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Dayphil: Alright, so should it be law if no one understands it?
Thu, 31 Jan 2008

I'm sure we've all had the same thought -- people generally want to be honest and hard working, and part of that is doing the right and ethical thing within a society; but a society has laws (which may or may not be ethical in foundation). And laws are there partly to codify what the averageman believes in, partly to promote the party line for the future, and other trickery. But as we've all heard.. sometimes you do not know if you are breaking the law or not, until an action is tested.. in court. But that is a high stakes game since in losing, you could be fined or go to prison.

So how can a society have a legal system so convoluted and impenetrable, that specialists are needed to attempt to comprehend it and yet still not know the outcome of a series of actions? How can people live their lives in a system where they do not know the laws, nor how to interpret them. We just live, and as good and decent people assume the law is on our side.

But isn't that odd? Dieing to defend a society with laws and ethics we don't understand the implications of?

How the heck did that happen anyway?

I suppose back in the day, farmer logic was law and it surely didn't make a lot of sense. But at least it was the 'common sense' (or rule by might, which is well understood too.)

hmrf.

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Day by Day: Drive-by machine coma
Thu, 06 Sep 2007

Permit my mind to wander, as it was another night with only a ocuple hours sleep and as all know.. blogging only occurs under sleep deprivation mixed with caffeine.

As distant as they come, every once in awhile a thought enters my head that might be credited to a book read for highschool. I mean, I was never forced to read Moonfleet like so many of my contemporaries, but I was cojolled (greatfully) into Day of the Triffids and Animal Farm and so forth. There was a short story we read in English class .. "The Machine Stops" or somesuch which I thoguht was very slick. Somehow it ties into Ellisons "I have no mouth yet I must scream", but thats just because I am compelled to bring it up. Anyway, as our little girl slowly (quickly!) grows, taking control of her motor functions and studying the amazing details in every day items, I wonder about her future and where its all going..

When up last night voyaging around the quiet depths of semi-sleep I got to thinking about "The Machine Stops" (wherein a society is so utterly dependant upon a computing complex for all of lifes requirements, and it fails, they meet their fellow man face to face for the first time.) and it occurred to me again that our interface to news, to research - and more alarmingly - to friends and family - is through a one way non-social technology. Being the generation that I am, the Matrix generation, the Intertube application-building generation, means that life was so fascinated with the technology as it blew open so many years ago. We geeks lived and breathed this new domain, never questioning the very laconic nature of it all .. we were as gods to a new world, building applications and adopting this newfound openness assuring ourselves it was better, faster, more efficient, more open.. more human despite being electronic. Coding is cool, is power, and half the time.. humanity be damned. We were better. It hit right there .. if it enabled _more_ communication, how could it restrict it? We created the new systems, so how could we be limiting ourselves? We geeks had finally gotten ours -- we were cool, we wore a lot of black, and it was better than microwave ovens (we knew, since it was better than BBSes.) We'd all created communication systems whereby you chat in real time (IM and IRC), or at reader conveniance (email, usenet, websites), and could transcend language, culture or handicap. Technology was full of awesome again.

Naturally, we all figured this would save time. Be more efficient. Or cooler anyway, and that at least came to pass. Like flying cars and civilian jetpacks, efficient and technology will never really come to pass -- we all know that our laptops are faster than ten year old supercomputers, and yet loading up your latest email can take a few seconds. Anyway, all this so-called efficiency is also inbred -- we're better, we're faster, and we're doing more.

Really, humans are better at doing less. I mean, sitting around a fire, going fishing, all these things we tend to frown upon until we do them and remember how appealing they are.. heck, just taking a break to sit out in the sun feels gorramned great Doing more is taking a piece of our humanity away. We're social creatures, not machines. We should be making this technology work more for us and not making us work more. Youtube, flikr and so forth are very enabling and have created whole new aspects to our culture and exchange.. but its really an illusion at control, while we are born and registered, learning from TV and the net, going to school and being marked by technology, and peeing in cups for work. We've both created the illusion of freedom, and taken it away. Fine, its our generations fault, I can deal with it.

But once in awhile I think about my poor daughter who will be hooking into the Great Portal in the not too far off future. She'll be a wonderful and open creature, not yet formed in her minds pathways, ready to absorb so much information. And she'll have a tonne of it, all shovelled into her brain, performatted and predigested.. and unavailable to change. I suppose for children it has always been this way.. but with so much at her fingertips, will she be forced into its way of thinking? Given technology makes our food, provides our transportation, and is the basis for learning.. have all the alternatives simply vanished? I know in my life I've always admired from afar sitting around the campfire and singing. Its not my thing, but I know the option is there. But it is increasingly distant..

Anyway, I'm a tech guy. More than most people, for sure. So it is ironic as a PDA developer I don't trust PDAs; as a well read time management nerd I don't trust time management systems. And as a coder who taps away at a keyboard for every waking moment, to have ideas like this pop into his sleep deprived head at 5am .. is .. well, to be honest, its sleep dep talking :) I mean, we've created this system which in and of itself is not directly harmful, or even backwards .. but are we aware of the future outcome? Just as all this genetic hacking on our food won't prove good or bad for decades after we've all been consuming it. We optimize by statics.. we're all min-maxers now, forever cutting away at the profits and pushing the curve here or there. I've often lamented about the lack of gargoyles on buildings, by which I mean taking the more fun or humoured or human approach to a problem, and not just working the numbers. It is a tragedy of our own making where our society stopped having fun.

The technology costs more than it gives. We always knew this, but know those little blue eyes look up at me, while I type away on my keyboard. And I feal shame for my part that I have wrought.

Course, its not all bleak; we've created much that is cool, and tied people together in new and exciting ways. We've evolved a little as a society. Let us hope that despite my being another number in the great cog my daughter will be more, so much more.

Yeah, like I said, late night thoughts. No need to reply, I know its tripe :)

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Techphil: Jeff's Law
Wed, 28 Jun 2006

I'm sure this has been stated before, but I shall attempt to coin in anyway and let Crom sort it out. Jeff's Law states the amount of time available to work is inversely proportional to its importantance -- that is, the higher the importance to fulfill some task the lesser the amount of time available to work on it. I'm sure Fred Brooks must talk about it, but in IT terms one could point to the common: the more projects you have, the more meatings you will have to 'manage' them, where the rate of increase in meeting count is faster than the increase in number of tasks.

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Philtech: What's Cool?
Sat, 06 May 2006

When my family long ago picked up a Commodore Vic-20 home computer, I was a changed boy. I'd been bugging my father to get us a Colecovision console (as I was adoring the one a kid down the street had; I am ashamed to admit that I was using that kid just so I could see this technical wizardry that was video gaming in its youth. Sorry Raj!) I remember when my father came home with the Vic: "Now you can learn to make your own games!" he proclaimed, and my life was forever changed.

In those formitive years I spent every moment devouring whatever I could get my hands on.. from the BASIC Programming Language manuals included with the device, to books acquired from the computer store after mowing the lawn for allowance (book stores didn't carry anything but 'literature' at the time), to program listings I dumpster dived for while walking to school, even listings copied down with pencil from an overhead projector at a user group meet - thats where I learned how to convert to Celsius! Later of course we obtained our beloved Atari ST computer, which got me into running and writing a BBS, demo coding and game hax0ring (again, sorry folks, I was young!), and eventually into the good stuff that finally turned me into a professional coder. (A note for history, I sold my first shareware back around 1988 or 1989 - an email (Fido echomail) client for the Atari ST!)

In short, when I was young, computers were fricking cool.

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Day by Day: Voices of the Blog^h^h^h^hJournal
Sat, 11 Mar 2006

I go on about all sundry of topics here, and I do hope theres something for the nerd in everyone.. that you like something from Palm and handheld business, to technology and entertainment, to arts and nerding out. I really just started the blog so long ago as an experiment to see if there is really all that much to talk about.. to see if _I_ could really say so much as to support a journal. Well, how about that? Every single person, if they choose to describe just a small fraction of what they experience every day, can support a journal!

I find it interesting (and endlessly troublesome) that I have such a variety of readers among the oh, 3 or 4 that I do have. Lets take stock off the top of my head, in absolutely no particular order. i) Obvious ones include friends and family - the real people I actually know. Some even follow the blog, to my great shame ;) ii) Homebrew communities - I've been supporting and coding for all sorts of communities over the years, and some even rabidly so. Sony PSP, GP32 and GP2X, of course Palm OS and Zodiac. These are the obvious, but lets also chalk up various Atari nerd groups. Gods. iii) The very fine Codejedi and Shadow Plan fans and customers; I have carefully avoided trying to advertise for my company and insane pursuits here, but these people do support me quite a bit and I count a great number as friends. As all know, I'm a huge fan of community building and linking people together.. iv) I suppose one could add to the homebrew listing above the emulation and arcade and jukebox scenes that I've been loitering in for far too long; I helped pioneer arcade emulation to some small extent and met a lot of bizarre and interesting kooky people while scouring southern Ontario for retro gear. v) Syndication. The very nature of blogging technology has led to content being cloned around the web (or 'mirrored') so people are forever finding copies of my journal here in all sorts of places. Numerous times I've been caught off guard when someone comes up and mentions they read such and such a thing about my personal life on some Atari news aggregator or console site -- since I so often talk retro they syndicate my blog into their site, not knowing they can poach just the retro entries. Whatever.. this is the nature of the system though it can be weird sometimes :) vi) LiveJournal -- I mirror my blog into LJ for the conveniance of a few friends over there, but god only knows who stumbles across it there. vii) Perhaps finally, random googlers on the web (hi, by the way!) -- once in awhile some topic or another searched for will end up here. I'm glad to be amusing or useful once in awhile (or shall we just leave it at 'once'?)

Day zero, I did consider a wiki instead of blog, and a set of blogs under one roof so that folks could visit a retro blog, or a friends blog, or others; instead I went with the one you see before you, featuring categories to allow more easily breaking down of the content so one can easily bookmark a group of topics instead of the whole shbang, should they not like my pathetic meandering of thoughts.

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Day By Day: OKay - people - relax, chill out.
Mon, 06 Feb 2006

I try to live by the rule that people can do what they like, and its not my business to tell them what to do or how to do it. I also try to be respectful, and don't like to go around condemning anyone or anything - I was mouthier in my youth but I've mellowed out to my fellow man. Heck, I run a business online and its not wise to go aggravating people who could be potential friends and customers, but I'm not the sort to premeditate like that.. life by the cuff I say, as long as you're a decent person :) Anyway, permit me to descend into yet another annoyed rant. When you work as much as I do, it helps to get things off the chest ;) Time for my mind to wander... I hope you respect me in the morning ;)

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Phil: Resolutions for the New Year
Wed, 21 Dec 2005

Making a promise to ones self is a common routine for a lot of us at New Years; I usually make simple ones that are easy to follow through and are quickly forgotten. This year I'll make a couple and try to fulfill them - an honest effort, for personal goals.. not company goals or some lofty thing.. something for me. A tall order however, to come up with guidelines sensible and not cheesie - none of this "Get rich", "grow a third arm" or "get taller" silliness.

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Philosophy: What is ADD? Do we all have it?
Tue, 27 Sep 2005

My wife loves her puzzles - a crossword here or number crunching puzzle there, and its a great way for her to slow down before bed (myself, I read.) For the past few years I'll often find her working over some puzzles while watching TV - she likes to watch a few choice shows and also have the tube 'just on' (for background white-noise), but she rarely gives it her full attention. Just as well, TV being what it is :) I'm the same, with email and messaging channels always visible as IRC and IM are both good ways to get ahold of me. I was chatting with sn00p and he mentioned having (perhaps) a problem my wife and I also have - when given a few hours off time (Sunday evening, say) to relax, sometimes we don't know what to do with it.. we're so busy, than in the end we just end up spending that time wasted - not efficiently relaxed or focused into relaxation, but passing time 'screwing around' instead.. a little reading, a little browsing and email checking or picking up the news feeds, maybe a short little game or otherwise fidgeting. Is it hard to relax?

Is that a mild case of Attention Deficit Disorder? The inability to focus on one thing when you should be? I know I've no problem with focus -- its one of the traits that helps me be the prolific coder I am, as I can lock into and defeat an application and move on. But if I'm not focused, I'm doing a dozen things at once.. never just two things. So its a case of all-focus or no-focus? My wife and I both love time driving around.. when we head out to Niagara or the like, its a joy to be locked away in the car cockpit so we can chat and enjoy the sun - maybe thats a time when you're alone, and not easily interrupted (unless its rush hour!)

I wonder, with advertising being everywhere, with gadgets providing real time communication at every opportunity.. as a society, are we all going to end up with ADD?

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Philosophy: Are dependancies and interruptions tiring?
Tue, 27 Sep 2005

(Updated.) I'm often 'worn out' these days - full of my usual energy and high happyness levels but feeling a little like I'm wading through mud so that everything takes that much longer to accomplish - mostly in the evenings. In the morning and daytime I think I'm still operating at a decent rate (though nowhere near my prime) despite the lack of brainwork at the day gig, but as evening approaches the mind slows a touch. I suspect I (and everyone?) am a little 'addicted' to accomplishing things - to getting things done - and when this form of light burnout starts to creep in the slowing of accomplishments gets on the nerves and just adds that much more desire to get on with it. Perhaps its time to slow down a touch, maybe try and force myself to relax in the evenings and then perhaps the peek efficiency will return so the net result will be getting more things done and yet feeling better about it. (Like, I spent a couple nights knocking out a home 'inventory' system so I can track videos, books, games, things, etc - good for insurance, but also just to know what you've got - I'm a fiendish collector of things after all!) Why do I take on all these bloody projects, and all the dozens of freeware projects I hack away at? Every few months I decide I'll write (but never get to) a new Vic-20 emulator from scratch for fun and to help preserve that machine for the future.. but damn dude :) What do normal people do in their spare time? I know I never have a free moment.. always work to be done, and when I take a break I write an inventory system.. *slap!*

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Is technology or the user to blame? Or, how I learned to start a cooking fire.
Sun, 28 Aug 2005

The other day after feasting on mighty barebecue in honour of my esteemed brother-in-law's 30th birthday, we started to have the nightly hot debate. Perhaps it was the rum and coke talking, or the nature of the conversation, or the fact we're all 30-or-more now, but we raged for hours into the night. While we swung across many topics, one that stuck in my memory was the question -- technology is good of course, but has it made it too easy to be evil?

Naturally, I'm pro-technology. I'm still waiting for the arrival of flying cars and a vacation spot on Mars as promised to our parents as children (though I'll take a pass on the all silver reflecting clothing thank you very much ;) -- I'm pro-investing in science and technology, always saying that we need to train people in its proper and ethical use. I'll avoid going into abortion and the like (I believe its up to the couple and family, not society!), but its easy to talk about other less "loaded" topics -- surely our science has helped produce more and better food, though we should have the choice to eat natural or geneticly altered food at our choice. Likewise, technology has produced superior medicines and the quality of life all over the world has improved (though not enough in the third world, sadly.)

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Here's to the irrelevent hero
Fri, 19 Aug 2005

I know a lot of the time I'm going on about some technogarbage here or about some neat game there, or otherwise ranting about whats ticking me off - but thats because theres a filter over what I write up here - its not a personal diary (since I'm not the sort to write one and you're not likely the sort to care that much :) because the really personal bits aren't for flashing around in public. Theres a time and place, but I do like to go on about technology and running a small business and in general trying to amuse or help out. Naturally, my wife skips reading the blog since she knows the real me and doesn't so much care for the tech-nerd side after a long day of work ;)

A week or two back, she asked why I hadn't posted about a topic that has always interested me, that made me remember that humanity really does have something good in it... She knows that I'm an eternally happy person and wondered why only the playful side was showing up online here, and not the more questing side. She wondered why I'd note written about Everyday Heroes.

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