formerly, Starf*cker (PYRAMIDDD)
Pretty sure a few bands out there trigger a deeper emotional ADD in me. Like the later band here.
autodictact
I'm a developer and entrepreneur whose gone from cubical to startup and now trying to do find his own way. I'm interested in simple things, but above all clean design, music, programming, autos and architecture
iPhone Demo App
iPhone App Demo from dustin eichler on Vimeo.
I've been playing around with the iPhone SDK for a while now. I'm on my way to putting out an App, finally. I have a few I'm rotating through, but at least now I have something to show for it. Basic layout and minor functionality worked out including all the API calls I need. I've yet to implement LibXML Parser and collate that data into the respective UITableViews. If you haven't guessed, it's a simple Twitter client. It's no mistake however that it looks like the Mail client included. The name, "Birdsong" is the name I'm currently going with, although I have one other. I've spent enough time using the service, I figured it was time I contributed something back. There's enough twitter clients, but I wanted one of my own.
Release early and release often. Feedback?
What I can't find right now is the right icon set, used by Apple in the mail client. If you know of any similar please let me know.
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Programming
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Arch(itecture) and City
While it's been a really nice festival. The name does bother me if it is a play on words, "Sex and the City". Anyways, It's going on all month long. Don't miss your chance to do a city tour or attend a lecture.
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Architecture
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Southpark Smug alert
In what happens to be one of the funnier episodes generally because I live in San Francisco, I found this episode of South Park poignant. While I do love the area, people here are full of themselves. Not all, just a select few. What's worse, meeting people who are full of someone else's bullshit or success. No time for it, but no escaping it either I suppose. East coasters, at least what I remember... flat out ignore you and are rude for this reason. Is there a happy medium? Maybe a change is in the wind.
Check out this episode if you have a chance. So fun. Watch it. Do it. "Dooo it"
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Indie Band Films
Came across this short film the other day. Noah and the Whale made an estequely pleasing film for their new album 'The First Days of Spring'. I'm looking forward to that and this album. It's a pretty amazing little vignette a la Wes Anderson in tradition.
The First Days of Spring Official Trailer from charlie fink on Vimeo.
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Music
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Assembly not required
I've been messing around with x86 intel nasm assembly lately. I have no real reason too other than pure educational purposes. I have no intention of reverse engineering anything, I just like knowing I can if I want too. Aside from that, it's a please to write code with such a low level language. Lately, I've been harboring, resenting, gripping about web programming languages. My first complaint came way back when, while I was doing a lot of Perl programming at eBay. I hated using some of these dumb PPM or CPAN modules. Although you hardly needed to know how they implemented the class to use it, I had to know. I had to know why, so when I'd look over the code, I'd often slam my face against my desk at the otherwise automated procedures they laid before me. While great for the programmer and maintainer of the module because they did all the initial work upfront, its use hardly seemed worth it. The magic method took all the fun and understanding out of programming for me. Ruby does that to me too. While Rails is an exceptional framework and I work twice as fast, programming as a whole is going to the way of 'Plug and Play'. API programming is not programming, I hate to break the bad news, but it's true. I like writing instructions and dwelling on problems, that's me... but as a whole of an industry, do we really want to go this way. We're eliminating ourselves from the very jobs we love. If I see one more magic parser, I'm going to freak the "F" out. Well in truth maybe not, but at the very least the next person I talk to better know what's going on behind the scenes. That's why I'm loving Objective-C and additionally moved to Assembly. At this point, it's purely for fun, nothing more like I said. There's valuable information to be had if decisions weren't already decided for us. If I'm ever to design a new language and do something with Assembly, it'd be to place a restriction on what you can and can't do with modules.
;end of rant!
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Programming
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PBS Frost/ Nixon interview
The public court of opinion is what matters, not the judicial system. I realize that more than ever having just finished watching the original Frost/ Nixon interview. It's forever humanized and changed my perception of Richard M. Nixon. While I don't fully understand what transpired, it's a riveting account of the Watergate scandal that rocked the country. What strikes me however and something many I think forget. I did, was his resignation and not impeachment despite the claims of perjury, obstruction of justice and abuse of power. It's easy to think he was force out while Bill Clinton was absurdly impeached for much less. Nixon actually had the grace and shame to step aside for the good of the country. It's a dramatic interview that begs the question if History might repeat itself in the quest for Truth or a facsimile there of. If History is the ultimate governor of truth, his this is honest redemption... almost. One can only hope lighting will strike twice.
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Politics
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Daylight, in plainsight
Hats off to anyone who came across this band before I did, especially the people at Bacardi who are aptly funding their dreams while employing them in their most recent commercial. Obviously I need to get off my high horse and get back in the music listening game and pay attention. I missed this one, despite it being plainly in front of me. This band is pretty superb.
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Music
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Architect's lament
Architecture is the philosophy and psychology in between our identities and our location. This loosely translated quote is from the newly gifted book I received, called "The Architecture of Happiness" that I'm reading while I'm away from SF. For me it more or less sums up a seldom felt but nonetheless visceral experience architecture can have over you. It's as settling as looking into a Mark Rothko painting as seen on Madmen. I'm pumped for season three by the way.
What I already love about this book however is that it's putting a much needed and necessary vocabulary to an otherwise new field I admittedly still know nothing about. I'm a lot further along than I was 5 months ago however and since then, I've religiously read Architectural Digest and/ or Architectural Review. If it helps or is helping I don't know and doesn't matter. I enjoy the long reads. Nevertheless, like smelling a fine wine or looking at art, I enjoy being able to describe what I smell, see or taste technically. Sadly, it's hardly ever enough for me to enjoy the work while I've always had an interest in learning how everything works. In any case, this book reminds me of something I've encountering lately. While architecture is impactful... both good and bad. Some forums attest to the Architects lament. It's sad and somewhat ironically funny if you can't enjoy what I wholly see or look for everyday as hobby. Point being, you should enjoy the work you create, I'm just not seeing it unless you're widly successful in the field. My guess is, the industry is just very hard. I think however, somethings should be left as hobbies and although my typical progressions generally turns from novice to anything but... I think I realistically if you want to hold onto something, patience is key. As far as I can tell and as far as I've read thus far, I highly recommend this book if not for the conversation aspect of it.
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Architecture
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