advocacy

Redis for win32 and the Microsoft patch

Redis for win32 and the Microsoft patch:

When dependencies provide a lot of added value it is worth adding them. Instead when you need to switch to something bigger and more complex without any gain, why to do it?

Ah, and about the gain being some kind of feature only exciting for we code nerds and having zero effects on how a system works, please read my next article in a few days, we are programmers and we need a revolution.

[Stay tuned. There’s more of this scintillating tech stuff coming. (It is important if you’re a developer, but otherwise it’s totally in the weeds, and should remain there atmo.) There is a larger lesson to be gleaned from the dependencies issue. If something requires that you do something complex for little or no gain, it’s probably the wrong thing to do. It should be noted that we often completely organize our lives in this complicated fashion for little gain. Worthy of more thought.]

Some Days Aren’t Forgotten

Some Days Aren’t Forgotten:

December 7th, 1941 was the day that a Japanese carrier force launched a surprise attack on the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. While demonstrating the power of Naval Airplanes it lead way to the end of the might of battleships. It was the day that ratified the people of this country to join in one of the bloodiest and most costly wars we had ever seen. They fought at home and on foreign fronts for our safety, our rights as individuals, and our freedom. May people remember what happened that day December 7th, 1941, the lives that were lost and the families hurt. May we never forget what happened in that War so history doesn’t repeat itself.

[Indeed.]
Source: Jake Peterson’s Blog

Wunda’s World: Clarifying purpose

Wunda’s World: Clarifying purpose:

How can we do this? By understanding and buying into what we are creating and how we see it experienced. We can create a mission, vision and values to clarify and create distinction.

The mission statement is all about purpose. Its about the problem you are trying to solve, the information you are trying to share and/or the service you are trying to provide. Its about the long term goals.

On the other side, the vision statement is an abstraction of the experience. It can include words like fun, simple, quality, quickly, stable, reliable, responsive, etc. It does not include ideas like color schemes, mechanics, technology specifics or other implementation details.

Time can also be spent on value statements (users own their information, we strive to directly connect with and respond to user feedback, all user feedback is valid, etc)

Continue drilling down into these ideas until everyone knows what they are doing, are excited to work towards the goals and know in their hearts they are working on an effort they accept fully.

For new teams, taking time to manifest an understanding of team dynamics, quality and creativity with as much openness and honesty as possible can help ensure the best “good-enough” software gets created in a way that is enjoyable, sustainable and collaborative.

Finally, read these statements every morning. When discussions become long, unclear or hostile, refer back to them. Use them as a method to stay detached to what is no longer serving and focused on the underlying issues.

[Well said!]

Of Course

Of Course:

In a simpler and more optimistic sense, what happens is that you stop quitting; you have to be made to quit.

That’s a big difference, and it can end up changing not only who you are as a rider but who you are as a person. The acclaim you receive for this, however, is as subtle as the transformation is monumental: You become taken for granted as a cyclist. Those who are always there when there’s a there worth being there for assume you always will be there with them. That’s your reward: you become ordinary.

[Many people pray for ordinary all the time. I love ordinary in my life as much as love extraordinary. And while the amounts don’t balance (I prefer ordinary in abundance and extraordinary in measured amounts), the reality is you can’t have one without the other.]

The Happiness Project: Frank Lloyd Wright’s 10-Point Manifesto for His Apprentices.

The Happiness Project: Frank Lloyd Wright’s 10-Point Manifesto for His Apprentices.:

I recently read Frank Lloyd Wright’s Autobiography — a very thought-provoking work. In it, he includes a list of the “Fellowship Assets” that he outlined for the architecture apprentices he worked with at Taliesin, his summer home, studio, and school.

  1. An honest ego in a healthy body.
  2. An eye to see nature
  3. A heart to feel nature
  4. Courage to follow nature
  5. The sense of proportion (humor)
  6. Appreciation of work as idea and idea as work
  7. Fertility of imagination
  8. Capacity for faith and rebellion
  9. Disregard for commonplace (inorganic) elegance
  10. Instinctive cooperation

[Lots to think about here to be sure. BTW, I really like the Happiness Project and have read the book. Recommended.]

Monsanto Corn May Be Failing to Kill Bugs, EPA Says – Businessweek

Monsanto Corn May Be Failing to Kill Bugs, EPA Says – Businessweek:

Monsanto should enact a remedial action plan in fields where resistance to its Bt insecticide is suspected, the EPA said. That includes having growers use conventional pesticide to kill adult rootworm beetles late in the season and alternate pest control methods in the following season.

Monsanto tested rootworms for resistance in Nebraska, Illinois and Iowa and should expand the monitoring to Colorado, Minnesota, South Dakota and western Wisconsin because questions about the performance of Bt corn extends to all seven states, the EPA said in the memo.

Monsanto’s most advanced resistance problem is with crops engineered to tolerate its Roundup herbicide. Weeds that are no longer killed by Roundup have invaded 14 million acres of U.S. cotton, soybean and corn, according to Syngenta AG, a Swiss chemical maker. A Dow Chemical Co. study this year found as many as 20 million acres of corn and soybeans may be infested.

[What an incredible mess is being made with this. Life always finds a way. Try your best not to buy and eat these products (easier said than done, I know).]

In everything is a chance

Is there something morally pure or preferable about a painful intricate construction, rather than the brisk, functional way most people toss off a task?

Is there a beauty in seriousness?

It would appear it is something that I can’t fail to be touched by. A shorthand lesson plan on how I wish to live.

When there is no compromise with expediency, no taking for granted of power structures, nothing but rigorous honesty and tireless interrogation; there is some feeling or hope that if I could put every single thing under the sun into this moment I could head off sorrow, frustration, resentment, missed communication, and thwarted ambition.

It is way easier of course to walk past, to not examine, to not take apart: There is a social use in seeing an ambulance rushing by without imagining who is inside it, in buying a quart of milk without thinking too deeply about the guy behind the counter, or how the cow was treated. The fish who is thinking obsessively “What is water?” is, no doubt, a little less likely to swim very far.

Still, every time I tinker with some aspect of my life working toward it being, acceptable, professional, workable, move-on-able, I think “Maybe I’ll do it a little better this time.”

And I’ve come to realize that it is that which I cherish in people, companies, workshops, and craft. Making it a priority that the every day approach is “How can I do this better this time?” and is a fundamental path. The warp and weft of process. The chance to make the work, the hour, the day sacred in some truest sense, because through that improvement, we succeed at seizing the moment.

The economics of Christmas lights

The economics of Christmas lights:

Two asides: First, it’s interesting to note that no one (zero) gets paid to put up Christmas lights, but some towns are awash in them.

and second, I think there’s a parallel to the broken windows theory here. Broken Windows asserts that in cities with small acts of vandalism and unrepaired facades, crime goes up. The Christmas Light corollary might be that in towns (or online communities) where there’s a higher rate of profit-free community contribution, happiness and productivity go up as well.

[Nice.]
Source: Seth’s Blog

Fresh Goods: Soul Poles Bamboo Ski Poles

Fresh Goods: Soul Poles Bamboo Ski Poles:

Everything old is new again: Soul Poles has gone back to one of the original materials used to make ski poles, bamboo, and there are compelling arguments in its favor, aside from the fact that the poles look bitchin’. The fledgling brand, launched by World Cup skiers Erik Schlopy and Bryon Friedman, makes the sticks by hand in Utah from sustainable bamboo and mostly recycled materials, including a recycled polypro strap, recycled plastic in the basket, and 80 percent recycled aluminum in the tip. SP is also a member of One Percent for the Planet and Protect Our Winters and good on ‘em for it.

$99-$295 LINK

[Bamboo is everywhere these days. Nice.]
Source: adventure journal