Joshua Arnold

Life has been slightly unbalanced lately. Well, maybe “unbalanced” isn’t exactly the right word…perhaps consistent is the term I’m searching for. I’m desperately trying to force myself into more of a routine and I’m getting closer.

My work on the RiderRally project is becoming more intense lately as we ramp up for our next release in late October. I’m working very heavily with location-based information (hence the title of the entry) which has been pretty fun and challenging. I’ll be posting some of the specifics of this in my technical blog.

I’ve been working on several initiatives at works from Professional Development to Internal Framework Development. I’ve been pushing to incorporate training courses in a variety of technologies/skills,  more diverse standards in documentation, and reusable code-bases for the company. Somehow, in the middle of all of this, I’ve also been finding time to consult on other projects, conference calls, and to be the “go-to” guy for any technical interviews. Needless to say, it’s been a little crazy lately.

Despite the workload, my schedule tends to work itself out quite well and I have plenty of free time. I’ve been working in time to go to the gym and general down-time as well. I just need to get more of a structured routine so I can feel a little better about everything. I feel like I’m living in chaos if I don’t have at least SOME continuity in my day.

I had planned to write a little about my thoughts after reading Blue Like Jazz but I’ll save for that for my next entry. Time to watch Wicker Park and head to bed.

Love to All,
Josh

Technorati Tags: announcements, career, informative, reflection, self-learning, updates, work

So, earlier this year, my friend Jason had a brilliant idea. There was tons of hype in the development community around Google’s android platform. Being the genius mastermind that Jason is, he began working on an idea to combine the aspects social networking, location-based services, and his love for mobile development. Not long after some brainstorming sessions, I found myself opening up Eclipse and working with him to develop and consume our REST service.

There were long days and there were tons of hours thrown into this project. Not only were we staring at a rough deadline with only two developers (that have full-time jobs), I moved to Austin in the middle of it! It’s also worth noting that when it comes to location-based services, EVERYBODY wants in. We saw competing projects popping up every single day. Despite the competition, we rest assured that our core idea was solid and more suitable for the general public than the services being developed. We kept moving forward.

We didn’t quite finish everything that we hoped to accomplish in time but we still made a LOT of progress and turned it in time. I don’t know what kind of competition we’re up against but I guarantee you, we’ll give them a run for their money .

Technorati Tags: 2008 adventures, announcement, announcements, development, google, ideas, informative, mobile, side projects

It’s taken me a little bit longer than I had planned to get back to blogging. Even with all the supposed “down time”, it feels like life has been moving at a 1000 miles per hour this past two weeks or so. Moving halfway across the country has the tendency to do that to you, I suppose. Nevertheless, I am back and I’ll start with a brief summary of what’s been happening with me.

Not too long ago, an opportunity presented itself. It would be risky and it would be stressful; but above all else, it felt like it would be worth it. After exhaustively discussing the situation with my family and quite a few of my close friends, I accepted an offer in Austin and put in my two weeks notice. I was “excused” from work two days after giving notice and had some down time to work on side projects and get ready for the big move. Needless to say, I spent more time on the side projects…

My friend Ben was kind enough to join me on my adventure across the country. We left at roughly 2:00am on March 20 and after two LONG days of driving/sleeping/and being completely disoriented, we found ourselves in Austin that Saturday night. I made a last minute decision to take my car out here so we followed each other the entire way. Word of advice? Don’t ever do that. Also, walkie talkies are the coolest invention. Ever.

So…I’m here in Austin, living with my friends Rex and Drew while I look for my own place, I’m part-managing and lead-developing my first project at work, and I am LOVING it. I’ll be posting regularly again and probably getting back into some more insightful and creative writing. It’s late and I need to get some rest but figured I’d get in a quick update.

Technorati Tags: 2008 adventures, announcements, austin, career, informative, work