Diary of an Ingress Player [a slip into apathy]

Sivan used to write G+ posts like this, so I'm going to steal that title...

So, I used to love Ingress... it was new, unique, and kinda cool with the hacking and the portals and whatnot.  Then I realized nobody else was playing around town.  So I was free to do as I pleased... hack, link, make fields, and generall amass a hoard of resources (XMP and Resonators etc...).

Dean said something pretty profound today

It's been awesome to be able to spend time with the little guy sharing the Star Wars series together.

We're at the part where I've decided to 'flashback' and see the prequels.  This jump in the timeline has Dean a little confused, as such his interest is waning and he's full of questions.  Normal questions, like when's Vader going to get here?  Some are a little convoluted, that he forgets that Anakin turns into Vader, so asks when Obi turns into Vader.

I expected as much.  But he has a lot of questions.

Which is why the one that kinda struck me today didn't really register until just now.

"Daddy, when are you going to be done school?"   I answered that I was done school and we went over what 'graduation' is, and how many grades I completed.

We talked about how school teaches you things and you get to learn.

Then he asked "what do you do after school?  Where do you go to learn?"  And I explained I go to work now.

Without missing a beat he said "that's like school, you get to learn things and use them...".  I patted his head and told him it was time for sleep.

But really, he's so right.  Maybe it's something I did today at/about work, or the fact that I'm trying to get +Android Coliseum off the ground (did I mention www.androidcoliseum.com ?) that I'm realizing that I'm always learning.  Always gathering new bits of information to tack together into something called wisdom... looking for ways to apply it.

Pretty smart kid if you ask me.

Despite his choice of apparel sometime (you can't see the flippers he's wearing on his feet there).

Star Wars ABCs

So, one of the things I resolved to do this year was blog more personally.  Which is going to be hard, as I've launched my own 'business' to blog etc...  but I'm trying, and I'm always looking for something to write about that isn't such a vague and vapid topic ...

Well, today we went with Kris & Greg to Chapters and one of the topics that came up was an ABC book for Star Wars (we also talked about the importance of and strategy of watching the Star Wars movies with the kids... that's another post I think tho').

Well seeing as we were at a book store, Greg and mandy went looking for some ABC book... and when they couldn't find it we started seeing if we could guess our own...

Here's what I've got thus far:

Turns out someone already got teh idea and made it...
ThinkGeek :: Kids Star Wars ABC Book

On another note, Dean and I have started to watch the series.  We're going to do it in the 'side story method'.  I.e. we're watching 4, 5, (1, 2, 3), 6.

This way see the rise of Luke up to the reveal, then watch the backstory of Anaking turning into Vader, then finish it off where the good guys win.  There's a lot of debate out there about proper order.  Welcome to hear your thoughts.

There was a proposed "Machete order", but I'll still let him watch #1

Difference Between Polls vs Surveys

So, this is something I struggle with... maybe it's my OCD.  Maybe it's because I love having data to compile that I love to ask questions and get feedback from those around.

Plus it's super easy to set forms up on Google Drive, so I do it a fair bit for work or for my blog.

But while I do it, internally I struggle with whether when I name the file, should I name it a 'poll' or should I name it a 'survey'?

What's the difference?  Does it matter?

Difference Between Polls and Surveys | Difference Between | Polls vs Surveys

Personally my guess is that Polls are quick 1 or 2 questions - very limited time.  Surveys have more questions...

get it?  my 2 cents...

But can it be that simple?  Or is it more about trying to find reason behind the answer?  A poll can be a bunch of straight forward 'preference' type questions.  Surveys more about 'what do you think' or "why"...   The purpose of the poll is to give a quick answer "more people like X", whereas surveys were more like "some like Y because of Z"...

One of the reasons I ask as I'm now starting to think about SEO a bit more.  So... when I use a label for an article, should it be POLL, or SURVEY?  Using both means 2 labels when one could suffice, and essentially creates more links to the same article, thus increasing its 'spam quotient'... but choosing one might limit it's chance of being found ... no?

... am I analyzing this too much?  Maybe ...

... Maybe I should do a poll ...

... or a survey ...

Resolutions for 2013

So... almost the first bit of a week, coming up to the first weekend of 2013, and I'm already tired.  361 more days?  yoiks.

With that in mind, I have to think about those 361 days.  What am I going to fill them with?  We have a book we read with Dean now and again about 'filling buckets', and I have opted to spend this year trying to do that.

2012 - My Year in Review

I want to say I've done this every year... and, let's be honest, anyone with a blog these days tends to do it automatically... but I can't remember doing it last year, and I'm too lazy to look it up.  I've littered this blog with my AiC stuff a lot (sorry -- I should remove it).
(oh, here it is)
But, nonetheless, let's have a stroll down 2012 Lane.