Okay, so here goes my summer goals for June, July and August:
  1. Read 40 pages per day spanning about 4 books at any given time in order to complete about 6,7 books by the end of the summer
  2. Write an outline for my master's independent study thesis
  3. Study for GRE, but no need to study too hard. What I want to get into is a PhD program not a master's program.
  4. Evaluate recent trends in agile software development processes and write up a research report.
  5. Complete project "pybeat"
  6. Complete project "pyscene"
Check out my alter egos for other goals~ :)


1 comment(s) | link to this entry | edit this entry

An interesting thing I have realized while having a conversation with a friend of mine over dinner last night was that some do not recognize that software development can be regarded as a form of art that requires your heart and soul. If you're an entry level dude stuck in some corporate IT department or some software sweat shop with a list of bugs to fix everyday you may not think that... You may even be the type who thinks computer programming is grudge work and would like to "move up the ladder" and become a manager or a director.

As far as I'm concerned, having had the fortunate opportunity to be doing what I do right now, I have been provided with a quite a bit of creative freedom as to how I can express my ideas into the softwares that I develop. The bigger the project gets, the more design goes into it, and that design process really requires you to put your heart and soul into it. It's about expression of ideas in various different ways. It's about creating something out of nothing and eventually presenting it. It's about nurturing a newly born baby and then letting it out into the world just as you think it's ready to take on its own life; it's truly a wonderful feeling. I don't think great software products come out of pure engineering. Sure, engineering may be a part of it, but in order for the product to be something that makes a difference in people's lives, it has to evolve on its own with the complex interaction among people who put their heart and soul into it. When you see such a product, your mind can relate to it like it does with any other form of art.

The key, in my opinion, is the people. It's not the programming tools, it's not the algorithms, and no it's not even the money. Like Steve once had told me, it's Zen. When people with passion so great come together to work on something, be it a software project, a song, an album, a choreography, a mechanical device, or what not... their heart and soul is bound to be reflected in the end product.. and I think that's just simply beautiful.

There's always a combination of art and science. When you paint, what you paint is art, but what you paint on or with is a product of science. When you choreograph a routine, the routine is art, but the physics of the movement is science. No, I don't feel any pressure to make sure that people recognize software development as art. I could really care less what others think of this subject matter. I'm just adding to your library of opinions that there's at least one person in the world who thinks in this manner. Open your mind and always try to see the side of the world that you haven't seen yet. It is simply amazing to see how much things I can learn everyday when I do. Enjoy life; it's a privillege to be breathing right now. ;)


0 comment(s) | link to this entry | edit this entry

Defeating copy-protected CDs with felt tip pen and defeating finger print sensors with gummy bears... what's next? pu ha ha ha ha!


0 comment(s) | link to this entry | edit this entry

I met with my advisor today to discuss my master's independent study thesis topic. I showed much interest in Darwinian economics and newtonian economics with regards to economy as a complex system. I think that's really at the core of my interest when it comes to trying to tie in computer science with economics... I got a couple recommended books that I just ordered for dirt cheap on half.com. It looks like a chunk of my time over the summer will be spent doing the preliminary research for my thesis, reading up on other books that I wanted to read on Korean history, Chinese philosophy, and Computer Sciene. Well, and studying for the friggin GRE... Of course I have plans for my alter ego as a DJ as well, but that is to be unveiled a little later. :) I wonder if I'll be able to find time to complete a couple of the independent software projects that I have been putting off for some time. We'll see...


0 comment(s) | link to this entry | edit this entry

A lovely little article on why opensource software tends to suck on usability.


0 comment(s) | link to this entry | edit this entry

Gosh... don't you just love these lawyers.... now they're trying to ban font embedding... then Adobe wins over Macromedia on this "tabbed-palettes" idea.


0 comment(s) | link to this entry | edit this entry

Want some more? Dig in to the archive for past entries.