August 4, 2011
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Ha!
Ha!
Is this really happening? Can I actually post with Safari now and not with Firefox? My, how the xanga world has changed. I can't even sign in with Firefox. Screw it! Okay, the xanga world hasn't really changed, but we like to think it has. We like to think everything is getting better all the time. It gives us hope. False hope in most cases, but that's something to which we can cling in a world that seems to be spinning out of control. It makes us feel like we're evolving, getting better, smarter, more advanced. Or at least that we could. What are we getting--really? More complex. Complexity is not a sign of intelligence. Sadly, in most cases, complexity is a sign of obfuscation. Like a cuttlefish that hides itself in its own ink. A friend of mine is a programmer. He spends most of his time sorting out bugs that come from building programs on buggy programs rather than fixing the buggy programs. Why? We're stupid. By stupid I mean, dazed and unable to think clearly. We get so much invested in the program that we can't afford to start fresh, or so we think. Many years ago he worked for a company that had a monster program that kept getting bigger and bigger. They kept adding code on top of complex ill functioning code because they couldn't just write a new, fresh program. Their poor customers kept dropping off the grid as the program became less stable and more unusable with each improvement. Finally they had to bite the bullet and start fresh with a new program. Only when it became financially impossible to keep adding to the monster did they see that it was time to retreat, regroup and reinvent. The company is still in existence though I can't imagine why.
What the hell am I talking about? Look, cut me some slack. It's been a long time since I've posted much of anything here. I'm rambling. Why are you reading this? Maybe that's a better question. It's almost always ourselves that we look at because we're so busy fixing everyone else. I can't be fixed. I'm broken. Too broken to even throw myself out or give myself to AmVets or the Salvation Army. Why do we do that? Why do we take things that we know are broken beyond repair and give them to some organization that can't use them? Never mind. Who cares why? We're not going to stop doing it regardless of the answer. Answers aren't all they're cracked up to be. What's true today isn't necessarily true tomorrow. Like our favorite shoes when we were kids. We outgrew them and had to give them up. Okay, let's see if this posts. Yeah, that's right. You've been reading a test.
Comments (18)
OMG! It actually posted! Praise the Lawd!
i like reading your tests
@Smarticus - I like knowing that you still read and that you're still on the planet. I like knowing you.
Hey James! I agree about our Michelle. I love her. I wish I was half as cool and smart as she is. No fooling. Meanwhile, starting new. The thing with that is I do it but I pack up my same old shit and take it with me. When am I ever gonna learn? A rhetorical question. I have to answer that one myself. I am actually looking at that question and starting new. Maybe I will be new and improved this time. Or not. Hi James, nice to see you! (I am rambling too)
@queenie - Cassi! I feel your pain.
You said obfuscation. One of my favorite words is obfuscate. Sweet.
Good to see you again, James, even if it was just a test. 
I'm still reading because every time I read, or listen to you podcast, I go 'wow! I never knew that about me!' Something new to explore every time. Glad to see your post passed the test!
@warweasel - It's a good word. Glad you liked it. LOL!
@spinner_mom - You listen to podcasts!? I would have never guessed it. Not in a million years.
@James - LOL Yes I do. I am not a terribly electronical gadgety type person, and it took a few times of different kiddo's showing me how to get them on to my iTouch, but yes I listen and soak up all that you teach. Some days I feel like a horrible crummy person who can't escape my I's though. But I'm working on it.
@spinner_mom - I understand.
If this was a test I think I passed!
~thoughts through my rusty looking-glass~
@knightingale - I try to make the tests easy on everyone. LOL! Good to see you . . .
I started programming back when computers were all mainframes and the newest ones had no operating system at all until the user wrote one. Now tiny computers you can slip in your shirt pocket come with operating systems and apps, which are sort of like programs but not exactly. The browser wars of old died to a smolder but there is sometimes a nearly invisible puff of smoke or a few sparks. The browser I'm using at the moment is Camino, a simplified Firefox, but, depending on the machine I'm using at the moment, I also use Chrome, Safari and Opera, with a few others.
Right now, all things Apple are in an uproar because Lion is coming. Old systems have been modified to run more slowly so it will look like the new operating system actually runs faster. You'd think they would be happy with disrupting their OS-X for desktops and laptops but they've also mucked around with their iOS, the operating system for iPads and iThings. There have been several premature releases, updates that don't quite work, but these are usually followed by updates to fix "security" issues.
Having worked in software development, I know there is nothing logical about creating an operating system, program or app. Likewise, there is nothing rational or reasonable about the process. It usually starts with one person getting an idea. Management takes that initial idea, mangles it and forms a team of disinterested programmers to each write fragments of the new application. By this time, the person who first had the idea has become disgusted, leaves and writes the application on his own, selling it to competitors of his old company. This must be done quickly, so nobody tests anything to see if it works. Everything is rushed to market with glowing words of hyperbole that bear no resemblance to what the application really does and the customer does the testing. Once a market has been captured, assuming the application survives its initial introduction to the marketplace, then attempts to fix it will be made.
@WordJames - Yes, that's pretty much the way it works with everything. I can almost hear Liza Minnelli singing, Money, money, money, money!
Still have the lovely dog in your picture?
Yep I'm broken too, 71 yrs. old and un-repairable and only donation I can give is when I'm gone. If they can use any of it, fine. 
I've been on FF for some time and still post at xanga. I paid for Life, but I wish I had a vote on the crap they add for reasons unknown.
@BLB - Reasons unknown to us. They know why they do what they do. So do you really. Money. All the rest is a lie to divert our attention from the real reason.
Sounds like the 'sales' where they mark up everything by 50% so they can have a 25% off sale.
I just downloaded Chrome...it's not great but it's faster on most things than my IE was. But it only has one home page, so I use IE here and for my mails, and that for anything else.
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