Goodbye Vancouver. Hej Stockholm!
At the start of February I moved from Vancouver, Canada to Stockholm, Sweden!
Last year was a traumatic year for me with the death of my beloved wife Barbara to brain cancer in July. As five of the six years we were married were spent in Vancouver there are many happy memories there but there are unpleasant memories too.
I felt it was time for a new adventure so the opportunity to work with the awesome folk at DICE on the Frostbite engine was an opportunity that I felt I’d regret if I didn’t give it a shot. Plus I’d always wanted to learn another language, as something about thinking in multiple languages has always intrigued me.
Leaving the friends I’ve made and the colleagues I’ve worked with in the five years I spent in Vancouver behind has been hard. Yet exploring Stockholm and meeting new people has been interesting so far!
Top posts of 2011
The top ten posts for 2011 according to Google Analytics were:
- Installing Python, MatPlotLib & iPython on Snow Leopard.
- Finding duplicate files using Python.
- Getting started with Python.
- Praise for Python.
- Basic Graphing with MatPlotLib.
- Graphing real data with MatPlotLib.
- Extracting image EXIF data with Python.
- Python 2.7.1 Goodness.
- Running WordPress on Mac OS X with XAMPP.
- John Cleese on creativity.
Eight of the top ten are Python related, the top twenty is more diversified:
- Querying Reddit with Python.
- Barbara.
- Processing Perforce command output with Python.
- Downloading wallpaper images from Reddit using Python.
- Why scrum fails…
- Hacking work manifesto.
- The ascendeancy of JSON.
- Using Perforce counters to control syncing.
- Why work doesn’t happen at work.
- Small steps to big goals.
On a personal note I hope 2012 will bring more posts and less personal tragedy..
Steve Jobs 1955-2011
So passes a legend. It was impossible not to admire Steve Job’s ability to consistently produce products and companies that lead their marketplace. The following is Steve’s graduation speech at Stanford University.
Having just lost my wife to cancer less than three months ago, my thoughts are with his family at this challenging time.
Why visualise data?
This excellent short video from Column Five really demonstrates the difference that even basic data visualization techniques can make.
Barbara
My beloved wife Barbara lost her nineteen month long battle with brain cancer almost a month ago on the 24th July 2011. She was an artist, a scholar and my best friend. We were married for six wonderful years and she is sorely missed..
Garr – Lessons from Bamboo
I have been a fan of Garr Reynolds, since I discovered his first book Presentation Zen. This is Garr’s recent talk from TEDxTokyo which is well worth watching.
These are the slides for the talk, which are done in Garr’s trademark style.
