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Breaking the MS Office Habit

by on August 9, 2012 in Opinion, Technology

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After more than 15 years, I’ve finally managed to untether myself from MS Office. I now use Google Docs for all my spreadsheets and documents. The transition hasn’t been smooth, but Google Docs is a worthy alternative and I’m happy that I’ve made the move.

The transition was borne out of frustration at Office’s slow speed and bloated feel. After losing more than a dozen files to an unfortunate and unwanted HDD format, I started my virtual life anew with a clean installation of Windows. I installed my usual software – iTunes, Notepad++, Tweetdeck, Skype, Chrome – but left out MS Office purposely because I wanted to see how long I could go without resorting to Word.

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How Long Does it Take to Learn a Programming Language?

by on June 5, 2012 in Technology

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rush-hourThumbing through Amazon’s library of programming books, I couldn’t help but notice a curious trend: virtually all books cater to the instant gratification, ‘I’m in a rush’ crowd. Books promising ninja grade coding skills in 24 hours or 21 days are the norm, even without prior coding experience.

This isn’t a phenomenon unique to programming. Everything from the ‘Get Rich Quick’ scams to the ‘Learn to play the guitar in 3 days’ books headline their wares with similar claims. Few books talk about the long, hard road to excellence; most are more than happy to saddle you with a primer on the subject, leaving you to waddle in the deep end after you’ve done browsing through the books (and from experience, browsing is really what most of us end up doing).

I’m not a programmer. My coding skills do not extend beyond HTML, CSS and JavaScript. I’ve been trying to dabble in Python since the beginning of summer and feel hopelessly out of place. I know I’ll get over the hump eventually, but as of now, I’m not ashamed to admit that coding is difficult – especially for an English major – and I would never tell anyone otherwise.

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We’ll Go More A-Roving…

by on January 4, 2012 in Technology

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It’s not everyday that a product meant to last 90 days stretches its warranties to eight years, but that’s exactly what happened with Spirit and  Opportunity, the two Mars Rovers that landed on the Red Planet’s surface eight years ago Jan 3, 2004 (Spirit) and Jan. 25, 2004 (Opportunity).

Between them, the two rovers have covered 26.15 miles on the planet’s surface and unearthed secrets about the Red Planet that have dramatically altered our perceptions of its geology. We now know for certain that Mars had water – and possibly, life – at some point in its history.

Stephen Hackett says:

I propose this set of rovers may be the best-designed thing mankind has ever built.

A thought to which I’d readily agree. This has to be attributed to the supreme quality of NASA’s engineers who managed to create robots that could survive the harshness of Mars.

More on the Rovers from Mike Wall of Space.com

Also allow me to indulge myself with one of Byron’s finest poems:

So we’ll go no more a-roving

So late into the night

Though the heart be still as loving

And the moon be still as bright

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