Monthly Archives: October 2008

The Next Big Thing: Music

Posted on by

Here’s the next thing that’s going to destroy my left wrist, apart from the drums and the keyboard (the computer variety… although… if I found a piano somewhere…).

I stepped into Samuel Music, with the intention of try out some Fender Stratocasters. That’s it. Just try them out. I went straight for the electronic guitar section.

There it was. The Fender Stratocaster Standard, as well as the HHS version, with the hot humbuckler action. The manager of the store was super nice to me, demoing me the guitar with his crazy finger work. I got to hear the difference between the rosewood and the maple, as well as the Standard and the HHS. Also, I got to hear what a tube amp sounded like, and how much I’ve been missing out with my 15W practice amps.

The deal was 10% off, and this was still cheaper than Internet prices. I would have to deal with shipping and handling with the Tubes, and returns would be a hassle. Plus, the fact that they do two yearly checkups for phree… made me quite happy. Fender has a lifetime warranty on their stuff (minus Squires)? Sign me up.

In the end, I bought the Standard (this model), with the biting sound with that 3rd single-coil pickup that makes the Strat so unique. The maple neck only makes the classic even more classic-er. Sweet.

At this point, I’m still a little confused at the dials and the 5-position blade switch, as well as how I’m going to get as much juice as I can out of the 15W speakers… without going crazy and buying tube amps.

So is this the next big thing? (I haven’t said “world’s”.) The next hobby? I have another post on what’s been flawed with the ways I’ve been setting my goals, and how I let the things out of my control get the best of me, and not how the things out of my control have gotten the best of me.

Regardless, I ended up with a guitar that looks extremely close to… the Rock Band guitar. I really wanted a red one, but they didn’t have the maple neck. I totally did not mean for this to happen. Is there some kind of subconscious process that got me to this point?

IMG_0004

As with a lot of things, Rock Band and the whole music genre of video games have affected me greatly. It’s almost akin to how I believe violent people tend to play violent video games; From the beginning, I wanted to play the guitar and the drums better. This game only furthered my appreciation for music.

But enough about this blogging business, and let me go rock. For realz.

When’s that Ion Drum Rocker review? Um… worth the $300. Done. Oh, for pictures, go to:

DSC08479

I also have a quick tour of the apartment. Enjoy.

A 3 Minute Cleansing Run

Posted on by

Needed to clear my mind. So I ran around a couple blocks in this 49 degree Fahrenheit weather.

It’s 2:35 AM. What the heck am I doing?

Oh, that’s right, I’m coding. Or at least, trying to wrap my head around all facets of the business development project that is HanMeta.

I guess it is more or less a project update, powered by the blood rushing through my body after a very very quick run through the neighborhood (which, by the way, I shouldn’t be doing because my legs are currently on fire, but that story is for a health-related post).

Refinement of the software development process I’ve created is nearly complete. I’m sure I’m going to have to pick up things as I go along, but at least at this point, I can start on the making of something useful. This isn’t to say that what I’ve done up until this point (in this project and, in a larger scope, in this life) wasn’t towards something useful. Nay, it can only point to how much more awesome stuff I want to do from this point on. The foundations are important, but its significance truly shines through the fulfillment of the final goal.

Before I get a little too poetic, I’m learning more and more about the tools I need on the road to completion. I understand how to use git in a day-to-day setting. I know what programming/framework/database language I’ll be using. I’ve picked what server architecture I want to use to serve my projects. “I know, I know, I know.”

So far in the totality, I’ve learned that it’s very little about what you know in comparison to what you do with that knowledge. What good is a line on a resume… What good is four years at a school… What good is sitting through a sermon… if there is no actual test of what you know to be True.

It’s really about eating my own words. The stuff that I know and preach are being tested every waking moment these days… and I have to keep sticking to my guns.

What I know, what I believe, in life, people, work… Gotta bust it out with clarity and celerity.

Here’s to a less insane weekend? Maybe an even more insane one? Oof.

Man, this post could have been so good, but I feel kinda tired. Do I blow away a sleep cycle for this? sigh. Passion requires love. Love requires passion.

I Think 10.01 Deserves a Post?

Posted on by

Is This An Update?

I’m getting busy with so much stuff with FeedSt. As last post would suggest, I’m still very much stuck in the “process” phase. I feel like after I’m out of this swamp, I will actually be able to write something decent.

While that’s happening, I’m seeing how frustrated I am with Google Reader in general. I’m seeing why I wanted to do this project in the first place every time I open up Reader. I’m seeing features I want to implement left and right. The question is what is the most important… and what would make someone use FeedSt over Google’s fine RSS reader in the first place?

But, in any case, 10 days remain. I have no clue what that means, because I truly am my own project manager on this one… is 10.10 the day of the closed testing? Is that when I actually start coding?

Blog Posts

After pretty much loving MarsEdit, I have continued the long tradition of creating blank drafts of post ideas; I would just jot down the title, copy and paste a couple links here and write a couple paragraphs there. This is getting to the point where I may have to do a flush of random bits and pieces of posts and start over again.

There’s this post on where I want to take the blog… again. But this time, it’s another retrospective on how far I’ve come. I’ve still got that Ecto vs MarsEdit review (guess who won that one). Confluence… I’m still vexed enough at the code to want to write on it. Holy crap, the ION Drum Rocker… maybe after I get my 3rd cymbal? (No, I haven’t ordered it… yet.) “14.2857% Time”, “The Wart”, “How Braid Changed My Life”, blah blah blah.

So yes, will these get posted? Maybe when I find the FeedSt thing to be boring, I’ll go back to blogging. The reason why I’m blogging tonight is because of what happened with… yeah, if you read the post before this one, you’ll see why I’m trying to take my mind off of stuff.

Unfuddle vs Assembla: Git Support

Posted on by

Assembla seems to be having problems with their git service, and that’s too bad; now, I’m going to go use Unfuddle instead. The forums suggest that this has been an issue that started maybe a couple weeks ago. Of course, had I known this, I wouldn’t have spent the better part of yesterday and a couple hours today, banging my head against the wall.

I did, however, become much more well versed in the distributed source management system known as git. By the way, GitCasts is like the best thing to learn git from, I just hope that one day we’ll see all the commands that were used during the screencasts for easier consumption. Even as this project is going to most likely stay a solo venture, the saner branching/merging I keep hearing about makes my heart flutter.

But less about git, and more about the services that are providing git hosting: I liked Assembla because of their integration with Trac, one of my favorite bug tracking tools. I wasn’t familiar with Unfuddle’s or Assembla’s own milestone/scrum/chat/ticket system, and so I wanted to just keep using Trac. After tonight’s mess, I think I’m going to go and stick with Unfuddle for the time being and just try to start using their refreshingly different UI for all things project management. After all, I can move the entire repository with a single clone anyway.