Blog

Here I stand.

University is over. With its completion, the pre-defined path laid before me all my life ends. Up until this point, I always knew what came next. I went to high school. I got a job. I went to university. I am now confronted with the biggest question of all – what next? What do I do come September?

I’ve been thinking of going to Algonquin college to take an “advanced diploma” in computer science. With that, I could maybe enter the CSE or the RCMP. It seems like some of the jobs offered could meld my interest in computer security with my love for world politics. Or do I perhaps go the money route, and get a job in the GIS world – a field for which I’m qualified, but for which my interest level simply isn’t there? Or do I go to Vietnam to teach English?

What do I do? It’s all a big question for me. There’s a big weight on my mind, and I don’t have much time to make certain key decisions. I have about a week to decide whether I’m going to apply to Algonquin.

Keeping me sane at this point is the screenwriting. Last month, I picked up the original H4CK3R5 draft that I had completed in October of 2006. I’ve spent a good deal of time producing a new 35 page draft, which is again being thoroughly revised in favour of creating a more engaging story. I’m going to adapt the final script into both a radio play and a novella, before I then even think about making a movie from it all. I have yet to recover financially from Docks, which is still in editing limbo pending having the funds to repair my PC (PSU and/or mobo is busted).

As documented this past weekend, the Associated Press has sent a cease and desist letters to a variety of blogs and folks on the interwebs for quoting and linking to their articles. The basis for such claims: copyright infringement.

The move is about as non-sensical as a book publisher suing blogs/forums because their readers are discussing one of their books online. Or suing them because one reader put in a link to where the book can be purchased on Amazon. If anything, these activities reinforce the value of the original intellectual property.

Are these the side-effects of a luddite executive crowd making incredibly idiotic moves as a result of their incapacity to grasp essential concepts? Or is this perhaps the work of overenthused lawyers doing the only thing their lobotomized bodies allow them to? I do wonder.

The o2600 website has been updated. The grammar in the French section has been improved dramatically, thanks to the work of a local 2600er (merci Michel!)

I’ve also incorporated details of a mailing list started by another member, The Wolfman. This mailing list is hosted on his site, HackOttawa.com.

In other news: r.i.p. Phlux.

Well, this was an interesting one. Seven simultaneous talks throughout the day, keynote speakers, and a solid exhibitor hall. What was lacking were the people. As one representative from Autodesk lamented, “where are the buyers?” And indeed – there were practically more presenters than attendees.

The talks, however, were very very cool. One of my collegues, who was both very well informed on periglacial processes as well as dealing with a multitude of completely different satellite data sources, did a talk on Martian geomorphology. I saw one guy who discussed the use of LiDAR to determine additional characteristics and extent of trees in a forest environment.

As for my talk, about seven people showed up. Perhaps three of whom I did not know. It was still early in the day (9:15ish), and the general lack of conference attendees did not help. But it was a decent talk, and I had a great time being there.

You can download the powerpoint I gave here.

Long overdue, I’ve just finished designing the new website for Ottawa 2600. This new edition ought to be more easily Google-indexable than the previous CLI-emulating beast.

I’ll miss the old website, but this one here is just much more better suited to the type of traffic it gets. Plus, I wrote a quick PHP script that will automatically tell users when the next meeting is taking place, no admin-intervention required.

Check the new website out here.

PS. Incidentally, any corrections to the French version of the site would be appreciated.