Surf Roots, Software Thoughts

I used to hate programming in JavaScript. I remember the days of debugging-by-alerts and strait up trying to guess problems that were occurring in situation where alerts weren’t useful. I always used to complain endlessly about JavaScript’s poor debugging mechanisms, its odd bugs in Internet Explorer, and its documentation, or rather lack thereof. I even remember the first time I learned what AJAX was. Jim pointed me to some tutorials and explained a thing or two, and my first AJAX feature showed up in Cellarspot. I pursued Cellarspot in a software engineering class, and I explicitly remember proudly showing the insanely basic feature off to the entire class, smiling all the while.

I suppose what I’m trying to get to is that I’ve taken a liking to JavaScript. I’m by no means an expert at it, but I’ve begun to thoroughly enjoy programming in it. Tools like Firebug have made JavaScript much more manageable, and for whatever reason I’ve been able to find better help docs online lately.

What was once an enemy has become a friend; now all I need to do is start writing object-oriented JavaScript and using libraries such as JQuery and Scriptaculous. I’m going to make a valiant effort to do so in my developing nations project, which we’re implementing with Ruby on Rails.

Take a look here.  Basically they’re claiming ownership on certain subdomains (subdomain.domain.com) and placing their own promotions onto it.  This is shady practice number two, which proceeds their awful domain search practices.  Just another reason to not use Network Solutions.  I hope they get sued for lots of money.

Best Seattle Bars is so far the most successful website that I’ve ever launched. The guy with the idea, Kyle Trew, loves to hit the bars, and he promotes the site almost every chance he gets. Almost half of our traffic is direct traffic, which implies that his promotions are definitely working. Anyway, I launched a new version of the site just a few minutes ago. I’ve been working on this new version for about two weeks, and it’s worlds better than the previous version. Here’s a feature list:

• Improved map user experience
• User registration
• 5-star ratings
• Improved bar landing pages
• Driving directions

I’ve already started working on the next version, which should again be a huge improvement.

Go take a look and let me know if you have any suggestions. Enjoy!

I’ve altered my fauxhawk to a full-on mullet. I actually liked the fohawk better, but at least people will realize the joke easier with the mullet.

I’ll start blogging about real things soon.

It was only yesterday when I decided to try a new hairstyle. Since the new do I’ve interacted with bosses, coworkers, professors, classmates, and strangers. I have some interesting observations:

People with a sense of humor
When I interact with a person who has a sense of humor, then it’s all good. They’ll give me a comment like, “Nice hair!” which is usually proceeded by a high-five. I love it.

People who don’t know me well enough
When I interact with people who don’t know me well enough, then it’s actually pretty funny. This is what usually happens: we say hello to each other. The person will glance at my hair and quickly glance at the ground with a strange look on their face. They will proceed to talk to me without looking at me, speaking with a small stutter. I think that they’re so astonished by my awful haircut that they’re embarrassed for me, because they think that I’m for real. They don’t know me well enough I guess.

Real respectable-like people (e.g. bosses and professors)
When I interact with people who expect good things from me, then it’s somewhat awkward. I don’t really think much of it, but sometimes I can’t help but wonder if my new hair makes people think I’m less reliable. Whatever. I usually just explain myself, laugh at my own idiocy, and continue with my day.

Toothless, homeless women
I’m not making this up. I was cycling from work (downtown) to school and found myself stopped at the traffic light in front of Lander dorm. A fellow cyclist stops next to me, panting along with me as we both attempt to catch our breath. I hear someone yell from the sidewalk, but I don’t know what they’re saying. Then I hear, “Hey Cutie!” Astonished that someone actually likes my hair, I glance to the sidewalk and see a toothless, homeless women staring at me with a big smile. I look at the biker next to me and ask, “Is she talking to you?” He responds, “no,” and chuckles slightly. I thank the women and wish her a nice day as I ride off. The cyclist thanks me for pulling him up the hill. I confidently respond, “I’m lucky I didn’t get passed,” and quickly return to gasping for air. He was fast.

More social experiments on Friday when my hair is even more outrageous.

I’m backpacking through Europe starting June 18th and ending August 7th.  Here’s the itinerary:

1. Fly to London, England
2. Fly to Amsterdam, Holland
3. Train to Brussels, Belgium
4. Train to Paris, France
5. Train to Nice, France
6. Train to Barcelona, Spain
7. Fly to Rome, Italy
8. Train to Florence, Italy
9. Train to Zurich, Switzerland
10. Train to Munich, Germany
11. Train to Prague, Czech Republic
12. Train to Berlin, Germany
13. Train to Amsterdam, Holland
14. Fly to London, England
15. Fly home

I’m traveling with two of my best buddies from high school, Dustin and Dan, Dustin’s sister, Lindsay, and Dustin’s girlfriend, Morgan.  We’re all getting 15-day train passes that allow us to train 15 days in two months.  We’re planning on spending 4-5 days in the cities that we really like and 1-3 days in smaller cities.  A lot of people have recommended more depth than breadth, but all of us agree that we’d rather have breadth, at least for this trip.  We might also check out the following cities if we have time:

• Pisa, Italy
• Cinque Perre, Italy
• Sienna, Italy
• Venice, Italy
• Lucerne, Switzerland
• Salzburg, Austria
• Vienna, Austria
• Olomouc, Czech Republic

I’ve only been to London and Canada so far, so these seven weeks should be a great experience.  We’ll primarily be staying in hostels and visiting internet cafes only occasionally.  I’ve created another category, Europe, which is where I’ll blog about the trip.  I’m pretty excited to say the least.  Give me some feedback!  More planning to come soon.

In a quest to have hair styles that I’ve never had before, I’ve created a masterpiece.

I will have a new hair style Thursday evening as well. Stay tuned for an even better look.

Thanks to BSevig for the idea.