Wasted time

In the ideal world, programming looks something like this:

Go to my desk. 

Tap on the keyboard to wake up my computer. 

Write code. 

Save and commit. 

Push code out to the world. 

Today wasn't one of those days. 

My work day was lost to meetings.  I listened to others debate the future of our product.  In the end, I wasn't even sure what the debate was over; thus, there wasn't a good resolution.  It was a waste of time. 

I then got home where I wanted to work on my Android app.  Since this is a one man hobby project, there were no meetings to attend.  I've been working on this for the last few days, so I had a good idea of what I wanted to complete today.  However, for some reason, when I plugged my phone into my computer, there was no connection.  I finally figured out that the usb cord just stopped working.  Not sure what happened there. 

To summarize, during the day, I didn't have time to write code because humans/coworkers couldn't come to an agreement quickly.  At night, I couldn't work because I couldn't connect my laptop to my phone.

Every day I wake up and hope to be productive.  Some days, like today, things arise which reduce your productivity to 0.  That's it. 

Ready Player One

I just finished reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (recommended by the guys from Programming Throwdown).


I don't consider myself a big science fiction fan, but I enjoyed this one.  One of the reviewers of this book said that it is a cross between the Matrix and Harry Potter, which is an apt description.  It doesn't require advanced science or programming knowledge.

The premise of the story is as follows.  There is a contest in a virtual reality world/game with a humungous prize.  The game depends on playing video games and amassing trivial knowledge from the 1980s.

As always, different people will enjoy and dislike different parts of the book.

The thing I liked most was the idea of working hard and preparing.  The contest was unpredictable, so the contestants spent all their waking hours learning and practicing anything they could get their hands on.  Those who prepared the hardest and smartest did the best.

If you are looking for a feel-good book that anyone could read, I'd highly recommend this one.