Open Source Handbook reviewed.
an eddy in the bitstream
Open Source Handbook reviewed.
Invoking
make test
in a project and watching as 1000s of successful tests scroll by, culminating in the
All tests successful.
message, gives me the same thrill of satisfaction as when I used to paint houses, and having finished a long day of sweaty labor at sanding and chipping old paint off, I could stand back and survey the structure, primed and ready for a fresh coat of paint. It’s the anticipation that thrills, in the same way that a trip to the grocery store and a full fridge, or several loads of clean laundry folded and stowed safely away in drawers, thrills me. The knowing that I am prepared, belt cinched tight, all tests successful.
John McPhee’s Personal History piece is poignant and flashes like a fish in sunlight. Reminded me of the best of Annie Dillard.
My work colleagues and I just spent an intense day and a half effectively locked in a room, talking about our work together and vision for where we want to be. I was reminded of this piece by Ken Auletta on the current state of the media vis-a-vis President Obama. A lot of what he has to say about the impact of the internet, the pace of the news cycle and the breakdown of the 20th century business model around journalism is part of my daily grind.
David Owen’s piece The Dime Store Floor is a bit of nasal nostalgia. The sense of smell is a vivid memory evoker. A couple of summers ago I walked into a lumber yard’s warehouse and had a sensory hit so vivid that for a moment I was 8 years old in my great-grandfather’s woodshop/garage next door to the house where I grew up. Something about the old wood and sawdust and heat. The force of that memory surprised me. Owen’s piece is like that too.
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