Reboot (v2)

Despite earlier efforts at keeping this blog up-to-date, it always seemed that there was not enough time in the day/week to post regular updates. I tried posting small snippets of things that I had found/discovered that others might find useful, but I didn’t want to turn this blog into a ‘link only aggregator’. I wanted to add my own thoughts on it to make it more personal.

That said, I’m going to give this another go and see what happens. I will start with a small series of posts about building a small NuGet package that I have put together and released upon the world, Unity.WebForms.

Time to brush off the rust, oil the joints, and get this blog moving again!

R.I.P. George Carlin

If you fancy yourself a fan of comedy and you haven't seen much of George Carlin, you owe it to yourself to visit YouTube (and similar sites) and watch what he has done over the course of his career. Even the stuff he did 30 years ago is still relevant and funny today, even to someone who wasn't even born at the time. He challenged our perceptions, the status quo, and forced use to face, or at least think about, serious issues affecting us all. And he did it all under the guise of being funny.

Of the ten previous comedians and entertainers that have been honored by the Mark Twain prize for humor by the Kennedy Center, I would place George at the top with Johnathan Winters and Richard Pryor following in 2nd and 3rd place respectively. Nothing against the other recipients, they each have earned their place, but those three were clearly a level above the rest.

He was my father's favorite comedian and a few years back I purchased 2 tickets for us to see him the next time he came to town (several months away). Unfortunately, he suffered a minor heart/angina attack a few weeks before the show and hadn't been cleared to perform yet, so the show was cancelled. To say we were disappointed was an understatement, especially for my father. He grew up during the counter-culture generation that George most identified with and had always wanted to see him in person. We had hoped that the show would be rescheduled or that he would make it back into town sometime soon, but he never did.

I will always regret not getting the chance to see him in person. He will be missed greatly.

Long ago...

I started this blog, wrote 2 posts, and then....

nothing.

I wasn't really about not having the time, although free time has been in short supply lately and is about to get even worse (but in a good way). It's mostly been out of a lack of direction. I did not know what I wanted to talk about. I could make it about everything, which I still want to do, but I also wanted to make it have an overall theme / purpose. So I've decided that I will post whenever I can, about almost anything that is currently holding my attention. This will usually focus on Technology (I am a Software Engineer afterall), but other times it may be my view on recent events/issues, etc.

Some people will find it boring (yet another geek blog) while others may find it interesting. I can't please everyone, so I will please myself. In the mean time, here is what has captured my attention lately... TED.com

The law of large numbers

I just read an interesting article from the FastCompany.com entitled "How Many Lightbulbs Does it take to Change the World? One. And you're looking at it" about how small actions can have a dramatic impact on larger issues.

The article itself revolves around the idea of replacing a single incandescent light bulb with a high efficiency CFL, or Compact Fluorescent Lamp. .

It's a simple concept really. The next time that you have a traditional light bulb burn out (of which I have had happen three times in just the past week), replace it with an equivalent CFL instead. It will cost more up front (between $2-$3), but most models have a life expectancy of at least 5 years. Many can last up to 8 years!

Don't worry about the initial cost though. Within about 5 months you will have recovered your initial cost in energy savings. How's that? Each CFL consumes about 75% less energy than it's equivalent incandescent bulb. If every home in the US, approximately 110 million of them, replaced just one traditional light bulb with a CFL, it would be the equivalent of taking 1.3 million cars off the road in terms of oil not used or greenhouse gases not emitted.

The article continues, stating that the average home contains about 50 - 100 light 'receptacles' or places that a light bulb can be screwed in. At first I thought this number was a little high, but I started a mental count of all the light bulbs in my home and ended up with about 35. I would have more, but I have fluorescent lights in my basement and office.

Imagine the energy savings in my own home by replacing all of these old lights with CFL's? Now imagine if all 110 million homes in America did the same?

We owe it to the next generation to take this simple step to start cutting our energy costs and help combat Global Warming. Even if you don't believe Global Warming is a threat, what harm comes from taking this step? At worst, you will have some extra money in your pocket.

Small changes can make a big difference. Make a change. Make a difference.