Asides

Shubhro Saha on why software engineers should write

Software engineers should write because our craft is increasingly collaborative. Open source projects invite worldwide participation, while industry products often require an army of engineers. (Google Maps has 1100 full-time employees!) Good writing– whether it be in a GitHub comment, code review, or technical documentation– facilitates clear, concise communication for projects like these to move forward.

I’m going to take Shubhro’s essay on why software engineers (i.e. programmers, developers) should write one step further. Everyone should write about their craft. Database administrators, project managers, accountants, plumbers, Wal-Mart door greeter, you name it.

Writing is thinking. Writing helps you to understand your work better. To take a step back from the hustle and bustle and reflect on what you’re doing. You ask different questions about your craft when you take a moment to think and put it down in words for others to read.

On Kindness by Cord Jefferson

Conversely, waking up each day and devoting yourself to being kind, even and especially to people who are not kind to you, is actually incredibly difficult. It is arduous and deliberate work, and the doing of it will at times make you feel small and foolish. What’s more, in the end, it will on its own merits almost never yield a person awards or honors or riches.

…

 

Photo by Ginny – Licensed under Creative Commons

Tim Cook

Part of social progress is understanding that a person is not defined only by one’s sexuality, race, or gender. I’m an engineer, an uncle, a nature lover, a fitness nut, a son of the South, a sports fanatic, and many other things. I hope that people will respect my desire to focus on the things I’m best suited for and the work that brings me joy.

What a guy.

Chris Kluwe on What it Meant to be a Gamer

When people think of “gamers,” I want them to think of Child’s Play, and athletes who play competitive League of Legends, and all the normalization we’ve accomplished over the years. I want them to think of feminism, and games as an art form — something more than mass entertainment. I want them to think of all the amazing things that video games have done, and can do, because that means we get to keep playing more games.

Former Minnesota Viking Chris Kluwe, a 8 year NFL player and 26 year video game enthusiast lays down some blunt, but well articulated, advice for those who think video game culture is being threatened by women and the resulting ruin of journalism. Or something like that. What are these guys even angry about again?

 

Tom Hanks’ Short Story – “Alan Bean Plus Four”

Our brains could take in only so much, so our iPhones did the recording, and I stopped calling out the sights, though I did recognize Campbell and D’Alembert, large craters linked by the smaller Slipher, just as we were about to head home over the moon’s north pole. Steve Wong had cued up a certain musical track for what would be Earthrise but had to reboot the Bluetooth on Anna’s Jambox and was nearly late for his cue. MDash yelled, “Hit Play, hit Play!” just as a blue-and-white patch of life—a slice of all that we have made of ourselves, all that we have ever been—pierced the black cosmos above the sawtooth horizon.

A great short story by entertainer Tom Hanks.