heatxsink.com

I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.

Bill Cosby

A successful tool is one that was used to do something undreamt of by its author.

Stephen C. Johnson

I wonder if Jack Bauer uncovered this tunnel from TJ to a warehouse in Otay Mesa, California.

Windows Presentation Foundation, formerly codenamed Avalon, WPF for short is absolutely breathtaking. Although I could argue that I had no breath left, cause I've already seen all of this in OSX...3 years ago! There is an application under development, code named Sparkle, and completely implemented in managed code and WPF. It should, if used properly change the landscape of how proper UI design and feedback are tackled in a primarily developer geared environment. Sparkle definitely melds the developer and designer world together, and will probably make the designer, NOT just a photoshop artsy guy tucked away in the corner that JUST does the company website in FrontPage. Check out the video to understand WHY this is SO awesome. I'm sure Merc is going to shit his pants.

What does it take to innovate? I think it's that outside of the box thinking, that makes real innovation. Check out slide. They also have desktop clients (Windows and OSX) that do the same functionality as this flash web app, plus a little more.



If you have the time you should also check out the Yahoo! Widget Engine. This is an awesome extension of your boring Windows desktop. This is technology that Yahoo! acquired, was the same company that created the widget engine for OSX Panther, before of course Apple went and implemented their own Dashboard feature in Tiger. Still cool stuff, and it looks like the idea behind Widgets will be around for awhile now that it's multi-platform.

Google is literally giving the finger to the Feds! I love it. Give it to them. I am screaming conspiracy theory. I mean Microsoft would love to figure out just how Google indexes their information, which is competitive sensitive information. Didn't Balmer also state that Microsoft was going to kill Google? Now if you're Microsoft, wouldn't it be cool to bribe <insert your political figure here> to get Google to submit some of their index publically? It is a conspiracy theory, but remember Microsoft isn't a monopoly...right? You've gotta read this article to understand what I'm talking about!

If you thought Strongdbad was funny in making his own techno song, this is even worse!

So Joel On Software has published an article that I really have to agree with. I think there's a huge amount of script kiddies out there that just cannot function when things get REALLY hard...if things like pointer manipulation and recurrsion aren't learned.Excerpt from Joel on Software's blog post:

You used to start out in college with a course in data structures, with linked lists and hash tables and whatnot, with extensive use of pointers. Those courses were often used as weedout courses: they were so hard that anyone that couldn't handle the mental challenge of a CS degree would give up, which was a good thing, because if you thought pointers are hard, wait until you try to prove things about fixed point theory.

Just as I arrived to college and Java was barely starting to get some steam, Cal Poly Pomona switched to teaching the intro classes in Java vs. Ada. I found that rather odd at the time, but I was very fortunate to have gotten my C programming "shock" from the Electrical and Computer Engineering department. Unfortunately I don't know what kind of crack they are smoking but they are now teaching the Intro to Programming and Data Structures classes with C#.

All the kids who did great in high school writing pong games in BASIC for their Apple II would get to college, take CompSci 101, a data structures course, and when they hit the pointers business their brains would just totally explode, and the next thing you knew, they were majoring in Political Science because law school seemed like a better idea. I've seen all kinds of figures for drop-out rates in CS and they're usually between 40% and 70%. The universities tend to see this as a waste; I think it's just a necessary culling of the people who aren't going to be happy or successful in programming careers.

With the excerpt above the same could be applied to all of those VB Script people now turned C# .NET evangelists out there. I remember programming in BASIC on my Commadore 64 and 128! It was awesome, but nothing compared to my first Intro to C Programming class, and Data Structures classes in college. I think there is a lot to blame on these Universities wanting to process as many alumni as possible. So the last time I checked "higher education" does not equate to just any old education. It becomes more of a business than anything else, and what in the huge scheme of this is sacrificed? The students! The very thing these professors, should be there for! End Rant. Keep up the good work Joel!

How long has it taken to finally revolt against Murdoch's nazi ownership of MySpace? Hello people! He's in it to make money, and that means he has to recognize competiton. Which means using tatics in which don't allow for advertisement of competitors on a website. Think about it, you own some kind of retail shop, would you make pamplets about your competitors and with each purchase or people walking by your store you hand out these pamplets for free? That wouldn't make sense right?

I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate.

George Burns

I am SO very glad that I don't own a greater than 40" HDTV set in my living room so I can see the sweat dripping from, or should I say the tears falling from the USC football team! HIlarious, their quarterback stuck around this year solely to get another national title for the Trojans. He should've went pro! Go Longhorns!

So, I've noticed a few things about my life, mostly pattens in it thus far. When really strange/weird feelings go through my head and there's any kind of doubt, I see these really weird signs. Now granted this could all be random, and/or I could just be more easily LOOKING for a sign. So here's the story about this particular sign.... So I'm meeting up with a friend of mine for lunch. I get to the place, park my car. I'm walking through the parking lot, then I hear this "clink sound." Immediately I think I kicked something, I look down and it's a silver ring. Normally I would just not pick it up, but it was silver, and I thought it might be worth something. So I pick it up, I examine the ring. On the ring it's printed with, Fear Not on the outside band of the ring. I'm like alright, so I won't Fear anymore. I think I've blogged before about situations like this. This particular incident has to be THE most bizzare.



The ring...



A cool place I've been sitting near this evening.

With all of this rain, in northern california. I think this image is very appropriate.

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.

Walt Disney