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I'm Leaving (InstantSpot)

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:39:00 GMT

Seems like an easy decision, right? I mean, it's just web application, right? It's not. I mean, it is just a web app, but it wasn't an easy decision. The evil geniuses behind InstantSpot have been really good to me and, frankly, it's just so damn easy to get started and to be productive. It took me a while to decide that I wanted to take on that burden myself. But I do. More on my reasons for leaving can be found at robwilkerson.org, but the reason for this post is to talk about what's next.

Don't Eat Leftover Sushi. Just Don't

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 22:19:00 GMT

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you don't want the details. Just consider this my little gift to you. I'm only trying to help.

xkcd Kills Me. Absolutely Kills Me.

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:52:00 GMT

xkcd offers a perspective that, at a glance, appears quirky and offbeat. About the time you finish reading, though, you realize that it's just so...on the nose. More than once I've been tempted to don the tin foil chapeau just to keep the author out of my head.

If you're not a subscriber, you're seriously missing out.

Grey's Law

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 01:26:00 GMT

Today, in the course of doing twelve other things, I happened onto a reference to Grey's Law which states that, " Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice."

I wish I'd say that.

First Time Reader, Last Time Reader

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 18:12:00 GMT

I try to avoid reference posts, but the ex-paratrooper (peacetime) in me was struck by this. Articulating your own death must be an incredibly difficult thing to do on many levels. MAJ Andrew Olmsted did a hell of a job. I wish I'd known about his writing sooner.

Geaux Tigers

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 13:09:00 GMT

As an LSU alum, I'm an LSU fan (of course). There's nothing cooler than showing up to class on a Thursday morning during football season, parking in the shadow of Death Valley and right next to an RV (one of many) that's already started tailgating for the game on Saturday. Great atmosphere, great school and great people. I wish I could've been there last night.

Send a Refreshingly Anti-Hallmark-ian Sentiment

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Whenever possible and appropriate, I prefer to say what I mean, but with respect to special occasions, Hallmark makes that so damn difficult with their cheesy cards, their sappy cards and their staggeringly unfunny attempts at humor. I detest the process of shopping for cards because I know walking out the door that I won't find anything I like. For me, card shopping is an exercise that indulges mediocrity; the attempt to find one that's "good enough" because I know that's the best i can do. And, by "good enough" I mostly mean one-I-wouldn't-feel-sickeningly-embarrassed-to-have-read-aloud-in-a-public-gathering.

These eCards, however, genuinely make me smile (and sometimes laugh out loud). I think - or naively choose to believe - that my honesty is respected and appreciated by those I love, those I like and those whose milestone occasions I feel uncomfortably obligated to acknowledge. Really.

Oh, Bobby. Bobby, Bobby, Bobby...

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 12:52:00 GMT

I'm not an Atlanta resident, I'm not a Falcons fan and I don't play either on TV. In terms of football, I sit way outside this particular fray and find it immensely entertaining and funny bordering on hysterical. As a human and an adult, though, I can't seem to help but be a little appalled.

Look, I don't blame a guy from leaving one job for another if it's what he really wants to do. I really don't. Go forth and prosper. Maybe I'm sorry to see him go, maybe I'm not, but it's hard to blame a guy for chasing a dream as long as he's not maliciously scarring anyone in that deep down, emotional sense. That said...

How 'bout not lying to faces of the people that committed to paying you millions of dollars, the fans who are trying to love you and the men you're supposed to be leading?
More importantly, how 'bout at least finishing the freaking season? Seriously. There's 3 games left.

In short, where did that fundamental sense of right get lost? Since I'm on the soapbox, let me leave you with one of the most poignant lines I've read about this so far. From Pat Forde's column on ESPN.com:

"The good news for Arkansas is that it might be the last school willing to give this guy anything more than what he deserves: a one-year contract and a monitoring device on his ankle."

Double Wide Gmail?

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 11:51:00 GMT

I sat down in front of GMail this morning to compose a message to the CF-Talk mailing list and I had this vague sensation that something was amiss. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I honestly didn't think too much about it. After a minute or two, though, I think my neck started getting tired and it hit me. GMail's message composition window is no longer constrained. I've been turning my head to see what I'm typing. Although I've gotten used to it, I suppose, I always hated the wasted real estate that could've been used to keep the vertical scroll within a message to a minimum. As far as I could tell, there was no reason for the width to be constrained (ad space, perhaps?), it just was. Maybe not any more.

Anyone Using Wesabe?

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:14:00 GMT

I don't know where I've been hiding, but I only heard about Wesabe a few days ago and it looks really interesting. I don't know much right now. Hell, I know anything (or damn close to it). I don't even know how long they've been around.

Any input or experience would be appreciated. I'm thinking about giving it a try...

Code Monkey not Crazy, Just Proud

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 13:30:00 GMT

A friend sent me the URI to this video clip a while back and, in spite of the "boring manager Rob" part, it made me laugh. Loud. It's work-safe, but for maximum amusement, I recommend turning the volume up. If you still can't quite catch all of it, read the lyrics.

It's Pi Day (Put Your Party Hat On)

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 13:58:00 GMT

Todd Sharp just posted an entry on about the existence of Pi Day. Surprisingly not on the list of US Federal Holidays, but still. Get it? 3/14 -> 3.14? Yeah, me either. I mean I get it, but I don't get it. Even from a geek, saying anything at all just seems so anticlimactic.

OS X Death Ball

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 15:16:00 GMT

After a long morning of constant scowling while trying to write "performant" SQL against several tables containing hundreds of millions of records, I followed a feed link to this.

New TiVo Service

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 23:10:00 GMT

Look, I was an early adopter of TiVo having received my first on Christmas morning, 2000. I was happy - ecstatic - to be able to pause when I needed to take a leak, rewind when a particularly amusing Super Bowl commercial was played and let someone (ahem, something) else worry about whether a show I wanted to record was changing time slots.

That is, until I could exercise my broadband connection and save my phone line and the hours of interminable download time it took to receive updates. Then I was happy.

Prologue

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 21:58:00 GMT

So here I am. I've been fighting this for a long time now. I don't know why. I really don't. Probably laziness, really. Maybe I just didn't want to feel obliged to utter the phrase "blogsphere". And now I have. I'll endeavor to never do so again.