Categories
Life

Honey Bees

The Guardian: “The decline of bee populations has become an increasing concern in recent years. “Colony collapse disorder”, the name given to the unexplained death of bee colonies, is affecting hives around the world. Scientists say there are likely to be numerous reasons for the die-off, ranging from agricultural pesticides to bee pests and diseases, pollution, and intensive farming, which reduces bee habitat and replaces multiple food sources with single, less nutritious, sources. Globalisation may also be a factor, as it spreads bee diseases around the world, and some measures taken to halt the deaths – such as massing bees in huge super-hives – can actually contribute to the problem, according to a recent study by the United Nations.”

Sigh.

Categories
Life

I ♥ SLO

USA Today Travel: “SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The Happiest Town in the Whole USA is surrounded by lush hills that at this time of year are so intensely green, they practically sparkle. A refreshing breeze wafts in from the Pacific, just 10 miles away. There’s no need for a car, since the downtown is infinitely walkable. And if you do drive, traffic jams are rare.”

Categories
Life

The priciest gas in all of California

Fill 'er up?SLO Tribune: “The average price for regular unleaded gas in the Atascadero/Paso Robles/San Luis Obispo area was $4.17 a gallon on Thursday, according to AAA’s daily fuel gauge report. That price was 23 cents more than a month ago, $1 more than a year ago and the highest average in the California markets surveyed by AAA.”

I guess you gotta pay to play.

Categories
MLOTW

Movie line of the week answer

Good morning movie liners, we have a winner!

Congratulations to Haileigh Diamant. (yes, she’s my daughter.)

The correct answer was…

Hudson Hawk

See you next Thursday.

Categories
Potter

Potter Magic

Harry Potter, boy wizardCNN Travel: “Designers took a greatest-hits approach to the park, creating a replica of the Hogwarts Express, Honeydukes sweet shop, Zonko’s joke shop, Ollivanders, the Three Broomsticks, Hog’s Head pub, Filch’s Emporium of Confiscated Goods gift shop, and of course Hogwarts castle.”

Yes, I’m a Potter freak, yes I want to go see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Categories
Business

Android, Free is King

CNN Tech: “But for developers who wants their programs to make serious money, a nonunified app ecosystem may be less than desirable. Fully 74 percent of respondents said developing for Apple’s iOS gave the best opportunities for paid-app revenues, and twice as many developers claimed their apps were more visible in Apple’s app store than they were in the Android Market.”

Emphasis is mine. Another concern for developers was fragmentation. No surprise. Still, Android is a BIG deal. It’s the Microsoft Windows of Mobile.

You cannot ignore the platform.

Categories
Development Technology

Instagram, Scaling for Success

InstagramMashable: “Day two for Instagram was an exciting one. Krieger called his dedicated server representative to inquire about getting a new machine — he was quoted a two day turnaround. Instagram, already fast-approaching 40,000 users, would need something much sooner to meet the weekend demand. “We needed to be on a platform where we could adjust in minutes, not days,” says Krieger.”

Amazon EC2 to the rescue! I hear story after story like this. With Amazon EC2, Rackspace, and Microsoft Azure I’m not sure why you’d want to deal with hosting your own mess. Let them do it for you.

Categories
MLOTW

Movie line of the week

Watchin' it on the big screen!I heard this films name on the way to work this morning. It didn’t get much love from the critics or your average moviegoer. I loved it and it’s part of my “old-school” DVD collection.

Anywho, enough talk, here’s the line.

Actor #1: In one day – less than one day of planning, and you did it. You started the week by stealing the Sforza and ended by swiping the Codex. What are your plans for the weekend? Hoisting away the Coliseum? Tell me, did the Devil make you do it, or did Darwin and Minerva Mayflower?

Actor #2: Can’t we just go back to the kissing part?

Ok, quick, what movie! Send your guesses here.

Categories
Business Development

Are you a farmer?

Wil Shipley: “If you farm, you’ll have to purchase seed up-front, and work on it for a season before you see any profits. And every season you’ll plow most the profits (literally) back into the land and salaries and your mortgage. You husband the soil to ensure that it’ll keep providing for you for years and years. If you’re lucky, and if you do a good job, you’ll gather a following, sales will increase, and eventually you may make a tidy living. But every season, no matter how rich you get, you’re going to be back out there, breaking your back and working with the soil. When you finally retire, if you’ve done a good job, the soil is as good as when you first got it, and your farm will live on.”

A great piece on nurturing software. Great software takes care and feeding, Wil is a great software developer, and continually turns the virtual soil of Delicious Library.

Take a few minutes to read the article, you’ll enjoy it.

Categories
Life

Leaving the LEVEL Nest

Kathleen Lee: “I am stepping out of my comfort zone to follow a dream, working with the San Francisco Giants. Follow me if you love the Giants, want to know where the best eateries and hangouts in SF exist, or if you really enjoy reading my random meandering thoughts. “

Kathleen came fresh out of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo last summer and joined our team as a Project Coordinator. She did a great job here at LEVEL and will definitely be missed, but how can someone so young pass up the opportunity to work for the San Francisco Giants? You can’t.

Good luck Kathleen, maybe we’ll see you at a game some time.