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Filed under: Web Projects | Tags: College, deisgn, development, education, high, insomnia, roomies, roommate, university, web
There’s no feeling worse than laying in bed. The world around you is quiet and dark: sleeping away dreaming of god knows what, except for you. You’re staring into the empty nothingness and listening to the gut rinching sound of silence. Random thoughts flow in and out of your head. You think “may it’s cause I’m thinking too much.” Nope, once you clear your mind… Here comes the dreaded hum of silence. It feels like hours upon hours have passed. You look at your alarm clock to realize it’s only been fifteen short minutes.
That’s my night so far. Which is why I’ve finally posted once again to my blog.
I’m not going to share my life story since my last post in this blog. I don’t think that’s what a blog should be used for (but my previous posts say otherwise, forget those). This post sets a precident: no more of the fake bullshit life posts (unless they’re purgnant and informative), only informative posts about who knows what.
Today’s post is going to be about a new project of mine currently being called “RoommateFindr.” Yes, it’s sophisticated, simple, and rememberable. Don’t argue, you know it is. (If you have a better name, please tell me…)
This is the plan: have the user signup and create a profile simular to a Facebook/MySpace thing. They answer interest inventories, short-answer stuff, and background stuff–think of a MySpace survey that float around in the form of bulletins. After they’re finished with the profile, it’s up to the user which road to take.
From there, the user can chose to browse potental roomies by an wide variety of variables or place an ad looking for a roomie.
If you have any other ideas about the project, please comment! I’ve never had to search from roommates so I’m some what dumb founded.
But, I’m going to try and get some shut eye before the night is over.
Ciao,
Logan
Yahoo! Answers Question: What do you look for in a roommate? (My question)
Filed under: College, Growing Up, Reviews | Tags: College, lectures, Livescribe, Notes, pen, Pulse, school, smart, smartpen
So, as most of you know, I’m a business freshman at the University of Alabama (yeah, yeah: roll tide). I’m also OCD about my notes: they gotta be in pen (even though I make quite a few mistakes), gotta be extremely neat (contradicts with the first), and gotta be on paper. I considered buying a tablet PC from Toshiba since it would be like paper and I would be able to be neat and permanent. But at a gruesome $1,500, I couldn’t buy one just to experiment.
When Ryan and I hung out Thursday, I went into Target and I saw something I had considered before: a digital pen. Its called the Pulse from Livescribe. (Funny thing: right before we went to Target, we saw a kid with the Pulse sitting in Panera Bread)
Anywho, the 2GB model is $200. You get 2GB of memory (which the website states the “actual user available memory will be less.” Less meaning?) to record audio and save your notes, a “3-D recording headset,” a 100-page college-rule notebook, USB cable, carrying case, 3 ink cartridges, and stylus refill.
The Pulse uses a special paper (like most smartpens) they call “dot.” You can purchase 100-sheet notebooks either in-store (sold at Target only, I think) or online at either Amazon or the Livescribe store. Each notebook has a number (1-4) and your smartpen associates your notes and recordings with that particular notebook. Pulse can only hold four notebooks at a time but you can archive them through the desktop application.
What seems cool about Pulse is the fact it synchronizes the audio recordings with the handwritten notes! At least I won’t miss any part of the lecture if I take a quick visit to napland… Right?
If I get the 2GB edition, Livescribe claims I can get in over 200 hours worth of audio in. But, they warn that the length with vary by the audio quality settings and the fact they don’t give you the full 2GB for recording.
Some of the built-in Pulse features are paper replay (the notes-audio syncing), notes (just notes capturing), quick record (access the record and playback functions using the dot paper), printed calculator (a scientific calculator that, I assume, is printed on dot paper), quick calculator (a basic 4-function calculator you draw yourself), and “other utilities” (they control the Pulse itself).
Thankfully, Livescribe’s store has everything you need for the Pulse: dot paper, a pretty leather carrying case, extra ink, and extra everything that comes in the box. Not to mention, they’re prices are pretty fair.
So far, some of the cons I’m noticing are the fact you have to use the special paper (costing $0.03 per sheet versus $0.01 for a normal $1 spiral notebook) and only holds 4 notebooks (will write over identically numbered notebooks).
I’ve submitted this post to Slashdot in hopes that a few of their users will be able to help me out a few questions:
- What’s the batter life like? I have to be able to use it from sun up to sun down each day.
- How’s the audio quality? I’m used to 256kbps, will I be disappointed?
- Is it difficult to work with writing-wise? Will I need to change my current style?
- How long does the ink cartridge normally last? It kind of worries me they’re giving you 3 free ones…
And, of course, did you even like your Pulse?
Ciao!
- Logan
Slashdot It!Back in February of 2007, I took a job out of desperation (I’d been unemployed since August of 2006) as a legal intern for a very kind lady at her home in the Lakes. It was the world’s greatest job for a teenager: I had my own office upstairs with humongeous bay windows, a bathroom, and couch (yup, it was fancy).
The months went by. More and more I was abusing the kindness of my employer one way or another. Nothing bad like stealing or anything. Mainly flubbing on my time sheet with her knowledge. Not to mention, she was very, very lenient on my schedule: I could call in or leave at a moment’s notice without the need of an excuse. Life, I’d say, was great.
The internship wasn’t, however, a money maker of any sort. I normally grossed around $105 per week (3-4 hours per day at $6/hour and she paid any taxes) when I was at school and around $200 per when on holiday.
I was offered an entry level cashiering job with the corporate office supplies conglomerate Office Depot by a former relative (ex-hubby of a cousin) with the promise of advancement, money for college, and stock options. The cost of all this? 5-6 hour weekday shifts (until 10p or later), 8-10 hour weekend shifts, 30 hour work weeks, $1 more per hour, and a 10 minute longer commute. I grossed on average $150 per week post-taxes. That’s a mere $4.28 an hour! But the promise of advancement stuck.
At that time, I was contracted by the local newspaper, The Tuscaloosa News, which included weekly articles and meetings for a very small commission of $25 . I actually was under contract until recently when my editor became a journalism professor. To be honest: I loved that job because I met absolutely fantastic people that I still keep up with today, had a wonderful journalism experience, and finally got some of my writing published.
So, I was working three jobs at once. Four if you include my 9 hour school days. This all lead to a total sum of little sleep and little time at all. Which everyone knows is very drastic on anyone. (more…)
Filed under: Business, Careers, College, Reviews | Tags: American, battles, Buldge, Cannae, career, Carthaginians, Civil, Franks, Germany, history, Michael, North, Persians, Romans, South, Spartans, Thermopylae, Tours, Umayyad Caliphate, War
When you were bored in 10th grade history, did you honestly see yourself actually out in the real world hunting for that perfect job to match the shiny new degree on your wall? Yeah, I haven’t made it there yet but so many people struggle to just to find an entry level job.
Last week my friend Michael wrote a great post to his blog Senua about making the job hunt easier on yourself by bridging the gap between high school history and landing that life-time job. (Don’t remember history cause you slept through it like me? Michael gives you a brief refresher course =])
Sometimes in War we see things we don’t normally see. In movies we see people with spirit victor over those who have become well-polished but lack personality. On the other hand, in real life, we see people get stomped just the way we would assume they should. There are five battles that stick out to me as particularly interesting, as they teach humanity a lesson that can be applied every day to our lives.
1. Thermopylae – Spartans vs. Persians
The battle: Even the most qualified, spirited candidates (300) can’t necessarily take on a much larger (1,000,000) army by quantity. With every soldier the Persians had, the chances of having 300 to match Spartan-quality approached 1. Even after that they had hundreds of thousands more meatballs to throw at the Spartans, exhausting them.What you can learn: Don’t spend all your time honing one skill. You must be a double- or triple-threat to truly succeed. More skills means more areas possible to succeed. Don’t overdo it, though, or you could lose many metaphorical soldiers like the Persians.
2. American Civil War – North vs. South
The war: The north had a lot of resources; the south didn’t. The north had railroads, factories, farms, money, people… And it was far more developed. The south had a lot of land, but it wasn’t used for much. The north won because they amassed resources.What you can learn: You need a lot of resources to do battle. You’ll need references and contacts to refer you to jobs and open up doors. You’ll need experience and skills to make yourself look good to bosses. You’ll need a little charisma to show it all off. And finally, you’ll need a lot of patience, time, and energy to find a great job for you.
That’s not all: there’s three more left. Go and read the post: “Five Things I’ve Learned from Battles that Apply to Careers” on Senua.
Hope you enjoy!
- Logan
I’ve been surfing around on eNotes for the last 20 or so minutes. It seems really awesome.
It’s an online resource for students and teachers featuring subject-related material. This isn’t user submitted content, either. It’s somewhat like About.com and features articles, research studies, and lesson plans from experts in the subject.
eNotes features a college section for SAT prep, college searches, and a scholarship directory.
It has a handy Yahoo! Answers-like Question and Answer section.
Not to mention, many universities and colleges have taken the extra initiative and created personalized eNotes for their students allowing professors to share the lesson plans and such.
However, eNotes isn’t free! For this premium content, it’s $15 per month or $50 per year. Personally, I think it’s worth it.
If you head on over to Mashable.com, they had 50 premium invites (which is how I received mine). If there’s any left, go on and try it out! You won’t be sorry.
- Logan
I figured since I took this and uploaded it to my Flickr account, I’d post it on the blog, too.
It’s a picture of a couple of dead sunflowers that I took from my mom’s house and it was taken by Kami. I edited it this morning in Photoshop. [Click the photo to view it in Flickr]
Filed under: Business, Fashion | Tags: dress, Fashion, outfit, professional, professionalism, work
I have a few meetings Monday that will be helping to determine my college-bound future. So, I went on a little search to find some sporty, professional outfits I could wear without much avail. So, I’m going to create my own new professionally chic look and we’ll call it the “Sp0rky, Yet Professional, Look.”
Professional-wear used to be defined as a suit. Without a suit, you had no power. However, the 90’s dot-com boom sent a shock through the fashion world. Many offices started allowing a more lenient dress of a shirt and khakis, this is especially prominent in offices where the employees aren’t in the public eye.
We’re gonna take the Sp0rky look from the bottom up. Let’s start with shoes.
Even though shoes are near to the ground and out of sight, they’re still a very vital part of a professional, well put together outfit. Thankfully, the trend is moving away from feet-hurting dress shoes and on to the much more comfortable slip-ons. Steven Madden has an excellent collection of dress slip-on shoes of various styles and colors. Stop by Buckle in the mall or go to Zappos.com to grab you a pair or two! They’ll run you about $75 unless you’re lucky.
Remember when picking out your shoes, always get weathered leather. Leather is a time honored symbol of power. Weathered leather shows power that has been around the block a few times and has the experience to show it. Anytime you have the option, go weathered leather.
Socks matching your pants is essential. Keep the socks thin and above your calves. You’re trying to create the illusion that your pants continue down to your shoes, not the other way around. Also, showing legs with ankle-less socks is tacky and isn’t very gentleman like.
For the pants, go with plain-front pants. Black and earthy tones like brown, beige, khaki, or tan are preferred. Keep the fabric patterns to a minimum, unless we’re talking faint pinstripe. Also remember that your pants’ fabric needs to match your blazer (fyi: tweed and cord DO NOT go together).
To hold your pants up, use a belt. I can’t stress how important it is to use a belt. It’s distinguished and part of a traditional outfit. Get a leather (remember the symbolism!) brown or black belt so it will match with anything.
To have a more professional, clean cut look: get a plain (and not-so-weathered) belt with a gold or silver buckle, depending on the color scheme (gold goes with brown and silver with everything else). For a more sp0rky look, you can grab yourself a studded belt with a brushed silver buckle.
A lot of guys refuse to wear anything but boxers because it isn’t manly enough. If you’re basing manliness off underwear, you’re not manly. Personally, I go for boxer briefs: they don’t bunch up causing an unsightly ring around my waist and they keep things where they lie.
Regular thin, white undershirts are essential parts of outfits in today’s fashion world. But they’re not only fashionable, they’re functional: they catch the sweat—which causes awful “pit stains”—that your anti-percipient doesn’t stop.
Over your undershirt, wear a colorful button down shirt (pending the need of a tie). I recommend a solid color since the shirt sets the color scheme of your entire outfit. And don’t forget to tuck it in your pants!
If you’re not wearing a tie, unbutton your collar and first button of your shirt so you don’t get choked. Wear a tee under it that contrasts to the rest of the outfit.
If you’re outside the office and want to go for the ultra sp0rky look, wear a thick, fitted, regular tee. It should still match your outfit and be tucked in, but it’s excellent for those after 5pm outings in SoHo.
To me, a blazer shouts professionalism. And a fitted blazer made out of extraordinary fabric like corduroy makes it sp0rky. However, remember to keep it dark (but matching) so it doesn’t take away from your shirt.
It’s time to accessorize! Watches are a must for any professional, it shows that you are aware of your time so you can be on time. I recommend just a silver band watch with a face color of blue, green, or white.
Personally, I hate cufflinks, so you’ll never catch me in them and I’m definitely not recommending them here.
Your wallet should be (you guessed it) leather. A well chosen leather wallet can show you have class, as well as power.
As a final tip, don’t over use your cologne. Co-workers would rather breath clean air, rather than your cologne no matter how good it smells to you. Save it for SoHo.
Ciao,
Logan
PS: If you have any personal tips of your own, send them in! And keep in mind, these are just my recommendations… You don’t have to follow them.
Filed under: Business | Tags: aspirations, bibwell, Business, corporation, dreams, global, mission, start ups
All this talk about degrees and business courses today (yeah, I finally got accepted into UA for the fall 2008 semester, w00t) has lead to numerous conversations about my ambitious business ideas with many of the conversations ending with the person going “huh?” This makes me believe that I’m not clear about what my company is all about which kind of scares me since I’m Mr. Confident about it. So, here’s a through, written, well thought-out explanation of my corporation Bibwell Enterprises, Inc.
Like every company in the world, Bibwell has a mission statement and it is as follows: “To start, own, and manage domestic and international businesses; earn profits by way of nonpareil, emerging technologies and imaginative designs; and construct a successful, globally-accepted company. ” Put simply, I want to own companies that are unique in nature and can make a difference in the world. For example, let’s take the Amtrak passenger rail: it’s old, fully subsidized by the government, and barely breaks even, I’d want to create my own, competing passenger rail service that’s bigger, better, and profitable than Amtrak.
Currently, I’m in the process of starting my first service called ministryInSites. It’s a site builder targeted at religious organizations. I imagine it to be rather profitable since the niche is so large with not too much penetration in the market due to sky-high prices and firms trying to take advantage of them. It’s global because it’s internet based and not actively targeted at one nation.
What I want the most of out my company is to be able to take the small companies, take over the business part of things, and make the business profitable.
Let’s take a case study I’ve been working on for a few weeks: a party supply store in the Northport area. The owners (there’s two) are just like most small business owners: great in their field of business but have no formal training of any sort along the lines of business. Like the very true Quickbooks ads, running their business gets in the way of running their business. That’s where I come in.
I’d buy their company from them (and incorporate, if necessary), taking over every aspect of the business except the retail store. The current owners will become an employee of mine, along with board membership to give them the well earned corporate steering power.
My consultants (when I get them) will come in and revamp everything from accounting practices to marketing techniques. This will, hopefully, make them profitable. This profit will probably be used as expansion capitol across down (or whatever the board sees fit). They’ll be the next McDonald’s of the party supplies industry in no time.
That’s my dream that I hope to start conceiving in the very near future.
Welcome to a Bibwell world. (Btw, if you know any companies that are interested in selling, leave me a comment!)
Ciao,
Logan
I stopped by Oz Music today and got about $43 worth of music. One of the albums was a personal favorite Punk Goes Crunk. I had heard a few of the songs previously on PureVolume.
Personally, I’m not a fan of hip-hop. Rihanna’s Umbrella and 2Pac – California Love (a childhood classic) is about the extend of that genre for me. However, Punk Goes Crunk put a whole new spin on the genre. =]
Being a huge fan of indie-punk-pop bands, I was glad to see bands like All Time Low, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, The Secret Handshake, and New Found Glory participating in this (and they’re the main reason I enjoy this so much). I was also introduced to several bands I didn’t know about: Say Anything, My American Heart, and The Maine. (Complete listing of participating artists at bottom of post)
Like most things hip-hop, this album has extremely strong language including extremely vulgar sexual language (it even kinda made me gag). It’s just a far warning.
To start, my favorite tracks are:
- #1 – Set Your Goal – Put Your Hood Up (Lil’ John)
This is an excellent song to open up the album with. It even got me up. However, I had no hood or bling. =/
- #2 – Say Anything – Get Your Money (Ol’ Dirty Bastard) <- the vulgar sexual language one.
Why this is a favorite track, I don’t know. I think it’s because I find it funny. The vocalist is monotonous with a very exact accent. I’m not sure if the monotonicity was how the original artist sung it or not, but it’s still hilarious.
- #5 – The American Heart – California Love (2Pac)
Who can’t love California Love? I’ve been listening to this song since I was like 8.
- #6 – The Maine – I Wanna Love You (Akon)
The Maine did an amazing cover of this song. It’s absolutely beautiful. The vocalist has an awesome voice. The band also added a lot of percussion to the song. Not to mention, the genre change (synthesized rap to acoustic guitars and drums) did the song well.
- #10 – All Time Low – Umbrella (Rihanna)
Besides being a favorite artist of mine, All Time Low turned Umbrella around. I liked it when sung by Rihanna, a little more when MadTV did their Hillary/Barack parody, but this cover is the icing on the Rihanna cake (well, umbrella).
- #14 – Lorene Drive – Hey Ya! (OutKast)
Back when I was in middle school, this was a popular song to be played at a dance (the ones where administrators walk around making sure there’s space between you and your date when you dance). I liked the original song a lot and Lorene Drive did a great job on it. It’s a hard song to beat, but I think they did it!
Overall, this is an awesome CD. Especially if you have hip-hop experience, you’ll be really surprised at how well it ported over genres of two completely different backgrounds.
Ciao,
Logan
Already have the album? Comment what you think!
Want the album? Click the image for a link to Amazon to get it!
Participating artists (in album order): Set Your Goals, Say Anything, The Secret Handshake, Forever the Sickest Kids, My American Heart, The Maine, Emanuel, Person L, The Devil Wears Prada, All Time Low, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, The Escape Frame, Hot Rod Circuit, Lorene Drive, and New Found Glory.
I’m tired of folks telling me that I can’t do something, especially when it’s about my business. Since I was a little kid, I’ve always wanted to own my own business because I know I could make a difference. When I turned eighteen, I figured I’d get some well-deserved respect for people like my grandmother, mother, and boyfriend. I’m 18 and I still have no respect from anyone.
I figured that maybe the lack of respect came from the fact they thought I wasn’t a “real” company. So, I spend a couple hundred bucks incorporating myself. Now, when I ask my mom if she’ll help out and be on the board of directors, she laughs in my face and tells me to “get a grip.” My boyfriend things the entire thing is some kind of joke. My grandmother thinks that I’m just stupid.
Sitting in my mom’s office, I have tears in my eyes. I’m just tried of being demeaned for my dreams. I’m tired of no one believing in me.
I’m done ranting. I doubt this will get me any more respect, but I’ll handle everything on my own. Fuck them all. It’s honestly not that difficult to put on a fake smile and smile when you can, y’know? I should know, I do it all the time…
Oh, well.
- Logan
