Fallibility

Watching a Charlie Rose interview with George Soros about his book “The Age of Fallibility” , I heard something I have believed so strongly since my escape from fundamentalist religion, and that is that we are incapable of knowing reality and must always be in a constant state of listening to the world and humbly changing our minds in the face of new information. The opposite of this philosophy is arrogantly believing that one knows the way the world works (or should work), and actively resist information that is contradictory to your view, especially when it is negative for you. Over and over between the peace makers and the instigators of conflict this idea emerges.

The Sun

Every second four million tons of matter disapears from the Sun, converted into energy via fusion and E=mc^2 and radiated out as light. Only one part in two billion shines on the Earth and fuels plants and plants fuel us and the thoughts we have about the Sun and everything else. Surely it must be possible to tap this system and never worry about energy again.

Elections

As someone who lives and solves problems with computers everyday, every time I hear about political parties gearing up for the next election I am under whelmed. I hear things like get out the vote campaigns, fund raising for tv ads, political consultants that tailor a message to “the base” or “the center”, and hot-button issues that motivate people to vote. I am under whelmed by a politician who when asked a complex question repeats a laundry list of strategically and linguistically crafted talking points designed to influence someone with a uninterested and short attention span. I also see the other world behind the public image, where a candidate’s true constituency is glimpsed and it is never a nice picture. And it could all be so easy.

1. Vote online.
2. Maintain a Wikipedia style neutral public record on issues, politicians, voting records, scandals, and contributors.
3. Increase communication between politicians and the people they represent, through polls, and direct emails.
4. Connect people who know how to solve an issue with people who have the resources to solve it.

With voting taking 5 min from any computer, an informed electorate, and representatives held accountable to their constituents, all of the issue obscuring bag of tricks goes away.

Valvano's Three Rules of Software Development

I got these three rules from a class I had at the University of Texas. The professor was Jonathan W Valvano.

1. Choose reliability over more features.
   
2. Don't make excuses to a customer for what is broke. Make a plan of how to fix it.
3. Design for the future.

As a developer in a small startup, these three ideas have returned to significance.

Choices Present Past and Future

I stumbled on this very obvious yet profound idea. (copied from wikipedia)

Karma (Sanskrit: कर्म from the root kṛ, "to do", [meaning deed] meaning action, effect, destiny) means "(the result of) action", generally taken as a term that comprises the entire cycle of cause and effect. Karma is a sum of all that an individual has done, is currently doing and will do. Individuals go through certain processes and accompanying experiences throughout their lives which they have chosen, and those would be based on the results of their own creations: "karma". Karma is not about retribution, vengeance, punishment or reward. Karma simply deals with what is. The effects of all deeds actively create past, present and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy brought to others.

Failure And Success

I found this article on delicious popular. It hits a core idea that I would put at the top of the list of my life experience. Most peoples sense of what is possible and what is important is often wrong. Often it takes a traumatic event to pop the illusion and force someone to look at what is really there, what is really important. What emerges from that experience is a life that is a little wiser and in line with reality. The trick is to never pass by an opportunity to question what is real, what is important, or what is possible.

Cradle to Cradle

A good idea, instead of wasting resources recycling what we have, why not make things that recycle well.

Inovative Ways of Building a House

The other day I was thinking about cool ways to build a house. These are the ideas I came up with.

A shell house is a house where the outside is a dome or normal walls that keep out the weather. The interior walls and infrastructure has no structural function only what is needed for the people living in the house. The interior could be made of something as simple as paper or fabric.

A lego blocks house is build of mass produced slabs between 4 and 10 feet square. There are floor modules, wall modules roof modules, etc. with electrical and plumbing connections embedded in them. The modules would not be permanently joined and could be remodeled or moved with half a days work. The foundation could be something like the raised floor seen in computer rooms where floor slabs are placed into a frame on pillars.

A Local brick house is a house made of bricks that are fired either locally or at the build site. Dirt is dug up and melted into a glass or baked like brick either by a normal kiln or perhaps a large portable solar reflector.

The hot glue house is a variant of the local brick house except that instead of making discrete bricks the process produces a stream of molten glass. The stream is then laid down row after row like hot glue or toothpaste until a foundation, walls, or a dome is formed.

Newspapers and Government

"If I had to choose between a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I would choose newspapers without a government." - Thomas Jefferson

( Quote taken from THE MAKING OF A NATION #31 )

Why We Fight

For anyone who studies history and politics and is looking for insightful questions about the future of the US, its politics and the world, the documentary "Why We Fight" is required viewing. Watching it a second time with the background commentary from the director Eugene Jarecki Lawrence Wilkerson is also insightful. The wikipedia page for the film is filled with additional details.

Politics Internet Style

The mission statment of Wikia, the political portion of Wikipedia, rather exelently captures how I view politics.

Updated Programs

I have update my programs includeing screen images, descriptions, binaries, and source code. There are eleven programs in total. The updated page is here.