the singularity of being and nothingness
Archive for November, 2008
Elegant JavaScript
Nov 30th
In his excellent book (and equally great NOVA mini-series), The Elegant Universe, physicist Brian Greene outlines the history of "the search for the theory of everything," the elusive, unifying theory that will explain the universe in all of its manifold glory. The interesting thing about this theory, however, is that it's primary characteristic is not soaring profundity nor escaliting complexity. To the contrary, Greene is convinced that the theory of everything, when finally discovered, will be characterized primarly by simplicity–or in his words, "elegance."
To Greene, the "theory of everything" will be elegant because it will bring together what are now disparate theories that describe the nature of the universe. It will be a theory that cohesively weaves together an understanding of the micro and macro universe; will unify the known physical laws; and will fundamentally "feel" right because of how it describes the infinitude of life in a simple theorem.
So what in the world does this have to do with writing JavaScript? Well, it's somewhat of a stretch, but as I continue to grow in my JavaScript skills, the principle of "elegance" which Greene so eruditely describes resonates with me.
Let me explain. In no way do I wish More >
Freetime and a Brainstorm (or fart…)
Nov 26th
Within the next couple of weeks, my schedule is going to be clearing up quite a bit. Over the last several months, I've had a lot of free-lance work, which is great, but it has left little time for personal development projects that I've been wanting to do for a while now.
I currently have one that's about 25% done, so I'm hoping to commit some time to that over the next several months to wrap it up. However, what I'm really excited about is a brand new project.
What is this project? I don't really want to say at the moment because I think it's an obvious service that people want, but for whatever reason no attempt has been made (yet!) to fill the need. Well, that's not entirely true–however, the lame attempts that have been made so far really only engage a very small section of the need while leaving the greater whole unaddressed. The project I'm proposing will do both…hopefully!
The most exciting part about this service is that will be mostly driven by an API that I will have to build (there's at least one hint). While I've certainly created web services before to handle remote application needs, I've More >
Thoroughly Impressed with ToothandNail Records
Nov 5th
Over the last three weeks, ToothandNail records has released 3 tremendously cool albums, all of which reveal just how far ToothandNail has come.
Before the albums, however, let me reminisce :). I've been a fan of ToothandNail for a LONG time. 10 years or so ago, ToothandNail was releasing copious amounts of albums. The one problem: they didn't have the resources for good production or good recording. The result was really cool albums that sounded like crap.
Fortunately, those days are long gone. With the success of many of its roster of bands, ToothandNail has obviously been able to upgrade its recording and production talent. Most of albums coming out of ToothandNail are slick and finished, lacking any remnants of the good old days.
With that said, the albums I've been listening to are as follows:
Emery : While Broken Hearts Prevail
This is really more of an EP, but it's got some seriously cool songs on it. Emery's sound continues to evolve as the band becomes less and less afraid to loosen the tether to their trademark screamo. It worked well for Dead Poetic (IMO), so I think it's a positive for Emery as well.
Ruth : Anorak
My first exposure to Ruth More >
