Blog

First day

Well, first day of orientation is done. I didn't apply for a SSN, I didn't get a bank account, I didn't get a phone, I did miss an amazing number of exits coming back to downtown and ended up with a 90 minutes commute.

Tomorrow another half day of orientation and then finally set up with my machine, cardkey and all the network credentials. By tomorrow night I should be able to get online in a vaguey consistent manner (i.e., no stealing someone else's unsecured wireless connection in this building).

I think I need a bit more time before figuring out this city.

5/15/2006 12:00:00 AM

Almost there

Tomorrow is my first day on the new job. I should be absolutely pumped and excited.

The only thing I feel is like somebody carved something from my chest.

5/14/2006 12:00:00 AM

An entry from the recent past (yesterday)

So, I'm in downtown Seattle. 22nd floor of a temp housing building, even if I am living in the 17th for now.

Wandered a bit downtown, had an italian lunch and then went to Best Buy to get a cable to connect my Create Vision:M to the PT Cruiser I'm renting.

Tomorrow brunch with opti and dinner is either with him or with my italian friend that's providing this wireless connection. Dunno when I'll have my own connectivity, hopefully early next week.

Monday is NEO (new employee orientation) that'll drag on until tuesday noon. Then it's actual work time, until May 23rd when I'll travel to Victoria and Italy for a couple of weeks.

I guess one week work, two weeks vacation should be the target we all should be strive for.

5/14/2006 12:00:00 AM

High school conversations

(NOT happened to me)

Jon: Hi. (I'm indicating that I want to initiate conversation with you.)
Girl: Hey. (I acknowledge your greeting and am expressing interest in conversing with you.)
Jon: My name's Jonathan. (I will now give you something to call me.)
Girl: I'm [insert her name here]. (I might as well tell you my name, too.)
Jon: So, about the lab . . . blah blah blah (I'm trying to make it look as though I'm interested in small talk. Aren't I witty?)
Girl: Yeah, I totally agree about the lab. Blah blah blah. (Yay, smalltalk. At least you're funny. Is this going anywhere?)
Jon: My car is over there. (I'm indicating that the conversation must end soon.)
Girl: Alright. (Okay, where is it? It's coming, it's coming . . .)
Jon: I was wondering if you wanted to get some coffee with me later tonight. (I totally want to jump your bones.)
Girl: Sure. How's eight o' clock sound? (I knew it. You're looking for sex. Well, you're kinda cute.)
Jon: Great. (Oh god I'm so fucking relieved. Most girls don't give me the time of day.)
Girl: See you then. (You'd better show up, because if you don't, you aren't getting any pussy.)
Jon: Bye. (I'm gonna go jerk off now.)

Thanks to mr. -Triple-

4/12/2006 12:00:00 AM

Airlines fun

From some blog comments...

Before takeoff...

“Hello and welcome to Alaska Flight 438 to San Francisco. If you're going to San Francisco, you're in the right place. If you're not going to San Francisco, you're about to have a really long evening.

We'd like to tell you now about some important safety features of this aircraft. The most important safety feature we have aboard this plane is ... The Flight Attendants. Please look at one now.

There are 5 exits aboard this plane: 2 at the front, 2 over the wings, and one out the plane's rear end. If you're seated in one of the exit rows, please do not store your bags by your feet. That would be a really bad idea. Please take a moment and look around and find the nearest exit. Count the rows of seats between you and the exit. In the event that the need arises to find one, trust me, you'll be glad you did. We have pretty blinking lights on the floor that will blink in the direction of the exits. White ones along the normal rows, and pretty red ones at the exit rows. In the event of a loss of cabin pressure these baggy things will drop down over your head. You stick it over your nose and mouth like the flight attendant is doing now. The bag won't inflate, but there's oxygen there, I promise. If you are sitting next to a small child, or someone who is acting like a small child, please do us all a favor and put on your mask first. If you are traveling with two or more children, please take a moment now to decide which one is your favorite. Help that one “first”, and then work your way down.

In the seat pocket in front of you is a pamphlet about the safety features of this plane. I usually use it as a fan when I'm having my own personal summer. It makes a very good fan. It also has pretty pictures. Please take it out and play with it now.

Please take a moment now to make sure your seat belts are fastened low and tight about your waist. To fasten the belt, insert the metal tab into the buckle. To release, it's a pulley thing —- not a pushy thing like your car because you're in an airplane. HELLO !!

There is no smoking in the cabin on this flight. There is also no smoking in the lavatories. If we see smoke coming from the lavatories, we will assume you are on fire and put you out. This is a free service we provide. There are two smoking sections on this flight, one outside each wing exit. We do have a movie in the smoking sections tonight .....
Hold on, let me check what it is
...
Oh here it is; the movie tonight is... “Gone with the Wind.”

In a moment we will be turning off the cabin lights, and it's going to get really dark, really fast. If you're afraid of the dark, now would be a good time to reach up and press the yellow button. The yellow button turns on your reading light. Please don't press the orange button unless you absolutely have to. The orange button is your seat ejection button.

We're glad to have you with us on board this flight. Thank you for choosing Alaska Air, and giving us your business
and your money. If there's anything we can do to make you more comfortable, please don't hesitate to ask.

If you all weren't strapped down you would have given me a standing ovation, wouldn't you?”

After landing... “Welcome to the San Francisco International Airport. Sorry about the bumpy landing. It's not the captain's fault. It's not the co-pilot's fault. It's the Asphalt.

Please remain seated until the plane is parked at the gate. At no time in history has a passenger beaten a plane to the gate. So please don't even try.

Please be careful opening the overhead bins because “shift happens”!!

4/10/2006 12:00:00 AM

Windows Internet Explorer 7 beta 2 technical preview

It appears that Microsoft is still fond of long names for applications, but in this case it's justified, as in the end it will simply be known as IE7...

1/31/2006 12:00:00 AM

Microsoft Max, part 1

A bit late, but let's talk about Max.

It's a photo sharing application. Sounds awfully boring, eh? After all, there are plenty of other packages that do just the same, uploading pictures to the web, or sending them via email.

But there inlays the problem.

What if you have limited web space? What if you want to share full resolutions pictures from an 8Mp camera via email? That won't work. Many times there are limits on attachments size or the hosting company gave you, say, 10Mb, or the service (flickr or others) doesn't give you unlimited space.

Max shares photos directly between the two connected machines. Peer to peer transfers across firewalls, routers and other bad devices between the source and destination PCs.

That's it for now, more details on part 2 about why the app was created and how it will evolve.

9/15/2005 12:00:00 AM

Office 12: wow

No more menus? No more toolbars?

Awesome :)

The new UI for Office is very very different from Office 2003, however, is still feels somehow familiar. Icons vary in size according to their usage (I'm sure at this point you've all seen photos from the keynote demos). Text styles are applied in real time. Excel tables formatting is vastly overhauled.

In short: wow.

9/13/2005 12:00:00 AM

Waiting for the keynote

After a lovely quesadilla rightfully sponsored by a seekrit team, it's time to go to see the emperor.

I had the wake up call at 6.30am, woke up in a rush after somehow my eyes cought a glance of "7:04" on the room clock (some dimwit left it an hour ahead or something), figured out that it was before my wake up call anyways, so I got to the convention center early.

Early, of course, means nowhere near early enough to be the first in line.

Even after a quick egg and sausages breakfast, I walked briskly to the keynote hall (positioned strategically at the other end of the sprawling convention center, in order to weed the unfit devs to be in the good seats :) and found out that at least 100 people were already lounging around in the line.

So, what I saw up to now?

Nothing much (that I can say) yet. The code demos for WinFX and Vista are simply amazing. Developing applications from next year on will be like writing video games... Only a lot more easier.

Anyways, doors will open in 15 mins, more details after the keynote.

Tags: PDC05

9/13/2005 12:00:00 AM

On the road

I was going to post this entry this morning, but the supposedly free wifi access provided by Telus at the Vancouver airport was everything but free.

Anyways, trip was uneventful, security was light (thanks to my natural charme, of course) and I'm sitting in the Presentation Lounge in the PDC Big Room.

More later...

Tags: PDC05

9/12/2005 12:00:00 AM