I signed up for blogger insider, and this is my first cycle. The questions this time are from Ellie, in Massachusetts (and fine questions they are):
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Are Macs really better than PCs?
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I think they’re better for certain things. I like the fact that you know what hardware’s going to be in them, and I think that makes programming for them easier. I like PC’s for the Wild West-ness of them. My brother and I just put a new machine together for me, made out of all brand new parts we bought at half a dozen sites. You could never do that with a Mac and think it will work. I like Macs for their dependability and Apple’s design sense. I like PCs for their expandability, price and flexability. -
What’s the cutest thing your son has ever done?
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He recently learned to talk, and has started speaking in short sentances. His new favorite word is “hello”, but instead of just saying it, he says it like a little gameshow host, “Hel-LOOO!” It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. -
Do you have any regrets about college?
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That I didn’t go back. I wish I would have finished. I don’t think it would have helped my much in my current job, but it would have given me a better foundation so I wouldn’t have had to learn a lot of what I know from scratch. -
What is your job?
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I build search applications for AOL. My largest product is AOL Search, where I do all the frontend work, and a lot of the webserver programming. It’s challenging being the integration piece and the frontend guy at the same time. I have to take a dozen or so different technologies, get them all to talk to me in a way I want, and then present the results to the users. It’s challenging, but a lot of fun. -
Do you listen to Sting when he is without the Police?
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I think the last album of Sting’s I bought was the one that had Fields of Gold on it. It was a disappointment. His last great solo album was Dream of the Blue Turtles. I borrowed the big Police boxed set from a friend, and I love their early stuff. -
Do you like where you live? What keeps you there?
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Work keeps me here, but I really like it. We’re close enough to DC that we can go downtown whenever we want without a lot of trouble (other than getting horribly lost), but we live far enough outside that we’re not totally sucked into the politics of the area. Sterling feels like a small town without being all hicky like Mannassas or Leesburg. It’s a nice balance. -
Why do you blog? What made you start?
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I saw Megnut first, and saw a whole new part of the web. I was fascinated by these incredibly personal sites, and how small groups of sites seemed like “cliques”. It was an interesting world. I started blogging because I realized that after seven years of instant messaging and e-mail, I’ve become a really crappy writer. I wanted to practice, to write well. I want to be able to express myself like Gail or Michael. -
What five songs would you put on the soundtrack to your life thus far?
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This is a really hard question…- Teardrop by Massive Attack
- Cure for Pain by Morphine
- Yes by Morphine
- With a Little Help From My Friends by the Beatles
- and cheating… anything by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
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Would you really dye your hair blue if it went completly gray before you\
were “old”?
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Oh yes. If it completes the transformation before I’m 35, I’m definitely going blue. I already tried Ultimate Blond, which was a lot of fun. Blue’s just a color, and why not make it my hair color? -
Have you ever seen Gone With the Wind?
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Only pieces. I have this animosity towards the south and melodrama in general. I don’t think I could make it through the whole thing. -
Has your life turned out the way you planned?
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Oh no. I think that’s because I didn’t have a real concrete plan to begin with, at least no plan with short-term goals. My life is pretty great right now. I love my wife and son. I like my job. I like where I live. Life is good.
