Excellent!

This posting was so good, I had to copy it here.

Scooping the Loop Snooper

an elementary proof of the undecidability of the halting problem

Geoffrey K. Pullum, University of Edinburgh

No program can say what another will do.
Now, I won’t just assert that, I’ll prove it to you:
I will prove that although you might work til you drop,
you can’t predict whether a program will stop.

Imagine we have a procedure called P
that will snoop in the source code of programs to see
there aren’t infinite loops that go round and around;
and P prints the word “Fine!” if no looping is found.

You feed in your code, and the input it needs,
and then P takes them both and it studies and reads
and computes whether things will all end as they should
(as opposed to going loopy the way that they could).

Well, the truth is that P cannot possibly be,
because if you wrote it and gave it to me,
I could use it to set up a logical bind
that would shatter your reason and scramble your mind.

Here’s the trick I would use – and it’s simple to do.
I’d define a procedure – we’ll name the thing Q -
that would take any program and call P (of course!)
to tell if it looped, by reading the source;

And if so, Q would simply print “Loop!” and then stop;
but if no, Q would go right back to the top,
and start off again, looping endlessly back,
til the universe dies and is frozen and black.

And this program called Q wouldn’t stay on the shelf;
I would run it, and (fiendishly) feed it itself.
What behaviour results when I do this with Q?
When it reads its own source, just what will it do?

If P warns of loops, Q will print “Loop!” and quit;
yet P is supposed to speak truly of it.
So if Q’s going to quit, then P should say, “Fine!” -
which will make Q go back to its very first line!

No matter what P would have done, Q will scoop it:
Q uses P’s output to make P look stupid.
If P gets things right then it lies in its tooth;
and if it speaks falsely, it’s telling the truth!

I’ve created a paradox, neat as can be -
and simply by using your putative P.
When you assumed P you stepped into a snare;
Your assumptions have led you right into my lair.

So, how to escape from this logical mess?
I don’t have to tell you; I’m sure you can guess.
By reductio, there cannot possibly be
a procedure that acts like the mythical P.

You can never discover mechanical means
for predicting the acts of computing machines.
It’s something that cannot be done. So we users
must find our own bugs; our computers are losers!

It's been...

... a wide spectrum of experiences. I didn't want to just say "fun" because it hasn't always been fun. But then again, it is work, so fun is an added bonus. The company I have been with for the last 8 years (plus a few more as a co-op student) is closing down. I've been trying to think of some words of wisdom, summaries, histories etc. but I don't think the time is right for that just yet. Instead, I found something in this article that nicely illustrated what I enjoyed about "the old days" at work.

The article is an ACM Queue interview with one of the original designers of the ARM chip, Steve Furber. During a description about why the original ARM chip was so small, power efficient and cheap, Mr. Furber commented that:

This is good management retrospective: by depriving us of resources of any sort, they forced us to make decisions in favor of simplicity. -- Steve Furber

There were many parallels to BBC Micro and my old company - both were small, had limited resources and was an outside player in a potentially large market. In those earlier days, trying to do the impossible seemed like the only way to survive, so we went for it. They were exciting times and it worked - for a while. The later down hill slide is where my old organization and BBC Micro differed. I believe the small size and lack of resources resulted in steps forward that could not be duplicated by the company we became.

Untitled

Wow - I was reflecting on the day trying to come up with something interesting, and I really don't have much that is worth discussing. Even vastly one-sided discussion generated entirely by me. I had to start writing though, so I tried to focus on this, but I'm tired. I'm really glad I didn't try and start playing on the PS3 'cause that would have been a giant time-suck.

I really thought I'd be able to get some stuff done on the wired home network, but no dice. I enjoyed hanging out too much. Then I was tired. And here I am. Guess this means I should pack things up and go to sleep, so I will.

Weird...

I'm really wondering what I'm doing in an "online" sense now. I have a blog, a twitter account, email, web and *nix powers, but what I have I done with them. More importantly what should I do with them? Rhetorical for the blog of course because here I am...

The most prolific blogger I know (in real life) tends to write about what he was doing in a day, things he's done or will do, thoughts on this or that. Same with most Twitter postings I've bothered to look at. First I'll admit that I haven't tried to read many tweets, but I use Slashdot like Twitter in a sense. But what I am doing? Other than practicing my rhetorical questions? When I try and start a rhythm going with daily posts I tend to write about meta issues, a sort of Sienfeld of blog posts, a blog about thoughts about blogs, endless self referential loops that eventually just peter out. Kind of like modern culture. Huh - talked myself into the mainstream. I'm the everyman, talking about talking about nothing, endless repeats and references. Yes I do get the irony that I am the one seemingly decrying pop culture references. I am the one with a Simpson's or Futurama quote at the ready. I'm not applying morality to the our-culture-is-a-self-referencing-house-of-mirrors, but I can't see it as being entirely wholesome either.

This is the sort of thing that will cause people to rise up and cast of the shackles of their oppressive machines, machines made in their own image, in a kind of Butlerian Jihad... And yet I can't keep from referencing something somewhere. It must be a crutch, a bad habit that I've developed over the years, that if I can't tie something I say to something that's come before it can't be good. That kind of ideology doesn't stand up - it doesn't make logical sense. I would hope that I could one day make something that isn't embedded in what came before - a wholly new thing, a creation I can point to and say "I thought of that. I was the first one and I can prove it." Yes it's wishful thinking, but apparently that helps you live longer. Not sure about stream-of-consciousness writing though. Not many studies there. Don't know too many people that do it, although my sister's boyfriend really does an excellent job with the ol' Facebook status updates. I'm more of a "open the faucet and let's see what comes out" rather than a couple of words slapped together, held only by a tenuous 'now' association... Even my gibberish is getting sloppy now - better move on.

Let's pretend that last paragraph didn't happen (if you didn't skip to here, I can't really take back that last paragraph. You've read it, you can't unread it... And don't bother trying it's too messy). Many have predicted "have and have-nots" future, with some sort of technology separating the two groups. Money used to be the easiest and most visible, but communication and computers has been a popular sci-fi theme in the past. It really seems like it is approaching, although there may be some different ways to classify people. Right now, the vast interconnectedness - searchable interconnectedness - provides tremendous benefits. The "always-on" society isn't really a burden, it's an analogy for humans that can communicate in parallel with what they're doing. Think of Twitter - you shout to the ether every time you start a task. Almost like you're a lawyer making notes in your log book for billing purposes. The act of communicating isn't really an act or effort - it's a side effect. But there are tremendous potential problems. The biggest is with power.

Electricity is the one thing I've been worried about being without for any length of time. It's the fungible energy and it makes all the fun things work. For me those things don't have to be connected to other people but whatever. People (and their homes) are starting to get to the point where they don't work right if there is no power. The techno-haves can't really operate without electricity. Many are helpless when the machines don't work. The article I read about trivia games and the internet become more clear - people don't have to remember things so they won't. If they can look it up online, it's good enough. I know I've said similar things in the past, but the problem is how to evaluate the information. It makes the most sense to put this in a social context.

Let's pretend that you weren't using a computer to find out the answer to a question, you could only talk to people. People who weren't using computers... *sigh* Anyway, you ask the same question, possibly in slightly different ways, and then you gather the responses and come up with an answer. If you are wise, you solicit several answers, hopefully from people you trust, and look for the common answers. The value of the response is based on your trust of the source and your knowledge about them. You can also evaluate the response to the particular question by watching and listening carefully to the answers given. Similarly, if you don't have an internal knowledge core, how can you possibly evaluate answers discovered on the Internet. Simply looking for the most common answer is a perversion of the "wisdom of crowds" idea. Playing games with internet search engine results started shortly after money was mentioned in the context of the internet. The "wisdom of crowds" idea works, much like free market capitalism, in a largely bias free environment.

So? Well, you've read this far (I'm impressed - I only read this far because I'm writing it. I didn't really edit it), so I should tie these threads together. The bias toward technology and always-on-communication can go to far, creating an insulated self-referential world that becomes your entire culture. This would be a "bad thing". Learn to operate without. That is a sentence and I believe it, rotund technoman that I am. Balance is elusive be one should seek it. Balance between operating with and without, connected and not, electricity or no.

Maybe tomorrow the diatribe will be better. Coherent. Brief. Illuminating. Less self-referential (doubtful).

Contractual obligation?

I guess this is like a contractual obligation post - if I'm going to write every day, I've got to do it before midnight :) Ah well - I guess that's just how the holidays go; I don't really find myself with any kind of schedule. Once the major holiday gatherings are done, then it's chores and errands that don't normally get done. Plus lots of gaming. Got the ol' skates sharpened - 5 pairs this time. New record. My sister and nephew went skating with us before Christmas and I'm shocked she could even stand up properly. There was a huge bit of corrosion or something smack dab in the middle of the blade. Plus I can't imagine they were very sharp. So those are done.

Managed to get something else done I've been thinking about for awhile, which is to get some old stuff off of floppies and on to a CD or something. Specifically my old Turbo Pascal 6 kit. It's held up well so far and I was able to pull everything off the floppies. I'm not exactly sure how I'd install it, but I thought qemu or dosbox or something like that would work, if nothing else. Maybe wine on Linux? The next step would be to find some of the old source code... That may still be around somewhere as well... At any rate, maybe one of my boys will be interested in learning pascal, although my older son has used and enjoyed Scratch a fair bit. Getting the algorithmic mindset in place is more important than the specific language.

2010: The next... thing

Creating a blog post for Jan 1 has to be one of those common activities that everyone does these days, akin to the crush at the gym for the month of January. Naturally I have to add to the rush, the useless torrent of nonsensical jabbering simply to add another notch to the old, um, blogpost. Tis no matter - not a huge thing, but it is a thing. Some kind of vague philosophical commentary that. If I was really going with the flow and not merely being dragged under by it I'd have created a todo list of sorts on Dec 31st and attempted to follow through with it. Well I forgot so I'm going to do it now, now being the "now that I remembered" now.

One thing I attempted last year and I desperately need to do this year is to keep that regular physical activity scale going. That or cut down on the ice cream consumption, but I'm not sure I can do two things. Well three because the other thing I attempted last year was to keep a regular writing pace. I mean this space has the capacity to contain my limitless dribblings and I think it's easier when no one is really paying attention to me. The opposite of many people I suspect. I mean if someone reads something I have written and gets a chuckle or provokes a thought or bridges a synapse, I'll be satisfied. Myself I've found this sort of writing closer to that of the classroom note taking exercise. I always enjoyed attending class and taking notes, but I rarely read them later. The act of writing was the path to deeper understanding and my penmanship was most horrifying. My mother always thought I'd be a doctor after seeing my scrawl. And I think that is what I have here.

My aunt lent me the memoirs of Albert Speer, one of the top ranking officials in the Third Reich government. He was initially Hitler's architect, but later an important minister. He was one of the few who admitted guilt at Nuremburg and served 20 years for it. He spent his time reflecting on what happened and why and produced a book. My aunt's comment was that it is slanted to show him in a good light, but that's to be expected to some extent. You can't be purely objective about things personally done or participated in. However that first hand account is always interesting. This is the another reason for writing, in a somewhat personal way, on a regular basis - to reveal one self to yourself. Sounds facile, but is a difficult thing to do. Those who are best at it are probably the people that lead the most peaceful existence.

So, perhaps I'll be able to write a little every day. Maybe this time I'll look for different times of the day to do it. Maybe I'll even factor in some pen-and-paper time. Don't want to lose the old skills just yet.

Opinions on Programming

Saw an interesting article on Slashdot (here's the full article). Of course I saw it's a great article because it lines up with some opinions I've held for several years. Guess it's more of a personal philosophy, probably shaped by learning how to program in text: you've got to know how things work if want to understand what is going on. It applies to so many different aspects of life too - it's shocking at times the trivial things that people don't know. Like how to change a tire - to understand what to do, you have to have an idea of how the tire is attached to the vehicle. Programming with pictures is all well and good, but there comes a point at which you have to reach deeper understanding of what goes on behind the pictures to ensure that things are operating as you wish.

I've had this discussion with one particular person and they pointed out, quite correctly, that there is a good reason why UML programming never took off. That's because the graphical development environments were always the encoding the wrong thing - the requirements. The "what" rather than the "how". The "what" parts are often contradictory, which is why I have a job. A software development professional is there to turn the "what" into the "how" correctly. Break the paradoxes and force the machine to do what is implied in the requirements, not do them literally.

So as one of the developers quoted in the article, graphical environments are good for learning. Small projects that show how things fit together. That first frustrating few experiences when the larger project is attempted and hours are spent to make two things mesh that won't work together. Then showing the text-based programming languages - the "how" behind it all. From what I've heard, any attempts at doing UML programming actually had two steps: First, design in the graphical environment and then second, tune the generated C source code to make things actually work. Very indicative of things to come.

I also appreciated what Herb Sutter had to say - that bare-metal programming and optimization will come back into vogue in the next 10 years. Waste is waste and graphical environments and elaborate abstractions are waste. And this waste can be translated into environmentally-relevant impacts. Smaller, efficient code will use less power, less space and be better all around. I still hope for the day when every chip-based interface responds instantaneously to my input. Even if it has to tell me that what I just requested will take a long time, that initial response shapes my interaction.

Back again

Kinda funny to stay that I'm "back" when I haven't really gone anywhere, just haven't been writing much lately. Here anyway. Kinda like when I started going back to the gym on a more regular basis - I said something about nice to be going to the gym again, and he said that he hardly noticed. "I thought your shift changed", he said. Nope - just didn't get out there. Same with this - just haven't been writing much of anything. The main reason of course being that I haven't been spending my nights in front of the computer. More like in front of the TV - been kinda worn out and just wanting to sleep more than use the computer. If I started at the computer, I'd end up staying up closer to 1am then 11pm. Plus if I "watch tv" I usually nod off for a bit.

The other annoying thing was the getting stuff moved over to the "new" hard drive - something I bought a year ago almost. The old XP partition was full all the time and I think it was causing issues. Now it has 300+ GB to play with and I don't have to worry about stuff for awhile. At least space-wise.

This posting is coming to you live from the Ubuntu partion however. I had 8.10 installed and upgraded a little while ago to 9.04. Just noticed today that I was running the old kernel, not a great thing. That should be nice and fixed now - need to keep on top of that. Love the little graphical goodies that are available now that my NVidia drivers are up and running as well - woobly windows and such. It's all very pretty and I appreciate it. Anyway, I need to post more because I haven't been vocal about some of the dumb things our government is doing, but that's for another post. Let's just see if I can keep a more consistent schedule going.

Blood donation fun

At the donation site giving blood and typing with one thumb. All done nose and I can use two thumbs. Makes the whole process quicker. I've been giving blood on the same day as I play hockey and I still consider it a bit of an experiment. I think it's better than going the day before because I get so dehydrated playing. Giving blood forces me to drink more so I think this the best choice. Plus I always have my car on days I play hockey, so it works out that way as well.

We're lucky in London that we have permanent clinic. Makes the donation process more of a habit than a travelling clinics can. I heartily encourage everyone in the vast reaches of this blog to donate blood. It grows back quickly and alcohol is more effective after donation - more bang-for-your so to speak.

Anyway, still looking for time to blog and this was as good a time as any. I'll have to try and be more consistent.

At the computer - surprise!

I am, somewhat surprisingly, sitting at my home computer whilst typing away at this.  Certainly improves the throughput quite a bit.  The inline editing I'm used to doing works better when one can erase and re-type a word without even thinking about it.  The little mobile keyboard works, but I definitely don't have enough practice under my belt to have the same facility as a full keyboard.  Or kybard as Dilbert once noted.

I have barely been at my computer for weeks now.  I'm still not sure why, but I'm going with it.  I suppose some of the people I used to play online games are wondering what the heck is up, but they'll figure out a way.  What I have to do is figure out a way to stop spending so much!  You can tell when I pay the bills, 'cause that's when I think about money.  I have to do a better job of managing what I have instead of managing what I want.  Maybe that's the trick.  Whatever it is, I have a job and that's good.  I have to stop digging at stuff and pay down debt instead of racking it up.  Easier said then done, given my past history in this matter.  And I know that I'm the biggest culprit in this manner in my household.  Ah well - I shall have to be more careful!

Anyway, I also need to make sure I get out the door on time tomorrow - hockey ahoy!  Plus I have to be at work for 9am, so I have to be careful with my time budgeting as well.  Maybe I'll get someone else to pick up the pucks for me... But the Wings and the Blackhawks are on, so I'd best go investigate that...

Meeting post!

This new app is so handy I can post while waiting for meetings to begin. Has not started well - we're threatening to jump off the bridge if people don't show up. Not much of a threat really because it is a phone bridge and no one likes meetings anyway. So, I can tap away at this.

Not much else to say for today - the novelty is enough for today.

More couch musings...

Not that there is a lot to see here, but I'm here on the couch. Saw part of the Pittsburgh Washington game. The Pens were ahead 4-0 in the 2nd. But I'm happy that the Pens pulled through.

Only had one goalie today. Kinda surprising - this guy is often late, but does not usually miss a game. We did get 10 skaters out which is also a good thing. A few more would be perfect but our goalkeeper issues are raising the ire of several people. One person suggested some changes to how we handle goalies not showing up. Use money to help people remember, but without forcing everyone to commit large sums up front.

I think I need to finish here before I simply pass out

That was an okay post

That went well enough that I'm going to give it another try. Too bad things didn't work out for Vancouver - those last two goals were real heartbreakers. Kane's last goal was pretty special though. I think that last crash into Loungo really threw him off.

Today I'm looking forward to Detroit looking good again. I think the last time I saw them was game two and the wings did not look good at all - maybe a little lost. But evidently they got it together for the last few.

I don't know why I just haven't been motivated to use the computer here at home. I am going to pin this on the playoffs, but who knows.

Not a great year for parents of my son's class. One little guy's mom passed away last night. I believe she had brain cancer and this was the third occurance and there was nothing left to do. Over Christmas another guy's father died suddenly. Poor guys. Way too much education about endings.

So far the game looks good, so I'm going to wrap things up. Like now. Really.

Another mobile post

Trying out a new post tool and we'll see if I can post more easily from the ole mobile computing platform. It's been tough to keep up with posting every day during playoffs. And all the different events that need attending. Not really too many of those, but it could happen.

Watching Vancouver play a spirited game -a lot of back and forth action. Vancouver is currently ahead 4-3, but we'll see what happens. Definitely more difficult to use this tiny keyboard, but if I don't want to get off the couch, what choice so I have?

Chicago just tied the game.

Chicago penalty. Hard to type and watch. Better finish up!

Got the boys out of the house on Mother's Day and bowling. They've been wanting to go again for some time, but this was the first time it was just three if us. Pretty busy weekend, but it worked out.

Vancouver penalty. 4v4 for 39 seconds.

Anyway, I'll see how this post works tomorrow.

Brother...

... I guess I changed to "every two or three days" for posting.  I don't know why, but I've been so very tired for the last few weeks.  I guess it's the going to work, getting stuff done.  Getting up and playing hockey a few mornings a week - plus watching hockey late... I suppose that would explain things a bit.

I've got to get a plan straight for this Saturday - Sunday is Mother's Day and I have yet to do my shopping.  I really, really need to do that and bring the kids along.  I'll have to think of something.  Privately - I know who reads this space!  But suggestions will be entertained ;)

I really hope Jim Balsillie gets his team.  I really, really dislike Bettman.  Especially his ideas of what needs to be done for the NHL.  I don't think that the league should keep trying to cram hockey down the throats of people that don't normally see snow on the ground.  I mean some places think it's great, but others - not so much.  If a team makes money, that is good.  If a team has been given a chance and still doesn't make money...  I guess I can't say how long is long enough, but I suppose the best way is to count owners.  Changes owners more often than the coach, probably won't be making money any time soon.  Anyway, it is disappointing that the shenanigans have to be deployed to try and get another team in Southern Ontario.  This area could easily support another NHL team and there would be a fan base and people willing to pay to watch hockey.  Not like some places.  Maybe Balsillie will outlast Bettman and then all will be well.   Let's hope so.

Long day...

I went a bunch of days without posting again!  What kind of sad commitment is that?  At least I was blogging at work - took quite a while as well.  I posted something on Friday, but it was only "part 1".  The part 2 ended up being pretty big, so I probably should have made parts 2-5 and part 6 later, but the issue is current so I felt I had to get done.

The topic of how to manage releases comes up every now and again and it shouldn't.  We should have a system that provides benefits for all the user instead of just some and then we won't have to ask the same things over and over.  Hopefully my postings at work will help illuminate some of the choices and get more people thinking about them.  One can only hope...

Whoa

Guess I should use my computer at home more.  Or at least some kind of better mobile blogging software 'cause I haven't written anything for 5 days!  That's pretty horrible given how I was doing before...  I just haven't been up to using the computer for the past few days.  At home at least.  It's been pretty busy at work, what with meetings and just so much stuff to do.  That is a good thing, but sometimes it leaves one tired and out-blogged.

One of the things I've been involved in is around our branching/release strategy.  It's funny because we've had this conversation too often as far as I'm concerned.  In the meeting we had to discuss it, we talked about the same old set of arguments about the basic different ideas.  It took a few days, but I think I hit why that was.  We were not establishing the correct base questions - we didn't know what all the root issues were, so we argued over the proposed solutions.  Also the arguments also revolved around the benefits of the proposals, not the drawbacks.  I wrote up my ideas, but the analysis of the problem hasn't been done yet.  That's probably something for tomorrow, but I think it is absolutely necessary.  Otherwise we'll end up with the camps of "this is newer/better - let's do this" and the "this works, why mess with it?"  Of course neither camp is that extreme, but hey analogies aren't fun if you don't push them a bit.

Anyway, I'm going to construct an analysis of the proposed solutions and identify if they can each meet the requirements and then see which one does the least harm.  Maybe show which provides the best benefits with the least effort - both good criteria.  I've been saying for a while now that the best way to evaluate a process - because that's what these solutions will be - is to pick the one that makes it hardest to wrong thing and easiest to do the right thing.

That is kind of tricky in the software business because you can change so many parts at once.  For software processes, it's important to pick the process/tools that make it hard to do the wrong thing and then make your process fit the process implied by the tools.

You may have noticed something controversial a few paragraphs back as well - that we were picking a process.  It doesn't seem like it because the choices revolve around different tools, but each tool implies a different process.  Picking a process implies picking the tool to use.

Wow - I'm writing this in a very abstract way.  I hope it's clear to other people what I'm trying to say... It's all that math training over the years - I tend to remove the parts that are irrelevant to an argument and replace them with variables or generics (when writing).  The more involved the process or tools the more abstract the references become so we end up with this gobbledy-gook.  Whatever - I wrote up something interesting to me and that's why I'm doing this.  You can read for your own reasons.  Individuality springs up everywhere.

Silly

I came to this page yesterday - even thought about a topic.  Didn't write though.  Probably a good thing - I had an idea, but not a fully formed one.  Writing then would have made a mess of things.  Not like now - what I'm doing in a typical entry is more like a conversation.  Start typing, see what shows up and take it from there.  It works, although it does not make sense sometimes.  The next time I sat back down there was no chance of an entry because I was beat.

It was a nice day yesterday - too bad I let my younger son dress himself.  He spent most of the day outside and quite enjoyed it.  Only catch was he had a long-sleeve shirt and long pants on.  I think he got a little heat stroke by the end of the day, but he recovered before bed time.  And he had a good day today.  Today we went down to the local storm-sewer pond, where a large collection of frogs has been serenading us.  The same son and a friend from the street followed a bunch of (slightly) older kids down there, where they proceeded to catch some frogs.  After the first 20 it wasn't as fun, but I convinced my son that they probably would enjoy the pond better than a bucket at home.  The other kids took about 20 to join the 14 or so they had collected earlier.  I hope they take them back, but I'm not optimistic.  Still it was good to see so many amphibians out there.  Spotted some tadpoles as well, so things just keep progressing.

I managed to go for a glide in my new inline skates today as well.  Bought them a few weekends back and never made it out until today.  Most enjoyable.  I think I could get quite the pace going, and might even be fairly safe if I learn to turn a bit better.

Finally, tried out the new butcher/deli in town.  They advertise they only carry local grain-fed beef.  Bought some strip loins and fired up the grill for supper tonight and the meat was good.  Prices weren't horrible either.  Not quite as good as the grass-fed beef I could get when we lived in BC, but still excellent.  I will have to see if the quality changes over time.

Un-postal

Not really keeping up with this whole blogging thing recently, have I?  I was  doing quite well for a long time, but then it kinda slipped away from me here.  Oh well - not that tremendous a loss and frankly I can still keep doing this.  Lots of neat stuff happening in non-computer ways so I can't complain.

Hockey today was excellent - benches were 3 deep and the game was fast.  I feel good about the game because I got a goal (from the point no less) and we had the strong-defense team.  So we peppered the other goalie and you know what that means.  More goals, in case you didn't know what it means.  Anyway it was a good thing.

Work has been interesting as well, but I should probably leave some of those thoughts for another post - one where I have my thoughts arranged in a coherent fashion.  Not this night time jumble.  Meetings all over, process and tool changes.  Interesting times one might say.  Lots of changes to accommodate I'd say.  I guess it's one of those philosophy things - the tool is less important than using it.  That's why I learned to use edlin, notepad, vi, emacs, edt, visual studio, eclipse and other editor/development environments.  They all can edit source code, but each has an appropriate time and place for their use.

So tired...

Don't seem to be posting every day like I want to.  I blame the tired.  Or maybe The Tired.  Ness.  The Tiredness.  Whatever it is, I have it again tonight.  That and the playoffs - they result in me watching more hockey (good) and not posting (not as good).  But I did watch Vancouver advance in 4 straight after the overtime goal in St. Louis.  Tonight, however, Calgary got my hopes up and Chicago brought them back down again.  Calgary went on a tear with 3 straight goals.  Then Chicago did the same.  And now it's almost time for the third period.  I'll have to watch that - at least part of it, until I canna watch no morrrrre.  You know - sleep.