Markup.

That’s right. Just got a free live album off coldplay’s website, the album is titled LeftRightLeftRightLeft. Decent album, got a few good tracks, and the recordings aren’t bad, but they’re not good either. Listening to the energy of the crowd is magical. It sends shivers up my spine.

Oh! You noticed? Yeah. I’m in the interwebs. I got rid of the default theme. This should do for a while, I need to start picking away at the css and figure out how I want this thing to look. I’ve also got a good idea for a flash-based splash page, instead of the HTML one I have now. I’m using my tried old copy of flash MX (which I always hated, and I’m beginning to remember why) that I haven’t used in over 8 years. Wow. Just saying that makes me feel old. I still remember me and Ethan sitting in Mr. Cole’s Webmastering class back sophomore year like it was a week ago. That class was so much fun, mostly because I taught myself (nothing against Mr. Cole, who is among the most intelligent men I’ve had the pleasure of meeting).

Just to let you know, this blog is going to be the most consistent element on this website.  It’ll also serve as my playground for me to post up experiments (flash, java, ruby, asp.net, and whatnot) as I plan to get back into working on stuff in my spare time hardcore.  I need to learn a LOT before I enter the CivDiv, so why not use my free time to learn it all?  I’ll also (hopefully) be posting up clips of me on my guitar (and cello?) and maybe even things floating around in the tubes that I find interesting.

This blog is mainly a way for me to document the things that are rushing through my head.  It also serves as a motivator, letting me rant on and put words down on the page.  Hopefully this will get me more accustomed to writing in general. Lastly, it lets me see my ideas and thoughts in a different form. So it’s an important tool for me, at least that’s what I’m hoping.

I still need to get this whole “tagging” thing down, I still want to mess with Yahoo!’s “Pipes”, and I need to get back to work on my flash project. Damnit flash, why are you so time consuming?

My father always took all the family photos. But although they captured the subject, they weren’t necessarily the best photos. Out of focus, too dark, too bright. From an early age, I thought that I could do better, how hard can it possibly be? I started tilting the camera at all odd angles (which I still do) and trying to do my own macro photography with my dad’s Olympus (which I wasn’t supposed to touch) Goodness, that Olympus always scared me, it was such a frightening and heavy thing. It looked so complicated.

Now I’m in the mood to do something about my photography skills. I’ve gone thru 4 point-and-shoot cameras since I’ve been in the Corps. (and various cell phone cameras) and it’s really given me an appreciation for what those complicated-looking SLR cameras can do.  I’ve been searching around looking at entry-level Nikon and Pentax cameras, and lord is it all confusing.  Coincidentally, engadget had an article up today on entry-level DSLRs and lenses for budding photographers who were in the market for DSLRs, which, naturally, I read.

It had the down-and-dirty on a few of the popular lens types and what you can do with them. What was really great was the user comments, as they were filled with tons of stuff from everyday people who just so happened to be photographers as well. Still havn’t wholly wraped my head around the concepts of f-stops and focal lengths, but I think I’m in the market for a telephoto (probably a 50mm-200mm, don’t want to spend too much) and a 50mm-or-55mm “Normal” lens, on top of the kit 18mm-55mm lens. I’d like to go Pentax, because I read that their image stabilization resides in the body of the camera, unlike Nikon, whose stability system resides in their lenses (which I think they charge extra for on their lenses.) But doing a quick search on eBay, all the Nikon lenses could be had for quite cheap. Also the cameras are quite popular on craigslist. That’s a winning combo in my book.

Still more exhaustive research to do.
Informed decisions are better than impulse buys though.

Yes. Another post on my adoption of web2.0. I’ve decided to join del.icio.us as well. I’ve been doing alot of reading on this social stuff, and I’m kinda interested in the competition of it.  flickr vs picasaweb. myspace vs. facebook. ma.gnolia vs del.icio.us. Very interesting, but not really, since I hate myspace, ma.gnolia went down, and I havn’t made up my mind on which photo storage to use yet (probably due to the fact that I can’t access either of them out here).

Twitter is interesting.  The second I created my account I was followed by an internet prostitute. Awesome. Of course it only seemed natural to follow her…but then she wanted to meet, one thing led to another…*Sigh*. In the end, the cops were called, I went to stay the night in a cell, and I un-followed her today.

I need to edit my footer and add all them bubbly web2.0 icons down at the bottom.  Then I can finally feel like I belong.

I guess I used my own argument against myself today.  I always say to myself that the people around me need to start figuring out how to do simple tasks on computers, because like it or not, computers aren’t going anywhere. If you don’t accept that, and adapt, then you aren’t going anywhere. For the longest time, I despised this “social” revolution on the net. Xangas and LiveJournals, myspace? I didn’t even have a cell phone for f*cks sake.  I was convinced that if someone needed to reach me, there was a landline at my house, and everyone knows how to use a phone. I digress. All this “social” stuff isn’t going anywhere, it’s here to stay.  Potential employers and Universities are looking up their applicants on facebook and myspace now.  None of that worries me at all, except for the fact that I’m next to unavailable on the web.  I’m going to put in a little bit of work, and then make all this “social” stuff work for me. Mindblowing.

I eventually got a facebook so that an ex could update her status. Then I joined the military, and it’s been a great way to communicate with friends and share photos.  But it tries to be too many things in one, and does none of them very well, except keeping your friends in order.  Organizing photos? Not so friendly.  Status updates? Those work great, but twitter must be doing a better job, since it’s seething with activity.  Links? Del.icio.us seems like a great way to organize those.  Work experience? LinkedIn seems to be cool, still giving that a try.

I feel like I’m playing catch up, and it’s quite a new feeling for me. I’m usually the one telling people about all the new stuff. Oh well. I’ve got lots of web2.0 work to do.

So I’ve gotten on this LinkedIn site, and instead of just throwing something up, I want to actually put a little thought into it. I want what I put on there to be a reference for me when I go to list my experience for job applications and/or my CV. This is no easy task, but I doubt it’s any easier for anyone else.  But to list everything that I do, wow. A task in itself.  I’m not merely boasting. If power runs through it, then I’m pretty much required to support it.  Training you ask? Psht. Yeah right. I’ve been formally trained to set up a basic switch configuration, and install windows NT on a server that came from HP’s coffers.

So if what was stated in the previous paragraph is true, I must have quite the set of responsibilities! Yes, yes I do.  I don’t even feel like beginning to tell you what my day to day tasks are, hell I don’t know where to begin.  But I’m going to attempt this very task in my own word document.  It’s title? “What the fuck is my job here”. After that, I’ll attempt to list what my responsibilities are (stated and unstated), and diffuse them into small paragraphs that somehow sum up my job experience. Hopefully the product will be a useful reference to me in the future.  But for now, I want to put this up on LinkedIn and know that when people look at it, they’ll be just as impressed with me as I am of myself when I go to sleep every night.

If I’m going to keep going on like this, I’m going to need a way to transfer all these posts when I get back to the states. I need to look into this.  Also need to add links to the sidenav on how to get to my social pages.

Remember the days? You know, those days way back when, when every fucking device or service on the planet didn’t have fucking instructions plastered all over them? Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Everything that was simple, didn’t really come with instructions, because people had common sense. Complicated things came with a manual, which we never used.  Read a box of pop-tarts today, or call someones voicemail. What the hell?  EVERY TIME I get someone’s voicemail, I have to sit there and listen to some recording telling me how to use it. This is the last straw. People. Disable that shit.  I do on my phone, and it’s simple. I don’t pick up? “Hey, it’s Mark. Leave me one.” BEEP.  If you don’t know what to do after the beep, then you probably don’t have any business calling me in the first place.  I did the nice thing for ya’ll. Do the same, would ya?  It’s insulting. Having to be told every time to leave  a message after the beep. I grew up in the 90’s people. I used to call my friends using 7 digits.  This daily shit that I see that tells me how to get on a bus, how to pump my gas, how to set up a printer, it’s gotta stop.  I know it won’t, but do your part.  It would probably help if you uprooted a stop sign on the way home from work today as well.

On another note, I seem to have sold out to this online identity thing.  FaceBook. LinkedIn. Twitter. ClaimID.  More to come.  I want to “reinvent” myself online, or so the article reads.  Fuck that.  There’s no need for me to reinvent myself. I’m fine just the way I am.  But after reading a lot about how interviewees are researched when applying for college or jobs, I figured I’d get a head start and help them find the CORRECT information about me that they seek. Proactive. Yes I am.

Started organizing a playlist of  my best trance today. I’ve heard people say classical music is the best to put on in the background whence you are studying or doing any task that requires your focus and/or concentration. I say nay. I say trance is better. But not just trance, but good trance. I’m talkin stuff from the masters, like PVD, Tiesto, Oakenfold, AVB, and the likes.  And even most of their stuff isn’t good.  Play one of their albums all the way thru and see what I mean.  You’ll know it’s good when you’re tapping your foot or lightly bouncing your head, and you catch yourself doing it.  It’s a natural reaction.

I love it when I’ve got an album going and it gets to a good song, but I don’t know it’s coming. In the first minute of the song, something in my subconscious tells me I have to get up; I must move. And get this cleared up : I don’t dance.  I don’t know if I’m any better when I’m drunk, because by that point I won’t remember anything anyways. We’ll just say yes for now.

It’s a hard process looking for the good techno; I’ll usually just skip thru the songs and listen for stuff I remember, stuff my mind tells me is good. It’s like I always tell my friends, techno and trance aren’t genres of music you listen to, it’s background music.  You don’t listen to lyrics (I don’t like the songs with vocals), there’s no guitar solos, it’s just electronic noise. I understand your hate, your fear. Most of the techno/trance out there is bad. This I know. But there’s some good stuff, and when you find it, it’s all worth it.

BTW, check out tranceaddict.com. Horrible site design, but the members constantly keep up to date on concerts, track lists, and uploading live sets and (to a lesser extent) singles. I love live sets. Put ‘em on, and forget about it. Let the DJ do the rest. Let him control you. Allow him. And then you’ll be free.