Posted by Chris Shorrock Sun, 18 Feb 2007 15:49:07 GMT
/**
* @deprecated
* @see com.ea.Job#otherWork
*/
@Deprecated
public static final void blog( String ... args ) {
throw new IllegalArgumentException( "blog no longer active" );
} Posted by Chris Shorrock Thu, 28 Sep 2006 15:09:00 GMT
So, I launched iCompete.org, back in February of this year as a site intended for the martial arts community to list all the events that normally very poorly communicated.
Today, after ~80,000 visits (according to google adsense) the site has finally earned enough through ads to pay for its hosting (~100 USD). Prior to site launching I was somewhat skeptical as to the earning potential from adsense, I now know that while it does work, it is rather random in how it operates.
Often times a click will earn me $0.01, while other times I've made as much as $1.70. It seems odd, but who am I to question the mighty google. A few other interesting stats for those other adsense users out there:
Not great numbers, but my intention was never to get rich, simply to provide some means so my little hobby site would pay for itself. It now has, at least for this year.
(PS - I also got a new job working at EA, which I'm very excited about. I start on the 10th. I'll try to provide more details when I have some spare cycles)
Posted by Chris Shorrock Wed, 06 Sep 2006 18:20:00 GMT
A while back my wife had planned a trip up to Kelowna for a few days (leaving in an hour) with some friends. In light of my current predicament regarding work the thought of rest and relaxation doesn't seem very well timed, but maybe this logic is flawed.
I was at BJJ practice last night and the ebb and flow of the situation was such that everything was effortless. My opponents were coming to me, they were falling into my traps, I didn't force anything I just let the situation dictate itself. As I reflect back this is similar to how my career has unfolded.
I've never really had to look hard for work, generally it has always found me. I suppose this is why I'm starting to get worried as it's a new experience, but like everything, experiences are to embraced and not ran away from. Things have always worked out in the past and I'm confident that they will continue to do so. I just need to let go and let the situation flow and the pieces drop where they may. This is not to say I should sit back and wait for the phone to ring but there is no point in worrying about tomorrow when tomorrow will worry about itself. This is why I think this period of rest may be well earned.
Speaking of REST, this newly created buzzword has really peaked my interest. Similar concepts (SOAP I'm looking at you) have always struck me as a poorly constructed mess, but REST appears to take HTTP and finally utilize it as it's designers had intended.
REST utilizes the CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) line of thinking, and maps those commands to HTTP using the following relationships:
These commands become your verbs, while the HTTP URI becomes your noun. Therefore, where before we may have had the following to perform the CRUD functions:
Using REST's line of thinking we now get (Ok - the following isn't exact as REST utilizes XML to define the data, but it illustrates my point):
Not only is this much cleaner than the way we've done things in the past it forces the developer into a design that has been proven many times over. REST at it's core won't change the world, but it is a nice little way of cleaning up a mess that SOAP couldn't.
As a side note I've now wrote this entry out twice as when I tried to paste I accidently pressed command-w (I'm using the Dvorak keyboard layout which puts these two keys side by side). So if things seem a little rushed and not fully explained I'll assure you it was better in the first copy ;)
Posted by Chris Shorrock Thu, 31 Aug 2006 23:43:22 GMT
It's funny how quickly things can change, but shortly after I posted my previous entry about my work woes I found a job posting for what can only be described as my dream job. I don't want say anything yet, but If I could choose a company to work for, doing anything I wanted to this would be it.
The resume has been sent in so now we play the oh-so-fun waiting game. Cross your fingers for me.
Posted by Chris Shorrock Tue, 29 Aug 2006 23:05:00 GMT
So work has REALLY been s l o o w i n g down lately. I'm not a salesman and never have been so finding my own work is often difficult. I feel I'm very skilled at what I do yet establishing yourself on the global market is something that isn't easily accomplished. I'm now debating going back to an office job but find the whole prospect of doing so somewhat demoralizing.
My current work arrangement is quite good, I work from home in my nice little office in a nice quiet neighborhood in a nice quiet town. I'm able to focus and get heaps of work done since there's nearly no interruptions and I'm very self motivated. I can wake up at 7, work for 10 hours and still be home by 5. I can BBQ for lunch, and if I need to, workout during my lunch break. All in all, I really have nothing to complain about.
On the flip side, my nice quiet home has a mortgage attached to it, as well as a wife and daughter living inside of it who, for some reason, demand food now and then. So due to the downswing of work it may be time to head back to a real office as baby and mom aren't so happy when the bills don't get paid.
But why is going back to an office job so bad? Well, I suppose I just appreciate a good thing and throwing that behind you can be difficult. My nice little neighborhood is about an hour and a half commute to downtown where I'm sure I would end up working. That means 3 hours each day commuting minimum, and that's if I drive, which I probably wouldn't, so public transit would be getting a new customer.
Also I need to consider what I want to do. Do I go with Java or Ruby? Java is a great language which I enjoy (and even named my dog after... yes I'm that much of a dork) but getting stuck in a web shop that does glorified business card sites gets tedious quick, so I would almost need to find something with a level of complexity to challenge myself in order to remain sane. On the other hand, I've really enjoyed Rails work as of late, the ability to turn stuff out quickly makes even normal web development enjoyable due to the high ratio of work to show; that is, the amount of hours put in results in more done that typical development environments.
This entry has turned into a rant with no real focus or direction but It had been a while since I posted anything so I thought I'd just throw up what was on my mind. I'm still not sure what's going to happen in the near future but hopefully it turns out for the best. I still have some time until I need to make a decision so hopefully I can find the light at the end of the tunnel I've just entered.
Posted by Chris Shorrock Wed, 09 Aug 2006 13:51:00 GMT
I had said for some time that I would never do THIS. I would never jump on this whole blog thing as my interests don’t often mesh with the rest of the worlds. But here I am, writing about how I never intended to write.
Why did I start? Peer pressure, plain and simple. My wife was harassing me to, friends said I would be good at it - so here I am - giving into peer pressure - like a girl on a prom date.
A brief introduction is in order, I’m a programmer living out of Vancouver Canada, with a wife of 5 years and a screaming little thing that is hurting my head daughter. Currently working as a pseudo-freelance programmer specializing in all things Java while I enjoy dabbling in Ruby and other things in my spare time. I’m also play more video games than I should and enjoy rolling around and trying to submit other men Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and mixed martial arts. People often think I’m grumpy but I’m really just shy, which is good cause I’m not often in the mood to talk…. Maybe I ought to re-evaluate that statement.
As I said, my interest are diverse but if there are any programming fathers who like to play games and get in the occasional fight, I suppose you’re my demographic.
I’m an awful speller, so if you feel the need to point it out, I’ll ignore you take very careful note of it. I also need a better title for this whole blog, so any suggestions are appreciated.
