Ascent into Banality
The annual film festival held in Santa Barbara ended last night. I heard something about our little film festival this past week: there are some films that get submitted and accepted for screening to the festival, but the filmmakers pull out of festival if they get distribution for their film between the submission and the festival itself. The reasoning? They don't like the thought of anyone who wants to see the movie to get to...
Careers
I've come across more than one start-up website in the last few months that is missing a link from the bottom of every page: "Careers". It should always be nestled down there, right along with "Contact Us" and "Privacy Policy". It doesn't matter if you aren't even hiring...list the active departments you have and a brief overview of what each one does. Even a link to a page where you say that you aren't hiring,...
Just Works
Occasionally, someone asks me if I think they should get rid of Windows and install Linux on their machine. People seem to think this might be a good idea because Linux isn't made by Microsoft, a company that a lot of people perceive as an EVIL CORPORATION, and because Linux is free. Ubuntu Linux is a pretty good operating system, and the latest version has an interface that mirrors OS X. You can request a...
Tell Her About It
What if maybe...just maybe...today is the day. You have an idea that you've been chewing on. Maybe it's a business idea, maybe it's a screenplay you want to write, maybe you've decided that covering an entire city building in glitter-and-glue macaroni would be a good art project. And another thing: you've been keeping it a secret for a while. You don't actually want to tell anyone about it because you're afraid others won't like the...
So Long, Facebook
Today my blog is saying goodbye to Facebook. A year ago today, I decided to do one very simple thing: write a blog post once a day for a year. It's a year later, and I managed to do it. (Phew!) I really like writing, and generally, there's not shortage of idea running through my head, so I honestly didn't think I'd have any trouble coming up with 365 little brain dumps. The second part...
Onward and Downward
Over the Christmas break, I had a discussion with my mom about the public library in the town where I grew up in Michigan. Last I heard, because of a lack of funds and the most recent election, its doors are closing for good in June of this year. I was interesting in brainstorming about ways in which the library's fate might be stopped or, at the very least, stalled for a while. I'm always...
The Geography of Everywhere
If you're looking to buy a house, it makes a big difference where you are. A good rule of thumb is to favor a small house on a good street over a big house in a sketchy neighborhood. Geography matters. The first lesson that the Internet ever taught me, way back 15 years ago while I was still connecting to AOL on my parent's dial-up connection, was that geography was going to matter less and...
Aplenty
I mentioned to my friend Greg that I was trying to learn how to draw better. He gave me a very good piece of advice: don't worry about drawing better. Just draw more. There's a chasm between the luck and drive of a beginner, and the skill and finesse of an expert. Somewhere in this gap, there's a frustration that stems from knowing you can or should do better before you're fully capable. It's demotivating...and...
In Defense of Mess
I'll concede one very simple point: the houses you see on "Hoarders" can be pretty creepy. Personally, I think the people portrayed on these shows are on the fringes. They are people who have gradually learned to live at one extreme. I really don't think anyone should base their lifestyle around tons of clutter. But it does amaze me that they counter these extremes by bringing in people at the other extreme. The National Association...
Breaking Bad
In the security field, it really doesn't matter how much you know about security. You can read every book their is on penetration testing, cryptography, or computer cracking. Take in all the theory you want, but it will only take you so far in securing computers networks or organizations from attackers. It's not what you've managed to secure...it's what you've managed to break into. Kevin Mitnick is a highly sought after expert on cracking the...