that's great... » General

continuity game…

Jay — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:58:50 +0000

I was watching the Unbeatable Banzuke on G4, and one of the G4 reporters mentioned this hot game from Sweden, Continuity. Pure genius. Also, not bad background music for a puzzle/strategy game.

I gave it a go, and I’ll say once I hit Level 10, it hit me… Fortunately in level 11, you get a break.
Leave to the Swedes to produce something so simple, yet so beautifully layered.
Yes, I do jealous much… Check it out for yourself - Enjoy!

truly a bohemian rhapsody

Jay — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 21:19:42 +0000

If I ever had to create a list of songs that would never find their way into a rap song, you know as a sample. Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody would be very high on the list… Yet, someone actually did it, and did a pretty good job of it too.

Checkout the Poor Boy video from Shaun Boothe.

single story…

Jay — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 19:08:31 +0000

Thanks to Markendya, I know about this beautiful story-teller, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. If you get a chance, listen to her reading.

for the new year - 2010

Jay — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:51:44 +0000

I had this list of goals for the new year, in 2007. Then in 2008, I did very little towards that list.

OK, in this past year, I’ve actually started learning a new language/platform - Grails/Groovy. So that’s one out of four. Most important of all, I have a new goal for the upcoming year, and that is, nothing. By that, I mean, to do less. One of the major reasons I haven’t accomplished my 2007 goals, is a lack of time, or in some cases, trying to do too much. Well, this year, I’m gonna veg-out a lot more. Yeah, that’s gonna be great…

As usual, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours!

atmosphere’s glass house…

Jay — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 00:07:49 +0000

I was watching MTV Subterranean, and saw this video come on. First time I’ve seen this video, and I really liked it. Now, some videos are creative. That’s nice. But it’s rare that a video is great, and the lyrics to the song are just as creative. Kanye, Common, and a few others are good at this… not too many others.
Anyway, if you have the time, watch the video, but more importantly, listen to the lyrics. Enjoy.

I am…

Jay — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 05:05:48 +0000

OK, so there’s this video, I am. The song is by Novel, Talib Kweli and Spree Wilson. It’s really uplifting, with some quality lyricism - something that you don’t see too much of now a days. I couldn’t embed it, based on the wishes of the publisher. So check it out at YouTube when you get four minutes - and yes, it’s safe for work.

Here’s a sample of Spree Wilson’s lyrics:

I am the new generation’s beat writer.
The Jack Kerouac influenced - I am the hippy peace fighter.

for the new year - 2009

Jay — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 22:22:35 +0000

I had this list of goals for the new year, last year… I had twelve months, and I accomplished nothing (well, nothing remarkable). Disgusting. Anyway, instead of making a new list of items to learn/try for the new year, I’ll just stick to the old one.

Oh yeah, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours!

a new start…

Jay — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:36:03 +0000

OK, I was working at Digital River, but after a very short stint (11 weeks), I was laid off. Yeah…

Fortunately, I have some good friends here in the Twin Cities. Brian V. hooked me up over at Express Scripts. Although the health care industry is not as exciting as e-commerce, their throughput requirements are even larger. So, as it turns out, I’ll get some performance and scaling experience after all.

how did we get here?

Jay — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 03:39:41 +0000

Well, I can’t even come close to answering that. But there are a couple of people, in the know, who are doing a pretty good job of it. One of those people is Paddy Hirsch. In his presentation, he uses the analogy of filling champagne bottles. I originally saw this on Nati Shalom’s (of GigaSpaces fame) post, Financial crisis explained. If you have some time (about 6 minutes), definitely take a look.

names…

Jay — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:48:49 +0000

I like to say the name of the person I am speaking to… I have no idea why, it just seems right. OK, that’s not a big thing — many people do it. The real problem is it takes me longer than most to remember a person’s name. This can be a real problem; especially, if you like to say person’s name before starting a conversation. You tend to sound like a moron.

One of two things happens. Maybe you blurt out their names like you just caught them stealing pudding. That’s not a disarming quality. The other possibility is you blank and insert a huge pause after the words “Hey…”. That’s nice. After an uncomfortable 2-3 seconds you announce their names like someone just handed you a cue card. Disgusting.

I’ve thought of a simple solution. I did this back in ‘04: don’t say names. Just don’t. Let me explain: if the name of the person is not required, don’t say it! If it’s required, don’t speak to them until you have the names clear in your head. Oh, and take a pause before you say the name. Without the pause, it comes out like you’ve been waiting to tell them a secret. I remember a lot of stuff (some good, some crap), but names give me the hardest time.