I'm doing 15 things
Learning Ruby helped me become a better programmer in other languages (learning any language generally accomplishes this). I’m not a huge fan of Ruby, because I feel that there are language design flaws that prevent it from being appropriate on large applications, but the Rails framework is easily the best web framework I’ve ever used. Ruby is decent, Rails is great.
rodhilton's Life List
-
1. review a technical book
1 person -
2. Get a PhD
1 cheer2,972 people -
3. work for google
405 people -
4. pass scbcd
1 person -
5. publish a book
2,571 people -
6. learn electrical engineering
2 people -
7. finish my tattoo
186 people -
8. learn spanish
1 cheer18,158 people -
9. learn to play the guitar
13,799 people -
10. sell a screenplay
2 cheers160 people -
11. blog once a week
1 cheer39 people -
12. learn a martial art
1,591 people -
13. buy a decent backup system
1 person -
14. answer 10 questions on stack overflow
1 person -
15. write a video game
1 cheer41 people
How I did it
It made me
nervous 
How I did it: I had a practice run of the talk - giving it to classmates for a class I was taking. My professor liked the material and wanted me to present it to the math department as a seminar, so I trimmed the material down a bit and re-presented it.Giving it once to a familiar group made me much more comfortable, enough I was able to give it in front of strangers as well. Read how I did it…
It made me
exerienced 
How I did it: Saved up for a long time, asked work what the maximum amount of time off I could take was, then figured out how much we could see in that time.Rick Steve's guides were extremely helpful, he breaks cities down into what to see if you have only one day, what to see if you have two, and so on. He also explains the "right" number of days to devote to a place. This resource makes planning easier. Read how I did it…
It made me
satisfied
How I did it: I just kept reminding myself it was the only thing standing between me and graduating. It also helped a great deal to have a topic that I was truly passionate about. I worked during the weekend, after work, and sometimes over my lunch break at work. Read how I did it…
See all "How I Did It" stories...
Recent entries
Took a class that required learning C#. It’s an well-designed language, and it addresses a lot of flaws with Java. If I still used Windows, C# would be my language of choice for native application development.
linux definitely comes up short in a number of surprising areas (file networking being my primary problem), but just knowing I am free is nice. Go linux!
