This is the blog of Brasten Sager, a software engineer, Mariners fan, guitarist, haphazard philosopher.
Racquetball went well! I was sweating profusely by the 3rd point, so my belief that I’m not in great shape was largely confirmed.. HOWEVER, it wasn’t nearly as bad as the last couple times I’ve played (which was many months ago)... so what limited exercise I’ve been getting between then and now has helped. We’re going to be playing every Wednesday now, and that will really help I think!
Ajo and I will be playing Racquetball tonight (is Chris joining us?). For me, it’s the first time I’ve played in many many months. Quite honestly I don’t expect to last the entire hour. I just haven’t been maintaining my endurance for stuff like that. BUT, I have a few pounds to lose, and I used to be much more physically active than I am now, so I’m going to start getting back into things I used to do like that.
Anyway, I was thinking about tonight and it just made me think about WHY I enjoy sports like that. For me at least, it’s way more mental than physical. I will rarely beat you on pure physical effort, but I can keep up by utilizing the mental aspect of the game.
See, I pay VERY close attention to my opponents. How are they playing? What do they do under different situations? What tendencies do they have? Where I survive in games like this is finding the other person’s specific weakness. Not just general stuff like keeping them off balance and changing speeds, but specific shots that each person can and cannot handle, and the shots they tend to make to score on me. Once I’ve figured these things out, it’s just a matter of using them successfully more times than not.
There’s no doubt in my mind going in to tonight’s festivities that Ajo is in better physical shape than I am. Whether or not I’m able to mentally figure him out is what will determine if I get blown away or stay competitive.
... and THATs why I love these games. :)
using System;
public class CommandLine {
public static void Main(string[] args) {
Console.WriteLine("Number of command line parameters = {0}", args.Length);
for (int i = 0; i < args.Length; i++) {
Console.WriteLine("Arg[{0}] = [{1}]", i, args[i]);
}
}
}
public class CommandLine {
public static void main(String args[]) {
System.out.println("Number of command line parameters = " + args.length);
for (int i = 0; i < args.length; i++) {
System.out.println("Arg[" + i + "] = [" + args[i] + "]");
}
}
}
Also, ignore the \’s in front of quotes. WordPress seems to want to add them in front of quotes inside <pre> tags, and I don’t care to figure out why at the moment.
Thank God.
After weeks of hearing the spew from both sides of the isle over Judicial filibusters and the "nuclear option," it appears as if there IS intelligence life in the Senate after all. But first, let me piss of people on both sides of the issue.
There are a couple of facts that I think most rational people - those willing to look past their partisan loyalties - can agree on:
I, Brasten Sager, hereby formally apologize to everyone who watches the ABC show “Lost.” For too long I have scoffed at you for watching a show involving a bunch of people trapped on an island. I have questioned why you would watch something akin to Survivor but fake. I have silently mocked.
... how wrong I was …
The single greatest idea ABC has had recently was to play these little “catch up” episodes of their various popular series. It was this that ended up hooking me on Desperate Housewives, and now… I have fallen prey to another show.
The one hour catch up of Lost has made me disgusted that I missed the whole season. I HAD NO IDEA about all the subplots and storylines and whatnot… it’s unbelievable… in a good way.. the “amazing” unbelievable… I will be watching the season finale next week as an official Lost viewer.
Apple’s portable line is in a tough spot right now. Or rather I should say, their professional portables.
It’s no secret the current line is hideously slow. My machine cost me $3,000 a little over a year ago, and I’ve never been able to do any serious programming on it. It also barely survives my attempts at multimedia creation (all the little movies and such I put together). Unfortunately, it’s exactly these two things that the majority of recent Apple converts would use them for.
There’s been some interesting talk today about Apple switching to Intel possibly. To be quite honest, while I don’t believe it, I wouldn’t be especially upset about it. There’s no doubt that PowerPC is the “better” architecture… but the current PowerPC chips are just too large and too hot to fit into current Apple portables. The Pentium 4m by comparison is a decent little chip, and it’s already shipping in similarly sized portables from vendors like Sony, etc. So if switching to Intel got PowerBooks up to snuff, fine.
My point is, Apple’s got to do something. These machines are jokes, and I desperately need a serious Apple notebook that can handle my development. G5 PowerBook, fine… PowerBooks powered by the new Freescale dual-core high-FSB G4 chips, even better… (drool)... But I need something better than what’s currently available.
There are many things I do NOT like about Cable Internet. Hideous upstream speeds, dynamic IP addresses, unwillingness to allow “servers.” All of these things are available through better DSL-based services (specifically, in Seattle, Speakeasy.net offers great packages).
BUT, all that said, Comcast definitely deserves some credit. As my fellow Comcast Broadband subscribers can attest to (yo yo Squire), Comcast does it’s darnest to keep downstream speeds impressive. In the last year, my line has transparently been upgraded from 1.5 to 2, to 3, and recently to 4.0mpbs downstream. I just sustained 500kpbs over 10-15 minutes downloading a file.
I never thought I’d see the day where I would rather download a file at home than at work. :D
Go Comcast… go Comcast.. go go, go Comcast…
After many many days of toils and strife, I finally accomplished quite a major little project. First, a little history:
The company I work for has been building an ERP system on BEA WebLogic Application Server for the last four years. About two years ago, I recognized the momentum behind JBoss Application Server and started heavily lobbying for a switch. JBoss is opens source, has a great developer community, and performed adequate for our needs. (Recent testimonials say JBoss is at least competitive in performance with the big commercial AppServers now, maybe even faster, according to some.)
Unfortunately I work at a company that doesn’t take my opinions seriously. I’ve expressed my frustrations with this before on this blog, but to recap, after 5 years of working somewhere I would expect and hope to be given increasing responsibilities in the decision making processes on this project. I’ve started realizing a couple years ago that any big ideas I’ve had are simply not taken seriously and avoided. Most of the big framework related projects at this point are being given to one of my co-workers, who has very different opinions than I do. He’s a Windows/WebLogic guy, I’m a *NIX/JBoss guy.
This became most apparent to me after pushing for JBoss a couple years ago. Of course initially I was completely ignored until I was able to get the other developers on board (including the WebLogic guy, at least marginally). Then, they spent the last 24 months saying that we’ll look into converting “6 months from now.” As you might expect, that’s been a rolling 6-month deadline. Currently we’re planning on converting in January 2006.
All of this had of course lead to a nearly non-existent morale on my part. I was just told yesterday that I need to take ownership of this project and company. Of course, what they mean is, “We don’t pay you to think, we pay you to follow orders.” I’ve been taking ownership of this project for 4 years. And it’s precisely because of that that I constantly butt heads with the business side. Me ideas of what the project should be and management’s expectations are entirely different.
....
All that said (again), I was recently snubbed one more time. Instead of converting to JBoss, they decided to throw a ton of resources at upgrading to WebLogic 8. Unbelievable. And beyond that, they gave the project not to me – of course – but to my co-worker. Well, I decided I’m sick of taking ownership in a company that takes no ownership in me. So I’ve given it one last push. I put in about 40 hours this last week outside of work and converted the base framework from WebLogic/WebServices to JBoss/RMI.
And it WORKS.
All you can do is log in at this point, but that’s enough to show them that it’s possible. We have nearly one million lines of code, I’m going to need official approval to begin working on the rest of the conversion. I can’t tackle that kind of work in my spare time.
... I guess I’m basically giving them one more chance to take me seriously. I’m a HELLOFA good programmer, and I will not work for a company that doesn’t believe that.
Welcome to the next generation of gaming.
the Sony PlayStation 3 is going to kick ass. And it’s sexy to boot.
For those of you who bypass my index page and jump straight to /blog, you can check out my new index page at www.brastensager.com.
What’s so special about it? Well, it represents the look and feel I’m shooting for with the redesign of the blog. Plus, while the blog is by far the most immediate and relevant content on my website, I hope to add more content accessible from the main page as time goes by, so that page will become more important eventually. I would like the blog to be just one of several options that a visitor to BrastenSager.com might enjoy.
Anyway, I realize the index page is extremely simple, and that’s the point. I’m kind of going for a modern art gallery feel. Plus, 1 1/2 years of being a Mac user has given me a great appreciate for a lightweight and minimalist UI. I hope to achieve that with my site eventually.
“It is my sole desire in life to say something so meaningful and so profound that I am quoted long after saying it.” – Brasten Sager
;)Desperation On Many Levels…
Make it stop! . . . . . I’ve tried so hard to stay uninterested in any new TV series. I don’t watch much TV, and I like that, but I can easily get hooked on a decent television show. Unfortunately, I’ve managed to get hooked on another show. Desperate Housewives.
I know, I know… but in my defense it comes on right before Grey’s Anatomy (one show I deliberately got hooked on). After a few weeks of seeing the last 10 minutes of the show, I had to watch a couple full episodes.
And that - as they say - was that.
On a more engaging topic…
My sister just got engaged. Of course I’m extremely happy for her! I also feel old. :) Anyway, it’s an exciting time for the family! Just thought I’d pass along the news!
I just got a funny email from Jessica.
”...we don’t have to do the bombing tonight if it’s too late. I still have the covering up, etc. to do…we can postpone it until Saturday, maybe even Sunday morning…I don’t think it will make a huge difference…although, if I wait there might be more little creepys that will die! =)”
In this post-9/11 and post-Patriot Act world we live in, it’s probably a good idea to explicitly specify when you’re talking about BUG bombing. That’s the kind of email that would no doubt end up intercepted and land me in an interrogation room. :)
iBrasten is currently undergoing some redesign, so you’ll have to forgive the bland look of the current blog. Also, if you log on and the page is messed up, it’s probably because I’m testing my new design. I’m running into an irritating situation where the new design looks great in Safari and Firefox… I was only recently informed by a friend that it looks horrible in Internet Explorer.
damn Internet Explorer. Always the thorn in my side.
Unfortunately I have to make it work with IE before I can post it. Statistically my viewers are a little more informed than most, with something like 30% using Safari, and 30% using Firefox. But even then, I can’t alienate the remaining 40% of my readers. Besides, most of the Safari hits are me, I’m sure.
sigh.
I took a slightly different version of the same personality test I posted a while back… here are the new results:
Star Trek Personality Test—Results
Myers-Briggs would say that you are an INTP (Introvert, Intuitive, Thinker, Perceiver). In Star Trek language, you share a basic personality configuration with Worf.
People like you are generally quiet until you have something important to say. You are extremely independent and fiercely private. You’re logical and unemotional, but also quite innovative and creative. Your smile or snarl can hide your wily ingenuity. You’re a global thinker, curious about politics. You are driven to succeed and to prove to yourself your high level of competence.
You’re also a nonconformist and quite unpredictable. When you want to adapt to the needs of others, however, it’s easy. You prefer to be casual.
You respond best to people who honor your privacy and independence, who appreciate your ideas and have no trouble leaving you alone. You can’t stand a demand for some big emotional talk when you haven’t figured out exactly how you feel and what to do about it.
You don’t like clutter, but you’re not always tidy. You hate it when other people see your messes or comment on them. And you don’t like to be nagged, ever.
Your primary goal in life is maintaining your privacy and gaining the opportunity to solve complex problems in unique ways. Your reward is being granted the time and freedom to pursue adventures on your own.
Good careers for your type include being the Ambassador to Qo’noS, venture capitalist, legal mediator, musician, investigator, and strategic planner.
Background refresher: Rick Rupert – a friend of mine from church a while back – was recently arrested in Malaysia for allegedly handing out Christian tracts outside a mosque. I use the term allegedly a bit tongue-in-cheek, because anyone who knows him has no doubt he would do that.
Anyway, I just heard this morning that he was released from jail, all charges were dropped, and he is being permitted to stay inside the country. If anyone knows anything more about this story, please comment, especially if I’m wrong in any way.
I’m assuming the US embassy intervened in this matter. Probably convinced Malaysia that it was not in their best interest given the current state of the world for a little Islamic nation to jail a couple of Christian kids from America. Either way, it looks like the situation is over.
I need to be careful with this…
I came across a dashboard plugin for Mac OS X Tiger that I really liked called DashBlog, whose purpose should be easy to figure out. But upon looking into the author, I discovered it was written by a 22-year old gal. That always fascinates me because girls don’t usually get into the computer science field. I was just at two users groups and I saw about 100 guys, no girls. So coming across a girl that’s in my field - especially one that’s good at it - it’s an oddity worth mentioning.
Now, my cautious disclaimer… I am in no way saying that girls can NOT succeed in science fields. I personally know of several girls smarter than I.
... When I Grow Up… I was thinking the other day about what makes people want to do what they want to do. I know there are a lot of people that go through college with no real idea what they want to do, but a lot of people just know and they do it. But it’s just a weird thing to me because I can’t imagine doing what YOU do, and I’m sure YOU can’t imagine doing what I do.
Here’s an example: I am a software developer. Squire is a computer hardware tech. Jessica currently works in HR, but would love to study - help me out here - Neuropharmacology??... Jill wants to be a doctor (pediatrics I think??)... AJ runs his own company… I’m not even sure what DG does, but is currently studying to get into computer software (I think?)...
I’m glad that we all want to be different things, but it’s still strange to me…. what makes someone want to be what they want to be?
... Another College Rant…
I have lamented before on this blog about how not having a college degree bothers me. I won’t go back into that here. However, that constant sore subject drives me to constantly look at ways to achieve a college degree of some sort. I have gone back to school for a couple quarters at a time several times over the last few years… but never made anything of it. The one good thing is I’ve been able to prove to myself that I can do good in school. I ended up with a horrid GPA when I finally left SPU - for lack of any interest in trying - but my grades in post-SPU classes have been fantastic, and I knew they would be.
Anyway, I came across a pretty cool program. I can’t do anything about it now, but it’s one of those things to file away as a possibility someday. Portland State University offers a 5-year double-major program. After 5-years you graduate with a BS in Computer Science and an MS in Biomedical Informatics. How cool would THAT be??
I don’t subscribe the the theory of massive outsourcing destroying the American IT industry, but in case I’m wrong - as I am sometimes, rarely - biomedical informatics makes one very attractive to an industry that isn’t going anywhere.
Anyway, a zillion things would have to happen before I could pursue that, but it’s an interesting concept.
It’s that time we’ve all been waiting for… time for me to announce my NEXT PORTLAND TRIP!
drumroll......
MAY 24th!
... details are still being worked out, so it may be a 24th-25th overnighter or not. And this depends on the Portland Java Users Group having a decent topic of conversation. But, tentatively, that’s the plan. :)
Well, all my birthday festivities are finally over. I had no formal birthday party of sorts, but instead I ended up at gatherings with various people for the last 4 or 5 days. It was kind of fun that way actually. Work had their standard birthday celebration on Thursday. The Squire treated me to a lunch at Macaroni Grill on Friday… Jessica was a two-parter, with a homemade dinner on Friday night here at my place, then treating me to a dinner at Pen Thai on Saturday. Then I hung out with my family this afternoon!
I got a couple of fun presents… Got a nice shirt from my parents, which I’ll probably wear tomorrow. :) Jessica got me a fun iron wine caddy that holds about 8 glasses and 2 bottles of wine. It’s awesome! My sister and her boyfriend got me a really nice pepper grinder, which is perfect because mine was a piece of crap and I’ve been wanting to replace it. The one they got seems VERY nice, with multiple settings and everything! :D
BUT, the biggest present by far was a little thing my mother managed to get for me… It’s a yo-yo I’ve been wanting for several years. It’s from a local yo-yo company (SuperYo), and it’s called the Samurai. Last I checked it retailed for about $200, is a limited edition, set the world record for longest sleep time (12 minutes I think), and is an engineering marvel. :) While I’ll definitely take it for a spin once in a while, it’s almost a yo-yo to look at more than play with. My mom even managed to get the founder of SuperYo – Arne Dixon – to autograph the yoyo for me! I cleared out the best shelf in my entertainment center to display it… and here’s a picture:
UPDATE! DG noticed I never say how old I am… I just turned 26.
Also, here’s another picture, this time of me doing a yo-yo trick!
Here’s an interesting tidbit… Star Trek producers have now decided to hold off on any new Star Trek projects for a while….
FINALLY....
Now, here’s the kicker… they think Enterprise failed because it faces too much competition from reruns of older Star Trek series…
....
WHAT??
How about this thought… Enterprise failed because it was a miserable god-aweful show?? Could that be possible??
In today’s world where we have Battlestar Galactica and Firefly/Serenity, who needs Enterprise?
”... it’s been a long road, getting from there to here…”
