the P.Pole

5 things I’ve learned this week:

• how to write SQL queries
• import/export data with MS SQL Server (more hidden than you’d expect)
• basics of using PHP with MySQL or MS SQL Server (the latter works now too, with an additional module)
• basics of using ASP with the same instead of PHP
• Bhupinder Singh is a great man (let it be known in all the lands)

Basically, I’ve got this project involving a whole lot of moving parts (database, queries, multiple user-interfaces, syncing, etc…) and I, being an expert in none of these things, was resolved to teach myself all the tools Id need to get things done how the pros do. Time-consuming, often frustrating, and I felt inefficient many times along the way. However, I am glad now, since I do have a basic understanding of how a whole bunch of things work now.

Anyway, yesterday I was on the corporate Twitter-like feed on Yammer, and I was mentioning/asking around about all these options, while being open to suggestions. Bhupinder, a wise man I met while waiting for the same bus at DC, chimed in about Webforms, Continue reading

Let it be known that yesterday was the first Valentine’s Day that:

• I have “celebrated” in a long time
• I enjoyed more than I would enjoy any other random day
• I tried the Japanese food at the restaurant previously known as “Wasabi”(beside Silverstar Buffet)
• I felt quite a bit of pride when I heard that our very own Alexandre Bilodeau win gold in the Men’s Freestyle Skiing (Moguls) event, first official Canadian gold on Canadian soil (don’t worry Jenn Heil, you won the gold, if only according to me)

So yes, yesterday was a fun day. Look what Amy made me to mark the date!

This is unexpected, sneaky, and nerdy all in one beautiful burrito of awesome (found while reading through some PHP tutorials for work, while jamming out to Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”).

5 things I taught myself to do within MS Excel’s macro modules:

• automatically find and “commit” existing data (by saving values and removing all formulas) in non-empty cells
• referencing + manipulating cell contents for VB programming
• automatically add to, remove from, and sort lists within ranges of cells
• create (and abuse) snarky user interaction windows/prompts
• establish a data connection with an online table + refresh the table

These things are pretty basic for advanced Excel developers, but for me, one who is in between the unwashed masses and the mildly initiated, well, I feel pretty damn good about figuring this stuff out mostly on my own (Google, Macro Recording, a coworker, and Herman were great helps along the way).

It has been said that necessity is the mother of all invention, but I think my inventions are bastardized in nature, as laziness is fact the real mother of these inventions! Like one of those secret plots, where the king’s child is actually born of a concubine (in this case, a very seductive and clever, albeit lazy concubine), but the public is kept from this knowledge, to protect the good name of the royal family. But even more secretly, the queen is fuming, but also satisfied because the child takes care of her needs… too? I am not sure this translates.

In any case, I was being a sneaky cleverist, and made a whole bunch of macros/functions/buttons for deciding how an expense tracking workbook would work. This was for the project managers here at Open Text, IT. I believe myself and any that follow would not enjoy the laborious task of manually maintaining the sheet’s infrastructure and editing the VB code to accommodate for the slightest changes, so I wrote it in a very hands-free fashion, and it will work flawlessly so long as no one decides to delete random columns/rows… Which no one ever does, right? RIGHT?! Well, i can leave documentation, and that’s about it really… Here’s to hoping no random user decides to “clean” my sheets.

Google knows. Google always knows. Especially where it’s at. A quick Google of my name + a commonly used adjective, say, “awesome”, returns in first two places, my Twitter feed, and in a close second, the P.Pole. I do believe this proves and certifies me as the Carl Wong to end all other Carl Wong’s.

Tam, K. and Wong, C. (2010). Completed on the 26th of January, 2010, in response to this clearly inflammatory post.

Open Text!

I am now working for this company, and so far, so good! I didn’t post an info post last week (I believe this would be the first time that I am completely foregoing and not making up for afterward in a long time), mostly because I was so engrossed in work + Team Fortress 2. Actually, I should make up for skipping last week’s post! Double list, ahoy!

5 things I do everyday now:

• wake up at 7 am to Owl City (either “The Saltwater Room” or “Fireflies”)
• wear a long-sleeved dress shirt with  dress or corduroy pants
• keep my work shoes in my filing cabinet
• munch on the complimentary granola bars and “crispy rice marshmallow treats”, while sipping tea or hot chocolate
• find time to trick out my work-desktop while on my lunch break

5 things that surprised me about Open Text (which will be “they” for now, at least until I feel like it should be a “we”):

• they encourage workers (especially the coops) to participate in social networking on and about the job
• they have special phone booths for workers to make private/personal calls
• they have separate communal coat closets for smokers and non-smokers
• they are much more liberal with trusting their employees to make good decisions in terms of ethics (how to use time, equipment, etc…)
• they have hired about 20+ coop students just within the IT department, so clearly they are a huge supporter of the coop program

So far I am liking the work for the most part. I’ve been assigned some pretty rad but challenging projects/assignments, and the day-to-day tasks are no walk in the park, but I am not disliking it. I think this is probably because the environment is so free and positive that I don’t feel a slave or anything. Some things are fun, some things just need to get done.

I think the most enjoyable times are when I get to discuss things with my supervisor (a very senior/veteran Project Manager at Open Text) about the ways we would change things if it were up to us. I think we see eye to eye on a lot of important issues (I don’t know whether it’s because he trained me so I only have his ideas, or if it’s just that we share the same kind of intuition/common sense/expectations of systems). In any case, I am hoping to get more chances to pick his brain and learn lots.

See you all next week! I’m off to bed.