James VanDyke Blog

Author Archives: james

Done with school for the semester

I’ve finished, and passed, all of my classes for the semester and I’m getting in the blogging mood again. Don’t worry, it shouldn’t last more than a couple of weeks.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Ikariam: My favorite new web game

Lately I’ve been playing a new web game called Ikariam. It’s a slow paced version of Civilization only you’re playing with thousands of other people. I enjoy games like Civilization and SimCity. However they have a downside, they take too much time. I invetably get sucked in and play for hours at a time. While [...]

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

WordPress for iPhone

WordPress released a new application for the iPhone today. The new self-titled application allows bloggers to post to their blog directly from their phone. The app also supports multiple blogs so prolific bloggers can update multiple blogs. I wouldn’t expect long posts from the new application, those are still best left to keyboards and monitors. [...]

Posted in Technology | Tagged | Leave a comment

Blogging from my iPhone

I joined the bandwagon this weekend and bought an iPhone. So far I’ve been very impressed with it. One of the biggest questions that I had was if the on-screen keyboard would be easy to use. So far the answer is yes. The software correction is what makes it especially useful. I can just type [...]

Posted in Technology | Tagged | Leave a comment

Who kept the dogs in… woof, woof, woof, woof

Since I promised an update, National Take Your Dog to Work Day was a no-show at our offices. We all chickened out figuring that the poor behavior of our individual dogs might be a catastrophe when combined, sort of like an Anti-Power Ranger. Maybe next year.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Hey Mr. Bus Driver

Today I successfully navigated the Dallas public transit system thanks to Google Maps. Over the last few weeks I’ve been taking the train to work two to three days a week. Today however I got an urgent request to pick up a presentation at a location that wasn’t close to a train stop. Just as [...]

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Take Your Dog To Work Day – June 20

Tomorrow is Take Your Dog to Work Day. Our office is tentatively scheduled to participate, so after lunch time TigerMan will join Addy and Luke at our office. A full report to follow, until then visit the TYDTWD website.

Posted in Personal | Leave a comment

Dividing by Zero in Excel or Google Docs

I’m currently working to finish up a project for one of my classes at school and I came across a bit of a Microsoft Excel problem. If you try to divide by zero Excel throws a fit telling you to “#DIV/0!” If you need the possibility of a zero in the divisor of one of [...]

Posted in Technology | Leave a comment

Lessons learned from working at home

Part of this week I worked from home because the air conditioning was out at work. Along the way I learned a few important things. Keep a to do list so you don’t get distracted Having animals around makes for a better work environment Check your meeting calendar before deciding to work from home for [...]

Posted in Personal | Leave a comment

Is this thing on?

I found an interesting site today, downforeveryoneorjustme.com. If you’ve ever wondered if a website is really down or just singling you out this site tries to give you an answer.

Posted in Technology | Tagged , | Leave a comment