Before I begin with this post I'd like to let you know that I really struggled with whether to write something on this topic or just let it fade into the black. Whether this was a good idea on my part or not - I say "or not" as this just may entice more of the same.  I still felt the need to talk about it.

As a person who has struggled with weight his whole life, I had a unique interest in recent reported media events with regards to Kevin Smith's experiences with southwest airlines (SWA).  Although wrongfully reported and handled by the media and SWA, this is not what I really want to focus on.  What I would like to discuss was the resulting discussion that ensued after - the discussions which focused solely on us fatties and how, what brutally became apparent, there is a true, deep-rooted hatred of people who are "larger" than the norm. 

That said, I do acknowledge that there is a problem with our health (as a society - worldwide).  However, reading comments ranging from "why doesn't he just get off his fat ass" to "well, if he didn't eat all those doughnuts..." to sadly happening to see, while watching the after work news, a commercial for Entertainment Tonight where they described an experiment of theirs that had a thin person donning a fat suit covered by a skin tight hot pink velor outfit - All of this very deeply saddened me.  I don't want this post to sound like an "oh, woes me" type argument.  As I previously stated above, and not going into other health-related aspects on the subject, I acknowledge that we all need to have accountability in such regards and that a healthy/healthier lifestyle and well-being should be a high priority for all of us to integrate into our everyday lifestyles.  What I take issue with is this whole idea that we fatties just sit on our asses and eat..and eat some more, and that is the sole reason that we are fat.  Fact, this is not (always) the case and portraying the problem this way is hurtful and detrimental to us, all of us really as we could all live healthier when you really break it down, in our attempts to change/integrate a healthier lifestyle.

Those who know me well know that for the past several years I've been trying to integrate a more healthy lifestyle, keeping and maintaining an exercise routine and also recently started focusing on the food that I eat - integrating more healthy choices into my daily food requirements.  It's been a long and hard process as there is so much "easy & good" *BAD* food out there, but I'm slowly making headway.  I'm even attempting to integrate this whole idea of supporting people for healthy living (as well as environmental and social aspects of living) into my research at the University. The point I'm trying to make with all of this is that there are other individuals like myself {in the same boat} doing the same.  We are trying folks!  What I'm trying to get across is that we need encouragement in such regards, encouragement that goes beyond calling us fatties and telling us to just get off of our collective fat asses.  It's, quite simply, not that simple of a problem.  Support is needed to help us achieve healthy goals and it's childish comments and activities like those that transpired from the Kevin Smith incident that truly hinder us and our ability to maintain a positive outlook on our attempts.  Instead of encouraging healthy/healthier lifestyles, we as a society tend to just lay blame, assume, and resort to these hurtful activities and ridiculous displays.  The end result is a keeping of the status quo - changing nothing while fostering this environment of hate and mis-education about the whole issue.

Now I'm not laying the blame on others and their comments.  Free speech is free speech and who am I to say otherwise.  All I'm trying to say is that it is counterproductive to do such.  What we really need is support, good education, and a cooperation that better enables the flow of information leading to our ability to become more knowledgeable on the real facts and how we can all best encourage each other to integrate healthier, more environmentally sustainable and socially acceptable choices in our daily lives.  It sadness me how we treat each other and I'm hoping that over time, people's attitudes will change from poking fun at issues, hating, to supporting and encouraging each other which, in the long run of it all, will result in real change. - tMac

Oh Apple, how I love thee..or wait, do I really? 

Being an avid Mac user since, oh, let's say roughly 2006, I have become accustomed to a higher degree of design quality and usability {software} in my technological products and Apple is directly responsible for this mentality. Truth be told is that Apple product design has always had a strong emphasis on designing quality high-end products attached with satisfying technological experiences.  This cannot be denied.  Those who do deny, simply do not know and that is simply fact.

That all said, recently I have become quite judgmental of Apple, not in terms of their product designs, never!  However, I have more so in terms of their business model and platform. Does Apple boast a successful business model?  Indeed it does.  However, at what cost to us, the everyday consumer, computer, and technology user?  My view is the cost is quite high; almost too high and action is needed!

Some of you know that I have increasingly become more fed up with Apple and it's proprietary ways. From the Apple Touch/iPhone, to the Apple TV (mine has since been hacked nicely to work the way I want it to, now able to play all kinds of file formats...it's called freedom baby!), to now the iPad; Apple's new and fancy thingy which Jobs himself proclaimed would revolutionize the industry as we know it (really?), it's all designed for controlling our experiences (skynet??) rather than enabling truly satisfying experiences for all.

Sure, Apple has made some very nice products, the iPad being one indeed.  But in a World with ever increasing limitations on our technological freedoms, we need to start opening doors in such regards, ensuring these freedoms rather than closing them and continuing to foster an unhealthy, unsustainable technological environment. 

With my love/hate relationship with Apple, last year I began testing alternatives, choosing to evaluate a Dell intergrated GNU-Linux technological platform for my everyday activities. In my evaluation I learned that much that could be done with proprietary software, could be done with free/libre open source software just as well, with a little bit of work of course in some instances.  I won't lie, things were going well.  However, one aspect of my experience that I felt truly lacking was the emotional aspect of design and how it related to the degree of satisfaction I obtained while working.  This, when thinking about it, was partially due to the difference in the quality of hardware in my Dell vs the quality of hardware on a Mac (cheap plastic vs aluminum) but also partially due to the way I interacted with the technology itself - opting to leave my "heavy" plasticy laptop at home and opting to purchase a small, lightweight netbook in its place (which is a great little device mind you - An Acer Aspire One with Ubuntu Netbook Remix installed on it - another post maybe!).  This aspect of technology does matter - people do have an emotional attachment to the products they have and the quality of a Dell (or any other PC really) vs a Mac are, in my knowledgeable opinion, on 2 complete opposite sides of the spectrum.  The saying that "you pay for what you get" is, quite frankly, true. 

It cannot be denied the hardware quality of Apple products in relation to others on the market.  Because of this I have since traded my Dell and have come back to Apple just for that fact.  My MacBook Pro is lighter, better built, and has more of an emotional quality to me personally than my Dell had ever had.  However, I do miss the whole open source and freedom aspect of my Dell/GNU-Linux experience.  There is something said to have technology that is free and open - it's just non-DRM (digital "restrictions" management) quality goodness that simply works.

After hearing about all the many restrictions attached with the iPad (a biased source but you can also find similar unbiased ones), all of these emotions came flooding back.  I don't know why Apple has to model their business the way they do but it's just the way they roll.  Google, for example, is a leading company with an active open source mentality and environment and yet is still very successful - Maybe Apple can learn??  Given my very strong beliefs in fostering an open and free technological World, I have since decided to install and evaluate a GNU-Linux environment on my MacBook Pro; using Ubuntu of course, an open source and free operating system {think of it as a very viable alternative to Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Mac OSX}.  In my view, open source is the future, so let's all start playing, designing, developing, and sharing! -tMac

PS: Apologies for the uncensored use of the php goto statement in the title of this post

Some of you who know me know that for the last 10+ years or so I have very much been an academic entity of sorts.  When I think back, really, I can pinpoint it to 2004 when I decided to further my studies after obtaining my Bsc. in Computer Science {CS} by entering the most mysterious of things, graduate school. This was when my interest in academia really began to flourish.  When I first decided to become a graduate student back in '04, I really only had a slight interest in the whole idea of research and development as a career path and, when I really think back, I surely had no interest in the whole teaching aspect attached to such career paths in higher learning.  However, as the years progressed, successfully obtaining my Msc. in CS and now being an active PhD Candidate in CS as well as successfully teaching both labs and courses at a university level, I have become quite fond of the whole research and development activity as well as teaching.  What surprised me even more is that as the years progressed (and are still progressing), is that I am becoming more well tuned, {refined} if you will to the point where I have significantly more confidence in my abilities in these regards; research and development, but even more so, teaching.

Those who know me well know that recently I decided to test out the other side of reality, the so-called "real-world" of industry.  Drastically different than academia, my brief time in industry has taught me that I have much to learn in how this side of life truly functions.   In academia, you have a lot of creative freedom and money and resource time (I really hate this word, "resource" and how it is used in industry); anyway, money and resource time in academia is really an afterthought.  What matters most in academia is the researching, the discussions, and the furthering of knowledge that leads towards a better understanding of things in general so that more research and development can follow.  In industry, sure this is still present, but it does more to a limited extent.  I'm slowly learning that time is the most precious element/aspect of industry; and time in relation to how much cost is associated with it.  I'm not saying that this is necessarily a bad thing.  What it is, I think, is that it is surely a very different way of getting things done as they relate to my perception of reality.  This mentality, I have recently learned, is something that is truly alien to me.

So, what I'm trying to say here is that both experiences, academic and industry, have been truly enlightening. Specifically this post is about my perception of industry as it relates to my brief experiences thus far.  So far, working in industry has posed many challenges, of which I am excited about as well as nervous and concerned.  These challenges have allowed me to get a better perspective of things, and specifically, where I actually may truly belong in this world {and what I truly want to be when I grow up..ha}.  Corny, maybe, and I haven't yet made up my mind, but I do have a better understanding of things. I know this may sound very cryptic to some of you reading this but I'm hoping those who know me, know what I'm trying to get across with these comments

I'm hoping this will be the first update of many that may occur throughout this year chronicling my new experiences in industry and of course, my continued academic ones.  I hope you can provide thoughts and insights as you join me in discussing this journey of mine.  I would very much appreciate it! - tMac