The value of professional certification

A few years ago, before even VS2008 was out (Orcas was, though), I got excited reading about all the different Microsoft Certifications. I even bought a book to get started. Unfortunately for me, I quickly found out that I was much too inexperienced to even begin to pass the initial exam.

Well, I'm a bit more experienced now. I've made a lot of progress learning .NET through my career. About a month ago, I decided to revisit the idea of certification. The book I had originally purchased has since been supplanted by a second edition (updated for VS2008 and .NET 3.5), but the guides say it is not necessary to study 3.5 stuff to pass the exam. And besides, it's not like I've been completely ignoring anything introduced after 2.0.

Man, is the studying a kick in the pants, though.

Blog design language

The design behind my current blog scheme grew out of a dissatisfaction with the limited choices given by Blogger. Something like seven templates, with each having possibly two to six color/image variations. Granted, they are expertly and professionally produced. But each, even the one titled “Simple”, was a horrific mess of HTML. I like clean markup, when I can get it. I also didn't want to have just another cookie-cutter blog that literally looked like so many others for using a stock template.

So I created my own.

My burgeoning tool belt

I’ve had a surprisingly lengthy lull amidst projects at work lately. Instead of sitting around and watching dust collect on my desktop* I’ve decided to take the opportunity and time to study, study, study. And get paid for it, too!

Evidence weekly

This is precisely why I can't stand Sen. Lincoln.

Unfortunately, this is pretty much the weekly norm for congresspeople.

Admittedly, I suppose I prefer this sort of pointless and pompous back-patting to the freedoms-destroying that occasionally makes it through.

The little OS that could

Yesterday I attended a Windows Phone 7 "boot camp" hosted by a Microsoft Developer Evangelist (I swear that's the official job title; I have his business card). It was basically a hybrid between a crash-course in Silverlight/XAML along with, you guessed it, phone-specific stuff such as the emulator, Blend integration, the marketplace, and much more.  Along with all that we were treated to live demonstrations on his trusty Microsoft-supplied smartphone running a pre-release version of the OS.

I have to admit that Windows Phone 7 impresses me and has me just a wee bit excited. If I ever finally upgrade my current phone it'll only probably be to get one with Windows Phone 7 when that becomes publically available. (To those of you who actually click my links, yes my phone just turned four years old this month.)

I suppose what really appeals to me, other than it being sexy (like most smartphones these days), is that I feel like I could easily start creating phone apps. I've dabbled in XAML, Silverlight, and MVVM enough that I could actually dive right in. And there is something really electrifying about seeing your little program running on a little hand-held device. Something no one else in the house will be as excited to see, though.

It's already cool enough that we have Star Trek technology in our hands… even cooler that I can make it more useful to me with custom software. That is something I've been waiting for since mobile phones originally started getting widespread in the early aughts. I know, I know… totally geekin’-out.

A good indicator is that I'm already getting ideas of what I'd like to create. Expect to hear more snippets on Windows Phone 7 from me in the future.

Of non-issues and rednecks, or reason #2396100 why politics makes me crazy

Okay, I know as a libertarian I’m constantly screaming what the fuck?! to 90% of what governments cook up, but… seriously, what the fuck?!

It's difficult to tell clowns apart

I really hate election seasons. I mean, I’ve long since stopped being surprised, but rather I suppose I am reminded of why I hate them.

I watched the debate, live via the intertubes, between Sen. Blanche “Branch” Lincoln and Rep. John “The Booze Man” Boozeman (apparently their first official one since winning their respective primaries?) and it was a complete waste of time. I learned nothing new about either candidate, except to confirm existing opinions. There’s so many more important things in the local news than their debate (and I couldn’t care less about them either).

Some observations:

Middle Ages thinking in modern vampire fantasy form

This is probably the best critical analysis of the infamous Twilight series I’ve read. He’s dead on and this isn’t the first time I’ve agreed with Movie Bob on this basic topic.

I’ve not read any of the books nor seen any of the movies, but since I haven’t been spending my days under a geological abode it has been pretty hard to escape knowing about the series and the author.

I would warn about spoilers and whatnot, as he does, but I really don’t care and if you’re reading this kind of stuff you either already know or don’t care about spoiling it either.

Revisiting ground zero and finding life

As much as I enjoy creating and designing new things, there is something special about returning to existing code to improve and make it better. It’s a delicate process, much slower, and it also requires that you more-or-less like the product. If not, you’ll grow sick of looking at it all the time and yearn for something new. But if it is still interesting, there is something special about refining and seeing it evolve over time. What was once perhaps a rickety old house or simply a decent working-class Cold Era built house, has slowly grown into a mansion.

That’s looking on the bright side. As a builder, though, I have a tendency to walk into that house and see only the poorly designed plumbing, how the electrical outlets were not placed usefully, or that fixing the ducts would require extensive gutting of the existing ventilation.

It’s not lupus

I really enjoy House.

I like the puzzles, the detective-y angle, and the character drama masterfully woven into each episodic diagnostic plot. The dark humor of the show is always delicious and his witty comebacks and jabs are always delightful. (As it may not surprise the audience, I am also [was?] a big Scrubs fan, too.)

It is also refreshing to see such an unabashed reason-driven individual who is not ashamed to vocally support abortion, selfishness, and godlessness. Coming from someone like me endorsing him for that sounds cliché, but it’s not just because I tend to agree with his positions. I like seeing anything non-mainstream on primetime television.

And not to worry all you non-rationalists: the show tends not to take a firm position on anything, preferring to have his brutally rational ways butt heads with the rest of the cast who, naturally, make up the rest of the personality spectrum. It is actually part of the show’s charm. I actually prefer it this way. Otherwise, the show would just be preachy, and, even if I agree with it, I don’t like preachy.

I’ve almost finished watching season three. We’re slowly working our way through the DVDs. I don’t have cable, so I’m always (and happily) behind on all the shows.

Omake bonus: There was a brief period of about two months where my SO thought she might have lupus. Thankfully, it wasn’t.

Chewing hindered by copious biting

I was still a relative amateur fresh from a recent success and itching for more. Despite still being an intern they pulled no punches and dealt me a project that dwarfed the previous one. I knew immediately it was going to be far more involved, but even then I had no idea how much more so.

Term-limits pit practical versus purist

When the has-been Sen. Byrd died (MHDSRIP!!!1), it underscored once again the devil that is a career politician. Take it away, Nick:

As the encomia mount like rotting, fly-buzzed piles of the pork-barrel spending he so systematically shoveled back to his West Virginia home, let's not forget the late Sen. Robert Byrd's most undeniable legacy: Undermining Confirming belief in politicians as little more than self-serving glad-handers on the hunt for more and more taxpayer money for their constituents.

Read the whole thing if you haven't already. It's a fairly damning piece, but unfortunately for the rest of us in America it is a common tale. Articles that try to highlight in hyperbole the hubris and corruption of public officials come off as banal. Maybe we're desensitized. Maybe we've come to expect it.