Hash Tag Obamacare

Man, I really hate when a program gets pushed back because of user-interface errors. I especially hate when those errors are nearly unavoidable and are bound to happen. Another big problem is when the project gets its funding destroyed by people who refuse to believe in it, even when it is the only obvious fix to a gigantic problem. The worst part is when they are forced to be released because of bureaucrats who have never worked a real job ever.

I review "The Fault in Our Stars" on Goodreads

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Originally I avoided this book. I'm not typically a fan of real-life fiction, though I have, on occasion, indulged.

Eventually, as I was a fan of John Green's work on You Tube, I decided I would go ahead and read it.

It was fantastic. Even though I normally get bored with reading about the boring events of boring fiction (a.k.a. realistic fiction), the tone of this book was such that even the most boring things (going to a cancer survivors group, for instance) was enjoyable. The characters were fun and quirky, but not to the point of being obviously falsified; I would believe these were real people had someone told me this was a work of non-fiction.

But, of course, many characters are interesting and fun, even in otherwise uninteresting books. This was not the case. The story, though meandering at first, ended up keeping me reading long into the night. I ended up finishing the book in about two sittings, which is exceedingly rare for me. And. . .wow. Just wow. No other words can describe the story directly.

This book is short enough that anyone could probably finish it quickly, be it for a book club or a school assignment. That does not mean the story was not complete. This is one of the few books that I would recommend to literally any person who asked me which book they should read next. Even my favorite books aren't as poignant and life affirming as this book was to me and will be to anyone who reads it.

Do yourself a favor: read this book.

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Making Sense of the Chromebook Hate

Say it with me. people: "The Chromebook is NOT a notebook."

It really isn't, and it has never claimed it is. It is a Chromebook. It is sleek, functional, and efficient. It boots up in less than 10 seconds, not because of super-special-awesome coding, but because it is lightweight as hell. It has a simple interface not because of elegance and intuitive design, but because it is a simple thing. It is Chrome. And it is shaped like a book. Chromebook.

I see all these people attempting to compare it to full-fledged laptops, ones running Windows and Mac OS and Ubuntu. It isn't trying to compete with these super-charged notebooks. It is trying to be the everyman's computer. Think about it like this: How easy is it for your grandmother to download a piece of malware and lose everything on her computer? Owning a computer is a dangerous thing in some cases, and it seems that there is no shortage of regular people, people not versed in that fancy computer lingo that we tech geeks seem to speak so easily, who end up having to pay an arm and a leg because they opened the wrong email.

That doesn't happen on a Chromebook. And, even assuming it DOES happen, there is a feature built in that will annihilate any problem ever: The Powerwash. Sure, you lose all your locally-saved data, but the whole point of a Chromebook is to NOT save data locally.

I ask you this: If a user intends to use a computer to check their email, read the news, and maybe sometimes video chat with their children/grandchildren/friends, what is the point in buying a computer that will play all the latest video games, render video in 60 seconds, and various other things that big, powerful desktops/laptops do? Why not save a lot of money and get a computer that only does what the user needs it to do? That's where the Chromebook comes in.

Now, all that said, I am a fairly tech-oriented user. On my home computer, I write code, compile it, play graphics-intensive video games, run two screens so that I can watch a YouTube video explaining how to do whatever it is I am doing on the other screen, use a drawing tablet to crate graphics, render video for my vlog (or, rather, I will be doing that!), and in general just do a lot of different things. My desktop is really good at those things. It has a powerful processor, it has lots of RAM, and its video card makes HAL look like ENIAC. But I do all that at home. I work from home. I don't need to play Kerbal Space Program at Starbucks. I don't need to render video at school. I don't need to draw things on the bus. All that stuff can be done at home. What I need when I am on the go is a computer to check my email, read articles, watch YouTube videos, and maybe do a quick video conference with a client. My $250 Chromebook does all those things. Sure, my phone and tablet also do most of them, but they do not have a physical keyboard. Or a mouse. And believe it or not, there are things that are easier to do with a physical keyboard and a mouse. Like, you know, actually seeing the stuff on your screen while typing. ("BLUETOOTH KEYBOARDS DUH" No. Just, no.)

I knew all of this before buying a Chromebook. I knew that I wouldn't have a portable powerhouse. I understood that. What I didn't understand was why everyone seemed to think that they should compare it to the computing heavy hitters. I still  don't understand that. If it were just a few reviews on Amazon, I wouldn't give it a second thought. But people whose job is supposed to be knowing stuff about technology seem to think that if it doesn't do everything their laptop does, then it isn't worth it. That is just not true.

Are there times when I wish I had a Windows laptop? Sure. Sometimes I want to write a little code at Starbucks and see if it fits into a project I am working on. Sometimes I do want to do a little video editing at school. But that's why Chrome Remote Desktop exists. Is it perfect? No. But it gets the job done.

Kerbal Fun!

For the past few weeks, I've been neglecting in my duties to Kerbin. Well, no more. I spent the past three hours designing and launching a one-way Munar delivery vehicle. Here you can see the end result:

Yeah! WOO HOO! Why am I so excited about this? It crashed, right? Well, I made it to the Mun with fuel to spare, which means I can stick my rover on this thing and it should get  there just fine. I mean, sure, that's the second Kerbal I have stranded on the moon, but won't he be excited when he gets a new rover to play with?

Doubt

For the first time since I decided to move, I am now having misgivings  it will be a good idea. That is not to say that I think it would be any better for me to stay where I am now, but simply that I think I may have been hasty in choosing my destination. Sure, San Francisco is very tech-oriented, and I do love my tech. But I look at the lives of people who have made a life for themselves in the tech industry there, and I notice a difference between us: most of them have been programming and/or fiddling with electronics their whole life on a very low-level basis.

While it is true, I understand the theory behind how computers run and, given certain basic supplies, I could probably build a rudimentary computer. Most of what I have done on my computers has been at the consumer level; that is, I didn't really fiddle with their components or their code. As a result, I have had to play catch up, and I am still very far behind everyone else in the industry. I am hoping that my ideas and creativity will make up for my simpler understanding of the technical sides of the field in which I intend to be employed.

I simply cannot shake the feeling that I am making a huge, horrible mistake. Fortunately, I planned for this in advance by not buying a refundable ticket. I even knew I would eventually feel this way. I have no way of combating it, and so I will suffer through until I get excited again. It shouldn't take very long. After all, it's San Francisco.