If I Owned Facebook

I would do 5 things:

1) Real Email
Email within Facebook is nice, but I should be able to get email outside of Facebook. As a matter of fact they should make it real email where I can send and receive email just like normal. I just looked at www.facemail.com is available. Buy it and give everyone an address like name@facemail.com. Email has got to be the number one activity on the Internet, this is your virtual address. Facebook will create real staying power by giving people their address to call home.

2) RSS Reader
This one is such a no brainer I can't believe it. Now, I'm talking talking about an RSS reader application that posts feeds to your profile. I'm talking about a program like Google's Reader where I can import feeds for me to read. Then if I like something I can either star it (then it shows up on my profile) or share it with my friends. When I share I should be able to leave a comment and then allow others to comment back. Again, I see this as tool for me, not just to show off on my profile. Inside this reader I would embed the normal news feed within Facebook. I might even include email and notifications. Then this becomes the homepage where I consume and share content. This is content from all over the Internet, not just what I do on Facebook.

3) More Servers
Facebook is slow. Really slow. Honestly, it's not getting faster and even though they are buying servers they really need to ramp this up. People get frustrated with this and they need to get rid of this problem.

4) Universal Search
Facebook has a ton of information. They have pictures, hobbies, wall conversations, email. Well, I want to search this! I want to be able to easily find old conversations or events. With all this information inside of Facebook, in a formate they control, this should be easy. Heck, team up with Microsoft's Live search to get this done. Furthermore, Facebook (via Live Search) should be able to pull in search results from the outside world. Can you image finding my LinkedIn profile result when you search my name? With all the demographic, behavior and interests information these pages should be perfect. Oh yeah, the ads on the right hand side of these search results should also be the most relevant of any search engine.

5) Make nice with Google
Look, I know Microsoft owns part of facebook. I know they think they're competing with Google to become the backbone of the web. I know these things. However, this doesn't mean they can't work with Google to make something even more awesome. It just isn't worth making enemies in a virtual world where open source and sharing is become a fundamental tenet of the web.

It's a tall order, I know. However, if Facebook can accomplish these I foresee a great future where Facebook truly becomes a power player worth multiple billions. If Facebook doesn't figure these out, I don't know how long it will be before they become out done by someone else. Being a one-trick pony at the level they're playing at just isn't good enough.

Good, Fast, Cheap - Pick Two

I'm sure this concept has been around for a while, but I saw it for the first time today and really liked it. The premise is that projects are made of up these three elements, but you can only choose two of them. Let me spell it out.

Fast + Cheap = Bad
If you do a project really cheap and still want it to get done quickly you're going to suffer on quality. It just won't be a good finished product. A good example is of Monster Garage where they need to finish a project fast and cheap which is why the finished product is never really polished.

Good + Fast = Expensive
Now, if it has to be high quality but on a short time line, it's going to cost money. I run into this with my shirt business. Customers will run to me asking for a bunch of shirts in a short amount of time. My answer is yes, but it'll cost more because I have to rush, give up other things and work off-hours. Another example is American Chopper's OCC: they have nice bikes which they build fast, but you pay for it.

Cheap + Good = Slow
I must admit, this is my favorite. Lots of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) projects fall here. People don't want to spend the money to put someone on it full time or pay a professional. As a result it's done on free time which takes a very long time. Typically though, the products comes out pretty nice in the end. An example is Professor Joe King of Pacific University who made a model of the Eiffel Tower out of toothpicks. It took him 5 years and 110,00 toothpicks, but the end results is awesome.

So, given the project you're working on, what's the right mix? Knowing this simple framework will help you set your expectations and hopefully lead to more successful projects.

Ear Plugs

This last week has been fairly busy for me. I've been working pretty hard at HP trying to get some work done. I must say, working hard, even if it is just typing at a computer, is really tough. It's a good thing my work load is cyclical otherwise I don't know if I'd make it. It's at times like these my respect for what Jessi does every week magnifies.

Also, I've started sleeping without ear plugs lately. This is a big deal for me because I've been sleeping WITH ear plugs since I was just a kid. I mean, I got to the point where I couldn't fall asleep without ear plugs. So why the change? Well, for a little bit now I've been wanting to ween my way off of them. I don't know why I want to. It's not like it's an expensive or self-destructing habit. Perhaps it has something to do with getting married and subconsciously I think it would be weird. Who knows?

At any rate, this time I just decided I was going to make it without them and so far it's worked. It's amazing what you can do when you set your mind to it. I literally had them in my hand one night and decided to put them down and not pick them up. I've actually tried this before and then around 2am I realize I'm still awake, and miserable, and I throw them back in. Maybe it is that feeling of an addiction I don't like - the idea that I HAVE to sleep with ear plugs. Well, it looks like that will no longer be the case. Yes!

So there you go. Insert some mind over muscle inspiration here.

Job Identity

I have been struggling recently with the concept of titles defining who I am. For example, am I a teacher, or do I just happen to be teaching at this point in my life. I think it is very much the latter option. Although I have the correct skill set to accomplish the tasks set forth in educating a group of students and I am gaining experience, I still do not view myself as a teacher. James said it best this morning when he reminded me of a scene from Stardust. (which by the way is a fantastic movie that you should watch) In the movie there is a boy who is looking for so much in life, for love, for passion, for success. He works as a shop boy taking orders and money from customers day in and day out. At one point in the movie he says that he is not a shop boy, he just happens to be working in a shop for the time being. I love the potential behind that statement. He is not bound by the title of "shop boy" even though that is how he is making a living. Instead he has the freedom to be a shop boy for the moment and something else maybe tomorrow or maybe next week.

There are so many things I want to do, so many things I feel called to do in life that it is unfair to limit my potential by saying "I'm a teacher". My struggle has been fueled by many sources the past few weeks and it has caused me to think about my profession, identity and future.

As I teach every day I realize more and more that although I touch my students lives and am an example for them, my influence can only reach through the hours we spend together. They will remember me, at least some of them, but there is so much that I want to fix, so much they need from me and I feel so helpless that I can't give that to them. It is humbling to try to impart knowledge to someone that has less clothing, less food, and experiences less love than you. I feel a conflict when I am asked to teach my students knowledge yet they are holding their stomachs in hunger because their family did not have enough money for food that month. My goal as a teacher according to the state and district is to teach students to perform on assessments and remember lots of information that should be beneficial in their lives, at least it was determined to be beneficial for them by some outside source. If that is who I am supposed to be as a "teacher" then the dissonance between my profession and identity is monumental.

I continue to struggle as a teacher because I feel limited in the potential I have to make a difference. I see opportunities in two other areas of my life to use my passion, creativity and motivation for the benefit of others that have so much more potential for change than teaching does that it is hard for me to continue to go to my classroom each day and fight the ongoing battle that will not be won after one year.

I recently achieved a rank of success as an independent associate for a natural supplements company, called Univera Lifesciences, that I am involved with. The mission of the company is to bring the best of nature to mankind and to not only improve health but to also improve quality of life through their products and programs. One of my favorite aspects of the company is our Serve First Foundation. This foundation provides food, homes and support for communities in the United States. I see the potential to make huge change and improvement for those around me in a company that can improve life, how we experience it and how we live it. My success is sweet and welcomed, but it also motivates me to continue growing my business in order that I might someday affect the lives of my students with change that is permanent and meets the needs that they have on a deeper basis than just treating the symptoms of their poverty.

I also have a passion for creativity and art and hope that this desire can be woven into the other things I pursue. My goal is to open my own ceramics studio and gallery. I have not worked out any details, right now it is just dreams. But I think I would like to include some form of teaching ceramics classes, or having family creativity nights. I am not sure how profits from the company will work, but I would at least like a portion to be used to create renewable income for someone who needs it, be it a family, an individual, a church, who knows.

After all of that I realize, as I have many times before, that I really only have one identity. I am a daughter of the risen king. My purpose is to be aligned with Christ's purpose and plan. Without his plan mine means nothing. I am relieved that my identity is not based on my imperfect titles of "teacher", "independent associate" or "artist". My purpose is to love, to be an example and in this moment I can fulfill that purpose through teaching. I am not a teacher, I just happen to be teaching. Who knows what tomorrow has in store.

Google Documents

OK, I have to love on Google just a little bit. Even though gmail has been loading very slowly lately and taking its time to send emails. Even though Google Talk has been randomly turning off and on the last couple week. Even though Google Calendar doesn't sync updated events from Outlook, but everything else giving me a false sense of security. Even though Google Desktop is such a memory hog I decided to take it off my computer.

Is this going anywhere? Eventually.

Despite some problems which I see as serious flaws, Google does do most thing right, and some things flat out excite me. I think my two favorite (not what I use the most though, interestingly) are Google Notebook and Google Reader. I really like the way they help me aggregate everything I see on the web. It's just so cool to find something neat and save it to Google Notebook. Often times I end up using Google Notebook for making lists which I then share with others, such as birthday wish lists. It's dynamic and therefore I love it. I also like Google Reader because it brings the content I care about to me. My latest habit has been to subscribe to site's blogs where I either use or might potentially use their products. It's so much fun to read about a new update to Twitter and then go try it out instead of waiting until I stumble upon it.

Actually, I've yet to hit my point. Sorry for the delay.

Lately I have been more and more impressed with Google Documents. Every time they come out with something new I get VERY excited. Probably too excited... Here's an example: they came out with offline access and I couldn't wait to try it out and yes, it is that cool. What's also cool is that Google reads my mind. Actually they do because I recently filled out a survey for them and they added 2 of my 3 requests plus a whole bunch of others I didn't even know I needed. My first gripe was that printing something off looked like garbage. I said I didn't like the fact that there was a URL at the bottom of each page. Well, now you can print it off as a PDF, which gets rid of the URL. Very nice. I also said I wanted more control over the format of the page. I made it clear that in Word I could move text around, add bars of color and insert pictures where ever I wanted. Google went ahead and added that feature too (though it's not as easy as Word, but that's OK). Now all they have to do is figure out how to collapse the top part of the browser so I can see more of my work. Currently I have a Code Monkey plug-in in Firefox doing it for me so I guess I can wait a little longer.

Google has added a whole bunch of other features which I'm excited to check out - embedded video into presentations is one. I must be a total office geek because these features are really exciting to me. It's been a long time since I opened up Microsoft Office and it'd be nice if it stays that way.

Effiel Tower Progress Report

Back by popular demand, a Lego update.

I've got to be honest, Jessi and I struggled with this phase. The weird part was the angle. Even though it looks like square, for whatever reason we couldn't line up the Legos with the picture in such a way both of us could see the correct orientation. It was almost like one of those magic eye pictures.

We kept turning the Legos in circles trying to line it up. Jessi would turn it and I'd say, "are you crazy? That's not even close!" So she'd let me turn it and exclaim, "What?! Are you kidding me? That doesn't make any sense!" Eventually we started swapping spots and realized where we sat created a different angle in the picture.

It's weird that we didn't have this trouble with the first part, but I guess we're getting better at building Legos so it's only natural that the difficulty level would increase too.








You can view all our photos so far here:

Legos

Scoter

On September 20th, 1995 (I was 12) Scoter came into my life. This evening, April 20th, 2008 he has passed away.


Scoter (pronounced Scooter, like the 2-wheeled thing you ride) was named after the White-winged Scoter, hence the funny spelling. Scoter was a yellow lab so we called him Yellow-winged Scoter.

It's really hard to lose a loved one, but thankfully God has been at work in my life so I think I'll make it. For the last four weeks at church, the theme of the series has been death. What is death? How do we deal with death? And most importantly, how can we live for God until our death? Every one of those weeks has really hit home for me with Scoter's passing and has once again got me thinking about my life. Am I headed in the right direction? Am I pursuing God's will? Gosh, life is so fleeting - "life is but a mist that quickly evaporates" (somewhere in the Bible, I was never good at memorizing where) - how can I make the most of it?

There were certain things in life Scoter loved. He love to play fetch. Oh my, he would run and run until he literally couldn't stand anymore. He would be breathing so hard I would think he would die on the spot. But the instant he rested just a little bit, he'd be right back at your feet with his ball waiting for you to throw it.

Scoter also loved to be pet. I mean, sometimes it got to be a little much because I'd be typing at the computer or eating something and he'd come over and pull my arm away with his nose so I could pet him. He would also start standing up and then slowly sink closer and closer to the floor to see if he could be laying down and get pet at the same time. I would suddenly realize I was three inches away from my cereal bowl and fully bent over in my chair. There would be Scoter, fully sprawled out on the floor soaking up every bit of my attention. Of course, then I would sit up and he too would immediately pop up and the process would start all over again. What a funny dog.

Something that made Scoter such a wonderful dog was is intelligence. Here's on thing I learned: if you want to enjoy your animals, get smart ones. It makes such a difference when they actually learn quickly. For example, Scoter loved to hunt for pheasants. All you'd have to do was let him sniff a single feature and he was off looking for them. However, we also owned chickens and he regularly ate out of the same bowl with them - he was smart enough to know the difference. By the way, our cat, Boots, will probably miss him the most as she many times ate and drank out of the same bowls as him, and cuddled up with him to sleep.

I could go on and on with stories about him, especially camping stories. His favorite camping pass-time? Hike a pine cone backwards between his hind legs and chase after it. Yes, hours of entertainment for Scoter. Come to find out, he REALLY likes the water too. We once took him to a lake and he did not want to get out. He just paddled and paddled and paddled. The funniest was when he would splash the water with his paws and then try to catch the water in his mouth. Who does that?!

Scoter was a great friend and family member. He will be greatly missed and even though Jessi and I will surly own our fair share of dogs, I don't think any will be able to compare to him.







This video clip is part of a longer movie my brother and I put together. Basically, Matthew is trying to get in shape and I come up with creative ways to help. This one involved Scoter and a tennis ball.




Shortly after the Crock Hunter also passed away, my brother and I put together this video. In this one we are hunting for... the Scoter. Notice how he just lets us mess with him.

XML and the Future of the Web

Recently a friend let me borrow a book from him and it has really got me thinking. The book is called "Learning XML" by Erik T. Ray. XML is designed to make the structure of data ubiquitous. You see, there's current a problem with the Internet. There are many, MANY different web sites out there and lots of them structure their data differently. This, unfortunately, makes is very difficult to share information. Let me give an analogy. Say you have a grocery list to do your shopping. That list is your data (eggs, milk and bread). On the Internet, someone might have the same list, but it looks like this: AA eggs, 2% milk and white bread. Or, worse yet: fresh bread, 2 eggs and two percent milk. Do you see the problem? Even though the last two lists are technically the same, they differ in their descriptions, order and quantities. Humans are smart enough to figure this out, but computers just get confused. (incidentally, this is why you can name a file the same name in the same folder as another, only change the case of one letter, and have it work. Computers even see those as different).

The purpose of XML is to create rules for how you structure your data (or grocery list). This way each and every time you make a list it will be the same. Even though it takes a little more work during the set up to make sure it's structured properly, the advantages are huge. You see, then other programs can use your data without trying to figure out what it means. Ladies, that means the guys can do all the shopping because they'll understand what's on the list.

OK, so now you know what XML does, but so what? Why is this important? I really see XML as the backbone to the future of the Internet. It will be a way for web sites to share data back and forth easily. That way you won't have to visit eight places to do your daily stroll across the world wide web. Instead, you might only have to visit four... or maybe one day only one place which has everything you want right in front of you. Think about, if all your favorite places use XML, you (or someone who actually likes to program) could write something to bring it all to one place.

The advantages of having everything in one place is huge! Yes, it does save you time which is nice, but it also means there's more information to learn. For example, Amazon knows what books you like to buy, but what if they also knew what videos you liked to watch (from YouTube and or Netflix). What if they knew the music you like to listen to (from Last.fm )? Or who you send email back and forth with, and what books/video/music they liked? Do you see the power here? Suddenly places like Amazon and Google are no longer just relying on one type of behavior, but can pull from everything you do to offer you something you actually want 99% of the time. This is what people are starting to call web 3.0 and is part of the semantic web.

I heard a nice way to sum it all up and it goes like this: web 2.0 is all about helping people learn about, and with, other people. Web 3.0, or the semantic web, is all about computers learning more about us. It's a powerful concept which I think AOL was on to with their AOL portal, but it will be something much more effective and customized. XML is the tool which is allowing this to happen.

It really feels like companies are trying to figure out how to make everything work together and eventually the number of places using XML will hit a tipping point where all the sudden every site will have to use it. Personally, I think it's very exciting and am already trying to figure out ways to implement XML and open sharing on my web projects.

So, "Learning XML" is a good book for those of you willing to swim in the code.




PS. For those of you keeping score, gDocs just added a margin to your documents. I think it looks good and helps it look more like a real document. Also, I just noticed the ability to add comments to the document. This should be very helpful when I'm editing someone's work. Normally I would have to change font colors to let them know I changed something.

Lisa's Printing job

My mom and sister came up to visit and my sister made a shirt in my print shop (aka my bedroom). I don't know if I've ever shared any pictures of it, but below is a slide show of what she made. For a first timer and thought they turned out pretty good. Way to go Lisa!

Sleep Experiment

Sometimes it's fun to change things up and these last two weeks have definitely been different for me. You see, for these last two weeks I haven't slept in my bed once. I started out with a simple policy: when I get tired, grab a blanket and pillow and go to sleep where I am. Sounds crazy doesn't it? There's no doubt that the first couple of nights were a little weird.

Interestingly, I've developed a pattern. Since I spend 99.9% of my time in my living room, the middle of the floor has become my new bed. I've figured out the right combination of pillows so I don't get a sore neck, and the correct combination of blankets so I don't broil or freeze. It's actually gotten to the point where I think I prefer sleeping on the floor over sleeping in my bed. My poor bedroom has become nothing more than a repository for my clothes.

Yes, Jessi does think I'm a crazy wacko.

Why did I do it? I think it really arose out of two issues in my life. First was a general feeling of "blah". I really felt like I was just floating through time and not influencing my daily choices much. I'm not going to say I was depressed, because I wasn't, but more had a loss of motivation to check things off my to-do list (and it was getting long fast). Now I often, like many people, wait until the deadline to get things done, but now I was starting to let some deadlines slip which wasn't normal for me at all. As you can imagine, this also led to a subtle uneasy feeling and mental paralysis.Psychological enough for you?

The second reason is much more practical: I wasn't waking up in the morning when I wanted to. I would set my alarm at a reasonable hour, usually 8 hours after going to sleep, and then not get up. I was sleeping 9-10 hours and still feeling groggy in the morning. Yes, I was hitting my snooze 6 or 7 times in a row. Now I'm typically a morning person, so this was REALLY perplexing.

Now I know this kind of stuff happens in cycles. I used to have a similar issue with homework. I would be really productive and then magically struggle to get my work done on time. My secret to pulling myself back was to change something up, which, when it was homework, was location. If I did it at my desk, I would move to my couch or the floor. Or, I would have to move to a classroom and rotate rooms. Each cycle lasted about two weeks, and despite how little of a change it seems, it worked for me.

This time round I'm applying it towards my sleep and it seems to be working. I've been able to get up when I want, I've restored the perception of control in my life and my to-do list is back to normal length (which is still probably too long). So life right now is pretty good. What "extreme" measures have you taken to change up your life?

Eiffel Tower Update

So we've been making progress on our Eiffel Tower. The Lego set comes in three parts so that, I'm guessing, it can be easily stored. I kind of like the modular style. We're already starting to get a glimpse of how big this structure is actually going to be. Enjoy the photos.

Lego Eiffel Tower Unboxing

Jessi and I got a new toy. We're going to be going to Paris for our honeymoon, so we thought it would be fun to build the Eiffel Tower out of Legos. This particular project is 3,428 pieces of pure fun. Check out the slide show for the unboxing and what we accomplished at the end of one day. More pictures are sure to follow.

Update: The slide show now includes our entire build process. Enjoy.

Horton Hears a Who

This week Jessi and I saw the movie Horton Hears a Who and let me tell you, it is a good movie. This movie is an absolute must see film. Even though we've all read the book and know the story, it's still fun to watch it unfold. Jessi and I both agree that our favorite character is the little puff-ball kid character. I don't remember the name, but it's the weird one kid and I laughed loud (too loud?) at everything she did. Not sure if you want to shell out the bucks to see it? Go ahead and watch the trailer yourself to decide. Better yet, just go see it and thank me later.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Sunday was a good day. I woke up early and headed out to my local Fred Meyers. It seems that the only place to buy anything electronic, that isn't Apple, is at Fred Meyers. Seriously, Corvallis has made it a point to keep out as many big retail places as possible. So there are none of my beloved places such as Best Buy,Wal-Mart, Circuit City and Target. Wait, this isn't my point... Back on track.

I went to Fred Meyers early Sunday morning and picked up a copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl - the latest in Nintendo's successful Smash Bros. series. The game has a great premise to it: Over the years Nintendo has been creating games with memorable heroes inside of fantastical worlds. Over time the inevitable question arose: Who would win in a fight? Mario or Link? Kirby or Donkey Kong? Nintendo decided to create Super Smash Bros. to answer that very question. So you pick a character, who has special talents based on the original game, and you battle against other characters in arenas that look like those character's original world. Basically, it's a fun way to play with friends and have a blast.

So, I got my copy and started brawling. If you're hooked into my twitter feed, you already know what I'm talking about. What? You're not using Twitter? Well it's time you join the revolution. Until then, let me tell you more about what I think of Smash Bros. Just like all the previous versions, this is an excellent game. They've done a great job of adding tons of characters and twists to make the game ever more fun such as a Nintendog popping up in the middle of the screen to distract you. Also, playing my friends over the internet is plain exciting. Let me put it this way, if you own a Wii, go out and buy this game and I promise you won't be disappointed. Heck, if you've been looking for some way to justify buying a Wii, the opportunity to play Smash Bros. is a perfect reason to make the investment.

To drive my point home (get the game!), Jessi even enjoys playing with me. We like being on the same team and beating up on computer players together. For me, that makes the system worth every penny. Nintendo really has come through on this game.

4 Things I'm Excited About

Here comes the list: 4 Things I'm excited about!!!

1. I just purchased a new monitor from HP - ah... the employee discount is nice... It's a 22" wide-screen beauty. A while back I talked about having multiple monitors and how nice it is a work. I mean, it's soooooo nice to be able to see everything at once. This is especially true with the web development I do. Now I can have three documents open and viewable at one time PLUS have the browser viewable on the other monitor. Not having to flip back and forth is going to be amazing.
2. Speaking of the browser, Google recently released a little program to sync Google Calendar with Microsoft Outlook. This, quite honestly is pretty cool. You see, I have all my personal stuff ongCal and all my work stuff in Outlook. It's fine keeping them separate, but it meant I was constantly having to memorize my schedule, or turn on my work computer to see what was going to be happening in the next few days. Well... now they're all synced up. I will no longer have to waste time memorizing my schedule or turning on my computer. The best part is that I can accessgCal on my iPhone which means I now have my work schedule in my pocket. Yeah, it's pretty sweet.
3. Speaking of the iPhone, I can't wait until June comes about. Today Apple reviewed their SDK for the iPhone and some of the applications coming in June are going to be amazing. I'm excited about the corporate features, like push email, but I'm just as excited for the other programs. For example, Super Monkey Ball from Sega uses theiPhone's accelerometer for controls. It looks like it's going to be a wicked fun game.
4. Speaking of games, this Sunday is going to be a Sunday of epic proportions. For those of you keeping score, especially you Wii owners out there, this Sunday Super Smash Bros. Brawl comes out. I've already set up time to play online against a bunch of friends. We all installed Skype on our computers so we can chat while playing. It's going to be a blast. More importantly, Jessi is excited for the game to come out too. We've played Smash Bros. Melee a few times and she's really liked it. I'm excited.

As you can clearly see, great things are happening and great things are going to continue to happen. I know you're jealous, but that's OK.

ObjectDock Review

I found a new program the other day and so far it's earned my seal of approval. It's called ObjectDock, by Statdock. You know that bar of icons on the bottom screen of every Mac? Well, this is the PC version. I found it for free at Stardock.com where they offer all sorts of free (and paid for) packages. I've tried some of their other programs, but this one seems to actually be helpful. One of the features I like is the ability to add docklets, or buttons that do a little more than just act as a shortcut. I went to wincustomize.com and found all sorts to choose from. One docklet displays icons from my system tray so I can completely hide my task bar and gain that space back. Another one I like I found at aqua-soft.org which will put folder contents into a stack for easy viewing. There are many more, like a battery monitor, to choose from.

I really like this program because it gives me back my desktop. I don't have to share it with task bar, or deal with the task bar popping out any time something happens. You know what? This is enough reading. Go ahead and download it and try it for a week. Trust me, I think you'll like it and if you have any questions feel free to send them my way.

Web Crawler Research

I've recently been doing a lot of research on making a web crawler and it's fairly interesting. Basically, a web crawler is a program that makes a map of the web. You start out with a url, say JamesFurlo.com, and then this application scans the page for all of the links. It creates a list of those links for later processing. Then, the application reads the current page. It can look at everything (pictures, layout, meta tags, etc.) or it could just look at a couple things, like just the text. It then takes that information and stores it - probably on a server.

Once it's done everything you want it to do on that page it goes to the first link on the list recently created, say JamesFurlo.com/eFlash, and starts all over. First, creating a list of new links (pages) and then taking an inventory (also called indexing) of the items on the page.

It's a fairly simple process, but can get kind of hairy fast. I mean, just think of all the links on Yahoo! or Digg. The list of pages to visit can get long very fast. As a matter of fact, most web crawlers are estimated to only cover up to 16% of the web at one time. The problem is that the application simply can't run fast enough to view everything out there because pages are being added and changed way too fast.

Isn't that crazy! I've found that to build a web crawler is pretty straight forward, but to make one that works efficiently is more of a challenge. The big challenge I'm facing right now is deciding what language to use. You see, web crawlers are so flexible they can be written in PHP, Perl, Python, Java or even C++. What's the best choice? Good question.

I guess the trick is to pick a language I'm kind of comfortable with and start there. I should probably just try and make one with the understanding that it won't be optimized, but at least I've got something to improve on.

We'll see if it works out. My personal goal is to have something working by the end of next week. Wish me luck.

Cloverfield Movie Review

I'm not intending to write a spoiler, but if you're like me where watching a trailer can be too much info, just stop reading. It's OK.

Alright, with that over with, on to my thoughts. Well, Jessi and I saw Cloverfield last night with a friend. My first observation was about the demographics inside the theater. I don't think there was anyone older than 30 and Jessi was one of three or four girls out of 100ish - and they all sat alone with another guy. After the movie, I think the right people saw it: There is a lot of shaking, action, not much dialog, and is over just as fast as it starts. I'm sure it'll make a perfect video game someday.

The biggest deal was the end. I won't say there was ZERO closure, but let's just say I left wanting more of an explanation. The first person narrative is cool, but it's obvious there's a back story going on and we don't learn any of it. If you're OK with that, enjoy. Think of it this way, the movie is about the characters and their struggles - NOT about the events taking place. In that sense, the movie ended really well. Unfortunately, we've all gotten used to movies like Titanic which is obviously about a single couple, but the movie goes above and beyond to explain everything else.

Jessi did have a good idea once we got out. She suggested they make a sequel picking up where the film ended and treating it like a "normal" movie. In other words, explain everything. From a business standpoint I loved this idea. They have a bunch of people asking questions and looking for a resolution. If they can put a cool twist on the story, I think they could easily make a lot of money again, and make everyone happy. AND make a lot more money.

Oh, just in case you have seen the movie and are looking for just a little more closure, J. J. Abrams has a blog about it. I specifically like his cloverfield production notes, but the whole site helps to fill in the story. See, that wasn't too bad of a spoiler.

A New Project

I've began dabbling in a new project. A friend at work, who's stated 2008 goal is to "own a patent", approached me with a web application idea after a few minutes of joking around with "wouldn't it be cool if..." statements. Now, I can't tell you too much, because A) we might patented it and B) I'd have to kill you, but here's the basic idea:

We're both avid Google Reader users with many (many!) feeds which produce upwards of 200 posts a day. Sometimes I'm not sure how I actually get anything done. As a result of all of these feeds, our reader ends up with two types of junk. The first type are stories we just don't care about. The second are repeat stories. There are alternatives out there that semi-fix these problems, but no definitive solution to fix both problems. Our guess is that over time readers will become more main stream AND more and more people will have the same problem we have.

So, instead of sitting around waiting for an existing reader to solve these problems, we're going to try our hand at our own. It probably won't be as slick as Google Reader, but we're sure it'll be fun trying to come up with a creative solution. By the way, if you happen to know of another program that solves this problem, give me a shout out because I really don't need to invent this wheel again.

Chloraseptic

I have many things to be thankful for, and today, in the wee hours of the morning, I am thankful for Chloraseptic Soar Throat Spray. Yep, I got bitten by the bug yesterday and pulled out my usual arsenal of symptom fighting heroes. I'm not a doctor, so I won't make any recommendations on how to treat a cold, but I use Dimetapp and Robitussin as a nice combo. Those seem to work for me, which I like. I also usually carry with me a bottle of Chloraseptic Spray to numb the throat pain while the other meds do their thing. Unfortunately though, I was out of Chloraseptic Spray, but had plans to get them the next morning.

At 12:30 I was tired of tossing and turning, the cause of which was my sore throat. I did the usual debate: stay in bed and live with the pain or actually wake up and fix the problem. I'm sure we've all had this internal discussion with going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Inevitably, I decided to make the trip to WinCo and buy some Chloraseptic spray. Good thing they're open 24 hours. I'm sure the person at the checkout stand knew exactly what was happening, since I also took this opportunity to stock up on my other favorite medicines and tissues.

On the drive home, I bubbled with excitement because I knew relief was only a couple sprays away. At one point I couldn't wait any longer and grabbed the bottle. I was driving (I'll admit it), so it took a while to get the wrapper off, which just prolonged my excitement. With all the wrapping gone, I smiled and released a laugh in the air - I was about to win. I cocked my hand and opened wide. One pump, two pump - air. Three pump, four pump - air again. Then, with the next pumps I felt the cool liquid land on the back of my throat. It had a burning, yet cool sensation. It's much like a deep tissue massage or stretching early in the morning. It's a good kind of pain that you kind of always wish there was more of. I swallowed and a refreshing tingle ran all the way down my spin. My discomfort was gone and now I can go to sleep.