Luke J. Stephens

Agenda of the crazy Boris

2009-11-10T12:26:00.003+11:00

"If Microsoft ever does applications for Linux it means I've won."
-Linus Torvalds

University
General Gist of Assessments

This semester has been interesting in that I am really lucky in moving jobs at the time I did, as I don't think I would have passed my Advanced Programming class without the move. The extra time allowed me to smash out my Programming 3 (Java) assignment.

An assignment in Software Engineering was a challenge but fairly interesting, had bugger all energy to do it after a 15 hour crunch of Java assignment. Fairly poorly taught subject this year unfortunately but luckily our class did alright in teaching ourself at filling in the blanks to complete the assessment.

WWW Technologies 2 was very fun and has improved my skills in web programming by a good amount. I'll be applying my knowledge to teaching a few mates on a project we have running.

The Awesome Future

The future academically is looking fairly bright, there's so much to learn and I think I have finally hit the stage of learning where I don't want to just know the surface material. University is fantastic to get a grasp of concepts for the most of the time but wow, take a look on the net and the knowledge base is just insane.

A big thanks to Adam Sharp for getting me onto an awesome application created by Linus Torvalds (creator of Linux) called git. I have not started using it but am really excited to get involved with some projects using it. I think development will go crazy being able to work collaboratively in such an easy manner will make a world of difference.

Work (IBM)
The new team is fantastic and I am loving the work there, looking forward to putting a fair amount more hours into the team once my University commitments are all done and dusted.
Projects
Fitness
This project has gone off the charts in terms of ideas and concepts, I am really looking forward to putting a few days of development into it over the summer break. The possibilities are endless but the use that people will get out of it will be rewarding.
Drivers Licence
I know it's fair amazing, I actually managed to get my licence. Thought it was about time. Absolutely love it, just jump in the car and go whenever wherever. Makes me appreciate working hard and saving for my car.

Really looking forward to the next 2 years, I'll be focusing on my knowledge base in programming and management. Trying to get more out of less time in terms of development and trying to build a skill-set that I can teach to others.

I think that's all for now, I'll probably start posting more when I get my Mac Book Pro as I'll be on the go and working more effectively.

Work work

2009-09-19T12:21:00.003+10:00

Been a little while since I have posted, thought I would smash out a blog post.

IBM - I've Been Moved

I am in the phase of being moved from IBM Customer Service Center to the University site, this is going to make my life a lot easier.

The experience that I am getting up at this location is absolutely awesome.

I am getting understanding of what type of work I could be involved in for a career.

The future holds limitless possibilities.

Luke J. Stephens Projects

Fitness

I am recording all my fitness data and its potentially getting to a stage where I need to properly get a working prototype for others to use, so I'll be posting about that at some stage.

I am also developing a few sites for friends which are underway, check them out at http://home.lukestephens.com if your interested.

I have a few other projects on the go that I'll talk about towards the end of the year when there's something solid to talk about.

Academic University

Wow, looks at that interesting physiologic thing going on here. (Posted Academic last).

It's getting full on, I'll put it that way but the top side is because it's so full on that means there is a lot of content to learn so I am trying to take in as much as I can.

Next month will be a ripper, more study than work hopefully.

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." - Mahatma Gandhi

Topics: Adelaide, Music, Projects, Jo...

2009-07-31T17:57:00.001+10:00

The Random Life of Boris

Topics: Adelaide, Music, Projects, Jobs (IBM)

Adelaide is a beautiful city, I love it! Traveled via bus with a few friends (Lisa, Tarni & Tor) had an interesting time. Stayed at a hostel known as YHA in Adelaide Central, you can check them out at http://yha.com.au/ the staff are humorous and happy. One of the best things about staying in a youth hostel was meeting amazing people from all around the world. Our group got to get along with a few blokes and lady from the UK and America. Played pool, went to the beach (swam in about 5 degrees) UK blokes did not seem to mind ha ha crazy!

The night life was pretty damn cool, went clubbing and came across some girls that showed us the town. One of the girls advised us not to go down one of the streets (great advise as there was blood on the sidewalk the next day from a punch up U assume). The interesting thing I found about the night life was there was not a pack of westies like you would see in Ballarat, the packs in 'Radeliade' are police officers. Never felt so safe clubbing. The clubs surround the cop station as well so to me that made allot of sense.

Whilst out and about we went to a few live gigs including Rhys Crimmin, The Little Stevies & random people at a pub. Interesting, 'The Little Stevies' were very interesting! I have bought there album and love it, great stuff. Very meaningful for a young band, will be following them for a few years to come. On the topic of music I have an acoustic guitar I am attempting to lean and an electric that my mate Danny has lent me. I am swaying more towards the acoustic, still learning the harmonica as well but will need allot more time to get stuck into it.

One of the reasons for not being able to get stuck into projects/music is because I have practically two jobs now. I am working up at the IBM University Site and down at the call center on the corner of Geelong Road and University Drive. Both jobs are interesting, I can see allot of potential in both sectors but customer service gets to you after being in the same role for too long ;-)

The new role involves more UNIX based systems like Solaris and AIX which are crazy for backups, so its interesting. May lead towards an IT Architect role in the future, either way its giving me a feel for the infer-structures that are out there.

Well looks like my personal site is taking ages to actually get it to where I want it, ell well. It'll get there in due time. Just need to finish off the fitness module which I have been working on for a while now. At University I am studying pretty much programming for all subjects so that'll be full on and will help my personal projects along allot.

Until next time guys, take care!

Hope

2009-05-19T18:36:00.001+10:00

Another young person has been taken from this world, I have no doubt many will miss Rhys. I did not know this bloke that well, over the past couple of weeks I encountered him at swimming and spoke with him briefly. I was lucky enough to work with him and over the past year and a half, I found him to be a really nice bloke with values and ethics. It's sad to see that many young people are dying this way. It's a bit angering as well, in the sense that if the person that caused his death had values and ethics as strong as Rhys'.

I have a few mates in Geelong and hearing about the issues there is horrifying, having bouncers in the local Mc Donald's to break up fights in the queue. A couple punching on in the street and people walking around them because of fear that both will turn on them if they help. Seriously what in the hell is this world coming to, the Australian spirit is to help our fellow mates and strangers. Now we have to think twice.

Australia is in a state in society where nurses in public hospitals have to reject helping people for their own safety. Police are in a state where they are stretched to fight domestic issues. Welfare another realm, I was at a Men's conference talking about 'mateship' and WW1/WW2. One of the speakers noted the suicide rate after a breakup was astronomically high as opposed to other situations. How do we deal with these issues as a society. I can tell you now I bet politics will have no affect at all. We need something more real.

There is no band-aid solution that will resolve these issues in society. An infer-structure so strong and well defined by its people and not politicians is what will prevail in the future I believe fueled with values. At what cost I don't know, financial costs should not be a factor but life should be the only concern.

A dream of mine is for a community to build a dynamic infrastructure that builds upon its past experience rather than turf that valuable effort and resource. I had a lecture today on IT Architects which is an area I would like to learn to help apply towards this lifelong goal. Don't get me wrong this type of infrastructure is made by hundreds of people with values and ethics to make it a reality, its not a one man show at all.

So maybe one day I'll make a tiny difference in the world towards this dream, any change that will help others is one defiantly worth the effort.

That's right, I exist again! Hello World!

2009-04-06T21:54:00.006+10:00

That's right, I exist again!

Many people in my life recently have commented lately that I am smiling a lot! I have had comments from people that I don't really have much to do with and they say I have changed, I am not afraid to say "Hello" anymore. This enlightens me and I feel pretty bloody awesome about it especially because they are third party people, I have a sense of being again. I have my individuality and decision making back, confidence!

Sacrifice

I would be willing to give up part of my individuality to be with someone else and "sacrifice" things in life, but only if the person I am with would do the same for me. This although is conditional, if that were to happen it would be to in a way that gives each other a sense of being. That way each day is a new page in life where anything can be possible, thats a relationship I would love.

New Relationship?

I don't want a relationship at this stage in my life because I just got my personality back and I want to keep that personality. When I am lucky enough to find that special someone and keep my personality, that's not too much to ask? Maybe they have found me and its a matter of time for me to heal before I can enter a new relationship. Only time will tell, the future is the most important thing in life! It could be a fairly long time so I don't want that person to hold onto hope for the future, but to know that the future is full of limitless possibilities. I won't disclose who I am on about so don't ask, its just an insight to my thoughts which I know can be helpful.

The Future is full of limitless possibilities

Yesterday I came to a conclusion that really changed my perception of any of the skills I am working on in my life. It happens a song sums this up good "he was born to shimmer, he was born to shine" - Shawn Mullins

Basically I am thinking: Your perception of what tomorrow can be with your knowledge is the building blocks of hope for today! I have lots of hope and actually believe in myself. I want to shimmer and I want to shine!

I actually believe in myself, its weird I used to think I could do things. Now I know in my heart that I have the potential to build my dreams into reality, I am starting to love life because of this!

Bring on life's challenges!

*Just a disclaimer If you decide to take this blog the wrong way, I implore you not to as its not about you its a blog about me.

Many things in life will catch your eye, but few things will catch your heart, Pursue those

2009-03-21T18:29:00.001+11:00

Introduction

Long time no blog, well the past month has been a life changing one thats for sure or is it changing back to what it was? I won't go into the juicy details, I don't have the ability to change the past. I'd love to be in the past but the future is what matters the most in the world.

University

University is going awesome, I love hanging around with Adam Sharp check out his blog here, I feel I can relate allot to his personality at least thats the personality I aspire to. Its also great to have few old friends on the block (Matty/Rhooky). Of course spending time with new people is always a pleasure. I hope to get to know a few more people at University. Michael is another bloke who is in with Matty and Rhooky, his personality is fantastic and drive for the ICT learning is inspiring!

International Business Machine

Work is going really good in terms of achievements and success, I really want to move up in IBM and helps the cogs of this massive machine run efficient. The team I am on at the moment is awesome no doubt about that but what the future will hold I am not sure.

Personal Conundrums

Is sad to see another team member move on in life but he has a saying "Many things in life will catch your eye, but few things will catch your heart, Pursue those".

Now this is the part where I am stuck. I have lost a person that had my heart. The person that catches my heart next will be very special indeed, meaning I don't think its going to happen anytime soon. So the world is my oyster and I have some cooking to do aka I am going to focus on making this world a better place. I have some ideas of how to do this and I am going to pursue them!

First on the agenda for me is to pursue my knowledge in IT whilst enjoying a balanced life (swimming, cycling, living), I really would love to organize myself allot more so I can see what projects I have and how to get more done in less time so that I don't spend stupid amounts of time on computers and more living. Speaking of which this is coming from me who has been on the PC for 6 hours developing and leaning a new application language so thats my queue to take a break for the day!

Windows 7 Blog

2009-01-20T06:01:00.001+11:00

Introduction
Here is a response to an article I read on Microsoft Windows 7.

Windows 7 Beta 1
I have loaded Windows 7 onto my fathers workstation and my laptop.

Laptop:
Running noticeably faster than Windows Vista and equivalent to Windows XP if not faster which is one hell of an improvement.
The affects graphics wise and functionality is improved nothing feels like
it has been reduced from XP or Vista's functionality and the response
of these features is great! All drivers were found on install and the
Windows 7 Update feature works allot more in my favor of not annoying
me and letting me customize easily how I am notified of new updates.

Desktop:
I got my father to do an upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7, all was
well for a little while now he is getting a blue screen of death
(BSOAD) a fair bit, done some research appears to be drivers issues or
Anti-Virus programs incompatible with Windows 7. That's fine there not
generic programs they are meant to be built accustomed to the operating
system so there are some workarounds on the net so all should be fine.
I think its to be expected to having BSOAD's at this point in
development as its the testing phase for Microsoft. I'd rather have
these problems now than on release day!

Thoughts:
The reason the performance is so good in Windows 7 I believe is that the
account team is not in control of the programmers deadlines!
Windows
Vista was only released due to the account team, the engineers knew it
was not ready and said so in some news reports but yet it was still
released and all the bugs fixed after release.

This time feels different, the team have released a public Beta of an
operating system, has that ever been done in Microsoft's books before?

Having this OS out to so many people for free is one hell of a testing
tool, any issues that people have and sent that annoying error report
will actually be looked at and updates made readily available and
implemented before release. I like that, that means I dont have to wait
for 1 year for a service pack to fix bugs that should have been fixed
in testing phase.

Well done to Microsoft I say, Windows 7 is the best OS to date that I
have used for sure and it won't be the last as every OS update/upgrade
is building on the strengths of the past operating systems. I do hope
the Open Source community give Microsoft a run for there money at some
stage as they have the community power to develop faster than Microsoft
but have not quite got how to harness that power yet. When the day
comes competition will be very interesting.

Fridays Blog on Tuesday week

2008-12-30T06:09:00.001+11:00

I have just been looking over some of my past blogs, ahh some of the stuff that's been posted is fantastic for a laugh and reflection. The comments are great too (Thanks Johno).

Philosophical Speculation

The past 2 years or so have been dark times. Another soul set free from this world maybe due to life's pain and cruelty, I may never know. R.I.P Jamie Stewart.

My memories fade back to the end of Year 12 loosing a great friend whom reflected happiness in this world. Times were dark then, but yet we managed to make the most of it and have fun when Jack was around, his death affected all of his mates and family. I wish from the bottom of my heart that I could see him again with his mates in his year level to reflect some light into their eyes and minds.

I am very lucky, I have a strong group of mates in the age bracket below me and the same as me. Reilly's 19th was a good representation of that group, they are such and awesome group of mates in terms of how they perceive the world. (Their happy). I think that's what I need right now, some strong mates to hang out with every now and then. Maybe by doing that I could reflect a bit more of this attitude in the age group below. Why else would I be writing this stuff If i did not want to help change the conundrum in my head.

Another issue could be that because I don't see much of the age group below I am overreacting, but then again they have admitted themselves that they are messed up at the moment so I think thats proof enough for me to lend a hand.

LAN Panel Management System

On a totally different note and tune, I am working pretty hard on the LPMS when I get a chance. I think i'll be able to pull some strings and get the deadline but the version I release to the LAN group probably won't be what I wanted in terms of quality. It'll get there, Christmas deadlines for fairly complex projects probably was not the brightest of ideas on my behalf but hey I am learning what do you expect. I'll improve by making mistakes and practicing. So might as well do that now so when I get to commercial systems (maybe who knows) I'll have something special called Skills. That's the plan anyway.

IBM & Project Management

I am still really enjoying my job at IBM and am finding more challenges along the way with the help of our team's management. I am learning Project Management Orientation at IBM which is fitting in nicely with my past knowledge of project management from a personal and academic aspect. I am really looking forward to getting back to University to start learning from a different aspect.

Last Few Months Summary

Christmas has been good, spent some time with Tamara's family and then with Nick's family (my sister's boyfriend). I am glad Nick is in my sisters life, he's a great bloke and has some interesting stories with his mate Rob. Awesome stories :)

The family get together was held at Jane's place again this year which is awesome place to have it I think.

I have been going through a Will Smith phase at the moment have got about 5 of his movies in the past couple of months and have been watching them. Some include: Pursuit of Happiness, Hancock and iRobot.

That's pretty much all I have for now, will blog more if people comment to show interest.

Career Possibility

2008-11-25T09:39:00.001+11:00

Career Possibility

I think I have finally figured out what I want to be, a Project Manager! I have been having fun organizing all my ideas into projects and hopefully by the end of the year mastering a technique to kick off my project organization skills a bit. Currently I am working on the following projects.

LAN Panel Manager - For hosts to collaborate LAN events.
Luke Stephens - Personal Website to display project status, blog, gallery and more?
Eureka Athletic Club - First stage went well, lost communications with the club president but i'm sure i'll make some progress on it by myself and hopefully surprise the club with some funky features.

   The above are the main ones I am focusing on for now but there are many many more that I will get to in due time.

    Thanks to Joel Fitzpatrick in IBM is a legend have been chatting to him about Project Management and I think I'll progress in the company to some sort of project management position hopefully.

    The company i most admire is that of Gabe Newell's Valve Software whom develop games of amazing quality with a massive team of talented programmers, modelers, script writers you name it. Gabe Newell worked on some of the earlier operating systems at Microsoft and privately funded Valve Software. What they do is just amazing, I sent him and email about their latest release Left 4 Dead which took 2 years to develop and is just so well put together its inspiring.

   To top this off I got an email from Gabe just a small one but hell I am over the moon, was not expecting a reply. Much respect that just got a whole lot stronger for the company and Gabe Newell!

The power of music reflects the power of you

2008-10-15T15:48:00.000+11:00

Well I suppose I will talk about now and work my way back… I currently am playing a song called ‘Flipsyde feat. Piper – Happy Birthday’ this song is full of allot of meaning for the person that wrote it. Its basically based on a kid that was never born into this world and that 1 year on its would have been his birthday. I know that probably sounds pretty cheesy or wired but its quite an interesting song, Tamara’s borther Josh introduced me to it. But now ‘Basshunter – All I ever wanted’ is playing… I really like the Basshunter’s songs. They reflect the world in a positive light, a few people objected to this music. To be honest so did I at first thought, but the people’s reasons for their objection was quite odd.

I went to UoB (University of Ballarat) had a lecture, after this lecure I was listening to Basshunter and people asked what it was. After I explained what this music was they said it was too bubbly for them too which means positive. So I was thinking right, what music do you guys like. One chucked on ‘Linkin Park – Bleed’ it out and I said to them its too negative people cutting their wrists and talking about throwing away the device that they cut it with. So I told them what I thought and they shook it off and told me that’s life and Linkin Park have realised life is shit so I listen to them because they have the same understading that they do.

This sort of shcoked me a bit as the people I was talking to are very bright people and raise some very interesting conversations that I believe can make a difference in this world which is a posstiive vibe. But to hear them talk about negative things as being acceptable makes me think this world is turing ugle and were putting up with it. If you want something in life you fight for it and you work hard for it and when you get it life is great. What I am saying is basically we have nothing worth fighting for these days. I am sure there are people out there that will object that but that’s how I feel in my current environment.

I just think that there has to be something to unite people and focus them, theres so many people unhappy in the world and its because of other people’s simple actions. I imagine a community of people arising from everyday Australians and creating a place where people work for what they want and have with respect for others efforts. There are so many possibilities in this world and I would love to see some people rise up. You can see possiblities everywhere when two people start a converstaion about something they are passionate about you can see something could become of this. It could expand into other people having this same passion about this topic and snowballing into anything.

I think this will do for now, my next post will probably bemore of a blog type rather than a topic of discussion.

2008-07-16T13:47:00.000+10:00

These holidays from University have shed some awesomeness and some not so good things.
A couple of days ago Reilly, Ben and Jack came over to see me which was awesome!!! I am very lucky to have mates like them, Reilly and Ben are going up to Mount Bulla to work. I hope they have an awesome time! Thanks mates for coming over.

LAN Canceled

I was looking forward to going to Reality Evolved LAN, it was canceled due to some venue problems. Although out of some bad things come good, I had an awesome time with Anthony Rhook and Matthew Brehaut playing Diablo 2 Expansion and nearly passed it.

Projects at the moment

Eureka Athletics Club

I have taken the pride to be able to create the Eureka Athletics Club Website it is a work in progress at the moment but Rod (Club Coach) and I have allot of ideas for it that I hope I can make a reality.

Wide Area LAN

I have just tested a wireless access point at Rhooky's place and it appears to be working good, so we are just waiting to get a good day to be able to put this access point on his roof. The main aim is to gain a WAN that we can do tests on to detemine if we can have a duel LAN Party. If this wireless option fails then I will move onto buying some VPN routers and we will join the LAN's this way... although there are speed constraints there with broadband the way it is in Australia. All in is showing to be a good learning experience.

I dont really have allot else to talk about at the moment... Tamara got a job at IBM on Westpac New Zeland (Yes the same team I am on). Which is quite awesome! She seems to finding it pretty good so far so thats always good. I will try to blog some more soon as I have some photos that I would like so share with the world. Please if anyone has anything to share in regards to these blogs I would be happy to hear from you.

2008-03-09T14:07:00.000+11:00

Amazing, simply amazing an insight to a gamers mind
I was reading one of my favorite sites on the net that keeps me up-to-date on my favorite games company Valve Corporation. When I read the news, I was like wow cool I get to see some more content of an exciting new game that Valve is developing. That was cool by it self, a news article warrants a smile from me and imaginary thoughts of friends and I battling it out side by side in Left 4 Dead (New games I am talking about). That game will create events where friends and I will be able to share experiences laughter and sad times of loosing. All in all a great atmosphere and experience that us games become to crave when we look over the great times of laughter and joy whilst playing these games.

Now I look upon this news article and see 'Counter-Strike 2', my mind is sent into a craze. Imagine all the possibilities, not following? Counter-Strike has held the record for being the most played First Person Shooter for an extremal long time. This game I have been playing since 1997 on and off. Around 2005 Counter-Strike Source came out to the public. This was running off Valve's new game engine, this engine has revolutionized gaming for me! I can run around and look at the surrounding wall's / debris or models and say wow this graphics looks more than half decent and runs awesome! Not only that I can interact, a grenade explodes barrels fly away... woot physics. Countless hours of shooting barrels and saying w...ooo...w that's so cool, interacting with a virtual world that someone else has created and being able to manipulate things in this engine is definitely has an awesome factor to it. This is of course purely multilayer game based off Counter-Strike strongly, extremely fun.

Thus seeing this story of Counter-Strike 2 can only make me go ohh that's going to be awesome! I know the company when they make things they do it great, don't believe me. If you don't please at least research the Half-Life stories, even look at the art or Team Fortress 2. The amount of effort alone is amazing that this company can pour into a game development process. The fact that they could keep a series alive for so long and hold a massive development of a game secret from the whole entire gaming community for more than 4 years is just amazing. With a vague idea of how much fun and community atmosphere this company has produced I think you could imagine what the release of this game could mean, for me and so many others that I know or am connected through online communities or locally.

References:
Valve Logo: http://www.valvesoftware.com/

2008-01-31T19:16:00.000+11:00

Desensitizing... I think I was becoming like this. If someone said yeah there was a group of teenagers at the local shopping center having a brawl. I am not surprised, I am not disgusted. An event like this does not surprise me. Hence no big reaction.
I don't want to be like this anymore so I am changing where I can so when someone says a teenager was stabbed last night I will be surprised and will react in a way that will get emotion and a reaction. In my life emotional reactions are becoming less and less. What's a society that will not be sensitive to whats happening in their own backyard? This world is not going in a negative direction, not through my eyes. I have hope.... hope in others. Faith is something I have in allot of the people I have met in this world. Faith in their being, in the possibilities that they are creating. This creativity I respect and honor, I respect it because I can see that whatever it is that this person is doing is greatly cared for with passion from their heart. Honor because some of the things that I see people do, great things that I could hardly imagine happening in a modern world. Bill Gates donates a ridiculous amount of money towards some fund, wow... next to no reaction. Imagine for a minute what 0.01% of that donation will do to one life, I would not mind betting their reaction will be that of great magnitude of happiness that average people in the modern society could not even produce. We need hope in this world... we need leaders.

Leaders... there was a great point on the radio the other day as I was eating breakfast. Where are our leaders? What do politicians do? Lead. If so they are not performing anywhere near as good as our leaders of the past. When have heard someone say a crazy idea and thought that's impossible. What if, what if it was possible. What if we had a leader who said lets create the most amazingly beautiful city in the world in one of the Australian deserts, what if this possible. No red tape, no limits. Sure you could say its unsustainable we would lose billions. Imagine you had thousands of average people helping towards this vision to make it possible. Once you have an idea and have followers who will passionately support you where possible, anything is possible. Don't give up hope, start something. Be a leader! What have you got to lose, better yet what will you gain from this? Finance? No, you will gain what matter most. You could gain hope for others, you could be honored.

Love life, don't hate it. If my life was so bad that I was contemplating killing myself, I would live just to see tomorrow. There are so many talented people in this world. When you find them and watch their progress and how they shape people around them, you can see the magic in life. The spark of life, creativity.

Art... I don't know what you think of art. I believe art is like taking a camera into someones imagination, being able to capture just one frame of a dream. This is the most amazing creativity in the world to me. I am looking at my background at the moment of a wolf by Tigershark (deviantart.com user) the level of detail put into this world is absolutely amazing. Another that I was obsessive with was Final Fantasy X-2 artwork and CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) movies. Wow... the amount of creativity and imagination is mind blowing. I just cant help but respect the people that create that kind of material. It is inspiring!

Well hello there...

2008-01-25T16:36:00.000+11:00

IBM Solo

They have set me loose, I am now solo at IBM. Will probably still be training in a sense since I will have heaps of questions until I get the swing of things. Enjoying it at IBM, it has boosted my confidence a fair bit in terms of communication. Met some great people which are joyfull to be around. So overall its a generally a positive experience for me. This job is defiantly developing me as a person. Hopefully I will be able to give my 2 cents later on in life to help out in IBM.

UoB

Yesterday I registered as a student at the University of Ballarat. I am doing a course known as Information Technology Professional Practice. Its quite interesting on of my books is development and knowledge in Professional communication and how we interact through 'communication'. So it goes mainly in detail into speech mainly which coincidentally I am developing my communication skills through my job at the moment.

I joined the Student Association which enables me to drink lots and still have $ in the bank :P. No but its going to be good because I can go to events cheap through being a member, can't wait Hilltop Hoods are playing soon which will be ace!!! Can't wait.

Friends

I can already see some friends are drifting away where I cannot go, although its reassuring that some of my friends make time to come and see me whilst I am working and basically living half at my girlfriends place. I think that is quite special, its great! I hope I can repay the favour someday. There only visits at random times but hey it bloody awesome to see them.

Tamara's 19th

Tamara's 19th is coming up should be interesting got a match of Laser Force coming up, drinks and a night out on the town clubbing. Should be pretty good, looking forward to it. I think I'll be drunk pretty much on one beer/shot, absolutely stuffed from working out at tam's and work. This is defiantly not a bad thing :) enjoying working out and work. So should be a good night! Hopefully post some photos if I get into my usual camera crazy mood.

Random Thoughts

The basic is the 'cup half empty or half full' has been raised to a new level in this society <---> what in the *@*% has gone wrong this time lets do a dance and bitch about it for half hour or oh bugger I think something went wrong there better get that fixed up hey :)

Society is becoming so random and scary in some social networks, It is quite disturbing because their affect on other people in this world is going to be quite negative. But hey what's it matter right... its the nature of humans. Something has to be defined right? Good or bad? We need a balance, good and bad are one means of creating that In our lives.

Good or bad, I am not sure... I sometimes say "ohh that's not right" when I disagree personally about a topic. I wish I didn't, imagine a world where no one said this is right this is wrong. Only don't do this because or that's horrible? I'm not sure... the point is nature takes care of itself. What does that mean boris? Let me explain.... Do you think all the kids roaming the streets that have absolutely screwed up lives would be destroying things if there was a direct affect? My point is this world is evolving into something where morals and respect are finding harder to find as a large. People are still out there, so many I trust and know I can trust with my word and morals. Respect!

Life is what you make it, enjoy it! If your not get yourself in a position where you can. It'll make you happy and others.

A new year, a new beginning

2008-01-13T13:32:00.000+11:00

At the end of 2007, I was lucky enough to be given a provisional offer through the REEP Application into the University of Ballarat. The offer is for Information Technology Professional Practice, this seems like a dream come true as this is my passion. Strangely I am not as excited as I thought I would be at getting into the course, I am not sure why this is. Maybe it's because I am being pushed further and further away from one's I respect and admire, my friends throughout Kindergarten, Primary School and College will always have a place in my heart and soul. All my values and what I stand for are all built upon every person who have come into my life. I cant express how much I appreciate everyone in this would being apart of my life.

Family Visit:
Kate my sister came down to visit for our family Christmas and to catch up, Thor (her boyfriend) came down and he is a classic. Great bloke! Kate took us (Tam, Thor, Jane and myself) to the races in Melbourne was awesome. I won enough to buy everyone drinks and a few bits of food. Our family Christmas was good, Tamara came down to Melbourne to enjoy the moment as well.

Welcome to 2008 my friends and what a year it is going to be!
To kick start my year I am working, woo hoo. I am working at IBM doing Call-center stuff at the moment and enjoying it very much!
I cannot believe how big IBM is, there are many companies I have researched and formed views on. IBM is one that I have not done so in depth, you don't have to look deep to find the vibe. If any of my friends are reading this they will know I am obsessed with a gaming company called 'Valve' this company in my eyes are like architects who are forming a unbelievable passionate community who love what they do. The company is simply a legend, creating a virtual world where anyone can create sound or visual entities. If a group of people do something amazing they notice, they do something about it, the company has worked with average blokes teaching and helping with their knowledge how to make that talent something special. Even bought their ideas, employed them and said have fun basically. IBM is a bit like Valve they are expanding but they are in touch, ideas and creativity are a reality. If something is not so good and there is room for improvement IBM has the processes in place to be able to evolve basically.

Wye River Holiday,
Yeah I know a holiday already and only just began work, Tamara's family go down to Wye river for a week so I tagged along with Tam. Had a great time swimming nearly every day, some good waves. I am thinking when I get some time I'll try learn to surf. Had an interesting conversation at one of the stores in Torque about Surf boards with a worker, he was telling me how one of his friends cuts the boards into three pieces and turns them into chairs and that the top of the surf board is "absolutely awesome for your back and your shoulders just sink into it perfectly." Caught some crabs on the beach there, John (Tam's brother) wanted crab meat and nowhere sold it so we ended up catching crabs. Did not eat them in the end Josh (Tam's younger bro) and I went back to the beach in pitch back and let them free. He had a conversation with me on the beach with I respected and thought not many people in this world would put themselves in the concept of an animal. He showed me that the world still does have passion, 'imagine if you were a crab and these big giants just took you away from your home, away from your family, how would you know how to get back home?'. If everyone thought like Josh the world would be a greater place.

Whats new?
Well I bought a new bike Trek 7000 its a bit heavy but its great. Going to use it for work, hopefully get used to getting to bed early and getting up at 5:30 for bike rides. One of the new years resolutions Tamara and I have is to get fit. So I want to get right into bike riding again. Maybe even get some mates riding doubtful but the thoughts there. Bought Tamara a PC for $20 not bad hey! It works, with screen! Its set up with a decent keyboard and mouse. That's about all that's new... I have an obsession with Skype I have bought $16 credit for it and well hey I love it. 2.7cents per minute to United Kingdom to my cousin, cant complain. Looks like in the future I am getting wireless broadband and a Skype phone. So cheap its not funny.

Philosophical thoughts (This might make more sense to other, because I don't know where it is coming from just random thoughts):
The eyes of a human can tell a thousand stories, the eyes of a human are not capable of lying.
You can tell when someone is losing their spark, their eyes go dull. Keep your eyes alive, thought creativity and imagination.
Most of all keep a burst of uncontrollable happiness in your eyes!

Last but not least have a good one!!!

My world

2007-11-03T11:53:00.000+11:00

Philosophical Thoughts:

In this life there are many I wish I could spend so much time with to learn who they really are, what they stand for, where they are coming from. What makes there passion for life so strong?
One mate was taken away before I could learn these deep meaningful aspects of his life. I know he had meaning within his soul, every aspect of his life he was either gun hoe for it or not that interested. The things he was not interested in were negative things, things that were not even relevant or important to having a good day. He lived now and in the future. It hurts to have him gone!

R.I.P Jack
I made a diary entry some time after the horrific news of my friends death, I will post this at some stage and link to it through this blog.

Philosophical Thoughts: Do you know someone like this?
Is there a level of communication in people that creates a aura about them?
I believe so... I believe some of my friends or even acquaintances are capable of having conversation about what I call relevant and meaningful ideas and theories that can lead to the creation of thoughts or imaginations that can affect lives, maybe not even in a dramatic way. The point is, their existence changes or enhances a vibe that group may give off.

Here are some of these people that I am thinking of:
Brenton Johnson
Brenton Gordon
Tara (Year 11)
Sandy Tai

Here are some at times that have talked to me like this:
Anthony Rhook
Matthew Brehaut
Danny McCarthy
Sanna Afshar (On the rare occasion)

What makes you one of these people above?
I think the people I am categorizing are people who will question life and continue to be able to do so. Do you think there is life out there apart from humans? What is the bigger picture why is there a war here? (Exploring the concept of war and what really causes it apart from human anger)

The thing that makes these people so great in life is you know they can make a difference, it does not matter what difference they are making or even that you know what it is. You just sense that there is a positive vibe here, and that vibe can affect many people.

This is probably a bunch of random thoughts that you might read as being strange and wired but this is something I am passionate about but I cannot word very well because I do not fully understand it. As time passes I will try and explain these thoughts better.

Basically I am saying theses people listed have an insight to life deeper than the average person!

Academic - Exam 1 [English] Down
Well thats allot of philosophical thoughts right there... too bad no one will comment on them lol.
Basically it sucked, I did not do as well as I was hoping for... Well I think I went good enough to get the score I want. Section 2 of the exam was ace, loved it. Stalled on section 1 for some wired reason. I studied bloody hard for section 1 and I am disappointed in myself. I probably did ok, but I felt the standard of work was not as good as I could create. Maybe it was being in a room full of people who had just lost a friend and the kids outside would not shut up... Who knows... could be anything. Probably just me.

The last day of school I was dressed as a jedi knight that was really fun! I took no photos at the event, I am not sure why just feeling down thats all don't worrie about old borry! Had fun, by the way I was a confused Jedi Knight. Dont fret Drew got heaps of photos something like 140 just go here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Echo360/Year12LastDay

I will miss you all, I will visit some of you. Especially you youngin's in year 11! Maybe I can be like a mentor or something :P who knows.

Relationship:
Wow an insight into Boris's relationship lol. Well Tamara is a great kid going good at Uni, School and her sport. I admire her for that, I love her very much. We have had a few problems over the year which has drained me a little. Its just really hard to stay positive in a world full of so much negativity that when I get it close at home (Relationship) I just cant handle a massive dose. Hopefully we will work out our minor differences and create a great relationship for the future.

Family:
Not sure what to say here... have not really spent allot of time with mum and dad. Mainly been in a book/past exam or with Tamara. Mum is going good, looking after my dog Rikku allot taking her for lots of walks. Dad is going good, he has been working hard down at the beach house. Kate last I spoke to her was going good, was very supportive over the phone.

Me:
Listening to Linkin Park right now yeah I know its old but its alright, I can relate to some of it.
Anyone who reads this please believe in yourselves for me and yourself and keep in mind that the only limit is that of your imagination!!

18 Years of Age Woo Hoo!

2007-10-06T17:38:00.000+10:00

Philosophical thoughts:

Happiness, what gives my life the spark of enjoyment that lasts my entire life comes through the very souls of the ones in my life friends, family, whoever it be. The strongest happiness I have seen in a very long time came from not just a moment in time nor a just a simple human emotion, but through my sisters spirit her vibe indestructible against life’s downs.

Queensland:

My Inspiration Kate, through going to Queensland for a week during the holidays I was amazed at how happy Kate is. This happiness reflected in her words, expressions and reactions everyday that I was up there. We went out to restaurants heaps and met some of Kate’s friends. They were giving off the same vibe of happiness. This atmosphere was so good to be around. It lifted my spirits towards life, others and I. I hope to reflect this inspiration throughout my attitude in the coming weeks and months.

While I was up at Queensland my cousin Nadine Stephens was wedded to Mark Peters. This was a great celebration that was enjoyable, company was great. We stayed in a hotel called ‘La Vida’ where my aunty Helen and Peter were as well. This was a good thing as we could go annoy them :).

Part of my present from my sister Kate was to go to ‘Dreamworld’ and have a great time, in which we did. Going on heaps of the rides, was great fun! Bought a few nick knacks here and there, got Tamara a few earrings and alike. I also got a mobile phone for my birthday which was bloody great! It works so much better than my old Motorola. Go Nokia [6120]! Did I mention its Next G finally coverage everywhere.

When I got home I had a pleasant surprise of my home being wrapped in ‘Happy Birthday’ which was naturally from Tamara (Thanks babe!). Tamara had been doing allot of scrap booking whilst I was away and it is amazing! Thank you so much for everyone who put in their words, they are very meaningful and I am grateful for the effort that has gone into this book. I shall treasure it and reflect towards it during my life.

PARTY!!! Well I have about and hour and a half till I have to go to the place we have booked out to celebrate my birthday so see some of you soon :).

School:

I am going to make the most of this upcoming term, I want to see as many people as I can get photos, hugs and words of wisdom and laughter. Life is too short for problems and conflicts, most of these issues need to be dealt with as an individual.

In terms of holiday work I have been concentrating on Mathematical Methods which I am finding very hard.

Update

2007-09-10T17:25:00.000+10:00

Currently:
I am currently listening to some 3 Doors Down. I am also summarising some Further Mathematics. School is going ok, not enjoying it but not hating it either.

Photoshoot:
Tamara and I have been togeather for more than a year now since my last blog post.
We are going strong and had a day togeather having a photoshoot, that was great fun. If you head over to my gallery on lukestephens.com you will find the photos there.

Plans:
I just dug out some of my old websites and they are getting rusty and dusty... so when I finish my College education (5 weeks woo hoo) I will hopefully be able to put a few hours into getting some ideas into action.

I have not got allot to write about... I dont have the energy. I will make a big blog later on.
Definetly not as long to wait for the next post.

Hope you all are well and having a good time! Enjoy life!

Music

2007-07-08T14:41:00.000+10:00

Music:

Music is a powerful element of human life and culture. Throughout the ages we have generated great meaning and symbolism through music. In happieness and sadness, I relate to 'The Cat Empire' in terms of their meaningful wording of their songs.

Their view on life emminates through their instraments and vocal sounds. This band for me will always be a strong favorite for that.

Creativity comes to mind when I think about music. It is amazing, Missy Higgins music to me is very powerful music in symbolism. Althought I do not like the tone of all of her songs there are a selection that I believe are very powerful! [Where I Stood - On A Clear Night]

I think people should start to listen to the actual symbolism of music. People listen to music that symbolises death, betrayal and many other things that sure I understand that they may be able to relate to but is this really what you represent as a person.

Everyone has an individual musical personality which is defined by what they listen to or what they sing.

I related to Linkin Park like many of my peers throughout my teen years. Alternative music, Linkin Park released many great songs. Their music has gone down a different path, i believe the best music they released was their origional self-title.

These are just a small selection of music I listen to. I am moving more into rap. I'll blog on that later. [Edit this one and add more!]

Individualism

2007-07-05T22:01:00.000+10:00

Individuals:
Individuals are inspirational to me, they are among thousands of people who will stand up for things that they believe in. Or they will stand up and let their voice be heard against what they believe is not right in human moral obligations.

This was actually sparked by someone's MSN name who came online whilst I was appearing offline, in their name they had a website link to http://www.victorianbrumbyassociation.org/HelpNow.html

This also reminds me of when a friend was being 'bagged out' by a majority of my friends in that group. I stood up against them and said hey this is not fair or right to them individually, then I discussed with the person whom was being 'bagged out' to stand up for himself. Which he does now and is a strong individual which is inspiring.

Computers:
Computers are a piece of equipment enabling humans to perform tasks. These tasks can be for logic or for fun. Computers to me are both, i enjoy playing games as well as learning from games. A better example is I enjoy discussing logical thing with communities of people as well as being logic and learning from others opinions and conversations.

People criticizm me allot in terms of computers. I grew up with them and I understand there is a life outside of them along with the aspects of they are a 'tool' we invented. In cadets my friends said "how will you live for a week without a computers" my answer was the same as today, that is they are a 'tool'.

I believe having this view I can connect the two together very easily and this is where my imagination kicks in, i can see where certain technologies involving computers can improve a certain aspect of life. This is why I said to some people 'someday I will contribute to our evolution with technology even if it is the tiniest aspect'. Meaning I will try and use my knowledge to help the world.

Upate

2007-05-30T22:15:00.000+10:00

Academic....

School has finally come to an end in terms of Semester 1, I am grateful for that. These holidays I am hoping to get a fair bit of revision done and summary.
My report seemed pretty good, trying hard in class to get the mark I want to get into University.

Not much else to say about school... maybe later next term I'll have more to say.

Barkley Street Campus - LANX [LAN Party]...

This LAN Party was pretty dam ace, killed me tho in terms of energy. Few of the boys were happy to see me again, just as I was happy to see them.
Played plenty of games, had plenty of maccas, even had some westies at maccas which were intriguing in terms of how others reacted to them.
In terms of me reacting to them I think I was about to pass out on the bench from lack of sleep and uncooked fries lol.

Friends Family and Girlfriend...

Friends seem to be going good... allot still on the phase of getting drunk every weekend. Not really my scene anymore but enjoy having their company and chatting to them as always.
Great mates! Family is going good... not much going on at the moment with family.

Girlfriend and I are going OK, bit rough at the moment... hope we figure it out soon.

Discussions....

I thought I would blog about conversations with people so i can better understand myself and others can better understand me.
I like discussions you learn things about people, factors of their life, things they like and what type of person they are whilst in progress of a discussion.
I think its great listening to people whom have a passion for something, because all their emotions and ideas are fueled into that discussion.
Imagination seems to be a big factor of discussions due to new ideas are thought about during discussions and peoples visions of life are formed around deep and meaningful conversations. Conversations that actually have meaning or relevance to your life are for me very special.

My Respect for some people in terms of discussions:
[ Dont compare yourself with these people its just my view of them as individuals ]

Brenton Johnson now there is a fella that has a huge vision of life, this guy i respect the most in terms of meaningful discussions. [Thanks mate]
Brenton Gordon is also a great bloke that has meaning in his words, enjoy his conversations. [Thanks Brenton (must be the name)]
Danny McCarthy can have some good conversations that in terms of life and people in it are good.
Anthony Rhook when you can get him in a serious mood he has a great vision of life too.

Sandy Tai and myself could talk for hours about different factors of life is there a god, views of religion and why my view is so, space, war anything no limit. Our imagination would create scenarios of war and what we would do in a certain situation. That was interesting and fun, much respect goes out to Sandy.

There just a few.

2007-05-11T20:30:00.000+10:00

Tamara's getting back into running a fair bit, not liking uni too much but I think its getting better for her out there. This week we [Mum, Tam and I] went to Spider Man 3 which I thought was good for the fight sences :) mum did not think much of it because it has no story line.

Dion is 17 long time gone I think but mates all needed an excuse to catch up from studying and their own lives. Should be good to have all the mates togeather again, but I think there is going to be allot of people I dont know becasue of randoms being invited. Dont plan on drinking much or staying overnight for a change, just becasue I know it will affect me studying and I am dog tired have been for a month lol.

Dad went out and bought a D200 digital camera which is purely awesome in terms of photography, I am lucky enough to be a proud owner of dads old Fujifilm S5000 a 6 megapixil camera.

Life still is getting more complex and demanding as the days go on in terms of everything that is happening. Its interesting, I say random things that seem to amuse some people and some people who are of similar personalities to me join in e.g. my good friend reilly. I have come to the conclusion saying random things opens your mind to more ideas and concepts. Thus you can better understand things and have a good time. If you enjoy something you do, stick to it. If you are inspired by something and that creates an idea, follow it expand on it. The only limit is your imagination.

School is currently going ok, I have completed a few SAC's [Scored Aseesment Tasks] doing not bad in Information Technology and Maths Methods. I have just completed a Maths Further SAC which was good and bad in some ways, I am not used to the style of SAC that it is. I know I made a few mistakes the day after finishing the SAC which is a bit frustrating.

The Current state of our school is hectic, I am starting to think I would be better off doing year 12 at barkley street. No offence to the teachers but we are getting allot of 1st year teachers, thus people dont listen and are immature a fair bit more than usual. The new teachers have allot of knowledge in what they are doing altho which is a great help to the students who actually want to learn and do something with their lives.

Not to mention that we are in Term 2 of Year 12 and have no computer access becuase a switch failed at school. This is really annoying me becasue I know it can be re-routed through a different cheap networking equipment so we can do our work. Further more we are using outdated 2003 software where students have bought 100 odd dolla books for references which dont go hand in hand with the software the school is running.

2007-03-08T18:52:00.000+11:00

School is going ok at the moment, trying to organize myself. If I am well organized I think that will help my studies allot.

As you can see in the picture I enjoy school at lunch times because of soccer and being with my mates. Its the group of people they are and what they represent. Meaning I like being around them because they are positive most of the time which makes life allot easier.

Tamara is now driving with her P's. I am happy for her, her car is looking very black with silver sparkles in it and very very pink inside. At the moment she does not seem to be enjoying Uni all that much, hopefully she will enjoy it as the course progresses.

We are swimming or bike riding together now and plan to do so often which I think is awesome.

Thats all I can really think of at the moment, suppose I should get back to my studying.

Year 12 - [2007]

2007-02-10T21:56:00.000+11:00

Hello all, well year 12 has started and well yeah getting there.

Information Technology at the moment is crazy we are studying theory but the teacher is getting into it so its good to be able to discuss things that you are interested in. He is also into gaming and things like that but does not support it in class which I agree with, I would like to pass you see.

Mathamatics well thats a different story all togeather. Methods is hard, I like how teachers are taking full advantage of technology thats around them. It does annoy me sometimes when people have so many resources and bitch about not being able to achive something great. People dont need resources to achive thats a luxury, you can achive with just yourself thats my theory.

Mathamatics Further well thats a great story, I am loving it. The work actually makes logicall sence and I can see where I could use it in real life.

English, hah what a ledgned of a teacher. She's as good of a person to talk to as her husband. Go Futurama ha ha. Yeah the works ok helps allot reading the book in advance and also doing the work straigth away stuff waiting. Yeah I think I can do ok in english. Been lucky with teachers so far because they have all had a good personality and I can easily get along with them with my crazy imagination and my strong view on life which generally reflects in my work.

Photography all thought my school years there has been a bludge class, it all started with plastics, then textiles (only class I have failed ha ha half the class did year 8), media and photography was going to be my bludge class. But it seems I have found some insperation by all the crazy people in the world that make amazing photography weather it be via art or CGI [Computer Generated Imagery]. I think I could do good in this class... I'll see how it goes.

Lunch times have changed dramatically. Its a long way from sitting in front of a Linux computer with no interface typing in commands or playing games on the computers at lunch time. I am actually playing sports and enjoying it. I dont regret the past in doing so because i gained knowledge in computers that i'll be able to use for the rest of my life, but my health I want to keep up. Also its a bonus because it makes me happy and hopefully more buff for tamara whom I love and can see us lasting for life.

Frees, almost forgot to mention them since they dont really exist I generally fill them with work and or a chat with friends.

This concludes my blog for now, i'll annoy someone to read it [Tamara i bet :)].

Luke J. Stephens

Agenda of the crazy Boris

"If Microsoft ever does applications for Linux it means I've won."-Linus Torvalds

"If Microsoft ever does applications for Linux it means I've won."-Linus Torvalds

UniversityGeneral Gist of Assessments

This semester has been interesting in that I am really lucky in moving jobs at the time I did, as I don't think I would have passed my Advanced Programming class without the move. The extra time allowed me to smash out my Programming 3 (Java) assignment.

WWW Technologies 2 was very fun and has improved my skills in web programming by a good amount. I'll be applying my knowledge to teaching a few mates on a project we have running.

The Awesome Future

Work (IBM)

The new team is fantastic and I am loving the work there, looking forward to putting a fair amount more hours into the team once my University commitments are all done and dusted.

Projects

FitnessThis project has gone off the charts in terms of ideas and concepts, I am really looking forward to putting a few days of development into it over the summer break. The possibilities are endless but the use that people will get out of it will be rewarding.

FitnessThis project has gone off the charts in terms of ideas and concepts, I am really looking forward to putting a few days of development into it over the summer break. The possibilities are endless but the use that people will get out of it will be rewarding.

Drivers Licence

Work work

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." - Mahatma Gandhi

Topics: Adelaide, Music, Projects, Jo...

Hope

That's right, I exist again! Hello World!

That's right, I exist again!

Sacrifice

New Relationship?

The Future is full of limitless possibilities

Bring on life's challenges!

Many things in life will catch your eye, but few things will catch your heart, Pursue those

Windows 7 Blog

Fridays Blog on Tuesday week

Philosophical Speculation

LAN Panel Management System

IBM & Project Management

Last Few Months Summary

Career Possibility

Career Possibility

The power of music reflects the power of you

Well hello there...

IBM Solo

UoB

Friends

Tamara's 19th

Random Thoughts

A new year, a new beginning

My world

18 Years of Age Woo Hoo!

Update

Music

Individualism

Upate

Year 12 - [2007]

"If Microsoft ever does applications for Linux it means I've won."
-Linus Torvalds

"If Microsoft ever does applications for Linux it means I've won."
-Linus Torvalds

University
General Gist of Assessments

Fitness
This project has gone off the charts in terms of ideas and concepts, I am really looking forward to putting a few days of development into it over the summer break. The possibilities are endless but the use that people will get out of it will be rewarding.

Fitness
This project has gone off the charts in terms of ideas and concepts, I am really looking forward to putting a few days of development into it over the summer break. The possibilities are endless but the use that people will get out of it will be rewarding.