3 years job anniversary

Today is my 3 year anniversary of working in my current job. The company, that I went to work for, was 3 times smaller than it is now. The office in Kaunas occupied only one floor of two big rooms. Now it occupies 4 floors of entire building and there is a new office in Vilnius as well. Surely, the company has grown more than I did in those 3 years. I worked on bigger projects. I even learned totally new technologies that I never dreamed of (ok, they were there, but I couldn't imagine myself of using them someday). Many things, that I did experience, happened because I met new people in this company. It doesn't mean that I wouldn't have experienced them if I didn't come to work here - probably, I would have, only the path would have been different.
But I do feel a lot more confident at my work now than I did 3 years ago. Sometimes this confidence and comfort is frightening - we tend to become lazy and sleepy. I hope I have new challenges coming my way soon.

Autumn is here

You notice that autumn has started when you put on the socks in the morning and find a mist on your car's windshield. And although it looks like a summer on the days when it's not raining, you know that it's not anymore. Soon the green trees will lit up with yellow, orange and red leaves - a final show before getting rid of them. This colorful fiesta is the main reason why autumn is my favorite season. Not because of all-soaking rains washing off the colors from the nature and freezing gusts of wind tearing off every little leaf. There is some poetry and beauty in this destructing(and depressing) process, but you wouldn't stand it for long.
This year autumn was very punctual! On the first days of September it switched off all the heat and turned on the curtains of rain (while the nature was begging for it all August!). And just like that I started looking for my long-sleeve clothes, sweaters, socks and scarfs. This week I even took out shoes which are more suitable for this kind of weather. But besides these small inconveniences, the sunsets are still spectacular, and you don't have to wait for them too long. And soon I'll manage to get up with a sunrise - let's admit, I won't start getting up earlier, only the sunrises will adjust to me.
As a kid, I had more reasons to hate autumn (because of the school), but I still didn't. And now tt just gives me more reasons to take out my camera.

Me, I and my bike

When I first set my eyes on my bike, it caught my attention by it's orange tan skin of bicycle kind. It's been almost ten years of our relationship, when I bought him into my slavery after I received my first and last well-paid freelance job. But with the time the passion between us died out, only a few dates that were left every year...
I bought some presents to my bike yesterday. I gave to it - a bicycle computer, a backseat, a kick-stand and  holster for water bottle! I decorated it's wheel spokes with reflectors, mounted a back-seat bag, filled with my stuff. I hope to tell you more in 5 or 6 days in best case ( no worst case scenarios there!).

In philosophical mood

What is the capacity of heart? I don't know, but I'm sure it can explode from negative emotions. But how many good ones it can contain? I would like to believe that this number is close to infinity, but fortunatelly there are less people on Earth than that. I would like to believe that all the good ones that I've met or will meet - there will be enough space for all of them in my heart. I do wish I had an elastic heart for that. And I can only hope that I will manage to keep all the good memories in my head too.
But we don't know the reasons why one or another person comes into our lifes. We don't even know if he/she will stay forever there. We only can hope that it will take a while. But then it turns out, their role wasn't the main one in your life. It might hurt a little bit, but it's better to think about the changes they brought in to your life: have you learned anything from them, have they inspired you. Simply, tt was impossible for them to stay in your gravity force field, they had the gravity of their own. They moved on.
It's better to think about all those people that you meet as your travel mates. You are travelling with a train, sitting in a compartment. And the number of passengers that this compartment can contain is limited. Some passengers enter it, some leave. Some stay there very shortly, and others sit there for a while. You sit and talk to them. You don't know which ones will stay with you until you reach your final destination. You only get to know that once you get there. But final destination can't be your goal (sure, if this was not a life as a train comparison example, then it could be). It's the passengers that you talk to and landscapes that you see through the window - these are the most important aspect of train ride.

Take a deep breath for a calmness and silence that any small town is full of. All sunken in copper leaves and fog. Almost innocent picture of people who seem to live as calmly and silent as the town is. Protected by peaceful shell called province. Delusively orderly and clean small streets where nothing ever happens.
After a while you feel trapped and being drawn in - I can't otherwise explain the wish to find reasons to escape this idyll. Too calm for me.

getting old

Seems like I've been really busy and a bit lazy with this blog. No, I didn't forget.
"So, what's new?" one may ask. Well...
I've been "playing a photographer" for a couple of weeks with a "cheap" dslr and kit lenses(it's not that bad as it's nikon's). Dslr was not that cheap, actually, but a lot cheaper than those for professionals. Playing a photographer is not that easy when you want to take pictures of not only architecture or nature. Problem is, I'm not a paparazzi-type of person which dares to shoot everyone. And not so many volunteers I can find now. But besides all those moral barriers I have to overcome, I really do like 10 Mb sized pictures (though my hard drive doesn't like that).
According to death clock, I'm gonna die at 79. And next week there will be about 2/3 of that time left to live. To be honest, I don't believe those internet calculators and don't really count my left seconds to live(not because too much of them left). On the other hand I'm turning 25, and that number scares me. Of course, those who are 30 or more may are laughing at me now. I know, I would be laughing too. It seems like it's time to start being serious. Someday, I'll have to. I don't have plans for 5 years a head. All I have is only dreams and ideas and no knowledge when they'll come true. And I don't want to start living by a tight schedule 24 hours. I don't say that my life is that chaotic and unpredictable. Probably, it's is too much calm. And that round number is reminding me - yes, you are really getting serious (though, I won't admit it). Yes, it's time to do something crazy!

orange ball religion

Basketball is a religion in Lithuania. And missing religion's rituals is not the best behavior. But what to do if you can't take part because of more serious reasons???
I got 32" tv set, 3 lcds, 1 laptop and super slow internet. I can watch 3 tv channels, but none of them airs basketball matches. Best thing I can do is "watch" basketball match on internet in written form and observe the score. But this is even worse than reading about the fact in the newspaper - here you can skip all the details and just read the result. While "watching" the match on internet is as reading a very long article where you can't skip to the end and find out the result. No drama, no emotions.
Just like sitting behind the arena door and waiting while someone comes out and tells the score.

Summary for this week

I had 2 Mondays and 2 Fridays this week. Also, there was 2 weekends. One was Saturday and Sunday type, other one was Wednesday type. (For those who can't figure out what I'm talking about, there was a national holiday in the middle of the week).

Summer heat is killing everyone for sure.

Friends have been finally invited to take a look at our "new" living place.

Today is my boyfriend's birthday ranging from family-type celebration to strategy-board-gaming with friends. Quite ok birthday. But what to give as a present for a gamer, who has just upgraded his computer?

Current soundtrack: GITS (Ghost in the shell) soundtrack.

Promise: start to reading books I borrowed.

Coding pleasure

Have you ever experienced satisfaction while coding? Maybe concrete language makes you feel that way when you code using it? Well, one should say: "Of course, I am programmer, any kind of coding makes me feel that" or something similar. That might be true. In rare cases. But usually, some languages are closer to the heart than others, and some solutions make your hair stand, while others are real blessing to code. And that's true because:
1. not all design of software is great
2. everyone has a different taste
If to talk about taste, for example, I enjoy coding Java and not that much C++. Probably it's a case of subconsciousness or psychological factor based on my experiences, but I can't really tell why I like one more than other. I just do.
The funniest thing is that, I earn my bread and butter(hopefully that one too) coding C++. Irony of fate, one should say. Probably. But for those who think how much I "not enjoy" my work and how little interest there is for me in my job, I have to say this I don't hate C++. I try to think about tasks by passing this language level. It's not that language that is enjoying in this case, it's the task you have to accomplish. There is always a part of boring things in it, and a part of interesting things. If you want it to look boring and uninteresting, then it becomes so. And if you try to find something that "drives" you and gives you satisfaction, then it is too. That's my source of motivation. I think.
But this post is a bit off topic now. There is other kind of programming languages. That makes you experience quite nice feelings while using it(don't think anything erotic there). Just take a look at lolcode. Before that, you should know what lol, pwnd, btw, kthx and etc is. It is advisable to get to know to such "terminology" before exploring lolcode. I'd enjoy using this language. Even in projects which are not so great. Extra portion of vitamin c is always welcome.

Minor blackout

Imagine a day without electricity. It doesn't have to be a major blackout, just a minor failure of electric circuit preventing you from using all electric household stuff and ... your computer. I started to realize that this is going to come true after electricity wiring started to sparkle and make some scary noise (after i tried to turn on my laptop). Well, usually orderly wiring doesn't start to act like that for sure, but it's a long story why it is out of this orderly state.
So, what to do all day without any electric device? In summer(when the weather is nice) probably it's not a big problem - it's a gift of fate to come out and look at the sun and make sure there is no nuclear war outside. Or you can act like a tourist which came to this town and try to see all the interesting stuff(it's funny but usually people don't know and haven't seen all the sightseeings of the town they live in).
Probably, a day without electricity is not enough to die of boredom or hunger for computers. If you are not really that geek or computer dependent and a social person(meaning you have at least person you communicate not with a help of computer), this is not a problem for one day, maybe two.
But what about electricity disappearing for a longer period of time? This makes us people working with computers especially vulnerable: both psychologically and socially. There is no use of software developer if there is no electricity, right? You can't write applications on paper and try to compile them in that format...(though I remember in first course we were writing programming tests on paper(as the code)).
Luckily, that vision (that one about electricity disappearing for longer time) not going to happen (probably). There is just a small chance of nuclear war or alien attack to happen (really).

Monday mix

It's been a week since I started working at new place, but I'm not sure if I can make any conclusions during that short period of time. But still:
- Does it seem harder? Yes, but that's what I wanted (how do they call those people?)
- Do I miss old place? Yes, but not that much as first days (Sorry, guys...). I still remember everyone, but it's not that hopelessly sad anymore. Probably, it will be impossible to forget, as we have soccer game scheduled every Tuesday ( if(!rain) && (!storm)).

My mind is confused with 3 different version control systems: VSS(Visual source safe), CVS and SVN. Definitely there is no point is using them all, but there are cases when one has advantage against another version control system. Not in my opinion, but to some smart folks out there in internet, VSS is loosing very much vs.CVS . although the difference between CVS and SVN is not that big. And the experience using either of these really depends on tools You use, even very good version control system with bad tools can be annoying, but some "features" can't be fixed even with the best tools. And it's hard to say if I have my personal favorite: with VSS I have most client-side experience, with SVN I have most administrating experience and with CVS I have tried lots of GUI 's until I ended up using it with command-line arguments.

One friend asked me to setup or build a DKP system. Seems like nothing worthy to setup. Probably I'll train my cakePHP skills baking a new one(for impatient ones, real beauty of baking php sites starts there).

Other important news: The Earth is about 5 cm's smaller.

ideas on social software

The psychosis for social content on the internet is gaining its acceleration. Blogs, social networks, portals and other means for building virtual relationships. Are there so many lonely people sitting in front of computers? Or are there other reasons that drive people to build as many virtual links as possible? Of course, distance looses its meaning in internet. Even the perception of time changes - you can travel back in history (as back as internet allows).
What I'm more interested in is what are the possibilities of social content: what forms it can gain and what benefits it can bring to user? Now it seems that everything is tried out: blogging, linking, digging, tagging, feeding and it's impossible to invent something new, except the synthesis of all these techniques. I also wonder, are these things being created because of demand and need for such services or for profit. Ok, one may say, that everything is for profit nowadays, but probably I'm one those few people who think, that things can be done for the sake of idea. Sure, it doesn't pay bills, but it gives satisfaction, with which you can go and do not so pleasant job to stay alive (that idea a bit contradicts my personal beliefs, but it is acceptable in case it's impossible to combine ideas(and satisfaction) with job).
And for the final idea, what is the price of being a part of social-virtual network? Easy guess - privacy and anonymousness, but isn't it a bit too pricey? Probably, everyone has a personal scale for paying what he gets there.

Hallucinating ideas

What does it take to start IT project? Ideas or money? Ideas and money? Or something else? There might be many opinions about this, and probably all of them would have their pros and cons. In my opinion, all you need to start an IT project is an idea and a strong belief that you can accomplish it. Well, only believing is not enough, there some actions have to be taken depending on if you have money or not. Do it yourself or hire someone else to do it. Even if I had loads of money, I would choose the first one - that way one can experience the joy of creating something (not for everyone that feeling is needed, and not everyone know how to code).
Even if you are a very good manager, one can't sell anything, at least not for everyone. Smart people won't buy crap unless they are fooled(and it's hard to fool smart people) or bound with other obligations. The idea doesn't have to be unique. However with unique idea it's more chances to draw attention.
One may say, that's very abstract thoughts. And one will be right. Think of it as an introduction or theoretical part of this blog entry. That's what we were doing instead of sleeping in tents before trip with kayaks - hallucinating ... generating ideas, which could draw an attention as an IT project.
First, we decided that probably we won't need to go world wide - of course, the temptation may be big, but it's harder to come up with unique solution for whole world, than for a region or country.
Then we tried to name some great online ideas and services, that somehow managed to attract people. My personal top 3 would be:
1. Google, but it's no point in creating "another google" and even if it were (some still may think so, I can argue, but I won't), I'd rather go work for Google, than compete with it. Not because of I couldn't manage to compete (it's not 100% I could manage), but because of respect to this company. If I'd to create a company one day, many things would be like in Google - but it's not the same as competing with it.
2. Skype. We argued if this solution was really unique when it appeared on the marked. Probably not. Before that, there was ICQ, Yahoo messenger and others with voice capability, but what did Skype brought to the IT world, that made it so popular?
3. And the third on the list is www.hallmark.com. It's totally different from the first 2: first one is a company with ideas, second is a software and hallmark is a service. I like the way it displays the information - it's really an art and what experience it brings to customers: always fun, always positive emotions. I especially like those hoops and yoyo e-cards.
But does our region needs another Google or Skype? Probably there would be place for another local e-card service, but still it's no unique. Not that much.
In this phase we tried to think, what kind of IT services are popular in our country. That was not hard - social networks and virtual relationships - possibility to be what You want to be and can't be in real life, find virtual friends. Not unique, but if you manage to cross this service with something else, you might come up with one.
It's not secret, that people care what their neighbors do. Not less interesting what totally strange people do, how they live, what's their daily routine. Take dozens of webcams, some volunteers to become internet stars and web server with big bandwidth. Build means(like social network) for visitors to communicate with each other and share the ideas about the taken footage. True, it's not unique, but every reality show has something totally different in it.
Another idea was to sell active recreation in Lithuanian village (more concretely at farm) with fun activities like milking a cow, cock the hay, look after and feed the cattle, etc. Less civilization as possible except the possibility to blog and capture all adventures spent there. Probably people from same country won't be interesting in this thing, but people from abroad, for whom such tasks seem exotic, might work.
At the last phase, we decided that all this was just a hallucination, as we were not executing those visions. So, probably, every vision is a hallucination first. And I have to admit, that the outcome of this discussion was affected by vine. Who knows what we could have come up to, after drinking something more strong.

what kind of job would it be

One thought topped to my head today - what kind of activity I'd really like to do - a feeling like You made a important move and gonna win right away - when all Your blood pumps to Your head. A constant state of victory. What kind of profession would give such experience? Bungee jumping, playing chess... My short life doesn't help me to name more and those I listed are doubtfully paid well enough (except the winning the championships of chess, which wouldn't be an easy task).

About value of Master Diploma

I got one too.
That may sound a bit puffed up, but it shouldn't. It's not big deal in our country(ayet another small country) to get a Master degree, You don't need much brain for that either. Almost anyone can enter the university (it's harder when You don't have money and brain, but if You have money, no brain is needed) and almost anyone can finish it holding a Bachelor or Master diploma in their hands. You have to be very very lazy if You can't achieve this. Now one may ask, what is the value of this paper, if it really is so easy to get. It's not totally worthless. For example, most subjects, You are forced to study, are a bit outdated and almost every student understands how "important" and "useful" this information is and especially how it can be applied in his work(if to take software development field). At this point, You must have a very strong willpower to study such things.
So, the Master diploma of Informatics is a certificate of willpower. Not bad. Such skills are needed at work, so You can go ahead and show it to Your employer.
They say, that it's the lack of funding which causes such quality of studies. But I don't believe that a better funding would change the situation right away.
Also, they say, that it's the problem in students only, that they don't want to study and broaden their knowledge and are always going the easiest way. Well, one may want to take a shortcut when studying outdated subjects. And at this point, I must say, that not all subjects are outdated, but the lecturers lack the ability to present that actual information to the students. And in very rare cases, the subjects are neither outdated nor the lecturers lack that ability. And You can't remain indifferent when You see an 80-year old professor having so much sparkle in his eyes when he talks about his subject. But as I mentioned it is a very rare case.
The funniest thing is that, if You post some objective guides about studies and subjects in university, the response from the concrete teaching facility may be not so positive. That's were the any possibility to communicate with university fails, it seems they are not willing to know any feedback from students.
I hope that the example I provided is not very common in other countries.

making decisions.

It's funny how a decision which looked the most right one (weighing all pros and cons) - seems so doubtful after it is made. Why one shouldn't go work to a company which is in most aspects better than the one he is currently working at? I could list only one reason: stable environment and relationships with current colleagues - no need to adjust from the beginning, especially when a small work collective serves as the second family - 8 hours per day counts.
One should say, that the feelings one is experiencing at the new place are natural. So, why that little fear, confuse drive your thoughts back to the old place?
It's hard to have a choice. It would be easier to be fired or leave old place due to other reasons than to decide to leave on my own. It's not like I'm afraid to try out new things and take challenges - but some challenges are very hard psychologically - gain one thing, refuse another one, when you don't really want to refuse it (greedy human nature).
That's how the decisions I made for my career drives my crazy past few weeks.