The Bolt

11 Year Old Game Development: Happy Cats

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:29:50 -0600

Ever since my daughter decided that she wanted to develop an iPhone game, she's been wracking her brain for ideas. Then after she comes up with an idea, there is a rapid-fire question and answer period with Dad (me). Here's her idea for "Happy Cats".

The Cloud Brought Me Back Down

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:16:54 -0600

In 2005 I wrote an article How Do Normal People Survive With One, in which I outline all the benefits of running multiple computers. In just over six years, it seems that everything has changed...

Christmas Morning Flasher

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:01:32 -0600

This is one of the lesser-told stories from my Dad. Early one Christmas morning, my Mom and Dad went out for a walk along their street. It was December 1968, three months after they were married.

Lavender Blue

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:02:52 -0600

In the fall of 1985, I was listening to a cassette tape of Misplaced Childhood by Marillion. I'm pretty sure I stretched the tape by playing it so much.

They Call Me Beef

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:04:21 -0600

Childhood nicknames are a wonder. They range from insightful to cruel, from flattering to confusing and beyond. They can be based on the person's real name, their hair color (or some other physical feature), their favorite sport... the list goes on. There is one nickname I never could figure out, though...

On Every Street

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 23:50:12 -0600

I'm usually living in the present (or these days, the future), so it isn't often that I'll reminisce about a past relationship. Sometimes a song will remind me of a specific time or event...

Someone Saved My Life Tonight

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:44:55 -0600

I was driving home after a game of curling tonight, traveling the same route I always take home, around 11:30 pm. I was sitting at the first controlled intersection, waiting on the red light to turn green...

Sand Sharks, Alligators and Penguins

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 22:29:06 -0600

This is the sixth summer of sand sculpting for me. How time flies. The weather was awesome this year, the sand was clean, the wind was perfect - and inspiration came easily.

Just One Day

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 00:36:14 -0600

I stumbled upon this song "Just One Day" by RJ Chevalier and really liked it. However, it didn't include the lyrics. Here's my attempt at transcribing them...

Vote For The Song A Day Album Tracks!

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 10:54:25 -0600

Jonathan Mann is asking for our help - he wants people to listen to the 30 tracks he created in June and vote for the ones that should be included on his album: http://vote.songatron.com/

I encourage you to vote when you have more than just a couple minutes, since it will take time to listen to the tracks. I think at least half an hour is needed since you probably want to listen to a minute or so of each track. It's pretty fun, try it out!

Voting is only open until the end of July 31, 2011.

Welcoming The Cloud

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:38:27 -0600

I just figured out that I am suddenly in favour of "cloud computing". I have switched my opinion 180 degrees on this just today. Here is my revelation...

Song A Day Streaming Entertainment

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 23:51:59 -0600

I first heard about Jonathan Mann some time in the summer of 2009, around the time that his video for Bing Goes The Internet was spreading from geek to geek.

Canada's Federal Budget Versus Political Party

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 18:17:46 -0600

Leading up to another Canadian federal election, I thought it would be interesting to update the graph that I made in 2009 showing Canada's federal deficit against the ruling political party.

Canadian Subsidy Directory Spam

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 20:42:58 -0600

Some spammers will just never die, sadly. Incredibly, I've been receiving roughly the same spam email from this company yearly since about 2005, as far as I can recall. I say that because I've deleted email from then long ago. The first year or two I tried to contact the company to be removed from their mailing list, but it never worked. So here's what I'm going to do this year...

My History of Programming

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 21:49:50 -0600

I started programming computers in the summer of 1983, so I'm closing in on 28 years of programming. It has been an interesting journey so far - programming for fun, then for school, then for work - and now back to fun again...