Monthly Archives: July 2008

Idea Out Of Necessity: Moving Helper App

Posted on by

Since I’m moving in about a week, I started making a list of address I have to change. It’s becoming longer and longer, including:

  • Mailing Address (done): USPS
  • Financial: Chase (done), Chase Credit Card (done), Charles Schwab (done), FNBODirect (completed), HSBC (completed), Zecco (screw it, I’ll do this later), Paypal (done)
  • Work/Insurance Companies: Nessie (Oh dear lord, the illinois.edu change has made a mess… will do this later), Health, Dental, Vision
  • Online Stores: Amazon (done), Ebay (done), ThinkGeek (I like the catalogs…, completed)
  • Utilities (disconnected): Power (08.04), Water(08.04), Internet(07.30)
  • Etc: Gamefly (done), Wired

Note to self: (done) means the new address, (completed) means new new address.

There should be an app that does all of this for a one time fee. I’d pay for it. I actually will be moving again in three weeks, after my new lease starts at my new apartment. When that happens, I’m going to have to go through most of these sites again. Ugh.

I bet, though, this is going to be near impossible other than hacking through some of these sites because of the lack of an API, or completely impossible if a service doesn’t have an address change form available online. Never say never, though.

Sidenotes Galore

I was met with some of the worst and the best UI on the Internets while changing my addresses. Just a few sidenotes, for my reference and for yours.

  • Ebay Address Changing SUCKS: You have to type in the same information three times. There should be a “Change All”.
    • Registration address
    • Payment address
    • Primary shipping address: But this one is nice, because it matches up with your PayPal account
  • I still hate HSBC’s User Interface
    • Minor nuisance: I had to go into “Customer Service” to change my address, labeling wasn’t clear
  • Funding your Zecco account is still a pain. I’m going to continue to hold off on using a service with such a trashy money moving system.
  • Whoa. The USPS Address Change form restricts me from copying and pasting my confirmation email address. Makes sense. More sites need to do this (even though it’s annoying for me).
  • I love Mint. Just a few minor UI issues aside, it’s beautiful. I wonder if Mint is working on some glorified address changer. It’d make sense for them to do it, since they already have a universal login screen across multiple banks and financial institutions.
  • Amazon’s Address Book: There’s a confirmation page for removing an address, but there is no easy to access cancel button.

I've Been Waiting For This, Ever Since I Bought Josh Kim dot Org

Posted on by

It happened earlier, and I should have made a bigger deal about it last week when I found out, but finally. I am, the one.

I'm Number ONE! WOOOO!

Yeah, shut up. I see what #2 is linking too. It was a Twitterfest for a couple weeks before. That’s not happening again.

There are like a bazillion Josh Kim’s… and it’s not even my real name. I guess now, I have to keep posting more interesting and useful posts to keep that rank up.

Sidenote: I remember when Matt Mullenweg was ranked #1 for Google search string “Matt”. (Not anymore, it looks like that waste-of-time http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/ malarky is #1 now.) It’s not to say that I’d be going for the #1 for “Josh”, because Josh is not who I am… I’m Josh Kim.

Legend? Let’s give that one a rest.

iPhone 2.0 Troubles

Posted on by

I don’t think it’s Jott’s fault, but when I tried to turn on that app about an hour ago, this happened.

iPhone. WTF.

Okay, seriously. This post at 37signals sums a lot of my issues with the new iPhone OS. It’s definitely offset by the wonderful world of iPhone applications, but not by much. The core functionality of the iPhone was amazing at 1.0.

Time to Start

Posted on by

Sitting in front of my computer. 8 PM. I have the next 4 hours to rock out on any projects I would like.

Eyes hurting. Wrists burning. Ankles twitching. Whatever.

I really haven’t done a project in a while. It’s interesting to start up again.

Too many things swirl up in my mind. The biz hat. The dev hat. Do I have to wear both? I guess for a little while, I’m going to try and develop this thing on my own. It’ll be a good experience to see how much I know and how much more I don’t.

I have a large amount of past diagrams and outlines I’ve created, just for this moment. Months and months of planning. Just planning. No code. Just diagrams on napkins and dreams in my mind.

My skills in JavaScript is lacking, but I’ve already decided on jQuery as the library of choice. My skills in Ruby is lacking, but I’ve already decided on Rails as the choice (and even though I hear lovely things about Merb).

Stressing the Intro

I remember in high school, I was told to start with the body of the intro-body-conclusion style essays… That it helps somehow in the formation of the essay.

I could never do it that way. I had to just start. Start from the intro. Just start busting it out. Then an impromptu list would begin to form, out of thin air. I’d start formulating the arguments and throwing down the supporting points.

In that same way, I have to just start.

What’s really making me afraid is I’ve never written a book in this manner before. The fear is that I’ll be going down the wrong path.

No, I don’t want to hear about Rails not scaling. It’s not that at all. It’s the fact that this initial plan might somewhere along the line hamper the projects growth. The fact that, if I don’t position my first step correctly, I’ll sprain my ankle and miss out on the season to come.

But to run… even that marathon… I guess each step is a risk. All of life is a risk.

So suck it up. And be awesome instead.

Goals for tonight?

Start coding. Even one line will do. Just one. And then we’ll see where it goes from here.

Chances are, I’ll end up throwing that single line away anyway. Don’t think too much about the source management tool you’ll end up using, the bug tracking system you’ll end up working with, the browser incompatibility you’ll have to deal with…

Take a holistic approach. This is sometimes a problem of mine, and it applies for anything as big as this. I think that’s the way with a lot of people.

Sidenote: I have to understand that some of my weaknesses and downfalls are presented in the whole human race. I need to stop thinking that my problems are so much more important than others.

One line. Time to get cracking. Oh, that one line, and maybe a couple posts or something.

Blogging About the Blog AKA It's a SECOND POST of the day!

Posted on by

Without any fancy dates or loud rollouts, I’m just going to try and speak frankly about this blog.

Who’s the audience?

It’s kinda interesting how my tone has changed over the years. Wow. It’s been 6 years. I know this because I started that JKmain Journals site of mine in my senior year of high school. Anyway, I have yet to merge all of my previous posts and put it up online, but I’m almost hesitant to do it. This is due to the fact that back in those days, the audience was quite a bit different.

The audience was less than 10 people. I wasn’t really thinking at the time about writing posts that actually was any use to anyone else but the people that were involved in the events I was writing about. I still have the documenting photos of my spring break during senior year, in which a couple of the guys basically sat around and played video games at different people’s houses. Who else would be interested in the pictures and commentary? Heck, who would be interested in the commentary itself?

Indeed. The audience has changed. Now it’s become not only my friends, but the Internet savvy as well: The web developers to anyone who enjoys a good web applications now and then. At least, that’s what I say. In the end, if I ever decide to put up some commentary on Korean culture, the audience could grow to something more.

Heck, if Google ends up being the gateway to some of the more random content on the site, then it really shouldn’t matter all that much about who my general audience is. As long as I hit the core, I’ll probably be fine. Which isn’t to say that the web savvy won’t find this site through the Interwebs. Looks like the Xanga posts and the Fluid vs Prism post (Fluid still rocks, by the way… and I’ve been illegally messing around with Safari 4, and still, I like Fluid more in some ways…) are being visited quite often.

The point of this is that I just need to keep writing about things that will interest most core audience people, while at the same time writing about things that I care about. Ah, the balance. The extremeness in me doesn’t like balance.

Topics of Interest

Basically, look at the Categories of this site, and hopefully, you’ll get a feel for what I talk about here. And really, now that I think about it, those categories are indeed a pretty good overview of what I try to write on this blog. The Video Games category is going to get some loving, hopefully, if my wrists get any better.

I definitely want to start reviewing stuff I’ve bought and sold in the past. (Hopefully try to make some money off of affiliate links from Amazon or something, heh.)

More importantly though, I have to have an outlet for personal crap. I wonder if all that stuff should go somewhere else less public… I know of plenty of developers that keep their professional and personal blogs separate. I might have to think about that approach, seeing how I’m not really writing the personal posts to make any money off of contextual advertising. (Heck, I’m not really doing that right now, anyway…)

Other Projects?

Screencast. It’ll basically be on using web applications. Maybe Mac/iPhone applications. I’d like to have it be more UI centric than anything else. However, I need to name it. I need to make a schedule for it, maybe weekly.

As most of my readers know, I’ve started a company to start developing some web products. Pretty much, nothing has been seen on that front (to the public). I’ve done some client work here and there, but that wasn’t the point of the company. HanMeta was made so that I would focus on creating web properties. But yeah, I’ve been wanting to document that. Hopefully, the actual project will get started so I’ll have something to write about… basically a continuation of the last post that the category “HanMeta” had.

Oh look, the last post is talking about StatusFix. Heh.

A couple of other ideas are rolling in my mind, but really, I’m just starting to get back into the swing of things. Remember that last post? Yeap. FUEL. This post was basically fuel for the fuel.

“Fuel for the fuel for the fuel” post? Thankfully, I don’t and can’t go beyond two levels of meta-ness. It hurts my head to go that far.

You’ve just been meta’d. Wasn’t that fun?

Letting the Anger Simmer and Fuel TWNBT

Posted on by

It’s one of those posts, isn’t it?

You betcha. Josh Kim’s patented really-vague-for-everyone-else-but-to-the-point-for-those-that-it-applies-to post. I mean, I could have just as easily not made this public, but that just isn’t as fun.

What triggered it this time?

Certain memories have re-entered into the front of my mind. It’s pretty intriguing to see how they ended up there. Going into how they ended up there would reveal too much of whatever I’m talking about. (And to the tell you the truth, it’s just a lot of little things. Nothing like me running over someone with my car or anything.)

At this point, I’m wondering how much I can wonder. I’m questioning just how much more I can question. Won’t I ever get tired of this? The thing is, though, that questions borne new questions. But even more meta than that is the amazement at the number of CPU cycles I’m squandering at this ridiculous past.

But I must retain, at the same time, what needs to be retained while forgetting

I’m not learning to forgive: I’m just forgetting to remember. I’m losing this skill that I thought to be a gift.

Sidenote: I’m realizing that I no longer writing in questions. I’m writing in sentences, often starting with “I’m”. Hmm.

Pain was dealt to me. Pain was dealt to others. Unfairly or not, the pain exist. The fact is that there was and (if I can help it… or not… do I want closure?) will not be closure. I’m still not sure if it’s the lack of closure that’s bothering more or the fact that things didn’t end up anywhere close how I envisioned them to end up being.

Sidenote: At one point in my life, people mattered. They mattered so much that a lot of things were thrown out the window: Then reality set in. I became even more bitter than I was before.

Brought to you partially by: John Reuben’s “Time to Leave”

Be alert, pay attention

(One day) Even your friends will become the competition

Trust no one but do remember this, never burn any potential bridges

Know who’s who, and what they can do for you

And don’t feel bad cause’ in the end they’re gonna do it to you too

Remember life’s not fair

In order to maintain, your gonna have to let you sensitivity be trained

A machine more than a human being

What you say doesn’t always have to be what you mean

Tell them what they want to hear if it’s to your benefit

And words beyond closed doors are insignificant

Push yourself, never be satisfied

Even if you don’t get it, at least you died knowing you tried

Born, live, strive, succeed

Gain it all, bye, now it’s time to leave…

Now, all we see is now.

So lessons? Takeaways?

I’m still learning from it all. I’m learning that I have to start from square one, yet again, with people. I have to give it another chance. And I have a feeling I’m going to have to give them another chance again later down the line.

For some reason, my closest friends I do not regard as people. This statement was why I got into trouble in the first place. Being able to figure out who your friends are is an amazingly important trait that I thought I had. Too bad I had to learn it in such a harsh way.

To give without the thought of taking, and knowing full well that they will do the same. It’s amazing when two or more people meet with that in mind.

You’re yammering away. Back to the point.

Right. Point.

As I continue with HanMeta, a company that will have to deal with users of its products, I’ll try to look back to this said event with a very sober eye. It’s really hard, though, because people will be (hopefully) using the products. People.

If only my view on humanity didn’t die with my friendship with these people, things might be a little different.

This post has no structure, Josh Kim.

Yeah, I know. And I’m pretty sure I’m not even going to fix any grammatical or structural errors. I just had to write it down somewhere.

Is my hope that someone reads this and figures it out? Eh. I think the side of me that wants closure does. But the side that wants to go kill a whole bunch of people doesn’t. Heh. Fuel. I love it.

I need to find a purveyor of caffeine, so I can get cracking on this GadgetGet business. Or write a post. Or something.

Posting from the iPhone

Posted on by

Hmm. I definitely do not see myself blogging like this. I find the portrait keyboard extrermely annoying.

Defintely digging the photo integration. Also, the preview view is nice, too.

photo

Can I Blame The Lack of Tonight's Post on AT&T?

Posted on by

I swear, any amount of moisture in the air, and my DSL Internet explodes. I hate to say it, but I might have to go Comcast.

I blame AT&T for delaying TWNBT. In a very indirect manner, I guess.

I hope that this isn’t a copout post for this week, because that would be in poor taste. Let’s see what happens this week…