Sometimes I just want to go back to the "good old days" when I coded in languages like assembly language, cobol, pascal and fortran. Things seemed simpler then. Everyone lived by the Software Development Life-cycle and analysts were real people who did real analysis before a project began. People wrote libraries of reusable code that were PLANNED to be reused - and were, for years on end.
Now every year some new and improved technology comes out and we HAVE to incorporate it into our code, at the cost of rewriting that library we wrote last year that was meant to be stable and reusable for ages... More importantly, I didn't have to listen to people constantly championing things like agile programming and exhorting everyone to work on their story boards.
It amazes me that someone took the process of development that occurs when one is under pressure to get something done in far less time than was proposed, formalized it (with phrases like "less documentation, more code that works") and presented it as the latest way to get things done. Even better, it is being widely adopted.
Don't mind me.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Flopped
I keep flip-flopping regarding the Operating System I run on my PC.
I have OS preferences, but I am not necessarily loyal to any one. I am a bit of an OS enthusiast having used and worked on a variety of operating systems ranging from VMS on a mainframe to the BeOS, OS/2, Mac OS X and of course Windows. I can generally find something to like about any operating system. I do actually have a favorite, but my favorite is obsolete and does not work well with modern hardware (altho' there is an effort underway to faithfully reproduce this operating system as an open source clone. It will enter an alpha state in 2 weeks or so if all goes well).
For the past six years my primary operating system has been OS X, on a mac. I like the hardware Apple creates. It is a form of art. The operating system is gorgeous as well and while Microsoft stood still with XP and then rushed Vista out the door before it was ready, OS X improved in many ways. There is, however, one way that Windows out performs OS X.
The company I work for loads MS products onto every desktop. They are still actually running XP, but even the networking components (VPN, domains, etc.) are all Microsoft Windows-related. The problem this poses is that for some reason there is NO RELIABLE way to tunnel into our network from OS X. Oh there are ways, OS X has built-in VPN capability, and there are products one can purchase as well. I find that no matter how I connect to our company's network from OS X, it falters, sputters, and disconnects at random. Not surprisingly, Windows, in particular Windows 7 which I am now using, does not suffer this problem.
I can happily tunnel into our company's network from Windows 7 and leave the connection active for days at a time. I also get better download times, and file shares are more responsive in general. I've asked our network people to look into it but they just say "OS X is not supported. You are on your own." Ah well.
I refuse to call this a failure on the part of OS X, more a prejudice toward to how Windows manages its network connections when tunneling into a Microsoft Windows network.
One other benefit to running Windows 7 again: games. :)
I have OS preferences, but I am not necessarily loyal to any one. I am a bit of an OS enthusiast having used and worked on a variety of operating systems ranging from VMS on a mainframe to the BeOS, OS/2, Mac OS X and of course Windows. I can generally find something to like about any operating system. I do actually have a favorite, but my favorite is obsolete and does not work well with modern hardware (altho' there is an effort underway to faithfully reproduce this operating system as an open source clone. It will enter an alpha state in 2 weeks or so if all goes well).
For the past six years my primary operating system has been OS X, on a mac. I like the hardware Apple creates. It is a form of art. The operating system is gorgeous as well and while Microsoft stood still with XP and then rushed Vista out the door before it was ready, OS X improved in many ways. There is, however, one way that Windows out performs OS X.
The company I work for loads MS products onto every desktop. They are still actually running XP, but even the networking components (VPN, domains, etc.) are all Microsoft Windows-related. The problem this poses is that for some reason there is NO RELIABLE way to tunnel into our network from OS X. Oh there are ways, OS X has built-in VPN capability, and there are products one can purchase as well. I find that no matter how I connect to our company's network from OS X, it falters, sputters, and disconnects at random. Not surprisingly, Windows, in particular Windows 7 which I am now using, does not suffer this problem.
I can happily tunnel into our company's network from Windows 7 and leave the connection active for days at a time. I also get better download times, and file shares are more responsive in general. I've asked our network people to look into it but they just say "OS X is not supported. You are on your own." Ah well.
I refuse to call this a failure on the part of OS X, more a prejudice toward to how Windows manages its network connections when tunneling into a Microsoft Windows network.
One other benefit to running Windows 7 again: games. :)
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
We scratch the surface
Sometimes we react to what we see and hear people around us doing, and often we don't like what we see and hear, so the reaction isn't always pleasant. We often rush to judgement (hey, we've lived a long time, seen a lot of things, we can interpolate the scarce, sensory data we receive quite effectively, yes?)
Sometimes it really isn't that simple. Sometimes we are seeing the result of a long process. Eruptions from pent up steam. The point is, we are interpreting another person's actions from scant minutes or even seconds of observation of behavior that could be the end result of a lot of misery, pain, or even joy.
Walk in someone else's shoes before feeling the need to comment on their behavior, demeanor or beliefs, or better yet, just don't comment at all - at least not without reflection (and prayer in my case) and contemplation.
If you are able, find something positive to say, if you are not able to find anything positive to say, swallow it. Keep the black where it belongs: in your heart. (And work like hell to get it out some other way).
Sometimes it really isn't that simple. Sometimes we are seeing the result of a long process. Eruptions from pent up steam. The point is, we are interpreting another person's actions from scant minutes or even seconds of observation of behavior that could be the end result of a lot of misery, pain, or even joy.
Walk in someone else's shoes before feeling the need to comment on their behavior, demeanor or beliefs, or better yet, just don't comment at all - at least not without reflection (and prayer in my case) and contemplation.
If you are able, find something positive to say, if you are not able to find anything positive to say, swallow it. Keep the black where it belongs: in your heart. (And work like hell to get it out some other way).
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Why does God let us suffer?
This was the topic in our Bible class before worship today.
This is a great question, so many people ask "why would God let such [horrible] things happen?" One example given was a real-life facebook conversation where someone praised God that no one was injured in an accident, and a fellow-facebooker (if that is a word at all) posted "where was he for the other xxxxxx traffic fatalities this year?" (I paraphrase).
Another example given from a book being read by our class leader cited a story about two churches who prayed for two different men. The first church prayed for the recovery of their deacon who had some serious illness, the other church prayed for the safe return of a soldier. The prayers were answered for the first church, but not the second. Does that mean the people in the first church were true believers and those in the second were not?
No, of course not. I'll just sum up some points regarding this topic and let you think about it.
1. The universe is God's creation, not yours or mine;
It's not about only you or me but about everyone and our relationships with God and one another.
2. God has a different perspective; he sees the "big picture;"
Whereas we cannot even fully take in everything going on around us at any given moment.
3. God answers prayers, but the answer may not be what you expect;
What is bad for you might be good for the spirituality of 10 other people - or yourself.
God is not unfair. God does not do us harm - he doesn't have to, we do a good enough job of that on our own. We are a unique creation. God has given us some of his own attributes; knowledge of good and evil, free will, emotion, etc. Because of this we are allowed to live our lives as we see fit, or as others see fit, or don't see at all. God does not allow anything, he allows everything. It's our world. He offers a future, a way into something else through his son... we just have to take him up on his offer.
This is a great question, so many people ask "why would God let such [horrible] things happen?" One example given was a real-life facebook conversation where someone praised God that no one was injured in an accident, and a fellow-facebooker (if that is a word at all) posted "where was he for the other xxxxxx traffic fatalities this year?" (I paraphrase).
Another example given from a book being read by our class leader cited a story about two churches who prayed for two different men. The first church prayed for the recovery of their deacon who had some serious illness, the other church prayed for the safe return of a soldier. The prayers were answered for the first church, but not the second. Does that mean the people in the first church were true believers and those in the second were not?
No, of course not. I'll just sum up some points regarding this topic and let you think about it.
1. The universe is God's creation, not yours or mine;
It's not about only you or me but about everyone and our relationships with God and one another.
2. God has a different perspective; he sees the "big picture;"
Whereas we cannot even fully take in everything going on around us at any given moment.
3. God answers prayers, but the answer may not be what you expect;
What is bad for you might be good for the spirituality of 10 other people - or yourself.
God is not unfair. God does not do us harm - he doesn't have to, we do a good enough job of that on our own. We are a unique creation. God has given us some of his own attributes; knowledge of good and evil, free will, emotion, etc. Because of this we are allowed to live our lives as we see fit, or as others see fit, or don't see at all. God does not allow anything, he allows everything. It's our world. He offers a future, a way into something else through his son... we just have to take him up on his offer.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Fear and Loathing
People seem reluctant to want to believe in anything but themselves, reluctant to raise the people around them yet worship a pop star, willing to hate unseen but not to love.
Humanity is special. We have been given the gift of intelligence and free will. I am a somewhat spiritual person and one of my own goals is to reconcile that which is of man with that which is of God. Perhaps reconcile is the wrong word. One cannot reconcile imperfection with perfection as far as I know. I split my understanding of the universe in two ways: spiritual, scientific. While I take some pride in the capabilities of my fellow man to study, observe and reason out why things are as they are, I also believe there are things man can never fully understand, problems that he can never solve. These are things of God.
Mostly these "things" do not overlap, but people try to FORCE them to overlap. This causes a rift in those who believe science should be everyone's religion versus those who believe science cannot explain everything - and should not TRY to explain everything. People want to believe in themselves, their own capabilities to master the universe around them.
Idol worship. There are people all around us who deserve to be praised and lifted up before their fellow man and God for the work they do day-in-day-out. People who work hard to provided for their families, who stay home to teach their children what they need to know to survive, who bake for a neighbor who is ill... these people are REAL. Their strengths and weaknesses can be experienced and appreciated in real time. I find it appalling that people will ignore the magnificent epics unraveling all around them in favor of someone they have never met in life and weep for in death.
Finally I am not sure what to make of the fact that many people are willing to hate entire populations on the other side of the world, yet not love. Two sides of the same coin. I understand that it is human nature to focus ONLY on those who are immediately important to them, and to neatly pack away the thoughts of starving children in Africa or some other place (even here in our own country). Out of sight, out of mind. Yet it seems easy enough for people to climb onto the bandwagon of hate when a country bad mouths our ways or religions.
Is there no hope for us as a race?
Humanity is special. We have been given the gift of intelligence and free will. I am a somewhat spiritual person and one of my own goals is to reconcile that which is of man with that which is of God. Perhaps reconcile is the wrong word. One cannot reconcile imperfection with perfection as far as I know. I split my understanding of the universe in two ways: spiritual, scientific. While I take some pride in the capabilities of my fellow man to study, observe and reason out why things are as they are, I also believe there are things man can never fully understand, problems that he can never solve. These are things of God.
Mostly these "things" do not overlap, but people try to FORCE them to overlap. This causes a rift in those who believe science should be everyone's religion versus those who believe science cannot explain everything - and should not TRY to explain everything. People want to believe in themselves, their own capabilities to master the universe around them.
Idol worship. There are people all around us who deserve to be praised and lifted up before their fellow man and God for the work they do day-in-day-out. People who work hard to provided for their families, who stay home to teach their children what they need to know to survive, who bake for a neighbor who is ill... these people are REAL. Their strengths and weaknesses can be experienced and appreciated in real time. I find it appalling that people will ignore the magnificent epics unraveling all around them in favor of someone they have never met in life and weep for in death.
Finally I am not sure what to make of the fact that many people are willing to hate entire populations on the other side of the world, yet not love. Two sides of the same coin. I understand that it is human nature to focus ONLY on those who are immediately important to them, and to neatly pack away the thoughts of starving children in Africa or some other place (even here in our own country). Out of sight, out of mind. Yet it seems easy enough for people to climb onto the bandwagon of hate when a country bad mouths our ways or religions.
Is there no hope for us as a race?
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