The back-story on that one was I had a dual-booting solution going for a while (you might read my earlier posts to find out more about that adventure). Unfortunately, my Vista set up went down a long time ago after I tried to install SP1. Even more unfortunately, I didn't have the time to stop and fix it because it was during the busier part of first semester. So I've been running entirely on 15 GBs worth of Ubuntu. So yeah, I need to fix this. Anyway, moving on...
Run for the Homeless
This went really well! On Sunday, April 19th, we had just over 200 runners and walkers come out and show their support for People's City Mission and the struggle against homelessness. I was so relieved to see such a good turnout, and it reminded me how wonderful it is to work with people who have their stuff together. Behind the scenes, I think we overcame quite a bit to make this come off. For a first effort, the planning, logistics, recruiting, and turnout came together beautifully.
Right now, things are looking like they'll be doing this event again next year. Sadly, I won't be around to see it. Hopefully my interactions with other kids have inspired them to commit to helping out this time next year. It would be even more wonderful if some people were inspired to help beyond just an afternoon's worth of running.
I had a thought along these lines the other day. I was thinking about our fund raising goals and how much revenue we actually did generate. I thought about the turnout and how I would have liked it to be better. And then I thought about this:
From among the approximately 250 or so people that came out that day, some had a better awareness about the condition of homelessness in Lincoln. From that subset, perhaps some of them began to see how they could contribute and do something about it. Even fewer still may feel accountable to that knowledge and would become passionate about serving their community. If even 5 people came out of this event and committed to volunteering on a regular basis, I would be thrilled and would see it as a victory worth more than any revenue we could generate.
I'll see if I can get some pictures up on this site, but I will be working on putting them up on the Mission's site for sure. Feel free to check them out when they're up.
PCM Change Manager
I've mentioned once or twice that I've been working on a web application that would help the people here at the Mission organize the changes made to the web site. I'm realizing it is more of a specialized project management system where the project is hard coded to be web site maintenance. Hopefully, the differentiating value can be in the in-application file editor that I hope to hook up to the publishing process. I have an idea of how I can make that work, but I need to get the interface done first.
That has been something I've found frustrating about Grails so far. I love the MVC methodology, and I really enjoyed setting things up in Grails. I've been asking myself lately if building from the domain up is the right way to go. I'm realizing now that in doing so, I haven't really made many design considerations regarding the interface or flow through the site. This is a stark contrast to the design pattern we used in our HCI class. In this methodology, we designed from the interface down. We used personas, user tests, and even paper mock-ups and prototypes to get an understanding of how the user would use the application and designed from there. Perhaps, next time I will look for some kind of happy medium between the two.
I don't think the "PCM Change Manager" (I'll worry about catchy names later) is too far off from being done. I just need to figure out my hardware setup now and figure out how I can deploy it before I take off!
"Graduamation!"
So I'm about to 'graduamate'--or graduate, as it's more commonly known--and I'm pretty excited. I picked up my cap and gown yesterday and coughed up some money to become a proud member of the Huskers Alumni Association. I even got a pin! Word.
In all seriousness though, I'm pretty excited for this to happen. I've loved school and the opportunity to expand my mind, but I'm even more excited to get out and do some work! I think the idea of capitalizing on all the potential my professors and other people involved in my college career have tried to grow in me is thrilling. Beyond that, I'm excited to not have homework and actually enjoy my free time. In these last few weeks, any free time I've had has been sapped of it's benefits because I keep thinking about all the work I'm not doing. It is growing tiresome. Even sleep is becoming a mess. Last night I woke up at 2:30 am thinking I had to go to work. I wake up with my heart racing sometimes ready to start working on things. On a weird note, I haven't been woken up by my alarm in weeks. I seem to always wake up before it and wonder if the clock on my phone is wrong.
So yeah. I'm excited to get out of here. :)
On a happer note, I'll be looking for an apartment in Seattle soon, and then I can get a kitchen together and start making my own food! Selleck Cafeteria, you've been wonderful (read, "free"), but I can only stand the lack of variety for so long. It's time to move on.
I think that's all I'll put for now. I've been running across a lot of project and task management applications on the Internet lately, and I think I'd like to draw some comparisons among them. I think this is a really cool area for software, and I've found a few promising players. Maybe when I find some time...
Cheers!
By the way, the coffee I'm drinking right now is just wonderful. I have no idea what it is, but it just warms my soul because of how good it tastes. Thank God human beings are wired to take pleasure in such simple things.
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