http://reedmaniac.com/site/ Copyright 2010 reedmaniac.com http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification ExpressionEngine v1.6.8 http://expressionengine.com/ en Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:44:00 GMT http://reedmaniac.com/site/3d_model_fly_through_of_portland_or/ paul@reedmaniac.com (Paul Burdick) http://reedmaniac.com/site/comments/3d_model_fly_through_of_portland_or/ Link. Best when watched with the Superman Theme playing in the background.]]> http://reedmaniac.com/site/3d_model_fly_through_of_portland_or/#When:20:42:59Z Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:42:59 GMT http://reedmaniac.com/site/the_solspace_team/ paul@reedmaniac.com (Paul Burdick) http://reedmaniac.com/site/comments/the_solspace_team/
Mitchell and I have known each other for many many years now, ever since he started writing some of the very first third-party Add-Ons for ExpressionEngine, which culminated in the well-known Tag module. A module that I severely flogged him over so that EllisLab could make it the first Certified Add-On. I am fairly sure he has not forgotten the beatings and still wakes up at night cursing my name.

Over the years we became friends and when I left EllisLab we kept in regular touch. Until one fine day I decided I would not mind doing programming work again and he just happened to not mind having me on the team as a developer. That continued for nearly a year until we both decided that it might be a bit more fun if I joined full time and started molding Solspace's DevTeam into a more organized force. Though all of our work he has been my friend, colleague, coworker, and even my boss. He's suffered amicably and professionally through serious business talks, insults, long and tedious debates, and more than a few jokes and pranks at his expense. May my IM Buddy List never see you gone, Mitchell.

Kelsey, aka Pie Man, has been a royal thorn in my side from the very first moment I looked at Solspace's code. Even now, I can see that his IM Status is "Forever holding a grudge against Paul." I don't think he has changed it in over a week &emdash; he might just be a bit sad to see me go. Kelsey is the foolhardy Canadian who got suckered into being in charge of support and software releases for Solspace. Naturally, this means whenever there is a software problem, he comes online and coos me with "Paul...buddy..." And yet, even with such a sweet voice, he has argued with me constantly on what is crucial for Solspace software and which bugs/problems need to be addressed today, soon, later, or quite possibly never. A solid worker. Now, if only we could break him of that nasty emoticon habit.

Christy keeps Solspace in balance. Whenever Mitchell and I want to hatch an evil master plan to rule all of Eternia, she is the voice of reason who informs that we do not, in fact, live on Eternia. That usually helps snap us all back to reality. And, she has helped me talk through more than a few software and personal issues when I knew I needed a non-biased, non-programmer point of view. Last week, I asked for a letter of recommendation for one of the outdoor educator positions I was applying for, and she wrote a letter so sincere and wonderful that my heart grew three sizes.

Greg is my newest PHP Padawan, who joined Solspace just a couple months ago as a developer, after applying for a separate position. Mitchell and I both recognized his potential during a phone interview, and he has lived up to it both as a geek, friend, and programmer. I expect great things from him at Solspace after I leave.

And to the rest of the team, who I no doubt have tortured quite a bit with my constant demands and loving but prickling personality: all the best.]]> http://reedmaniac.com/site/the_solspace_team/#When:18:50:44Z Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:50:44 GMT http://reedmaniac.com/site/and_now_for_something_completely_different/ paul@reedmaniac.com (Paul Burdick) http://reedmaniac.com/site/comments/and_now_for_something_completely_different/ Reedie edict is that "no behavior, no credo, no aspect of life is sacred, or given, it is all subject to analysis and revision."

What has become apparent to me over the past couple months is that I find no joy in my current work. Years ago, I was madly fascinated by coding and developing software. The problems, the trials, and the extreme effort that Rick and I expended to build a company seemed worthwhile as it was new, exciting, and challenging. A great deal of balance was sacrificed from my life in order to see where that adventure led. That time is past though. For a while now, I have attempted to regain that drive by building new, clever things in PHP for ExpressionEngine. Each attempt to build a new piece of code that truly piqued my interest has ended up being a lesson in frustration. So, it has come to pass that work has, quite simply, become work.

That is not the life I want to live; where my work is simply 40 hours of my week that I spend making money to fund other activities. There are far too many possibilities out there for one to spend one's life having a merely acceptable job.

This thought had been strongly percolating in my noggin when I noticed that a Wilderness First Responder course was being offered by OMSI for nine days in the middle of February. Taking the course was an extremely welcomed breath of fresh air in my life. For nine days I entertained no doubts about what I was doing. My mind was throughly and completely challenged by a constant barrage of information, training, and experiences. A three hour emergency wilderness scenario in the freezing desert, after dark, with two patients, one having a serious compound fracture? That was a more enveloping and true challenge than anything I have experienced in a long time. I could have kept on going non-stop for weeks, possibly months, learning more and more about medicine and survival in the outdoors.

The majority of my fellow participants were outdoor educators — instructors at OMSI's Science Camps, the Northwest Outdoor School, or leading their own clients into the outdoors. They loved their work and were excited to gain more training to further their abilities. While there, one of the OMSI people suggested I apply for an instructor position at OMSI or one of the other camps in the Northwest. Thinking about this on the drive home, I had to agree. Why am I spending so much time working on a couch coding when I could be outside doing the outdoor activities I love, while teaching and sharing them with others? I love the outdoors. Hours of my week are wasted simply staring out the window wishing I could be out there instead of inside. Out there climbing, backpacking, hiking, skiing, kayaking, and so much more.

So, when I returned home I informed Mitchell of my intention to pursue this new line of work, and I have begun filling out applications for various outdoor educator positions. I am also eyeing a Wilderness EMT course and a NOLS mountaineering course in the near future. The next few months will hopefully be very interesting and very worthwhile as I figure out this new path.

Naturally, this means that by the end of March I will cease developing Add-Ons for ExpressionEngine and writing new software in PHP. I will consult a bit for Solspace concerning the new tools and code I have written for them, but I am intending to leave this line of work entirely...and try something completely different.]]> http://reedmaniac.com/site/and_now_for_something_completely_different/#When:20:26:27Z Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:26:27 GMT http://reedmaniac.com/site/flickr_alps/ paul@reedmaniac.com (Paul Burdick) http://reedmaniac.com/site/comments/flickr_alps/ Link. Yes. Please.]]> http://reedmaniac.com/site/flickr_alps/#When:19:44:29Z Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:44:29 GMT http://reedmaniac.com/site/smithsonian_goebekli_tepe_worlds_first_temple/ paul@reedmaniac.com (Paul Burdick) Link. "Predating Stonehenge by 6,000 years, Turkey's stunning Gobekli Tepe upends the conventional view of the rise of civilization." Pretty darn cool to imagine.]]> http://reedmaniac.com/site/smithsonian_goebekli_tepe_worlds_first_temple/#When:19:59:27Z Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:59:27 GMT http://reedmaniac.com/site/the_onion_nasa_scientists_plan_to_approach_girl_by_2018/ paul@reedmaniac.com (Paul Burdick) Link. (via Cameron)]]> http://reedmaniac.com/site/the_onion_nasa_scientists_plan_to_approach_girl_by_2018/#When:19:20:44Z Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:20:44 GMT http://reedmaniac.com/site/2009_2010_banff_mountain_film_festival/ paul@reedmaniac.com (Paul Burdick) Link. (via Cameron) More and more my aspirations have less to do with work and coding, and more and more to do with this kind of fun.]]> http://reedmaniac.com/site/2009_2010_banff_mountain_film_festival/#When:08:05:00Z Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:05:00 GMT http://reedmaniac.com/site/sir_patrick_stewart_on_digital_life/ paul@reedmaniac.com (Paul Burdick) Link. It's like God himself came down from above and said, "Here, Paul, I know you've had a rough week, here's a little gift to make things just a tad better."]]> http://reedmaniac.com/site/sir_patrick_stewart_on_digital_life/#When:04:13:48Z Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:13:48 GMT http://reedmaniac.com/site/washington_and_oregon_recreation_pass/ paul@reedmaniac.com (Paul Burdick) Link. For $100, I can have year long access to nearly all of the Oregon and Washington outdoor recreation sites, without having to remember to get the various passes for each agency. Very nice. Now, if only it worked with Sno-Parks!]]> http://reedmaniac.com/site/washington_and_oregon_recreation_pass/#When:22:29:10Z Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:29:10 GMT http://reedmaniac.com/site/oh_to_flickr_pro_or_not_to_flickr_pro/ paul@reedmaniac.com (Paul Burdick)
One of which is my Flickr Pro account expiring and me not renewing it. From all of the outdoor trips, shindigs, 365 days project, et cetera, I believe there are thousands of photos of mine on Flickr now. However, once my Pro account expired at the end of December, only 200 of them were shown. Seemed silly to just have 200 photos shown, so I made them all private and started ignoring Flickr entirely. I spent way too much time on there anyhow, especially with so many brilliant YouTube videos to watch.

Also, I am a bit worried more and more about any sort of online privacy. Was talking with a friend a few days ago, and it really seems like the current generation of high school and college students have greatly abandoned much of my conventional boundaries of privacy. With even a basic Facebook profile, you can find oodles out about a person in a few minutes that simply took weeks or months to discover just ten years ago. That's a bit unnerving. I know more about Amy's daily life than Dan usually, all thanks to Facebook. Are we sharing just a bit too much? And, is there any chance of drawing a line, or is that just folly and should I merely accept this as the next, permanent development in an online world?

Curious questions. Already, when meeting a new person I stop at my first name. To give them my last name means that with a simple Google search they can find out quite a bit about me, my friends, and my life. This is especially problematic when dating. Flickr and Facebook contain many, many photos of me that, while definitively me in all ways, are perhaps not the second impression I wish to make. My personality is not one I want instantly known as it may be a bit jarring. Leads one to the belief that gradually learning about a person is far better than today's instantaneous absorption through digital information and media.

So, I am not sure if I will renew my Flickr account. Those photos are under my control as long as they are kept offline. And yet, I want to share them with friends. We had good times, look what we did! Climbed a mountain, went skiing, had a pie party, drove to the highest point in Portland to reenact Monty Python scenes. Also, Facebook has definitely made it easier to plan social events and keep track of friends who I may see only once a month, or even just once a year.

::drums fingers::

Let's not even try to discuss the problem of trusting the company that is hosting this information either. That's a whole other bag of worms.]]> http://reedmaniac.com/site/oh_to_flickr_pro_or_not_to_flickr_pro/#When:14:49:18Z Sun, 17 Jan 2010 14:49:18 GMT