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<feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"><title>Kenneth's log</title><link href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog/" rel="alternate"></link><link href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog//feeds/Life.atom.xml" rel="self"></link><id>http://kennethreitz.com/blog/</id><updated>2010-05-26T18:15:00Z</updated><entry><title>Ventures: Python Development at NetApp</title><link href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog//ventures-python-development-at-netapp.html" rel="alternate"></link><updated>2010-05-26T18:15:00Z</updated><author><name>Kenneth Reitz</name></author><id>tag:kennethreitz.com,2010-05-26:/blog//ventures-python-development-at-netapp.html/</id><summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;For the past year I've been employed at
&lt;a class="reference external" href="http://clutch-inc.com"&gt;Clutch, Inc&lt;/a&gt; in Winchester, Virginia, as
a Systems Engineer and Web Developer. I've spent most of my time
there developing content-based websites and web applications in
PHP, advanced JavaScript, Grails, and the like. I even had the
opportunity to develop the occassional Python application for
server-side data manipulation/migration. But alas, all good things
must come to an end.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To that end, I have accepted a new position as a Senior Python Developer at
&lt;a class="reference external" href="http://www.netapp.com"&gt;Network Appliance&lt;/a&gt; (RTP Campus), starting
next week.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;One of the best parts of this opportunity will be my
ability to work remotely from my hometown of Winchester, Virginia.
I'll be setting up office in
&lt;a class="reference external" href="http://brightcowork.com"&gt;Bright Cowork&lt;/a&gt; on the walking mall.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;While moving from service-oriented web development to internal
tool/application development will be a change of pace, it's a very
welcome one, and I look forward to every moment of it.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I plan to leave my web development efforts to my various open source projects
and client work, but on an as-need basis. My next step is to to
focus my personal efforts on a new market entirely: iPhone app
development &amp;amp; the iTunes store.&lt;/p&gt;
</summary></entry><entry><title>Your Degree Is Worthless; Collaborate.</title><link href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog//your-degree-is-worthless-collaborate.html" rel="alternate"></link><updated>2009-09-01T21:17:00Z</updated><author><name>Kenneth Reitz</name></author><id>tag:kennethreitz.com,2009-09-01:/blog//your-degree-is-worthless-collaborate.html/</id><summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;I’ve always been a self-motivated learner as well as a free
thinker. I was never one to get involved in cliques or social
ladders. Despite the fact that I was raised being constantly told
that grades were the single most important thing in my life, I
could never accept that. So I didn’t. I just did enough to get by.
I didn’t pay attention much in class. I had no reason to. Class was
beyond boring. So I’d spend all hours of the night hacking away on
my computer, soaking in all I could, and most of the school day
sleeping during class when I could get away with it. When there was
a test, I’d try my hardest to stay awake, answer the questions as
best I could – typically earning a low C in my Honors/AP Classes,
and a low B in my “Ordinary” Classes. I found a good balance. Why
would I study for 30 hours a week to get better grades when I could
get by with 0 hours? So, I graduated. And I did the next logical
thing: I went to college. Ahh, college. The most important decision
you could ever make in your life. The time to “make it or break
it”. Where every young man goes to be become a man. So I went.
While high-school never engaged me, I assumed that courses about
career-relevant subjects would interest me in a university setting.
I was wrong. I was very, very wrong.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div class="section" id="college-life"&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;College Life&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I studied Plato, Homer, and Socrates, Turing Machines, and
Single-State-Automata. I analyzed the progression of American
Popular Music from the 1920s to today. I learned how to draw, play
the marimba properly, and splatter paint on walls. I attempted
jujitsu. Wonderful life experience. But what does any of this have
to do with setting the foundation of a career? Nothing. At all. Of
course, the higher up you go, the more relevant the courses get to
your chosen major. But I didn’t want to wait. Especially when I was
paying $20,000 a year for this. It was mostly useless information.
The average college education in America costs 9 cents a minute.
Every minute. Every day. A complete waste. And I was working 35
hours a week as a graphics design intern, working at odd hours of
the night, attempting to pay for all of this. It was impossible,
and I was unengaged.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class="section" id="the-plunge"&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;The Plunge&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So, after totally losing
interest in class or anything related to it, I gave up and dropped
out. I didn’t want to get further in debt. So I moved back home,
defeated, and tried my hardest to get my life back in order. I got
my high-school job back at McDonald’s. I worked harder than I ever
have in my life. I didn’t have anything else better to do, so I
worked as much as I could all the time. I worked one 65 hour week -
but that got old really fast. I was again, unengaged. Then, one
day, I quit McDonald’s without notice. Not best practice of
course, but I didn’t want to spend any more time there. It’s
strange what a terrible work environment it is. After a few short
weeks, you begin to think there isn’t anything outside those walls.
It was clear that it wasn’t getting me anywhere, so I set out with
my laptop to try to find something better.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class="section" id="how-it-all-turned-around"&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;How It All Turned Around&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I spent a lot of time on some freelance
websites, where you bid for odd jobs, usually settling for some
ridiculously low amount of money here and there. That didn’t last
long. I remembered coming across a guy on Twitter from my hometown,
Winchester, Virginia, who was quite into the internet and
technology. That’s pretty rare in these parts, so I looked him up.
What I found was a local &lt;a class="reference external" href="http://brightcowork.com"&gt;cowork&lt;/a&gt;
center. I went and checked out the cowork, and what I found blew my
mind. In this little building off the historic old-town walking
mall was a room. Inside: the COO of a major internet company, tech
consultants, graphic designers, writers, author, bloggers,
freelancers, and so much more. I met everyone in and around town. I
sat in on think tank lunches. People cared about what I had to say.
We collaborated.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class="section" id="collaboration-is-everything"&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;Collaboration is Everything.&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For the first time in my life, I was meeting
interesting people with awesome experience, willing to share and
collaborate what they have learned with me. And I did the same. I
soaked in endless amounts of information. One simple room full of a
few people turned on some switch in me that the education system
had failed to do year after year after year: teach me something. I
was finally engaged. *Fully* engaged. As soon as I realized that,
my entire life changed. I started thriving on my own, getting
dozens of clients. Suddenly, I had a life with significantly less
stress and worry. No tuition fees! I realized how valuable my
skills were and how I didn’t have to be part of the institution if
I didn’t want to be. I rose above. I am now a Web Applications
Developer at a respectful technology firm. No degree. No debt. Only
an open mind. I gain more knowledge and experience in a single
workday than I did during my entire college career. I’m in the real
world. And I’m loving every minute of it.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class="section" id="in-conclusion"&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;In Conclusion&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Looking back, I’m comfortable saying that dropping
out of college has been the best decision I’ve ever made. If I
would have gone through the entire education program, what would I
have to show for it? $150,000 in debt, a piece of paper, and four
years less of your life. No real experience. No connections. Just a
piece of paper. And nothing more. Please bear these things in mind
before you decide to spend $150,000 on a bachelor’s degree in a
field you’re not so certain about. Personally, I’d rather spend
that money on something that will actually benefit me: like a
house.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
</summary></entry><entry><title>Louis Fabrizi</title><link href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog//louis-fabrizi.html" rel="alternate"></link><updated>2009-08-20T16:52:00Z</updated><author><name>Kenneth Reitz</name></author><id>tag:kennethreitz.com,2009-08-20:/blog//louis-fabrizi.html/</id><summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;A good friend of mine,
&lt;a class="reference external" href="http://twitter.com/mrgandrews"&gt;&amp;#64;mrgandrews&lt;/a&gt;, is in
the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="reference external" href="http://louisfabrizi.com"&gt;Louis Fabrizi&lt;/a&gt; band.&amp;nbsp; I'm loving
the music so far! Here's a few clips: -
&lt;a class="reference external" href="http://louisfabrizi.com/audio/needs-prayer.mp3"&gt;Everybody Needs a Prayer&lt;/a&gt;
- &lt;a class="reference external" href="http://louisfabrizi.com/audio/tonight.mp3"&gt;Tonight&lt;/a&gt; -
&lt;a class="reference external" href="http://louisfabrizi.com/audio/soon.mp3"&gt;Soon&lt;/a&gt; -
&lt;a class="reference external" href="http://louisfabrizi.com/audio/why-wait.mp3"&gt;Why Wait?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If you like what you here, then you should
&lt;a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;location=http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;x=0&amp;amp;ref_=nb_ss_dmusic&amp;amp;y=0&amp;amp;field-keywords=louis%20fabrizi&amp;amp;url=search-alias=digital-music&amp;amp;tag=bookforkind-20&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957"&gt;buy the album&lt;/a&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;
</summary></entry><entry><title>What's In a Design?</title><link href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog//whats-in-a-design.html" rel="alternate"></link><updated>2009-08-09T05:16:00Z</updated><author><name>Kenneth Reitz</name></author><id>tag:kennethreitz.com,2009-08-09:/blog//whats-in-a-design.html/</id><summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: I am &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; an Apple fanboy. Apple makes a fortune off
of &lt;a class="reference external" href="http://www.squidoo.com/sheeple"&gt;speeple&lt;/a&gt;. An Apple FanBoy
blindly follows everything the cult leader, Steve Jobs has to say.
They go out and purchase every iProduct that Apple realeases and
does so with a smile on their face, not realizing that over the
course of four years, they have
&lt;a class="reference external" href="http://calacanis.com/2009/08/08/the-case-against-apple-in-five-parts/"&gt;spent about $20,000&lt;/a&gt;
on Apple products alone. They leak photos of an upcoming product
with incredibly low resolution so the masses can pick and decipher
the image, spending countless hours just trying to imagine what
that mysterious new button does. And people do it! They completely
take advantage, but rightfully so. Who could blame them? They are,
after all, a business. It would be foolish for them not to, because
that FanBoy pays thousands of dollars to watch a 3 hour long
commercial, and they love it! They love OSX for no apparent reason
other than they are told to. They go out and buy every single new
iPhone the day that it comes out, when there's clearly nothing
wrong with the one they had. Year after year, they pour more and
more money into their investment in nothing more than a brand that
they thing will change who they are as a person. They want to be
Steve Jobs. They write endless posts about how much money they
spend on Apple products every month, and just can't wait to get
their hands on the next one. This is not that post and I am not
that guy. &lt;img alt="image" src="http://pcmacsmackdown.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/apple-logo1.jpg" /&gt; I do, however, believe that my recently purchased
&lt;a class="reference external" href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog/i-finally-got-a-macbook/"&gt;13&amp;quot; Unibody MacBook Pro is the greatest laptop ever manufactured&lt;/a&gt;
on Earth to date. But not because Apple made it. That's irrelevant.
Now please, don't get me wrong: I love Apple. And that's because,
they have a &lt;strong&gt;superior&lt;/strong&gt; operating system and they put an
extraordinary amount of design and thought into every nook and
cranny of every system that they release. This system is designed
well. &lt;em&gt;Incredibly&lt;/em&gt; well. On a side note, I firmly believe that OSX
is the greatest desktop operating system of all time, and I see no
chance of this changing any time soon. From many different
standpoints (End User, Prosumer, Developer, Newbie) this holds
true. I am a fan and follower of one thing and one thing only:
Design. And, for now, Apple hands-down has the greatest sense of
design, both software and hardware in my opinion. But if something
else comes along made by someone else, I'll be sure to give that a
try with an open mind. :)&lt;/p&gt;
</summary></entry><entry><title>I Finally Got a MacBook</title><link href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog//i-finally-got-a-macbook.html" rel="alternate"></link><updated>2009-08-07T05:56:00Z</updated><author><name>Kenneth Reitz</name></author><id>tag:kennethreitz.com,2009-08-07:/blog//i-finally-got-a-macbook.html/</id><summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Yesterday I stopped by the Apple store in Fair Oaks Shopping Center
in Fairfax, VA and finally purchased a MacBook. I've been wanting
one for quite a while – ever since I fell deeply in love with OS X
after adopting an old 12&amp;quot; G4 PowerBook I've been using for the past
5 months.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I decided to get the 2.5 GHz 13&amp;quot; MacBook Pro. This will be my
full-time machine for the next 4+ years hopefully. With specs this
good and a case this sturdy, I see no reason why it shouldn't last
me for years to come.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I am thoroughly pleased with the purchase so far. If you've been
planning on getting a MacBook, &lt;em&gt;now is the time to get one&lt;/em&gt;. The
base line 13&amp;quot; Aluminum Pro model is only $1100 right now –&amp;nbsp;cheaper
than most of the refurbished polycarbonates with lower specs.
Anyway, I'll post lists of my software choices (including TextMate
Plugins and Bundles) soon for those interested. Stay tuned!&lt;/p&gt;
</summary></entry><entry><title>Back to What I Really Love</title><link href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog//back-to-what-i-really-love.html" rel="alternate"></link><updated>2009-07-21T11:46:00Z</updated><author><name>Kenneth Reitz</name></author><id>tag:kennethreitz.com,2009-07-21:/blog//back-to-what-i-really-love.html/</id><summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;A couple of months ago, I took a position at a company that tailors
Microsoft SharePoint solutions. The business model was very strong
(and successful), the work was challenging, and there was lots of
opportunity. At the end of the day though, I just couldn't get past
one thing: Microsoft and.NET. This is not stuff that I wanted to
spend the rest of my life. The company offered very generous
compensation for Microsoft Certification – but what good does that
do me? I could do it, but it would only be for the money. I love
working with software of all kinds, but the development I was doing
did not sharpen my skills in any way. So, I decided that the longer
I stayed, the more I would simply be delaying my leaving. So
another opportunity came up, and I decided to take it. I am now a
developer working with PHP, Symfony, Java, Groovy, Grails, Apache,
and more. The list grows every day. Now life is good. It's never
been better in fact.&lt;/p&gt;
</summary></entry><entry><title>Moleskine Notebooks</title><link href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog//moleskine-notebooks.html" rel="alternate"></link><updated>2009-07-17T19:12:00Z</updated><author><name>Kenneth Reitz</name></author><id>tag:kennethreitz.com,2009-07-17:/blog//moleskine-notebooks.html/</id><summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;I no longer have an iPhone (for now), so lately I've been utilizing
my good old Moleskine Notebook. Man I love this thing.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I had been recording everything in
&lt;a class="reference external" href="http://evernote.com"&gt;Evernote&lt;/a&gt;, which was epically amazing
(esspecially since I have so many computers). There's just
something about actually writing things down physically in one of
these notebooks.&lt;/p&gt;
</summary></entry><entry><title>Wasted Talent II</title><link href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog//wasted-talent-ii.html" rel="alternate"></link><updated>2009-07-15T18:34:00Z</updated><author><name>Kenneth Reitz</name></author><id>tag:kennethreitz.com,2009-07-15:/blog//wasted-talent-ii.html/</id><summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;To elaborate on my
&lt;a class="reference external" href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog/wasted-talent/"&gt;last post&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Here's an example of some wasted talent:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I know a guy who says he wants to be an Engineer. He loves
engineering, but, for various reasons, he is no longer attending
Virginia Tech this semester. Very sad. So what is he doing now?
He's been applying for a job at Old Navy and Target. Why? He just
spent over $20,000 for a year and a half of top-knotch schooling in
his desired field! You'd think he'd at least apply for an
internship at some Engineering firm or something.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;When I presented the idea to him, he said that the thought had
never crossed his mind.&lt;/p&gt;
</summary></entry><entry><title>Wasted Talent</title><link href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog//wasted-talent.html" rel="alternate"></link><updated>2009-07-15T18:30:00Z</updated><author><name>Kenneth Reitz</name></author><id>tag:kennethreitz.com,2009-07-15:/blog//wasted-talent.html/</id><summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;I'd say that 95% percent of the students that I met at George Mason
University my Freshman year had &lt;em&gt;no idea&lt;/em&gt; why they were even there.
This is so sad.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For me, going to college was more about getting out of the house
than anything else. And it worked. I did get out of the house. And
I learned a lot. I found my passion.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Other students worked their butts off trying to take as many
credits as possible, and when asked what they want to do for a
living they don't have the slightest idea. Why would you go to
college if you don't even know what you want to major in? I would
think that spending all that money would be in order to achieve a
goal, but apparently not.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;They are just along for the ride.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</summary></entry><entry><title>Fallibilism</title><link href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog//fallibilism.html" rel="alternate"></link><updated>2009-07-15T05:11:00Z</updated><author><name>Kenneth Reitz</name></author><id>tag:kennethreitz.com,2009-07-15:/blog//fallibilism.html/</id><summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Everyone seems to think that they are always right. It's pretty
funny when you think about it. Because they aren't. At all. That's
why I'm a falliblist. I believe that others are often right, and
since I'm human, and prone to error, I'll always consider
&lt;em&gt;anything&lt;/em&gt; that anyone else has to say.
But hey, &lt;em&gt;I could be wrong&lt;/em&gt;. :)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a class="reference external" href="http://xkcd.com/610/"&gt;|image|&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</summary></entry><entry><title>What Seperates?</title><link href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog//what-seperates.html" rel="alternate"></link><updated>2009-07-15T00:28:00Z</updated><author><name>Kenneth Reitz</name></author><id>tag:kennethreitz.com,2009-07-15:/blog//what-seperates.html/</id><summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;I want my thoughts to be heard. I want to share the things I find
on the web every day. I want to be a part of a community. I want to
lead the community.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;That's why I'm here, and that's why I'm writing this.&lt;/p&gt;
</summary></entry><entry><title>Not Acting on Ideas</title><link href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog//not-acting-on-ideas.html" rel="alternate"></link><updated>2009-07-10T10:08:00Z</updated><author><name>Kenneth Reitz</name></author><id>tag:kennethreitz.com,2009-07-10:/blog//not-acting-on-ideas.html/</id><summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;As of yesterday, my second idea that I actually thought would work
well was thought up by someone else. The first instance was a game
that me and my friend &lt;a class="reference external" href="http://twitter.com/mikeXocon/"&gt;&amp;#64;MikeXocon&lt;/a&gt;
came up with. After reading up on some man laws one day back at
college, we thought of the idea of making a game where the player
needs to strategically pick the correct urinal to use (men will
understand). It was decided that we would work on it this summer.
We were really serious. I almost bought the domain name.
Well, you can see a screenshot below of one of the top apps on the
AppStore now. Epic fail.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The second idea I had was creating a site that allows you to
prebuffer and schedule tweets. All the time I log on to Twitter and
post 5-10 things right in a row, which is just annoying. There's
not other solution though. If I don't tweet immediately, I won't
remember. So, I was going to make a site that would allow you to do
just that, API and all. Well,
&lt;a class="reference external" href="http://twitter.com/collegeman"&gt;&amp;#64;collegeman&lt;/a&gt; sent me a link today
to &lt;a class="reference external" href="http://hootsuite.com"&gt;HootSuite&lt;/a&gt;, a Twitter client on crack
that offers a large array of features, including the ability to
have pending tweets. Yay.
I'm upset or anything of course. Its pretty cool that I came up
with these ideas, and someone else did as well. Next time I'll have
to jump the shark I suppose!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div class="figure align-center"&gt;
&lt;img alt="image" src="http://www.whatsoniphone.com/screen_dumps/Urinal_Test.jpg" /&gt;
&lt;p class="caption"&gt;image&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
</summary></entry><entry><title>Crossing Over to the Dark Side</title><link href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog//crossing-over-to-the-dark-side.html" rel="alternate"></link><updated>2009-05-06T13:49:00Z</updated><author><name>Kenneth Reitz</name></author><id>tag:kennethreitz.com,2009-05-06:/blog//crossing-over-to-the-dark-side.html/</id><summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Well, I've done it. I've crossed over. To .NET.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I will continue to be a complete open-source junkie of course, but
during the work hours, I will no longer be working with PHP and
Python. I will now be working with .NET and SharePoint.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I was presented with a rather good reason for this actually:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Using SharePoint gives our clients a tremendous amount of security
– they can trust that if, for whatever reason, something were to
happen to us, their software could still be serviced by someone
else.&amp;quot; That's certainly justifiable and understandable. That's a
pretty good idea actually. I like it.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;After looking into ASP.NET, I was actually quite surprised. The
code is a lot cleaner than PHP. It looks rather powerful actually.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Anyway, that's why I've crossed over. No hard feelings :)&lt;/p&gt;
</summary></entry><entry><title>New Blog</title><link href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog//new-blog.html" rel="alternate"></link><updated>2009-04-05T22:09:00Z</updated><author><name>Kenneth Reitz</name></author><id>tag:kennethreitz.com,2009-04-05:/blog//new-blog.html/</id><summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Well, I decided to go ahead and do away with the old and bring on
in the new. KennethReitz.com is now new. I the theme myself and
implemented many new feature, all thanks to
&lt;a class="reference external" href="http://coreylib.com"&gt;CoreyLib&lt;/a&gt;! I hope to see alot of great
comments and discussions in the posts to come. :)&lt;/p&gt;
</summary></entry><entry><title>Was College Worth It?</title><link href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog//was-college-worth-it.html" rel="alternate"></link><updated>2009-03-26T06:13:00Z</updated><author><name>Kenneth Reitz</name></author><id>tag:kennethreitz.com,2009-03-26:/blog//was-college-worth-it.html/</id><summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;George Mason University (at which I'm currently a non-studying
student) is a fantastic environment for a student in their 20's.
Never before have I felt so &lt;em&gt;enabled&lt;/em&gt;. The campus allowed me to
have a completely restriction-free place to live with peers of my
own age, and millions of resources an average American could only
dream of having free access to:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul class="simple"&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Olympic-sized swimming pool minutes away&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Every restaurant under the sun within walking distance&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Free Kitchens and items promoting every brand under the sun&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;You don't go to stores – they come to you&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Free food. Alot of it.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Functions and for everything under the sun.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Seminars from the Brightest Minds in Computer Science&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Professors willing to go the extra mile for you&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Dozens of cultures fused into one working student-body&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;An incredibly Culturally-Diverse Campus (taco bell and Islamic
meditation lounge in the same building)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;These are the things that I miss. I crave the &amp;quot;college experience&amp;quot;
so much, but that makes me realize something: I didn't go to
college for an education – I went there to get away. And I did so.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I failed. I had my heart broken (ish). I got into trouble. I
reached out to the needy and regretted it. I worked for notable
causes. I got a job. I strayed from truth. I got severely addicted
to Caffeine. I was forgiven. I slept in. I researched. I learned to
discern from someone who's worth my time and someone who's not. I
learned to prioritize. Lateralus. I wasted people's time. I was
used. I experimented. I fell asleep every morning during an
all-you-can-eat breakfast fit for a king. I relieved my childhood.
I saw others lives fall apart. I learned to drive. I went way too
fast. I forgot to prioritize. I found the most breathtaking music
on earth. I made mistakes. I connected. I had a fantastic night. I
played live shows. I was shot down. I failed miserably at Ju Jit
Su. I was accused of Harrassment–I was totally innocent. I had the
worst sleeping schedule on earth. I didn't try Salvia. I saw the
best movies. I met the most amazing people. I shook Bill Clinton's
hand. I got first-hand internet experience I couldn't have dreamed
of having before. I found my true passions. I learned without being
taught. I saw some funny videos. I made some awesome friends. I
lost some too. I joined a riot. I learned that I do way too many
things at once. I lost a job. I learned to sell myself. I learned
how to present myself. And, most importantly,
&lt;em&gt;I learned what was truly important in life&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So, here I stand, $10,000 dollars in debt with a GPA of 1.14 and 8
credit hours – and I've never been happier. That was a $10K well
spent.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
And I have never been happier.&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Regards,&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Kenneth Reitz&lt;/p&gt;
</summary></entry><entry><title>Contact Syncing for Massive Productivity Booster</title><link href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog//contact-syncing-for-massive-productivity-booster.html" rel="alternate"></link><updated>2009-03-25T06:12:00Z</updated><author><name>Kenneth Reitz</name></author><id>tag:kennethreitz.com,2009-03-25:/blog//contact-syncing-for-massive-productivity-booster.html/</id><summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Google significantly increased my quality of life recently. How?
Let me explain. While I am a firm believer that cloud computing
should &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; be viewed as a replacement for the current desktop/
model, I must say that I am now a &lt;strong&gt;huge&lt;/strong&gt; fan of storing my data
on the internet. Not all of my data, keep in mind, but information
that needs to be accessed by multiple computers, of course – but
that goes without saying.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I have always had the problem of not being able to keep track of
all my data. I switch computers and operating systems so often, I
can't keep track of my contacts at all. And when I update one, I
have to go through and update many different databases – not the
most efficient method.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So, the ultimate solution is – obviously – to consolidate all of my
contacts into one database. I used to keep all of my contacts on my
Samsung Blackjack cellphone. This worked well, since I could easily
sync it with a computer. This caused a problem, however: I could
only sync it with one system. If I was at work or on another
system, I had no way to get to my friend's email addresses.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Last month, Google Contacts started to support Exchange Syncing,
which happens to work &lt;em&gt;flawlessly&lt;/em&gt; with my Windows Mobile 6.1
install.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My life will never be the same. Thank you, Google. I am eternally
grateful.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;More details soon!&lt;/p&gt;
</summary></entry><entry><title>Recession: A University Perspective</title><link href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog//recession-a-university-perspective.html" rel="alternate"></link><updated>2009-02-26T06:12:00Z</updated><author><name>Kenneth Reitz</name></author><id>tag:kennethreitz.com,2009-02-26:/blog//recession-a-university-perspective.html/</id><summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Newest update on the recession:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To the George Mason University Community:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For over a year now the global financial situation has steadily
worsened, and many aspects of life have become more difficult for
many Americans. There is little evidence that the world or national
economies are rebounding or showing signs of an imminent recovery.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;We share the hope that was so profoundly expressed by President
Obama during his inaugural speech of a better day in the months and
years ahead, and his resolve to view this financial situation as an
opportunity for improvement. How long the economic crisis will
persist is unknown to any of us. The road ahead will not be easy,
but if we keep our focus and reaffirm our commitment to protect the
core, we will endure and be well positioned when the economy
rebounds.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Our institutional vital signs are stronger than ever as we have
assembled a teaching and research faculty who continuously advance
the reputation of the institution. We have achieved national
recognition for our teaching excellence, as well as several
breakthrough discoveries in various areas of research. The number
of student applications is higher than ever, and the quality of
incoming undergraduate, transfer, and graduate students is superior
to any previous year. Our retention rate and graduation rate are at
all-time highs. We award more degrees annually than any other
college or university in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and our
alumni are increasingly being tapped as highly respected regional,
national, and international leaders. National publications have
acknowledged our institutional advancement and our outstanding
value to our students. These rankings and accomplishments are a
direct reflection of the effort and commitment made by you.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;As we are currently expending approximately $250 million per year
on new construction and improvements, we are not only changing the
face of our campuses but serving as a major contributor to the
Northern Virginia economy at a time when so many other economic
drivers are either stagnant or declining. By any measurement, we
are highly efficient and effective in how we manage the university,
and this is true of both our academic administration and our
support services. However, as state support declines and day-to-day
responsibilities increase, certainly you must question how we can
possibly do more. Yet we know we must. We must continue to find
ways to work smarter and more effectively.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The provost and senior vice president have held informational
sessions to explain our budget reduction strategies as we have
absorbed a 5 percent General Fund reduction in FY 2008; another 7
percent budget reduction in FY 2009 with the high probability of a
deeper cut in state support next year (FY 2010). As you probably
know, the governor recommended another 8 percent General Fund
reduction for FY 2010. Operating plans for FY 2010 are currently
being developed which will provide us with the necessary
information to make the wisest possible resource allocation
decision.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;As the state continues to struggle financially, we must focus our
efforts on keeping higher education accessible to new and returning
students. This will be a monumental task as we brace ourselves for
what will most likely be a substantial reduction in state support
this coming year. Therefore, I have decided to establish an Adverse
Economy Assistance Fund to assist students whose family’s economic
situation has been dramatically weakened by job loss or other
catastrophic incidents as a result of the economic crisis.
Established at $150,000 and to be used by the Office of Financial
Aid in conjunction with other available assistance to help
students, this fund will hopefully make the difference between
either continuing their studies or withdrawing from George Mason
University for many students.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The university’s endowment performance for the past year, though
experiencing a double-digit decline, achieved a top quartile peer
ranking. A priority for Mason is to continue to build on the
success of the recently completed capital campaign that raised more
than $140 million for George Mason University. In 2008 we raised
more dollars, gifts, and pledges than ever in the history of Mason.
We are enormously grateful to the thousands of Mason supporters who
continue to invest in the future of this great institution. Your
support is more important than ever.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Our university culture is marked by a commitment to improvement, a
relentless search for best practices, and a quest for excellence.
We know that only through the alignment of a shared vision and a
university spirit that embraces diversity and civility can we
advance those actions that will strengthen the core values of this
great university. There is no easy answer to maintaining
institutional momentum during difficult financial times, but being
resilient and optimistic is the foundation of our plan.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Our strength is our people. Several university community members
have already made significant contributions by volunteering to
accept salary reductions, deferring compensation package increases,
individually absorbing costs that otherwise would be eligible for
state reimbursement, and contributing larger amounts of
unrestricted donations to the George Mason University Foundation. A
different person seems to step up every day to lead us on this
journey. That is what makes George Mason University so special.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;We will emerge a better university after these turbulent times
because each of you believes that you can make a difference at
Mason—and you can—and you do. Although challenged by these
financial constraints, we will rally together to build an
institution that will withstand today’s economic downturn and be
prepared to meet any future challenges. It is our responsibility,
our opportunity, to take advantage of this economic downturn and do
whatever we can to lift tomorrow’s leaders onto our shoulders so
they may view a horizon that inspires hope and promise and the
opportunity to fulfill their dreams of a better tomorrow. We in
higher education hold the key to their success. Together we can do
this! We are Mason.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Alan G. Merten&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
</summary></entry><entry><title>To Someone Special...</title><link href="http://kennethreitz.com/blog//to-someone-special.html" rel="alternate"></link><updated>2009-02-14T06:13:00Z</updated><author><name>Kenneth Reitz</name></author><id>tag:kennethreitz.com,2009-02-14:/blog//to-someone-special.html/</id><summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;While I doubt that you'll never read this... I can't help but
imagine that one day you might. I know that blogging isn't your
thing, and you could probally care less about my website - it's
just something that takes me away from you at times.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But perhaps one day these things will mean something to you... And
when that one day comes, I hope to put a smile on your face.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;You mean more to me than anything on this earth, Bessie. We're
supposed to meet around 1pm today. I can't wait! It's going to be
wonderful.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I love you with all of my heart, and will cherish you forever.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Sincerely Yours,&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Kenneth Reitz&lt;/p&gt;
</summary></entry></feed>