Updated Blog, and the Un-Bucket List
It started out simple: for Comp 578 - Data Mining, I need to have a place to post my assignments. So I thought that instead of using the school's system, I'd use my own website. In the process, I also thought it was time to get my blog ready for Django 1.0. This all turned out to be not nearly as easy as I expected, but it was all doable. If there was one thing I knew beforehand, however, it would be this: Django kept trying to write the form submission URL for the login page to /django.fcgi/admin, which is incorrect. Using FORCE_SCRIPT_NAME = '', I was able to solve the problem of not being able to log in.
So, now that I got it running, and got my assignment page created, I think it's time to post my "un-bucket" list. This list started out as a list of things I want to do someday, and was named as such because I'm not planning on dying any time soon, but simply want to do these things "some day." I also thought it'd be helpful if I could write down what's stopping me from accomplishing it, so that I can work around those things in the future.
- Learn to fly
What's stopping me? Cost - Learn to scuba dive
What's stopping me? Cost - Live somewhere different
What's stopping me? Cost, fear of the unknown - Teach a college course
What's stopping me? Now it's just time - next semester I believe I'm eligible as a MSCS student - Go to all 7 continents
What's stopping me? Cost, time, fear of the unknown - Make a piece of software for my personal profit. (i.e. not something I wrote as an employee of somebody else, or just for kicks like this blog)
What's stopping me? Creativity (or lack thereof), Employer's "Invention Agreement", lack of business savvy Learn more about my heritage
Actually started this one last weekend visiting my grandfather and great-grandmother. Pictures from the turn of the 20th century to come as soon as I get a scanner worth using.- Visit (some) states bordering the 49th parallel, as well as New England. (NYC and NJ aren't what I had in mind...those were for business anyways.) And I have this weird desire to visit Maine more than the others, and drive through the forest. Or Oregon or Washington. Or Wyoming. Or Colorado.
What's stopping me? Cost, time - Lose weight (to <200)
What's stopping me? Lack of self control, discipline - Make 6 figures/year
What's stopping me? Time, education, environment, experience
I like to think that this list is lofty, yet doable. Sure, it won't be next week or anything, but I can consider them life goals, and work towards them. Plus, completing some helps with the completion of others - making six figures a year helps pay for flying or SCUBA lessons, for example. Now, let's see which one I can check off first.
Ripoffs and Airplanes
I don't know why I keep doing this. I had my truck serviced at the local Toyota dealership on Saturday, and it only cost me $279.95! What a bargain, you say!
Hold up now. Sure, I had 30,000 miles, so it was time for a somewhat major tuneup, more than just a quickie oil change. The part that bugs me though is what they actually do vs. what they "inspect." They actually replaced a lot of scary sounding things, like part number 17801-0P010, "Element Sub-assy Ai". Google, however, comes through and reveals it's not - it's the air filter. I replaced it once already - it's 2 snaps, not even a mere screwdriver required. And I got it for $31.95 too, what a bargain! (It was something like $12.95 plus shipping when I bought it previously.)
It gets better. "88508-01010 Filer Sub-Assy, Air" sounds menacing - what if it were "cabin air filter" - and if I had already seen that before and cleaned it with a shop vac? Another bargain at $32.95. Have I mentioned that the labor charge on this invoice isn't itemized, and therefore includes these wonderful replacements, which would have taken all of 15 minutes myself?
Those two parts were the most expensive ones on the whole thing. Of course, there's the little ones, like oil, oil filter, etc. But even if they were overpriced, they weren't much anyways, a few bucks here and there. I'll pay for convenience.
It's things like this that make me wish I was more mechanically inclined. I have a feeling that I could have spent $60 on parts plus another $30 on the service manual and done this myself. I could not have done a tire rotation, but I also get those for free at the tire shop.
I know, I know, you're not just paying for the time of the shop workers, but for their expertise too. That doesn't change how they get you (read: sucker you) into their shop - if you don't pay for their super-special service, they specifically note it on your service records, and say that it could affect your ability to get your vehicle repaired under said warranty. Sure sounds like backmail to me.
My next service, at 35,000 miles, is the last one before my bumper-to-bumper warranty is up at 36,000 miles. After that, I plan on continuing to follow the maintenance schedule suggested by the manufacturer. Things like the spark plugs that were replaced, which I really don't know how to do, can be done by a shop, but others, like measly air filters that take all of 2 minutes each, will be done by myself, thank you very much.
In a totally unrelated note, I dragged Leigh Ann to the Camarillo Air Expo today. Definitely worth the $14 for both of us, as we got to see a lot of the neat older planes doing flybys. I still think the Point Mugu air show is a tad more exciting due to the use of modern vs antique military aircraft, but this one still had a lot of neat different planes to see. Plus, some of the exhibits on the ground were kind of neat, like what I think was an Eclipse 500, a Diamond DA-40, and a bunch of other planes whose names I'll never be able to remember. I only took a few photos during some of the formation flying; I'll have to get them up here at some point
If nothing else, the expo made me continue to want to take flying lessons in the near future. Anybody want to loan me the money? :)
Anyway, enough for now. I'm still refining my "un-bucket list" which I hope to actually be happy with soon so that I can post it.
Stuck in a Rut
Wow, it's been a LONG time since I visited this thing. Oops. Don't worry, you haven't missed much. Well, maybe you have. I've actually gotten to travel quite a bit this year, and look forward to traveling even more. So far, in 2008 I've been to (in chronological order) Missouri (St. Louis and Columbia), Italy (Rome, Naples, Livorno, Venice), Monaco (Monte Carlo), Greece (Santorini/Oia, Mykonos, Corfu), Turkey (Kusadasi, Ephesus), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), New York (NYC), and New Jersey (Atlantic City). Whew. It's been fun seeing how different the world is than Camarillo, where the houses were all built in 1970 onwards and the city has a "master plan."
Once classes start this semester, however, the traveling will have to slow down a bit. Yep, I'm going back to get my Master's Degree in Computer Science at CSUCI. I'd rather go somewhere else where it's not considered "extended education" but that would require either paying an insane amount for CLU, or relocating, which I'm not willing to do quite yet. Oh well.
Anyways, so the reason I come back to my blog... I'm stuck. I've been learning all sorts of new things, and I STILL cannot get past my mental roadblock of creativity. I've learned Python and Django. I've almost completed Aaron Hillegass's awesome book on Cocoa programming for the Mac (and, indirectly, iPhone). But... now what? I still can't seem to come up with anything innovative.
One of my friends was pushing me to develop an iPhone app that was an SSH terminal. "Great!" I thought. "There aren't any others out there yet, and I could definitely see it being useful." Turns out it wasn't so easy, and, sure enough, somebody else beat me to it. Plus, I then had the realization that SSH on a phone would suck. I would sorely miss my tab completion, and even toggling the keyboard to use the '/' key would be annoying.
I'm noticing a trend. Sometimes I think that I'm just plain getting bored here. I eat at the same restaurants over and over. I fix the same problems at work every day, and have for almost 5 years now. I sleep in the same room that I did when I was 9 years old. The glue from the 8th grade science fair project is still on the carpet, reminding me just how much time I've spent here. I've visited all the major tourist attractions in SoCal (I think). I thought my 2 week vacation abroad would help make this boredom go away. And sure, it did, for about 2 weeks after my return, after which the feeling of monotony returned.
Telecommuting might be nice. I'd have all the benefits of being paid a California wage, but be able to spend it somewhere with a lower cost of living. I could afford a house large enough to have an office in, with nice furniture and only the noises I choose and nothing more.
I've also been working on an informal, mental list of "things I want to do." Perhaps now is a good time to work on it; I'll post it once it matures a bit. This concludes this random, rambling entry see you again in a few months!*
*hopefully not, but with my track record, you never know
DRM: 0, Pirates: 2(00,000,000...)
Looks like the pirates win again:
DRM Definitvely Cracked @ Ars Technica
Kinda sad that it's come to this yet again. To put this into perspective, those who pirate via BitTorrent and the likes will have access to beautiful 1080p rips of Blu-Ray discs. Consumers who try and remain lawful, however, will be left to deal with the DRM.
Will they ever learn?