|
Friday, February 7, 2003 |
|
I've been reading Chiara's blog for a while now. I have thought about commenting on some of her earlier posts, and I may come back to some of those. I really thought this one was worth pointing out, though, because it was the first time I'd seen mention of this presentation by the Pragmatic Programmer guys.
I have to say that my reaction is somewhat different that Chiara's, and I don't think that is just some "adorable tendency" of my being a man. More likely, it is the result of having been at a company that chose to send much of its development off-shore. Having seen how compelling the cost difference can be even for a company whose core business is software development, I think that the trends described in the presentation are clear.
Chiara seems to be very much against acting based on future trends because it is impossible for the human mind to predict the future. It is certainly impossible to predict exactly what will happen in the future. However, making plans based on likely futures is, arguably, why we have a mind in the first place. If we only needed to react to the here and now, then we wouldn't need our capacity for imagining other times, other place, other realities, etc. We would only need the capacity to react to extant stimuli.
I wholeheartedly agree with her exhortations against fear. I often--only semi-jokingly--recite the Litany Against Fear in meetings when I feel everyone is being ruled by it. However, planning for the future and fearing it are not the same.
I think anyone working in software development should read this presentation, consider how it applies to you, and make plans appropriately. If you think it doesn't apply to you, then I'd encourage you to reconsider it. |
|
I have developed an interesting habit these past months in order to read my favorite news Web sites without the annoying Flash ads: I look for a button that says "Printable version". If you can find such a button (and most of the sites I read do offer one), you end up with a very simple page that contains only the article you are interested in. Suddenly, your signal/noise ratio is back to 100%, like good old Usenet.
Mozilla does a good job at allowing you to block images from a server, but it still doesn't work for Flash ads, and even if it does, it's still not a very optimal solution considering that the browser has to memorize all this information while possibly blocking content that might be of interest.
Right now, the "Printable hack" is the ultimate weapon against stubborn Flash ads that won't go away, so enjoy it while it lists, because I wouldn't be surprised if soon, these printable versions of your articles started sporting ads as well...
I make use of this "Printable hack" for another reason: so that I can read a long scrolling article rather than paging through. Who likes paging? It just interrupts your reading. Perhaps it is better for readers on slow links. |
|
I was introducing some friends to Get Your War On and noticed that a new page had been added since my last post on the topic. comment [] trackback [] 6:29:54 PM 
|
Last update: 11/2/04; 6:07:34 PM .
