Ah, so I kinda forgot to log that, effective July 30th 2006, I've transferred to a different team at work and promoted to "Junior Software Developer" from "SQA Engineer."
Because of this, I now need to know the Apple Cocoa API and programming conventions to be useful to my new team. To greatly assist me in achieving this goal, FileMaker has decided to pay for sending me to Atlanta to take Big Nerd Ranch's "Cocoa Boot Camp" course taught by Aaron Hillegass. (He wrote what is most likely the most popular book ever for learning Cocoa)
I'm on day three and this what I have to say. If you want to learn Cocoa, this is seriously the way to go. Granted, if you've got focus, you could go out and buy his book and do all the exercises. But there's a lot to be said for sitting down in a classroom without distractions and listening to an expert explain the topic well and then be able to guide you when you try to do it yourself. When learning quickly, having all your questions answered as they come helps a lot.
In a way, it's like summer camp all over again. I'm in roughly the middle of nowhere to learn something and in the afternoon go on a hike in a forest. :) The place we're staying at is called Serenbe Country Inn. It's kinda like a farm. There's roosters, horses, chickens, lambs, etc. nearby. The big difference from other summer camps like the Walden West facility, is that the food and housing here is so much better!
On the first day, we covered about 5 chapters. After Tuesday and today, we covered about a total of 18 chapters. Today, the teacher for the OpenGL class visited and gave a demo. Rocco Bowling used to do (or maybe still does) visualization research for the NSA and writes various games. His demos of UI widgets written using OpenGL were very cool.
I haven't posted much because I haven't felt that there's all that much new going on in my life. Just floating along.
I mean, it's not like I do nothing. But for stuff that is directly related with my life, it doesn't feel all that exciting. Like, this past week was pretty fun but I feel like if I mentioned it, nobody would care.
Monday, I go to capoeira lessons. We were practicing several alternative moves to get into the negativa position to do various kicks. I don't remember what some of them are called but one of them involves crossing the back foot around the front foot to spin and then extend and drop. The other is doing a Au (cartwheel) to drop into a negativa.
Tuesdays, I typically stay at home but this week Hanah invited me to a tour and dinner at the Googleplex. It's quite a nice work environment and much more relaxed compared to say Apple's campus. The decor is pretty cool, especially in one of the buildings designed to be more environmentally aligned. Quite a lot of thought went into the place; even the laundry detergent is supposedly carefully picked for its effects and biodegradability. The ball pool (like in Chuck e' Cheese) is a fun touch, and the volleyball court is something I wish my work had. And of course dinner tasted wonderful.
Wednesday is the weekly soccer game with various EECS, Xilinx, Los Altos, and Saratoga people. I didn't get hurt. I scored a goal. It's fun. What else do I say?
This Thursday was the volleyball event for the Apple Corporate Games 2006. My team made it to the quarter finals but got beaten by the team that eventually got silver. I also had my weekly dance lesson and was learning some new Salsa moves which are kinda hard for me to remember. Afterwards, I met up with Tanya, Esther, Jess, and Garrick for a few drinks and to play pool.
Friday, was pretty much a barely-working day. Last minute practice for the Corporate Games. Last year we got like 3 medals. This year we got 1 gold medal and somehow managed to pull off 1st place overall. So weird.
Afterwards, I went to dinner and a bar with Esther, Jack, Ivy, and others to celebrate their new jobs. Congrats are in order to the three of them!
Saturday, Jordan and Chris arranged to go to dim sum and SF for part of the day. Tanya, Esther, and I left earlier because we were tired and I slept for the rest of the day only to wake up to pack for work training next week.