Still As Life

It’s been a while, and how I’ve missed you my poor, neglected blog and readers, it’s been so empty without you.

So what have I actually been doing for the past month? Yep, it’s been a month already! Or it would have been if I had waited two more days to write this, but I’m not sure I can fit it in in two days time.

Uni has been absolutely hectic, and so has work, not to mention, I went to Melbourne for /dev/world/2008 which was awesome!

Now, the list, since I don’t really have time to go into much detail now unfortunately, maybe later?

If you follow me on Twitter, you may be aware of a number of the other projects I am working on, but for those of you who don’t, and even those who do, here we go.

This is what is happening with all of my uni work at the moment:

• I have a draft project presentation to actually present on Thursday at 8am.
• Submit an ASP.NET/VB.NET website with basic e-commerce functionality on Friday along with a feature and bug report.
• Next Thursday I have to present the final project presentation of the draft due this Thursday.
• Next Friday I have to submit a fully functional C# rendition of the Ludo board game.
• On November 3rd I have to display three computational artworks in an exhibition at Kelvin Grove.
• November 5th I have an exam on C#, well, technically on Object Oriented Programming (ITB003), but since the entire subject was based around C#, I assume it will be largely on C#.
• November 12th, my last piece of uni for the year, an exam on web design based around ASP.NET and VB.NET (ITB007).

So, as you can see, I’ve got three really big projects under way and due in very soon, as well as fitting in work and study for those two exams, this on it’s own is enough to keep me pretty busy. Yep, I do make websites for a living, but this is my first encounter with ASP.NET so it is a pretty steep learning curve considering I’ve had to learn it and put together this website (with a team) in about 6 weeks. I must admit though, that I am finding more and more to like about ASP.NET, special thanks goes to @nickhac for his help and advice here. I admittedly am even finding more and more to like about C#, though I am unfortunately way behind on that assignment so there is most of my weekend gone as well as a large part of next week. I will however be going over to Tim’s on Saturday night for a games night, gotta fit a break in somewhere.

As for work, I have 20 or so websites in various stages of completion or undergoing maintenance at this moment, some my own clients, some I am working on with other’s like Jethro Consultants and Webtrix Technologies. So that front is pretty hectic at the moment as well, with at least 3 of the new websites due to be completed by the end of the week - one of the biggest goes live on Thursday morning, watch the news on TerraMedia for more info on it sometime between Thursday morning and, possibly Monday.

What else have I been up to?

As I mentioned, I went to Melbourne for /dev/world/2008, and I highly recommend attending the 2009 one if you are able to! The topics and speakers were great! The sessions I attended were mostly on controlling graphics using the functionality built into Mac OS X including Core Graphics, Core Animation and Quartz Composer. I also went to sessions on business and development and Apple’s intrigueing WebObjects. All these sessions were great and really interesting. Then of course, there was the dinner and trivia night thrown by the team at the Apple University Consortium - it was excellent guys, thanks heaps for all the hard work you put in organising everything! Of course I couldn’t forget all the great people I met there from all around the country!

I also know what I would like for Christmas (or even just for the awesome factor), if anyone is feeling generous, you know those new Macbook Pro’s that are scuttling around, just out of grasp, one of them, I expect to know more in the coming days.

Now, I must get back to doing something productive. I’ll try and write something new for here in less than a month this time, I have a lot to write, just haven’t had the time! So don’t run too far away, or do, but keep the RSS feed handy, here’s a list of what I have to write about, if I forget, it should remind me, maybe:

• Finished Kate Mosse’s “Labyrinth” and have some things to write about it. So I should do that sometime soon.
• I got and have been using a Cooler Master X Craft 250 Lite e-SATA/USB. This is the little brother to the X Craft 350 Lite that I wrote about last month. It’s nice, but it has some annoying quirks.
• I upgraded the 120gb harddrive in my Macbook Pro to a nice big 320gb Samsung drive. Got lots of photos and what not, but considering the new Macbook Pro’s due out soon, this probably is no longer so relevant. My observations might be of interest though, also, it shows just how awesome Mac’s are. Just in case you don’t already know.
• Had a go of that new game that had all that hype surrounding it, what was it? Oh yeah, Spore, that’s right, the Sims go to space! Finished it in 6 hours, or should I say got to space age and did a fair bit then got bored of the constant repetition and quit in 6 hours. Ok, so I’ve pretty much covered how disappointing that was and I probably don’t need to write about it again, but maybe I will, if I can fit it in, maybe.
• There’s probably other things too, if I remember, I’ll write about them, if not, I guess I won’t.
• There are a number of things to go up over at TerraMedia when I finish them, so you’ll have to watch over there too, or just follow me on Twitter, I’ll probably link to anything and everything on there.
• Once I have this ASP.NET assignment out of the way, and probably the C# one as well, there will be a lot happening on my computational arts blog as well, so if you are interested in that, it’ll get busyish soon, it also needs a new design, as does this blog, I’ll get to them soon though, after uni is finished. Don’t hold me to that though.

That’s about it, now this time I actually am getting back to something productive, and maybe dinner.

Catch ya

Popularity: 20% [?]

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything for this blog, the past couple of weeks have been absolutely hectic.

So what have I been up to?

• Fixed a problematic client website that had a lot more problems than expected.
• 20 hours worth of maintenance on another client website.
• Created the art for my business cards and setup the files for printing.
• Got the business cards printed (they are pretty hot, even if I do say so myself).
• Designed a series of website prototypes for a prospective client.
• Organised a client meeting in Lismore.
• Wrote a draft essay for KKB101: Creative Industries - People and Practices.
• Did my major Python assignment for ITB001: Problem Solving and Programming.
• Learned, the basics of UML, class diagrams, interaction diagrams and class descriptions.
• Worked on my ITB008: Modelling Analysis and Design team assignment.
• Seen post 3am more times in a week than I have all semester.
• Found a Pizza Hut Restaurant (ie non-take-away) near my place.

What do I have to do over the next few days?

• Finish my part of the ITB008 team assignment by Sunday night.
• Organise the deferral of my ITB001 exam.
• Update the TerraMedia Web Design General Terms and Conditions by Monday.
• Organise the appropriate documentation and presentation material for the client meeting on Tuesday.
• Hopefully get a new client.
• Do 10 hours worth of maintenance on a client website.
• Get my hair cut.

What do I have to do over the next week or two?

• Finish the final version of my KKB101 essay.
• Design three different computational artworks for KKB210: Computational Arts 1 using anyof the design tools outlined on my other blog.
• Display the three artworks on my computational arts blog.
• Study for ITB001 and ITB008 exams.
• Sort out a new computer back up system.
• Do some more client website maintenance.
• Finish the new TerraMedia website.
• Other work?
• Get the car fixed.
• Finish the fractal gallery section of Still As Life.
• Blog some more.
• Anything else that comes up.

If you follow me on Twitter, you would probably be aware of many of these things, but hey.

So that’s what I’ve been up to. I have 500 or so unread items in Google Reader, so hopefully I’ll catch up on everything by the end of next week, and hopefully you’ll be hearing more from me soon.

Popularity: 31% [?]

I got a chip in my windscreen driving down to Lismore on Friday, and unfortunately, it started to crack so I needed to get it fixed before it got too bad and the whole windscreen needed replacing.

So Monday, I gave Windscreen’s O’Brien (O’Brien Glass) a call before I headed back up to Brisbane.

I called the number listed on their website for the Underwood premises, since that is the closest to me but it went to a call centre. The guy that I spoke to was very helpful and even called me back so that I wouldn’t have to pay the call charges. He determined over the phone that it could indeed be fixed without needing to replace the whole windscreen.

He went on to give me the prices, $129 for them to send a van out and do it wherever suited me best, or $109 for me to go in and get it done there. He told me it would take approximatly half an hour to fix.

I decided I would go in to get it done, afterall, $20 is $20 and the Underwood store is only a 10 minute drive from my place if the traffic is good.

So he setup a three-way call with the Underwood store and we organised an appointment for 1:30pm. And that was that, all in the space of about 15 minutes.

I got there at 1:33pm and I was served immediately. They checked that the crack was repairable, warned me that the repair process could make it appear to have cracked more, but that it will be safe and pass registration. My car was then taken straight in to have work begun on it. I was told that it would be half an hour to 40 minutes and that there is a customer waiting room if I wanted to wait there.

I decided I would go for a walk and get some lunch. That only took me 20 minutes though and they were still working when I got back, so I went and had a look at the waiting room.

It was setup quite nice, you could see the bays where they were working on cars so you could watch them work on your car. There were all the usual magazines, drink machine and big screen TV, but what surprised me was the free internet for customers!

There were two computers setup in the waiting room with signs above them reading “Free internet for O’Brien’s customers. Please, help yourself”.

The computers were setup minimally, all the user could access was Internet Explorer, but still, it’s a pretty good idea.

So I spent 10 minute’s or so on the net in the waiting room. Lot’s of things were blocked, such as Twitter, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail and my uni email, however, there were lot’s of things that weren’t. My own email server’s were all accessible, I could make notes on my blog and log in to Google Analytics, so overall, functionality wasn’t severely limited, just enough to be a little bit annoying.

Pretty much right on 2:00, I noticed that my car was being taken back outside so I went to the front counter, and they were just entering it into the system. They didn’t need my phone number, name or address because this had been organised on the phone earlier. I just had to pay, it was $109 as I had been quoted on the phone.

The receipt came in it’s own little book style thing to help look after it since it comes with a warranty on the repair that lasts for the life of the windscreen. In other words, if the crack re-appears, then they will deduct the cost of the repair from the cost to replace the windscreen.

So, it was finished in pretty much right on half an hour and I am very impressed with the level of customer service that I received, and the crack in my windscreen is now barely visible! So much so that my camera can’t even focus on it properly.

I highly recommend them, they may seem a bit expensive, but their service is excellent!

Just my luck, I managed to get a stone fly up and hit the other side yesterday, but it hasn’t cracked thank goodness.

Popularity: 77% [?]

I was at Carindale today since I was supposed to be “helping” a friend shop. By that I gather I’m meant to say when something looks good or bad.

Anyway, we were in Myers, just having a look and there were some things that I just can’t help but laugh at.

So, we have a green manikin, which I assume is something to do with the Industrie brand which has a similar green logo. There are no other green ones in the store, just this one. It also happens to be right in one of the entry ways.

We have a bag with wooden straps that looks like it would be very uncomfortable and does not open very far. Plus, it’s $225.00. So not only does it seem pointless, but it is extremely expensive.

Finally, the “Pinespace” t-shirt. Basically a screenshot of Myspace with some image manipulation forms the entire front of the shirt. Who buys something like this? Seriously.

For that matter, who would buy either of those things.

Myers is always expensive, but these things just made me laugh, I don’t see the point at all.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Well, as of yesterday, I am 19, it’s my last teen year! And, as of today, I have an open license! Yay.

Yesterday I went down to Wet’n'Wild with Rhi where we met up with my family, Mum, Dad, Jess and Nick, which was cool. It seems that this time of year is an excellent time to go because it’s really quiet. The only long queue was the queue for the two Terror Canyons. Everything else was a 5-10 minute queue at the most, if not almost straight in. The Surf Rider was particularly good this time as well since it was such a short queue and the spinning seats were spinning heaps! Sometimes they don’t spin much, I guess because of weight distribution, but it was great this time!

I had been feeling a bit sick on Friday night and I spent most of Saturday in bed trying to convince my body that it is in fact not sick. Sunday morning I wake up and voila, I don’t feel sick at all! Which was great, then, of course, on the drive home afterwards I started to feel sick again, and this morning I feel worse. I have to head off to uni in 45 minutes or so, so I’ll pick up some flu stuff at the pharmacy there and hopefully it will make a difference since I have to work all day tomorrow and can’t afford to call in sick at the moment.

In short, it was a pretty awesome day. Thanks for everything everyone!

Popularity: 15% [?]