So as I’m sitting here trying to figure out if I have to go to school tomorrow, or if I can put in a full eight at work, my roommate tells me an awesome story. He knows someone who believes the world will end in 2012. Now, at first I pass this off as the regular old spiritual BS, but this friend has details! Continue reading
I guess I’m obligated to make the typical post-DEFCON post. I don’t have anything terribly witty or profound to say, so instead, I’ll just post the relavent Twitter posts and allow you to piece together the trip yourself. Continue reading
If there is any day of the year I am socially allowed to wax rhapsodic about the phenomena contained within my character, it is today. You see, some time ago, on this day, I was born.
It is an interesting social convention to celebrate this event, which has no biological significance, especially because today has no real association with that day except for, by an act of providence, to have the same markings on a particular calendar. Due to the peculiarities of our “modern” Gregorian calendar, there have actually been 27 years, 7 days and 13 seconds (if you consider a year to be a 365-day period, and a day to be 86,400 seconds) between that point and the same time today. On a purely celestial scale, the Earth has orbited the sun 27 times plus about 7/100 of a degree, while the Moon has waxed and waned almost 334 times, or 27.8299 lunar years. Continue reading
Late at night, while filtering the whole of the Internet through my fingers, I’ve identified a disturbing trend among those who would call themselves “roboticists” or “hardware hackers”. Its a trend that, I believe, will soon bring about the end of the casual EE. Continue reading
If you haven’t been living under a rock, and are a reasonably informed person, you’ve been watching the news thats been exiting Iran during this “period of turmoil.” Aside from the obvious Democracy vs. Theocracy and Secular vs. Orthodox debates this country’s media seems to stir up at every possibility, there are two outcomes we can already see that interest me, and not in a political or religious way. Continue reading
One of my favorite Internet pastimes is reading amateur short fiction. There are several writing sites around that let prospective authors find an inexpensive audience for their work. Someday I might be talented enough to write something both significant and meaningful, but for the time being, I can criticize those who are. Continue reading
As an Electrical Engineer, much of your time is spent pouring over datasheets from various companies, learning the specs of their various offerings. Over time, as you get more and more familiar with these products, these companies develop a certain personality, and you start thinking of them as living organisms instead of faceless companies.
To help with this transition, here is the “If EE manufacturers were past girlfriends…” Continue reading
I left the private sector in a large part because I was sick of writing code, it is ironic, although in hindsight, not surprising, that I am still surrounded by it. This situation has turned me mildly retrospective, and I’ve been trying to figure out when it was I finally got, I mean really, natively, understood pointers. Continue reading
I’ve long been a fan of documentation, it was one of my favorite roles at Data Doctors, and no matter what employment I find, it seems I’m always documenting some procedure or standard. Documentation allows me to exercise both my interest in writing, and my OCD tendencies at the same time.
However, I came to a startling revelation today, and that is that documentation is, 90% of the time, worthless. Continue reading