Where do you draw the line?

If I work for a software company, who's responsible for the software?

On one hand, here am I. I am the one actually coding it. I know intimately the reasoning behind it. I am the most likely person to be able to perceive its faults. If there is an exceptional circumstance, should I report it?

On the other hand, here is my employer. They employ knowledgeable people to act as architects, technical leads, or committee members on boards. These people are the ones who design the system, define an acceptable range of parameters, and generally guide the constraints on the software.

Now here is the dilemma. Suppose I'm busy coding the software to the specification generated by experts who rule over me, and I see something that I don't think is right. What do I do? Most of us may question the problem, but then back down if there is seen to be a good deal of thought (or intra-office political weight) behind our 'problem'. But perhaps I'm not convinced, as many of us aren't. How far do we press the problem? Do we lose the job and threaten the livelihood of our family on account of our insistence that a problem exists when in fact it may not be the committee of experts but rather us who is wrong? It is possible that we are right, but will quitting over this problem actually solve anything?

Where do you draw the line?

Mac attack!

The war has been declared over! It isn't by an official from either of the warring factions, of course, but here it is: http://www.democrasay.com/node/102. Most of us have been following the fight for years. Some of us (nay, many of us?) have even defected, jumping a ship we saw likely to be sunk, or perhaps just looking for a little more chlorophyll. Of course, is it still blog-worthy to mention that Apple's interface is cleaner, simpler, and generally more intuitive? Is it blog-worthy to beat a horse who has no more space for bruises? Perhaps it's time that we realize MacOS is the nicest shell on a posix system, Microsoft rules the world, and linux is still more of a frankenstein than Windows has ever been. Enjoy!

Something old, something new

I've come to understand that every person, no matter how lowly has a purpose in the Lord's plan. Some are meant to be great bishops, some great home teachers, other perhaps great primary teachers. I am none of those. In point of fact, only one principle of the gospel really comes easily to me: family history. Perhaps it is my love of puzzles (genealogy after all is one of the greatest, most complicated, and most deviously difficult puzzles ever devised) or perhaps it is sheer stubborn-mindedness, but I love genealogy.

It seems a paradox that one so engrossed in a world of technology (even enthralled by it) should be so excited to dig into archaically scribed, partially completed records penned by people long since dead. Yet here I am. Lucky for me the church is on a mission to bring those very records into the new century with technology bursting from their cracked and faded pages!

Am I talking about www.familysearch.org? No. It's probably a wonderful resource if you don't hail from a long line of avid genealogists, descend from early church members who failed to pass on records, or know a great deal about relatives from 1880 sans census records. Unfortunately I am not one of those. My real point of interest is the so-called "new familysearch.org." I have heard precious little about it apart from a few tidbits thrown to me in a Scandinavian family history class nearly a year ago, but what I have heard is remarkable. The church is reputed to be merging technology and family history in a phenomenal way: records being harmonized, categorized, digitzed, and publicized. A veritable oasis to weary genealogical travellers who are tired of finding rides to the Family History Library every other day.

Want to learn more? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FamilySearch

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If monkeys had wings

What if monkeys had wings?

I would buy a monkey with wings

Not a large one

Just a small monkey

to sit on my coffee table

and start conversations.

My monkey would fly about the room

and people would point

and stare

and I would be that guy

you know

the one that has a monkey

with wings.

Of course

no winged monkey can live anywhere

that isn't a castle

What if castles had wings?

How big would they be?

Would castles like to fly?

Would the other flying creatures accept it?

Or would it be an outcast...

lonely and sad.

I would hug the castle

and tell it that everything would be alright

those birds are exclusionist anyway

who needs them

you have the monkeys to keep you company.