A New Year, A New Job

Saturday, December 31, 2005, at 11:35AM

By Eric Richardson

Since I mentioned it over on blogdowntown I guess it's time to say here as well that on Tuesday I start a new job. Tuesday I start at Cartifact, a mapping company here in Downtown Los Angeles. My job description isn't entirely written yet, but in general I'll be responsible for helping the interactive maps move forward in a productive manner and working to systematize the backend process that generates the basic maps used in production. Oh yeah, and I'll also be working on making something a lot more friendly for a website than that flash movie that's up there now.

I'm tempted to say that the thing I'm happiest about is getting rid of my commute, but I don't think that doing so would be quite accurate. For the past three years I've been working for the IGS Central Bureau at the Jet Propulsion Lab in La Canada, about 15 miles away from my Downtown apartment.. That commute gave me plenty of exercise, but the idea of a job I can walk to definitely has me excited.

What does appeal to me the most right now about this change is the opportunity to completely switch up what I'm doing technology-wise. I'm a Perl/Linux guy going into a Mac shop where I'll be dealing with Flash.

The one and only time I've admin'ed a Mac was in 2001, and then I ended up installing Linux on it. I'm going to give the system more of a go this time. Cartifact would be perfectly fine with me using Linux at work, but since I need something to run apps like Flash on, I figure I might as well try developing my whole workflow on the new platform. I'm sure I'll be posting about that process here.

Another thing I'm really looking forward to is just working every day. Fall semester I took my last classes at USC. I still have one language class to take to complete my degree, but I'll be doing that at a community college this summer (USC won't count classes taken elsewhere except during summer). So between now and May I'll be a normal working man. I like that. Hopefully the extra free time will give me a chance to get working a few projects that have been languishing unfinished.

Fun stuff awaits.