So far I’ve had some success at blogging at daily intervals. As you may have noticed that the brievity of my recent blogs. First, the device I blog from now doesn’t let my type as fast as a regular keyboard. Second I am concentrating on the science fiction novel I’m writing now. Just finished the rough draft of chapter 3.
Category Archives: Writing
Updates to Life
I haven’t blogged about myself in a bit. So here is an update on me:
@ Work:
Have less than a month left of my probationary period at work. All the signs, indicators and omens point towards my staying on as a fully privileged employee of VisionMAX Solutions. I am very pleased with this situation. I can’t stress how much I enjoy hacking away at a web application. My only rant is not being able to see the forest from the trees at times. And I’m outgrowing my aversion to spontaneous human interaction.
@ Life:
I’m still figuring out how balance work and life. I seem to be winning that battle. Actions and rituals smooth out over time, so long as no one turns my universe on its head. God promises not to. And people are too busy in-fighting. So nothing should change in that manner. Hopefully I’ll be able to take on more stuff in the future. Anyone following my journey through life on Facebook, don’t hold your breath. I’m migrating away from Facebook, since I don’t have any say in how my information and content is handled.
@ Writing:
As noted earlier, I don’t blog (or journal) as much as liked to. But that just because I’m adjusting to everything nowadays. However, I do have success in my writing of prose. Right now I’m writing chapters 2 and 3 of a dark science fiction novel. I’ve uploaded all my typed up writing so far to Google Docs, for my own convenience. However that also means I can share my current drafts with anyone with a Google account. If you’re interested (and I know you personally), I’ll let you see what I wrote so far. Just e-mail or IM me.
@ Coding:
Outside of work, I don’t do much coding. However I plan on getting involved with the KDE and maemo communities in the near future. I would love to learn C++ and further the state of art of both KDE and maemo. Watch this space for further details.
You got your update of Dorian already. Now go do something productive!
Blogging the Busy Life
Its funny actually. I imagined that with work, I’d have more money and time to do the things I want. Money is not the issue after all. Time on the other hand, is the ultimate scarce resource. Hence I blog less than I want to.
Fortunately as I fall into the rhythm of work, free time seems to increase slowly again. However, somethings may fall to the wayside. Like gaming. Unfortunate, but necessary. Then again I always considered gaming as a philosophy and as a thing-to-do in case of everyone else in the world being too busy.
Its funny actually. The name of this blog… I hoped to examine the seamy underbelly of open source gaming. Yet, while my blogging schedule is unreliable as most readers know, I consistently do not talk about open source gaming. One of those inside jokes, that the great machine of the universe plays on us. Or rather that the maker of said machinery, enriches our lives with.
Its funny actually. I feel that I possess more freedom to do see friends. But that too many reveal itself an illusion. Perhaps. Perhaps…
OK. Must stop slacking off and get back to doing productive… err… stuff.
(And the answer is yes. I am trying to out-do one of my blogging friends, with all this stream of consciousness. Was I successful?)
A New Hope
Ok, I just had to take that title. While I’m not a huge Star Wars fan, light sabers and X-wing fighters are cool. So why the title? And why the enthusiasm?
First, I have a job! Thats right, I now work as a software consultant for VisionMAX Solutions. I get to build neat web applications in Java for clients. Its not exactly open source, but the mode of work is very similar. I am pretty excited about the job. I just need to get used to the new schedule.
Second, I started writing again! Yup, I am working on a science fiction novel. First chapter done in rough, and the second chapter progressing well. Lets see if I can keep it up to finish the novel.
Lastly, Ubuntu 8.04 came out recently. I have been running the KDE 4 desktop on it, and its fairly stable. Recently I’ve had some issues with the performance KDE 4. So its back to KDE 3, which is still rock solid. I might get into KDE 4 development and help progress KDE 4 towards the same stability as KDE 3.
I’m a Genius!
Well according to this rating script, the reading material on this blog requires a genius-level reading intellect.
You need to be a genius to read; perchance to understand my ramblings? Maybe that is a good thing. Maybe its not. I leave that as an exercise for the reader. Whatever the case, I hope it makes your day.
Working Titles
After the disappointment of having to admit defeat with one of my projects, I can announce success in two separate ventures. First, I am writing the first chapter of a science fiction novel. Secondly, I started planning an open source game title. I am excited about these two new experiments.
I post more details about both projects, after I get substantial work done.
Digging Out of Self-Made Holes
Right before the end of last year, I made a number of “blue sky” goals for 2008. Unfortunately I fell into a number of self-made holes from last year, that basically prevented me from moving forward. To make things worse, I realized no single “thing” would resolve or complete even part of one of those goals.
So after wishing, raging, and begging the these issues to go away, all thats left is a lot of legwork. Not too happy, but I resign myself to digging away these holes myself. Still open to a magic wand waving away everything, though. 🙂
In the open source programming part, I finally threw out a good chunk of code, restarted and refactored most of the game engine for justCheckers. I need to reimplement moving and jumping pieces in a sane way still. Then after I fix the user interface and do some testing. Only then I can package version 0.1.1 out the door, and show the world some real progress.
As for writing, I cut back on one of my novel ideas. I am concentrating on writing a dark, hard scifi novel called Echoes in the Endless. So far I have the rough draft of half of the first chapter written. Lots to do still.
Job searching is just plain tedious. And no I have not gotten a single reply, so stop asking. Its just not fun to even think about it. Everything else is pretty much on hold until I get a revenue stream… like a job.
The Spring of Eternal Winter
I lean my shovel, against the icy snow lining the bottom of my driveway. Exhaustion clouds my thoughts. At least I have defeated the mechanical monstrosity called the snowplough truck. This time maybe it will not come for a while.
I watch the dirty brown trickle of melt water, as it skirts the melting floes. The steady sound of the trickle falling down the rusty rainwater grate, calms my mind. The tired, muddy ice hides the silent arrival of long awaited friend. Only the trickle whispers in my ear, “Spring is coming.”
The world swirls around me. The mountain of ice shrinks before my eyes. The sound of bird fills the air. Spring. The icy citadels of Winter’s harsh rule shrink and dissipate into the warm air. Trees blossoms and grass grows and the sun melts the last of the snow. Spring. A time of a new beginning.
Only I stand shrouded in a icy sheath. My heart encased in my frozen body, shimmers slightly. The shimmer can not melt the icy sheath. Neither can the sun. Who will unable melt my being? When will my soul’s eternal winter end?
I turn away. The ice and snow returns. The slushy floes melt slowly. As I walk away, I hear the trickle of meltwater whisper in my ear, “Spring is coming.”
Originally posted: Saturday, March 3, 2007 @ 08:44
Author’s comments: Shoveling snow can really wind you. And then you get strange ideas… like this one I had. My deoxygenated brain seems to come with strange, colourful delusions. Now if only I could write properly when not under the influence of sleep deprivation, caffeine or excessive snow shoveling. This was the last post of the One-Time Trash Pad project.
Episode 2: In Search of Coffee
*Yawn*
Olaf rubbed his eyes. He got out of bed, turned on the computer, and shuffled down the stairs to the kitchen. Must have coofffeeee… Olaf thought. Another late, late night kept awake by the thought of the end of the semester.
Coffee. He prepared the stove top espresso machine. His body went through the motions of the actions of opening up the machine. Dump the coffee grounds. Add some water in the bottom. Add new coffee. Olaf, eyes half-opened scanned the kitchen. Nothing on the countertop. Opening one cabinet, Olaf reached in to grab the coffe jar. His hand grabbed the air. He shuffled downstairs, into the basement. The same result. Olaf aggrivated and slightly more awake, walked back up to the kitchen. He then began a detailed cabinet to cabinet search.
Why, is the coffee always in the last place you look. Olaf sigh, and went back to his comatose state. Add new coffee. Set on stove. Wait. A few moments later, Olaf turned off the stove, steam whistling machine, and poured a bit of the thick, dark liquid into a small cup. He stirred in two teaspoons of sugar into the fresh espresso.
Nope. Drinking coffee not helping. He shuffled half-awake back upstairs. He sat down infront of the computer, and started his e-mail program. 12 Messages!!! Olaf snapped painfully into an awake state. 12 messages, and all about school work. Olaf started reading the litany of wishes and list of work in each of the e-mails.
Even Sunday feels like a Monday. Olaf sighed and braced for the onslaught of the day.
Originally posted: Sunday, December 3, 2006 @ 05:52
Author’s comment: Oh, those last days were hell for me. Nothing beats the hell out of me, like a stack of writing that needs to be done. And due dates… I like them. Especially, the sound of them whooshing by. And yes I am addicted to coffee. I later wrote about an interesting theory of the connection between the amount of caffeine in my body, and how smitten I would get. Interestingly, this story describes how I start my days. Oh, and before you ask. Yes, I did read your email… I just have not gotten around to answer it.
Episode 1: Quantum Computing for… Dummies?!?
Olaf squinted at the text document. He tilted his head. Scratched it twice, and yawned.
Crap. No matter which way he approached the problem, it seemed like a mountain. One of those mountains, that looks like a molehill at a close distance, but you walk into like you would into Mount Everest. The problem being an article about decoherence in quantum computers.
Olaf tilted the swivel head on his LCD monitor. Nope, no idea. The window with an open document typed in OpenOffice stared back at him. How embarrasing, thought Olaf. I have done this before. He glanced at the clock. 22:00. Six more days at most. Crap, why the hell did I pick quantum computers as a project for the science writing course? Olaf smiled. Earlier this semester, he read one of his earlier edits to the class. The blank point-blank stares. The yawns. There he was. Facing the class, stressed by the thought of a barrage of complaints, bothered by the zombified expression of his classmates, and struggling with the words. Olaf realized later, that he was one of the few students who had some sort of science background. Dude, do you expect a bunch of English and Writing majors to grasp the complex concepts behind quantum mechanics, networks, digital cryptography and quantum computation in a single article and keep awake?!?
In the end, they liked it. With a bit of editing, the class liked his other articles. Only one last hurdle remained. “Its too long and too much information.” said one of his peers. I bet they suffered mental overload with that one. Olaf chuckled.
Six more days to the end of the semester. And nine more assignments. Olaf sighed. He stared at the screen. OpenOffice stared back at him. Olaf stuck out his tongue at the window. The program stared back at him.
“Screw this!” Olaf exclaimed. He already wasted most of the day on this one edit. All he really need was an half decent intro. Maybe he could reguriate an intro. Olaf smiled. He did just that.
Originally posted: Saturday, December 2, 2006 @ 18:51
Author’s Comment: That is how I felt rushed at the end of the semester. But will never forget reading my first professionally written piece infront of my writing class. I was surprised by how well received it was. And the compliment from my classmates. They understood everything I wanted to explain. Its was like hitting them over the head with a textbook in terms of the amount of facts and my boring narration. The professor, Guy Allen, who read an earlier, crude edit was also amazed how much I progressed. For the rest of the semester, I just kept on raising the bar for myself. And stressing out about it. 😉
Oh to my fellow classmates, forgive the comment of “overloading”. You guys taught this stuck-up science student more about exciting scientific writing, then almost anyone else. Except Guy, who we all agree is like a god in writing. 😉 I love you guys.