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I just got a new Moto Razr V3 through T-Mobile. One of the many things I'd like to get set up on this phone are RSS feeds. I've found a few people doing it, here on a Nokia 9500 and a SonyEricsson P910i and here on a Nokia 6600i presumably.

Those posts confirm what Google told me, namely that there are three real choices, LiteFeeds, RSS Reader MIDlet (though probably less desireable because the Razr V3 is on the list of platforms known not to work, possibly because of MIDP1), and popular Bloglines.

Will post findings in due time.

Posted by chris at 12:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Just read a nice, concise post on writing sensible email messages. These are some really great tips.

Posted by chris at 08:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Selling the house is fun. We just have to keep telling ourselves that.

Yesterday an agent came by, supposedly to bring a potential buyer whom she represents. She called about an hour before arrving and told Stephanie she did not have the buyer with her but that she wanted to meet to "straighten some things out first." Every buyer's agent expects some commission, and when doing an FSBO, it's understandable that that is a foremost concern for the agent because the rules are different. When she got here, however, it turned out she wanted to sell her services listing our house more than she wanted to talk about her buyer. I think we'll probably have to suffer through a few more of theses. It probably comes with the territory of selling ourselves.

I found an interesting article called "A note on buyer's agent commission and sale price" through Google. It is written in the form of academic research and explores whether there is a relationship between the buyer's agent commission and his level of enthusiasm in participating in a sale. The paper concludes that there is only a relationship in lower priced homes, that is to say, when the standard commission total dollar amount is low. But more interesting to me is a footnote.

An interesting piece of the puzzle is the common pitch used by listing agents to offer a higher commission if a full price is obtained on the sale. This seems to be a rather overt intent to get buyer's agents to disregard their obligations toward their clients.

I'm willing to try this to see if it works.

Posted by chris at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A wierd line from a song I just heard on an episode of the DailySourceCode. It got me thinking about how I've left jobs in the past. Conventional wisdom strongly encourages people to leave jobs on good terms, with the oft used metaphor "don't burn any bridges," implying that you may never know when connections from the past could influence your future.

I've never had the experience where a former co-worker helped me get a new position, either with companies they've moved on to or with the same employer we once shared. Of course, I've kept in touch with select individuals from almost every place I've worked because of the friendships that develop amongst comrades in the same trench. Those guys have also served as professional references, as I've done for some of them.

Where is the line on burning a bridge? Is not informing someone of an impending departure, letting them hear through official channels, considered burning a bridge? Is leaving a candid assessment of the current state of open projects or work you've done, when candor includes assessing strong and weak team players, considered burning a bridge? Or is the best approach for one to just smile, put in the remaining time left, and leave the final day with wishes of the best of luck in the future? I've seen this repeated enough times and by enough people that I knew were not leaving the organization on the best of terms that it usually comes off as phony, especially when it includes a "stay in touch" message to half the organization. Nobody wants that many people to stay in touch.

Posted by chris at 01:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Getting ready to show a house to perfect strangers is a difficult task. We listed the house on forsalebyowner.com and in the real estate section of washingtonpost.com on Tuesday. Since then, we've been thinking of possible minor improvements to raise the general feel of the house to potential buyers. Today, I fixed some window trim in the basement, mowed the lawn, and Stephanie and I (and ET) swapped the upstairs office with one of the single beds in our basement spare room. It's a running joke now, but we've seen several home improvement / house selling shows on television that encourage sellers to make homes' rooms look like their intended purpose. Thus, for us, that meant the upstairs office should be turned back into a bedroom, and the less appealing basement spare room became the office.

We have a real estate agent coming tomorrow to "preview" the house. I'm not sure what her motive is, but I have guessed either talking us out of doing a for sale by owner arrangement, or that she has a potential buyer but wants to know what type of buyers' agent commission we are willing to pay. Regardless, her appointment to see the house was the impetus we needed to clean things up.

We're competitively priced so now we just have to hope our marketing tools start working their magic.

Posted by chris at 08:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

It's an age old question. Does money help pave the way to the pursuit of happiness, or does it serve more to distract from the attainment of true happiness? To explore the question, one has to ask, "What is definition of happiness?" If it is the occupation of one's time with a worthy pursuit -- with worthiness being defined as challenging to oneself, beneficial to others (or at least neutral to mankind), and sustaining in that it meets the basic needs of life such as food and shelter -- then it is feasible that the accumulation of money is a by-product to pursuing happiness. It is important to recognize that in the process of pursuing one thing (happiness), one can be seduced an unintended consequence (money) and the unintended consequence has such an impact on one's life that it replaces the original pursuit as the new aim in and of itself. Therein lies the challenge, that is, being successful using modern society's standards of measurement and not letting that perceived success blur the vision and goals that a more youthful reflection of oneself set about achieving.

Posted by chris at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Just finished watching the movie "Out of Africa." I think I had seen it before, or at least bits of it before, but this is the first time I can remember watching the entire thing. The story was still fresh to me.

It reminds me that one should not look back on past events with regrets but rather see them as stepping stones that lead to the present, where one's opportunities are only limited only by the risks he is willing to take. The conquests we choose are at our own discretion, be they material gains, strong relationships with others, or a collection of experiences through which to view the rest of life's events that unfold. The movie contains a subtheme on whether we can ever own anything or if we are "just passing through." I think in the end it concludes that our personal interactions and relationships are the only real thing of value.

A good movie to remember and be sure that ET sees one day when she will appreciate the message.

Posted by chris at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Just upgraded to 3.2. This is just a test post. It was a pretty easy upgrade, as claimed, assuming the database wizard-type upgrade did things correctly behind-the-scenes. That's the downside of user-friendly wizards and such with half-baked software: it leaves no room for intervention by an adept user.

Posted by chris at 02:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Obviously, like most of America, I've been following the various crises of the Katrina aftermath, mostly New Orleans but also those seemingly forgotten parts of Mississippi that are getting less attention. The most interesting coverage I've been consuming is at http://mgno.com/, a blog owned by "Interdictor," an employee of DirectNIC who stayed behind to keep their data center up. Miraculously, he's managed to do it so far, with barrels of diesel to keep their electric generators going.

In other news, trying to make some progress on the possible move to PA. We are going to list the house and try to sell it, new job or not. Worst case, if the house sells, wife and baby will go and I'll find something temporary until a new job comes through.

I've also decided to start studying for the Sun Certified Enterprise Architect exam. I'm doing it less for professional credential, but more for the academic challenge and proof to myself that I know this stuff. There are lots of opinions on whether a vendor provided certification is ever helpful in the job market because, of course, the vendor tends to desire lots of people who have its credential; Microsoft and the shamefullness of the MCSE program, which you hear advertised on radio for anybody in the world is a chief example. (I have the MCSE+I from NT 4.0 days, before all these overnight bootcamps sprung up, and I'll be honest that I now resent that it's meaningless. It is great that it can be a step up for many trying to break into technology, but it does not say much that you do not need real years of experience to pass the exam anymore.) Anyway, so I've ordered some books and hit JavaRanch, JavaQueries and a couple other sites/forums to gear up. I'll try not to get too brainwashed in the process.

Posted by chris at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)