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Surfaced

This is intended as a quick update for those who follow this blog (ie: have it in their RSS reader) for their own amusement.  I have just surfaced from the Great Busy Period and have started to have a bit of a life again.  The past few months have been totally consumed by my Literature Review at JCU and building and launching the SonyRewards website at work.

Both are now done!

Current projects:

• Setting up my new MacBook Pro - this thing is soooo cool.  TextMate is an awesome editor.  Recommendations for Mac software are most welcome.
• Virtual Worlds for Astronomy Collaboration - experimenting with a few colleagues on using a 3D interactive environment for astronomy simulation and education.  This is potentially very interesting, but it's really just in its infancy.
• Learning solid basic photography.
• Learning a bit of SmallTalk (well, Squeak, actually)
• Learning a bit of Windows PowerShell

Feel free to say "hi"...  I'm back in the world!

DemoCamp10 and Other Presentations

I haven't blogged for ages, so it's time for a post!  I was hoping to put up more photos, but the sky has not been cooperative.  I got a new camera in August (Pentax K100D - great device), and the weather has naturally conspired to give Toronto nothing but clouds since.

I attended DemoCamp10 tonight.  It was the first time I've ever been to any of the BarCamp related events.  It was pretty fun!  They had presentations from geeks in TO doing geeky things.  Whoever thought that you could have a commercial Smalltalk hosting company?  Whoever thought that you could simultaneous run CRM, email, a webserver and an IRC client in emacs?  Now I know.

I have been attending quite a few presentations and lectures lately.  I've been a member of the RASC Toronto Centre for a few years, and they put on two monthly meetings.  One is a lecture by a visiting scientist (or, in one case, a science fiction author), and the other is a series of short presentations by members, much like
DemoCamp.  There were no meetings over the summer, so the beginning of the Fall season has really turned my interest back to discourse.

If you're ever in Toronto, check out these series:

• RASC Toronto Public Meetings
• Royal Canadian Institute for the Advancement of Science
• DemoCamp

If you're not in TO, I'm sure you can find something.  The U of A used to have Friday afternoon physics colloquia (with refreshments!) and the RASC has a chapter in most large- and medium-sized Canadian cities.  For those on the West Coast of the US, check out the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, which is similar.  No matter where you are, the Planetary Radio podcast series is decent.

Life Update

It has occurred to me that I reskin this site as often as I actually post.  Bad me!

What's new with me:

• My team at work has grown huge.  We have 7 testers now, and I'm the leader guy.  It's taking a LOT of getting used to.  I would love to hear from anyone who has spent time standardizing a test process or giving good training to raw recruits.
• School is back in session.  I am taking one course this term: Astronomy Instrumentation.  So far, so good.
• Thinking about joining a new gym.  The old one just feels...  old.  And the new one is so bright and shiny!  [New] [Old]
• Spending too much time in my two favorite TO coffeehouses studying: Tequila Bookworm (open late, 490 Queen W.) and Bulldog (not open late, www.bulldogtoronto.com).  Bulldog has better coffee, but the Bookworm has more relax space and more food.

The Simple Joy of Gamecube

You guys in Edmonton did it.  You got me hooked again.  I bought a Nintendo Gamecube. 

Does it have cutting edge graphics?  Not really.  Is it the bleeding edge technology?  Nope.  The stunningly realistic games?  Not a chance.  My computer can beat is six ways from Sunday on all of those counts.  Why, then?

Simple: gameplay.  Nintendo is still the king of making FUN games.  It's about having something more fun to do than watch a movie with a few friends over.  It's about being social.

If you don't think Nintendo is fun, then I challenge you to play Super Mario Strikers in 4 player mode.  You'll be surprised.

Busy...

It has been a long time since I posted here, and I wanted to rectify that today.  September to November is always our busiest season at work, and I am also mid-term with my course at JCU.  Relaxation has been rare and difficult, usually consisting of a few moves in online chess games, or a Saturday night out.

Being busy is strange.  There is a certain point at which I am maximally productive.  If I am less busy than this point, then I do not fully engage in my work and don't have those flashes of insight that come from really working a problem.  On the other hand, past that point, I spend too much time figuring out how I'm going to get all of my work done to get any of my work done.

I suppose, like everything else, that balance is the key.

Random thoughts from my notebook this week:

• Why does my DI-514 Wireless Access point need to be rebooted daily to keep up wireless connections?

• Is Bode's Law a resonance effect?  Can we apply such an effect to predict the orbits of small extrasolar planets from the orbits of large one?

The Way of the Warrior

"The basic difference between an ordinary person and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge while an ordinary person takes everything as a blessing or a curse."
     - Carlos Castaneda, 1925 - 1998

Note that, for the warrior, everything is a challenge, even the things that normal folks would consider to be blessings.  That's me in a nutshell.  Whenever things are good, I try to make them better.  Sorry for driving you nuts, Ben!

On del.icio.us

I finally got around to setting up a del.icio.us account today.  You can access my bookmarks here.  Expect to see a lot with the tag "spectroscopy" in the near future, as I'm doing a web bibliography for JCU.

Personal Update

This post is just a shout-out to those from all over the world that read this blog to keep tabs on me.  I haven't been posting much, so I thought it would be in order. 

It's been summer here, and it has been the hottest one I can remember!  I've been spending a great deal of time lying out on the beach at the Toronto Islands and enjoying the sun... very outdoorsy, very different.  I've also been in the depths of a tech burnout.  Working at a software company and working on my Master's online has made a strong mental association between "computer" and "work."  I'm just not blogging or using them for fun as much anymore, and that may be a good thing.  Especially now, during the summer, where I can just leave it all at home and walk down the street and go see real people.

How novel for a geek!

(By the way, if anyone knows how to make Cantor's Diagonalization Proof work on the rationals, myself and Simon at work would love to know.  Yes, Erik, I'm looking at you.)

A Great Summer Vacation!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately - I've been on vacation!  My parents came up from Calgary and we tried to cover as much of Southern and Eastern Ontario as possible.

Some highlights:

• HMCS Haida in Hamilton Harbour
• Niagara Falls
• Inniskillin Winery near Niagara-on-the-Lake
• Kingston (including Fort Henry)
• Gananoque Inn and a boat tour of the Thousand Islands
• Picton in Prince Edward County and Sandbanks Provincial Park (great beach!)

Pictures to follow once I've had a few minutes to put everything together!  Check the photo album.

Hello JCU!

I got the letter today.  I've been accepted into the Master of Astronomy programme at James Cook University starting in August.  It's a distance learning, part-time course of study that will last for three years.  I'm very happy and ready to go!