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I know, it’s been way over a week since I posted my last challenge. Once I get a more regular schedule going during the school year, these will be much more consistent (right now, I’m aiming for Tuesday nights, but I’m not entirely sure yet).

This week’s challenge is a bit of a bigger one. One reason that I’m doing this is that I may not be able to be post again for a while, but I also really like this week’s challenge. The general concept of this week’s challenge is based around something that I started recently. Several days ago I came up with an idea for a distributed cluster computing system that unlike most clustered computing systems, can be run over the Internet as a whole rather than over a local network, and unlike most distributed systems, shares resources fully and behaves as a single clustered supercomputer rather than as many separate computers (don’t worry if you don’t understand this, you don’t have to understand what my project is to get the full benefit of this weekly challenge). At my roommate Clint’s suggestion, I have dubbed this system Spintellect. I have begun constructing a website, which can be found at http://www.spintellect.net. The design on the site is final, or close to it, but I still have not put any content up on the site.

This leads me to the actual challenge for this week: Find a project that you want to do, be it constructing a supercomputer, writing a poem, or simply cleaning up a messy room, and take the first big step toward it. I can’t ask you to complete a project in a week (unless it’s cleaning up a room), but take a step that shows a commitment, a resolve to get it done. That step in Spintellect was obtaining a domain name and designing a website for it (soon to be filled to the brim with content), as well as spreading the news about the project and getting ideas for it, and maybe even some help on it.

So, get out there and do something you’ve really been wanting to do. Don’t let this project be the one that dies before it ever gets started.

I’ll be trying to encourage more people to come on my website and take these weekly challenges. If you do, please remember to post; I especially want to hear about what people decide to do for this week’s challenge. And yes, if you decide to join the Spintellect team, that can count for this one, as long as you take that first big step.

sdg.gcj

It’s been a while since I posted my last weekly challenge; I expected it to be a little bumpy at the start. I just spent the last ten days in Nova Scotia, Canada, which is now my second favorite place in the world, next to the Colorado Rockies. Nova Scotia is just that, New Scotland. It is the closest you can get to visiting Scotland and Ireland without actually going there. I really love the Scotch-Irish culture, which made the time I spent there incredible. There was great music, incredible food, and friendly people everywhere we went.

That brings me to this week’s challenge. Find a culture (other than your own, of course) that you really love and admire and spend some time learning about it. Learn about its customs, its history, and its language, and how they interact with each other. If you can, find some people from that culture and learn about it directly from them. You might also want to try sampling its cuisine; I am a firm believer that one of the best ways to experience a culture is through its food.

I am especially interested in hearing about what cultures everyone chooses to experience and how you go about doing that. As always, please share your experiences by commenting on this post.

sdg.gcj

Ok, time for the first weekly challenge. I am not sure yet what day of the week I will be posting these. Sunday nights seem the most logical time, but this one was obviously posted on Wednesday… but I’ll figure it out.

This week’s challenge:
Take one hour for your sanity. You may already do this, and if you do, good for you. I don’t mean sitting in front of a computer or a television, I mean do something enriching. Read a book. The Bible, if you are so inclined. Go sit in a park. Write a poem. But above all else, enjoy yourself by enjoying something beautiful.

Remember to post a comment if you decide to accept this week’s challenge, and update it or post another comment when you have completed it. I will be doing the same.

Have a good week!

sdg.gcj