Thank God for People Smarter than ME!

This might be the caffeine talking, but I feel very excited about my android project.  It will not only make me learn about the android platform, it also forces me to brush up on my java.  Once more, I can confidently put java on my list of skills on my resume.  I'm so pleased... I think I'm going to die.

This is day 3 of working on android.  I really wish I was a better programmer, but at least I'm a very good "googler."  Thank God for all those awesome programmers out there who post up sample code on their blogs and forums.  Thank God for the internet and it's elephant like memory.  You know what they say!  "An elephant never forgets!" 

Example of how stuff on the internet never dies: I googled my old highschool club page... and whaddya know!  It's still there on angelfire.... sitting there quietly as if it was still the year 1999... announcing the "recent event winners" and etc. 

... wow... this coffee must be very strong.  Sorry for the tangent.

Here's a link to a blog that is solely focused on android development. 
Android-er on blogspot http://android-er.blogspot.com/ 
He does a lot of basic examples.  I found the samples extremely helpful... however I was annoyed by the pop-out links embedded in his post. And the "download" link on his blog seems to lead to some questionable server site.  I call it questionable because with the download window came a bunch of pop-up ad windows and warnings from my MicroTrend security program.

Pros and Cons of being an Engineer

I'm pretty please to announce that I have been assigned to an android project at work! 
It's not a fancy project, but it's always good when you get paid to learn something you wanted to learn anyway.  These are the times when I'm happy to be an engineer.  We get paid to sit and use our brain!  We get paid (sometimes) to improve our professional worth!  And if we're lucky, we don't have to work a full 8 hour day if we get our tasks done quickly and correctly on the first try.

But I should also point out some of not so good perks of being an engineer.
1.  No overtime pay.  But you better get your stuff done on time even if it means working 12-15 hour days!
2.  There is the constant fear that maybe you're not as good as you should be
3.  It can be hard to concentrate on your task when it's a boring, mind numbing project.
4.  You must constantly be up to date on the latest new technological tool.
          10 years ago java was the language to learn
          8 years ago web programming was the skill to learn
          5 years ago database management seemed to be the hot ticket item
          Present day, it's all about the mobile app programming. 
Fortunately, most of these things overlap and build on each other.  But staying fresh and sharp on all these skills can be a challenge.

So anyway, I should go back to focus on my android programming.  My task is to communicate to our wireless printer via a simple android app. 
Allotted time: 1 wk. 
Final product: A demo program that will print via wifi or bluetooth. 

I'll update my blog with my notes on android programming as well as links or tutorials that I found to be helpful.