Month: October 2014

5 Year Goal [update]

Wow. Thanks to one of my best friends, Tim Fox Dominguez, for stalking my blog and showing my original post to me. I completely forgot about it until he showed me. I guess there’s no time better than now to provide an update to this post, exactly 5 years later.

Before I say where I am now, I’m going to criticize where I was 5 years ago, based on what I’m reading in my post. I worked. Hard. I mean, I still work hard, but I work less nowadays and give myself more breaks and more time for fun. I’m still just as ambitious as I was 5 years ago, but I definitely am bigger than I was 5 years ago. Ok, moving on…

Let’s check out my checklist for where I wanted to by 5 years from now:

  • Day Job: Web programmer Full-time
  • Day Job: Emergency Wedding Pianist (max 20 weddings instead of 40 I usually do)
  • Saturday: Teaching Lessons
  • Late-night: Gig one or two nights a week
  • Sunday: DAY OFF

Let’s start off with what I’ve been successful with. SUNDAYS DAY OFF! This is definitely one of the huuuuge plusses of my life right now. I can’t believe I worked 7 days a week before. I mean, the income was good, but I’m glad I have way more time to do the things that I want to do (which is sometimes nothing hah).

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HIGH RISE in Saipan. August 2014.

The next thing I’ve been semi-successful with is a gig one or two nights a week. From where I was before, I wasn’t in a band, so that was my way of saying that I really thought I should be in a band. Well, I was in a band, High Rise, for a couple years. I still technically am with them, but we gigged for a couple years straight (and for a short time, twice a week). We eventually decided to take a break, but we are still for-hire for private gigs. So I guess I fulfilled my want for being in a gigging band. I’m glad we stopped gigging though, because staying up til 2am during a night can really take a toll on you.

Next subject! In terms of teaching lessons, I’m teaching 6 days a week now instead of 7. Teaching lessons is really good money, and I don’t think, at least at this point, that I can sacrifice my weekday teaching. Maybe when my programming business picks up, I can take it easier on the weekdays. I really hope that’s the case, because sometimes it can be such a drag to teach until 7 every day.

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The Inside of Crystal Chapel, Nikko Hotel

As for my day j obs, I am still a wedding pianist full time, although the wedding biz is slowing down. I think I actually may catch “the fear” (Friends reference) and be scared into trying my hardest to be a web programmer full-time. We are losing one of our most popular wedding chapels, Crystal Chapel (Nikko Hotel), so I expect my numbers to go down by a lot starting early next year.

So it looks like I’m doing pretty good for where I wanted to be 5 years ago. I’m extremely happy with my life right now, so there! That’s my update for my 5 year ago. I guess there’s nothing left to do now but to maybe post another 5 year goal pretty soon. Guess I’ll get started on that pretty soon :)

Yosemite and MIDISport 4×4 [update] — M-Audio Makes A Public Statement!

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Yes! M-Audio makes a public statement to all Yosemite users for their products. I was so sad that I might not be able to update my recording rig to Yosemite, especially if I decide to buy a newer Mac, but it turns out that M-Audio is indeed working on new drivers for Yosemite.

I’m glad they are, because I would have stopped buying any of their products for fear of quick obsolescence. I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Welp, here’s the statement from M-AUDIO:

Apple’s newest operating system Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite introduces significant changes which may require updates to the drivers or the software included with your product.  We are conducting ongoing testing and development in order to support this new operating system with our products.

Bonus: Here’s a photo of my recording rig (powered by a Mac Mini)

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RotD: CurrentC Hacked

currentc-logoWal-Mart’s Answer To Apple Pay Has Already Been Hacked

I know I already posted about CurrentC yesterday, but all of Reddit (at least /r/apple and /r/android) rejoiced at this turn of events. While this doesn’t really affect me directly, but I thought it’d be nice if Apple Pay started spreading now so that when I finally get a new iPhone, I’d be able to use Apple Pay almost anywhere.

Anyway, this was what I was looking up for most of the day, so this is the Reddit of the Day. Ciao!

[PB] Super Metroid any% in 1:10:11

250px-SmetroidboxWelp, I finally did it. Dedicated to Tim Fox Dominguez who has been nagging me to play this game for the longest time. It’s been out since I was a wee lad, but I haven’t gotten around to playing it at all until this year.

Let me tell you, it is a great game. It’s very well made, the soundtrack is awesome, and there is a lot of thought and depth put into the overall design of the game, aesthetically and gameplay-wise (is that a word?).

Anyway, I finally finished a complete deathless, saveless run of it after months of on-and-off practicing.

Check out the vod here: http://www.twitch.tv/coufu/c/5395632

WordPress vs Drupal

I’ve been using these two PHP applications for a long time now. I didn’t want to call them CMS’s because WordPress isn’t really a CMS. And I didn’t want to call them Blogs because Drupal isn’t really a blog. Although they both can probably do everything you need them to do, there are huge differences as to which one you should use.

I’m going to keep this short, because there are many other comparisons online about these two pieces of software, but I’m hopefully going to cover them from a first person perspective, rather than a completely objective perspective.

WordPress

wordpress-logo-stacked-rgbWho should use it: People who need a blog. Sure, there are tons of plugins to add functionality for CMS like features, but natively, it doesn’t support it.

Who shouldn’t use it: People who need to organize a lot of different types of data.

Pros: Great Text Editing. Great media organization. Great Plugins and themes. Looks beautiful out of the box.

Cons: Not necessarily good for data, file, and general content management. Database tables must be created manually with PHP (this could be a pro for some people).

Summary: It feels like the Apple of PHP software. The software has beautiful design and it encourages its developers (for plugins and themes) to make their software with beautiful designs as well. It works right out of the box if all you need is a blog with great media and text editing.

Drupal

drupal_branding_2012Who should use it: People who need to organize dataand content quickly and easily. Between its built in support for fields and views (with a module), you can organize your data quickly and easily. Programming experience a plus.

Who shouldn’t use it: Newbies to PHP software.

Pros: Fast development for different types of content. Tons of customization options. Create databases with point and click.

Cons: Looks ugly out of the box. Steep learning curve. Can be a headache to get it to work exactly how you want it.

Summary: It feels like the Linux of PHP software. It doesn’t really do much out of the box, but you can (and have to) configure it to do what you want and need it to do. It is great software for rapid development of database systems and can do everything you need it to, but it will take a lot of tweaking to get there.

Conclusion

I use both and will continue to do so. Drupal can be a real headache sometimes, but if I need to organize a lot of different types of content, it makes it a breeze. WordPress is such a pleasure to use, but if I want to organize different types of content, it can take much longer than a Drupal website could.

I think Drupal could become my #1 choice if the Text Editing and Media organization could reach the wonderful usability level that WordPress has. Until then, I will continue to use both.

Pipe Organ at Lotte Wedding Chapel

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So I had my first wedding at the Lotte Wedding Chapel last week. The pipe organ has been there for several years already. It was built in Germany, then disassembled and then reassembled here with the same people from Germany. So…I imagine it cost a pretty penny.

When it was actually time to play it in front people though, It was pretty nerve wracking! I have never played on a pipe organ before, and it is LOUD! Knowing this, I practiced for 2 hours the day before the wedding, and then for 30 minutes right before the wedding. Luckily, I only have to use the foot pedals during the beginning and ending wedding marches, but it is still really hard for someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing.

Anyway, the wedding went really well, even under lots of pressure. I was so relieved afterwards, but it was worth it, because it was so much fun. I’m looking forward to doing more weddings there!

RotD: Anything Apply Pay vs CurrentC

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CurrentC retailers not allowed to accept competing payment services, may face fines if they do

I’m not planning to get an iPhone 6 because I’m perfectly happy with my 5S, but if I do, it will be because of Apple Pay. Living on Guam, sometimes you don’t know if you’ll get the latest technologies with the rest of the USA, but I’ve been seeing the NFC pay icon at many areas, so if I find out Apple Pay works here, I just might save up for a new iPhone.

But this Apply Pay vs CurrentC thing is ridiculous. You just need to browser http://www.reddit.com/r/apple to view all the posts about it. It has even united /r/Android and /r/Apple , because CurrentC supporting vendors have been disabling ALL NFC payments because of Apple Pay, thus affecting Google Wallet customers too.

Anyway, that’s what I’ve been mostly focused on Reddit today. It’s fun to watch this corporation drama unfold.

Mr. and Mrs. Frankenstein

10501696_942116995803160_1615627081212320299_nYes, yes, I know that Frankenstein is the name of the doctor who created the monster.

So Sabrina and I were walking around The Dungeon (store in Guam for all things costumes) for a good hour or more, looking for a quick costume we could put together for Livehouse’s Sunday Night Showcase.

After picking up $50 worth of items, we were still hesitant to check out because of how expensive our items were just for one night. So fast forward, we found these nuts and bolts that go through your head, and they were only $0.50 each! So we just picked up some green face paint, and voila! A couple’s costume for less than $10 :)

We rocked out hard that night to Trey Cunningham, FiF, and Freedom Fries before we had to call it an early night. We did, however, get runner-up in the couple’s costume contest, so that was pretty fun.

More updates to come on actual Halloween with our for-real costumes!

Engaged :D

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On the Seventh Night of July, 2014, I asked my girlfriend, Sabrina Borja, to marry me. And she said uhhhh…ummm….uhh.snifffffffff..whaa…snifff..wha..uhh..?!! *nods*

The short version of the story of how it built up: We were in Sydney, Australia for a Guam Territorial Band trip. Her favorite band piece for the longest time is entitled “The Seventh Night of July”. So since I knew we’d be in Australia on July 7, I bought a ring before we left and planned to propose to her. Little did I know that we were scheduled to play in the Sydney Opera House, playing The Seventh Night of July ON July 7, 2014. Everything lined up perfectly, and at the risk of sounding overly romantic, it was really magical.

So her response? It was the cutest thing ever hahaha. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind she would say yes! So, when everyone was asking me afterwards if I was nervous about asking, I would just say, “Pshhhh naw.” It was the most natural thing for me to do, and I’m glad she reacted the same way :)

Happy engagement to us! I love you, Sabrina Borja <3

Here’s a video of the song that inspired this night!

New Coffee Shop: Brewed Awakenings

10620504_1612854815608728_3667242851312421460_oA new coffee shop has opened up near my house! My fiancee, Sabrina, saw it and suggested we go there, so here we are this morning. The inside actually has a really nice ambiance, despite the building looking a little bit old.

Short side story:

  • Sabrina: Let’s try out Brewed Awakenings!
  • Doug: (didn’t hear the ‘B’) … that’s not a very nice name for a coffee shop
  • Sabrina: Nonono BBBBBrewed Awakenings!
  • Doug: Ohhh….damn that’s clever!
  • Sabrina: Duhhhh dumbass!
  • Doug: -_-

Anywayyy… The best part about it though is that Sabrina ordered her usual (double shot white mocha with soy), and she thought it was made very well. This is coming from one of the best former baristas from Infusion. I ordered a hot chai and was really impressed with the quality of their drinks too.

All it needs is a kitchen, and I don’t see any reason why this won’t become one of the places I frequent :) Like them on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brewed-Awakenings/1612854462275430?ref=br_tf

P. S. There was an acoustic guitar in the corner too, so it looks like they’ll be hosting some small kine music events here sometime.

Yosemite and MidiSport 4×4

os-x-yosemitemidisportI guess I should have waited to update my recording rig to Yosemite, but it seemed like it wasn’t a major departure from Mavericks, so I thought that the drivers wouldn’t be affected. Boy was I wrong.

I use the MidiSport 4×4 to drive my three Mackie Control Universal + two Extenders, so you can imagine my dismay when I found out the center of my control wasn’t working anymore.

I came across this link and tried to do what it said to make it work: https://gist.github.com/anonymous/56df524e2a58ffe65a1b – It involved some command line which I am alright with, but it still didn’t work. Oh well, back to Mavericks it is.