It’s getting kinda hectic – episode ten of an epic sci fi story

A science fiction story about the end of the world, love, money, blogging, technology, and everything else.

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Episode One: The heart of a hero
Episode Two: Love hurts
Episode Three: God speed your love
Episode Four: Two hands ain’t good enough
Episode Five: Part One: Rape of the Sabine Women
Episode Five: Part Two: Rape of the Sabine Women
Episode Six: Everything counts in large amounts
Episode Seven: Love Never Fails
Episode Eight: Princes of the Universe
Episode Nine: Technobohemian Dreams

Episodes and/or related writing are published on this blog – most Mondays and Wednesdays. Please subscribe to this blog to get a reminder when the next episode is published.

Subscriptions are free.

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Snap, The Power

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The Book of Carrot

Book One: Principal Virtues

Chapter One: Love is a battlefield

Episode Ten: It’s getting kinda hectic!

Audience: Adult

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Bill Gates solicits an answer on Linkedin

Out of a mouth-mind in Bablion…

Bill Gates, Co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Chairman of Microsoft, put a featured question to Linkedin professionals:

“How can we do more to encourage young people to pursue careers in science and technology?”

After two days, there were 2500+ and counting answers from leaders, managers and professionals from across the planet. Below is my published answer to Bill Gates and my many unknown colleagues at Linkedin:

Education

Reading C.S. Lewis’ The Abolition of Man, I came to the consideration that the moral relativism that accompanies modern math and science education in the West may have taken the life and spirit out of math and sciences.

Is it possible that we have alienated several generations from these disciplines because the young have an instinctive, unconscious rejection of a delusion with no value and affect?

The implicit philosophy of math and science is that all statements of value are merely subjective statements and tell us nothing truly about the object. On the contrary, we can know things as they are to some objective extent and our actions can be understood as objectively good or evil. Math and science have been misused as a deconstructive tool used to undermine human values and affections, confuse right from wrong and plunge those who self-examine… into nihilistic despair and the untrustworthy comfort of hedonism.

As Plato and Aristotle believed, Lewis reminds us that we must train the young to like and dislike what they ought, to love the good and hate the bad. Emotion and intuition must be integrated with intellect and perception (as Carl Jung suggests) or they will grow up into something strange, pursuing intellectual conclusions and technological solutions that are heartless OR pursuing what feels good without the capacity to discern which goods are truly good and which are temporarily pleasing.

India or Eastern Europe for Outsourcing?

In Bablion we trust… no one:

India and Eastern Europe are touted as low cost, high quality providers for outsourced software and web development. This is old news. The bargain that was once true became less true when the multinationals went there and the press started talking about these moves. Although cost savings can still be had and for a few more years; the risks increase proportionate to the expected savings.

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India or Eastern Europe for Outsourcing?

When Western Europeans ask my opinion about whether India or Eastern Europe is better for outsourcing software and web development, my preference is for the often ill-mannered Eastern Europeans. And, yes, Indian manners can be impeccable. But it’s better to suffer frequent complaints, bad attitude, and grumbling than meet with unexpectedly unsolved problems as the deadlines come and go- twice.

PHP or ASP.NET for killer web applications

When considering the development of a web application, PHP and ASP.NET provide similar results. Finding an experienced, talented and dedicated development team is usually more important than the technology to be used. Great PHP and ASP.NET developers cost the same. And it is a lot. Likewise, successful developments and a high level of support usually cost the same. Again, a lot.

Below, you might think this guy is hard core geek. But he’s just a monkey-geek-whore.

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PHP or ASP.NET?

I am often asked which is better, PHP or ASP.NET? A few days ago, I was approached again with the same question.

Cultural resistance to professional culture

Five cents buys you nothing in Bablion.

Eastern Europe and India seemed promising low labor cost markets for technology. But no one knew about the other side of the coin.

Extreme Ways

Like India and Asia, Romania is attractive to outsourcers and offshoring as it has a reputation for a low cost labor force. What the nice business magazine writers don’t tell you is the cultural difference can be a major challenge. A common problem in the Romanian workplace is the “I gotta be me” attitude. It’s a bad attitude that I imagine comes out of the MTV’s trashcan culture and the mis-translation of hippie ideology about being true to yourself. And even the hippie’s were confused about what is true, what we are and what we must do.

So the whole mess just gets worse in the Romanian translation. This is not good for foreign investors and it’s really bad for those already on the ground who lack an iron will and a doubley clever pitchfork.

Schiphol airport speech on great websites

Five cents will not buy you a mouthful of bullfeathers in Bablion…

Everyone would like a great website, but what it is, how it can be realized, and how much should be spent seems to be a mystery for most. A great website is many things. In the broadest sense, it should be a culmination of business, communication, marketing and technology strategy. A great website should support your business plan by helping you achieve short- and long term business objectives.

Doh! In the clip below, the narrator points out an obvious mistake on the website of the world famous usability expert Jakob Nielsen…
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