Categories
Life

The Power of Bach

Nothing like some good Bach chorales to get your out of a funk.

I’ve had music as a major part of my life for a long time, but recently I have been putting it a little farther behind me in some ways. I’ve tried to pick up music that other people are listening to, thinking that maybe I’ve been missing something all of these years (and maybe I have). However, denying myself in the process hasn’t exactly been good for me.

As I’ve added other genres to my listening, I’ve tossed much of my classical listening aside because the three minute drive up to work (thank you MPR). I’m not saying that is what has been missing recently, but having “found” my Bach again, I can’t help but think that maybe I’ve been denying myself in the thoughts that the person of the past is not who I am anymore.

However, healthy that is not. I am still that same person, just with more experience and having made more decisions.

Time to bring back the power of Bach.

Categories
Announcements Life Technology

Launching

So I finally just bit the bullet and put something out. After maybe four internal revisions and plenty of trial and error (and talking to myself), I have pushed out http://deck78.com.

There are going to be changes to the site in the future, but what you see right now is what you are getting until I find some more time to really sink my teeth into it. The main objective now is to actually start making some money and also get ready for the addition to our family come the end of July and other projects around here.

Tomorrow also marks the first unofficial gathering of tech people in New Ulm. It should be a good time and I am really looking forward to it. I’m hoping to have more information about that group in the future.

That’s about it at the moment. Thanks!

Categories
Life

Learn your Car

While driving to Mankato today to get away from the rainy gloom of the day and to pick up a few things, we hit something with our driver-side-rear tire. I didn’t think much of it until I walked past it to get my son out of his car seat. It was at that time that I heard the distinctive hiss of a deflating tire. Yes!

Laura watched Jamis while I began the process of removing the now useless tire and replacing it with our low-speed spare that I knew was attached to the undercarriage of the van.

Funny thing is that we just had the tires rotated and we took a different way into Mankato. If we had stuck to our normal path, probably wouldn’t have blown a tire. Oh well, that’s life.

Back to the story. I had never had to change a tire under these conditions before, mainly because I lived on a farm for most of my life and it meant that we had heavy jacks, air compressors and ample vehicles to tow back and forth with. Find a great towing company with this Canadian Towing article if you find yourself in a situation like this. Regardless, I got to work confident that I could work it out. Luckily, Ford supplied the needed tools and instructions on what to do. That wasn’t the hard part.

The hard part was getting the spare tire off of the cables which attached it to the undercarriage. Basically, the spare had never been used before (a good thing) and had rusted to the cables (a bad thing). It took longer for me to pry the cables off than it did to jack up the car, take off the bad tire, attach the new tire and clean up.

That stunk.

Moral of the story? Spend some time learning about how your vehicle works when replacing a bad tire. Find where the tools are hidden, how the spare is attached, how you are supposed to store the bad tire when moving and everything else. Also, take the time to remove the spare and reattach it as well. Not only will this give you some practice so that it will be easier when you need to do it, but you will also make sure that your cables are not rusting tight so that you don’t need to pry the cables apart when you need it.

I guess I could have tossed a “protip” in there somewhere.

Giving “Mobile” Users a Chance

But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in observing people on their mobile devices, it’s that they’ll do anything on mobile if they have the need. Write long emails? Check. Manage complex sets of information? Check. And the list goes on. If people want to do it, they’ll do it on mobile -especially when it’s their only or most convenient option. — Luke Wroblewski

I agree with almost everything in that post, but I would make one change.

In order to allow users to do what they need, we have to give them what they need. That means that we don’t hide content from users that is needed just because they have a smaller screen. I’m not good that this and I have a lot of work to do to get better, but that’s the goal. Content should be available to all users regardless of what client they are currently using.

I use my iPhone when I am sitting on the couch at home as much as I do while I am actually on the go. When am I am “mobile” user? The line is blurred because smart phones and tablets are more personal computers than mobile, and far more personal computers than desktops and laptops have ever been.

So exciting.

Categories
Life Technology

Being Geek

This is a short review of Being Geek by Michael Lopp. I’m writing it up now because I finally had my wife read the chapter she was supposed to and we were able to have a good discussion of who I am.

I’ll give my recommendation first: if you are any kind of software developer or “geek”, just save yourself the trouble and get this book right now. You’ll enjoy it and Lopp is a great author. Now, we get to the little itty bitty amount of meat in this post.

Being Geek is a book that closely  mirrors what Lopp has been writing at Rands in Repose for the past few years. If you have been reading him there, you will feel right at home reading this book.

It gives excellent advice for people who are looking to break into managing geeks (or nerds as he more often calls us). However, it also is beneficial for those who are being managed in one way or the other so that you can understand what is going on and how to handle those strange situations where you have no idea what is going on.

I took away many good things, but I won’t recount them here. The real gem, however, lies in the single chapter that is written for the other, non-geeks in your life. It is a primer on how we think, how we view the world and gives a taste for why you and I are the way we are. It is written with the usual wit and humor that Lopp writes with, but it brings up many fine points as to why we seem to be so strange to so many.

I’m purposefully not saying much here because I would like you to go and read the book for yourself or at least read some of Lopp’s other writings out there. Just go.