Beginning a new life
A new job, a new place to live, and, starting Monday, a new life! I am now a proud Software Engineer at TellMe Networks, which works on linking telephones to Internet services so you can access things like stocks, news, and traffic reports using a regular telephone instead of an Internet connection. The unique thing about their products is that they use a voice interface, so you have to speak to navigate around their menus. I have Tingting to thank for helping me introduce me to her friends, too. I can't wait to start work this coming Monday!
I also am almost moved out to Mountain View, which is arguably the heart of Silicon Valley. It's exciting to know that the Mozilla Foundation is down the street from me, TellMe is a short walk away, and that companies like Google and SGI are nearby. The thing is, it's hard to get around without a car since this place was built in a Southern California-like suburban sprawl. I spent a good deal of walking around yesterday trying to find a bookstore, but all the bookstores here are too small, too old, and a 20-minute walk away. The buses pass by every half hour. Here, the car is king. :( read more→
This past weekend, I helped Carolen get her life organized. We spent, oh, six or more hours poring over paper planners and 
The Missing Sync is a great piece of software for synchronizing Palm devices to the Mac. In fact, it's the only decent software for Mac synchronization. However, its interface is clumsy through excessive display of information that is either redundant or useless for the user's needs. For our case study, let's take a look at the synchronization progress bar. 