What's the point?

A trait of Linux that has long gone over my head has been the fascination with compiling applications against your kernel. You don't need to do this on Windows, and I don't miss it, so why are there so many applications out there that absolutely require that you compile them before you can install them? Why is every kernel its own special snowflake?

Wasting Time Well

In recent months, I've picked up a new habit of perusing certain Self Improvement sites. There's a lot of good advice out there, for free, and I'm willing to consider almost anything that doesn't involve exercise or spending less time on my PC. The articles that seem to catch my eye the most, possibly because I recognize their particular pertinence, are those related to time management. Time is a bit like real estate: they ain't making anymore. That said, I think I've been pretty good about the time I spend shoveling coal into the corporate maw. It's the time I spend doing whatever the hell I want to I've been worrying about lately.

I Do Wei Wu!

In my ongoing search for something to give people to call me besides "Godless Heathen" and "Communist Atheist", I have, for the last couple years, spent significant time looking into Taoist philosophy. In my usual fashion, I can't swallow the full shtick.

Tit-for-tat and The Weasel Rule

I've written before on my admiration for The Golden Rule.  I consider
it to be the core of my values, the basic premise from which everything
else is derived.  What more, I propose that a belief in anything else
as an addendum or prerequisite is at best superfluous, and at worst a
digression.  That said, I wont deny that it does present it's own
challenges.

Best Friends Forever! Not!

I was listening to PBS the other day on my way home.  They were interviewing Matthew Dowd, a former campaign manager for George W. Bush.  He had just come out in opposition to the President.  The interviewer recalled for him the loyalty that Bush had shown to many of his appointees, often at significant political cost, and asked how he felt about what amounted to his betrayal.  His response was interesting.

He said that one should not be loyal to people, that one should only be loyal to "the Truth we know inside."

Nobody's Guru

I had a conversation with my oldest this weekend. We often have little philosophical discussion on life lessons - he's still young enough to want them. This time, I told him to avoid people who want to give him guidance. I know that sounds a bit funny, coming in the midst of a conversation in which I was giving him guidance. None the less, he understood what I meant.

Today is Tomorrow

It's been a tough couple weeks.  One of those periods when you burn days in a blur of pure reaction and, when you stop to catch your breath, you can't really say what it was you've been doing.  Something urgent.  I caught a co-worker in the hall and we exchanged white noise, making comments about how busy it's been.  He said something about catching up on some mutually important issue once things calmed down.  I was walking away when it occurred to me that we'd had the exact same exchange before.