Asymptomatic

There must be intelligent life down here

When to learn new things
February 27, 2012

I’ve come to believe that developers who do not continue to learn end up stagnant and dead. So it’s obviously very important to continue to try and learn new things if I’m to keep relevant. What I see other people learning is interesting, and I’m anxious to try a lot of the new techniques that I see come across my desk from day to day; However, I wonder about the proficiency of those developers with those tools.

A lot of the appeal of Ruby, for example, is that there is a robust architecture already in place (via things like Rails) to rapidly create applications without too steep of a learning curve. That sounds great, but I wonder if the loss of that initial learning curve ultimately affects proficiency with the language.

Burning the TV
February 17, 2012

London Bridge is falling downLet’s just get this out there right now: I watch way more TV than most of you. Yes, it rots my brain. Yes, I know that if I read or coded or did anything else I’d likely be a better person. And yet, I feel a certain need - call it an addiction - to the American OTC crack cocaine that is cable/broadcast television.

Suffice to say, I’m not satisfied with the status quo. Sure, I’d rather be a better person, or at least not be nailed to the couch like the typical American potato, but I’d also rather not pay for the privilege of having my brain rotted by the typical gutter-sludge quality of what passes for entertainment around here. So here’s the new plan: We’re going to cancel our TV subscription.

What Open Source Means To Me
February 17, 2012

I’ve been a strong open source advocate even since I discovered the movement for myself over 10 years ago, going by my online nickname “ringmaster”. People often scoff at how I can give my time up for free projects, but I see the benefit differently.

Last year, I quit my job to go out on my own, using open source as a tool, and all evidence says it’s worked out pretty well. Last October, I found myself in Melbourne, Australia, working as a contractor on a reasonably high profile project, with people I’ve met through my connections in open source.

Doubt
February 09, 2012

CPYesterday, I tried to explain this concept to Nana: How I wake up in the morning with certain knowledge in my head, and I don’t know where it came from. During the day, people pay me to tap that knowledge and make use of it. They act on my advice and, to me, it’s so strange that anyone would listen to what I say, much less make important decisions based on it. And I seem to have gotten to a point in my career that I can tell people they’re crazy for listening to me, and they still do so, in spite of my protestations.

But it’s doubt. Really.

Passport Two
February 08, 2012

Ugh. I’ve just concluded a day spent exclusively searching for my passport. I’m going on another trip to Australia, for work again. The folks at ACER seem to think it worthwhile to have me on-site for some of the more complicated things we’re doing this month, and I think that’s probably a good idea. But searching for the passport has been… an ordeal.

On the plus side, my office is cleaner than it has been in quite a while.