It’s been a couple weeks since I last posted so I thought I’d take a few minutes and do a brain dump. Lots of ups and downs, but I’ll try to focus mainly on the ups.
My Southpark character (create yours):
me on the weekends
Poker: Just when you think you’re starting to get a grasp of the game, you learn hard lessons. That’s the beauty of it. I played in a small tournament (3 tables) on Saturday. I really think I played very well for a couple hours. I had the chip lead and was at the final table when a couple of mistakes left me exiting in 5th place. Both involved acting too quickly. In the first mistake hand everyone had folded to me. I was on the button with A9s. I announced I was going to raise. As soon as I did that I noticed a subtle excited movement from the guy next to me in the small blind. He moved forward a bit with his body and hands. At that point I should have slowed down. I already announced the raise, so I had to raise..but I could have raised the minimum. Instead I made a quick large raise. He went all-in and at that point I had to call because I got more than the right pot odds. He turns over rockets and of course they held up.
The second and fatal mistake was a hand in which I held A2o against QTs. There wasn’t much betting and by the river I held a straight. But the board had higher straight possibilities and a flush possibility. I checked the river and really just wanted to turn over the cards. He went into the think tank. He started a bit of table talk, saying “Hmm…how can I get some more money out of you.” He thought a bit longer and then went all in. I didn’t really know the guy and I guess I underestimated him and figured he was trying to appear strong and the all-in bet seemed strange if he was trying to get more money out of me. But I guess that’s the point. He sold me that he was bluffing. I made a nearly instantaneous call and he turned over the flush. He had me covered and I got 5th place. In both cases if I had slowed down and pondered all the variables, I would have been much more likely to make the correct play. So that is my poker advice for today: take your time before making a decision..
Making Gnome fun again: I’ll just add one thing to the discussion that started with Edd’s insights. If we want to make Gnome fun for developers, make it easier and more accessible to them. Most developers do not want to code in C anymore. They don’t want to have to read code or search the web for some tutorial which may be out of date in order to figure out how to do a task. They want lots of working example code, and an easy to use GUI designer. So we have a good number of language bindings. But in many cases the documentation absolutely sucks and a developer has to resort to asking on IRC or searching on google for some tutorial or example. From a technical standpoint I think python, java-gnome, and the like can provide that platform. But I think the Mono developers really understand this problem and know how to make development fun again. Their documentation is full of example code snippits and in many, many cases is far better than the C-api equivalent. I read the Mono documentation and can actually understand what the classes do and how to use them. The mono documentation browser allows you edit the docs and contribute your changes through a web service. This really encourages involvement. Also stetic and MonoDevelop look very promising. I told Miguel once that using Mono for a short time to develop some applications made me feel unbelievably productive. I could focus more on the fun things and less on the boring.
Truth: I think one of the greatest tragedies of our time is the death of Truth and Logic. People don’t seem to care what’s true anymore, or perhaps they don’t believe in absolute truth. People tend to start with the assumptions of their particular worldview whether it be Atheism, Christianity, New Age, etc. and then everything they see in the world is viewed through those particular tinted glasses. The internet is replete with ignorant ad hominem attacks. And in the past couple of years this has become more and more political in nature. As someone who considers myself constantly searching for Truth, this is disheartening. I got to thinking about this again when I heard a segment on NPR’s This I believe. in which Academy award-winning documentary filmmaker Errol Morris writes about Truth.
There is such a thing as truth, but we often have a vested interest in ignoring it or outright denying it. Also, it’s not just thinking something that makes it true. Truth is not relative. It’s not subjective. It may be elusive or hidden. People may wish to disregard it. But there is such a thing as truth and the pursuit of truth: trying to figure out what has really happened, trying to figure out how things really are.
If you have a moment to spare, listen or read the rest of There is Such a Thing as Truth. It’s important.
Kentucky Derby: I’ll be in Louisville this weekend for the Kentucky Derby. Come out and have a Mint Julep with me.
Tags: Personal
May 4th, 2005 at 2:18 pm
About your comment on truth.
The problem i see most around me is that people can’t express themselves correctly anymore. They no longer say what they mean, but they say something that kinda looks like it.
Nor do they really listen to the answers, they simply assume that you meant something, or will not accept what you are saying.
For instance, as a application designer i often get the question to my head “Have you tested it yet?”.
Now i know that he means. “Are there any bugs in the program?”
How do i know what he means? Well simple, by finding out that if i answer yes, to that question, i get yelled at if there are still bugs in.
Now this is quite a harmless example, yet what would happen if for instance a jury member in a courtroom would not get the difference between.
“Did you kill him?” or “Did your actions result in his death?”
While we start communicating more and more with one another, it also seems that people in general are starting to lose there grasp on how to communicate, which in my opinion is rather strange.
May 4th, 2005 at 4:13 pm
Yes, but this failure to communicate derives mainly from a failure to think things through logically, whether because of an inability to do so or a lack of patience. People say inconsistent and contradictory things and things which, when carried to their logical conclusion, are absurd or rife with problems. I think this tendency is proliferated on the internet because it is a medium of brevity and speed and one where there are no guidelines (nor auditions) for the propogation of ideas.
May 4th, 2005 at 7:14 pm
I will be at the Derby too!
May 5th, 2005 at 2:02 am
Princess: Be sure to give me a call when you get into Louisville
Erik: I feel your pain as another application designer. I think people often talk past each other, not really listening…just hearing.
Anonymous: True, true…and the anonymity and impersonal nature of the internet makes it even easier to speak more with your emotions rather than your head. Present company excluded, of course…
May 5th, 2005 at 6:54 am
That is definitely you on the weekends! lol
May 6th, 2005 at 8:54 am
Have fun at the Derby. Make sure you say hi to Jessica Simpson and her retarded husband for me;)
May 6th, 2005 at 9:41 am
D&C 93:24 And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come;