Some for fun programming projects
It’s been a long time since I’ve done any programming just for fun. I’ve done quite a bit for school, between OS Scripting, two or three web programming classes, Java out the you-know-what… etc. I actually used to enjoy programming though, and so I wanted to get back to that.
I’ve recently published a couple of projects on github: https://github.com/bwoodruff
They are pretty rudimentary so far, but it was fun putting them together, and at the end of the day that’s why I wrote them.
Not so much…
minimalmac:
“Lessen your choices and your actions will quicken as well. You will not have to take the time to decide which tool to use because there is only one.”
—
Patrick Rhone
I’m all for cutting back on non-essentials. The answer is not to empty your toolbox down to just a hammer and a screwdriver though.
minimalmac:
“I do everything on a relatively low-powered MacBook. Is this constraining? A little bit. But I think it goes to show that you don’t need the fanciest Mac or the largest screen to get the job done.”
Sure, that’s true, but why intentionally constrain yourself? I’d rather have a little headroom than be continually bumping my head on the roof.
(Source: mac.appstorm.net)
My latest experience at the Applecrack Dealer
I went to the Apple store at Eastview Mall the other day to purchase an iPhone 4.
I was very disapointed with regards to my accessory purchase. I was under the impression that there were free cases available for the iPhone 4 due to the reception (“antennagate”) issues. When I arrived at the store I was told that this program ended 2 days previous and even though I’ve purchased just about every product Apple makes they would not extend the offer for me. I picked out an Apple bumper case to purchase. The representative strongly encouraged me to buy an incase brand case instead (I did not ask for his opinion, but took him up on his recommendation as he was a bit pushy). Turns out the price on the sticker was $10 lower than it was supposed to be ($2x instead of the actual $3x).
Overall it was a pleasant experience but the fact that I had to purchase a case at all (in order to make my $200 phone work as intended) and that I was pushed to buy a more expensive one than I would have otherwise leaves a bit of a sour taste.
I’ll do something just to spite myself. That’s the kind of narcissist I am.
My (current) frustration with TWBC
UPDATE: Awesome news. Vicky just called back. Issues with TWC bill are supposedly fixed. We’ll see on the next bill.
I have Time Warner Business Class service. The Teleworker package, to be specific. A few months ago I emailed my account rep, Neil, asking if I could have another static IP address added for $10/month. He very happily obliged, confirming that the price was $10 and also confirmed what my total bill should be.
On my statement I noticed they started billing me for “1 Business Class Static Ip - 1 @ $20.00.” I emailed my account rep who told me I should call billing to get it figured out. I called billing and spoke to someone named Pat. They requested that I fax them some proof verifying that the charge was supposed to be $10. I thought, this is odd, why can’t they just talk to my account rep and ask him? But I printed and faxed them the conversation I had with my rep.
I hadn’t heard anything for a while, so I called billing back and talked to Vicky. She confirmed that I was still being charged $20 instead of $10 and promised she would get the issue resolved for me. “You’ve probably heard that before, but we will get it fixed this time.” Yeah… right.
New bill comes today. Yep, $20 charge. I call billing again. Surprisingly, I get to talk to Vicky again. This I feel is a good thing. She was very nice both times I spoke with her, and though the issue didn’t get resolved I felt after talking with her like she had really done everything in her power to solve the issue for me. When I talked to her this 2nd time, she said she would send another email and this time she would copy her supervisor and her supervisor’s boss, as well as my account rep. She also suggested that I send another email to my account rep, as he should have been able to take care of this for me all along. That irked me a bit… why should I have to deal with 3 different people, and, indirectly, their supervisors, when the first person I talked to could have handled the issue for me?
I sent another message to my account rep. Fingers crossed that they will fix it this time and credit me for the months they have been billing me incorrectly. Really starting to lose faith though. You can only nag people to fix something so many times, all the while them promising it will get fixed, and in the end still have the same issue before you give up and move on.
I’ve had enough phone calls, enough emails, enough faxes. It’s a $10 mistake on your part. Scratch that, $10/month. Meaning $40 so far of my money that you have and so far have not returned. Please just fix it.
