Bashed Up Bits

I usually shy away from predictions, but I think two new trends I am seeing more of recently are worth mentioning: post-materialism culture and self-navigating quadro/multi-copters . Post-materialism Since about three or four years ago, I've been seeing a slowly strengthening trickle of articles and personal stories on topics like the "tyranny of stuff" and "paying for experiences instead of things". The first well constructed expression of this trend I read was Bruce Sterling's "Last Viridian Note". While such a change in lifestyle in the past was driven by more external reasoning like "save the earth", this discourse has a more personal flavor to it. Up until the Great Recession (and a little after), there was in the U.S.A., and certain other emerging and developed economies, a relentless cultural drive to have luxurious things and, often, more than one of a particular luxurious thing. Doing so signaled high status. Today, howev...

"A craftswoman never blames her tools." For most, whether or not you can get your work done well on a certain platform is all that matters. To me, the three major operating platforms are tools that all have strengths and weaknesses. In the same way that I wouldn't use my nice chisels to loosen a laptop screw, I wouldn't use a MacBook for writing code for our Linux infrastructure. I am more efficient doing that work on Linux itself. At the same time, I shoot photos and video, and do some writing to take a break from IT. I've tried doing that work using the included tools on all three platforms. I find the Mac platform the most efficient and trouble-free for that work. I can do the work on Linux as well, but Linux has frustrating workflow gaps - especially regarding video. At work, even though we have a heterogenous server environment, we communicate using Microsoft Office, SharePoint, and Lync. My opinion of those tools does not matter. We chose th...

Some koans... ----------- A sysadmin asked the Master, "What's the best way to install a new system?" The Master answered, "Turn it on." The sysadmin was enlightened. ----------- A sysadmin asked the Master, "What's the root password to this server?" The Master asked, "Do you have access to the console?" The sysadmin replied, "Yes." The Master replied, "The root password is whatever you want it to be." The sysadmin was enlightened. ----------- An sysadmin seeks approval from the Master: "Master, I have designed and implemented a system with no single points of failure!" The Master answered, "Have you documented it?" "Not yet - I wanted to get it done first." The Master asked, "Give me the name of a team member that can build another one without seeing you or contacting you." "Well, I can't, yet - I just built it." The ...