Categories
Bowling Video

Video Editting Is Hard Work

I just completed my second editing job for bowlingball.com’s bowling videos. I am an e-commerce programmer for crying out loud, not a video editor… 🙂

However, I must say that I am enjoying this very much. Learning something new is extremely exciting. I do not have a lot of artistic ability, but I must say that I am very pleased with the outcome. I know there are some things that I could have done much better, but I was under very intense time constraints.

We shot the video last night. I didn’t think about editing until this morning. I spent maybe 4-6 hours on the project, so I definitely can not complain.

Check it out at bowlingball.com’s Bowling Ball Reaction Video of the Smash Zone.

Categories
Bowling

Bowling Practice

I went to AMF Casselberry Lanes to practice bowling today and was very happy with my results. While I should try and work with a coach or someone that can help me with my game, I have taken it on myself.

I have been stuck using a [bowlingball value=”5160″/] wrist brace for a couple of years now because I have not been throwing my bowling balls correctly. I have been letting my wrist break and I would not follow through.

I think I have finally had a revelation. I have started using an [bowlingball value=”2283″/] Brace which has helped make my wrist not hurt. I have slowed down my approach which has helped my timing. And with my timing under control it helps me aim correctly. It is amazing how all of these pieces kind of inter connect.

Using the big wrist brace made me feel mentally negative about my game. Changing to the new brace has helped my mental game as well as physical game.

Categories
Programmer's Mindset

How I Got Started Programming

Ok, so I somehow I came across a post by Joe Stump from Digg and I have found this “chain letter” type post. I want to participate, so here goes. 🙂

How I got started programming:

  1. How old were you when you started programming? I had a real interest (unexplainably) in computers when I was around the age of 7 even though I had only used one a couple of times. My mom dated a guy when I was about 9 whom had a computer and he had King’s Quest 3 (I fell in love with computers).
  2. How did you get started in programming? My mother met her current husband and he had a Tandy Cocoa Color III.
    He taught me BASIC and I used a reference book that I still have
    today. It had every command on a separate page with a description of
    what it did. I went through the book trying most of the commands.
  3. What was your first language? My first language was BASIC, however I also did quite a bit on the TI-85. I create a Space Invaders type game on the TI-85.
  4. What was the first real program you wrote? My first program was a simple quiz game for my youngest sister, it taught her our address, phone number, etc… I also did some db work in a program called “Q&A” for the company my mom worked for “Connery Concrete”.
  5. What languages have you used since you started programming? I started in BASIC, in high school I became a Pascal user, after college I moved to Perl as I became a “web guy”, and have since changed to PHP. I have dabbled in others, but very limited.
  6. What was your first professional programming gig? My first paid job was for Connery Concrete doing some DB work. They did not store their information in a convenient way to make use of it. I also did similar work for a travel company. Before I started they entered all of their customer data into “Q&A” and then hand wrote all of the information onto forms. What a complete waste of time that was.
  7. If there is one thing you learned along the way that you would tell new developers, what would it be? Think outside the box. I can’t tell you how many things I have been able to do because I have thought about the problem and solution a little differently than any of my colleagues. “There is more than one way to skin a cat” is something my mom used to say all the time.
  8. What’s the most fun you’ve ever had programming? I have to say what I am doing now is. I am part of a team that cares where our project is going. Ecommerce is such a competitive field, and selling bowling balls is tricky. Trying to be on the cutting edge and know that you are doing it before the competition can blink is a GREAT feeling. Having a boss that doesn’t just settle on a store bought solution because it may be cheaper makes me feel very appreciated. I have really grown to love the sport and the nuances that go into it. And to be able to spend my day working in this industry is just plain awesome.

I had to follow suit when I saw this post from Joe Stump. I can’t imaging working with such cutting edge technology persona’s as Kevin Rose, and the old crew from the Tech TV era.

I wish I had people to tag. The only other programmer that I knew and respected was the best man in my wedding, but he has pretty much cut me out of his life. 🙁 Long story, but I miss his friendship. The long talks we could have. Working together on programming projects. Makes me sad when I think about it.

Oh well. He knows who he is and if he wants to carry on this type of post, I would be honored.

Categories
Blogging

Jeff McCord and Tony C Hall Team Up

Today Jeff McCord and Tony Hall announced they are teaming up to do a new Audio Podcast. I have been following both of these men on twitter and it is so great to see that this medium is helping to nourish new partnerships and business.

The social media explosion is a great thing for everyone. It is allowing for some great collaborations. I can’t wait to see what this podcast is like. 120Social is geared to be all about social media, from Twitter to Pownce (yes Jeff, it is still around) to everything else. Each new concept brings about other great concepts. Ping.fm for example, would not have existed without all of the others. All Ping.fm does is kind of group all of the new technologies together so that you don’t have to post every at one time.

Keep up the great work guys!

Categories
Uncategorized

View Your Web Site In Any Browser

Thanks to BradwellTV I just learned about a great service that is available to test your web site in just about any browser.

We all know that it is a pain. You make a minor change on your site and it looks perfect on your Mac in Firefox 3.0. An hour later you hear a co-worker tell you that he can’t navigate because it does not work in Windows Internet Explorer 6.

You can’t possibly have every type of OS, with every browser and manually test every change. It would take far too long. browsershots.org to the rescue. Simply enter your Web Address and choose all of your preferences. Browsers, OS, Screen Size, Colors, Javascript, Java, and Flash are all configurable.

Depending on the current queue, you will start to receive results within a minute or two. It can take much longer to get all of the results.

I can now check to make sure every page of bowling balls on bowlingball.com looks as good as it can. I sure have a lot of work to do now… 🙁

Categories
Technology

Added Memory to My Server

I just finished a simple upgrade of my server that hosts “My Life as a Programmer” and Cyborg Computing.

I only had one(1) gig of ram hosting this site, my mail, and the backup database of bowlingball.com.

So far I am very pleased with the additional 4 gigs. The response time to my pages appears to have dropped drastically.

Categories
Latest Tech

Microsoft IE 8 Introduces Web Slices

Today I learned about IE 8’s new Web Slices. In concept they may be very useful if web developer implement them.

In a nutshell, web slices allow a use to “watch” a portion of a web page for changes. Very useful for ecommerce sites when you want to watch a price, or product availability.

I just finished implementing them on bowlingball.com’s product pages. As a 1st try, I am only including the price area of the page in the content. It appears that the CSS is not included in the web slice, so formatting is an issue.

If you have IE 8 installed, check it out and let me know your thoughts.

Categories
Programmer's Mindset

Cleaning our offices for a Thu…

Cleaning our offices for a Thur meeting with a major executive in the bowling industry. 🙂 Gotta love putting on a show.

Categories
Programmer's Mindset

Twitter Updates for 2008-07-21

Powered by Twitter Tools.

Categories
Blogging

iTunes Needs To Include Comments For WordPress

I have been thinking about why some podcasts are not available in iTunes. Are the hosts/creators just too lazy to make their RSS feeds iTunes compliant?

And then it hit me. Maybe they don’t so that you are forced to watch it in their venue. Be it wordpress, YouTube, etc… If you watch it where they post it, then you are more likely to leave comments.

Let’s face it. Blogging and Vlogging are all about community involvement. The hosts want and need to see those comments. They strive to get more of them. It helps create content for their site (always good) and gives feedback, good and bad. The only way to get better is by knowing what doesn’t work.

So I think it should be imperative for Apple to include a couple more RSS tags that you would allow subscribers to post comments. Maybe even read the current comments right from iTunes. Apple should help bolster the whole community idea that surrounds podcasts. After all, they did put the POD in PODcasts.

Let me know what you think, leave a comment. 🙂