Upgrade Schmupgrade
I don't know how much this affects you guys, but at work our computers are frequently getting upgraded with newer versions of software. Every now and then we are forced to upgrade programs like Microsoft Visio or Adobe Acrobat as the company tries to stay "current" with the latest versions of the software we use.
On my home computer, I don't use a lot of programs, but am still often reminded to upgrade the ones that I do. Such as ITunes, AIM, or the latest Windows service pack or security patch. Usually, I find myself either choosing the "Remind Me Later" button or check the "Don't Show This Again" box.
It used to be that I liked to upgrade my programs. When a newer version of something came out, it usually meant more features and better performance. The perfect example I can think of was in Broodwar, where the patches helped fix bugs and prevent maphackers (temporarily, at least).
But lately I've been feeling like upgrades don't do much anymore, and in a lot of cases they actually mess things up more than they help.
- In AIM, the newer versions let you use buddy icons and whatnot, but now I can't get rid of the ads, which for that matter have gotten more irritating as well. I actually think twice before signing on sometimes, because I hate dealing with those noisy commercials that come on at random times in my buddy list window. No amount of buddy icons or advanced talk features is worth that, in my opinion.
- On my old computer, after I formatted the hard drive, I refused to install the Flash plugin for my browser. Sure, there's some cool Flash animations out there and a fun game once in a while, but more often than not it's used to make websites needlessly complicated and their ads exponentially more intrusive.
- I haven't upgraded my Winamp since college because I'm afraid the newer versions will take away some features like CD ripping, due to all the legal hubbub about mp3s and copyrights and stuff in the past few years. That, and I just like my Winamp as it is: simple, loads quickly, and doesn't take a lot of memory to run in the background.
- I stopped keeping up with the Windows patches and security fixes after one of the Service packs slowed down my computer severely. Not like my computer is old either. It just slowed everything down so much that I decided I'd rather live with the security risks than deal with a bogged down system every day.
When did the word "upgrade" turn into a negative instead of a positive? It's kind of become like registering your software, which if you're like me, you say "F that" whenever a program asks you to register. These were supposed to be good things yet I no longer want to go near either one.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Pretty Much My Favorite Animal
I thought it was just an imaginary thing, but my coworker told me today that there are such animals as ligers, and that yes, in fact they are a mix of a lion and tiger. For more info see the description in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liger
Specifically, they are the offspring that result when a male lion is mated with a female tiger (a male tiger mated with a female lion produces a "tigon"). I guess due to genetic factors, ligers actually grow to be bigger than either lions or tiger. I'm not sure whether they are actually bred for their skills in magic though.
Nevertheless, this blew my mind. I gotta say, those things are pretty cool indeed. I think I am gonna have to make it my favorite animal as well.
I thought it was just an imaginary thing, but my coworker told me today that there are such animals as ligers, and that yes, in fact they are a mix of a lion and tiger. For more info see the description in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liger
Specifically, they are the offspring that result when a male lion is mated with a female tiger (a male tiger mated with a female lion produces a "tigon"). I guess due to genetic factors, ligers actually grow to be bigger than either lions or tiger. I'm not sure whether they are actually bred for their skills in magic though.
Nevertheless, this blew my mind. I gotta say, those things are pretty cool indeed. I think I am gonna have to make it my favorite animal as well.
Sunday, October 02, 2005
New Furniture
Today I finally ended up getting a dinner table and a coffee table. They only had 2 chairs in stock so the other 2 will have to wait another month or two.
It's now been almost 3 months since I moved in, I thought it might be a good time to do a before and after of the living room:
Before: 7/11/2005
After: Today
*****
Congratulations to the White Sox for a great regular season, clinching the AL Central, and making the playoffs. I honestly don't know what to expect from here on out. This team has been so exciting at times and then disappeared completely other times. If we get hot the next few weeks we can definitely roll any other team and win the championship. If we play like we did for most of September, then it could be another quick exit. I guess that's true of the MLB playoffs and any team in general though.
On that note, here is one of the things I am looking forward to this month:
*****
Every night this week I have woken up in the middle of the night around 2 or 3 am, for no apparent reason. The thing is, on one of the nights I woke up, I distinctly remember discovering what was causing me to wake up. At the time, I said to myself, "oh, so that's why I keep waking up. Now I'll be able to fix that and sleep soundly from now on."
Problem is, I went back to sleep, and when I woke up again in the morning, I forgot why I was getting woken up. Obviously I would still know the cause on a subconscious level, but since then I haven't been able figure out what my realization was that night. So I've still been waking up around 2 or 3.
At first I was thinking it was just kind of weird. But I told the story to a friend and she seemed really freaked out. So now I'm a little scared too. I've got a notebook and pen next to my bed just in case I have another revelation.
Today I finally ended up getting a dinner table and a coffee table. They only had 2 chairs in stock so the other 2 will have to wait another month or two.
It's now been almost 3 months since I moved in, I thought it might be a good time to do a before and after of the living room:
Before: 7/11/2005
After: Today
*****
Congratulations to the White Sox for a great regular season, clinching the AL Central, and making the playoffs. I honestly don't know what to expect from here on out. This team has been so exciting at times and then disappeared completely other times. If we get hot the next few weeks we can definitely roll any other team and win the championship. If we play like we did for most of September, then it could be another quick exit. I guess that's true of the MLB playoffs and any team in general though.
On that note, here is one of the things I am looking forward to this month:
*****
Every night this week I have woken up in the middle of the night around 2 or 3 am, for no apparent reason. The thing is, on one of the nights I woke up, I distinctly remember discovering what was causing me to wake up. At the time, I said to myself, "oh, so that's why I keep waking up. Now I'll be able to fix that and sleep soundly from now on."
Problem is, I went back to sleep, and when I woke up again in the morning, I forgot why I was getting woken up. Obviously I would still know the cause on a subconscious level, but since then I haven't been able figure out what my realization was that night. So I've still been waking up around 2 or 3.
At first I was thinking it was just kind of weird. But I told the story to a friend and she seemed really freaked out. So now I'm a little scared too. I've got a notebook and pen next to my bed just in case I have another revelation.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Wake Me Up When September Ends
Not sure if it's true, but someone told me that today is the last official day of Summer 2005. Every year around time, I feel a little sad that the summer is ending, but this year feels a little different. I don't know if I have ever been happy at the end of summer, but this year I actually feel kind of relieved that it is going to be over soon.
Not that I had a bad summer, but it was definitely very busy and lots of work. Obviously a lot of that had to do with the new house, and the many things that go along with it. Trying to shop for furniture has been a challenge, and taken much longer than I hoped. Either I am looking in the wrong places, or I am being too picky. But I'm feeling optimistic about finally deciding on some permanent furniture by the end of this weekend.
The past few months of work have been really busy too. It's probably been the most stressful time since I started working, with my project reaching some critical stages where deadlines and milestones start to get tight. I think by the end of this month, though, things will settle down and it won't be nearly as crazy.
Maybe it's not so much that I'm glad that summer is ending, as I am looking forward to what's ahead. For one, I think my favorite thing about owning my own place is knowing that all the time, energy, and money I spend on my house is worthwhile because it is going to the place where I live. And when I actually do get the time to lay in my Love Sac, listen to some music, and just relax for a while, those moments are that much more valuable and meaningful to me, because they kind of represent everything I have worked for.
As an aside, I want to say to anyone out there who is thinking about buying a house, has enough money for a down payment, and job stability to commit to a few years of staying at one place, DO IT. Not just because it is a financially sound thing to do (Rich or Vira can probably provide more statistics on that), but because of everything I just described above.
And make sure you get it in a location where you want it to be, even if it means you can't get as nice of a place. For some of you it might be downtown in Chicago; for me, I couldn't be happier with being in Schaumburg. In 2+ months of living here, I absolutely love the area and all the conveniences around this place.
As far as work goes, I wish I could say the same things I said about home ownership, but I can't. My project is probably headed for a very profitable future, but other than maybe some increased job security, I won't be seeing a whole lot of added benefits directly related to my hard work. Although soon I might be able to tell people that the next time you get on a plane, you can feel the assurance that goes along with being protected by one of the products that I worked on. Or maybe that doesn't make you feel that safe after all?
Aside from everything else, October in general feels like it will be a great month. It remains to be seen whether or not it will live up to expectations, but I am excited nonetheless. More to come.
Not sure if it's true, but someone told me that today is the last official day of Summer 2005. Every year around time, I feel a little sad that the summer is ending, but this year feels a little different. I don't know if I have ever been happy at the end of summer, but this year I actually feel kind of relieved that it is going to be over soon.
Not that I had a bad summer, but it was definitely very busy and lots of work. Obviously a lot of that had to do with the new house, and the many things that go along with it. Trying to shop for furniture has been a challenge, and taken much longer than I hoped. Either I am looking in the wrong places, or I am being too picky. But I'm feeling optimistic about finally deciding on some permanent furniture by the end of this weekend.
The past few months of work have been really busy too. It's probably been the most stressful time since I started working, with my project reaching some critical stages where deadlines and milestones start to get tight. I think by the end of this month, though, things will settle down and it won't be nearly as crazy.
Maybe it's not so much that I'm glad that summer is ending, as I am looking forward to what's ahead. For one, I think my favorite thing about owning my own place is knowing that all the time, energy, and money I spend on my house is worthwhile because it is going to the place where I live. And when I actually do get the time to lay in my Love Sac, listen to some music, and just relax for a while, those moments are that much more valuable and meaningful to me, because they kind of represent everything I have worked for.
As an aside, I want to say to anyone out there who is thinking about buying a house, has enough money for a down payment, and job stability to commit to a few years of staying at one place, DO IT. Not just because it is a financially sound thing to do (Rich or Vira can probably provide more statistics on that), but because of everything I just described above.
And make sure you get it in a location where you want it to be, even if it means you can't get as nice of a place. For some of you it might be downtown in Chicago; for me, I couldn't be happier with being in Schaumburg. In 2+ months of living here, I absolutely love the area and all the conveniences around this place.
As far as work goes, I wish I could say the same things I said about home ownership, but I can't. My project is probably headed for a very profitable future, but other than maybe some increased job security, I won't be seeing a whole lot of added benefits directly related to my hard work. Although soon I might be able to tell people that the next time you get on a plane, you can feel the assurance that goes along with being protected by one of the products that I worked on. Or maybe that doesn't make you feel that safe after all?
Aside from everything else, October in general feels like it will be a great month. It remains to be seen whether or not it will live up to expectations, but I am excited nonetheless. More to come.
Monday, September 12, 2005
Personal Statement?
In the past few years, I've known a lot of people who have applied for grad school, and a few of them asked me to look over and edit their personal statement on their application. I don't know whether it's because they think I'm a good writer, because they don't trust their own writing, or simply wanted someone else's opinion.
Whatever reason it was, these people were asking me for a favor, and I tried to help them out as best I could. But the interesting thing is, as I read each one of those personal statements, I found myself wishing that I could turn around ask them for help instead.
Why?
Well, reading these personal statements by other people made me wonder about myself, and what I would write in my own personal statement. As I've talked about many times before in my blog, ever since I graduated college and started working, I have been trying to figure out what exactly my personal statement is. What is my "next step", and when and how do I take it?
See, even though some of these personal statements I was reading weren't the most organized or grammatically correct, they all described at least some sort of definite direction. A clear sense of a personal mission, specific goals, and ideas on how to achieve those things.
One person felt that pursuing an advanced degree in Electrical Engineering would help them towards a life of researching cutting edge technologies to help people. Others wanted to study certain fields of medicine to help specific groups of patients they felt were most suited to their talents and interests. All of them had stories and experiences they could point to that helped to explain how they came to choose their paths.
Now, it is entirely possible that all of these personal statements were filled with layers of BS, laid on thick for the sake of whatever admissions officer was going to read it. But from what I could gather, most of their statements seemed very genuine and sincere.
And I guess that is something I really envy. I don't know if there is one single thing that is more valuable in life, than to know exactly what your life's purpose is.
In my entire life I don't think I have ever written a personal statement. For undergrad I only applied to U of I and I'm pretty sure there was no personal statement required there, just the basic stuff like test scores and class rank. It's just as well, because I wouldn't know what to write or even where to start. I certainly don't have any stories or experiences in mind to draw from, that would inspire me to write a personal statement around it.
As a graduating senior at U of I back in 2002, I was definitely tired of school and felt that it was time to get a job and step into the "real world" instead of applying for grad school. While I still feel that was the right decision, I've always had a feeling in the back of my mind that eventually I would pursue some sort of higher degree. The plan was to work for a few years, figure out what I'm interested in, and then go from there.
Well now I have been working for those "few years". And I kind of thought I would have gotten inspired by something by now, but I really haven't. The thing is, I still think I will eventually go back to school for something, at least part time. I just don't know when, where, and most importantly, what I want to study.
Should I get a Masters in EE? If so, what field? Analog, Digital, RF, Power...? Should I get an MBA? What about law school or medical school? The worst would be to waste a couple years pursuing some degree, only to discover that I really wanted to do something else. Especially now with the house, grad school would be a huge committment even if my company pays my tuition.
But going back to what I was saying about personal statements, I guess reading all those other people's statements made me realize how important it is to have direction in your life. In their cases, they were forced to write them because of the application process for grad school. But I think ideally, everyone should take the time to write a personal statement, whether applying for something or not. After all, Jerry Maguire wrote one, right?
Anyways, if you don't have a personal statement (like me), then I suppose your personal statement should be: "To come up with my personal statement". Kind of like if you don't have a job, your job becomes: "To find a job".
In both cases, you probably need to work just as hard at finding a personal statement/job as you would at executing your personal statement/job if you had one, because unless you're lucky, you aren't going to just stumble upon it. So yeah, I need to find my personal statement.
*****
Actually, I think I've got it. I think my personal statement is to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. With the recent passing of Chief Justice Rehnquist, I was watching the discussion on the news and it just seems like a really good job to have.
I mean the Supreme Court is hands down the coolest club in the world, and as Chief Justice you basically get to be the top dog of this club. On top of that you get to wear those really sweet looking robes, and if you're the Chief you even get those stripes on your sleeve. That's right, if I was Chief Justice I would make people call me "the Chief", just because I could.
The best part is once you're in, you're in for good and you pretty much have to answer to nobody. Say you get pulled over for speeding, what are they gonna do, try you in a village court? I'd just keep appealing that shiznit until it gets up to my court, and then what? That's right, I reign SUPREME baby. That's what sign on the building says. Call me the Chief.
In the past few years, I've known a lot of people who have applied for grad school, and a few of them asked me to look over and edit their personal statement on their application. I don't know whether it's because they think I'm a good writer, because they don't trust their own writing, or simply wanted someone else's opinion.
Whatever reason it was, these people were asking me for a favor, and I tried to help them out as best I could. But the interesting thing is, as I read each one of those personal statements, I found myself wishing that I could turn around ask them for help instead.
Why?
Well, reading these personal statements by other people made me wonder about myself, and what I would write in my own personal statement. As I've talked about many times before in my blog, ever since I graduated college and started working, I have been trying to figure out what exactly my personal statement is. What is my "next step", and when and how do I take it?
See, even though some of these personal statements I was reading weren't the most organized or grammatically correct, they all described at least some sort of definite direction. A clear sense of a personal mission, specific goals, and ideas on how to achieve those things.
One person felt that pursuing an advanced degree in Electrical Engineering would help them towards a life of researching cutting edge technologies to help people. Others wanted to study certain fields of medicine to help specific groups of patients they felt were most suited to their talents and interests. All of them had stories and experiences they could point to that helped to explain how they came to choose their paths.
Now, it is entirely possible that all of these personal statements were filled with layers of BS, laid on thick for the sake of whatever admissions officer was going to read it. But from what I could gather, most of their statements seemed very genuine and sincere.
And I guess that is something I really envy. I don't know if there is one single thing that is more valuable in life, than to know exactly what your life's purpose is.
In my entire life I don't think I have ever written a personal statement. For undergrad I only applied to U of I and I'm pretty sure there was no personal statement required there, just the basic stuff like test scores and class rank. It's just as well, because I wouldn't know what to write or even where to start. I certainly don't have any stories or experiences in mind to draw from, that would inspire me to write a personal statement around it.
As a graduating senior at U of I back in 2002, I was definitely tired of school and felt that it was time to get a job and step into the "real world" instead of applying for grad school. While I still feel that was the right decision, I've always had a feeling in the back of my mind that eventually I would pursue some sort of higher degree. The plan was to work for a few years, figure out what I'm interested in, and then go from there.
Well now I have been working for those "few years". And I kind of thought I would have gotten inspired by something by now, but I really haven't. The thing is, I still think I will eventually go back to school for something, at least part time. I just don't know when, where, and most importantly, what I want to study.
Should I get a Masters in EE? If so, what field? Analog, Digital, RF, Power...? Should I get an MBA? What about law school or medical school? The worst would be to waste a couple years pursuing some degree, only to discover that I really wanted to do something else. Especially now with the house, grad school would be a huge committment even if my company pays my tuition.
But going back to what I was saying about personal statements, I guess reading all those other people's statements made me realize how important it is to have direction in your life. In their cases, they were forced to write them because of the application process for grad school. But I think ideally, everyone should take the time to write a personal statement, whether applying for something or not. After all, Jerry Maguire wrote one, right?
Anyways, if you don't have a personal statement (like me), then I suppose your personal statement should be: "To come up with my personal statement". Kind of like if you don't have a job, your job becomes: "To find a job".
In both cases, you probably need to work just as hard at finding a personal statement/job as you would at executing your personal statement/job if you had one, because unless you're lucky, you aren't going to just stumble upon it. So yeah, I need to find my personal statement.
*****
Actually, I think I've got it. I think my personal statement is to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. With the recent passing of Chief Justice Rehnquist, I was watching the discussion on the news and it just seems like a really good job to have.
I mean the Supreme Court is hands down the coolest club in the world, and as Chief Justice you basically get to be the top dog of this club. On top of that you get to wear those really sweet looking robes, and if you're the Chief you even get those stripes on your sleeve. That's right, if I was Chief Justice I would make people call me "the Chief", just because I could.
The best part is once you're in, you're in for good and you pretty much have to answer to nobody. Say you get pulled over for speeding, what are they gonna do, try you in a village court? I'd just keep appealing that shiznit until it gets up to my court, and then what? That's right, I reign SUPREME baby. That's what sign on the building says. Call me the Chief.
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