http://www.anttik.com/index.php Copyright 2008, Antti Kurenniemi Antti Kurenniemi en-US SPHPBLOG 0.5.1 http://www.anttik.com/index.php?entry=entry080508-072138
I just wish they'd finally come to their senses and bring their shit up to speed with Firebird...]]> http://www.anttik.com/index.php?entry=entry080508-072138 Antti Kurenniemi Thu, 08 May 2008 04:21:38 GMT http://www.anttik.com/comments.php?y=08&m=05&entry=entry080508-072138 http://www.anttik.com/index.php?entry=entry080501-120149
Not much there yet, but I started with one that is most often requested: a Matrix Screensaver. I initially made it around 2003, and it's been available from many places over the years. Rumor has it that it's been downloaded quite a lot. From here you can get the latest version, which I just fixed a little today, and also checked that it works in Windows Vista.

Enjoy. Let me know if you like it.]]> http://www.anttik.com/index.php?entry=entry080501-120149 Antti Kurenniemi Thu, 01 May 2008 09:01:49 GMT http://www.anttik.com/comments.php?y=08&m=05&entry=entry080501-120149 http://www.anttik.com/index.php?entry=entry080421-105924
I'll try to fiddle the colors little by little to something more tolerable. Also, I've yet to figure out how to change the font size - I know it's kewl if you're l33t to have as small a font as possible, but for "normal" people it's actually pretty painful. Try to read this font size on a 15" laptop screen with 1600 x 1200 resolution, and you'll see what I mean. Well, actually, you won't see, but that's exactly the point.

But the header picture is nice (cough cough I took it myself cough cough).

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Update: Woo hoo! I managed to make the text a wee bit larger, and mess up the colors even further. Fear not, things will get a lot worse until... I give up and revert to the defaults. See you next time - unless I'm too active with the colors and nobody will be able to see antything anymore!]]> http://www.anttik.com/index.php?entry=entry080421-105924 Antti Kurenniemi Mon, 21 Apr 2008 07:59:24 GMT http://www.anttik.com/comments.php?y=08&m=04&entry=entry080421-105924 http://www.anttik.com/index.php?entry=entry080420-110030
So I thought I'd give some recommendations. Subject to my own particular mindset, yes, so take with a grain of salt. And for a quick background: I read a lot.

Ok, here goes the first: The Soul Of A New Machine by Tracy Kidder. If you've never actually given much thought about how much work it is to design a whole new computer, this will be interesting reading. It tells a story about the development of a minicomputer - and if you're young enough to not know what a minicomputer is, then all the more reason to read this book.

More recommendations to come, stay tuned.]]> http://www.anttik.com/index.php?entry=entry080420-110030 Antti Kurenniemi Sun, 20 Apr 2008 08:00:30 GMT http://www.anttik.com/comments.php?y=08&m=04&entry=entry080420-110030 http://www.anttik.com/index.php?entry=entry080419-180859
But hold on, there's more to it. First of all, I live out in the boonies, no street lights or antyhing like that here, so it gets real dark at nights. For a long time I've been thinking of putting some lights out in the yard, but the thought of digging up the ground for all the cables has been sort of a handy excuse for putting it off until next year, for at least five years now.

But then, about a week ago, I saw an ad in a paper about solar powered garden lights, and I thought wow, that's cool - but probably a bit expensive. Anyhow, I went to check them out, and oh man was I surprised to find that they cost right next to nothing. I got 6 lights for a total of 25 euros! That's about three meals at McDonalds, or a third of a tank of diesel for my car - i.e. peanuts.

The lights are pretty small, about one feet tall, and they have a single white LED in them, powered by an AA sized rechargeable battery. On top the lamp is a small, about 5 x 5 centimeters solar panel, which doubles as a switch for the lamp. When there's enough light, the battery is charged, and when there's not enough light to charge the battery, the LED lights up. Simply brilliant.

I really get a kick out of high technology used in such innocuous ways. Also, I like to think that I'm somewhat of an environmentalist, so low-energy devices (LED's in this case) and solar power are close to my heart. Add to that the fact that these were dirt cheap, and that the battery is replacable and standard size (so I may even be able to find a replacement after a few years), and we've got a winner.

Way to go - me like!]]> http://www.anttik.com/index.php?entry=entry080419-180859 Antti Kurenniemi Sat, 19 Apr 2008 15:08:59 GMT http://www.anttik.com/comments.php?y=08&m=04&entry=entry080419-180859 http://www.anttik.com/index.php?entry=entry080317-142342
You see, I finally found a reason for blogging: I'm doing it for myself, to document my work. Too much is constantly going on for me to remember even after a few days, let alone years, and it's been bothering me lately. I have a feeling that what is going on in my life right now is pretty important, and I wouldn't want to just surrender that into oblivion.

As for going public on my own personal diary, well, I have hopes that sometimes, when I'm struggling with something that's not exactly easy, I just might find someone out there who has done something similar, and who wouldn't mind giving me a pep talk - or even downright advice. If not, then maybe just "talking" about such things will help ease the stress a little.

I know. Enough people are whining about everything in the web. Stop it already. Nobody cares. Sure, ok. I'll keep that in mind - I will try to avoid just plain old whining, and concentrate on... well, something else.

I'm going to keep this short and simple for the time being. But, to get the content rolling, here goes nothing: I'm currently pondering about going full-time with my own company. As it is now, it doesn't bring in enough to make a living, quite the opposite, but I'm just not finding much satisfaction at my day job (oh yeah, there he goes with the whining - fat lot of weight that promise kept). Almost every day I feel like I'm wasting my life doing something I really don't want to do, and that's just depressing and demotivating. It's also a demanding enough job that I don't have much energy left after the day is done, so it's really hampering my progress in my real ambition: my own software company.

I think I've identified one major reason why I haven't yet been able to make a living from my own software: marketing. I'm not good at it. I almost don't even want to be good at it, but that's just stupid, so I decided to learn as much as I can. I've been reading books, articles and everything about marketing that I can get my hands on, and I'm currently arranging for some experienced marketing people to help me with it. It's a bit difficult, but I feel like I'm getting the hang of some of the basic concepts. I intend to redesign my own company's website soon (actually I already started that) to be much more of a selling website than a technological showcase, which - I hate to admit - it currently is.

Maybe the most painful realization that I've had lately is just how much time and potential sales I've lost by doing the same mistakes that a million small companies have done before me. All of that information would have been there for the taking, but I just overlooked it. Man that sucks.

But I'm learning. And you'll get to read about it. Ain't that cool!
]]> http://www.anttik.com/index.php?entry=entry080317-142342 Antti Kurenniemi Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:23:42 GMT http://www.anttik.com/comments.php?y=08&m=03&entry=entry080317-142342