Blogging and Google Plus (hereafter referred to as Google+) may not be as mutually exclusive as one might initially think. Not only was it Google+ that brought me back to my blog after a six month hiatus, but the more technical contacts I make on Plus, the more intuitive it becomes to use a blog in conjunction with Google+ to have the most reach. For those of you still reading, let me outline the past week of relevant activities.
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This Prius had a rather interesting license plate
My daughter does indeed show her happy face!
If there is anything we can learn from our children, it is that perspective makes a world of difference. Isn’t it amazing how different a given situation can appear between observing it from the outside and actually experiencing it? This concept has taken on a new level of application in our household with the adoption of our youngest child’s “Happy Face”.
This representation of jubilation is quite accurately portrayed in the picture above, but it typically comes only after a prompting of, “Where is your Happy Face?” Interestingly enough, the perspective of which I speak is well suited to this very expression of joy. You see, as a two year old, she has not yet come to grips with the fact that simply announcing her happiness or pasting a smile on her face does not convince mom and dad that she is indeed happy.
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One of the most amazing things in the history of technology must be the ability of working remotely. Take a moment and consider what the ramifications of this step in employment progress. To anyone who has worked a regular office job for any length of time, the enticement of being able to work from home is quite alluring. However, having some moderate experience with this phenomenon myself, I realize that beneath the shiny facade, all is not ponies and rainbows.
For those that are not aware, let me first quickly share my experience with you. Having worked on various freelance and contract projects for about three years, I began my professional career as a lead web developer in the educational realm where I never even considered working remotely as an option. Simply adjusting to the life of the desk dweller was enough to keep me busy for the three years I was there.
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In gaming, the challenge always seems to be bigger, bolder and badder when it comes to graphics, but why hasn’t anyone really tapped the PC market with full multi-panel display support? This question came to mind again today when I saw this amazing 43″ curved display. I can only imagine the satisfaction of playing a flight simulator or racing game with two of these bad boys side by side providing a true panoramic display.
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This is one of those articles to which I am pointed that raises a number of very mixed thoughts and emotions within me. I’m not sure whether to be excited or appalled. To be perfectly honest, my initial thought on the matter was something akin to, “Sweet! Finally, someone is paying homage to one of the classics in this over saturated video game/comic book character movie run!” However, since that initial thought, the pendulum of my thoughts swung to the other extreme before finally settling to a somewhat acceptable happy medium.
Let’s consider the pros and cons for a moment, shall we? The biggest con is that there is absolutely no plot or story line to the game AT ALL. I mean, how often is Hollywood actually left with a completely wide open slate, given a drawing board as empty as space (quite literally) and actually come up with a respectable story? True, it happens from time to time with incredible writers (Spielberg and Lucas come to mind), but of all the space movies out there, those are by far the exceptions.
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We all have heard the saying that You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and just as much as in our personal relationships, the brutal force of this statement shows itself true in the web world as well. I cannot count the number of times I have visited a website to glean information about a particular topic only to be immediately bombarded with any number of issues: from broken links to JavaScript errors, layout issues due to lack of attention given to cross browser compatibility, and even, in some cases, the dreaded 404 error right from the home page. Now, none of these issues is a deal breaker to me; I mean, come on, we’re all human, right?
Well, what if that website happens to be for a company or product that is in a technology industry to some varying degree? Does that make a difference? Based on some feelers I’ve put out over the years both with clients and customers for many of the projects of which I have been part, this can indeed make all the difference in the world. Whether or not your organization or product is web related, the average user hints at the fact that, if your content is perceived to be technology based in any form, these small faux pas mentioned above take on an impact of much greater magnitude.
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So, I typically strive to avoid any political debates on here, but I got an email this morning that was just too good to pass up. I have often wondered how printing more money, further decreasing its inherent value, is supposed to stimulate the economy — well, let’s learn a lesson from Chuck:
Young Chuck in Montana bought a horse from a farmer for $100.
The farmer agreed to deliver the horse the next day.The next day the farmer drove up and said, “Sorry son, but I have some
bad news… the horse died.”Chuck replied, “Well, then just give me my money back.”
The farmer said, “Can’t do that. I went and spent it already.”
Chuck said, “Ok, then, just bring me the dead horse.”
The farmer asked, “What ya gonna do with him?”
Chuck said, “I’m going to raffle him off.”
The farmer said, “You can’t raffle off a dead horse!”
Chuck said, “Sure I can, Watch me. I just won’t tell anybody he’s
dead.”A month later, the farmer met up with Chuck and asked, “What happened
with that dead horse?”Chuck said, “I raffled him off.
I sold 500 tickets at two dollars a piece and made a profit of $998.”The farmer said, “Didn’t anyone complain?”
Chuck said, “Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back.”
Chuck grew up and now works for the government. He’s the one who figured out how this “bail-out” is going to work.
That’s good stuff.
Isn’t it amazing how much we learn during tax season? It seems to me that, no matter how long I pay taxes, I always discover a new way to give the government more of my money each time this season rolls around. This year has proven no different. We made the move from Buffalo, NY to the Seattle area mid-year, and we were thrilled to see that we no longer had state income tax withholdings, because Washington state has no income tax. Well, that bubble burst in the last 24 hours when I discovered that good ol’ New York state won some controversial court case that allows them to tax — get this — nonresident income if the source of the income is in NY state. So, in essence, I get to pay income tax to NY state for all the money I’ve earned in the last 6 months while living in a stat with no income tax, and to top it off, as I’m filling out the forms in TurboTax, I get the nice little note that in addition to the taxes I need to pay, I may be hit with an underpayment penalty, since we didn’t pay it all through the year — wow.
Needless to say, I’m not too excited about the scenario, but what is there to do? The most frustrating thing is that the flux between the refund it seemed we were due to the amount we now owe is nearly a $3,000 spread… not fun. Anyway, I suppose I will end my little rant now, but I cannot justify paying taxes to a state when I no longer live there. Perhaps I should just be thankful that we now live in a state with no income tax, or we may well have had to pay both states what they claim is their due.
As expected, my life during the Christmas season has been extraordinarily hectic, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Family and friends bring laughs and joy to my life that I cannot fully express in words. I have always enjoyed Christmas and what it means, and while growing up, there was never a lack of family or friends stopping by to celebrate with us in some way. Whether it was having an open house for our church family to stop by or spending a weekend with family in the mountains of North Carolina, Christmas time has always held a special place in my heart.
With that being said, it is little wonder that I didn’t take the time to do much development work or even post to my blog, as much as I enjoy doing both. Over the past several years, it has been amazing to see how priorities have changed, and this season shows that more than any other. Having the opportunity to give to my family, not only the physical gifts I purchased for them, but also the additional time and the opportunity to take some time off work: those are the things that will last a lifetime.
So, I can say without regret that, while I am anxious to get back to some of my projects, I’m not at all sorry for not being online more, but now that the season is drawing to a close, I hope to be able to get back into the swing of things. I hope each and every one of you had a very Merry Christmas and that you have a wonderful New Year’s Day this week as well!