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Katie & Scott & Simon & Cecily.

Author: Scott (Page 30 of 104)

Day 281: webapps

November 19, 2009 / / 0 Comments

In another life, I’d be working developing web applications.

There’s something about web application that gets my blood going – but in a good way.  Is it the fact that I get instant feedback on whether I’m doing something right or wrong?  The fact that I’m developing on such a short cycle for a platform that is so universal?

I think it simultaneously scratches two urges that I don’t really get to scratch otherwise.

1. Programming

I’ve gotten pretty rusty in that whole software engineering department.  Sure, I can still think through algorithms and I know how to use for loops properly, but I think I’d have a hard time passing a senior level college CS class right now.  Putting a webapp together in PHP is a bit like proving to myself that I’ve still got it, even if “it” isn’t quite what it used to be.

Still, the merging of PHP, mySql, and HTML into some union of files that does what I tell it to do feels good.  (I’ve written about this before, too, on Day 138.)

2. Website Design

This indulges my artistic side in a really geeky way.  I like to think that I have relatively good taste, at least when it comes to the aesthetic layout of images and text.  I’ve always been interested in graphic and communications design and even did a good bit of it in my first job out of college.

Messing with CSS and the way webpages present themselves is a part of this ongoing training.  As I continue to do it, I think I begin to find the kinds of layouts and designs that look best to me.  This is a bit self-indulgent, but I think it also speaks to finding my own style.  The more I learn about what that is, the more I can accurately apply it to other areas of my life and job in a way that makes sense and makes me a better designer in general.

One last thing that really feels good about webapp development: results.  Within a day, I can see actual results from my work.  Within a week, the original vision of the site begins to form.  It feels so fast and gratifying.

Anyway, if you have a webapp idea but want someone else to take a crack at it, I may be your man, depending on my mood and how busy I am.

Day 280: based on trend data from google reader

November 18, 2009 / / 0 Comments

I do the most blog reading between 10 and 11 AM.

In fact, my online RSS consumption is heavily skewed towards the morning.  I get up and read most of my blog entries for the day between 8 and 11 AM before settling into a pretty low, steady rhythm throughout the rest of the day.

There’s a small bump again at 5 PM, but that’s it.

This is interesting to me.  I usually get in to work at around 10 AM (or a few minutes later).  Am I that unproductive/distracted for the first hour I’m there?  So often, I’m up at least an hour before we’re out the door; why don’t I do more blog reading at home before I head into work?

Is there a settling period at the beginning of the day which helps me be more productive for the rest of the day?

Another interesting facet of my Google Reader trend data is the fact that my blog reading over a week is a bell curve: I read the most items on Wednesdays and it peters out about evenly in both directions from there.  I can understand that I may not do as much blog reading on the weekends, despite having more free hours.  But why the bell curve?  Do I need blog posts to make it through the middle of the week?

One last fun fact: in the past 30 days, the only hour between 7 AM and midnight when I have seemed to completely refrain from any Google reader usage?  10-11 PM.

Figure that one out and you’ll figure me out.

Day 279: katie’s long day

November 17, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Tomorrow is the longest day of the year.

Every year, Theatreworks (the esteemed theatre company that Katie works for) runs an educational program that goes into local schools and helps young playwrights realize their ambitions and potential by staging a few select plays.

What this means for Katie is that she has to wake up way early (like, when high school classes start!) and truck a bunch of food and props down to the theatre.  The actors then rehearse all day before actually putting on the performance at around 7 PM or so.

Katie then stays late to help clean up after the performance is over and cart any of the necessary props/extras back (or takes them overnight if it’s too late to actually return them).

It always goes well and its a fantastic opportunity that I wish I had known about (or that my school had participated in something like this) when I was young, but it’s a very long day.  While I may whine a bit about having to go to work super-early and stay later than usual, Katie’s the one that’s actually doing all the hard work.

So, send her happy thoughts tomorrow.  I send her happy thoughts every day, but if a lot of people do it tomorrow, maybe it’ll make the day go a bit faster.

Day 278: demon’s souls

November 16, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Tonight, I played a game for the PS3 called Demon’s Souls.

This consisted of me making it through the tutorial, then spending the next several hours running through the same map over and over again while being killed over and over again, erasing any previous progress I may have made.

I took a break in the middle of all this despair to eat some dumplings and cookies.

I feel like this is some kind of freshman level psych test. How long can one man do this before clinical depression sets in? What prize is worth this feeling of futility?

I’ll give it another half hour or so, then I really must sleep. What a completely frustrating game.

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