Month: May 2008

Cleaning House

I’m having one of those moments where I’m not terribly happy with every last bit of my blog, so forgive the layout mess as I rebuild.

*Three hours later…*

I think I’m happy again. In some ways, this was a very silly rebuild – I’ve basically redone the same look and feel with a different base stylesheet. But the syntax has been cleaned up considerably, and while I’m sure I’ve missed some styles, the site is more functional than it’s been in years.

I also nuked over 300 entries from my archives, which turns out to be about 20% of the total number in the system. This seems wrong for a site that’s acting as an embodiment of myself, but all the posts that were nuked were from the del.icio.us nightly posting script. After some reflection, I regretted having them in the system, as they mostly just take up space on the archives page and provide minimal value. So out they go. (These links are now autoposting to my Tumblr blog.)

Anyhow, there’s more playing to be done, but for the time being, I’m satisfied. If only I had the motivation to write something substantive. (In the mean time, have you been to The Power Is On lately?)

Tags blogging, projects

Found Reflected

Milestones

It’s been nearly four years since I joined the staff of Weill Cornell Medical College. In that time I’ve held three different titles and worked on over what feels like a hundred projects.

The first project I worked on, the one I was hired for, has stuck with me through all four years. In one capacity or another, I’ve always had a hand in the WCMC Elearning team, supporting the curriculum efforts at the Qatar branch of the Medical College. In the spirit of honesty, it hasn’t been my favorite project over the years: an operational effort that rarely gets acknowledged for keeping things running, but the first under fire when it falls apart. It’s been a rough existence, fighting with 270 millisecond latency and MPEG-4 encoders. (Good thing we’re not streaming live 99% of the time.)

On May 8th, the very first class of students graduated from WCMC-Q. This is the first time an American medical school has awarded M.D. degrees outside of US borders. These are the students that my work went towards teaching for those first two years when I was most involved with the project.

I’m proud to have been a part of this effort, knowing that it has achieved substantial good in the world. And I’m proud of the team I’ve worked with over those four years to help make fifteen students halfway around the world make history.

Tags wcmc, work

Enjoyed

DOH Chronicles: Cluckin’ Bell

Post author By Dan Dickinson
Post date May 1, 2008
No Comments on DOH Chronicles: Cluckin’ Bell

There’s been a number of posts already done about the overlap of GTA IV and the reality of New York City, such as Serious Eats’ series on the restaurants of Liberty City.

But let me share my favorite restaurant joke, one that not a lot of people might have found because this doesn’t actually register on the map.

Once you get to Algonquin – the Manhattan of GTA IV – head to the corner of Wardite Street and Exeter Avenue. It’s up on the northern part of the island, right by the Tw@ internet cafe. If you don’t want to drive or grab a cab, take the A, C, K, or J to Frankfort and walk the last block.