As Scholl noted some time ago, we've been slacking the posting department. Of course, there are all levels of slacking (*cough* Gallagher), but even my relatively loose standards haven't been met.
As such, I thought I would take some time to recap the month, and spiel about my latest interests.
January has been, more then any month so far in my life, extremely cold. New York had its snow, five feet at one point left the whole neighborhood snowed in for several days. But never have I lived in regular sub-zero temperatures. Its the kind of weather where you really can't go outside with wet hair because it will freeze by the time you get in your car. Its the weather that makes even new cars hesitate to start. Its the kind of weather that results in too much time spent on the computer. Ok... maybe I can't blame the weather for that.
Other key events of January include the vetting of Sharon and I's new favorite restaurant: Harry's. Not only do they have amazing ribs, but I have discovered that the occasional (read 1 to 2 times a month) Brandy Old-Fashioned is great with anything meaty. While I certainly have no intention of developing a taste for beer (its SO nasty!) this small and delicious drink, stretched throughout a long meal, is certainly amazing.
On a more somber note, our company laid off 11 contractors last Friday. No matter what factors were involved, it still makes one slightly worried. Some time has been spent hanging out with a good friend who got the axe... makes you remember life can change quickly at any time.
This would not be a proper blog post with a certain element of computer-related enthusiasm. One of my main projects over the last two weeks has been the development of a web-based client for my Magic (card game) server. Basically I have this engine I wrote last year which you can connect to via telnet and play card games with anyone else who connects to it. Now some folks (like me) don't mind massive typing and text-based interfaces, but I realize that there are others who like to actually see little card shapes and such.
Thus I have developed an in-browser application that connects to my Magic server. Its basically done, just needs some prettying up. The big question is how to deploy it. Basically, I need a web host that can serve up a basic HTML page and a jar file, as well as access to a Linux machine on which I can run the server, and outside users can connect. Then anyone will be able to browse to the webpage and play games with me.
Cold, drinks with cherries, work drama, and code have combined to make this a crazy January. And now, I have posted on it. See you all in February!
Posted by Moore at January 30, 2009 08:42 AM