August 2009
1 post
January 2009
1 post
Fast cars, slow drivers
OK, this is my rant for those clowns who drive a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Viper, Corvette, {insert fast car here}. How in the hell can you drive a car like that like a Prius? I am a chronic fast-accelerator. It never fails, I pull up to a stop light and there is a {insert fast car here} in one lane, and a bus/Prius/SUV in the other. Naturally I get behind the fast car, which oozes away from the...
December 2008
2 posts
Kogan Agora: Why the New Android Handset Matters →
Yes! This is what I was hoping to see happen with Android.
November 2008
2 posts
Driving with phones ... multi-tasking?
On my way to work, I was noticing damn near everyone was talking on the phone while driving. I even do it now and then, but it is not a good thing. If you must talk while driving please get a bluetooth or plug-in headset, at least you eliminate the physical distraction of holding/dropping/slobbering on the phone.
The interesting thing is it got me thinking about “multi-tasking”. ...
October 2008
12 posts
How I would reform elections
Every presidential election, I end up totally disgruntled with our outdated election process. Previously, I blogged a little about this here. So if I were suddenly bestowed ultimate power on running the next campaign, what would I do. *drum roll*
Choose One:
Abolish the party system. I previously said get rid of the party system and let candidates run on their own merits. I like this...
SQL Server 2008 Color-Coding Connections →
Say that three times fast!
The SQL 2008 client has a cool, yet obscure, feature that enables you to have quick visual feedback on what server you are connected to. This is a long overdue…
How soon can I have it? →
I wanted to share a pearl of wisdom, especially with the younger guys/girls in the beginning of their IT career. Executives are notorious for asking things like “When can I have it?” or “How long will…
Orphaned Users →
Eric Johnson wrote up a great article about orphaned users. Any DBA has to deal with this when refreshing databases from one environment to another (e.g. prod to stage, or prod to dev). If…
New Firefox beta even faster than FF3 -... →
Competition is a good thing. Beware of installing this, as many of your add-ons may not work with this beta.
Apple - MacBook Pro →
So the hype is over, the new MacBooks are out and I must say they look SWEET!
Mono 2.0 released! →
Official Gmail Blog: New in Labs: Stop sending... →
This is hilarious! My favorite is one of the links below it is titled Gmail Goggles: An Electronic Wingman
TinyPaste →
Cool utility to let you shorten text like TinyURL does for URLs. You can send a tiny URL instead of a big block of text using this.
September 2008
28 posts
12 Tricks To Teach Your USB Thumb Drive →
Some pretty cool stuff here … unleash your inner geek!
Installing Visual Studio 2005 SP1 on Virtual PC... →
After wasting mucho time with trying to install this and repeatedly erroring out, I found this link. Scroll down to “WORKAROUND” and follow the instructions.
House ignores Bush, rejects $700B bailout bill -... →
So much for all the blabbering and back-patting I watched on the news about how they came to bi-partisan agreement, casting aside party affiliation. *rolls eyes*
This might be a good thing though, as I am not convinced this bailout is a wise move anyhow…
Election rant...
Ah yes, another election year in which I am reminded of the sad state of our political system. It is the same every four years for me. It starts with optimism that a candidate might represent true change and moral fiber, and ends with the sobering realization that our political system sucks. I consider myself an intelligent guy, so why I let my optimism get the best of me I may never...
Glitch shuts Big Bang collider for two months |... →
It looked too easy when they started it up for the first time, now they have to take it down for two months! Damn super-cooling…
Tuesday phone debut is first salvo in Android war... →
More Android phone info. I think Google is smart by taking a Mozilla approach to smart-phones, trying to become the Firefox of the smart-phone industry. If they get it right, it could change the landscape going forward. I suspect it will take quite some time to even make Apple blink, but it has a good chance over the long haul.
InfoQ: Craftsmanship - the Fifth Agile Manifesto... →
Following along with my craftsmanship post, here is an interesting article about it in relation to software development.
Inside Obama's Emails →
If you haven’t chuckled yet today (or even if you have), check this out!
Interop: O'Reilly Says Think Big, Don't Just... →
Tim O’Reilly is one of my favorite people in the IT industry. Although he is a fixture in the fast-paced IT world, he always has a philosophical approach that I enjoy.
I had the pleasure of listening to him give a keynote speech at SAP TechEd in 2007, and I walked away with a lot of respect for him.
SourceForge.net: WinMerge →
This is a great tool I have used for years to diff files. It is stand-alone, easy to use, and works with any type of text file. Although I usually have developer tools with this functionality, this is great because it is separate and low impact … unlike firing up an IDE.
*Windows only*
Automation vs Craftsmanship
One thing I have always admired is craftsmanship, the expertise developed only through months or years of performing a task. Whether it is basket-weaving, making a samurai sword, or building a one-off automobile; I can appreciate the skill required whether or not I can do it myself.
So I have this theory that automation in general has an inverse relationship with craftsmanship. That is, the...
Scrapblog
As many know, I work for a great company called Scrapblog. If you haven’t heard of it, stop what you are doing and go check it out right now!
From the site:
We created Scrapblog because we wanted to go beyond sharing our photos and videos online. We made Scrapblog drag-and-drop-easy so that everyone can tell their stories and create beautiful...
Tidbit of the day: Android
T-Mobile To Introduce ‘G1’ Google Android Phone Sept. 23
I am watching this one because it has the potential to do for cell phones what Firefox did for web browsers. If Google gets the open-source developer crowd behind it, the entire cell phone industry will take a turn for the better.
Here is an early comparison of the two. It seems like the phones will lag horribly behind the...
New laptop ordered - Sony Vaio →
I have never owned a Vaio but always wanted one. Scrapblog is buying me one loaded to the max: 2.8ghz processor, 7200rpm drive, and 4gb of RAM! What I like about Vaio’s (other than the solid hardware) is the fact that they pay attention to the aesthetics, much like Apple does. Not just another boring boxy shape…
Google Audio Indexing →
Amazing … Caleb posted this. They are now extracting text from speech, the possibilities are crazy!
Google Chrome Review
I was one of the people who downloaded it on release day, and have been using it quite a bit. Below are my thoughts on it…
Speed. It is fast, on my system it seems like the fastest browser yet out of IE, Firefox, and Safari.
Interface. I love the tab-at-the-top interface, very intuitive and easy to use.
Multi-threaded. How can you not like the fact that one tab crashing won’t...
Google Analytics Blog: "Chrome" now showing as... →
Google Analytics is now showing “Chrome” as a browser type in your reports!
Better Gmail 2 :: Firefox Add-ons →
A very cool extension to allow you to customize (and even skin!) Gmail.
1 tag
Cern throws switch on largest machine ever built →
Cool blog about the progress they are making configuring the LHC
Google fixes Chrome vulnerabilities--but won't say... →
Blackberry down!
So yesterday I was worried that I forgot my parking pass (gotta love parking in Coral Gables) so I was fumbling in my bag at a stoplight on 8th street looking for it. I was on my motorcycle (see more about this in my blog elsewhere). It was in the same pocket as my Blackberry Curve. In the process of checking for my badge I must have dislodged it from its warm, comfy cocoon and it fell out as I...
Chromium →
The open source community for Google’s new browser!
The Extreme Me
Although I am a computer geek, I have a dangerous, thrill-seeking side as well. I have always been into the extreme and have done many things that many people wouldn’t consider. BMX freestyle motocross bungee-jumping skydiving water-skiing snow-skiing surfing mountain biking are just some of the things I have done. In addition I just got my black belt in Shaolin Eagle claw kung fu last...
Introduction
Hey all! My name is Damon Clark and I am looking to use this to expound on a variety of subjects. I am a database administrator for a small company called Scrapblog doing really cool things in the Web 2.0 world.
I am married, and my family is:
Sunna Clark - wife - Teaches preschool, she loves the wee ones! Great craft skills and creativity. Workaholic, perfectionist, and robo-babe.
Marque -...