Tag Archives: technology

Sleep, Misogyny, Sun, Movies with and by People I Know, and Kids Today

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This entry is part 35 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

There’s… a lot going on. Not directly with me, mind you–work is busy and stuff–but in general, with people I know and things that I follow, there’s a lot going on.

Just saw a movie tonight made by and full of people I know. And I even had the chance to help make it happen via their crowdfunding campaign. I’ll have to do an expanded review over on Toob Talk (eventually), but, suffice to say, if you get the chance to see Of Dice and Men at a convention or film festival, do.

Then there’s all the hubbub going on about the culture of male entitlement, misogyny, rape culture, and the like. I do have a lot to say on the issue–most of it not even related to the recent mass shooting (which specifically targeted women and was perpetrated by a dude who, while obviously a bit crazy, was at least somewhat representative of an undercurrent in male culture in specific and American culture in general).

And then there’s ongoing talk about the attributes of different generations…

Basically, I have to make a whole lot of time to just write about all of this stuff.

But I also have to sleep… but I can’t do that on my own schedule because of various cultural norms that dictate when a “typical work day” starts and ends.

My Generation, Celebrity Humor, Cute Overload, World Goth Day, Jobs, and Job Numbers

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This entry is part 33 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

As Gen X hits its collective mid-life crisis, we wade through a country that’s undergoing a political crisis. More extreme views appear to the left and right of a seemingly silent (and often bewildered) center.

That polarization causes wild swings–accentuated by whatever will bring the media the most eyeballs or ears–causes more of a feeling of instability (regardless of actual stability) than most are comfortable with. That feeling of instability further causes more polarization as each side becomes more and more reactionary in order to counter the escalating maneuverings of the other.

And my generation (Gen X, for those who haven’t been paying attention) is kind of at the middle of it all. In general, we’ve long been disillusioned when it comes to politics. We know they’re not pretty, that they’re often petty, and seem to almost always ignore sensibility. Even though we went out and “rocked the vote” way back when, we didn’t really get the long term results we hoped for.

Just like everything else in our lives.

But that hasn’t stopped us from just moving forward.

We’re used to being disappointed.  Or being disappointments. Either way, the effect is the same. We often keep to ourselves, bide our time while the water is rough (which is sometimes more hard work than is readily visible), and hope for that day when the skies clear up and we can actually accomplish the big things we’ve always wanted to do.

Thing is, the weather never seems to clear up.

And now… now we find that half of our own lives are gone.

We’ve worked harder than most seem to realize. Quietly, for the most part. But we’ve had a lot of that work destroyed before we could make use of it. So we have little to show for it.

And now… now just finding work is a long-term, full-time, unpaid job. Is it any wonder people are just giving up?

We were raised by the first TV generation and have been soaking in media hype and marketing messages for our entire lives. Celebrity leaves as bad a taste in our mouths as politics does… and half the time the two are closely intertwined, anyway.

Half of our lives are gone and, yeah, we’re likely kind of bitter about it.

But that doesn’t stop us from continuing to move onward.

That’s the only thing we’ve ever known: that the horizon is where we should be.

And it’s always just a wee bit farther out.

Sometimes it’s obscured by a haze (of politics, of entertainment, of hype)… but we’ve been trained to know the general direction, regardless.

We move, always. Slowly at times. And we’re getting old and want to rest.

If only we really knew how.

Science, Madness, Ice Cream Truck Music History, Slowly Impending Doom, and More

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This entry is part 26 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

I’m really not much of a programmer.

Yes, my job title technically does have “developer” in it, but I’m really not happy when I have to build things from scratch. I much prefer to mix already working things together in ways that get the job done in a quick and effective manner. Hopefully something that’s at least “close enough” at worst.

That’s not always possible.

And that’s what I’ve been dealing with at work on this one project.

Because I’m not much of a programmer, there’s no single language that I’m awesome with. At best, I’m mediocre with a few. And when it comes to some things, I’m really not that good at all. So I run into a lot of problems as I’m trying to get things to do things they don’t normally do.

But! I do have my own way of working through things. A lot of it relies on letting my subconscious bang it’s head against the issue while I occupy my conscious mind with something else (like, say Facebook, or another project).

Nine times out of ten, the solution pops into my head in less than an hour (sometimes much sooner). Sometimes it’s not the whole solution, but it’s enough of a perspective changer to shake loose the right fix from the aether (you know, where all computer programs already exist, right?).

On the surface it doesn’t look particularly “worky” or efficient. But it is terribly effective most of the time. Mainly because I’ve been using a similar method to work through all sorts of other problems–both life and work related–for a couple of decades now.

Compared to the times when I try to “buckle down” and solve problems like we’re told we always should–in some iterative, methodical way that other people can understand–things get done in about the same amount of time (if not more quickly) and I don’t get particularly stressed out about it. (When I’m actively banging my conscious head against a problem, the stress level just skyrockets and, eventually, totally gets in the way of coherent thought… which isn’t all that productive.)

The process basically goes like this:

  • Identify the problem
  • Do a bit of research (so I’m sure I know that there’s no simple solution out there)
  • Set the subconscious on the task
  • Fiddle around with other things for a while
  • Immediately switch gears when the solution pops in
  • Implement to solution
  • If it works, awesome… if not, see how it’s changed the problem
  • Repeat if necessary

So, yeah, that’s what I’ve spent most of my work life doing… especially when it comes to programming.

Some Good News, Some Bad News, and Some Outright Crazy Stuff (You know, as usual)

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This entry is part 19 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Kicked off my day this morning with an off-site meeting and then capped it off with two other meetings that popped up out of nowhere. Which, of course, lead to a mad dash to get stuff done… and a list of things that will get in the way of a nice, leisurely Friday in the office.

But, I followed up the day at work with a bit of getting together with former coworkers. That’s always nice. Fun to hear what people (people who I can’t stalk on Facebook because they either don’t use it at all or don’t post enough) have been up to and how things are going at the old employer.

Did a lot of walking through DC, got home later than expected, and now… now I’m getting to bed later than expected… so… nothing profound or all that coherent (especially since I’ve still got a lot of stuff in my inbox that needs watching… and a packed weekend of stuff ahead of me).

Birds, Bionics, reBoots, Balls, Batgirl, and a Bunch of things that don’t start with B

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This entry is part 15 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

What’s sure to eventually be the big news is that it’s been clearly stated now that the decades worth of stories, characters, and places built up in the Star Wars Extended Universe is not at all cannon. (Oh, but, Lucasfilm says, they’ll happily pillage what they want from it as they’re building their new continuity.)

This isn’t at all a big deal for me. I’ve read, I think, two of the Han Solo books and a few issues of the comic from the 80s. I know a whole lot of E.U. stuff, but only because so many people I know dig it so much. So, I’m not going to miss it at all.

I do, however, expect there to be raging battles in various geek circles about this. Maybe not quite on Jar Jar Binks level when it comes to vitriolic hate, but it’s going to be a rough road.

The other big (and more important to some) news is that Catholics are about to get two new saints… both former popes, including John Paul II, who is just shy of being the most fast-tracked saint ever (I think). It’s kind of neat to think that I now grew up during the same span of years that a couple of saints walked the earth. It has a bit of an anachronistic feel to it. Modern saints don’t seem as flashy or awe-inspiringly amazing as the old ones do. Miracles are more subtle things now than they are in the Bible and the “amazing” life is often equally subtle. A steady push to be better, to do better, to put oneself out there and bear the ridicule and hardship of others as your own. In some ways, it makes sainthood seem just that much more attainable. Which, I think, is a good thing… maybe more people will work toward it.