Introducing Kendall Tegan Serrano

Pictures coming soon.

Yesterday was the birth of my 2nd niece (I also have a nephew).  She was born 2:56am 9/8/2008.  She’s comes in weighing 7lbs 1oz.  So far, she knows me as the dude who sticks a camera in her face and blinds her.  I’m her paparazzi.  She also didn’t like it much when I carried her – well, when she was awake at least.  Michelle and I both came from work to see her.  I even left work early.  She was asleep most of the time.  When she was awake, she needed feeding every 20 minutes.  My sister had a coworker there.  Right as we left, Sinclair’s family came in (including my sister’s other 2 kids).  Soon after my mom was supposed to arrive.  My dad has been working and hasn’t had a chance to visit yet but I’m sure he will today or tomorrow.

The night before the delivery Michelle and I were home awaiting the MTV VMAs.  I got a text from Sin and after a rush of calls, we were on our way to the hospital with McDonald’s (with a Diet Coke, of course), for the new dad.  My mom also came that night.  We left while she was out for hours – she was across the street getting food.  She refused to bring the food in so my sister didn’t see her eat.

Happy Birthday, Kendall!  I look forward to spoiling you.

Landing Amongst Stars

One of my favorite quotes goes something like “shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you’ll land amongst the stars.”  Anyways, I think if you wanted to be Michael Jordan, go ahead and try.  I think you should never limit yourself.  Try to be even better than Michael Jordan.  I agree you’ll never match his exact basketball level – but who knows what else you can accomplish along the way.  You might be better than MJ in some areas.  You might even become more successful in some way (use a little imagination, please!).  Basically, become the best you can be, at whatever it is you want to do.

Thinking about where I want to take my career, I want to be a CTO.  Hell, I’ll even say CEO.  I think my reasoning stems from the above musings.  My ultimate goal is to become successful, to contribute to the world, and to leave a historical legacy.  To do so is to explore my potential.  So, I take the highest level of achievement I can think of and aim for that  The destination isn’t important, it’s the journey that matters.  Reaching the destination is just realization that the journey was successful enough to bring me somewhere meaningful.  And you know what, the titles aren’t important.  CTO, CEO, CFO – In my mind (which is key), someone at that level must have worked hard and done great things.  That is what I truly want: to achieve my goals and to be at a position that affirms it.

Coming back to earth – I admit that I could be more specific in my ambitions – even something lofty like to cure world hunger or solve the energy problem.  But so far I haven’t latched myself to any specific problem.  I may never.  I know, however, that I love helping people.  So it’s currently satisfying to be good at my craft (software engineering) and to help others to solve the problems they see fit to tackle.

The Changing of the Job

Just a few weeks ago I heard rumors that if my team couldn’t justify all 5 developers, our resources would be reassigned. Yeah, “resources” meant me. Great news for me is that it seemed people had a good opinion of me and my job wasn’t in danger, just my position on the team. I thought things moved slowly at work but apparently at times things happen insanely quick. A bunch of ifs and maybes were thrown around and all of a sudden I had my new manager in my office and I had a 1 on 1 talk with my new project/technical lead. Things started to seem much more official even tough nothing was. Then, I think it was last Wednesday, my manager tells me that she requested she gets 1 week notice before the new team needs me. So, at least I knew my fate was certain and it was just a mattered of time before things changed. That evening I get an e-mail from my manager that Sept 15, my focus would change and I would be under new leadership. So, this upcoming week is the last day I have with my current team.

It’s been amazing but all too quick. I feel like I learned plenty and had numerous and wonderful opportunities. I was sent to Seattle twice. I was sent to India. I led a developer seminar and I presented a tech fair and the Tech Summit. I worked on my own project as well as assisted on a number of others. I think my team really valued me.

I’m scared to move on. My new team will be local and I’ll probably feel the pressure. That’s if I even have a team. So far, I’m the only one on it besides the lead. And speaking of my lead, he is insanely smart and opinionated. I have to make a big impression on him. Moreover, the director and vp of my organization have their collective eyes on me. I feel that it’s time to prove my worth or — the unspeakable.

I should have more faith in myself. I’ve made it this far. I think I’m meant to be here and to be successful. This is the fist time I’ve made a big change at Adobe and the first time I’ve made such a big change in my career. And for the first time in my life, I believe in myself and that I have the ability to take myself to the next level. I’m going to get a promotion this year and I’m going to deserve it.

Cardinals Vs. Niners 9/7/08

Same old niners.  5 turnovers.  4 fumbles and 1 int thrown by JTO.  The Niners’ defense let the Cardinals’ offense have the ball for 15 more minutes.  Seemed like they had the ball the entire second half.  Every little thing seemed to go Arizona’s way.  Frank Gore scored our only touchdown and was primed for a big game by halftime.  When the second half came, S.F. just couldn’t get possesion of the ball.  When they did, mistakes in the form of penalties and turnovers.  Their defense is supposed to be decent but they weren’t good enough to stop Kurt Warner, Boldin, and Edge (James).

Game Crazy

OK.  I have an issue.  I want too many games and I know I don’t have time to play them all.  I just bought Uncharted.  Soon, I’l be getting The Force Unleashed (See Games I’m Looking Forward to on PS3).  But, let’s add to that list.  Marvel Ultimate Alliance: Fusion looks to be one awesome game featuring all my favorite super heroes.  I can’t wait to get behind Captain America (one of my new favorites).  On the topic, the new Spider-Man Web of Shadows also looks amazing.  I hated Spider-Man 3, it did’t really feel like Spidey.  The fighting in Web of Shadows looks straight up sick.  Continuing on the super trend, I just read a preview in Game Informer magazine for Batman: Arkum Asylum. It features predatorial game play.  It’s like sneaking around except you’re not on the defensive.  The visuals are dark and the action looks to be intense and up close.

Other games on my radar are Wanted – curving bullets, enough said – Mirror’s Edge, possibly The Bourne Conspiracy (already released), and 007: Quantum of Solice.

Sierra Crest Litigation Update

My lawyer informed me that the lawfirm representing Sierra Crest has turned the issue over to Sierra Crest’s insurance’s lawyers, State Farm (who I also use to insure my condo and my car).  He initially felt that this would mean they would want to settle and get this over with fast.

Well, after a few weeks and after my lawyer learned State Farm was the insurer of Sierra Crest, my lawyer told me not to expect a fast resolution because State Farm is notoriously slow with these kinds of issues.  So now, they have until September 11th to answer my formal complaint.  I’m praying for the best.

PSN Demos August 08

Yes! I finally got my PS3!  I’ve been playing MGS here and there.  I feel incredibly horrible at the game.  I’m so bad I’m almost scared to play it.  I don’t want to see my ass get kicked again.  The game is amazing though.  Without work, without being engaged, I could spend hours without end on it.

I think my next game will be Heavenly Sword.  I got a coupon for a discount on used games at Gamestop and I could use that to get the game.  Not to mention I also have my Xbox 360 and PSP to trade in for credit.  Soon after, I’ll probably get The Force Unleashed which comes out in less than a month.  That game is a good segway into the rest of my post.

I  tried a couple of game demos from PSN this month: The Bourne game, The Force Unleashed, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm, and Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit.

Bourne is different.  There are lot of action sequences that prompt the user to smash a button really fast (like in God of War).  There’s also the ‘Bourne Instinct’ which you annoyingly have to use to gain insight on your surroundings.  Fighting is up close and hard hitting just like in the movie.  I thik it is too easy to die. Which, if you do, makes you start all over from a checkpoint.  That’s fine and all, but I thought it happened too often.  Loading times are also long.  I’m definitely a Bourne fan but I’m not sure I’ll buy this game unless it’s used and I could get it for a realy good price.  Maybe I can use that discount for gamestop.

The Force Unleashed is great.  This is a must buy.  First and foremost, it’s a Star Wars game.  I’m big on Star Wars.  Playing as Darth Vader’s secret apprentice is sick!  A few complaints: The camera was a bit tedious to control – the default angles sucked.  It was a bit hard to defend myself from dozens of Storm Troopers shooting at me while I’m targetted on just one and focussing my offense just on that one.  Targetting in general was iffy.  There were too many objects I could force grip, so the system often targetted on something I wasn’t interested on (an object instead of an enemy).  And, finally, there were a few other weird occurrences like losing my lightsaber for a bit or moving crates through floors and walls.

Naruto Ultimate Ninja storm looked great and was unlike any fighter I ever played.  The problem is that I’m not a Naruto fan.  So I think I’m losing out on all the character traits and background that might make this game exciting.  I heard there’s also an adventure mode to this game.  That’ll be interesting to see.  I wonder how it adds to the gameplay experience?

Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit is also a unique fighter.  I like the dramatic cut scenes and the integration with the cartoon’s story.  Fighting was fun.  This might be another game worth getting (at a discounted rate).

If you’re getting kicked in the butt…

“If you’re getting kicked in the butt, at least it means you’re in the front.”

That’s an awesome quote I found from Natali Del Conte’s blog.

She’s somewhat of a tech reporter. She currently works for CNET/CBS Interactive.

Anyways, I like the quote because it adds perspective on a bad situation. Furthermore, it gives a silver lining to rough times in your career. The quote helps me appreciate my successes in life and shows me that I shouldn’t take any of it for granted.

So sure, I may have countless bugs filed against me – but that means I made it as a software engineer. And I’m happy that’s true.

Dining Philosophers Problem

Here’s a good computer science problem. Rather than retelling the story, here’s the Wikipedia page that summarizes the problem well.

Ref: Wikipedia: Dining Philosophers Problem

The 50 States Game

Here’s a game for you to try. I got it off the TV show Friends. Try to list all 50 states in a short amount of time, like 10 minutes, and see how well you do. Not only did I miss several states, I also made up a few. Ever hear of North Virgina and South Virginia? I also embarrassed myself because I wasn’t sure if New Hampshire was a state. I’m so sheltered =|