I read an article recently that rated Buffalo as the 8th worst place in America to run a small business. Yeah, shocker, I know, we do live in NYS. You have a brain-child, and you want to nurture it.

As long as you are young, and have few financial obligations, I don't see the harm in going for it. Later on in life you might be in circumstances where you would be far more risk averse, and unable to rationally make the choice to just go for it.

Whatever you choose, best of luck to you.

theecarey writes at 05:59:41 08/28/07 - Comment #23275: The vibe I'm getting from your post is that you feel more in your element proceeding in "being awesome the rest of (your) life as (your) own man". Hell yes! Whatever means it takes, run with it. Yes, big things are indeed in store. Explore now, reach for the stars and if it feels right, DO it. If you are comfortable doing that, then that is essentially all the security you need. It's *all* good.

I chose that path and I am not looking back.

Whatever you choose, may it bring excitement and peace to you. :)

jason writes at 05:53:16 08/28/07 - Comment #23274: "Permanent" job - that's gotta be public sector.

drew writes at 05:32:44 08/28/07 - Comment #23272: It sounds like you want to reach for the stars. Go for it! Security is an illusion, anyway.

Permalink: Decisions_Decisions.html
Words: 143
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: estrip

08/27/07 05:02 - 81ºF - ID#40759

Self Portrait

Edited to add: for new people, if you start a journal and click on the 'draw' button in the edit controls above the title/tag/body entry panel, you can draw pictures too.

Permalink: Self_Portrait.html
Words: 34
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: buffalo

08/27/07 11:26 - 66ºF - ID#40753

Surplus Property Auction

Auction on 2007-09-22
Check out the catalog here:

Includes this building across the street from Roswell Park:

204 High Street: Easy commute slash dream home, or rickety death trap?

Permalink: Surplus_Property_Auction.html
Words: 38
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: computers

08/25/07 04:01 - 78ºF - ID#40730

And Another Thing

I really dislike using Windows. Every little bit of it rubs me the wrong way. It was all I used for 6 or 7 years, and then after about a week with my Mac a few years back, I've never looked back.

This is one of the ideological reasons why I hate Windows: if you run Windows update to get security fixes, it makes you revalidate your Windows installation (it checks your serial number to see how many times it's been used, if it's pirated, etc), and it can lock your computer down to reduced functionality if it thinks there is a problem.

Once you initially purchase software, you should never ever need to go back and verify that you are legit. It's like all those lame warnings on DVD's or before movies telling you not to pirate, when you've clearly just paid for the DVD or movie.

So - the problem: the Windows validation servers are down right now, and may be down until Monday:

Nice. Innocently run software update, and bam! there it goes. Way to treat your paying customers.

Permalink: And_Another_Thing.html
Words: 188
Location: Buffalo, NY

08/24/07 11:00 - 81ºF - ID#40718

Draaaaank

Permalink: Draaaaank.html
Words: 2
Location: Buffalo, NY

08/24/07 11:00 - 81ºF - ID#40717

Visiting some old friends...

Permalink: Visiting_some_old_friends_.html
Words: 2
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: music

08/22/07 11:47 - 72ºF - ID#40689

Tapes

I used to have 30 or 40 really great tapes from DJ sets. 1995-2000-ish.

I can't even remember the names of most of them, where I got them, or what was on the tapes, but I miss them so much. It's hard to mentally reconstruct the day to day and soundtrack of my life back then, it's so far out of reach and far from the ken of my current life. If I actually ever heard certain tracks again I think my head would explode from nostalgia.

And then I see this:

WTF sea of white baseball caps??! Drinking beer and bobbing your head? Weak. Don't kids dance anymore?

Permalink: Tapes.html
Words: 118
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: photo

08/21/07 09:05 - 66ºF - ID#40666

Visited some old friends...

10 terabytes of storage... 12 processors...

Now I have a sad 533mhz Mac :(

My iPhone has a faster processor then my Mac!

But actually I mostly don't notice how slow it is, except when I run unit tests, those take about 15 seconds to start up versus about 2 or 3 on my laptop.

Permalink: Visited_some_old_friends_.html
Words: 53
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: work

08/21/07 12:15 - 60ºF - ID#40648

My Project

So, the project that I've been working on the past couple weeks is up.

DailyClimber

It's a site that sells one camping or climbing item per day at a really good price. Sort of like [link="http://woot.com"]woot.com[/link] (woot is not my site)

Let me know if you check it out and it looks broken (an all too likely possibility)?

jim writes at 11:58:13 08/21/07 - Comment #22759: I am not sure what they are either...

fellyconnelly writes at 11:47:17 08/21/07 - Comment #22754: I don't think that Trango MaxCams wear underwear in public either. but then i don't really know what a trango maxcam is.

tinypliny writes at 01:17:59 08/21/07 - Comment #22729: You are most welcome! LMK if you need more omega testing. :)

jim writes at 01:12:34 08/21/07 - Comment #22728: Thanks, Tinypliny, I am fixing the links back to the store and touching up a few other places!

tinypliny writes at 01:05:17 08/21/07 - Comment #22726: Gosh so many spelling mistakes and omissions! And that too on correction-fluid day! Appalling!

tinypliny writes at 01:03:41 08/21/07 - Comment #22725: The email and rss links are fine too. But there is no way to click back to the home page of the from the checkout page. If a patron chacges their mind and wants to view the absobing Britney snippet again, the only option is to click the back button of the browser. How about adding a linkback to the homepage behind the title graphic of "Dailyclimber". Just a thought.

tinypliny writes at 12:56:36 08/21/07 - Comment #22723: Okay, your first beta tester is here. I clicked on everything clickable on that page. It works fine.
- No dead/broken links
- Google checkout works fine
- The interface is clean and intuitive. If I had the faintest idea what Trango MaxCams were, I might be interested in checking them out at this dealer's simply because of the uncomplicated navigation. :)
- The company "about" page leads to the first page of a post in a product forum.
- The company link itself links to the forum. Nice touch.
- The ever-so-tempting Trango MaxCams advertised at $254.99 are actually $282.30 after taxes.
- Since I need to survive on the bottom of the hillock at Ellicott Street, I fake-ordered 5 of these awesome whatever-cams and the change registered correctly at checkout.

Anything else you need this beta tester to checkout? :)

james writes at 12:47:45 08/21/07 - Comment #22719: SInce the site is up and running, we are celebrating with wine.

Vinos Sin-Ley is freakin delicious.

Permalink: My_Project.html
Words: 59
Location: Buffalo, NY

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