Well, my time as an employee at CallWave has come to an end (yes for a seond time, but this time it is for good), so I figured it was time to sit back and tally up what I accomplished (and went through) at CallWave.
Vital Statistics
Years as an employee: 2
Years as an intern: 1
Number of different bosses during employment: 4
Number of layoffs survived: 2
Number of times laid off: 1
Number of times hired back after being laid off: 1
Number of desk changes: 6
Positions: Database Intern, Database Developer
Programming Languages learned: SQL, Python, ActionScript
Responsibilities
I was responsible at CallWave for the daily upkeep and maintenance of the companies database servers. When things went wrong, I would diagnose and troubleshoot the issue, fixing the problem once it was uncovered. Along with these responsibilities, I helped design a new database schema for one of the company's new products, seeing the schema through development to the product's launch.
Along with these responsibilities, my job also included both client and server side programming in Python and ActionScript. The server side code involved programming an API for unified communications over a SOAP interface. The client side programming involved connecting to this SOAP interface to persist user information. My other client side programming responsibilities had me coding user interface components according to a visual specification.
Synopsis
In the end, CallWave provided me with pretty much the ideal start to my career in computer science. The experience I gained in database programming and maintenance will provide, I think, a great advantage in my career as I move forward. That, along with the skills gained in working with groups of developers and programming to specifications should help me have a successful programming career. The end of my time was bitter-sweet, but the experience, overall, was great.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Hope
It is hard to have hope in America today. Everything we see around us screams out "eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die." Store up for yourselves all the best new toys to insulate yourself from the coming peril. Surely your plasma tv will save you!
Today's culture is meant to seduce people. Marketers try to seduce you into buying their product by playing flashy commercials on tv and conjuring up hype about their products. I admit that I am, sometimes very willingly, seduced into purchasing things that I don't really need. This seduction travels beyond products, though, into lifestyles as well. It is quite easy to be seduced into a lifestyle of pursuing pleasure and wealth. Lifestyles that promote the self instead of the other. Like a wildfire consuming all that is truly good and satisfying in life.
I believe that we can have hope in America, though. In fact, there is a Juniper tree (Juniperus chinensis) in Arizona that gives me hope. Yes, I know it sounds strange, but before you just write me off, hear me out. This tree is quite unique and I'm sure would have a fantastic story to tell if it could talk in more than swishing leaves and creaking branches. Upon first glance through the charred hole in the middle of its trunk, you would swear that the tree had photosynthesized its last light particle. I mean, the hole is so big I could walk through it! On second consideration of this conifer, however, you would hopefully see the bright green growth sprouting from its top boughs! The tree is very much alive despite having been ravaged by some long-ago fire, carrying with it the scars of its trial.
If you are like me, you find yourself in a proverbial fire-fight right now. A worldly wildfire has been ravaging my life, trying to burn away all traces of my faith. I have been seeking after worldly things for the past year, seeking out my own pleasure and wealth instead of serving others and promoting their well-being. Through this selfishness I ended up almost losing a good friend because I was too prideful to seek reconciliation with him.
Have hope, friends. All of the trials, the fires, the years of growth, the joy, pain, sorrow, love, hate, truth, and lies that we experience in life make us who we are. They can bring us into a deeper, more mature relationship with Jesus, or they can cause us to fall away from faith. Take courage from the prophet Jeremiah:
Lord, revive and renew us. Show us your grace and love once more. May they be beacons of light for us.
Today's culture is meant to seduce people. Marketers try to seduce you into buying their product by playing flashy commercials on tv and conjuring up hype about their products. I admit that I am, sometimes very willingly, seduced into purchasing things that I don't really need. This seduction travels beyond products, though, into lifestyles as well. It is quite easy to be seduced into a lifestyle of pursuing pleasure and wealth. Lifestyles that promote the self instead of the other. Like a wildfire consuming all that is truly good and satisfying in life.
I believe that we can have hope in America, though. In fact, there is a Juniper tree (Juniperus chinensis) in Arizona that gives me hope. Yes, I know it sounds strange, but before you just write me off, hear me out. This tree is quite unique and I'm sure would have a fantastic story to tell if it could talk in more than swishing leaves and creaking branches. Upon first glance through the charred hole in the middle of its trunk, you would swear that the tree had photosynthesized its last light particle. I mean, the hole is so big I could walk through it! On second consideration of this conifer, however, you would hopefully see the bright green growth sprouting from its top boughs! The tree is very much alive despite having been ravaged by some long-ago fire, carrying with it the scars of its trial.
If you are like me, you find yourself in a proverbial fire-fight right now. A worldly wildfire has been ravaging my life, trying to burn away all traces of my faith. I have been seeking after worldly things for the past year, seeking out my own pleasure and wealth instead of serving others and promoting their well-being. Through this selfishness I ended up almost losing a good friend because I was too prideful to seek reconciliation with him.
Have hope, friends. All of the trials, the fires, the years of growth, the joy, pain, sorrow, love, hate, truth, and lies that we experience in life make us who we are. They can bring us into a deeper, more mature relationship with Jesus, or they can cause us to fall away from faith. Take courage from the prophet Jeremiah:
"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."
-Jeremiah 29:13-14
Lord, revive and renew us. Show us your grace and love once more. May they be beacons of light for us.
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