That last post got me thinking a bit, and some reading I did today kind of brought the point home.

Should a writer be bound by ethical constraints?

The libertarian part of me says no.  I’m decidedly against censorship.

At the same time, I do believe in acting responsibly.  Maybe exerting a bit of self censorship.  But probably not in ways that most people think of when they think of ethical constraints. Writing about sex, violence, etc.?  No problem.  Those things are a part of the world we live in.  Reflecting them in art should be natural.

My problem comes about with authors who distort the truth, to intentionally incur a belief in something they know, or should know, is pure codswallop. Read the rest of this entry »

One Post a Day | No Comments »

Ok, so that’s a poor start.  Two posts, then I miss two days.  I’ll try and make up for it by having something a bit meatier.

When I told my wife I was planning on doing this, writing a post a day, the first thing she wanted to know was “what are you going to write about?”

And it’s a fair enough question. I’m afraid my answer wasn’t all that satisfying.  “Oh, just anything that comes to mind, really.  Doesn’t have to be too deep, or on any particular topic.  It doesn’t even have to be that long.  I just want to get something down every day.”

“So, you’re just going to dump more crap on the web for no good reason?”

Ouch. Read the rest of this entry »

One Post a Day | No Comments »

Ok, so in a way, it’s not really a “Day-cation” because I’ve been on holiday all week.  But in a way, it is, because we took today to do a nice little day trip out to Banff.

And it was great.

The mountains are beautiful this time of year.  Driving out of the city and into the foothills, the mountain peaks really stand out against the background, because the snow pack has crept down to cover everything above the tree line.  The tree line itself, mostly evergreens, provides a stark lower boundary.  It was slightly overcast today, so the white, craggy peaks stood out in relief against the roiling grey of the clouds.

Another benefit is that because it’s mid week, and off season, the crowds were low, and we got to stroll through the town in a way that just felt more leisurely.  I always feel more hurried in crowds, and I suspect many other people do as well.

Fall is about the only “off-season” in Banff.  Winter through early spring, it’s over-run with skiers.  Mid to late spring and all through the summer, it’s over-run with back-packers, tourists, day trippers (like me!).

Anyway, it was a nice day, and I’m glad we did it.

One Post a Day, Pointless Posts | No Comments »

Ok, how hard could it be?

Post something, anything, at least once a day.  It doesn’t have to be long, or thoughtful, or important.  Just dump at least one idea a day in here.

Really, it shouldn’t be hard.  It should just take some discipline.

Realistically, I have at least one thought per day I wouldn’t mind sharing with the world.  Yes, that would be a thought that I’d be allowed to use my “outside voice” for.

And my thought for the day?  Well, you just saw it.

Pointless Posts | No Comments »

Subtitle:  The heavyweights are scrapping over this, and the little guy is bound to get crushed.

This is one of those arguments that has been going on in tech/policy circles for years, and because it’s just ever so slightly esoteric, the mass media hasn’t really picked up on it.  And that’s a shame, because it affects Joe Average more than he realizes.  In fact, Joe Average is the guy who’s most likely going to end up having to foot the bill, and it will affect how he’s able to access content on the Internet.

So What Is Net Neutrality Anyway? Read the rest of this entry »

Online Culture, Rants | No Comments »

Subtitle: New Stress, but Good Stress

Well, just started my new job yesterday, and man, talk about jumping on a learning curve.  Surprisingly, this doesn’t bother me too much.  I’m playing with some pretty hardcore gear, and isn’t that what it’s all about?

Let’s put it this way:

If you’re a pilot, you probably want to fly fighter jets or the big airliners.  Something fast, or something big and serious.

If you’re a crane operator, you probably want to work the big Sky Cranes.

If you’re like me, and a geek, you want to work with the high end hardware, doing interesting things with cutting edge software and code tools.

It’s not about the pay, really, it’s about the challenge.

I got lucky.  I get to play with some really cool, high end hardware, and do some really interesting stuff with it.  Sure, I may be in a bit over my head right now, but from talking to the people around here, they all felt that way when they started.  The general impression I get is that it takes months to really get the swing of the toolset here.

And I’m ok with that.

At least I won’t get bored with it anytime soon.

Thinking About My Work | No Comments »

Subtitle: IT’S A FREAKIN’ 7 FOOT ROCKET!!  AND IT’S MINE!!!!!

Pretty much all you need to know about this is in the title.  Well, and that after cramming an E class motor into it, I managed to get a 900 foot vertical flight out of the thing.  I wish I had video, but my wife was in charge of the camera that day, and well….  Let’s just say no video and leave it at that.

Here’s the pic:

The Road to Armageddon | 1 Comment »

I have really mixed emotions about being hacked this afternoon.

On one hand, it kinda made me proud, in a perverse sort of way.  Sure, it was my own damn fault for not keeping the backend up to date, which is indicative of my “maintenance laziness.”  You can ask my wife about that.  Give me something to build, or a good problem to gnaw on, and I’m happy as a clam.  But to maintain something, day to day, that bores the bejeezers out of me. Read the rest of this entry »

Online Culture, Rants | No Comments »

Yah…  My own damn fault, as I haven’t been updating the backend software.

Fortunately, I was smart enough to backup the database on a regular basis, so nothing really lost.

I’ll get a new theme up and running to “celebrate” the upgrade to the newer, more secure backend.

Oh, and I’ll get the video plugin working again too.  There’s probably a pile of hacks and tweaks I’d forgotten I’d made, so it might take a bit to get things “up to snuff” so to speak.

Humour, Pointless Posts, Rants | No Comments »

Subtitle: Durn Proud to be Canuck

Ok, I actually mounted the flag Saturday.  It’ll stay up until Labour Day.   Same drill every year: Flag goes up the weekend before Canada Day, and comes down on Labour Day. Read the rest of this entry »

Pointless Posts | No Comments »