February 25, 2005
Success
So, in a previous post, I mentioned that I thought the world, or at least the business world, was all about "getting things done".
I often wonder what skills I would try to instill in my children to give them a head start to a better life. And yes, at the moment, I'm using the capitalist meaning of "better life". And yes, I agree that this may not actually BE a better life. However, I figure if you can make tones of $$, then you can go make a better life however you see fit. It's a hell of a lot harder to do when you're poor. Anyways, I digress.
So, how do you "get things done" in the business world. It's all about producing things that people want. It could be a physical object, or something meta-physical, like an idea, that you are creating. Either way, you still have to produce something to trade with people.
I propose that producing/creating something, at it's root, is the ability to combine existing things.
At my job, I combine existing software components together. I also make brand new software components by combining lower level software components into something coherent.
The automotive or building industries combine existing components into new, value-added objects. If a new component is "invented", it's always created from existing sub-components.
It holds true for ideas as well. A good manager excels at finding employees (components) and assembling them so that they produce things.
A scholar combines existing ideas to form new ones.
In the words of U2 "every artist is a thief". They steal existing ideas and combine them into something new.
So, if I want my kids to be successful, I guess I need to help them improve their ability to combine things. I need to help them deal with complexity, because there are a hell of a lot of combinations in this world. I also need to figure out how to teach them to filter out certain combinations that will obviously not work.
Promoting curiosity and experimentation seems to be the logical solution to this problem. Anything more specific?
The rich people of this world are the ones that see the interesting combinations that other people do not.
Week in Pictures
MSN runs a Week in Pictures article that often has some pretty cool photos worth checking out.
February 24, 2005
Switzerland
Damn, I think I want to visit Switzerland! These pictures look awesome!
Thought these pics were a little happier than the last post ;)
February 23, 2005
Waves
Man, the photos from the couple that died in the Tsunami are pretty crazy!
LB, thanks for not choosing Tailand...phewf!!
Interactive Webapps
Alert: Geek speak ahead...
Alright, so I just read this article about AJAX. I'm afraid the article wasn't as good as I was hoping, but what can you expect from something linked to by slashdot ;)
Anyway, AJAX isn't a technology, it's just a stupid acronym for a set of technologies that can be used to make a webpage look a lot more interactive. Think Gmail, or Google Maps style, where the page content changes as you type. For example, Google can give you suggested keywords on the fly based on what you've been typing.
The priciple is that you serve the main page to the client. Then, using javascript, you send and XML document back to the server when the user performs an activity you are interested in (ie: typing in a text box). The server, processes the document, and creates an xml response that it sends back to the client. The client then uses javascript to dynamically modify the webpage content with the new information.
In theory, this is a cool idea. However, in practice, it's crap for one major reason...JAVASCRIPT. Javascript blows goats people! One of my previous employers bought a datagrid to display dynamic data on their webapps. They wanted to use something that looked and worked as much like excel as possible. The grid was kinda cool when it worked, but do anything fancy and you'll have javascript debug statements coming out of your ass for days! The other problem is that the damn thing only works properly in IE...who the hell uses IE anymore anyway?! ;)
So, here's what I say about this "technology". Asynchronous communication with the server is a cool idea. However, it relies on Javascript, which is shit. Once they make a client side scripting language that is completely standardized, supported by all browsers, and has good tools for visual debugging, then come talk to me. Otherwise, I say screw it!
Scott is sticking with HTML forms, or a flash front end (which now supports webservices).
February 22, 2005
Crazy Times
OK, here's the update on what's been going down:
1. Friday and Saturday I cleaned our stove like a mofo. Good times...S.O.S pads are my friend
2. Saturday we had a garage sale. Not too many people came by, but the weather was awesome!
3. Bailed early on the sale to get my RRSP's sorted out. I've got a balanced portfolio now...woot! TD makes you take a risk assessment test. You have to keep your portfolio within your risk level, or they start to freak. They freaked last time I bought stuff ;)
4. Sunday was my big move day. Picked up Petter at 9. Grabbed the 1 ton, and loaded that bad boy up. Parv came by, and we dumped all my crap in White Rock. Nice work lads!
5. Monday morning/afternoon was spent officially accepting my new job...woot! I start the new job March 9th. It's in yale town. If you want more details, let me know. I'm not gonna get fired for blogging about my company like that dumbass from Google! I was hoping to get sent to New York for training, but apparently there are now enough people for the trainers to come up to Van...boo!! :P
6. Last night was my first night back home. My room's a friggin' mess, so I gotta clean that up. I've also got to get my office at my Dad's place in order. The bus ride went pretty well this morning. Caught it at 7:50, got in at 9:05. Good for sleeping :)
That's what's goin' down in Scottland. Peace people.
February 17, 2005
Paint
OK, here's my newest link.
Kinda cool flash app to keep you entertained!
February 15, 2005
Block Rockin' Beats
Damn I love Surrey!!
So, a buddy of mine pointed me towards this story.
Damn it's funny! It seems that Surrey is where it's at for Indian Rock stars! It makes me so proud to be moving back home to the old hood! :P
February 14, 2005
Keep the Change
Alright, so think way back to the start of summer 2002...
Things were great back then. I had just graduated. A certain telephone company had promised me a job for crazy money. I was going to Japan. I was crazy poor from the last 5 years of school.
Anyway, I got back from Japan, and said telephone company decided they couldn't afford to hire me. Hmm...that sucks! Well, good 'ol Scott had to dig deep! He rolled ALL the change he had gathered over the last 5 years, cashed it in, and promptly went to futureshop to buy Need For Speed: Porche Unleashed, and a racing wheel and gas petal! Hey, a guy's gotta pass those unemployed nice summer days somehow! ;)
Anyway, I've been collecting change since then. Not wanting to pack that crap around, I went to the Safeway and used their change counting machine. Cha-ching! Scotto is $84.14 richer baby! Well, minus the service charges...but hey, now I can afford all those valentines presents ;)
PS back in '02, the very day I was to start my student painting career to pay the bills, I got a real job...phewf!
PPS not that sudent painting isn't a real job! Just thought I'd cover my ass incase Jules is reading this! :P
V-Day
Alright guys, it's almost dinner, what do you want from the menu?
February 09, 2005
Google Maps
OK guys, first geeky post coming up! Well, actually, I guess that's a matter of opinion...
Anyway, I was just checking out the new Google Maps site. All I gotta say is "Holly Crap, MapQuest is SO screwed!!
As soon as I saw it, the geek in me was floored...how the hell did they do that! It's very quick to load, and extremely smooth when dragging the map or zooming in and out. Sure, there's a couple times I noticed a grid panel not appearing, but I'll forgive that for the beta version.
Being a user of the system also kicks ass. I can drag over to vancouver and zoom into downtown. Search for pizza gives the location of all the local pizza joints. Search for Hooter's gives the restaurant...and other "establishments" ;)
What more could a guy ask for?!
It is apparently supposed to work in IE and Firefox/Mozilla. Opera support would be sweet, but even without, I'm never using MapQuest again!
PS
Doing some further investigation. Some on slashdot mentioned they liked a href="http://www.ca.map24.com/". I checked it out and thought it was amusing that they have a partnership with google:
Due to the new cooperation between Google, Inc, and Mapsolute GmbH, maker of the unique mapping portal Map24.com, it is now possible to search for city maps in all European Google search engines. If you enter a city name into Google.co.uk, the first result list entry is a special link to Map24.com that brings up the corresponding city map. On the result page, for sure, the full set of the rich Map24 options is available to the users.
Personally, after trying map24, I think it's shite...
February 04, 2005
Go Germany!
Um...WTF? Get a load of this story
Unemployed women in Germany can now be forced to work in the "sexual services" industry, or run the risk of loosing their unemployment benefits.
February 02, 2005
To boldly go nowhere
Well guys, so much for Star Trek: Enterprise!
Word is that Enterprise just got cancelled.
Yeah, yeah, big surprise! Considering I lost interest before xmas and haven't watched an episode since...I'm not surprised. However, it's kinda hard to watch on it's Friday night timeslot. Although, I can't even find the motivation to download the new ones.
Anywho...
Some News
So, I love this story.
Three girls steal chocolate bars from a gas station.
RCMP are seeking the third suspect, who was heavy-set and wearing black clothing.
Well, I found the motivation...Jabba the Hut obviously sat on the other two until they agreed to steal the chocolate ;)
However, I much prefer this theory for the motivation:
Asked if hormones could be a factor in the gas-station robbery, Lemaitre noted that his wife likes chocolate.
"I don't want to answer that one."
A possible explanation may come from academia.
"There is some credence to the idea that there is an addictive component to chocolate," said University of B.C. biochemistry professor Roger Brownsey. "It's not too far-fetched to think it could become a central thought in your life."
God I love academia...
Cell Phones
Ha! No wonder driving through Richmond is a lot like driving through White Rock!! A 20 year old drives like a 70 year old when talking on a cell phone