Class 1 - Intro to Android

I finally found the classroom. Taped across the door was a plain white paper sheet with the word "Android" typed in small black font.

The class started at 9:00 am. I glanced at my phone's clock and reminiscent of my college days, I arrived 40 minutes late. Punctuality was never one of my strengths. As I entered the room, I was relieved to see that the class was still in the middle of introductions.

The course itself is a quick introduction to the mobile platform Android, an open source project popularly used in many of today's "smart phones". It attracted the crowd that you would typically expect when you hear terms like 'modified Linux kernels' or 'debugging'. With the exception of a 13 year old programming prodigy, the class was predominately middle aged software engineers working with big technology companies.

One of my concerns with the class is whether I can keep up; I haven't really programmed in years and the course recommended that I know Java. Also as pitiful as it sounds, I'm really hoping to make some new friends! (I feel like I'm in high school again hoping people will like me) I dread working alone, but I'm also really picky about the people that I spend my time with. I'd love to find someone that's on the same wavelength, that I can code with and bounce ideas off of.

Today we setup our programming environments. It's a tedious setup process. We did the following:

• Download and install the latest Sun Java Release
• Download and install the Eclipse Integrated Development Environment with the Android Development Tools plugin
• Download and install Android Software Development Kit (SDK)

:)

<3

Mix CD

Had a fun time making a mixed cd for someone. Here's the song list with some of my comments in italics.

1.) 'Little Boxes' song by Death Cab for Cutie (Intro from Weeds)

I can't believe Malvina Reynolds made this in 1962 and how the social commentary is still (or even more) relevant in 2010. The TV show 'Weeds' did a lot of variations on this song and while there's better covers, I think Death Cab's version really changed the song into their style.

2.) 'Single Ladies' cover by Pomplamoose from their 'Tribute to Famouse People' album

Pomplamoose actually modifies part of the song and sings "Don't make me sing this part of the song, the lyrics are so bad, so I'm gonna skip ahead to the Single Ladies part instead". I like this version more than Beyonce's.

3.) 'My Freeze Ray' by Neil Patrick Harris from the 'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog' soundtrack

Neil Patrick Harris + Sing Along = Awesome.

4.) 'Home' by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes

Right on fellow hippies! "Home is wherever I'm with you"

5.) 'The World at Large' by Modest Mouse from their 'Good News for People Who Love Bad News' album

6.) 'Marching Bands of Manhattan' by Death Cab for Cutie

7.) 'Californication' by Red Hot Chili Peppers

Thought this was a witty line, "Cobain can you hear the Spears singing station to station"

8.) 'Lawyers, Guns and Money' by Warren Zevon

9.) 'Fake Plastic Trees' by Radiohead

10.) 'Angel' by Jack Johnson

I listened to this song after a bad breakup and it gave me hope. "She gives me presents with her presence alone" I know it may sound a little cheesy, but it sounds more like genuine love.

11.) 'Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I want' by The Smiths

12.) 'Might Have Ben Hur' by Switchfoot

Used to listen to this song when I had my first crush on a girl back during middle school

13.) 'Streets of Philadelphia' by Bruce Springsteen

14.) 'Heart of Gold' by Neil Young

15.) 'Neon Bible' by Arcade Fire

16.) 'Be Yourself' by Audioslave

Like the message that we could only be ourselves, including our mistakes. Also has rad effects on the guitar.

17.) 'The Authority Song' by Jimmy Eat World

Used to listen to Jimmy Eat World during college and it brought back good memories.

18.) 'I'd Rather Dance with You' by Kings of Convenience

19.) 'Moondance' by Van Morrison

They don't make music like they used to. Probably one of my top songs that I'd love to hear live.

20.) 'I'm Hoping You'll Stay Around' by Flight of the Conchords

Girlfriends from the Past: "He doesn't cook or clean, he's not good boyfriend material...."

Boyfriend: "Oooooh, we can eat cereal"

Heard it somewhere...

Old men speak about what they did, young men speak about what they're currently doing, and foolish men speak about what they're going to do.

HTML5

http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/

Arcade Fire's 'interactive' music video; content that changes based on your hometown (location). Neat.

Soccer

Since we lost a majority of our soccer players (and I'm not sure where I'll be in the next few months), our co-ed soccer team didn't attempt a third season at the YMCA. Instead, I started looking online for random pickup games. Yesterday was my first pickup soccer game and there were striking differences from the organized games that I've grown accustomed to. Instead of a sport ladened by nugatory rules and regulations, it felt like futbol the way it was meant to be played.

On Monday night, a friend and I went to the designated spot and approached a motley group, asking if it was the same meetup group that posted online. A terse "Yes" was all that was said from one of the players.

The group of random people consisted of all age groups, genders, and ability. They gathered for the sole purpose of playing a good game; there were no introductions of names, rules, or even a single referee. Almost instinctively, teams formed with dark shirts vs. light shirts and the game began instantly.

What I found most interesting was that there were no limits on 'ball touches' based on gender. In most of my past co-ed games, guys were usually limited to three to four 'touches' of the ball before someone else needed to touch the ball. This forced limited ball control with guys while girls had unlimited touches. The rule implied that all guys were more proficient than all girls. I found it to be an antiquated concept that could easily be seen by certain girls who could dribble endlessly around talented guy players.

It felt incredible playing without the imposed handicap. It was mentally and physically rewarding in that I didn't have to count each touch. If a ball came high, I wouldn't have to worry about using my chest to stop the ball (first touch), kneeing the ball to gain control (second touch), and begin dribbling (third touch), before I needed to pass the ball (fourth touch). Throughout the night, I was able to use my speed to catch up to attackers or to pass defenders, and I had unlimited touches to control the ball!

For the majority of the game, I played defense with a random stranger that happened to hang out back with me. With no goalie, we were able to defend with 2 defenders versus 2-5 attackers. Although I had never met this person before, we were able to read each other's moves and cohesively defend against the odds. Without a word, one of us would cut off the pass while the other would rush the ball. For the first hour, they hadn't scored at all while we scored over 3 goals.

It was bizarre how few words were communicated throughout the night. There were a few shouts of "Man on", "You have help on your back", or "Across". It was just pure soccer. We started playing with sunlight and left at night, with cars flashing their high beams onto the otherwise unlit field.

Everyone played clean and we finally called it a night (promptly after someone was accidentally kicked from the lack of visibility). We all exchanged concise "good game" goodbyes and left as quickly as the game had started.

Ethical Relativism

Currently studying at a local coffee shop (LeStats) and stumbled onto some text regarding ethical relativism by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. He states that judging a particular action is dependent on the circumstances of the time and culture in which it occurs.

It'd be interesting to juxtapose 'fundamental' precepts across different cultures. How do Western ideas of sexism, racism, and genocide compare to Eastern? It's ironic how this human concoction of morality has no absolute right or wrong.