Working On My Legacy Code

A few years ago I started a project called the English To Korean Forum. I thought it would be a good learning experience, and at the end, I'd have a useful application for myself.

I don't remember why, but I eventually stopped working on it. The application somewhat worked, but it didn't have all of the features that I dreamt it could have.

That is the fate of many projects. Started, but not completed. Hoped for, but not fulfilled.

Last weekend, I had an urge to work on that old application again. I opened the folder with the code with some trepidation. Surprisingly, the code wasn't so bad. After reviewing the README, I was quickly able to start making enhancements again. There were some things that I wasn't doing back then like using a Makefile or writing unit tests, but the code was relatively comprehensible.

So, last weekend, I found out that working on my own legacy code wasn't that bad.

Stop Poking Me

I've been working on a home renovation project, which has been hard. It is tiring for a lot of reasons, most of which I won't go into. The one thing I'll mention is that I have to deal with a lot more email and texts throughout the day than I am used to. This communication is necessary, so I have no choice, but to deal with it.

As I deal with this new influx of communication, I realized I am getting a lot of other unsolicted email. This unsolicted email causes a lot of false alarms as I look for email that I actually care about.

So, over the weekend, I did some things to reduce the noise and save myself some time.

Unsubscribe from as many emails as possible

I went through my email trash, and found as many auto-emailers that I could find. For each, I unsubscribed. It usually required just a click or two for each auto-emailer: not too bad.

Turn Facebook notifications off

I turned off all notifications from Facebook. I tried to just reduce it last week, but I was still getting 'pokes' and other completely irrelevant notifications. So I turned it all off. I don't want to be a complete insensitive recluse, so I replaced it with a new IFTTT rule that sends me an email once a week saying "Check your facebook". I figure checking facebook at most once a week will be more than enough.

Changed to firefox

Finally, I've noticed that the Chrome browser on my Android phone and my mac computer has been very slow. I haven't measure it, so this is completely subjective and ancedotal. Over the last weekend, I have been using Firefox on all of my devices, and it definitely 'feels' faster. I'm switching for now, and hoping that it continues to work better.

Last Man On Earth Review

I eagerly awaited and eventually watched episodes 1-3 of the Last Man on Earth.

I expected it to be funny, and it had some funny parts. But overall, I am totally disappointed.

I had hoped that this would be a show about ingenuity, perseverence, failures and triumphs. Instead, after three episodes, it's more like a romantic comedy. Who would have guessed that the Last Man on Earth would find himself in a love triangle?

At any rate, here is what I hoped the show would look like. The last man on earth is a regular dude with no special skills. He finds himself alone but surrounded by modern technology around him. Unfortunately, without someone maintaining things, he can't just depend on anything just working. So, he has to learn how all of the infrastructure of modern day civilization works. Hijinks can still ensue as he burns down a power plant or blows out an entire city grid. But with all of these defeats, his eventual technological triumphs will be even sweeter.

Is that a boring show? I don't know. I do know that if the show were more Survivorman and less Friends, then I'd definitely be tuning in for episode 4.

Your Life's Work

Everyday you are working on your life's work.

And your life's work doth not wait. Whether you are aware of it or not, you are contributing to your life's work now. It's a sobering truth.

Whether you are building something new, learning about functional programming or browsing social media, it is all part of your life's work.

The trick is, some things seem to accumulate whereas others just evaporate.

As programmers (and humans in general) we have a chance to build things of substance. I hope my life's work amounts to something of great substance.

How to pick someone up at JFK airport

I had to pick up my mom from an international flight arriving at JFK airport in New York. For future reference, here are the steps that you should take to do this with the least stress possible.

1. Before the flight, tell the person you are picking up to call you when they land.
2. Drive to the airport, arriving at about the same time the flight is supposed to land.
3. Go to the cell phone parking lot. This is just an empty parking lot that you can wait in.
4. From the cell phone parking lot drive to the terminal where your passenger will arrive. Pick out a landmark where you can tell your passenger to go to, like "Passenger Pickup Area C". This is just a test run (since your passenger has not actually called yet).
5. Go back to the cell phone parking lot. Read a book, listen to music, relax and wait.
6. When your friend calls you, tell them to call one more time after they have gotten through customs and picked up their bags.
7. When they call, tell them to go to the spot you already checked out, like "Passenger Pick Up C".
8. Pick them up and go home.