Rory's Journal

If anyone is getting sick of using their IE crapstick, or maybe getting tired of the slow Firefox, you may want to try a different browser.

I've plugged Firefox before, and it is a great browser, but it has been getting slower in recent versions. Their are two browsers now that I think are the fastest and most compatible. They are Safari and Opera. Opera is actually the one I suggest now. It is fast and is finally fully compatible starting with 9.5 the most recent version. Safari lacks some interface widgets and smoothness that Firefox has gotten me hooked on. But, give Opera a try because it is worth the download now that they have worked so hard on it.

Most importantly, please stop using Internet Explorer. It really is crap, doesn't support standards, and is insecure with the way it handles protocols (that can include the encryption protecting your credit card information)

I've realized that, as a man myself, the only other man I could ever love is Phil Collins. I feel the glare from my wife from some...where....

* I'd only ever love him for his music though.

Alright, done being depressed!

I have had a few set back lately and bad stuff happen, but I am moving past it. I have decided that in order to get a job in the tech industry one must have a website that is more than a blog. Interesting point, I do not have any person programming in publication, whether it be on my website or in a book somewhere. No one, besides my wife, has physical proof that I can program. Oops. That might make it hard for an employer to get excited about me.

In that regard, I am going to do a website change in the coming weeks that will let people actually read my source code. I'm not a big fan about that, not because someone could steal whatever crap I've managed to create, but because it is so deeply a part of me. It has taken me a good part of my life working here and there between jobs to sculpt what little code I have. It's just personal.

Unfortunately, I am finding it difficult to place that much code on the web site in an "employer readable" format. I am going to try and write a PHP class to do the conversion. Which is irony because I will in-turn post that code. Bear with me as RoryWeb makes some changes.

I had lost my way, the glow of the bombs my only guide;
It's always darkest before the dawn.
What fight had I left, with no one left on my side?

I have slipped and fallen; no hand to catch me,
I was infallible before them.
The Path of Truth lost so I could not see.

Through my torn military jacket I felt it slip.
Do they even know me?
Her picture fell from the broken locket clip.

In the worst darkness, I have fallen.
My prophets lost to me, their advice; deaf to me.
Who, then, shall rescue me from the flames?

Only myself now. Only myself.

I came back last week from a job interview where the company I was applying at flew me down to their San Francisco office. I thought the interview went really well except for the last guy, the hiring manager. I could tell he was one of those "serious geeks", the college degreed Computer Science students that knew all the theory behind what he was doing. I was just a code monkey to him at best. That wouldn't have been a problem, except that I couldn't answer his Logic Problem. Apparently that was a pass or fail part of the interview because after that I had to leave and he seemed less then interested in me.

Another thing I did wrong was talk too much. He asked a simple question, "What would I add to their product if I could". My answer was simple and should have been left at that. But, I started talking about some security methods I would use to make this a safe feature to add to the product. That was a bad thing because he thought I was bullshitting him and called me on it. I tried to tell him that it was a good thing to remove executable code. He said it didn't matter. And, it doesn't; to a point. What I meant is Buffer Overflow techniques. Malformed files that, when parsed badly, can result in extra data being loaded in. This extra data "could" be executable, and if your code isn't written well, will allow for the program to start running that malformed, executable information. Apparently, even bringing this up made me look like an idiot in his eyes.

That was my point of failure. I didn't get the job. I got a corporate e-mail response to my personal e-mail in the form of, "Thank you. You're just great. Here is your handjob. By the way, get the fuck out!". I screwed up the interview, I know that. But, they really missed who I was. Even though the theory stuff gives me a run for my money, I can still write code and manage teams. My basic skills and limitations, I guess. I'm having a depressing July.

I hope Mr. Ultra-Geek is logically and scientifically constructing his own massive pair of lips to theoretically kiss his own pompous ass. I would write the program for that, but I don't work for him.

Today, my Grandmother on my mother's side died. We were all lucky enough to be by her side until the end, and have the chance to say goodbye.

Death is more than just losing someone, sometimes it is a reminder of how things change in life. I can remember great times with family, at the lake on long weekends. We would look forward to seeing everyone come over and talk and eat. Grandpa would have the deck on the lake house painted, the dock in the water, and the paddle boat ready for another summer voyage. Grandma would have everything so clean, even though it was outside, not a speck of dirt could be found on the furniture. And, there was always great food, especially her sugar cookies!

I looked forward to coming up to see Grandma because I knew that there were always so many people I loved around her. Her house was always so peaceful. The lake were we seemed to gather had so much family living around it that I knew, no matter when we visited, I would be able to see those people. It felt to me that there was always a celebration happening. In these last few years, the deck has peeled, trees have fallen down, the beauty of the place has faded, and family has moved away. The place in my memory is now an unreachable dream forever lost in the waves from the lake. A childhood aged to adulthood.

People deal with death in different ways. My way of coping with it is symbolism. With death their is life reborn. Not in reincarnation, but in the faces of the children gathered to mourn her. New life can be seen in their faces, even if it has passed from hers. Her memory and her legacy will be remembered much more vividly in a child's memory and it will be retold by them with more beauty than I could ever remember. Because, I will make sure to give times like that back to them to enjoy as I did.

I shall do the only thing I can do now. I shall remember it all forever.