Day: December 28, 2012

Would we still be the same country without our gun nuts?

Philip Greenspun’s Weblog » Would we still be the same country without our gun nuts?:

It is tempting to think that we could pick the best laws from various countries around the world and come up with some sort of optimized society, but perhaps it simply isn’t practical. The Japanese have a national character of craftsmanship. The French have a national character of enjoying rich food and wine. Maybe one aspect of our national character is that a lot of us need to be gun nuts.

[If nothing else our society has managed to label owners of guns very well. Everyone has an “arsenal” of weapons. Is a “gun nut”. Seems to be part of the problem.

Clearly there are no obvious answers to the questions surrounding the most recent shooting. But it far too simplistic to assume that there is anything but appeasement in the suggestions I’ve heard.

One bit of legislation that I have not heard discussed much if at all is something that would even out the ownership/carry laws across the states. For example, I do not need a driver’s license if I want to drive in NJ though I have a license from NY. The same is not true for pistol permits. I see nothing wrong in closing the current permit loopholes, and evening out the burden in return for reciprocity. It would toughen many states laws and give the gun owners who enjoy competing, or who own homes in more than one state a far less complicated system. It will improve compliance, and increase oversight at the same time.]

It’s just like song writing: Jerry Seinfeld Intends to Die Standing Up

Great article in the Times Magazine last week. Here’s some video from “Jerry Seinfeld Intends to Die Standing Up“. As far as I’m concerned it a familiar theme. While creativity can flow regardless, the pro learns to work the craft. To get repeatable, high level results. Anyone can make a shot from mid court. It doesn’t make you Michael Jordan. You’re still a chimp in the dirt playing with sticks.

Show Us Your Production Code

Show Us Your Production Code — Alexander Zaytsev:

So, I hereby challenge the Ruby community: the next time you want to tell the world about the right way of doing things, start with showing your production code.
That’s right, the dreaded ‘production code’.
Don’t make up examples. Show us what you actually do.
For example, instead of using the notorious ‘create a record and send an email’ example, David could show a similar but more complex controller from Basecamp. A piece of code that actually made the team argue about the right way.

[A good thought. I hope I have the courage to do so next time.]