Hmmmm.  I think the last entry was in Jan. 2006; it's now November
2008.  Obviously, I don't bother writing here very much -- never
had the slightest inclination to keep a diary, don't really feel
compelled to blog to the world.

I sometimes ramble a little bit on my Facebook page, 'tho.  It's not
hard to find me there.

---

I.

New year, new file.  It's mid-January and yet there's no snow on 
the ground.  Feels weird for a transplanted East Coaster.

It's been a bit more than half a year since I finished graduate
school, and a little less than that since I started working. 
Perhaps it's a good time to take stock of things.

Industry -is- different from academia in major ways.  There's a
heavy emphasis on systems that can be deployed in 
industrial-strength applications -- scalability, reliability and 
all that.  Our deadlines are not set by conferences but for
business reasons.  I have not written a single grant application
or studied the publication history of a single program-committee
member while here.

The salary's also helpful, of course.  The living costs are higher
here, too, but I'm not exactly pleading poverty.

On the other hand, it's been a bit of an adjustment going from an
environment in which peers -- other graduate students -- might
see me as an elder (considering that I spent seven years there!)
to a workplace in which my fellow developers are practically all
both older than I am and married.

Some things change, some stay the same.  It'd be fair to suggest
that I'm still temperamental and a bit binary -- in that I tend
to either care a heck of a lot, or not at all.  Hm.  I'm trying
to at least pay some attention to what's happening in the local 
community, 'tho, which is a change.

Eh, that's enough pointless rambling for now.


----

II.

Seems I bought a Prius yesterday.  It's actually the first time
I've ever purchased an automobile.  Some in my shoes would 
probably have chosen something cheaper; others, perhaps 
something flashier, or perhaps more macho.  :o  I'm hoping that 
it's a practical choice that'll be worth keeping for years and 
years.  Not only that, but I'd like to see more efficient 
transportation means prosper -- and each hybrid vehicle sold 
adds a financial justification in favor of continuing 
development.  If enough of a market develops, better economies
of scale should eventually kick in and the cost of hybrids
would then be less of an issue.

And since the gasoline distribution infrastructure is already
here, it's easier for that mass market to happen with gasoline
hybrids than with, say, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.  You also
probably won't see the country suddenly gain ubiquituous mass 
transit anytime soon.

On an entirely different note -- best of luck to the Steelers.
:)