Irma L. Olguin Jr.

Well, it’s long overdue, but it’s out there.  My company, Geekwise, quietly launched a new look over the last few weeks/days.  Like some eternal, sad truth, your own website tends to fall to the bottom of the pile when you’re busy doing work for clients (not that I’m complaining). And while we have a few more things we’d like to do (beef up the portfolio, introduce you to the team), we feel that there’s enough there to let the world know about the new look. We do all kinds of stuff, so if you’re in need of a nerd, or know someone who is, let us know.  Chances are, we do what you need. Also, want to give a big shout out to Simply Design for the …. simple design.  Couldn’t have done this without them. Feedback is always welcome.

It’s entirely possible that this problem exists in all major calendar platforms, and I’ve just called Google out for no reason, but I’ve recently had need to work extensively with the Google Apps platform (which I love, by the way), and came across a couple of interesting bits.  Here’s one of them: Other people can accept calendar invitations that they have no business accepting. In other words, with the right link, I can accept an invitation on your behalf.  Here’s a quick proof (all done using Google’s web interface): Send your buddy (we will call him Ryan) a calendar invitation to a bogus event. When Ryan gets the email notification, ask him to simply reply to the message.  He doesn’t  need to write a message, just have him reply to it. Now from  his reply in YOUR EMAIL, click “Yes” … Continue reading →

I work all the time. I get up and I work, I stay up all night — often — just to work. I try to relax and I begin longing for my keyboard and my Inbox. But I’m not a workaholic. I don’t need to work.  It’s not something I can’t help.  Oh, no.  I have a different problem: fear of letting people down. I get my ya-yas off being the hero.  I mean, who doesn’t? I don’t like to be the only guy that can do XYZ — infact, I think that’s a recipe for disaster — but I love being the best of 10 that can do XYZ, or the most efficient, or the most reliable…I love it.  I’ll put my own health on the line with too much adrenaline and too little sleep in order to be that guy. … Continue reading →

The Big, Fat Idea [ 16-26 year-olds, please take the survey. ] There are some of us in the Valley that think we can do tech education, specifically for web development, better.  We think we need more geeks — good ones — to help push our region in the right direction. You see, there’s about to be a big gap in the industry.  We can already see the beginning of it.  People who are not developers are having ideas (some of them are good!) and want to build the next big thing.  Instead of hiring out to software firms, or potentially spending tens of thousands of dollars to have their idea built, the smart first step is to get a rapid prototype out there and see if the idea floats. The Problem We’ve seen a lot of this happen:  Entrepreneurs — … Continue reading →

Warning:  There are a lot of parenthesis in this blog post. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Over and over again you hear this thing: ”Do what you love,” or, “Do what makes you happy,” or some variation on that theme.  Which, I have to say, sounds like great advice except that it’s useless to me. And if you’re like me (you are, I can tell) you have a pretty severe problem with that advice.  The problem is that you don’t know what you would love to do. Or put another way: We don’t know what makes us happy. Does that sound ridiculous?  Ok, kind of.  But not when you think it through.  Consider this scenario: You are given enough money to make your ends meet for 6 months; no strings attached.  That’s enough to quit your job and start fresh.  What do you do? (Or … Continue reading →

A web and mobile apps competition for idea people.

I was a teacher, once, for a year, at a high school where I learned that: There are students who will succeed no matter what you do, how you teach, or how hard you work. There are students who will fail no matter what you do, how you teach, or how hard you work. These two facts do not let you off the hook, but they will make you feel pretty stupid when you forget them. Being a good [subject] teacher, does not necessarily produce students that are good at [subject]. In my case, teaching Interactive Game Design for 11th and 12th graders, you’d think that being a good teacher would produce good game designers.  That makes sense, right?  That’s what I was being paid to do…right?  No.  That’s stupid and too simple. Honestly, we shouldn’t be aiming for that … Continue reading →

So my friends and I are putting together this little ditty that, really, is going to be quite the big ditty. We are holding a Web & Mobile Apps competition that is designed to highlight the programming/nerdy talent in the area. It’s open to everyone and the prizes are pretty major. We are doing two categories: Zero Code, and In-Progress. Zero Code is a timed category. You have 59 Days to build your app once the clock starts. In-Progress is for those who might already have something started but still want to compete. The way that it works is this: Apply, Early March > Party + Kickoff, April 23 > Get your App Ready > Showcase + Awards, June 22. We’re putting together around $40K in prizes with one of the winners landing a chunk of cash. (More details about … Continue reading →

And here’s the trick: Take all of your first reactions — all of them — and don’t let them come out of your mouth. Your replies, your first thoughts, your first facial expressions.  None of them are original.  They’re too ingrained.  They’re expected now.  Stop doing them. That small thing, the act of shutting the hell up, forces you to have another thought.  It may not be any good, but that’s not the point.  One day they’ll be good.  With practice we get better. This is my advice to me, but you’re welcome to listen if you like.  This should have been a resolution for 2010, but I probably said something rote instead.

This post is not about the swine flu. This about real illnesses and real people. Some of them live next to you, or in the shanty behind your house.  Some of them mow your lawn and clean your pool.  Some of them have fixed your cars with five-dollar parts from the “swap meet”.  Most of them are related to me.  This post is about Mexicans. In order to understand this post, you have to understand Mexican families.  We have rules.  They are never broken. Growing up, we rarely went to the doctor.  Don’t ask me why.  My parents had rockin’ health insurance, so that wasn’t it.  We’re a very do-it-yourself breed, so that’s probably to blame. When you are young and (Mexican and) sick, you do whatever grandma tells you to do to remedy the problem.  It doesn’t matter how absurd it … Continue reading →