Reboot

It's been awhile since I've had time or energy to blog. School and work are really taking an enormous amount of my time. I'm taking Physics and Accounting II this semester, neither of which are particularly easy courses.

At work right now I'm something of a bottleneck as well. I'm the only one with a current license to the software we use to develop installation packages, and I'm building 3 separate installers, all of which have an extremely high priority.

In addition to the needs of work and school, I'm also going through something of a revolution in the way I think about the craft of programming. I recently read a book that was, as M. described it, the Atlas Shrugged of programming. It's given me a lot to think about, and many new areas of software theory to explore. So I've been spending my evenings reading about design patterns development principles.

I haven't even had much time to read. Since I finished Debt of Bones, I've started the 10th Horatio Hornblower novel, but I haven't made much headway.

Still, all of this is good in a sense. While it is stressful and difficult to be as busy as I am, getting my degree is a high value for me, taking on more responsibility at work is definitely part of the career-path I've chosen, and the theoretical tools I'm developing for my career are going to have a huge impact on both the quantity and quality of my productivity. I'm going to have to arrange for a rest in the next month or so though. Even if it means taking a couple of vacation days or something.

It's been busy

It's been an extremely busy time for me. I'm taking Physics and Accounting II this semester, so my brain is pretty tired from that. Additionally, MS has introduced me to what he termed the "Atlas Shrugged" programming--an assessment with which I have to agree. I've been busy digesting the contents of "Agile Software Development" and learning about Object Oriented Design Patterns. Between all this, I've barely had time to breathe.

Sometimes it's hard being so goal-oriented :).

Maria Mena

I almost hate to say it, but her song "You're the Only One" really appeals to me. She's definitely all pop star at this point, but she is clearly distinguished from the Christina Aguilera / Brit'ney Spears crowd. First of all, she writes her own songs. That's a big deal for me as I don't believe that anyone that doesn't know how to write their own songs really knows how to sing.

Perhaps one might argue that most pop is fluff. I actually agree, but fun fluff is still fun. I'll be watching this girl to see what she does when she grows older. I've often wished that Christina Aguilera would do a jazz album as her voice is definitely suited to that style--I think that Maria Mena is fine where she is right now, but as she matures, I believe that her music will too.

SOUNDTHESIRENS.COM - Review :: Maria Mena - White Turns Blue

Full Frontal Nerdity

For you D&D players out there.
Full Frontal Nerdity

Full Frontal Nerdity

For you D&D players out there.

Full Frontal Nerdity

My hero in his younger years

monkey methods: Bill Gates Strikes a Pose for Teen Beat Photospread, 1983

Debt of Bones

Debt of Bones is a novella written by Terry Goodkind that takes place in his Sword of Truth universe. It does not stand on its own as a work in that assumes a reader-familiarity with the world and various peoples and cultures. Ordinarily, this would be a severe criticism. However, this novella was commissioned specifically for a collection of novellas by favorite authors, set in their favorite universe, for the fans of that universe.

As such, I would not recommend reading this book to anyone that has not read at least the first 6 Sword of Truth novels. In addition, there's not a lot of book to justify a hardcover purchase. Get the paperback instead.

For fans of the series, this story delivers all the best features of Goodkind's heros--self-reliance, clever, unexpected risks, lucid reasoning, and awesome power.

Naked Empire

I'm a week overdue to report on Naked Empire. This is the 8th book in Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. Since Faith of the Fallen, Goodkind has been much more explicitly philosophical in his novels, integrating philosophical issues with the plot in a fantasy setting. In the previous book, Goodkind took a side-trek with a completely new character who it turns out is the sister of the hero. He introduces other characters in the previous book that end up playing a pivotal role in "Naked Empire."

This is part of the reward of reading a fantasy series--you get to see apparently minor characters set up pivotal events without realizing what they're doing until it's way late in the game. This is a hallmark of the skill of Goodkind's storytelling as well--he is very good at bringing in that long-overlooked-supposedly-irrelevant fact that serves as the linch-pin of the entire plot.

As much as I have enjoyed his books so far, Naked Empire is not his best work in my opinion. Unlike his other novels, the climax isn't as ... clear and necessary. Despite my misgivings, it still stands as a seminal work of fantasy fiction. Goodkind is clearly in the elite of fantasy authors. I highly recommend him to anyone.

Tsunami - Kalutara, Sri Lanka

Tsunami - Kalutara, Sri Lanka

These pics are worth looking at.

Wx Plotter Fun Tests - Nerd Quotient

Apparently, I'm not as nerdy as I thought. I'll have to work on that.

Wx Plotter Fun Tests - Nerd Quotient: "
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