Running

I am looking for some good running songs to put me back on track. I used to run 3 miles everyday now, it's been more than 6 months without a good run. I am thinking if I update my song list on my ipod maybe I can find the motivation to start running again...

Sample of my workout playlist
Nelly Furtado - Maneater
Madonna - all the songs in confessions on a dance floor tour album
Beyonce -Sweet Dreams
Ladytron - Black Cat

reunion

I am so excited about tomorrow!! My friend from back home is coming! It's been 9 years since I last saw him! And he's bringing his wife who is also my friend from university! Can't wait to see them...

back to my coding routine

I didn't know how much I enjoyed coding until I started working for my new company. I guess it makes sense, 'cause each day I am learning something new, and each day I am setting new goals for myself. And here's the perfect place to do that since the technologies they are providing me are extensive.
I became so content after my vacation in Istanbul, meeting with my old friends and most importantly remembering what my life was like before Atlanta. Life can still be peaceful here in Atlanta but only if you avoid the unnecessary details ... ;)

AMD Istanbul

AMD's upcoming 6-Core Processor Istanbul is arriving in June 2009!!
People are already waiting to switch from Intel's Dunnington chip to AMD's Istanbul.

Going deep into struts...

Istanbul'lu Pinar

Yemekleri yedik, sahilde kosumuzu yaptik, alisverisimizi yaptik, arkadaslarla hasret giderdik, aile ziyaretlerini yaptik simdi de donus vakti geldi :((
Ben Istanbul'umu cok ozlemisim.. Hic ayrilasim yok acikcasi, simdi Atlanta'nin o ic sIkan ve son derece monoton yasamina gidesim yok.
Ayaklarim geri geri gidiyor... Atlanta basmaya basladi bile.

No Comment!

IBM and Sun, together?

IBM is putting $6.5 billion on the table to buy Sun! well, not yet but the rumors are out. The story has two sides, the Wall Street side and the tech side. I am thinking what the result will be if two companies merge (by the way their scope is totally different). It is for sure that IBM will gain more power against Microsoft. .Net will definitely lose reputation against Java.
Interesting news, I am all ears now!

IBM wants Sun

My Supposedly (Florida) Vacation

After a long and tiring month I decided to go on a vacation. I was planning to go to Florida and find a beach and relax for a few days.
Well, I don't know how that happened but after listening to the songs on my first cd while I was driving, I suddenly realized that I was on my way to Virginia!! :O
Oh, what the heck, if I drove that far then I asked myself how about driving a few more hours to the east?! Yes, in 13 hrs I was in Manhattan! Florida vacation somehow turned out to be a NYC vacation with the help of my subconscious. I was longing for Istanbul for so long so that's why I found myself there. I am so thankful to my subconscious for taking me to New York, we can be so blinded by our rational thinking, so maybe sometimes we need to let our inner-selves to decide for ourselves.

I am BACK!

After a long night, I have finally seen the light! YeSsSss... I already made my plans for the upcoming two months and it feels so great to be back, back to the real old Pinar! Such a relief... All the dark clouds are cleared and I am ready to go!

For saving me from all they've taken,
Let my armor fall again,
Giving me the strength to face them,
Feeling it taking over, now
On a path to take it all away!

The Night

Joomla Part 2

I am halfway through finishing my first customized Joomla template.

Joomla

I am exploring Joomla! So far, I am loving it, php-MySql-Apache, perfect combination. I used wamp to install Joomla, and it was so easy. Now, I started creating my own template and figuring out the syntax of php. Learning one more scripting language never hurts :)
Let's see how far I can go with CMS! To be continued......

bilumum Turk dizileri

Hicbir zaman buyuk konusmayacaksin! Bugunun en anlamli sozunun bu olduguna karar verdim. Ben kim turk dizisi izlemek kim, asla derdim hatta alay bile ederdim izleyenlerle. Seslendirmenin, konusulan cumlelerin ne kadar yavan oldugunu soyler dururdum. Burda House dizisinin fanatigi olan ben, gel de arka siradakilerin fanatigi ol :) Yaprak dokumunu kanser olucam diyerek iki haftadir izliyorum, Ask-i Memnu en sevdiklerim arasinda.. O diziyle tanismam da sevgili adasimin bir gun aksam yemegi yerken beni Beren Saat'e benzettigini soylemesiyle basladi. Annem de bir dizi ismi verdi onun da muziklerine hayran kaldim....
Turkiyem Turkiyem ne diziler cevriliyormus da benim haberim yokmus, cok geri kalmisim. Ehh gerci biraz arabesk diziler ama olsun gurbette iyi geliyor..

Sevdigim sarkilar arasinda...
Karanlik Yollar
Yalan Dunya
Deli Caglarim

bir kucuk, beyaz peynir, yanina da kavun... :))))

NO!

It is time to say "NO"! Bundan sonra karar verdim umursamazliga son veriyorum. Bu zamana kadar hep aman "bana ne" diyip sessiz kalmayi tercih ediyordum ama farkina vardim ki benim sessizligim farkli yorumlaniyor. Hatta daha da otesi benim sessizligim insanlarin yanlis dusuncelerini yanlis hareketlerini onayladigim sonucunu doguruyormus! Ehh dogru tabi yuzune vuracaksin ki anlasin, kibarliktan, oturup kalkmaktan, nerde nasil konusulacagini ne bilsin karsindaki??? Arif olan anlar ;) Ben anladim :))

Randomness

I know kung fu :)
Abstract Design Pattern and Factory Design Pattern are piece of cake from now on :)
Well, I had to spend my new year's eve working on my own random number generator algorithm and applying it along with Java's Random class to one of the design patterns.
Random Number Algorithms Suck!!! Thanks to Java so we don't have to write our own Random class. It is do-able but why spend time on something that's already there ? ;) Yeah, I know that's called "being lazy"...
Anyways, after searching for mathematical equations and trying to apply it to Java for about a day, it wasn't purely random in the end!! It allows you to create a set of integers in a predictable way ( in my case it was integer type) then picking elements from the list. Afterwards I happened to see this quote :
"Any one who considers arithmetical methods of producing random digits is, of course, in a state of sin."
Wisely said by John von Neumann, I asked myself who wants to be in a state of sin ?? Not me! :)) So I created a simple array of integers, shuffled them and picked the numbers! :D I came to a conclusion that this was as close as to computers randomness.

"Creativity is the ability to introduce order into the randomness of nature."

—Eric Hoffer

"We all experience many freakish and unexpected events - you have to be open to suffering a little. The philosopher Schopenhauer talked about how out of the randomness, there is an apparent intention in the fate of an individual that can be glimpsed later on. When you are an old guy, you can look back, and maybe this rambling life has some through-line. Others can see it better sometimes. But when you glimpse it yourself, you see it more clearly than anyone."

—Viggo Mortensen