OddThinking

About Julian

I, Julian, am a forty-something man, living in Sydney. In May 2008, I left my 16 year long career in software development, to chill out and work on some whimsical personal projects. One of those projects has turned into a part-time job.

I can be contacted via email.

OddThinking Highlights

If you are new to OddThinking, welcome! You will find that the topics are somewhat eclectic, but some recurring themes have emerged.

Puzzle Solving

If you are interested in puzzle-solving, you might be interested in the analyses of Sudoku, Clock Solitaire, the Australian Bush Game, Nonograms, Klondike, 20Q, Name Game, Kakuro, Hitori, Virus 2, Solitaire Battleships, Alphametics, Slitherlinks and Light Up.

WordPress Plugins

If you run a WordPress blog, you should install EmailShroud , a locally-produced plugin. CRCRLF is another plugin that performed its simple function well, but is now no longer required.

Non-Fiction

If you are after write-ups of some software and hardware investigations, you might try: Password Management: Comparison between browsers, WordPress versus RSS versus Bloglines, Comparing Strings: An Analysis of Diff algorithms, reviews of the Samsung D600 mobile phone and its synch software.

There are a number of posts which take a nostalgic look at the Rational 1000.

Opinion

I am not afraid of sharing a rant, often about technology and other trivia.

A selection of the more carefully considered opinion pieces include Australian Citizenship and Values, Case Sensitivity, a review of an Edward Tufte essay and a more light-hearted look at usability in CLOSE THAT WINDOW!

Story-Telling

Last, but certainly not least, I use the blog to share some anecdotes. The two most popular occured on the same night: Indoor Marbleous Championships and The Doctor’s Son. They are only the most popular because they contain a few popular search terms. Feel free to write to me to tell me which ones you prefer.

Julian’s Identity

Julian has no tattoos. The reason for this is that he can’t imagine still caring strongly about the exact same styles or subjects for ten years straight, let alone the rest of his life.

For a similar reason, Julian chooses to remain semi-anonymous. He is scared of the Ghost of Blog Posting Past. He has no wish to embarrass (or even involve) his past or future employers.

There are plenty of clues to his real identity strewn around so that any half-decent researcher could find his full name. For those people who do work out his mild-mannered alter ego’s identity, Julian respectfully asks them not to reference OddThinking using his full name anywhere where (current or future) employers, customers, significant others or insurance companies might find it. Thanks.