Life As It Comes

A relatively widely-used IDE for Java is called Eclipse. There’s a project at UC Davis, called code_swarm, which has an interesting visualization of the development of the Eclipse IDE over the years. You can check it out here.

There are also visualizations for Python, PostgreSQL, and Apache.

I was perusing my normal collection of feeds this morning, and I came across a link to David Michael Bruno’s 100 Thing Challenge. The premise of the challenge is to simplify life and fight consumerism (with a few exceptions, such as books). There’s an interesting write-up about him in Time Magazine.

I have to say that, despite my penchant for electronics, this sort of thing appeals to me. I miss the days when I was in college and moving to a different city each summer - bringing only what I could fit in a couple suitcases along. With simplicity comes mobility, and I love that feeling that you can really only get traveling with the bare essentials. Finding power/electricity when you need it, buying healthy snacks to sustain you on exploratory hikes or while you cover ground through a new city, and making-do with the little you are carrying makes everything seem more like an adventure. If I could afford it, I’d travel my whole life with my 100 things (or less!) in tow.

Speaking of travel, check out these photos from my friends’ recent travels. I still need to get up there and visit them.

It will be Tuesday in a few minutes, and it will be an exciting day! Coldplay’s new album comes out, and Firefox 3 will be released!

Happy downloading!

Update: Wine 1.0 will also be released!

Training is progressing. Since several people have asked about my overall health to undertake something like this, I decided to take advantage of the on-site blood pressure machine in our cafeteria at work. My baseline blood pressure statistics are 122/76 with 59 bpm at rest.

I had my first spin class as part of Austin T3 last night, so that was exciting. They drew up a training schedule for me, which you can see here (What’s a brick? Look here). I’m confident that if I can stick to this schedule (I’m targeting “C”), then I’ll be happy with my performance September 1st.

I’ve been eating in the cafe at Lifetime more and more, and my favorite thing to get there is the BLTT (the extra “T” is for turkey). The plate comes with a side of quinoa, to which I am quickly becoming addicted. It contains lots of amino acids, fiber, phosphorus, magnesium, and iron.

Add it to the list with things like avocados as a natural super-food.