Earth, Inc.
December 22nd, 2006 Filed Under books
Stumble it!Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
December 10th, 2006 Filed Under books
Dawn by Octavia Butler
December 5th, 2006 Filed Under books
wanted: software apprentice
November 23rd, 2006 Filed Under projects
Experienced software developer seeks a motivated apprentice to mentor
We will develop an open-source medium-size 6-month project together, discussing issues of design, debugging, efficiency, code style, and the development process.
You will be the project’s primary volition, contributor, and manager. I will give you advice and direction, and help when necessary. We will interact primarily via email and chat, sometimes in person if you live in Seattle. You can expect sharp code reviews and keen advice from a battle-scarred veteran.
You should be fluent with the gnu toolset in a unix/linux environment, and want to develop a program in C/C++ [possibly python targeted for the web]. You should have already developed a small program that you are prepared to submit for inspection and review.
Preference given to candidates with interest in:
- software development organization and process
- computer languages
- educational games (especially science/biology/chemistry)
- multi-user networked servers
This is not a paid position, but if you demonstrate professional skills, you will have a great professional reference and many job opportunities.
[If you know how to use screen or vi or emacs, you know enough unix. If you've ever written a non-trivial program of your own volition and gotten it to work, you're probably a good enough programmer. If you seriously want to take your software fu to the next level, one email could begin the relationship of a lifetime.]
saul
saulpwanson@gmail.com
on ‘hurt’
November 22nd, 2006 Filed Under saulism
Our culture confuses and blends together the distinct elements of ‘hurt’: harm, pain, and suffering.
“He hurt Janet” can have several different meanings:
“He harmed Janet.”
‘Harm’ means damage, whether physical or psychological. Janet may not be able to function normally until the damage is healed.
“He caused Janet pain.”
‘Pain’ is simply a sensation, like hot or wet. Pain often means that harm is close to follow, or has already passed; but also often, pain is a side effect of [positive] change, like growth. Janet might even seek pain for [sexual] pleasure.
“He caused Janet much suffering.”
‘Suffering’ is the result of cognitive distress or dissonance. Suffering comes from attachment, which is inevitable, and in a civilized society is almost always the sufferer’s own. Janet may have manufactured a million little desires which repeatedly went unfulfilled, or maybe she was born with two opposing attachments that she pursued with equal fervor.
Janet unfortunately may not be able to avoid harm; she may even desire pain. But she should know that her suffering comes from within herself alone. She should not struggle to avoid suffering, but to cultivate an awareness of its inevitability and a comfort in its validation of her existence.
“The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.” — Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
