Recent Readings 30th of October, 2023 (#1)

In an effort to read, learn, and share like I used to I'm going to start blogging a reading list. This is inspired by one of my skip level (multi times removed) manager's own almost daily reading list. I'd love to say I'm going to do this even weekly, but now I know I've got ADHD and keep my interests and activities diverse. Thus, I've named it Recent Readings.

Most of the articles in Recent Readings will be tech & software development related, and all of this list's are. But remember, I did I keep my interests diverse and some of those may slip in as well. It's always good to keep ourselves well rounded. So, here are some recent articles that I have read.

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• Thoughts on techno-optimism - It's easy in today's day and age to be either jaded by what tech will do with our future, or caught up in the hype of it. This article looks at some different ways you might look at our techno-future with a positive lens. I found myself to be mostly active-normative with a bit of passive-positive.
• AI Is Becoming a Band-Aid over Bad, Broken Tech Industry Design Choices - Right now the AI hype is loud. It has actually been behind the scenes for a while too. When something becomes the new hotness in tech it often falls into the, "My only tool is a hammer so everything looks like a nail" problem. This article goes into some places, especially UX, where this is the case. Yes, AI is powerful, but maybe we can improve our design to improve experiences.
• 8 ways we're making daily tasks more accessible - I'm intensely interested in user experience(UX), and fascinated by the ways accessibility(a11y) affects everyone's life. This goes over some of the latest ways Google Maps, Search, and Chrome are improving all our experiences by making things more accessible.
• Interviews in the Age of AI: Ditch Leetcode - Try Code Reviews Instead - I saw this article the day after I had to be the interviewer for a candidate. I'm not really a fan of the way interviews go because I want everyone to succeed, or at least show their best more clearly. This is an alternative I had never thought of before, but it does represent more of a software engineer's workday than leetcoding. Also, it allows for more of a conversation where you can hear how the candidate thinks. Speaking of which, have a read and let me know what you think.
• How the microservice vs. monolith debate became meaningless - The world of tech is filled with little squabbles between the best language, framework, methodologies, and more. It can be really difficult to parse all of it to find a best practice. So, which is better, using microservices or all your code as a monolith? Read on to see how the debate has evolved.
• MMO Architecture: client connections, sockets, threads and connection-oriented servers - As someone who has worked in the games industry (never on a true MMO) and played many MMOs, this was a fun read for just seeing the way problems were solved when the obvious solutions didn't quite work as well after first glance.
• Top 3 SWE Skills I Picked Up On The Job - As someone who has been in tech since 2005, I do the math and am surprised how long I've been working in the field. Many days my impostor syndrome makes me feel as if I'm still a novice. Articles like this are a good way to both solidify what I have learned and help me find words for when I mentor others.

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Thanks for checking out my first set of Recent Readings. Please, let me know if these articles gave you any interesting thoughts. Or, perhaps, you've written something yourself that I might find worth reading.

Friday Humor with Irony

Irony is a word that is misused a lot. Ever since the movie Reality Bites, which had a scene specifically about the definition of irony, I've made a point to be clear what is and isn't irony. This gets me in trouble with people, especially those who like Alanis Morrisette and the song "Ironic", which unfortunately talks about a lot of things that are not ironic. In that way the song is actually ironic. It happened again this morning, I started pestering somebody about their incorrect use of the word irony and they used the song as proof that they were correct. Thankfully, comedy came to the rescue. ...

Originally posted by Inigo Montoya:

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

A friend showed me this video shortly after the incident this morning.

FSI Navigator Alpha 2 released

I have released the alpha 2 version of my FSI Navigator AIR Application. The only new feature is that it uses the AIR Update Framework to check for an update once a day. At this point the updates are automatic only, with no way to manually update. Manual update checks will be available before the 1.0 release.

It is recommended that all current users update to this version so that they can keep up with the latest news in the pre-release process.

Also, don't forget to report bugs and request features at my issue tracking site:
http://www.ducharme.cc/mantis/

FSI Navigator news update

To make it easier to install, I've added an install badge to my previous post and I am adding one here.

I have also set up the project in my issue tracking system. If people would like to give constructive feedback and help the development of the FSI Navigator project that is the place to go.

Language Lessons 2 - My first decent AIR app

A while ago I wrote a blog post titled "Language Lessons." It was a post designed to showcase some of the 'cheap as free'™ ways to study a language. One of those ways was fsi-language-courses.com, a website dedicated to making the public domain FSI language courses freely available in an electronic format. While it is a great resource, the site isn't extremely usable. Adobe Integrated Runtime(AIR) to the rescue. ...

For all my talk of being a Flash/Flex expert ( Flexpert? ), I have yet to make a decent AIR app. Sure I've made a couple of tools to help me out with some minor tasks( get map lat/lon coordinates, creating a tool to help me learn degrafa ) but nothing very usable for anybody else ( or exciting to make ).

With all that in mind it is with great excitement that I announce my first alpha release of th AIR FSI Navigator. This tool allows you to navigate their different language programs and view the pdfs while you listen to the accompanying audio ( if they are available of course ). As with most alpha software, this has a long way to go before it is considered released ( and I will most likely release it as open source long before that ), but you might find it useful.

FSI_Navigator.air
This application requires Adobe AIR 1.1 be installed on your computer. If it is not you can download it from the Adobe website.UPDATE: It is easier to just use the install badge at the bottom of this post.

Known Issues ( not an exhaustive list )

• Certain courses do not work. Especially if the course contents are located in a zip file.
• PDFs take a while to load and there is no download notification. Be patient, if you have Adobe Acrobat 8.1 and the screen is black,it just means the PDF is loading ( some of them are quite large ).
• Closing the MP3 Playback window shade and then reopening it decreases its height.
• Downloads are not saved to your hard drive for offline work. This feature is planned for the future, in fact it will be the default so that files don't have to be downloaded from the server every time.
• Volume thumb bar isn't visible when the program starts. Just click on the volume adjustment area and it will show up.

Update: I thought I'd do a quick attempt to add an install badge for this:

Statements, Requests and Commands

Being a parent is a learning experience. A common theme while parenting is teaching your kids to be better communicators. In trying to teach my kids I am often forced to learn and re-learn concepts until I find the best way to explain something to them. Recently I had an educational encounter with my 4 year when I was trying to get him to ask for something, while I was at it I threw in a politeness lesson as well. :) ...

You may have seen this yourselves - someone says, "I want something" but you would prefer they say, "Could you get me something. Either of those statements is preferrable to, "Give me something." So why does one make more you want to act more than the other? Is it politeness?

A simple politeness test would be to add the word please to each sentence. For a litte clarity let's make the word something a tangible object.

1. I want some chips please.
2. Could you get me some chips please?
3. Get me some chips please.

I don't know about you but the first and third sentences do not make much sense. The word please has been shortened over the long years of language evolution from if you please. In french, s'il vous plait is often translated as just please but it really is closer to if you please. For examination purposes let's see those sentences again in long form( and moved around a little ).

1. If you please, I want some chips.
2. If you please, would you get me some chips?
3. If you please, get me some chips.

I think that translation makes it a little clearer, the word please does not make one sentence clearer than another. Sentence one is a statement. Sentence two is a request. Sentence three is a command.

A statement just lets you know some data. When my son says I want some chips he has given me some data. I could use that data and get him some chips but no request was made so I'm not clear he would like me to take any action.

A request is a question. As with all non-rhetorical questions it is looking for a response of some kind. If my son makes a request for me to get him some chips I can respond by getting chips, telling him to wait for a moment and I will get them, telling him no( because they are junk food ) or a plethora of other responses. In this situation he has allowed me the opportunity to choose a response.

If my son tells me to get him chips he is making a command. A command is interesting because it is a statement of what you need to do or face the consequences. So it still puts the ball in the other person's court, similar to a request, but it is expecting a certain response. This doesn't work well for my son because the only consequence is him being angry with me for a few minutes( if that ).

Keeping a long story long, or rather getting back to a short story, I made these distinctions for my son. He seemed to get it. The first thing he said to me this morning was, "Daddy, will you please get me some pineapple?"

Flexcoders @ my.opera

I just created a Flexcoders group for my.opera. I figure there are a lot of programmer type people in this community who may at least be interested in the technology and this could be a good place to look for answers in the community. It's my first group though so please be patient as I learn the ropes. For those of you who don't know what Flex is, you can either read some of my posts on the subject or go to Adobe's website. The group will be their to focus on anything in the Flex framework ecosystem, much of which is still in development.

Citation Du Jour

This quote of the day is in French so the post title is apropos( pun intended ).

Originally posted by François-Marie Arouet, dit VOLTAIRE, Le Sottisier, Pensées détachées:

Quand on ne voyage qu'en passant, on prend les abus pour les lois du pays.

... The english translation: When one travels only in passing, one takes abuses for the country's laws.

It is important to travel in order to experience different cultures. By seeing differences in culture we can see that it is possible to handle things differently. Whether it be getting rid of traditions, gaining new ones, just another way of passing the time or learning that life ain't that bad - other cultures have a lot to teach us about living life.

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This quote of the day was pulled from the quote of the day for Jeudi, Janvier 31 2008 at french.about.com

Green Debate Update

Last week I wrote about Sunday's Green Party debate hosted by the Alameda County Greens. Well the debate happened yesterday and here is the update from their site: ...

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!

It was a brilliant event! 800 attendees, nearly a full house, in one of the nicest venues in San Francisco, the historic Herbst. All the candidates appeared at their best, and were exceptional on stage. All great spokespersons, and fine examples of the Green movement. The Great Green Debate made the local TV news and newspapers, and will be shown in part on Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now this coming week. Thanks to Mike Feinstein’s crew, it will soon (in one or two days) be available in documentary format on YouTube. And KPFA radio’s full 3-hour taping of the event, with Green MC Aimee Allison and political analyst Larry Bensky will air Tuesday night, 7 pm (Pacific Time), on 94.1 FM in the Bay Area, and live streaming for the world online at www.kpfa.org . Listen in and see for yourself what the Green Party can look like, in the proper setting. Superb!

First round of photos can be seen at www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/01/13/18472234.php

We hope to have a full audio track available on this site by Monday evening, for those who want a downloadable file for rebroadcast. Stay tuned... we are just getting started!

Once the audio file and youTube documentary are available I will make sure to post them here.

What's a caucus?

For a long time we heard about the Iowa caucuses and how important it is to the election. However, I just thought it was another type of election in a booth. Well it's not and I found out more by reading some of the comments on the Bill Richardson for President Iowa Caucuses open thread. In the comments there is a great post titled "From Precinct 1, Boone County Iowa" that describes the process quite well. It sounds very exciting to be a part of that! ...

Here is a taste of the post that really explains how a caucus works. Make sure to check out the actual post.

We quickly got organized, did a head count, and had 39 supporters. WOW! A viable group that would take 2 of the 10 delegates from our precinct.

Now comes the fun part. There are 20 for Biden, 8 for Dodd, 4 for Kucinich and a hand full of undecideds. It's time to get to work.

This is sooooo what a democracy is all about. Thoughtful participation by citizens taking time to have their voice heard. A caucus requires much more time and effort than a primary or general election. You have to want to be involved and committed.