Carl Backstrom's Blog

Well this is interesting Marvel and Oracle.

Gotta love the link direct link to APEX.
Makes the job kinda surreal.

extra points if you know the quote!

Yup I guess it's my turn this blogtagging thing seems to have taken off, I figured it would get to me at some point , thanks John you know we have some deadlines here right ;).

1. I have a 15 year old daughter and I am 34 years , so if you do the math I started pretty young, fortunately she's much smarter and prettier than her old man, hand codes her HTML , uses the GIMP for artwork , is a cheerleader , snowboards very well, and is savvy enough to IM or call me for all her homework research needs. And if your reading this kid you better be done with your homework!!!

2. I'm a snowboarding fanatic but growing up in Southern California we didn't have that nice soft powdery snow or huge scenic bowls to people seem to like so much. What we had was big jumps and an awesome snowboard park so you'll find me doing 50/50's on the rails and getting big grabs on the table tops. Nowadays I wear a helmet but still seem to get concussed about once a season, so if you see me 5 feet in the air upside down with snowboard on my feet, just keep watching or grab a camera something bad/funny is about to happen.

3. From the age of 8-13 I lived in a windowless shack , as in windows with no glass, on the back acre of a 5 acre farm, well I got windows in when I was 10 ,happy times! The rest of my family lived in a very nice two story house but I had three sisters and they got the rooms in the house. So the answer to 'Were you born in a barn?" or "What did you live in a barn growing up?" the answer is pretty much "Yup".

4. I have a degree in Geography from San Francisco State University, and specialized in GIS and Remote Sensing. I worked for several environmental consulting firms and did things like work on the Presidio Rehabilitation , South Bay Salt Ponds, saving the California Tiger Salamander, and killing Egeria densa in the Bay Delta. I was actually a CS major for most of university and only had a 17 units to go but they were all math classes and I loath math, maybe someday I'll go back just to finish up.

5. After high school I went straight to the construction industry and was planning on doing that for a career. After a couple years on a very hot day (115 f) doing roofing in Lake Elsinore, Ca I decided ,right then and there, to go back to school. Was a waiter for 20 minutes once as well, suffice to say I don't have the temperament for it.

6. I polevaulted all through high school and college, yeah people actually hold on to a stick run full speed put the stick in a hole in the ground and hang on. Hopefully though you land in the pit (the landing pads), and not in box (the cement and metal hole you put the stick in), otherwise you'll end up with torn tendons and ankles that ache in cold weather.

7. You can tell a lot about a person by their favorite quotes....

'The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I've found it!), but 'That's funny...''

-- Isaac Asimov

---

He had that rare weird electricity about him -- that extremely wild and heavy presence that you only see in a person who has abandoned all hope of ever behaving "normally."

-- Hunter S. Thompson, "Fear and Loathing '72"

---

Godzilla hates infrastructure.

-- Unknown

---

We are alone, absolutely alone on this chance planet: and, amid all the forms of life that surround us, not one, excepting the dog, has made an alliance with us.

-- Maurice Maeterlinck

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The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.

-- Shakespeare, "Henry VI", Part IV

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"Everything in moderation -- including moderation."

-- Harvey Steiman.

8. Every internet / web development job I've ever had in some shape or form has been from craigslist. Oracle actually hired me directly from a craigslist posting, go figure.


And there you go 8 random and hopefully interesting and educating facts about me. So looking around at some people I should tag and haven't at least posted that they have been tagged, So I have 6

Kris Rice , Tyler Muth , Sergio Leunissen, Marc Sewtz , Christian Shay , Kuassi Mensah


EDIT:

There has been a bit of a backlash on the blogtagging thing and truthfully it's not fully out of place, sometimes these things get a life of there own and get out of hand.

http://www.dizwell.net/prod/archives/57

But truthfully I like putting a personal face on things, sometimes I think we all forget there is a person/people on then end of that blog or developing/selling/marketing/researching that product and a bit of lightheartedness , especially in the beginning of the new year is not a bad thing. Sure if this happens everyday i think we will all have a big problem with it. But just once , or even once a year I think helps everybody.

My 2 cents.
Carl

Looks like something on feedburner was messed up and it put 3 weeks of the 'few' links I share/broadcast at one time.

But I do respect a good sense of humor, good job Bill.


http://view.break.com/429420 - Watch more free videos

The plane - nothing
The automobile - chump change
The light bulb - don't make me laugh

Computers and Electricity only matter because you need them to run this invention.

And the best invention ever made is the Roomba.

I just won some ill gotten Vegas wealth. I rarely gamble ,you can't when you live here, but when you turn a little into alot in less than 10 min it's basically free money and deserves to get spent on something you don't normally get. So after a couple days of thinking about it I decided one of the things I always wanted was a robot and why not one that cleans.

I have an inside outside dog that sheds all the time, and after three days the Roomba has made a huge difference. It might not be for everyone or every house, especially if you have a dog that might think it's an expensive chew toy, mine just looks at it annoyed when it gets near. But for me it's great. If it lasts a couple weeks , just to make sure , I'm going to go buy another one for my upstairs.

Plus it's hackable with an optional serial interface.

Oh I've also named it "Mega Maid"!!! extra points for people that know where that name came from.

EDIT:
Well Doug Gault knew the answer it's from Spaceballs a very very funny Mel Brooks movie.

And just to show I'm not a complete hater , I loved webvan and it is still useful to me.

See it helps me store some of my sports gear, I lost my $15 dollar deposit on that one ;).



PS: it was the blog blog blog blog part that made me do this!

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=262

via

An Expert's Guide to Oracle Technology

EDIT : I was just told by a reliable source that I am a Ninja Cowboy Paratrooper that goes to battle clutching a favorite giant robot toy.

And that's why they gave him his own spaceship.
Plus the outfit is hilarious.

Do I see a Kirk vs Chuck faceoff in the future?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevada_Day

found this linked off this page http://tardate.blogspot.com/2007/10/ballmer-peak-and-programmers-paradox.html

I listen to music all day and I have pretty eclectic tastes, this podcast just came up in the rotation and I'm pretty into it at the moment, it's not my normal taste but I like it.

Give it a listen especially if you like The Police

http://www.podnova.com/channel/1592/episode/56/
or
http://www.dubsession.com/podcastbroadcast.htm

Playlist - DS 57 - Police Undercover Versions

01 Undercover Versions Police Horns & Helis Intro
02 The Police - Reggatta de Blanc original version- Reggatta de Blanc
03 The Police - Walking on The Moon - Drum and Bass Phat Remix
04 Sting and Ziggy Marley - One World - Jazzy Marsalis version
05 The Police - Bed's Too Big - Live Dub Version - Police Live in Paris 1980
06 Shinehead - Jamaican in New York - Reggatta Mandatta Tribute
07 Steel Pulse - I Can't Stand Losing - Reggatta Mandatta Tribute
08 Pato Banton - One World - Tudo De Bum Live in Brazil
09 Plastilina_Mosh - Bed's Too Big - Jungle DnB Version - Outlandos D'Americas Latin Tribute
10 Aswad - Roxanne 1997 Version - Reggatta Mandatta Tribute
11 Ina Kamoze - Call The Police Sly and Robbie Dub version - Here Comes The Hotstepper EP
12 Sting and Ranking Roger - Demolition Man Soulpower Mix (DJ ChillWill double ranking edit)
13 Puya - Skank (Spirits in The Material World) - Outlandos D'Americas Latin Tribute
14 Interlude - Sting - If You Love Somebody - Soulpower Hip Hop Mix (DJCW extroedit)
15 The Police - Oh My God - Original Version - Synchronicity
16 Sting and Ranking Roger - Bed's Too Big Top Ranking Version - Let Your Soul Be EP
17 Los Pericos - Darkness Drum and Bass Version - Reggatta Mandatta Tribute
18 Desorden Publico - Man in a Suitcase/One World - Outlandos D'Americas Latin Tribute
19 The Police - Someone to Talk To / How Stupid Mr. Bates - Message in a Box
20 Stewart Copeland - The Rhythmatist - Brazzaville and Samburu Sunset Intros
21 The Police - Tea in The Sahara - Synchronicity - Original Version
22 ColdCut - Beats and Pieces - When I Was a Kid - The Breaks - Extroversion

Train Runs Through Bangkok Market - Watch more free videos

I'll let the video explain.

I just got a very nice email from our HR dept, sure it's an automatic email but at least the computers know I'm here ;)

Congratulations Carl, on reaching your employment anniversary of 5 years of dedicated service.

The success of Oracle is a direct result of every employee striving to be the best they can be. The talent, skill, and knowledge you develop over the years allow you the opportunity to make significant contributions. In recognition of your dedicated service.........

Wow has it been 5 years? It seems like yesterday that I replied to a craigslist posting about a position at Oracle , craigslist and Oracle now there are two words you don't hear together very often, about the need for a Senior Developer in "Applications Research" that knew javascript , xml , xsl , html ,css ,sql and on and on. I need to find my copy of the posting but it was pretty cool. Considering for the previous couple of years, I have been from startup to startup and consulting for startups a nice corporate job sounded like a good idea.

So I drove down to Redwood Shores for my interview and showed some people my ( IE 5.5 only ;) PHP , MySQL , xplanet ) XMLHTTP based application that screenscraped yahoo and showed news headlines near the right place on the map, well at least on the right side of the continent.

At some point in the process Kris Rice , asked me some logic question about chasing a duck around a circular pond what was the fastest way to catch it on the other side. I remember answering back with a question , something like , "Well since I'm obviously hunting a duck do I have a gun?" , what can I say I'm results oriented.

Well over the 2 hour interview I must have said something right because on the drive back to the city I got a call back that I could start whenever I wanted to.

So here I am 5 years later, a couple group changes in , and some product releases later. It's definitely been fun , interesting and eye opening, I've worked with some of the smartest people I've ever meet on some of the funnest and most challenging projects/products I've ever messed with.

I can't wait to see what the future has in store !