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This is yet another well intentioned "I'm going to start blogging more" blog post that you see elsewhere but this one is mine. It's just not the same since micro-blogging (twitter) came along but we'll see. I almost converted to Habari but then got distracted committing to habari-extras (helping clean up the plugins) and have since been waiting for Habari 0.7 to be released (it's within the 0.6 cycle currently). And now I'm distracted again, this time with life streams.

So, I'm going to either help work on the lifestream Habari plugin or use something totally different, something geared towards life streams. The arstechnica article titled "Make your own lifestream with open source Storytlr offers several ideas and methods and I'll most likely end up with something from there. Stay tuned.

And thank you for reading this entry.

Today I experienced an enormous flashing light above my head so will write about it now. Communication 2.0 is chaotic and lame. I write to blogs (this one, comments on others), micro-blogs (twitter), social networks (facebook), mailing lists (e.g., php docs), forums and other places yet it's all scattered and lost as opposed to being together and remembered. Why so Weak?! A new TODO: Change this. How? One route: Locate APIs of utilized resources, mash them together, then do stuff with it like display. Also, research this and related topics like privacy.

Integration that already happens for me today (automagically):

• Tweets are shown in this blogs sidebar (via a blog plugin)
• Blog posts are shown in facebook (as notes)
• Tweets (some) are displayed in facbook (when appending #fb to tweets, using the selective twitter facebook application)
• iPod touch apps display facebook/twitter info

Obviously this situation can be improved a ton, both by simple means (currently existing applications) or customized (like designing how to gather and use all of this raw information) with the latter being on the ever-growing TODO.

Whatever the case, the current situation is weak and will change. Google wave should help.

I took a quiz today titled "my ecological footprint" and as it turns out I have a somewhat large footprint (although to my credit, smaller than the average in my country) so that said is it time for change? Of course, but change is difficult. Not only does it require effort and work, but money. In our society being "different" or "ecologically responsible" is expensive and I'm somewhere near the poor category. You should take the quiz too and report your results. Living in the suburbs = bad score.

An excerpt from my quiz results:

WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 4.5 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE ACRES PER PERSON.
IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 4.6 PLANETS.

And here I thought I was doing good because, well, I recycle. But, that most certainly isn't enough.

Some I know of:

• Find ways to use public transportation (difficult in the burbs, but doable)
  
• Become a vegetarian again (was for 10 years before succumbing to the dark side)
  
• Get a more efficient car (but... it's the mini van!)
  
• Eat more natural foods (expensive but our bodies deserve it... we only have one!)
  
• Stop eating fast food (it's so easy, and cheap, but bad... very very bad... but so good)
  
• Stop supporting companies that are evil
  
• Become better educated
  

Well, if you have any further suggestions for change please let me know. Or, if you know of a few spare planets that would work too.

I'm a little scared yet still looking forward to a full load of classes this upcoming quarter (16 credits). I did what I could to get highly rated teachers and am happy to report they look good (on paper) so without further ado, here they are:

• Kelly Craig: Engineering Physics Lab
  Everyone seems to love her as she sounds like a caring teacher who explains Physics in real world understandable terms. I like that.
• Garrett Gregor: Calculus II
  Everyone loves his teaching style, sense of humor, and active nature in the class but there's one drawback: Very tough by requiring a lot of work, and difficult tests. In the end this will be good for me (including the weekly quizzes) so in some sick way I'm looking forward to this. Good teachers go a long ways despite how challenging they may be. I'd rather learn a lot with a C, then learn very little with an A. Although currently I'm having a difficult time understanding why/how Calculus works/exists, I have a good feeling something will click this quarter. It better! I've set aside two hours a day outside of class for Calculus II, are you jealous?!
• Izad Khormaee [home]: Intro to Electrical/Computer Engineering
  He's the one teacher I'm familiar with because he's my student advisor. He seems to want all students to understand the topics, and seems to always be in his office willing to speak to students... so that's good. Sounds like the course is challenging, but, I'm interested in the topic.
• Robert MacKay [home]: Engineering Physics, and also Physics Calculations
  Some mixed reviews here but in the end he looks promising. It would seem I need to really pay attention to the lectures, and do the homework, and put in a lot of hours. Yep, sounds like Engineering Physics!

So, in a couple weeks this party will start and I look forward to read this blog entry after the quarter is over. And to my friends: Don't expect me to hang out much this quarter, or year, as I'll me living in the library and various caves spread throughout the area. Update: I added Trigonometry! Although this means 21 credits in the end it should be worth it. Really understanding Trigonometry is a good idea especially when eventually taking a ton of Engineering related classes... like Calculus! Same teacher. He really is an awesome teacher so if you want to learn, desire a teacher that really cares about you succeeding, is somewhat demanding of you spending proper amounts of time, and is a great and available teacher... Garrett Gregor is recommended. (At least so far, it's only been one week :-)

Yesterday was a special day as it represented the time I was born. For the most part it was a typical day except during the evening people were over so we created and ate pizza, drank beer and wine, and hung out. Thanks to everyone who came over (and called) including Curt and James for the food, and Jill for the candled birthday cup cakes. I also appreciate Heather and Jill for letting me sit in between them for much of the evening because girls smell nice.