Dog Bowl 2014

This past weekend I competed in the 27th Annual Dog Bowl handball tournament. This year, I competed in the "A" division, both for singles and doubles. For doubles, my partner Gerald Cervantes and I got second place, losing in the finals. For singles, I tied for 3rd/4th, losing in the semi finals.

Overall, the tournament was a lot of fun. Thanks to Carl White for organizing it. I'm happy that my parents came in from Silver City (my mom competed and lost to the person that won her division), my sister came in from Germany (for the holidays, not just the tournament), my friend Jeremy from Socorro, and my friend Oleg came in from New York City to visit.

This is a picture of me and my doubles partner with our awesome trophies / handmade ceramic beer mugs.

MySQL Weirdness

Does anyone else think this is weird? It looks like the shortcut 'show create procedure' lacks the ability to go INTO OUTFILE. Maybe this is just me not understanding, but it seems like I should be able to INTO OUTFILE more than just a SELECT.

mysql> show create procedure mydbr.COMPANY_esnq_site INTO OUTFILE 'COMPANY_esnq_site.sp.sql';
ERROR 1064 (42000): You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'INTO OUTFILE 'COMPANY_esnq_site.sp.sql'' at line 1
mysql>

mysql> SELECT routine_definition FROM information_schema.routines WHERE  routine_name = 'COMPANY_esnq_site' AND routine_schema = 'mydbr' INTO OUTFILE 'COMPANY_esnq_site.sp.sql';
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.27 sec)

Seattle Trip 2014

This past July, I visited my friend Aaron Torres and his family in Seattle. A gigantic thanks to them for letting me stay at their house, eat their food, and driving me around. Aaron works for Linden Lab, the company that builds Second Life. We have been friends since about 2002, when we went to college together in Socorro. Aaron is the co-founder of Noventum, the software company I now own. Aaron and his wife did all of the administrative work setting up Noventum, and I bought them out for about $250 so I wouldn't have to change all my stationary and business cards. We've been friends since college. Even though he lives in Seattle, Washington, and I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, we still throw ideas off each other for software development, rental property and life in general.

Aaron Torres. He's hardcore. 

Hazel finally let me talk with her, and pick her up, after two days. Before that, she was very suspicious of me.

Kaylee & Hazel

My favorite part of the trip was seeing Aaron, his wife, Kaylee, and his rapidly growing daughter, Hazel. Other than seeing my buddy and his family, it was VERY cool being able to work from Linden Lab's beautiful office, walking around Seattle, doing an improvised "American Ninja Warrior" with Aaron at a kid's playground while his daughter played, going on runs, and drinking awesome beer and coffee. I really liked eating the wild raspberries that grew everywhere in Seattle.

 

These are seriously the most delicious invasive species ever.

If I were homeless in Seattle, these would be my major source of calories [until I got a job and stopped being homeless. Then it would be more efficient for me to earn money and buy groceries.]

Working (on Noventum projects) at Linden Lab was awesome. Linden let me work at their office on Thursday and Friday. They have free coffee, snacks, and on Friday lunch and beer. On Thursday, almost everyone was working from home. There was some sort of major roadway construction going on, so the office was almost empty. Linden Lab has offices on the forth or fifth story of an older, well maintained, brick building close to downtown Seattle. I worked on taxes for Noventum, and wrote some object-orientated JavaScript code for a customer. Friday everyone came in, and there was some sort of a performance evaluation celebration. It was extremely fun! After lunch, we had a video game tournament, beer, and ping pong. Aaron said that kind of festive environment only happens after their performance evaluations. After spending two days in their Seattle office, I would highly recommend working for Linden Lab (at least with regard to their corporate culture and office environment.) Aaron always talks about the cool technical challenges associated with building virtual worlds, and how his high performance computing experience helps tremendously with the issues associated with rolling out software across all of Second Life.

Aaron has a pretty sweet view from his office.

Me either paying my New Mexico gross receipts tax, or writing a bunch of object orientated JavaScript. 

Aaron and his family took me to Ikea. My old landlord constantly talks about how cool Ikea is, and really enjoys totally furnishing apartments with things from Ikea. I have never been there before, so I never really understood what anyone was talking about when they described Ikea as a place where you can get anything for an apartment, or house, without spending a ton of money. I thought Ikea was pretty cool - it does have a lot of inexpensive things that can make an apartment, or house, nice. My favorite thing there was their extremely efficient "312 square feet" apartment, in which everything was for sale.

This is the majority of the 312 square foot apartment Ikea has setup inside their store.

It was kind of amazing how efficient of a living space they were able to make. Some of the Ikea stuff (like the 'efficiency' dish drying rack attached to the wall) seems a lot cooler inside the Ikea store than it actually is. I realize that I do not have 'efficiency' sized (tiny) dishes, pots, or pans. Which means I can clean about a third of my dishes, and put them on the drying rack, and then the rack is full. It's a cool idea for saving space in your kitchen, but it doesn't exactly work for gigantic American stuff. To compensate for this, I started actually drying off my dishes before they are completely dry, and putting them away much quicker.

Ikea dish drying rack - idealized version.

Ikea dish drying rack - actual version.

Thanks again to Aaron and his family for showing me around Seattle and putting me up for the few days. Normally, I cannot stand any kind of traveling, but this trip was pretty fun. I was still able to accomplish a bit of programming and business, see my friend and his family, as well as check out Seattle. My only regret was that I was unable to see my other friends that live in Seattle at the same time.

Netbeans on Ubuntu = Requires an Advanced Computer Science Degree

I literally spend hours (about three) trying to get Netbeans 7.3 installed on Ubuntu 12.04. This is not a fun process. Netbeans crapped out while displaying "Loading cached objects" for me, after it looked like it installed perfectly using the Oracle JDK. The solution I found was:

1. Actually, fully, installed OpenJDK. The mistake I was making here is that Ubuntu LOOKED like it installed OpenJDK, but it didn't actually finish the installation until I ran: 

     sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jdk

2. Install Netbeans, using the OpenJDK installed in step #1. 

I have no idea WHY the Oracle JDK failed Netbeans, but it seems like this is a fairly common problem. Hopefully this post will help other people avoid the same dark fate as my lost three hours. 

Bandojo on GreenLight

I've been working with the startup Bandojo for the past few months. Most of my involvement up to this point has almost entirely been on getting our C/C++ program to build on Windows, and now I'm doing more web development for them, and (sort of) managing an intern that is also into web development. The intern (David Heyer) suggested we submit to Steam. Since no one at Bandojo really knew what Steam was, he explained it to us, and it sounded like a great idea. So I submitted our software to Steam.

Steam sounds like a very, very cool software distribution platform. Basically, they handle all the money, all the copy protection, upgrades, and a bunch of reporting for you. They mostly sell games, but also sell other pieces of software (like our music creation application.) Getting into their store sounds like a bit of a dog and pony show though (i.e. you need to win a popularity contest before they consider you.) Since I have never been through this dog and pony show before, I have no idea how (if?) it will end.

So, if you feel like clicking "Yes" (I would buy this game if it were on Steam) then check out this link. Or send me an email if you've been through the Steam cleaner before and have any tips.

Bandojo 

Мы Пошли Праздновать С Джереми | Celebrating With Jeremy

Мой друг Джереми скоро начнёт новую работу. В данное время oн техник по взрывчатым
веществам. Через неделю он вступает в должность инженера, где он будет продолжать работать с взрывчатыми веществами.

My old friend Jeremy will start a new job. Now he works as a technician with explosives. After about a week, he'll work as an engineer (also with explosives.) He loves explosives!

Мой друг Ефран, Джереми и я пошли праздновать его новую работу. Мы стреляли из оружия дробовики. После этого мы ели в ресторане "Азума" японскую еду. В "Азума" Джереми пил алкогольный напиток сакэ бомба.

Our friend Efrain, Jeremy, and I went to celebrate his new job. First, we went to the City of Albuquerque gun range and fired shotguns. It's super fun shooting clay pigeons! We then ate at the restaurant "Azuma."

На Azuma, Джереми хотел выпить сакэ бомба. 

At Azuma, Jeremy wanted to drink sake bombs.

Когда я говорю "сакэ," вы говорите "бомба."
When I say "sake" you say "bomb!" 

Сакэ!?!
бомба!
Сакэ!?!?!
бомба!!!
Сакэээээээээ!?!?!
бОМБА!!!!!!

Это мой друг Ефран и его беременная жена.

This is my friend Efrain and his pregnant wife.

Это моя подруга из Ирана – Ава
This is my Iranian friend Ava.

Чем мы становимся старше, тем меньше у нас остаётся времени для встречь.

As everyone becomes older, it's hard for everyone to meet and spend time together. It was nice for the guys to celebrate.

словарь

по взрывчатым веществам - with explosives (dative case) 

с взрывчатыми веществами - with explosives (genitive case)
взрывчатые вещества - explosives (nominative case)
пришёл праздновать - went to celebrate  
Мы стреляли из оружия дробовики. - we fired guns (shotguns.)
сакэ бомба - sake bomb
беременная  - pregnant
приятно  - pleasant, nice

Russian Extra Credit - THE BLINDING LIGHT OF HISTORY

My past few posts have been in Russian, or about Russian things. As people close to me know, I have been studying Russian for about five years. Presently, I'm finishing up a class at UNM called "Russian 202" which is a second year, second semester, Russian course. I'm conversational, but definitely not fluent. I prefer to turn in assignments on my blog, which makes to polish them to a point where they are more than disposable artifacts of some academic discipline, but rather a way to communicate with people that care about me what I'm up to in my life.

This can be difficult when those people don't speak Russian. So here's one in English!

For an extra credit in my Russian class, our professor said we could check out "THE BLINDING LIGHT OF HISTORY" which is a collection of Russian paintings and drawings at UNM. I decided to check it out, and write a quick blog post about it for extra credit.

In order to see the exhibit, I needed to take an elevator from the lobby of the art museum inside Pope Joy Hall up to the second floor. As soon as I got out of the elevator, I saw the mad Russian monk, greeting me.

Rasputin. I read a biography about him, and I'm pretty certain this guy had supernatural powers. He also had Charles Manson eyes.

I also liked this one. It reminds me of Salvador Dali, my favorite painter after my sister.

I liked this one, since the camping guys remind me of my (Russian) ex-girlfriend's dad. He always likes to chill out by a fire. I see him maybe every six months, and half the time there is a fire burning outside, and all the time there is so much good food and good alcohol.

These were the three paintings I liked. Many of the other paintings seemed kind of depressing, which may have been the intention the (Soviet) artists were going for. Overall, I'm glad I quickly checked out the exhibit. I'm sort of culturally retarded, and culturally insensitive, and this kind of stuff is good for me to do every once in a while to try and grow.

Russian 202 Film Project

For my Russian 202 class, we had to make a short video about one of the videos we watched in class. I worked with Monica Perlzak, and we re-created a scene from this Russian movie, called Stilyagi, or "Hipsters."

Моника Пэрлзак и Брайн Стайнар Брайн: Наш фильм называется <<Стиляги.>> Действие фильма происходит в Москве. Мы снимали наши сцены у утиного пруда. Сначала, я играл стиляга, после этого я играл Мэлса. Mоника: Я играла Пользу. Новые слова в нашей сцене облава и опасность. Польза - Я люблю джаз! Мой самый любимый инструмент труба. Стиляг - Я тожа. Я играю на саксофоне! Хотите танцевать? Польза - Да! Я люблю танцевать с тобой. Стиляг - Ахх! Облава! Опасность! *погоня* Мэлс - Ты можешь идти? Польза - Ой! Больно. Мэлс - Вставай. Вставай! Польза - Это из-за тебя. Мелс - Сейчас я за ребятами схожу. Польза - Не надо. Мэлс - Вставай. Польза - Как тебя зовут? Мэлс - Мэлс. А тебя? Польза - Полина. Для друзей Польза. Мелс - Польза...почему Польза? *толчок* Польза - Теперь ты знаешь!

Новые Слова снимали - filmed у утиного пруда - by the duck pond погоня - chase толчок - shove опасность - danger облава - raid

Ночной дозор

(Russian Version of the Poster)

Без субтитров, я не понимаю ничего. Фильм называется <<Ночной дозор.>> Действие фильма происходит в Москве. Мне понравился этот фильм. Он о войне, свет против тьмы и как один человек сражается на стороне света. 

Glossary
дозор - watch 
субтитры - subtitles
против  - against
тьма - darkness
сражается на стороне света - fighting on the side of light

(English Version of the Poster)

Birthday - 31

This past March 6, I turned 31. I didn't really feel bad about growing older. Mostly, this seems to be because I feel like I am progressing in different physical, financial, and emotional goals. It doesn't seem to me like things are getting progressively worse, but rather progressively better. My handball game is the best it's ever been. Even if I didn't make as much money last year as I did as an employee, I am learning every day about sales, marketing, customer management, different types of start ups, as well as tons of new technical skills. PLUS, things have been going very well financially for 2014 so far.

My girlfriend, and my family, made my birthday fun and enjoyable. Lyric did an outstanding job on making my favorite dinner (sweet and sour chicken), blue Gatorade, well as a birthday cake.

I think it's nice when Lyric wears a pretty dress and makes me an awesome dinner. I appreciate it a lot. 

 She made me slippers which I can be seen wearing constantly.

Lyric give me a bunch of presents that I really needed! She gave me a set of glass bowls with Tupperware top that I am opening in the above picture...

... an organizer that contained small fasteners for my workshop...

...and the best present of fixing my road bike! I wrecked this road bike a few years ago, and was slowly cannibalizing it for parts for my other road bike. The road bike was stolen, and I'd been slowly rebuilding the bike. The hub was the last part I needed to replace, and she had it replaced for me!

 Here is a quick video of my cake. Unfortunately, Lyric stopped singing when she realized I was recording. She has a good voice!

The next weekend I was down in Silver City, helping my parents out with their Windows network. For my birthday, they gave me what every little boy always wanted - a robot friend! This was a Roomba 650, and it keeps my floors cleaner than they have ever been before. Basically, I never have to sweep or vacuum anymore.

Roomba 650

All in all, this was the most fun birthday I've had in a long time. Lyric goes to a lot of work, and is herself excited about many things, which makes them more fun in general.

Мой самый любимый фильм

Мой самый любимый фильм

Я не люблю ходить в кино. Я люблю смотреть пьесы (театр). Иногда я хожу, смотреть, как моя бывшая девушка танцует бурлеск (я смотрю с моей девушкой.) Это немного странно…

Обычно я хожу в кино ночью. Всегда угощаю мою подругу. Мне нравится смотреть Нетфликс больше, чем телевизор или фильмы. У меня есть компьютер, но нет телевизора. Сидеть дома намного дешевле, чем ходить в кино. Наверное я люблю американские фильмы больше, чем иностранные фильмы. Естественно мне нравятся гангстерские саги. Я просто шучу, мне нравятся научно-фантастические фильмы.

Мой самый любимый фильм называется «Звёздная пыль» (“Star Dust”.) Клэр Дэйнс, Роберт Де Ниро и какой-то человек, которого я не знаю, в нём играют. Фильм был написан Нилом Гейнманом. Это смесь фантастических, романтических и комических элементов. Я смотрел его у подруги дома. Я его посмотрел один раз. Мне нравится, потому что мне это смешно, и моей подруге нравится.

бывшая - former
странно - strange
наверное - surely
Естественно - naturally
гангстерские саги - gangster sagas
просто шучу - just kidding
смесь - mix
смешно - funny
грязь - grime that gets everywhere * interesting term my friend taught me

Backup Procedure

I just started helping a new client backup their data. This blog post will show in easy-to-follow steps how to perform this backup manually. Eventually, it would be a very good idea to automate this process, but for now manual backups are better than no backups.

First, make sure an external hard drive is connected to your server.

You can see it is on by the green light on top.

 After the hard drive is connected, navigate to the external hard drive by clicking on "my computer"

Then click on the "ExtBackup E:" icon

Then click on "Backup"

Once you are inside backup, right click to make a new folder for today. I like to name them "year.month.day" so that sorting them is easier.

Then, double click on the newly created folder.

After that, click on my computer again to open a new window, and type in "D:\FedAb\shared\Interfasys\ClaimKeep\CK_data" into the address bar up top (you can copy and paste it from between the quotes in this blog.)

Once you are there, copy all three files by selecting them, right clicking, and pressing "copy."

Then, in your other window, press "paste" and you have completed your backup!

Colorado State Singles Handball - 2x

This past January 10-12 my girlfriend Lyric and I went to Arvada, Colorado for me to play in the Colorado State Singles tournament. The previous year, my friend Oleg and I attended the same tournament (blog post coming soon with that!) The tournament is run by a number of friendly handball players, and it is a pleasant change scenery and nice to spend time in Arvada.

This was probably my worst performance in a handball tournament in the past three years, but the trip was still enjoyable. I was sick with a cough, and constantly tell myself that in order to play well, I need to drive up, or fly, the day before. We drove up the day of the first match, and I warmed up for about 15 minutes after driving for six and a half hours. Plus, I moved up a division from "B's" to "A's." So, I lost every tournament game and was quickly eliminated.

  

This reminded me of my paintball days. 

Lyric organized all aspects of the trip. She picked out a very cool, and inexpensive, bed and breakfast from the website airbandb. The place we stayed was about the same price of a Motel 6, but it didn't have any of the sketchy-ness associated with Motel 6. It was a fully converted basement from a friendly, older couple. They have TONS of space available now that their seven boys grew up and moved out. As well as picking out our lodging, Lyric also packed us burritos, sandwiches, fruit, Gatoraid / Poweraid drinks (from powder, since I am cheap.) My least favorite part of traveling is eating crap, and filling my body with a bunch of expensive, low quality, high fat, food. Lyric made sure that this didn't happen.

In addition to the tournament, we went out to dinner with Lyric's friend from Texas and her friend's friend, as well as going out to breakfast and lunch (with a Groupon!)

After Dinner 

Lyric enjoying a Groupon-fueled mimosa.

I'm really glad Lyric pushed us to see the Red Rocks Amphitheater. Normally when I go on handball-vacations, I am extremely focused and basically don't do anything except my best to compete at the top of my game. Since the competition didn't work out quite so well, it was nice to have tourist-y things to do together.

 I love those red pink pants my mom gave me before starting graduate school (7 years ago...) The Jessie Pinkman hoodie she gave me for Christmas (1 month ago) matches them well.

 I try not to take pictures of random kids I don't know, but this little dude looked awed climbing around all the rocks.

Walking around at first, I was like "Where is the amphitheater? This is the side of a mountain...?" and then you keep walking, and see a gigantic amphitheater.

This trip was a lot of fun, mostly because of my girlfriend Lyric and her suggestions about activities.