Change
Friday July 15, 2011
So for the past three or so weeks, I've tried growing my facial hair out, just as an experiment to see if I can grow a decent beard - which everyone knows, is vital to a person's programming ability. It's been received well at work; best compliment was from Dale ("Woah JLai, you look like you're 25 years old"). My parents were a bit shocked to see me unshaven though. I don't know how long I'll keep it. It's getting a bit itchy and long, and I will need to trim it to stop it looking gross.
Work is going well. Still busy. Thanks to this article, I can say I'm on the team working on the "social smartphone game". Whoo.
Portal 2 is going well. I'm in this large underground cavern with water and large broken spherical objects, and a tower with stairs leading to the top. The game is clever and humourous, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
Final Fantasy X is also progressing. I've just finished Bevelle and I'm rolling around the Calm Lands now. Eventually I'll have to do the stupid Chocobo Racing...and those butterflies...and blitzball. Blerg.
Oh yeah. I'm on Google+.
Posted by Jeremy at 12:33pm on Friday July 15, 2011 :: 0 comments :: 
July
Friday July 1, 2011
It's hard to believe it's July already. On one hand, we're getting to the coldest part of the year - this week has been absolutely freezing. On the other hand, the days are supposedly lengthening, but we won't actually notice a difference until much, much later. It's still depressing getting up in the dark and coming home in the dark.
Work has been incredibly busy. I'm finding myself having more responsibility, which is great and all, but it means I have to attend more meetings when sometimes all I want to do is just sit and program in silence, har har. Despite being busy though, I'm still enjoying where I am and what I'm doing.
I had Burger King for dinner for the first time in ages, and I'm reminded why I don't eat Burger King often.
It's gross.
Now that I have heaps of time on my hands, I've lined up a healthy set of games to keep me occupied: Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2 (don't hate), Final Fantasy XII, Kingdom Hearts and my most recent purchase, Portal 2, thanks to a Steam Summer Sale. That'll keep me going for a few months!
Posted by Jeremy at 11:41am on Friday July 1, 2011 :: 0 comments ::
Vodka Gummi Bears
Saturday June 11, 2011
I decided to terminate the Great Vodka Gummi Bear experiment today, 25 days after it began. As I commented in my last post, they haven't really grown that much in the last two weeks or so; I estimate that most of the growth occurred in the first week actually.
Anyway, without further ado, here is the final result:
On the left, a yellow gummi bear showing the original size, and on the center and right, two of the vodka gummi bears from the original five in the experiment.
Verdict: There's no longer a gummi bear flavour present, it's pretty much vodka. Quite a sharp taste, and texture is more like hard jelly than chewy gummi. It's good but couldn't eat too many in one sitting (would probably get drunk).
Posted by Jeremy at 8:49am on Saturday June 11, 2011 :: 0 comments ::
Half Year Check-In
Tuesday May 31, 2011
We're at the stage of the year where it's dark when I leave my house for work, and it's dark when I leave work for home. Thankfully, the days have been sunny and cheerful (kinda) but the nights are bitterly chilly since there's been no cloud over the day. Technically, it isn't even winter yet so the worst has yet to come.
I wrote a JSON Parser in C++. I should have probably paid more attention during the lecture on finite state machines, but thanks to these diagrams, JSON parsing is as easy as pushing and popping various states onto a state stack and then registering what you expect the next state to be. JSON parsing is much easier than XML and the language itself is lightweight and readable, so it's ideal for web applications where size of data should be minimised so it can be quickly transferred over the Internets.
My vodka gummi bear experiment continues to grow. It's been two weeks since I put them in there and I don't think they're growing much more. I brought one to work last week and it mysteriously vanished during my lunch break, only for me to return home and find out that it had actually melted and resolidified at home. Either the molecular structure of the gummi bear becomes unstable due to the alcohol replacing certain vital structural compounds, or my office is just too damn hot. The wonders of Science!
Also I'm on Facebook. I won't be abandoning this blog though.
Posted by Jeremy at 6:20am on Tuesday May 31, 2011 :: 1 comment ::
Back Home
Tuesday May 17, 2011
My bottle of Malibu cost NZ$39.50 at Auckland International Airport, compared with US$19.00 at SFO. I think there's a restriction on all carry-on luggage stating no liquids over 100mL can be taken about outbound US planes, so I was advised (quite rudely, actually) by the guy at SFO DFS not to buy it. Oh well... :(
Anyway, I'm back home in Wellington, enjoying the 50km/h winds, using my EFTPOS card, driving on the left side of the road and looking right then left when crossing the road. I just need to sort out my sleeping habits and it'll be like I never left the country.
Work tomorrow.
Photos from Easter and San Francisco are now available.
Posted by Jeremy at 4:09am on Tuesday May 17, 2011 :: 0 comments ::