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August archive
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All Hail the Flying Spaghetti Monster!
Posted by on August 24, 2005
Tags: news
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Naples Mindfulness Center
Last night I went to my first Buddhist meditation class in Naples. Anyone who has known me for an extended period of time or has browsed my bookself knows that I am a practicing Buddhist. I've been studying Buddhism for almost four years now. When I decided to take the job at Naples Daily News, I looked into Buddhist groups in Naples and I was saddened to find out that there is very little reputable Buddhist organizations in Naples and the west coast in general.
I found The Naples Community of Mindfulness during my search. They are students of Thich Nhat Hanh, who is a well respected and accomplished Vietnamese Zen Master. Anyone who has browsed Barnes and Nobels' Buddhist section has heard of Thich Nhat Hanh.
The teacher, Fred Eppsteiner, has studied under both Thich Nhat Hanh and Tibetan teachers, which is very comforting to me because I've studied under a Tibetan lineage and I'm completely oblivious of Zen's practices. A Zen/Tibetan teacher would make the transition very nice. He is also a psychotherapist, which will make things very interesting. I like the fact that he has wisdom from both Eastern and Western mind sciences. I'm sure he has much to offer. Unfortunately for me, he is on vacation until the end of September.
Last night, I attended their sunday night meditation class, the class was very nice. The meditation room is styled in the minimalistic Zen style therefore it wasn't as colorful as a Tibetan Gom-pa. I was happy to see a Tibetan thangka of Manjushri, who I've always had an affinity for. The people were very nice and welcoming. I was honestly afraid that I would find to many Gucci-Buddhists in Naples but the people at this class were very genuine praticioners. I'm very excited to experience this new aspect of Buddhism.
Posted by on August 22, 2005
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National Weather Service XML Feed
The national weather service now provides a Current Weather Conditions xml feed. It's really cool.
Posted by on August 19, 2005
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Back to Corporate
To Celebrate my re-enter into Corporate life, I added a link category called "Corporate Fun". This is my request, comment to this posting with all your favorite Corp links, jokes, or what have you.
Posted by on August 12, 2005
Tags: news
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Undocumented Django Wiki
On Monday night before I left for Naples, I installed a Media Wiki for Django. You can find it located here. Feel free to contribute if you have something cool to show everyone.
Posted by on August 11, 2005
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The Neapolitan Sunset
Posted by on August 10, 2005
Tags: avant-garde
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First Day at Naples Daily News
I had to return to Naples Daily News for a meeting with the Corporate folks. I woke up in the morning to find that my wife didn't pack my Khakis. So I was a little annoyed because I would be under dressed. My wife drove me to the NDN IT building and while I was waiting for Rob Curley (my boss) to arrive, I kept noticing that I was the only one wearing jeans. I felt like it was my first day of high school, checking out what everyone is wearing.
The meeting went well. I'm very excited about what is going to be happening with Django and Ellington. What we are going to be doing with the software is really going to show off the two systems.
I had the opportunity to meet Jacob Kaplan-Moss, who is one of the developers working on the Django project at World Online. He's a really cool guy. He gave me an overview of their Ellington system, which blew me away. The simplistic structure of this large system just showed me why I knew that Django was an amazing framework.
Seeing Ellington in action proved to me that I have some big shoes to fill. Well, it's a good thing I have large feet. Seriously, I'm confidently that we're going to whoop some major ass with this stuff. I wish I could go into more detail about what our intentions are but I'm not sure what I'm allowed to say.
Posted by on August 10, 2005
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Left Handers day
I'm moving on Aug 13th which is International Left Hander's day. Being that I'm left handed, that must make it an auspicious day to move. So lefties, celebrate International Left Hander's day by lending a hand and helping me move :)
Posted by on August 5, 2005
Tags: news
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Kayaking
I've been emailing back and forth with my grandfather who has been a kayaker for over 20 years (if not more). He lived on the sea and is a seadog. Currently he lives in the Smoky Moutains kayaking the rivers up there. So, I take that his word is golden when it comes to kayaking. He recomended that I get a Perception Carolina Series 13.5 w/Rudder Kayak. At a whopping $1050 at that site, It's going to be a while before I save for one. Based on all the equipment I've read about, I'm going to have to spend about another $1000.
I'm going to go all out on the safety equipment too. I must get a Marine radio to suppliment my cell phone, flares, flashlight, spare paddle, compass, PFD, etc. It gets expensive quick.
I'm very excited to get started, I'm going to rent a kayak this weekend to see how I like it.
Posted by on August 4, 2005
Tags: news
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The Django Virus
Well it looks like Django is going to be running in some high profile places. With Adrian's announcement that he's going to be working for the Washington Post soon and of course my announcement of me moving to Naples to work for Naples Daily News and therefore Naples Daily New's parent, media giant Scripps. Django is going to have some really impressive things to put on it's resume (take that Ruby on Rails j/k).
Posted by on August 3, 2005
Tags: news
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I'm moving to Naples, Fl...
I am sooo moving to Naples, it's so beautiful there. No really, I'm moving to Naples August 13th.
I was in Naples this weekend interviewing for Naples Daily News. For anyone that knows the history of Django, the code was developed at World Online. The man that was in charge at World Online was a fellow named, Rob Curley. Rob then came down to Naples with the intent to kick ass, and that we will.
I'm the newest member of the Naple Daily News. My wife and I are moving to a beautiful apartment. The apartment complex' grounds looks like a park. There is a huge lake, tons of trees, two tennis courts, two pools, a fitness center and this is the best, access by water to the bay. I'm thinking about getting a couple kayaks so that I can drop then in the river from my apartment. That sounds like lots of fun.
Ok, so I have a new job working with Django, the greatest thing for web development since slice bread. Django is written in Python, which is the greatest thing for programming since slice bread. I'm working for a New Media celebrity. I'm working with some of the best in the field. I'm going to be living in a city were the local section of the newspaper has to outsource to report about crime. I'm going to be living in an apartment complex that is like looks like a park.
Someone, please do not pinch me.
Posted by on August 3, 2005
Tags: news
