7 days
ago
We played DeBlob
last night. It's super fun to jump around and paint a city. Reminds me of Jet Grind Radio a little.
We played DeBlob
last night. It's super fun to jump around and paint a city. Reminds me of Jet Grind Radio a little. 
We just watched Helvetica
last night. There are some really great quotes in there. Lots of love and hate for the ubiquitous font. Holy crap I just spelt ubiquitous correctly? Amazing. 
I just started The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears
this morning. Bookclub is Saturday... doh. 
Here Comes Everybody
has a really interesting take on the open source movement. Unlike traditional business, people can rapidly try and fail every possible type of idea. Although the norm is abandonware, the outlyers are huge hits and change the world. These ideas would often be non-starters in traditional corporations.
Here Comes Everybody
is making me wonder... How can we amateurize the profession of programming? What are the missing tools and practises, which would lower the barrier even further to causal programming? Which practises, which the pros do (say configuration management/version control), could be instatutionalized into tools and social norms. What would that runtime look like? The language? Wiki + github + JavaScript + Browser + local and remote Web Servers + simple social IDE 
From JavaScript The Good Parts:
If you want to learn more about the bad parts and how to use them badly, consult any other JavaScript book.
Woo hoo! Just got some books in the mail. Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations
Aaron and Valarie had us over last night for Wii Rock Band.
It's super fun. Singing Roam from B52s totally destroyed my through! I ended my singing career on a good song, Bon Jovi Dead or Alive 
We just watched An Ice Cream Show.
Although it is a little old, it is totally worth watching. Warning: You will have to go to Molly Moon after watching this. 
Patty recommended Water for Elephants: A Novel
and it's freaking awesome. Hobos, the depression, and circuses oh my. Lots of research went into this book. Every chapter has a photo before it. So far ... So good. 
because it's all about the Pimsleur Spanish I
baby. New plan, work in garden in morning for 30 minutes and work through Spanish language CD ROM audio program. 
I finished About Face 3
on my flight back from Paris. This book is a must read for any frontend developer, designer, or manager. A good survey of the landscape and a huge list of prinicipals, some opionion, but many pragmatic and time tested.
Packing About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design
into my douffle bag. How could a vacation get any funner? I am lucky Patty is a nerd too. 
Picked up Pimsleur Complete French
Volume 1a at the library today. Mike at work recommended this series. 
We just played Mario Kart
with Valerie and Aaron, as well as a round of doubles Tennis and bowling. Good times. 
LSystems are fun. I've been plugging the examples from The Computational Beauty of Nature: Computer Explorations of Fractals, Chaos, Complex Systems, and Adaptation
into JavaScript and using the canvas HTML tag to draw them. Go turtle graphics go!
I picked up a copy of The Computational Beauty of Nature: Computer Explorations of Fractals, Chaos, Complex Systems, and Adaptation
Steve let me borrow Paul Bowles's The Boy Who Set The Fire.
It is a really good set of short stories. First three were funny and stimulating. 
Yawn. I think I am getting to old for drama/horror movies. No Country for Old Men
is okay. You can create any work with film in 2008. Why make a Cormic McCarthy book into a movie? 
Reading about particle systems in Processing A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists
Also I didn't know the had an interview with the author of the"Waking Life" Rotoshop software. 
Page 169 " The Trama of Everyday Life
" come on Norman! Buck up little guy. There are worse things in life, like a US torture ship.
So Everyday Tasks
are boring and are heavily automated by our subconscious. Once we reduce friction and lower cognitive load in a UI, were can hope to strive to have a 'boring' experience to the user which they are able to accomplish while on auto pilot. Tasks with few choices, or many choses both few further steps. Tasks which guide and prevent errors. 
Lion Kimbro turned me onto this book a year ago. Visual Language: Global Communication for the 21st Century
is well worth reading. I think it is out of print. Was thinking about it in regards to "Back of the Napkin" book. They both try to establish a framework for visual comm, but I feel that Horn's is more honest and academic while Dan Roam's is more pragmatic and salesy 
Setting up Wii Friends codes
with my neighbor his practically impossible. I guess they are trying to protect the kids, but it is a pain in the neck. 
So I guess drinking a beer while doing my Wii Fit
workout is kind of wrong. But leg lunges are so much tastier. 
I just watched The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures
and it was ... 
I just read The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide: Five Complete Novels and One Story Deluxe Edition
it was ... 
I just watched Warner Brothers Golden Jubilee 24 Karat Collection Road Runner Vs. Wile E. Coyote: The Classic Chase
it was ...
The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures
is a fast read. I think it has some really useful techniques situated in a bunch of business writing. I glazed over the biz stuff. I highly recommend it. It also has a good biliography of many books we've read or intend to read.
In fact why am I doing laundry and coding with this unopened Mario Kart
just sitting there...
In fact why am I doing laundry and coding with this unopened Mario Kart
just sitting there...
In fact why am I doing laundry and coding with this unopened Mario Kart
just sitting there...
In fact why am I doing laundry and coding with this unopened Mario Kart
just sitting there...
Picked up Mario Kart
on our ride home. Ethan gave me his Wii number, can't wait to hook that up after I get my chops up.
Picked up Mario Kart
on our ride home. Ethan gave me his Wii number, can't wait to hook that up after I get my chops up. 
page 148 of Sunset Western Landscaping Book
has some good fense tips. I am trying to decide on best way to structure the frame of my gates.
page 148 of Sunset Western Landscaping Book
has some good fense tips. I am trying to decide on best way to structure the frame of my gates. 
I should be outside building some gates instead of inside playing with Ruby.
Just 10 more inutes...
I just watched Warner Brothers Golden Jubilee 24 Karat Collection Road Runner Vs. Wile E. Coyote: The Classic Chase
it was ... 
I read The Road
last week. It is a quick read. It is really dark and minimal, but worth sticking with. 
Aaron and Valerie say we should watch Battlestar Galactica.
We'll have to put it into the netflix queue.
The main reason we picked up a Wii this weekend was because of Wii Fit.
I just picked it up. Tonight should be fun.
Using Ruby
for writing a shell script is soo easy. The backtick syntax rules the school.
We bought a Wii
this morning at Fred Meyer in Greenwood. They had 7 on the shelf. Boo ya. Did yard work all day, so we haven't played with it yet. Patty has too much homework tonight to Wii it up. 
Patty is watching The Pursuit of Excellence: Synchronized Swimming.
Man these girls ( and boy ) are crazy for the competitive 'synchro'. Nice egg beaters! 
Patty's watching American Experience: FDR.
He was a pretty bad ass president and one of only 6 cyborgs to reach the Federal level ( sharing this honor with Lincoln the other part sulky man sulky machine ). 
Seinfeld
in the background while I'm hacking on a project. It's replaced white-noise, that show.
Seinfeld
in the background while I'm hacking on a project. It's replaced white-noise, that show.
Seinfeld
in the background while I'm hacking on a project. It's replaced white-noise, that show. 
