These last few weeks have been rather long. I've spent less time sleep and more time working than I would prefer. I have been working on class projects, exams, and gobs of homework. I have also been recently looking for new directions to take with my post-graduation plans. I've reconsidered going out into the industry right after graduation and started looking into government work or going DIRECTLY into grad school. Not sure how I want to continue right now, I'm just trying to get as many options as I can right now.
I will probably be going to China for school Spring 2010. It is an opportunity through Purdue to go over to the "#1 Engineering School" in China for a semester. I am hoping that this will allow me to grow my creativity and imagination when it comes to problem solving. I figure seeing the world from a completely new perspective will help develop these skills. I also think it'd be nice to go over there. I have a friend who went there for a semester and she thought it was an amazing experience. Getting out there and experiencing something beyond the everyday is important to self growth.
I've slowed down, thankfully, on following the internet and the daily blogs I used to visit. While I feel like I'm a little less connected to what's going on around me, I've enjoyed not sitting in front of my computer as much. Part of this is because I've been trying to go running a few times a week. It takes up an hour I used to spend online, but running seems to be a good usage of time. My best time so far has been running for 30 minutes at ~7 mph. I'm hoping to improve this to 8 mph in the next month.
Spring break is coming up. I believe I am going skiing in Michigan with a few of my friends. It should be a good time, I enjoy skiing -- and we're not going to just the dirt piles in southern Michigan. We're going to northern Michigan where they have full sized dirt mounds! (I'd rather go to Colorado, but real mountain's just aren't in the budget.) Take what you can get I suppose.
Jbiber
Friday, March 6, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Busy
I've been busy recently, I expect to get more busy this week. Apply for a job, taking some exams, you know -- life and school keep a person pretty busy.
I'll be back soon.
I'll be back soon.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Things That Are Awesome
A couple things I've stumbled across in the last few days that are worth noting and sharing:
Gizmodo:
Darth Dentist
Why it's awesome: David at the dentist was funny, the funny hasn't completely worn off yet - just like David's dental medicine.
Photoshop contest from Giz:
Insane things never seen in google's street view
- Personal Favorite
Why it's awesome: I guess I'm on a Star Wars kick... again..
Microsoft Mesh:
Mesh is an easy way to share files (up to 5gbs of storage, free) easily across many computers. Also includes a nifty and useful remote desktop tool.
Why it's awesome: Incredibly useful tool. I go back and forth between school and personal computers all the time. The service doesn't require any additional software, it's the new flash drive. The synced folders currently appear on the desktop just like a normal folder. It acts like a normal folder in almost every way.
Phone Sycing services:
Sync by Google is a new service provided by google that allows people to backup their contacts, calendar, and email to a google server.
Why it's awesome: If you ever lose your phone or need to edit the contacts easily this is the service for you. It will allow you to back up all your old contacts onto a new phone easily and over the air. You can even edit the contacts through a regular computer using a keyboard (that's a big plus). Works on iPhone (take that MobileMe), BlackBerry, and WinMo devices and more. Service from Google is free, if you don't have unlimited internet -- it will cost you on your phone bill.
MyPhone by Microsoft is a very similiar service that I first heard about at engadget. This coupled with a few rumors adds a lot of potential for the Windows Mobile category. On top of that - the service will likely be well integrated into other Microsoft products like the Live services (Live.com, xbox live, mesh.. ect).
Good luck out there,
J.Biber
Gizmodo:
Darth Dentist
Why it's awesome: David at the dentist was funny, the funny hasn't completely worn off yet - just like David's dental medicine.
Photoshop contest from Giz:
Insane things never seen in google's street view
- Personal Favorite
Why it's awesome: I guess I'm on a Star Wars kick... again..
Microsoft Mesh:
Mesh is an easy way to share files (up to 5gbs of storage, free) easily across many computers. Also includes a nifty and useful remote desktop tool.
Why it's awesome: Incredibly useful tool. I go back and forth between school and personal computers all the time. The service doesn't require any additional software, it's the new flash drive. The synced folders currently appear on the desktop just like a normal folder. It acts like a normal folder in almost every way.
Phone Sycing services:
Sync by Google is a new service provided by google that allows people to backup their contacts, calendar, and email to a google server.
Why it's awesome: If you ever lose your phone or need to edit the contacts easily this is the service for you. It will allow you to back up all your old contacts onto a new phone easily and over the air. You can even edit the contacts through a regular computer using a keyboard (that's a big plus). Works on iPhone (take that MobileMe), BlackBerry, and WinMo devices and more. Service from Google is free, if you don't have unlimited internet -- it will cost you on your phone bill.
MyPhone by Microsoft is a very similiar service that I first heard about at engadget. This coupled with a few rumors adds a lot of potential for the Windows Mobile category. On top of that - the service will likely be well integrated into other Microsoft products like the Live services (Live.com, xbox live, mesh.. ect).
Good luck out there,
J.Biber
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Week In Review .=. February 2009: Week 1
This past week has been relatively uneventful from an interesting perspective. I've been sick, which has made life a little bit rougher. I should be getting well fairly quick, no worries. On a much brighter note, things in school seem to be going pretty well. The super bowl was a good time last week. I wasn't particularly invested in the game, but any excuse to get together with friends is fine enough for me. The commercials weren't amazing, but the funnier ones are my favorite anyways (I'm glad the E*Trade baby made another appearance). The 3-D was not anything special though. I was not impressed. The Sobe commercial was the best (of the 3-D content). Watching Chuck was alright, but it was a very long time to wear the glasses. There needs to be more advancement in this field for it to really become practical, though I'm always up for deploying new technology and trying it out.
In my Mechanical Design course, our group is making big progress on a report that is due later this coming week. On Friday, a group mate and I spent 5 hrs in the computer lab working on completing the report. The other two group members had class and were unable to come by and take off some of the load. Together, we finished a 20 page report. Today, I met with my group on campus and prepared a presentation for Thursday. We're doing fairly well working together. It hasn't been all sunshine and happy times, but we're making progress every time we meet. I still enjoy group work though, even though sometimes you have to work through roadblocks that are being presented.
On the radio:
The Killers - Human
--- This song is off their album from last November. I believe it is the first single off the album. I hadn't heard it on the radio til this week, so it might be new to the top 40 charts or I may have just been missing it for awhile.
Billy Currington - Don't
--- When I first heard this song, I wasn't a very big fan. I could have gone either way on it. Now that I've heard it a few times on the radio, seen the music video, I think I'll admit it's grown on me. Another great example why people shouldn't just stop listening when they don't like what they're hearing the first time.
Kanye West - Heartless
--- Clearly this isn't new to the radio. It's been on awhile, but I'm just sayin' I've grown to like it a little more. I've heard it a few times this past week, it's goodish.
Zac Brown Band - Chicken Fried
--- I haven't actually heard this on the radio that much, but I've heard it on the weekend countdown while the I've been working on the computer. It's funny, I like it because it feels a lot like a summer song. It has a lot of personality for a song.
Related note - This past week we finally broke our cold weather trend. We set a new "warmest day of the year." It was great, rather than the normal low 30's we've been experiencing, it got up to nearly 60! It was a great feeling, really makes everyone happier I think. I know I enjoyed the afternoon by running my errands with the windows down and the stereo "comfortably" loud. :)
On the web:
Jellyfish protein helps regrow joint cartilage
Cheap Xbox Live Membership ($30 / 13 months)
Colbert - Steve Martin is awesome. (So is Dueling Banjos)
In my Mechanical Design course, our group is making big progress on a report that is due later this coming week. On Friday, a group mate and I spent 5 hrs in the computer lab working on completing the report. The other two group members had class and were unable to come by and take off some of the load. Together, we finished a 20 page report. Today, I met with my group on campus and prepared a presentation for Thursday. We're doing fairly well working together. It hasn't been all sunshine and happy times, but we're making progress every time we meet. I still enjoy group work though, even though sometimes you have to work through roadblocks that are being presented.
On the radio:
The Killers - Human
--- This song is off their album from last November. I believe it is the first single off the album. I hadn't heard it on the radio til this week, so it might be new to the top 40 charts or I may have just been missing it for awhile.
Billy Currington - Don't
--- When I first heard this song, I wasn't a very big fan. I could have gone either way on it. Now that I've heard it a few times on the radio, seen the music video, I think I'll admit it's grown on me. Another great example why people shouldn't just stop listening when they don't like what they're hearing the first time.
Kanye West - Heartless
--- Clearly this isn't new to the radio. It's been on awhile, but I'm just sayin' I've grown to like it a little more. I've heard it a few times this past week, it's goodish.
Zac Brown Band - Chicken Fried
--- I haven't actually heard this on the radio that much, but I've heard it on the weekend countdown while the I've been working on the computer. It's funny, I like it because it feels a lot like a summer song. It has a lot of personality for a song.
Related note - This past week we finally broke our cold weather trend. We set a new "warmest day of the year." It was great, rather than the normal low 30's we've been experiencing, it got up to nearly 60! It was a great feeling, really makes everyone happier I think. I know I enjoyed the afternoon by running my errands with the windows down and the stereo "comfortably" loud. :)
On the web:
Jellyfish protein helps regrow joint cartilage
Cheap Xbox Live Membership ($30 / 13 months)
Colbert - Steve Martin is awesome. (So is Dueling Banjos)
Clearly I've missed the boat on this one, over 6 million views and I hadn't heard about it yet.. very funny!
New Ideas
Last but not least, I came up with another new "product" this past week. While I'm not about to outline it here on the web, it's just nice to mention that I've taken more notes in my ideas and projects notebook that I keep. It is fun to have new ideas just come to you when you're expecting it the least.
Good luck out there,
J.Biber
Special Thanks to Blogger for auto saving feature. My browser def crashed while writing this post.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
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