The power of introverts

I just finished reading Quiet, by Susan Cain. It is by far the best book I have read in a very long time. I can relate completely to her description of extroversion being prized by society, and quietness being condemned.  I have lived with such condemnation my entire life. I have even sought medical treatment to be "cured" of the affliction. This book made me aware that I am not alone in this. It has also given me a new perspective on my place and value in society.
 
This is worth sharing:

In a culture where being social and outgoing are prized above all else, it can be difficult, even shameful, to be an introvert. But, as Susan Cain argues in this passionate talk, introverts bring extraordinary talents and abilities to the world, and should be encouraged and celebrated.

I am very thankful to have finally found employment in an organization that has other people like me, and values my contribution and strengths rather than coercing me to be something I am not.  If only other groups of people in my life could be as understanding.

Quotes from James Dyson

I recently read an interview with Sir James Dyson. There were two quotes from him in it that really struck a chord with me.

"I don't care how long things take. Failure is to be celebrated - that is how we learn ... We invest in and rejoice in failure, and we stick at it. I learned from each of my mistakes. That's how I came up with a solution."

Many people think I am a perfectionist, but I don't see myself that way. Things must be as good as possible - but that doesn't require perfection at stage one. This quote states my thoughts about software development and programming very well:

"'Perfect' is in fact the completely wrong word to use. You start with a goal and you make the best possible version you can make at that moment. You give the customer the best available at that moment, and then you set another goal and start working on it again." 

He may invent and engineer vacuums and other mechanical devices, but his words make good sense for software architecture as well.

Avian neighbors

I was able to telecommute today. The weather was perfect and the birds were active. I kept the window open and enjoyed the fresh air and bird songs drifting in.

I kept my camera by my computer and got a few photos of my avian neighbors on the feeder outside my window and in the tree.

Opinions

Thought for the day: "Opinions have caused more ills than the plague or earthquakes on this little globe of ours." - François-Marie Arouet de Voltaire, 1694 – 1778.

How true.  One of the things I enjoy about writing software is that it involves solely logic and math, in a highly creative manner.

The effectiveness of a UI is certainly subject to opinion, and the methodology used in coding could be debated as well. However, the inner workings of a program are immune to such problems. It either works, or it doesn't.

My work, in a way, is an escape from the pressures of society, in which ignorant prejudices frequently trump reality.

The waste of free time

I am currently reading Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. It is very interesting - many things I have never thought of, along with many things that make me say "of course!"

Page 162 contains the most concise and clear conveyance of my views that I have ever seen. In part: "The tremendous leisure industry that has arisen in the last few generations has been designed to help fill free time with enjoyable experiences... instead of using our physical and mental resources to experience flow, most of us spend many hours each week watching celebrated athletes playing in enormous stadiums. Instead of making music, we listen to platinum records cut by millionaire musicians...This vicarious participation is able to mask, at least temporarily, the underlying emptiness of wasted time. But it is a very pale substitute for attention invested in real challenges...The energy that could be used to focus on complex goals, to provide for enjoyable growth, is squandered on patterns of stimulation that only mimic reality...Mass leisure, mass culture... are parasites of the mind. ... Their purpose is to make money for someone else. If we allow them to, they can suck out the marrow of our lives, leaving only feeble husks... 'The future,' wrote C.K. Brightbill, 'will belong not only to the educated man, but to the man who is educated to use his leisure wisely'."

Thank you, Dr. Csikszentmihalyi.

As I reach the years of my upper thirties, I am increasingly needing to find ways to understand myself better. It is very helpful to find expressions of others who have already been in the place I find myself now.

Back to something more challenging than typing a blog post...

Thought for the day: Craftsmanship

It has always been important to me to try to get my projects' source code to be as organized and perfectly laid out as the visible user interface. Why? Partly because it makes future maintenance and upgrades easier, but there's also something to be said for pride of craftsmanship. Even though virtually no one is going to view the source of the websites and apps I design, there is value to me in knowing every part of the project is done as clean and artful as possible.

This concept was highlighted by a quote I read by Steve Jobs' biographer Walter Isaacson:

"One of the most important things he taught Steve was [that] it's important to be a great craftsman, even for the parts unseen. When they were building a fence, he said, 'You have to make the back of the fence that people won't see look just as beautiful as the front, just like a great carpenter would make the back of a chest of drawers ... Even though others won't see it, you will know it's there, and that will make you more proud of your design.'"

( source )

Now that I am using the Eclipse IDE for my work, I expect that making beautiful source code will be easier than ever.

The day's work awaits... Today I will return to working on a GIS UI in JavaScript and PHP, with jQuery and the Google Maps API.

Spring

Pet peeve: Wasteful packaging

Why is it so many companies use huge boxes to display and ship tiny products? Such wastefulness has bothered me for a long time. Recently, I received an order that was just so ridiculous I had to share.

I ordered a tiny HDMI adapter from a popular online store.  A few days later, I received a large box. I was confused at first, since I knew I hadn't ordered anything so large.  Then I opened the box:

Crazy, eh?

Cereal

Since this is supposed to be a more or less random collection of miscellaneous things, along with being a reference for my own later use, here is a recipe for cereal. I have given up on finding a high protein, low sugar, low fat commercially made cereal.  I just want a simple breakfast that doesn't leave me hungry 3 hours before lunch.

I don't know if it would be considered a granola or muesli, but here it is, based loosely on my Mom's recipe from when I was a kid.

6 cups old fashioned oats
2 cups sliced raw almonds
3 Tbsp flax meal
1/4 cup quinoa
1/4 cup millet
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup soy protein
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup grape oil
1 cup honey
sprinkle of vanilla extract
dash salt
2 tsp cinnamon

Mix everything together, bake at 400 degrees, turning every 5 minutes, until browned.

Add:
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup raisins

and stir them in while the previous ingredients are still very hot. I learned a long time ago not to put the fruit in before baking unless you like the taste of charcoal.