ttyl.ca

This went down last Friday.  I just discovered it today (great ski weekend!).  It’s quite huge!!  Enjoy!

First, if you haven’t already, you MUST read this first, just for the drama of it!!!  PZ’s original post, minutes after it happened.

Then, Sir Dawkins’s take on it all (can this guy write or what?).

Finally, this article gives the story again, short and funny, but with a gazillion links to further reading.
I love how easy this keeps getting… 

Happy (late) freakin’ Easter everyone!

So, the other day I was helping this self-proclaimed Luddite install some software.

I would never criticize someone for simply not knowing something.  We all have different experiences, and there’s more than enough knowledge to go around.   I’m always (okay, often) happy to help.

What bothered me was the pride behind the proclamation.   It’s reverse snobbery, and the worst kind — like being proud of being poor (or rather not being rich).  It’s a mask for insecurity.

The following argument was offered: “it took me decades to get this ignorant, so it’ll take me equally as long to learn how to do it.”

Um, noooo….  By that logic it should take us 16 years or so to learn to drive!  Okay, bad example….

We all have different tolerances for change, and as software developers, our job is to make software that’s as easy to use as a toaster.  For sure, we’re a long way off on many fronts.  But then, so are the toaster manufacturers!  We’re all doing varying degrees of our best and our worst.  But turning fear of change into pride just plain sucks!

IMHO

Always nice when the fish jump IN the barrel for you…

Also nice to see some Eastern magical thinking exposed.

The other day I was sitting in drum class. We were doing this thing where we each got a chance to do a little solo. I completely flubbed mine.

Later another student, a school teacher, mentioned how it’s tough to just rattle off phrases when you’re learning because your repertoire is so small.

This got me thinking about when I was learning Spanish, and then later, teaching English.

Drumming is just another language.  It has its own words and phrases, even its own grammar.  And the sawtooth curve of language learning will apply.  You learn a little, and you start going a little too fast, and you fall on your face, and feel like you’ve forgotten anything.

Now this is reminding me of learning to snowboard!  Is snowboarding a language too?  Is EVERYTHING  a language?

Intereting.  Now if I could only figure out the grammar behind getting along with my boss, or spending less than I earn!!