Theodicius

Good. Evil. Bratwurst.

The Trouble With Silos

Filed under: Books,General,Technology— arlen@ 10:20 am

I have a problem with books. The major symptom of this problem is I have too many. I love the feel of them, everything about them. I have a disease — it’s called bibliophilia.

But I’m learning to cope with it. Slowly I have learned to differentiate between the words on the page and the pages themselves. There are writers I love to read (Gene Wolfe, I’m looking at you) and books I love to hold (leather-bound Lord of the Rings) but at least I’ve now managed to convince myself that the sets are not identical. Gene Wolfe is still Gene Wolfe, even if the words are formed by excited particles on a screen instead of ink on paper. I still fear it must be illegal for anyone to write that addictively well.

But now I have another problem.
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Marketers and Liars

Filed under: General— arlen@ 10:35 am

Seth Godin states the obvious in a recent post. That’s not a knock on him; it needs stating and restating and restating yet again, until the penny finally drops, or they take delivery from the Clue Train. Slimy marketers and sharp operators have fatally poisoned the environment for the rest. That particular ecosystem can no longer sustain life; it’s long past time to realize that and move on.

As far as the public is concerned, the default belief is “all marketers are liars.” “How can you tell if the salesman is lying?” goes the old joke. “He moves his lips.” comes the punch line. And we laugh, because inside, we truly believe that to be the case.
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Leaving me behind

Filed under: Books,General— arlen@ 11:13 am

It occurred to me as I was wandering through a local bookshop that was undergoing a management change: the local bookstores have decided, apparently, that I’m no longer a customer worth having.

They were in the process of selling off all the old inventory of the former owner, soon to be replaced with “books we think will sell here,” and I got a sinking feeling in my heart. I suspect I know the kind of books the new owner is going to put there, so I took one last stroll around the place, to say good-bye. Oh, I’ll come back to check out the new inventory, but past history tells me that will be the last time I do.
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Testing, A Developer’s POV

Filed under: General,Technology,Web Design— arlen@ 11:10 pm

When do you test, how do you test, why do you test? Or even do you test?

The answers to the first two questions are: “all the time,” and “as completely as possible.” The third question has several, longer, answers. And if you answered “No” to the last question, perhaps those answers will be of use to you.

A first, and rather flippant, answer is “so I know when I’m done.” But even this answer has depth. I don’t just mean, “I got all the bugs, so I can quit.” Whether I’m working off a highly detailed spec, or a back-of-the-napkin sketch I did over dinner, the tests I write will reflect exactly what the object’s supposed to do. Continue reading →

On Planners

Filed under: General,Technology— arlen@ 11:19 am

I’ve tried them all, even tried building my own, either from from other people’s templates or my own. I just can’t seem to make them work.

It’s no doubt just a personal failing. The common wisdom for them is what I call the “Highlander Principle” — there must be only one. It just doesn’t work for me. I can’t find one that I can get comfortable with.

According to Julie Morgenstern I’m a “visual/tactile” person. (This, BTW, fits with everything I’ve picked up from Hellen Buttigeig, so it’s probably true. That means I should be most comfortable with a paper planner. Continue reading →

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