Aug 11 I like having friends. They usually share some connection with you and are able to share in experiences with you. Laughter, excitement, and life all happen when friends are around.
But something that I am continuing to learn is that friendships will change. As in, you will change. Or the friend(s) will change. Or circumstances will change. Maybe you just stopped trying. Maybe they slighted you in some way. All of this adds up to your friendship changing.
So apparently I am much worse than I thought I would be at maintaining friendships. People have come and gone in my life. Some have left a mark (and amusingly many have not). Many are now gone.
Now looking back on times long gone, I realize how difficult it would have been to predict how my life would have turned out. Even if things had been planned or more effort would have been invested, I know that it would have been quite difficult to overcome what has turned out to be the biggest reason for all of the change: life.
Proofreading this post I have come to the conclusion that this could have been written by a lovesick high school kid secretly talking about some girl he had a crush on who just stopped talking to him even though all indications were that she liked him. Not that I have that experience, I’m just saying.
Jul 2 Nowadays it is all the rage to get medical help to correct our weight loss. From the LAP-BAND to gastric bypass to diet drugs, we as a society are looking for a way to get rid of those extra pounds hanging on our bodies. I am not sure if I am just blessed to be able to do things that others cannot or if I really am seeing with clear vision, but it seems that people could do with choosing to do things correctly (albeit with more difficulty). That is, they should diet and exercise instead of going for the quick fix.
It seems strange to me that the LAP-BAND will compare itself to diet and exercise by saying that diet and exercise do not work because people fail. While I am sure that is true, that is not a particular reason why the LAP-BAND is better since that comparison is effectively saying that it is better for a person if they cannot choose to do something themselves. On the other hand I think that people need to make that choice. With freedom they have a responsibility to live with their choices. I would not want another person telling me what I can and cannot do. The most marked change is the one that comes from within when they have the desire for change. They need to want it so badly that they actually get out and do something to enact that change.
The part that amazes me so much (and which is the impetus for this post) is that people who do end up getting medical help take pride in that. How can you be proud that you resorted to get surgery to get skinnier?? Absurdity of absurdities! Can you be proud of things that you have no control over? Well…apparently people are. Still, the fact that people are will always boggle my mind.
Jun 16 I am a big fan of free software so it is no surprise that I use and advocate it when I can. I would not consider myself fanatical about it (i.e., I will and do use non-free software). However, in my experience and observation I have noticed how difficult it is for people to pay for software. How else can you explain how we can pay hundreds to thousands of dollars for a computer only to refuse to pay $20 for a particular desired application?
It seems that people are confused about developers, especially those that create free software. Maybe they do not think that the developers are entitled to compensation because they are releasing free software. I guess that in part it is due to the difference between the definitions of free (as in zero cost) and free (as in liberty). Software developers are (surprise!) real people that need to make a living as well. In a world that contains both free (as in zero cost) and free (as in liberty) software, people need to understand both in order for them to see where the software developer is coming from. So perhaps we can all remember that paying for software should be seen just like we should view all other purchases - if it satisfies our requirements for purchasing then we should go ahead and do that.
All of these words when this abbreviated comic (originally here) says it perhaps even better:
Jun 2 Farmers have used branding for a long time as a way to mark their property, namely their livestock. They knew that if their livestock wandered off (as they invariably would) then they needed a way to make sure that they had a way to get their property back. It was a wonderful idea for the farmers. But what did the livestock think? I am sure that the livestock were not huge fans of the process. Having a hot metal brand pressed into their skin was probably not on their list of highlights from their lives. But they didn’t have a choice.
Apple stickers on cars, Gucci emblems on purses (real or fake), and perhaps even soccer jerseys with their large corporate sponsorship logos are all things that seem to follow this idea. It’s a strange idea really because we are paying companies so that we can advertise for them. If I walked up to you and asked if you would pay me money in order to wear a necklace with my name on it you would think that I am crazy. Is the idea that we would pay to display companies’ logos that far off from this example?
Nowadays people have a choice. And I am always surprised when people choose self-branding. Instead of viewing it as branding, though, they want to display an affiliation, love the cachet/exclusivity, or perhaps just do it because others do it also.
In truth, we all do it to some degree. We buy T-shirts, computers, and cars that all have logos on them. So I would doubt very much if anyone is exempt. But thinking about it sure does make one think. And it sure does give me a different perspective of “brand” names.
Apr 19 Have you heard of outsourcing? Besides the TV show, there is much to the issue of outsourcing. At the heart of it, outsourcing basically means getting someone else to do the work. When used in terms of software, it usually refers to having someone overseas in India or China write the code according to what the desired behavior is. For the past decade or so there has been talk (and more than talk) about how all of the software created is going to be outsourced rather than done in America. In fact I remember during my undergraduate studies there was a survey taken of my class to find out whether talk of the outsourcing of our future careers scared us into going into other fields. At the time it did not seem too pressing of an issue. Maybe it is because we were not aware enough of what was really going on in the industry yet. In any case, the reason that all of the outsourcing was talked about is basically because American computer programmers are much more expensive than those in other countries.
So what does this mean to me (or you) unless you are getting laid off as your work is being moved overseas? I think it still is quite relevant. Because it is not just losing a job that causes me to stop. It is really the fact that I have seen people purposely choose to outsource their own projects! In their new ventures they have opted to outsource the programming to some other group or country. As for me, though, I do not think that I would ever outsource my projects.
Reasons why I would not outsource my projects:
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I set out on a side project because I want to learn something. Maybe I want to learn a new programming language. Maybe I just want to go through the experience of building something in particular. After all, experience matters. And I want that experience.
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Outsourcing something essentially tramples upon the lower state of others. While I am sure that I do this in an indirect way (e.g., by buying anything made in China), it still seems worse to me to directly order other people to do things.
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When I do something myself, I get this odd satisfaction from doing something myself. I do not imagine that everyone else feels the same way. In fact I would guess that most other people just want whatever it is to work. But I love being able to look at something (even if it is imperfect) and knowing that I had a huge hand in doing it.
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There seem to be a myriad of reasons why working with people in another country (or even other people in general) would be difficult. This includes things like language, time difference, and general misunderstandings. As the sayings goes: “If you want something done right you have got to do it yourself.” Because trusting others to do things that you want to do is not ever going to work out just as you have planned.
While people can (obviously) do whatever they want with their projects, I am pretty sure that I would not do such a thing. In fact it flies in the face of who I want to be.