a real bug

funny thing…

a bug flew down into the exhaust vents on my macbook pro and fried itself. i guess i had a real bug today.

journey on a lego bike

first off… journey rocks. ’nuff said.

secondly, apparently lego has a secret vault full of nearly every set they’ve ever produced. wow. just, wow. this makes me want to get all my cases of legos out of storage and start building again. too bad there’s not much room in a chicago apartment.

thirdly, i got a new bike. it’s pretty sweet. i swapped out the stock tires for a set of reinforced, puncture resistent ones, because the area around my office in the west loop is like a cross between a war zone and a bustling, disorganized, metropolitan airport. it’s taking a bit to get used to, riding 6 miles to and from work every day, through city traffic, but i welcome the challenge.

kudos, illinois secretary of state

it’s not often you hear someone praising the sos, or dmv. long waits, cold clerks, and canned music would easily make anyone a bit more than annoyed. add to that the frustration of not knowing until you’ve arrived, that you’re missing one crucial piece of information necessary to make it through the gauntlet.

i’ve done my time on several occasions - throughout michigan and once in indiana - so i’ve grown accustomed to the hassle. i’ve found taking at least a half day off work might be sufficient to come out the other end in one piece, but it depends on the location, time of day, day of week, what your clerk had for breakfast, etc.

i just went through the wringer at the illinois secretary of state chicago central location, and i must say, it was pretty painless. in about 35 minutes i filled out the application, paid the fee, took a vision and written test (1 wrong, btw), had my photo taken and walked out with a finished driver’s license. bam. simple as pie.

i think a large part of my success was the layout of the joint. you walk in, head up to the information desk. they tell you what you need and hand you a number slip. you sit for maybe 15 minutes while a digital sign constantly displays not only the current, but the previous two numbers called, in case you were too busy texting your roomies about how waiting sucks to notice. then you proceed to the approoriate clerk. you fill out the app, then you move to the cashier. you pay, then you move to the test administrator. she determines which, if any of the tests you should take. you sit directly in front of the counter, take the test, hand it in, then move to the camera area. you tell them who you are, they take your photo. then you wait about 2 minutes until your finished id is printed. and the best part… you exit directly after, through a different door than where you came in. simple. logical. fluid. brilliant.

we got one!

er, rather, i got one.

and by one, i mean an apartment. my own apartment. in chicago.

i shall begin preparations for migration shortly. wish me luck.

more info as events warrant.

update: street view to the rescue.

craigslist + google maps = awesome

housingmaps.com

seriously. why didn’t i know about this a few weeks ago. i just found an apartment via craigslist, which required a little legwork, but this would have made it soooo much easier.

and chicago apartment finders was of little help.

the brazilian take

one of the coolest aspects of running a community site is the worldwide reach. it’s one thing to get on your computer everyday and occasionally visit sites from say, england, germany… but it’s way cooler when people from around the world are coming to your site:

http://caligraffiti.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/crowdspring/

it’s also pretty sweet when you consider the guy who designed our site is a student in the netherlands. i wish i could say the same for my puny blog. at least i have one brazilian. =]

kitemare before mother’s day

so, lesson learned on this one…

i ordered a set of wind chimes from bestkites.com for my mom for mother’s day. that was on the 1st of may. they still haven’t arrived. i’ve already been charged for the item and tried to make contact with the owner several times, to no avail.

after doing a little research i’ve found i’m not the first person to fall prey to this. the aboutus.com entry for bestkites pretty much sums up my feelings. there’s also a similar discussion on uskiteforum.com. i just finished filing a complaint the the better business bureau.

ugh.

stop motion graffiti

this is awesome. http://www.vimeo.com/993998

where’s my camera?!

the crowd has sprung

it’s alive! crowdspring.com

and somehow, the excitement isn’t as high as i would expect. everything is fairly normal back at the ranch. we’re still working on features for the site. the only change we’ve really noticed is we’re now [barely] starting to make money with this thing. =]

looking forward though, it will be great to move into full feature projects and expanding the functionality of the site, without a huge deadline looming over our heads.

6 guys in a chicago basement

sounds like the beginning to an mtv reality show…

working at a startup is a little different. for one, we don’t have separate offices. we share a common space with our desks out in the open, no cubicles. two, we work in a basement suite with exposed brick walls and a cement floor, stained from years of use in chicago’s west loop. three, we keep somewhat regular hours, but there is no penalty for arriving late, and certainly no one will care if you stay late - and we have been here late a few times.

daily life at the company is fairly pleasant. i arrive, start up the coffee maker, make a bowl of oatmeal, sit down at my desk to check email, news, and generally catch up on what the hell is going on in the world. then we have a short, stand up meeting to briefly review who is doing what and set goals for the day. then we go to work for a few hours. round about noon our stomachs start growling. we usually try to eat together, at our convenient dining slash informal meeting area. then ping pong. it’s good to have something to distract yourself with at least once in a day. granted we sometimes have to knuckle down and get a bunch of work done, but you can’t do that all the time.

one of the best aspects of our particular group is the size. there are currently only six of us. that won’t last, of course, but the core team will always be close. we’re putting a lot of blood and tears into this project. even if it’s ultimately not successful, the work experience is awesome. it reminds me a great deal of my days at the state news. a group of guys (and a few girls) with like minds, exchanging jokes and stories, listening to music and generally being nice to each other. it’s a much better environment for productivity.

so the countdown is on. we’re about a week away from public launch. i, for one, can’t wait. i want to see this thing get off the ground, and i want to be able to breathe a sigh of relief at nearly 8 months worth of work. cross your fingers.