The Column

Motto:  I've got a long way to go I re-wrote the HTML template for the Column from scratch. In theory, that should load this post a tiny amount faster. In actuality, it just means that I've learned the concepts  of HTML and not just how to copy & paste it.  Of course, when I paste things into this editor box Blogger just decides to make treat every little thing as its own containerized piece of HTML. So my work was for nothing. Stupid Blogger. I'm looking forward to my coming move off Blogger to an actual website . Melissa is in Pasadena, CA. I've learned (and re-leared) a TON of (mostly annoying) things about myself while she's been gone: When I cook meals for myself, they usually consist of one course. Yesterday's Breakfast: Cereal. Yesterday's Lunch: One pound of sausage and 4 eggs wrapped in a couple tortillas.  Yesterday's Dinner: a pound of baked chicken breast seasoned with Mrs. Dash. Reminder: Buy more Mrs. Dash Chick...

Motto:  Have you had enough, or are you thirsty for more? It's been a couple of weeks, hasn't it? There's probably some good reasons for that: Melissa and I hosting Johanna for a couple of days. The surprise party for my dad's retirement. Me studying for & taking the GRE. Melissa and I spending lots of time at the pool. All of those are contributing factors to the lack of updates; but I think the biggest thing that's affecting* my usual "Aaron projects" is the learning I'm doing on Udacity. It's made me realize that my projects could all be done in better ways. This makes me want to redo the projects again. Knowing that I'll redo them makes me less compelled to continue the effort of regular maintenance. Why write a lot if I anticipate changing the Blog over to my own website? Why do the Life Tracker if its format will soon change drastically? It's a stupid, artificial change that has had a measurable impa...

Motto:  Take a jaunt. This post will contain nothing about Marvel, coding, Life Tracker, second-a-day videos, Google, technology, or me. It will instead be the collection of thoughts I've written down that haven't fit in any posts lately. The difference between models and super models: fighting crime. A couple of life tips: If someone correctly asks "should I turn left up here?", your response should not contain the word "right". Your political views are not polite to talk about in the elevator. You have free reign on anything in the world that is subjective. There are tons of subjective subjects. Things aren't so bad if you don't view them that way. Life is what you make it. Although somethings do just objectively suck. Why is there not a "how to be an adult" class in school? There should certainly be some variant of "how to be a successful member of society" from middle school on up. You should ow to pay taxes, m...

Motto: Darn. Google I/O 2015 happened yesterday. I wrote in my last Column about my hopes to walk away from it without disappointment. Unfortunately, it didn't even take the whole keynote for me to realize that's exactly what I'd be doing. Maybe I built up the hype too much... or maybe Google just failed to deliver like they used to. The Top 5 speaks to my disappointment with the keynote. Temporarily focusing on the positives - there were some  good things announced: Google Photos unlimited storage for any photo up to 16MP & video up to 1080p. Android Pay is coming (eventually). It looks like a clone of Apple Pay; and that's not a bad thing. Google Maps offline will eventually get business information & turn-by-turn navigation. This is huge  boon for anyone travelling abroad. Lots of goodies for people in developing countries. Not so great for me , but still a positive. USB Type C will become the standard for all Android phones in the future. Udacit...