Geeks on Campus

So, tomorrow makes 1 year ago that I graduated.  I already mentioned that I’ve been learning PHP this year.  I’m also trying to teach myself how to play guitar, we finished our basement at home, and I’ve done a bunch of reading.

PHP
In my prior post I linked to the phpacademy site which is the primary resource for learning PHP.  My first PHP project is mostly finished.  It has been a good experience.  I’ve not only learned the PHP language, but also the RTF file specification as the application outputs an RTF file.

Source: Wikipedia - Author: Derek K. Miller

Guitar

Since graduation I decided that I needed a hobby, so I chose to start learning guitar.   My main sources of instruction for this endeavor are Marty Schawtz’s youtube channel and justinguitar.com.  Due to all of the other items on this list, I haven’t had the time to learn and practice that I would like.  I can play a couple of simple songs and chords.  I hope to have much more time for this in 2013.
Basement
One big reason I haven’t done more on the guitar is that I was working on finishing my basement during much of the same time.  This was my first attempt at many of the tasks including laying the carpet on the floor and stairs.  I did a lot of youtube browsing to learn about wiring and electrical outlet and carpeting stairs.

ReadingI started out the year reading the Furies of Calderon which is the first book in the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher.  It is a fantasy series along the lines of the Lord of the Rings.  If you are not into fantasy, this may not be your cup of tea.  I’m currently reading the 5th book in this 6 book series and have really enjoyed it.  A book I think anyone would really like is Wool (pictured at right).  I specifically read Wool Omnibus Edition (Wool 1 – 5) on my Kindle.  It is a great story and I look forward to reading the prequels and sequels.  I’ve already recommended this book to several people.  They will thank me later, and so will you!

Trello
Finally I want to put a plug in for Trello.  Trello is the new web application we are using here in the office to manage our tasks and projects.  I really like the visual style of Trello and the drag-and-drop interface.  The video below does a good job of explaining how Trello works.  I don’t know why they don’t have it on their web site anymore.

Happy Holidays!