dreadfullyposh

Just got finished reading Small Pieces Loosely Joined by David Weinberger.

It’s an impressive piece spanning from the technological to the sociolgical and beyond. It documents the place the World Wide Web currently holds in our society and how it turns the world we know upside down.

I highly recommend this book for everyone to read. For techies, it’ll take your head out of the server room and get you thinking about the real impact the Internet is having beyond the infrastructure. For the luddites, it’ll really open your eyes as to what the Web really is, beyond a flickering computer screen.

I think the key takeaway from the book is that the Internet redefines what it means to be social. No longer is socialization limited by proximity and time. Instead, we can now interact at a deep personal level from any place at any time. That’s the magic of the massive network we’ve built in the past two decades. And it’s cause for us to stop and think and reconsider the parameters we use to try to define our world.

Interesting article I found reposted by Noah Everett.

It’s an interesting and encouraging list of tidbits for those who are in the process of starting a new business. Kind of goes against anything a business professor would tell you, but that’s the way it goes, at least in the world of the Internet.

View the reposted article here.

here i am in grand rapids, michigan for an internet conference. fun.  actually, it is.

i always end up getting myself rather psyched up about things during these conferences.

i’m hoping to find some people who are using codeigniter, so we can discuss it a bit, but i didn’t get much response when i sent a note to the mailing list before.

i just found out about a new cms that i want to try.. so that’s in progress.

more later.

i’m so fed up with everything.

it would seem that anything i have to say is simply mundane, trite, foolish or unimportant, and anything that other people have to say is gripping, shocking, horrifying and intriguing. this is the story of my life.

for as long as i have been able to talk it would seem that everybody wants me to listen and nobody wants to listen to me. call me introverted, sure, but for pete’s sake when i have something to say let me say it.

i don’t think i can take it anymore. i don’t want to be the listener. i don’t want to be the talker either. i just want to be me. i just want to be normal. and yet, i want to go find a nice big, dark hole (with internet access) and go live in it for a very very long time.

perhaps at the point when i should emerge from said hole i will have had some fascinating and startling realizations which i can share to an audience of nobody who gives a rip.

ramble ramble ramble. nobody reads this crap anyway. teenage poetry and useless blather is all the amounts of even the best personal blog.

well. i’ve got nothing. that’s it. i have nothing to say, so don’t ask, and just leave me alone.

goodbye.

THERE’S NO EARTHLY WAY OF KNOWING

WHICH DIRECTION WE ARE GOING

THERE’S NO KNOWING WHERE WE’RE ROWING

OR WHICH WAY THE RIVER’S FLOWING

IS IT RAINING

IS IT SNOWING

IS A HURRICANE A-BLOWING

Bleh!

Not a speck of light is showing

So the danger must be growing

Are the fires of hell a glowing?

Is the grisly reaper mowing?

Yes! The danger must be growing

For the rowers keep on rowing

And they’re certainly not showing

Any signs that they are slowing!

when last i left you off, it was saturday, and i had just arrived in ship bottom, new jersey.

the following day, sunday, was my graduation party. much time was spent setting up for the event. it went very well and was an enjoyable time for me and all who were able to come. it was, however, a relief when the beach house was again reduced to those who were staying for the rest of the two weeks.

the rest of the week was spent doing various vacationy things. i went to the beach several times and got burned quite badly. i also spent a lot of time sleeping and just hanging around the house. the weather was great until it started to get hotter at the end of the week.

saturday came, and it was time for my official graduation. i was not in the least bit excited for the long ceremony and dreaded the most-likely terrible speaker that drexel would be bringing in.

i got a little more into it after picking up my diploma and locating a few of my trusty friends from class.

the wait was long after robing, and there was a consistent feeling of wanting to just get the damned thing over with floating among the graduates.

the speaker was far beyond the level of bad-ness in my prophecy. the man was just plain offensive, quite likely drunk, and much to proud of his own accomplishments. on top of that, his points went nowhere and were as disconnected as a game of dots before the first move.

as he spoke, and continued to speak, the crowd became increasingly irritable, not hesitating to make rude comments and boo from the chairs. i began to wish i had taken a swig from my friend’s flask of soco. at the conclusion of his address, the crowd roared not in admiration and laud, but rather in relief that he was finally leaving the stage.

finally the time came to hand out the fake diplomas on stage. i did rather enjoy seeing some of my friends, which i so rarely see. sadly i wasn’t able to locate any of them after the ceremony to share a  congratulatory hug. oh well.

on sunday, back i came with gail to the beach. and that is where i am now. this week is starting out looking similar to last week, with higher temperatures. of course, by the time i hit the beach at 4 today, the air was cold. tomorrow i hope to arise a little earlier to catch some of the warmer morning rays.

i have my order ready for b&h whenever my graduation present check’s go through at the bank. i’ll be ordering an olympus evolt e-500 digital slr camera. i’ve been looking forward to getting one for quite some time, and hope to explore picture taking a little more once i get it. i hereby decree that i will not let it become yet another piece of expensive equipment that sits in my room and never gets used. hopefully we’ll get some fun photo blogs out of it, once i am home.

that’s enough chatter for now.

reporting from lbi with love,

jeremy

well it’s done. i finally finished school. after five long years of classes and coop cycles, i’ve completed all of the requirements for my degree.

this last week and even the last two, have  have been a blur. i hardly can keep straight the things that have gone on in my school, social, and work lives.

today, after hours of packing in the heat of suburban philadelphia, i finally embarked on the journey that will bring closure to my long years of study. vacation.

i picked up the able sidekick and off we headed to long beach island. when we arrived it was beautiful. the cooler air and breeze make it so much more pleasant than upper darby. the few moments we spent alone before the rest of the party arrived were great, sharing together in the silence and rest after endless commotion.

it was so nice to be able to sit in the shade on the back deck, knowing that the summer is here, and that we have nothing coming in the next few days.

i do still have my graduation coming on saturday. i’m not so eager to attend.

According to an article from the latest addition of Drexel University’s student newspaper, The Triangle, University Crossings is once again performing its sad song and dance routine… taking advantage of students left and right.

I can’t say I’m really surprised, or that I feel bad for the students who stupidly believed that a for-profit company such as the one that runs University Crossings, would really be looking out for their best interest.

Word to the wise for students dealing with landlords.. keep good records and pay attention to what’s going on… 

The article is located here, for those who might like to read it.

cranberry diet ginger ale… thumbs down

this unique beverage reminds me of a vodka and cranberry without the wonderful effects of vodka.. gross