Why Start This Blog Again

This blog has not been updated in a while but I'm starting it up again, primarily since I need an online place to organize my thoughts and the knowledge I seem to be constantly collecting. Also, it provides an avenue for me to express my random musings to the greater public (assuming that people actually read this of course). I figure it's worth a few extra minutes a day typing things up. A lot of good blogs that people actually want to read start that way. If you notice, I have put up links on the top bar as well to cover some of the other activities I do. Hopefully, they'll be of interest as well.

What does this blog entail? A mishmash of everything really which doesn't fit on my other arenas of interest -- science and technology blog or space. Check it out at your leisure. Finding topics may be difficult due to the poor labeling scheme so feel free to inform me and I can update it.

Also, this place presents a helpful pseudo-bookmark for me to find interesting topics such as:



C++ Style Guide
https://google.github.io/styleguide/cppguide.html

Dijkstra's algorithm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dijkstra%27s_algorithm

Some interesting programming tools include:

C++ Coding Standards Part 0: Automated Code Analysis
https://gist.github.com/lefticus/10191322

[Poetry] World and I

World and I

I won’t lie.

I have big dreams!

I want to move the world!

I won’t lie.

I let the world push me

In this world, we made way more babies than adults

Sometimes, I feel like I’m growing smaller not bigger

There’s no doubt I’m like a child scared of being alone

I seek solace in the world knowing that people and things do not know who I am

Perhaps they seek solace too in whatever fashion they can find

So who is using who?

Artificial noises are seductive to my ears and I’m lured by worldly Sirens

My ears blister and burn while I leave truth for lies

Counterproductive and life-shortening, I shrink

The days of life dance by day by day – one of so many I think or rather one of so few

Ask me if I’m looking for self-growth and I will tell you that I most certainly am

Ask me if I’m growing and I may tell you that I do not know

But that may be a lie for I know I often recede

Golden time most frivolously frittered with motionless words motionless emotions

The words I say ring hollow to my own ears even while they may inspire others

My shifting moods give me thoughts where I cannot help but think that I may be a lie

Outside, maybe I still shine but within, my fire heart is submerged under the cold water of fear

My soul is as deep as the ocean I think but lost like Atlantis under the waves

I cannot help but feel that I’m sometimes drowning

This frigid silence within may have eclipsed the totality of my sun

I am a student of my own heart and I know what I feel:

I want a white slate to redraw who I am and not just to wait out the grey of every day

[Poetry] Summer Shower

Summer Shower

Subdued light reflects hazily from glass

Rain passing in sheets on asphalt streets

Down these red-green torrential arteries

Hard metal canisters of soft bodies coasting by

Warm rainbow sewers clogged with leaves

A summer shower for the city and me

[Tech] Solar Panels Becoming a Standard Feature for Homebuilders

 
This article was originally published on Natural Awakenings:
https://issuu.com/holisticchoicepublishing/docs/nahtx_july_digital

Smaller footprints and greener features ranked at the top of the trends list among a 2017 National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) study published in the Green Multifamily and Single Family Homes 2017 SmartMarket Brief. At least one third of single family and multifamily builders surveyed said that green building is more than 60% of their portfolio. Within this category, nearly 30% of multifamily builders fall into the category of “dedicated” green, i.e. more than 90% of their portfolio is in green building. Within the single family side, this is nearly 20%. By 2022, both single family and multifamily sectors are expected to increase to 50% for people who invest in green.

Increasing energy efficiency continues to be the most common method of improving the performance of a green home, followed by creating a healthy indoor living environment. The report also found that a considerable number of builders are developing net zero homes or plan to build net zero homes in the near future. Among those surveyed, 29 percent of single family home builders have built a net zero home in the past two years, and 44 percent expect to do so in the next two years. Builders see increased customer demand and a competitive advantage as the top two drivers to develop net zero homes.