Watch your step. Don't take it seriously. Read my technical posts here.
For me, it means I need to re-examine the choices I make. I need to realize that adding even a seemingly trivial task or input to my life can, over time, add up to quite a drag. I need to learn that unless my answer is “Hell, yeah!”, my answer should be no. I need to be stop wasting my limited energy on small things, and focus on what’s important.
— Eric Nehrlich, Unrepentant Generalist - Incremental steps towards uselessness
I’ve had terrible troubles with my AT&T service over the past year. Many a dropped call, and way too many super late or missing text messages. Being a sysadmin, a missing text message means that outages go unworked on. Outages going unworked on… well, we all know what that could ultimately mean. Not good.
Yesterday I received my HTC Incredible for use on the Verizon network. So far, I like it. I don’t think that the experience is as polished as the iPhone’s, but I’m inspired by its openness and blazing speed. I already have a social project in mind, which I’ll be announcing on here if the initial tests work out.
So, here’s to a new provider and a new platform.
Six times in the past three weeks, I nearly deleted this blog. I enjoy writing, and I like the idea that some small scrap of whatever I say may benefit someone in some small way, but whenever I get the feeling that someone is really reading what I say, I run. I’m terribly shy. It’s very self-defeating.
I’ve terminated five or six blogs for this very reason. The moment I see spikes in the stats or comments start rolling in, I get nervous and close down shop. If colleagues or friends start mentioning something I wrote about, I shrink. Anyone who has stuck around for more than a year has seen this.
But I’m about to turn 30. If I’ve learned anything at all, it’s that if something is making you feel bad, it might be a good idea to actually face it instead of running off. So, I’ll be keeping the doors open.
Sorry for being a weenie.
Lost as a point and click game of the past. Originally found here.
It has become fashionable and commonplace to associate Buddhism with the metaphysical. This is in stark contrast with Buddha’s emphasis on rational thought and insistence on empirical verification. He encouraged the development of theories that were verifiable and was strongly opposed to dogma, which he viewed as an impediment to the truth. To him the truth was supreme, and ideas that hinder the discovery of truth best avoided. He believed in full freedom in thought and action; “the gates of freedom will cease to be gates, if people start clinging to the gates.”
Holy crap. Thanks, Griff.
Why: A Tale Of A Post-Modern Genius
I, like many, miss _why. His writings once gave me a much needed kick in the butt.
In any situation, there are limited resources available to you. Upon examining these, you can choose to lament the fact that some or even most are far from ideal, or you can pick up your brush and begin to paint.
This blog is now named SysArcana. The domain will change appropriately, with the old stuff redirecting to the new. The old name was cute, but this one is a little more accurate to what I’m trying to accomplish.
Relax it.
Somewhat related to my previous post, Fog Creek Software is looking to add another sysadmin to the team. You’ll be working with my colleague Shawn, who is one of the best in the field.
If you have a solid grasp on networking fundamentals and can get things done in the programming language of your choice, they’re interested in talking to you.
(oh, and ignore the picture in the ad. it’s really old.)
It was announced today that Stack Overflow is getting ready to move into new terrirtory, and I’m very excited to say that I’m going to be a part of that. As of a couple days ago, I am an official employee. Fog Creek has been fantastic to me — and there’s nothin’ saying that I won’t be back there at some point — but for now, I’ve got a whole new foundation to pour.
Continuing along this path, I deactivated both my Twitter and Facebook accounts this morning. It’s not that I do not think other people can find value in those services, it is just that I no longer do. They had become a weird driver of anxiety and distraction, like a cheap candy.
“Apologize” by One Republic.
This was requested by a friend of mine. I’d never heard the song before, but apparently it used to be popular. Sometimes I really hate music. Still, I only listened to this song about five times before I recorded it and look forward to never hearing it again.
P.S. Sorry, I’m angry today for some reason.
Thanks, Griff. It helped Ava sleep.
We had an open house tonight, which was quite full. I had a great conversation with Michael, who is now supposed to be sending me information about double-edged shaving razors.
I also saw Marco, but didn’t have the guts to interrupt his conversations in order to thank him for making Instapaper. Tumblr is pretty cool, too.
If I’m going to stick to the program and write at all on the topic of meditation, it will be best to define it as early as possible. I’m pretty sure that when I say the word ‘meditation’, most will believe that I’m talking about visualization, relaxation, chanting, prayer, or maybe even something to do with ‘chakras’ or ‘inner beings’. This is not what I mean. Nor does it have anything to do with robes, vows, or shaved heads.
For the purposes of any forthcoming posts, meditation can be defined as ‘a tool to help you see things for what they are’. The practices teach you to observe your body and mind in such a way that you learn to see how they color or distort your model of the world around you.
By recognizing such distortions, you then have a better chance of distinguishing the world-as-it-really-is from the world-as-you-imagine-it and the world-as-you-wish-it-was.
