First Class

Just got back from my first class of the semester. Not so thrilled to be losing that IBM paycheck, but it's always nice to not have to maintain a nine-to-five schedule for a little while. As for the classes, I've only had the one, my Project class. I'm mixed on it. The basic idea is we're breaking the class up into three teams and then each team is working on part of a larger project. The project is a cellphone app that acts as a virtual tour-guide for something like a college campus or a theme park. It will be developed using a Java Wireless Toolkit. Apparently there's an Eclipse plugin for it all.

Pros:
I like the idea for what the app does. Very forward-thinking, something I anticipate being proud of when we're done.
I like my team. It looks like it will be me, Tony, Kueling, and Joe Davie. I've never worked with Joe but I know he's good and the other two were 2/3 of my Operating Systems juggernaut.
I love the idea of creating one project using the whole class. Such a great simulation of a real world shop.
Professor Coleman seems to be genuinely excited about the class, which can make all the difference.

Cons:
Java.
Eclipse.

I hope the pros will outweigh the cons. I think they will.

Stupid words.

Why does attach have the double 't' but then detach only has one? That's fucked up.

A Great and Terrible Ad

I just saw one of the best and worst ads on TV in a long time. It starts with Andy Roddick walking out of the tunnel at a tennis stadium. He looks across the court and just sees a shiny white block. He looks confused and checks the scoreboard, which reads "Roddick vs Pong." It's great. They show a hard-fought match, montage style, and then he wins by just hitting a little underhand dribbler (Pong only moves left to right). It made me laugh, and it was very original, which makes it a great ad. On the other hand, I have no idea what it was for, which makes it a terrible one.

My other favorite ad from recent times is for a new Dodge, I think the Caliber. They're doing a focus group, but instead of people they have all these insanely cute CG characters. When the woman in charge asks them what they think, they give responses like, "It doesn't look very soft," and, "Well, it's neither cuddly, nor wuddly." Those are fairly amusing, and then the last one is just this tiny little furry creature who says, "It scares the fuck out of me." They censor it of course, but the shock value is priceless.

An Open Letter To The Red Sox Pitching Staff

Alright everyone, time to take a look in the mirror and ask yourself this question: Is my name Jonathon Papelbon or Curt Schilling? If the answer to this question is no, you are fired. Please pack your things and be out of the country by the end of the day, because you suck.

P.S. Doug Mirabelli can die in a fire. We need Varitek off the DL right fucking now.

Good Night Las Vegas!

Proving once again that I'm not too bad at poker but will never make a living at it, I just finished 17th in a tournament that started with 474 people in it. It cost me $5.50 to join, and took 3 hours. The time is now 1:49 AM and I have to work tomorrow. I won $22.75, for a net gain of $17.25, which comes out to 5.75 an hour.

That is roughly one fifth of what I earn at IBM as an intern.

And that, Mom, is why I will never become addicted to poker.