Channel Flip

I’ve been subscribed to the various Channel Flip channels for the past couple of weeks now and have to say I am impressed. What I really like is that each show is short and to the point. Makes for fun and fast viewing of information. Here is the current offering from Channel Flip in case you haven’t checked them out yet:

• Unwired - Mostly about gear and gadgets. Hosted by Wil Harris who is also driving force behind the Channel Flip network.
• Discus - A movie review site that is always entertaining to watch. Make sure to watch for the piggy-piggy-snack-snack segment at the end.
• Play:Digital - A great way to get quick highlights about current games on multiple platforms. One of my favorite sources of game news now.

House Warming Party

Josh and Suzanne are having a house warming party this coming weekend for those who would like to attend. Here are the details:

• Date: August 18th, 2007 (Saturday).
• Time: 2pm, food will be ready around 4pm.
• Location: Details can be found here.
• Food & Beverage: There will be chicken, brauts, cole slaw, chips and dip, pasta salad, beans, watermellon, various beverages, etc. Feel free to bring what you want as well.

Be prepared to get wet as there will be some water games in the pool. Hope you can make it, if you are in the Phoenix area, that is.

Summer BBQ

© Brian Chu

Kate and I are hosting a BBQ this coming weekend and you are invited! Be prepared to eat, drink, and enjoy the cool summer weather (hopefully it holds up). This event also serves as kind of send off party as I will be traveling to WordCamp in eight days (getting excited).

Here are the details:

• Date: 2007-7-14 (Saturday).
• Time: 12pm, food will be ready at 12:30pm.
• Location: Address info and map details will be e-mailed to those who comment to this post.
• Food & Beverage: We will be serving up a gourmet chicken sandwich with pasta salad, chips, cake, etc. Various forms of liquid included as well.

Feel to bring extra food and/or beverages if you like but you are definitely not required. Please sign up by leaving a comment to this post and mention how many will be in your party so we can prepare accordingly.

We hope you can make it!

Favorite Feeds

I thought it would be cool to share some of my favorite feeds even though I keep a complete Links of Interest list on my Archives page. The problem, however, is that when I update the list on that page I seldom point out the ones that really stand out even though I like all of them. Here is a highlight of the ones I find truly valuable (listed in no particular order):

1. Lifehacker - Teaches one how to get the most out of technology, complete with great how-tos.
2. Hansel Minutes - A weekly podcast dedicated to discussing technology.
3. The Micro ISV Show - An interesting podcast to listen to for those wishing to freelance or start their own business.
4. NPR’s Fresh Air - While I do not listen to all the of shows, I listen to quite a few. The podcasts consist of insightful interviews with celebrities, politicians, etc.
5. Open Culture - This has a great blend of interesting news, video, and podcasts where you can learn about languages, music, education, etc.
6. Web Tools Collection - This is an excellent feed to have if you are a WordPress theme/plug-in developer since most of the posts are technical in nature.
7. Lorelle on WordPress - A very educational feed for proper blogging practice and ediquette. Mostly WordPress related but very good for those who do not use WordPress.
8. Gigavox Media - One of the best podcast feeds around for the technical minded. The podcasts consist of technical conference recordings, latest technology trends, and discussion about technology.
9. Skype Garage - For Skype enthusiasts, this is a great feed to have as it contains news about software patches and major releases of the application complete with fix/enhancement details.

What about you? What are some of your favorite feeds?

Backward Chaining

I’d like to point out a new presence on the web: Backward Chaining. The site (cleverly named) is a Tumblelog of thoughts, ideas, discoveries, etc. by Brant Herbert.

Brant, for those who do not know him, is a talented and skilled software developer amongst other things that I have had the pleasure and honor of knowing for many years. Give his site a look and if you like it, subscribe.

Brant, welcome, its about time!

Interrupted Conversations

I am not sure about you but I miss the days when wireless technology did not interrupt every conversation. I liked it when I could walk up to someone and have a chat with hardly any interruptions.

Unfortunately, today anyone might have a wireless device connected to their belt, hidden in a purse, stashed somewhere in their pockets, etc. It is like a ticking time bomb waiting to go off at any minute. When it comes alive, it causes the person you are chatting with to get that funny twitch in the eye, their trigger happy hand searching for the device, eager to pick it up.

Actually, it is not so much technology that I dislike but the manners people have. For example, when having a conversation with another person their wireless device might start ringing/vibrating. The type of behavior I expect is to quickly silence the device but, no, they hold up the index finger (signing that I should wait while they handle the interruption) and start the new conversation. Where is the respect? Was I not talking to you first? Have you heard of a clever technology called voice mail?

This situation does not confine itself to one-on-one situations. It happens at the movies, grocery store, at the gym, etc. Even conference rooms. Now, one would think that when you are in a professional environment that you would leave your wireless device either at your desk or turned completely off. Nope. There are countless times when I have been in a meeting and several of the attendees have cell phones ringing or vibrating one or more times during the session. Generally, these interruptions are not business related. My guess is that 7 out of 10 times, it is family and friends.

Have we become so trained, like Pavlov’s dogs, to immediately reach for the device as soon at it comes alive? Beckoning to its every call? Drug addicts in need of our next instant fix? I certainly hope not but it does seem to be a part of our culture now.

As for me, I leave my cell phone on vibrate. If I am having a conversation with someone and either the desk or cell phone rings, or my instant chat or e-mail pops up then I ignore it. It can wait until I have finished with who I am talking with first.

If you get that nervous twitch to answer your phone before we have finished our conversation…I’ll walk away and you can read about why I acted the way I did when you get an e-mail with a link to this posting.

Holiday Vacation

I have not taken a break since I started my new job and while these past couple months have been exciting, challenging, and fun I have had little time to catch up on other things. I have been looking forward to the time off so that I can relax, entertain family (who will soon be arriving), do some personal development (programming), read, drink, snowboard, etc. I have also been secretly wishing for it to snow as I have not had a white Christmas since I was much younger. Now that I live in an environment where that is much more of a possibility, I might just get my wish. In fact, maybe I should be careful what I wish for. Turns out that on my first day of vacation, we get hit by a blizzard. Here is a Doppler radar snapshot taken from the Weather Channel:

Even the Gazette is reporting that we are being clobbered.

Here are a few pictures from where I am at:

I love it! Although, I’m sure there are some that will not share my enthusiasm.

Planet OTI

I discovered that a Planet OTI web site exists which is basically an aggregation of blog feeds from a handful of ex-OTI’ers. My guess is that Patrick Mueller was the wizard behind the curtain who brought this site to life. The site is being powered by Planet software.

OTI, stands for Object Technology Incorporated. It was a small software development company (approximately 300 people) that at one time spanned roughly five countries: Canada, United States, Switzerland, Australia, and the Netherlands. The company began it’s life by crafting Integrated Developer Environments (IDEs) for the SmallTalk programming language. Eventually it switched to the Java programming language and was later bought out by IBM and assimilated. OTI’s greatest claim to fame is probably the J9 technology which is now the IBM’s Java Virtual Machine (JVM) of choice.

While OTI no longer exists, it is nice being able to catch up on the activities of some of the people that I used to work with.

Kate Jonuska

I am happy to announce the launch of www.katejonuska.com today. This will be Kate’s official and professional web presence for all work that she is doing. Included on the site is her resume, portfolio, and book reviews.

Technical support for her web page was provided by yours truly using WordPress.

Colorado Skiing

It is not even winter yet and I’m already looking forward to the skiing possibilities and some ski pass packages. To name a few resorts:

• Beaver Creek
• Breckenridge
• Aspen
• Copper Mountain
• Steamboat
• Eldora
• Keystone
• Purgatory
• Telluride
• Vail
• Winter Park
• Crested Butte
• Wolf Creek

For complete info, check out the Colorado Ski Country web site.