Friday, October 16, 2009
New Directions
I've been neglecting this blog, but have decided to take it into a new direction. I've decided I want to become a full time writer. Now, I'd love to just quit my job, start writing, and sell book after book. However, with a homemaking wife, a baby daughter, and a mortgage, living on no money 'till I sell my first (unwritten) novel isn't an option.
So, this blog will document my struggles to find time, energy, and the inspiration to become an author. Who knows, you could be walking up to me at a book signing and say "I followed you, before you were famous. BTW, who are you again?"
Well, I'm me and this is going to be a bumpy, and probably fairly whiny ride.
'Till I blog again.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Part of your job should be to learn - Karl Seguin - CodeBetter.Com - Stuff you need to Code Better!
If you never learn you never get better. Even in a very fast paced company, developers should be given a week or two between projects to learn something new (if you feel your developers will slack off, make them tell you what they want to learn then give a brief (5-10 min) speech about it when he's done). It will improve your companies code standard and make you more money in the long run.
Part of your job should be to learn - Karl Seguin - CodeBetter.Com - Stuff you need to Code Better!
Part of your job should be to learn - Karl Seguin - CodeBetter.Com - Stuff you need to Code Better!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Ecology and Human Overpopulation
<Needs Revision>
Recently I was reading responses to an article in MotherEarth News that advocated reducing the number of children you have as the earth is becoming overpopulated and is close to being unable to sustain the sheer number of humans who live here.
Most of the responses were very, very negative towards the idea and the author. "...Please tell me which of my five children shouldn't have been born...." and other equally angry and hate filled responses were published ( and kudos to MotherEarth for publishing them) most stating that the respondent would "cancel my subscription".
I have one thing to say. How selfish are you? You think you can have all the kids you want and use all the resources you want and as long as you try to live "Green" it's ok?
Living sustainably it takes around 5 acres per person to live a modern western lifestyle. There is only around 12 million square miles of arable (farmable) land on earth and 7 billion people. Simple math says that (even allowing for smaller farm plots on less productive land) we are at or over the number of people the earth can sustain. Using just arable land, the earth can support 1,536,000,000 people ( 1.5 billion). We already support 5 times that.
Ok, Ok we aren't includes "victory gardens" and other small subsistence and hobby farms. So... Lets triple the amount of land available for growing food. Also lets say we are using the most environmentally destructive, High-Yield, farming techniques. That gives us 36 million square miles of land and only 2.5 acres per person needed to grow food. Using this new numbers we can support 9.2 billion people.
Hmm... 9.2 billion people using practices that only work about 20-50 years before the land is worthless or we're out of stuff to "enrich" the land so it still is arable. 9.2 billion just happens to be about the projected world population in 2050.
To answer one woman who asked "Which of my five children shouldn't have been born?". The answer is All of them. Because of a combination of the selfishness of people who think they have a right to all the resources they want, and the lack of infrastructure in 3rd world countries (where most of the growth is going to occur) instead of one or two children you have a lifetime of happiness for themselves and their children. She selfishly says her 5 children are too precious to her to give up. That's great enjoy watching your precious children starve. Or maybe she's just condemning some foreigner's extended family to starve while her's live in the lap of luxury using the cheap labor of under developed societies.
Recently I was reading responses to an article in MotherEarth News that advocated reducing the number of children you have as the earth is becoming overpopulated and is close to being unable to sustain the sheer number of humans who live here.
Most of the responses were very, very negative towards the idea and the author. "...Please tell me which of my five children shouldn't have been born...." and other equally angry and hate filled responses were published ( and kudos to MotherEarth for publishing them) most stating that the respondent would "cancel my subscription".
I have one thing to say. How selfish are you? You think you can have all the kids you want and use all the resources you want and as long as you try to live "Green" it's ok?
Living sustainably it takes around 5 acres per person to live a modern western lifestyle. There is only around 12 million square miles of arable (farmable) land on earth and 7 billion people. Simple math says that (even allowing for smaller farm plots on less productive land) we are at or over the number of people the earth can sustain. Using just arable land, the earth can support 1,536,000,000 people ( 1.5 billion). We already support 5 times that.
Ok, Ok we aren't includes "victory gardens" and other small subsistence and hobby farms. So... Lets triple the amount of land available for growing food. Also lets say we are using the most environmentally destructive, High-Yield, farming techniques. That gives us 36 million square miles of land and only 2.5 acres per person needed to grow food. Using this new numbers we can support 9.2 billion people.
Hmm... 9.2 billion people using practices that only work about 20-50 years before the land is worthless or we're out of stuff to "enrich" the land so it still is arable. 9.2 billion just happens to be about the projected world population in 2050.
To answer one woman who asked "Which of my five children shouldn't have been born?". The answer is All of them. Because of a combination of the selfishness of people who think they have a right to all the resources they want, and the lack of infrastructure in 3rd world countries (where most of the growth is going to occur) instead of one or two children you have a lifetime of happiness for themselves and their children. She selfishly says her 5 children are too precious to her to give up. That's great enjoy watching your precious children starve. Or maybe she's just condemning some foreigner's extended family to starve while her's live in the lap of luxury using the cheap labor of under developed societies.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Taking The Time for Software Design - CIO - Blogs and Discussion
I wish all managers understood this.
Taking The Time for Software Design - CIO - Blogs and Discussion
Taking The Time for Software Design - CIO - Blogs and Discussion
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
All's Quiet on the Home Front , again
A little over a week ago, we took the Marvelous Mad Madam M home.
Her visit was a very tumultuous one with a couple of visits to the hospital due to unidentified illness. Much stress was had by all.
Her visit was a very tumultuous one with a couple of visits to the hospital due to unidentified illness. Much stress was had by all.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
The Marvelous Mad Madam M.
H and I have a house guest coming to stay with us for awhile. She's one of our dearest friends. So for a bit the house will be occupied during the day. I just hope some king in training doesn't wonder by as she is an incarnation of her namesake. ;) Like in the stories by T.H. White she is a force unto herself, one with a past that haunts her and one that finds amusement and joy in unlikely places. But the thing she has most in common is that... Both our house guest and the character are highly magical tricksters.
So it should be interesting, if not fun ;)
But I still feel sorry for poor young Arthur. LOL.
So it should be interesting, if not fun ;)
But I still feel sorry for poor young Arthur. LOL.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
I'm behind in my reading
Follow for a long list of what I'm sure are wonderfully stories by some really fantastic authors.
Locus Online News: 2008 Hugo and Campbell Winners
Most of which I've never heard of and most of which I've never read.
Busy, busy working. grrrrrrr.
Locus Online News: 2008 Hugo and Campbell Winners
Most of which I've never heard of and most of which I've never read.
Busy, busy working. grrrrrrr.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Antoine de Saint-Exupery Quotes
Antoine de Saint-Exupery Quotes
Really interesting quotes. I'll have to work some of them into my stories or at least paraphrases.
Really interesting quotes. I'll have to work some of them into my stories or at least paraphrases.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)