Just had a phone interview and a programming Q&A via collabedit with a software development engineer from Amazon this morning. I haven't really been dealing with algorithms and data structures for quite some time as programming nowadays rely a lot more of libraries and googling for best solutions. So I am not pinning much hope on my performance impressing any interviewer. Should I be worried as I may not secure a job if my current carefree freelancing lifestyle doesn't work out?
Anyway, out of curiosity, I decided to check what I had bought on Amazon since I signed up. To my surprise, I managed to buy one and just one item each year for the past seven years, since 2007. Not all the things were bought for myself. Some were on behalf of my brother and one I suspect for a friend but I have no recollection of that item.
For myself, three books and a solid state drive. I love to own physical books and would like to have collect more but due to the lack of space, I am turning to getting ebooks and thinking of whether to buy a Kindle or at least a tablet suitable for reading. Still thinking because I still don't quite like the feeling of not holding a physical book in my hands.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Relics
Author: Pip Vaughan-Hughes
I used to make it a point to read at least one book a year. This year, a lot of distractions had made it difficult for me to lie down with one. With only December left, I embarked on one chapter a day regiment of this novel that had been on my table for a long while...
I had yet to come across a story set in the Middle Ages, until now. 1235 was a time in Europe which not many people know or care about except for its churches, knights and crusaders. Hence it's a huge credit to the author for bringing 13th Century to life.
Pip Vaughan-Hughes had painted such vivid pictures of medieval cities and towns that one could smell and hear them. And happening among these cities and towns was a conspiracy that caused a monk to be framed for a murder and ran for his life. Chased by a murderous Templar knight, he was offered an alternative life by Fate.
The young monk, Brother Petroc, had only known the clergy way of life: simple and uneventful. Then a Templar decided to change that, and all in the name of relics. Who would have known that relics could be so valuable in Christendom and their worth was justified only by the corruptness of the churches.
Petroc was wanted by the very people he believed to be holy and rescued by those he had known to be evil. He lost his faith in an instant and slowly found reality. This was pretty much the theme at that time and served as a prelude to the Renaissance.
All in all, this was a captivating read with vivid descriptions and realistic characters. I like the ending as it had a great twist that stopped at just the right point. 3.5 out of 5 stars; could be a 4 if it was a bit more sophisticated but it was exactly this quality that made it an easy read.
I used to make it a point to read at least one book a year. This year, a lot of distractions had made it difficult for me to lie down with one. With only December left, I embarked on one chapter a day regiment of this novel that had been on my table for a long while...
I had yet to come across a story set in the Middle Ages, until now. 1235 was a time in Europe which not many people know or care about except for its churches, knights and crusaders. Hence it's a huge credit to the author for bringing 13th Century to life.
Pip Vaughan-Hughes had painted such vivid pictures of medieval cities and towns that one could smell and hear them. And happening among these cities and towns was a conspiracy that caused a monk to be framed for a murder and ran for his life. Chased by a murderous Templar knight, he was offered an alternative life by Fate.
The young monk, Brother Petroc, had only known the clergy way of life: simple and uneventful. Then a Templar decided to change that, and all in the name of relics. Who would have known that relics could be so valuable in Christendom and their worth was justified only by the corruptness of the churches.
Petroc was wanted by the very people he believed to be holy and rescued by those he had known to be evil. He lost his faith in an instant and slowly found reality. This was pretty much the theme at that time and served as a prelude to the Renaissance.
All in all, this was a captivating read with vivid descriptions and realistic characters. I like the ending as it had a great twist that stopped at just the right point. 3.5 out of 5 stars; could be a 4 if it was a bit more sophisticated but it was exactly this quality that made it an easy read.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Mavericks killed my Wi-Fi?
Cross posted from the Projapps Propaganda
It has been more than two weeks since I upgraded from Mountain Lion to Mavericks on my old MacBook Pro. It is also more than two weeks since the upgrade broke my Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi actually worked for a while before it went dead. A subsequent reboot resulted in the indicator showing "Wi-Fi: No hardware installed".
I have tried all the advices and solutions I could google. I tried anything from resetting the SMC/NVRAM/PRAM to doing a clean reinstall of the operating systems. Downgrading to Mountain Lion or using a USB network adapter did not help too. These had me thinking whether Mavericks had killed my Wi-Fi or my Wi-Fi is no longer supported with any device driver. Maybe it's the VirtualBox update I did but highly unlikely since I reinstalled...
Hence in comes the TL-WR702N by TP-LINK, a 150Mbps wireless N portable router. My friend happened to have one on hand so we gave its client mode a try. The client mode allows the router to be connected to another device via Ethernet core and acts as an adapter to send/receive the wireless signal from a wireless network.
It worked! Therefore I went out to get myself one for S$34. It is supposed to be a stopgap fix but with no solution in sight, apart from buying a new MacBook, I think I may have to carry the router around with me for good.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Long overdue update
Wow, it has been so...... long since I last updated this blog. My last post is in 9th February! Anyway, there isn't much to write about between then and now, with most of what had happened to me or what I had done recorded in other websites and social networks. So here is a summary of my 20130209 - 20131113 life.
Firstly, I took a trip to Hong Kong for the BlackBerry Jam Asia, courtesy of Research In Motion Limited, the company that gives us the new BlackBerry OS 10 platform to develop on. My friend and I were there as developers hoping to learn more as well as being representatives to an application we were to showcase. So how was the trip? You can read about it here.
Secondly, just for the fun of it, I have also gotten two certifications along the way of self-improvement:
Firstly, I took a trip to Hong Kong for the BlackBerry Jam Asia, courtesy of Research In Motion Limited, the company that gives us the new BlackBerry OS 10 platform to develop on. My friend and I were there as developers hoping to learn more as well as being representatives to an application we were to showcase. So how was the trip? You can read about it here.
Secondly, just for the fun of it, I have also gotten two certifications along the way of self-improvement:
The plan now is to continue on to getting the ECSA...
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