Always there are three: button A, button B, and button C.
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The RasterWeb! Report for 2011
Two-Thousand-Eleven was a banner year for RasterWeb!. We published a total of 253 blog posts, and as you can see from the pretty chart, we were fairly consistent, with March and May being the standout months. The rise in March was due to another successful RPM Challenge which I did in February, and then released all the songs in March. May’s activity was due to me joining in for Processing Month, and posting a lot of sketches.
Compared to 2010, we had 35 more posts. But you don’t care about quantity, you care about quality! Were the posts better in 2011? I don’t know, that’s for you to decide. I did however, have a few really popular posts, mostly thanks to Make Magazine, who featured a number of my posts including: Arduino-Controlled CheerLight, Zen Button, DIY Panorama Rig, Make A Sketch Draws With Processing, and the super-popular DIY Photobooth Rig with Custom Button.
Speaking of buttons, my button posts got a lot of attention/traffic from Sparkbooth and from the Teensy Project page. In fact, the post probably has more comments than any other I’ve written. I’ve also got emails from a lot of people who bought a Teensy and then got totally lost trying to build a button. I helped as many people as I could. Which brings us to…
Why I continue this blog…
It’s safe to say that one of the main reasons I started blogging had to do with wanting to give something back, or as the kids say, to “share” things. When I started using the Internet in the mid-1990s, I learned a lot, and at some point I decided that I wanted to share my knowledge as well, so that’s what I did. I didn’t get into it for the money (there was none back then) but for the purpose of putting things out there that would help other people, the same way other people helped me. Sure, I publish a lot of, um, weird stuff that has nothing to do with helping people, but hey, they can’t all be winners.
So with my latest adventures in making, I’ve started telling people that sharing about making is just as important as making. I believe that, and I know that Make Magazine believes that, and Instructables believes that, and Adafruit believes that. It inspires others to make things, and do things, and that’s a good thing.
If I’ve inspired you, that makes me happy… and if you’ve inspired me, I thank you. Let’s keep it up!
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Review: Windows 7
Since there will be a point in the future when I upgrade all my Macs to Lion, I figured I should start getting ready, and in order to get ready, I usually need to upgrade my virtualization software. I use VMWare Fusion as well as Parallels Desktop on my Macs. My main use of Windows is for browser testing, though now that I spend time at the Milwaukee Makerspace I also use a few Windows-only applications like CamBam.
My VMs were all running Windows XP, so I figured that it was time to move up to Windows 7, and my old pal Larry Clarkin suggested that I’d like it much better than Windows XP. So in the interest of science (?) I figured I’d review Windows 7.
(Note: This review will be heavily biased against Windows, because I don’t like Windows.)
OK, here’s the deal: I don’t like Windows.
Windows is ugly.
Maybe the interface is customizable, maybe you can skin it, or theme it, or whatever, but I find the default user interface just plain ugly. I’m a Mac user, and I’ve gotten used to a good looking operating system. I’m a Linux user, but I tend to use the command line mostly, but even when I did use Linux on the desktop, it looked better than Windows.
Windows isn’t UNIX.
I mean, Linux isn’t UNIX, but it’s close. Mac OS X is UNIX, or at least it’s very close to being UNIX, depending on who you ask. Windows 7 isn’t UNIX, and I find that annoying. 90% of the time I’m using a Mac I’ve got iTerm running, and I either using it on the local machine, or ssh’d into another Mac or a Linux server.
Windows has little value to me.
As I said, my primary use of Windows has been for browser testing. Specifically, Internet Explorer testing. So pretty much the only reason I used Windows was to test 2 or 3 different versions of the worst browser out there, which, oddly enough, a lot of people used. (Luckily that’s changed.)
Now that I need to use Windows-only software like CamBam, I may end up using Windows 7 more than I used Windows XP, but it’s still just a matter of being forced to use Windows because there isn’t a Mac OS X version of a specific application. There is no joy in Mudville.
So ultimately, Windows 7 may be awesome if you’re a Windows user, but as a long time non-Windows user, it doesn’t entice me, and my primary use is in situations where I can’t use Mac OS X. But remember, this is just my opinion, and my point of view. I know dozens of people use Windows every day and tolerate it, and some even enjoy it. Kudos to them!
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Goals for 2011: ReCap
I had 3 goals for 2011, which I stated a year ago in this post. I figured it was worth a look back at how I did.
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Try Harder
I always try, and the effort varies, but how did I do in 2011? I don’t know if there’s a way to gauge such things, but I felt like in some of the things I do, I definitely tried harder. This one was probably a bit nebulous, but if pressed then I’ll definitely say yes, I did try harder, and in some ways, I definitely did better. Which brings us to…
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Do Better
There are specific things I can think of that I did better in 2011. From personal to work related things, even if some of them were small victories, I felt like I did better. I made some mistakes in 2010 that I didn’t repeat in 2011. That’s good! Making mistakes once is fine, in fact, it’s how you learn, but to keep making the same mistakes over and over, well… that’s not a good thing.
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Make Money
I made (some) more money! Again, this was not a greed motivated goal, but more of a comfort/cushion goal. I managed to pay off 3 of my debts in 2011, which is great. I’ve spent the last lustrum trying to pay off some of the debt I’ve fallen into, and while there’s still much to deal with, I’ve got some of it taken care of. Oh, and when you see me eating peanut butter sandwhiches at my desk, and driving a car that is (literally) falling to pieces, just know that it’s because instead of going deeper into debt, I’m working hard to get out of it.
Overall I think stating these goals was a good thing, and probably should have checked in on them part way through the year (but I didn’t because, um…) Anyway, I’m going to stick with these goals again for 2012, and probably every year. I have a few other goals, but I’ll save those for another post. Happy New Year, folks!
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Dana is right.
This year for Christmas I got my wife the one thing every wife wants… an admission that she is right.
But not just any admission that she is right, but a wooden plaque with the words “Dana is right” laser etched into it.
I made it a few weeks ago at Milwaukee Makerspace on the Laser Cutter we have there.
So whether it’s an argument discussion about the name of some actor, what we should have for dinner, or whose car we should take, she can just tell me, and point to the sign. What could be easier!
(I’ve already been told I may need to make one that says “Doctor Prodoehl is right” that she can take to school and put on her desk. It should make dealing with students easier. Also, I may be able to go into business making these for all my friend’s wives. Although doing so could negatively affect the number of friends I have.)