MercuryState.com

June 28, 2009

Transformers 2

Stay home... and don't waste your cash on this one. This movie falls on this list of could have been good. The plot and script left a lot to be desired... so much so that this should have gone direct to DVD. I suspect if it was not for the massive cash spent on effects that this movie wold have been completely worthless.

The plot was loose and often boring... there were a lot of moments where I was looking at the clocking wondering when they would get back to the story. The script was loaded with worthless lines that a high school student could have written. In short... if you are going to release a movie like this during the same summer that Terminator 4, Star Trek and Harry Potter are coming out... you should do a better job.

Quality of effects has completely replaced quality film making. It's quite sad.

Posted by Merc at 10:00 PM | 0 comments

June 27, 2009

A Day at the ER

So it was a long and wild day... I woke up at 7:00 AM to do some last minute preparing for a presentation at CSUF. As much as enjoy public speaking, I still get quite nervous beforehand... and tend to over prepare. We arrived about an hour before we went on stage. The presentation went well, but it was a tough venue for sure.

Afterwards, we had a quick lunch... on the way to the ER. My mother-in-law hurt her shoulder a few days previous to visiting and the pain was just growing daily. We spent the afternoon in the ER waiting for an X-ray... with a small break for a lesson in Macha... the X-ray should nothing, and all signs point to issue with her rotator cuff. For now, she has a sling and some meds... and in the near future, an MRI.

Posted by Merc at 11:28 PM | 0 comments

June 26, 2009

Technosystem

Both designers and developers have an issue with being clever. Clever seems like a good idea... but it is usually to difficult to maintain... and overtime, clever gets expensive. The ability to maintain a solution should be at the front of the mind for any project... and quite possibly, this needs to come in a refactoring phase. I am not suggesting anything that would kill productivity or creativity. Projects typically live inside a larger ecosystem... and clever can destroy the balance. Simple and modular is the only way to go.

Posted by Merc at 10:27 PM | 0 comments

June 25, 2009

Win Seven

Windows 7 is officially out in October... and I am pretty stoked. Rumor says that if software runs on Vista, it will run on Windows 7... and honestly, that is my only concern. Vista has been a serious boost in productivity for our office... and I can only assume that 7 will be better.

I suppose that my other concern... though mild... is that my clients will suddenly be more productive after they upgrade. I have a feeling that my daily inbox routine will double in size. Then again... maybe they will just continue to run XP or use 7 like it was XP.

Instead of Windows 7, they should have named Windows XP2 to trick more people into upgrading... just a random thought.

Posted by Merc at 6:19 PM | 0 comments

June 24, 2009

Full House

The workload has finally hit a point that we require vendors, so we have spent the week with a very full office. It's a drastically different environment... and to be honest, it is taking a lot of effort to adapt. There is a lot more chatter in the office due to more people... both personal chatter and work chatter. It is taking a lot of concentration to tune-out the noise.

There is also a lot more time spent explaining and confirming things. It has taken this transferring of work to make me realize how much I have kept in my head all these years. It's has been both stressful and stress-relieving to get these items out of my skull and into a written form. There are many "rules" that have been really impossible for me to explain... yet I have been following them for years.

The hardest thing that I have been getting my mind around is getting less done personally, but the business as a whole is getting a lot more done. I am so used to doing a bulk of the work myself... and having myself be the main limiting factor... that I am having trouble switching my mindset regarding project management. I suspect that I will see a continuing trend towards more meetings and management... and less hands-on work.

Posted by Merc at 11:00 PM | 0 comments

June 23, 2009

South County

I had a triple meat burger this evening at Champp's... so the vegan thing is going well. It was a beautiful burger topped with BBQ shredded pork, which was topped with bacon... and a wonderful slice of cheddar. Beef topped with two kinds of pork might be the best kind of beef. My only real complaint was the burger was a bit large... I know that sounds odd, but I didn't feel so hot afterwards. Sure, I could have stopped, but that would have been the easy way out.

We spend the rest of the evening wandering around the Spectrum... where we ended up at the pet shop. Puppies are cute and I think that is the trick. Puppies trick people into ignoring all the non-cute things that puppies do. It should be illegal to be so cute.

Puppies are evil and meat is awesome; the lessons of the evening.

Posted by Merc at 10:22 PM | 1 comments

June 22, 2009

Seven Away

I just finished a seven day break from social media -- particularly Twitter and Facebook. It was a nice break; and to be honest, I didn't much notice that I was away. I found that I was still thinking in Tweet format for the first few days, but recovered rather quickly.

Did I learn anything while I was away? Not a single thing. The point was made that it's difficult to learn about or change a medium that you are not using... so I am back. I hope to figure out new way to add value to the communities that I belong to. While I was told that I add entertainment value to the planet, it's not the type of value that I am aiming to add.

My question to myself is: what type of value do I want to add? I am still seeking that answer and suspect that I will slowly, but surely find it.

Posted by Merc at 10:02 PM | 4 comments

June 21, 2009

Backseat Blogger

Currently, I am blogging from the backseat while heading over the Grapevine. It’s nice to finally have a technology set-up that allows me to be truly mobile. We have been on laptops, instead of desktop computers, for years; but it is only recently that the hardware, technology and internet has allowed for an easy mobile workstation. Processors that are beefy enough to run applications like Photoshop, no longer require 15-pound, battery-eating laptops.

Technology is about to take another jump forward that will allow mobile computing to even easier and more affordable. The fact that something like a netbook can purchased for as little as $300 is simply amazing – that is less than the cost of a first-generation iPhone. Free wifi and mobile broadband are going to be the only barriers left to joining the mobile workforce.

I’m hoping that AT&T will wise up and have a plan available for sharing the iPhone’s internet connection. Tethering – or mobile phones as modems – will allow for a whole new level of freedom. This will allow people to break free of coffee shops, airports and other common wifi hotspots. Bars just might become the new mobile office.
With light-weight, power computers and wireless broadband, the missing part of mobile will most likely be power. If something like solar-power can become more affordable, as well as mobile, there will be little reason to not work from remote location that would typically be reserved for camping.

Working remotely from the office is pretty awesome; not nearly as awesome as not needing to work, but it is a close second. Those of us that are already taking advantage with the mobile technology available need to help guide the industry by explaining what we need.

Posted by Merc at 5:00 PM | 1 comments

June 20, 2009

Heat Locker

After 16 years of living in the massive heat of Arizona, I could handle most heat. Not anymore; I've lost my Arizona heat tolerance. Anything over 100°F is just sick and wrong. People should not be required to go out in such weather... especially if there is humidity. Summer hibernation seems like a good idea to help combat the heat...

Clearly, I could not survive back in Arizona... since our recent trip to Tulare nearly put me out. I am better suited for a small, windowless office that is equipped with freezer grade air-conditioning units.

Meat locker before heat locker.

Posted by Merc at 4:00 PM | 0 comments

June 19, 2009

Generation Three

So I got a new iPhone like we all knew I would. The perks of 3G, more storage and better performance are worth every extra penny paid.

Thus far, the speed increase of the internet has been the most noticeable. EDGE is like reliving the old-school dial-up days… it would be like using CompuServe again. 3G seems to be roughly along the same caliber as having the phone on wifi. The speed increase matters the most with apps like maps… where you are lost and finding your way quickly has a value.

With 32GB of storage, I have awhile before I need to worry about space. My pervious 8GB was always near full… to the point that I had to jungle items around. It was part of the reason for my rapid app review cycle – if an app was very interesting or frequently used, it was gone. Same story with podcasts… after a few days of not listening to a download, it was gone. I also had to download my photos daily. All of these concerns are now behinds me… but I am sure that they will sneak up again.

I had not really considered the performance increases much for the purchase; however, it has been one of the more noticeable features. Apps are booting nearly twice as fast; and more importantly, the transition between apps is much smoother. I posted a few videos on Flickr with my results… old iPhone versus new iPhone. Due to in-game performance increase, I have beat nearly all of my previous high-scores.

Again, I am very happy with my upgrade to the new hardware. My first-generation hardware served me well, and has been retired in perfect working order. I am also happy that I skipped the second-generation hardware; 3G alone was not enough reason to upgrade.

Posted by Merc at 11:00 PM | 0 comments

June 18, 2009

Wise Purchase

I’m loving my Dell Latitude E6400 laptop. It has been treating me well since the moment that I pulled it out of the box. This generation of Latitude has rocketed past all previous generations that I’ve owned or used, which has been quite a few.

The battery life has been perfect… I am typically getting 3-4 hours. Part of this is due to the smaller screen; I stepped down from a 15-inch to a 14-inch with this laptop. This is my first laptop that has had a light-sensor, which adjust the screen brightness based on the light around. I’m not sure if it is this laptop or improvements with Vista, but the sleep and suspend functionality has been fantastic. I can now close the lids and attend to what I need and pick-up right where I left off upon returning.

As laptops become lighter, I love them more. This laptop weight half of what my previous laptop did – something that I have been grateful for with all of my recent walking. As much as I’m loving my 4.5 pound laptop, I still have my eye on a 2.5 pound netbook. Weight (and mass) mean a lot more when you want to be mobile.

Two things that I never knew I wanted are a backlit keyboard and a built-in webcam. The keyboard has been hands-down the best new feature – to the point that I have a hard time imagining how I lived without it. Working in the dark and low-light is a pure joy. At first, I thought the built-in webcam was just plain creepy, but as peer-to-peer video conference utilities have great improved, this has been a unexpected benefit.

Yes, I am a Dell fan… and I am sure that Mac has had all of these features for a long time. I also enjoy the fact that I can have all of these features for under $800. Computers improve so rapidly; it’s nice to have the option to upgrade more often by spending less to start.

Posted by Merc at 10:00 PM | 1 comments

June 17, 2009

No Car

It has been over 4 months since my car accident, and I’m not really looking for a car yet. Thus far, I have not had a need for a car. There have been a few time when having a car would have been nice, but thing close to required.

I was noticing that I don’t miss my car; and I suspect that it is because I never really liked it. Two week before moving to Southern California my previous car died and the Neon was my best option at the time. As with everything that I own, I took care of my car and highly respected its value… but at no point did I feel a strong bond towards it. Maybe there is a small Neon cult out there; however, most people don’t dream of one day owning a Neon. It was good transportation and never caused me much trouble.

I’ve also noticed that I don’t miss driving… not even a little bit. I have nearly zero desire to get behind the wheel. I like walking… and more so now that I have been doing it a lot. There is a lot of freedom in not having to worry about a car or bike. I don’t have to fuss with traffic or parking. No one can bend or scratch the car that I don’t have. I don’t need to worry about locking anything or having anything stolen. I am where I am and have what I need to have on me… it’s quite freeing.

While my eye does follow every Jeep Wrangler and Mini Cooper that drives by, I’m not sure that I will be getting a car anytime soon. I may try to go as long as a year without a car.

Posted by Merc at 9:39 PM | 0 comments

June 16, 2009

Noise Ratio

I am stopping to smell the roses and evaluate social media in my personal life. I am a massive and long time fan of the Internet and its social corners. I've been playing around on such networks before the term blog was even a thought. I've made many a friend along the way and learned a tremendous volume. The Internet has helped me to shape my adult life and career; its value to me is easy to see.

So why take a time out?

The Internet and social networks have changed and grown... and most importantly they have changed because they have grown. This growth has greatly altered the signal-to-noise ratio. In my attempt to find the value of social media, I discovered that I really just want to find my value to social media. I don't want to be part of the noise... I want to be part of the signal.

Posted by Merc at 11:02 PM | 3 comments

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