How Tech Writing has Improved

I worked as a Tech Writer for 20 years, 1980-2000. So I can safely say I am an expert on the subject. Enough to warn any aspiring writers away from the profession.

You will not be writing for the users of products the company makes, but marketing fluff, to make it, and the company look better. Any writing that actually helps the user, will not be looked on very favorably.

This sounds strange, but I have experienced it for myself. And you, as users, have experienced it also. And this is one reason, companies often fail. They don't pay enough attention to their users.

Writing that does help the user, is still being written - by people who know the subject well. Since this is what sells the product, it is written very well. And constantly updated, if users complain, or want to know more.

The user is in control, not the manufacturer.

This is a huge difference from the one inherited from the Industrial Revolution. Where the Industry was in control.

The Computer Industry still exists, but it is being modified into something more user-friendly.

Eclipse ioFog - Real World Patterns for the Edge

ioFog

What the Hell is this? I was asking myself. This blog was set up to answer this question, because they knew it would be asked.

Roll up your pants legs, and wade into it.

The Laptop you Must Have

Microsoft Store

I'm sure you will not mind spending a thousand dollars, or so - for the very best laptop around.

You may be using a Phone now for all your Computer needs - but trust me, when I say a laptop is better, in every way. A bigger display, and more computing power.

If you are on the Azure cloud (as you probably are) you will be in Heaven - better than Heaven, in fact.

Competence and Incompetence

I am always trying to understand the world, and to explain it to others.

And one way of understanding it, is to separate people into the competent and incompetent. Which has to be refined, by stating what things they are competent or incompetent at.

And by noting, whether or not this matters to them. Usually, it does not.

Scott Ourth in Wikipedia

Wikipedia

He is the son of Lynn Ourth, the son of Florence Ourth, of Nauvoo, Illinois.

In October 2010, the Des Moines Register published an article identifying that Ourth was one of a number of candidates for the 2010 Iowa legislative elections who had prior convictions. Ourth had been convicted twice for driving under the influence of alcohol, once in 2000 and once at least a decade before, and was placed on probation.[4]

There is also useful table showing his Election History. Many times he ran unopposed.

The 20 minutes in 1966 that created the Internet

DelancyPlace

" 'Do we still support fifty-one percent of Lincoln Lab?' he asked Herzfeld, who confirmed the figure. Taylor asked Herzfeld to put in a call to Lincoln's director. 'Tell him that it's in Lincoln Lab's and ARPA's best Interests to tell Larry Roberts to come down and do this.' Within two weeks, Roberts accepted a job that would eventually secure him a permanent place in the computing Pantheon, as the Internet's found­ing engineer. As Taylor later crowed: 'I blackmailed Larry Roberts into fame!' "

Dad is Still Alive

He did not finish his job, while alive. And is now working on it, while dead.

I Don't Understand Project Jupyter

I really should understand it, because Wikipedia explains it very carefully. As you can see for yourself.

The Jupyter part of my brain, must not be fully developed. As that part of my brain cannot understand Spanish either.

The best I can do is learn Python, where plenty of people are willing to hold my hand, as I stumble down that path.

I Hated People

Now, I am not so sure. And this indecision, I am sure, is at the heart of my problem - what we now call my seizures.

And this indecision was was the heart of my problem with my many therapists. This was the problem Americans in general, were having - and they did not want to deal with it.

As a result, the problem got worse in America, and I had to move to Costa Rica to get away from it.

Now it seems to be following me down here.

This is Not Pornograhy in Costa Rica

This was taken from Ls Teja, the most popular (and cheapest) newspaper in Costa Rica. 

My Friend has been Divorced for Two Years

He is a German/Canadian, and was married to a local woman. I saw him today, and he told me had been divorced for two years! Before this, he always said he was married forever.

He had built a nice house on the Swiss compound, that already had several houses on it. He must have lots of money, if any of you gals are looking for that.

Computers Cannot Make Themselves

I just watched Artificial Intelligence: it will kill us

He makes a convincing case in this TEDx video. Artificial Intelligence (AI), he tells us - is software that writes itself. This is hugely important, as he demonstrates.

But he overlooks a crucial point - Software runs on Computers, and only People can make Computers.

Paul Collier and His Vision of How Capitalism Could Be

He wrote The Future of Capitalism: Facing the New Anxieties

He begins with an honest evaluation of how Capitalism is now, and then proceeds to describe how it could be, if people understood it properly.

I agree with everything he says. And his analysis of Capitalism now is especially acute and original.

He says nothing about the Computer, however, probably because he knows nothing about it. But he should.

It is causing some of our biggest anxieties, and hopes. Unknown to almost everyone.

Almost everyone is pleased to know nothing about everything, and see no reason to change.

Finland’s grand AI experiment

Politico

I have been wondering why nations have not been using more Computer technologies. Which would give their Economies (that desperately need it) a fast start.

Finland (also the home of Linus Pauling, the inventor of the Linux operating system) is taking the
Bull by the Horns (a common symbol for Capitalism) and educating its people in Artificial Intelligence (AI).

You don't have to wish them luck, they already have it!

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

I had a hard time downloading the Kindle version of this famous book. I could only read it, by using the Kindle app on my laptop.

The author, Dee Brown, dated his introduction in 1970, in Urbana. Illinois. the home of the University of Illinois, where I graduated from in 1959.

Give it a peek.

Most Countries do not Do Much for Their People

This has been true for a long time. Countries benefited the Rich and Powerful in those countries. And that was considered normal.

The idea that they should benefit everyone in the country, was recent - and a product of the Enlightenment.

Every country, soon learned of this idea - and agreed with it, in theory. But in practice, not much changed.

And people who tried to take power away from the Rich and Powerful, soon felt their displeasure, in some unmistakable ways.

To Succeed, You have to Think

This did not used to be true. The opposite was true instead - to succeed, you did not think. And this was what everyone was looking for - people who did not think, and made that obvious in their everyday behavior.

The US, the UK, and the EU - were full of people who did not think, and thought this the perfect way to be.

This was before the Computer and the Cloud changed everything. To succeed now, you have to think - and show you are a good thinker.

I refer you to Rethinking commercial software delivery with Cloud Spanner and serverless. That I am reading for third time. I don't understand it very well, but I can see it is showing the reader how smart they are.

And telling them "You want to be smart too? Then be like us, and use our services!"

Continual Learning

Continual Learning is something the Computer has forced on Software Developers. If they want to make the Big Bucks, this pays - they have to spend their lives learning more and more.

If I had started learning Java back in the Nineties, in Silicon Valley - I would be doing that now, and rolling in the money. Instead of penny-pinching constantly.

Money makes the man, and this as true as it ever was. Women would to eager to make my acquaintance - not just because I make more money, but because of all the contacts I have.

I would be going to expensive conferences frequently, busy making more contacts myself. Money sticks to people who already have it.

Instead of looking for jobs - jobs would come looking for me.

Computer Standards

Standards have always improved on technology. The development of a Standard Gauge made the Railroads compatible with each other, and made transcontinental railroads possible.

When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, and his embalmed body was shipped from DC. back to  Illinois - a number of railroads were involved, each with a different gauge. Long distance travel was difficult.

The day when people could travel effortlessly (often sleeping on the way) was a huge improvement - and helped make America powerful.

The Depression, also caused by America, made regulation of the stock markets necessary. The Market was making people honest, whether they wanted to be, or not.

Software standards, made the Internet and the Cellular Networks possible. You cannot have a network, of any kind, without standards to make it work.

The subject of Software Standards, is impossible to explain to people who are not experts in the field. But the basics are the same - they have to work together.

And gradually, they are realizing that they have to be ethical also. Or the Human Race will not work.

Being Bad same as Being Good

Yes, you read that right, and it's not just my badly warped mind that is saying it.

Almost everyone is saying it, in one form or another. And not only saying it, but acting on it.

Once you understand that basic (but simple) fact, you will understand a lot about what is going on around you.

You will realize that most people want to be deceived, and to deceive others. Because it feels so much better.

And people go with their feeling, not their thinking.

Grasping this fundamental fact, liberates the mind to consider other options. If it's so easy to hate people, why not like them instead?

But these realizations have to occur in the proper order. First, you have to realize how bad things are. Then you can realize how good things can be.

Saying "You must be good!" without realizing how bad you already are, is a waste of time.

That is why the present situation, is not likely to change. People do not want to see how they really are. They will insist, with all their strength - that they are something else.

The Computer was an Accident

But now it has happened, it may save us from becoming one more obsolete, useless species.

It may save some of us, maybe 20 percent of the population, The rest will go the way of the dodo bird.

People can be Other People's Pets

I never realized this could happen, until I saw it happening for myself.

An American has been adopted by a Soda (a kind of fast-food eating place, down here). Actually he has been adopted by the owner of the place, a woman who wanted to learn some English from him.

He only spoke English, and showed no interest in learning Spanish. He paid her a little - and in return he got a room to live in, some food, and got his laundry washed. Not a bad deal.

The last time I visited this Soda, I was the only person there. But soon the American showed up, and sat down next to me. They probably went back to his room, and said "Hal is here!" And he promptly made his appearance, and started talking English, to no one in particular.

Microsoft Teaches You about its Cloud

I have tried the three clouds who want you to join them - Amazon (AWS), Microsoft (Azure), and Google (GCP). And Microsoft is the friendliest (and cheapest) one for me.

Microsoft used to be known for its aggressive, and ruthless business practices. But this was getting them nowhere, and it has decided to be one of the Good Guys - the best one, in fact.

Check them out.

The Two Parts of the American Personality

They are hard to describe, but I would call them the Social and the Antisocial - or the Constructive and the Destructive. And I can easily detect both of them, in myself.

I think this explains the Trump presidency. When Americans, for reasons they did not understand themselves, elected a man who was unfit for the office, by any standard. He was like them, not capable of building a better world, but well-suited to destroying it.

This process, of building an empire, and then destroying it (or letting it destroy itself) - has happened before, and will no doubt happen again.

I have been a Failure at Being a Success

But a success at being myself.

But this transition has been difficult. So difficult, I do not know if I would recommend it for others.

We still believe in individualistic behavior, but we have also seen its disadvantages. And we are more inclined now, to encourage group behavior - as beneficial to business and the economy. 

If People want the World to get Better. they have to Get Better first

No one will argue with this. They will not say a word, but think silently "No one wants the world to get better - not really! But we are not going to say so."

The FAA in the Cold War

I worked for the FAA (Federal Aviation Agency) from 1959, when I graduated from the U of Illinois, as an Electronic Engineer, until 1980, when the Transistor made the Vacuum Tube obsolete.

This was also when the Cold War made the FAA powerful. It had huge bomb-proof buildings outside of urban areas, that the Soviets were sure to bomb in a nuclear war. We really thought that way then - and expected a War at any time. Families built Bomb Shelters in their backyards, and kept them supplied.

I specialized in Radar, and the FAA and the Military had joint-use Radar sites that housed the most expensive Radars ever built.

The last time I visited Washington DC, a few years ago, I visited the Smithsonian on the Mall, Right across the street was the National headquarters of the FAA, two large buildings. I said to myself "I know what is going on there - Nothing!" And indeed, it looked deserted.

The Cold War was over, and the FAA's best years were over also.

The Best Way to become a Software professional is by Being One

I just enrolled in the Preparing for the Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect Exam which is free. And the very first lecturer says just this.

Which means this course is not for me, since I am 82 years old, and living in a small, scenic town in Costa Rica.  We have tourist buses here, looking at us, as if we were a foreign species. 

Theranos Exposed

TechCrunch

The documentary that premiered tonight at Sundance Film Festival explores how the move fast and break things ethos of Silicon Valley is “really dangerous when people’s lives are in the balance” as former employee and whistleblower Tyler Shultz says in the film. Theranos promised a medical testing device that made a single drop of blood from your finger more precise than a painful old-school syringe in your vein. What patients ended up using was so inaccurate it put their health in jeopardy.

Is the World Working?

There are all kinds of answers to this question. In the end analysis, everyone has to answer it for themselves - is their life working for them?

Even this is not adequate however, because people can easily fool themselves. And even groups of people can easily fool themselves.

We quickly get to the question "What is truth?" The very question we have been working so hard to avoid. And once again, we find many answers to this question.

And we are forced to answer "We don't know, but we can try to make life better, using any number of criteria to determine, if progress is being made."

But even this does not solve the problem, because whoever is in power, can arrange things to suit themselves, and not most of the people. Fascism, or something closely resembling  it, is flourishing

Take global poverty, for example. This does not appear to be susceptible to improvement. There are too many people in a world with limited resources.

We have to decide, which part of the human population is going to live in a world that works - for them. Actually, we don't have to decide this, because the choice has already been made.

The affluent countries in the world, will probably continue being affluent - if they can stop the many refugees, from the poorer parts of the world. Who also want a share of their wealth.

The future of the world is not bright - and we have to face that fact.

Getting off the Bus Today

This was quite a production, and I wish someone had made a video of it.

First, in Cartago, I went to the Scotia Bank and got 100, 000 of Colones (about $65). Then I got two low-caloric (but tasty) sandwiches from a sandwich store nearby. I also cashed one of my 20,000 Colone bills and got some smaller change to work with.

Then I went to a WalMart store and loaded up with groceries, that I paid for with my debit card (very handy to have).

Then I went to the Aeropost store to get my package (a Dustbuster, that you cannot get down here). The clerk was busy with a couple who had ordered some things using their Phone. They picked what they saw in their Phone, but the clerk had to tell them that idem was not available! This went on, for half an hour. Finally they found something that was available, and paid for it. They would pick it up the next week.

Then I bought a box of pizza at the Pizza Hut, with four kinds of pizza, for 9,000 Colones. And lugged all of this to my bus! I was proud of myself for being able to do this, which was not easy!,
I placed all of this behind a seat in the bus, with extra-wide spacing. And settled down for a long ride.

I was feeling hungry, so I ate one of my sandwiches.

When I got to where I wanted to get off in Orosi, I pushed the box of pizza between the rows of seats, with some help with the occupants of those seats. The bus drive stopped the bus, and helped me get off the bus with all my packages - handing them to a woman who was waiting to get on the bus. The people down here, do help the elderly (which I greatly appreciate).

Ray got some of my pizza, which he enjoyed, And I got some for lunch.

The Girl who Lived in two Countries at the Same Time

This is the Audio book Never Stop Walking.

It's the true story of a girl who was adopted in Brazil, when she was 8, by Swedish parents. She later returned to Brazil, when she was 31, to make contact with her past, especially her mother.

Most people will not like this book, because the writer is a thinking person, who talks about some serious problems. It's format is difficult also - alternating chapters between the present. and flashbacks into the past.

Short-Sighted Business Practices are Destroying Public Confidence in Capitalism

New Yorker

Klarman, who is sixty-one, is the C.E.O. and portfolio manager of the Baupost Group, a hedge fund with twenty-seven billion dollars in assets. Owing to his success in making long-term bets on stocks that he considers undervalued, he is frequently compared to Warren Buffett.

Technology is Becoming like Biology, and this is Driving People Crazy

This is seen most clearly in the case of Artificial Intelligence (AI) an umbrella term for many software techniques - that may, or may not be related. But have attracted considerable funding, since they are a new way of doing things, and solving problems.

One branch of this is Machine Learning, that does solve some practical problems - such as how many items to stock on grocery shelves.

In any case, it involves the integration of what used to be many separate interests. And this is what is driving people crazy. They had protected themselves by hiding their expertise in different Silos. And AI is breaking them down.

Machine Learning Crash Course

Google

For me to learn something, the learning process has to be simple. And it looks like this course, is built for slow learners like me.

Watch the introductory video, and see if it is for you too.

Good for People, but What Kind of People?

Google AI Blog

There are many kinds of people in the world, and we need to make some effort at classifying them - especially ethically.

Ethics, or Morality, has been badly damaged in the last few hundred years. And for most people, it is not as important as Power. Power gets them what they want - more of everything! And they cannot see Ethics gives them anything.

For them - if they cannot see it, touch it, smell it, or taste it - it does not exist! Or, looking at it another way - if other people don't want it, they do not want it either.

They live in a world populated by people like them. People who do not think, but act without thinking. And they are certain, this is the right way to be.

Practical, not Ethical.

Heaven on Earth

The Human Mind considers opposites to be identical. And this has produced our greatest accomplishments, and our greatest problems.

In the Christian narrative, Heaven is almost the same as Hell. And this difference is difficult to navigate. How did one arrive from the other? Milton's epic poem (one of the greatest in the English Language) is all about this.

Terrible situations, that are all too common - can easily be transformed, into perfect ones in the minds of believers.

The terrible situation, in my family's history - was the Industrial Midlands of England, at the beginning of the 19th Century, truly horrible places to live, by any standard. When these workers saw the Book of Mormon, they knew it was divine scripture, and its writer, Joseph Smith, was a Prophet of God. And they came to America (in large numbers) to be with him. And to establish their own Heaven on Earth.

Now, in the 21st Century, I got the Kindle version of Paradise Lost for free. Along with The Demonologist. I also get text to speech, which is quite good.

Lifestyles that are Not Good for People

We have not done a good job of being on the lookout for these. But have assumed, if a lot of people are doing it (whatever it is) it must be a good thing.

Not so, we have bad habits in abundance, and many of them are social.

The tendency towards group think has been reinforced by the social media, and the advertising that drives it.

This is one of the undesirable effects of the Computer and its networks, the Internet and the Cellular. They have created new forms of power, that we do not know how to cope with.

Our moral instincts were weakened by the Industrial Revolution. That also introduced new forms of power - quite literally. Power derived from the burning of fossil fuels.

This also introduced new forms of violence, against the indigenous peoples - and between the rich countries also, on a global scale.

I went back and took another look at Tim O'Reilly's Gradually, then suddenly this morning. He did not mention the biggest problem of all - the tendency for people to disappear, to not exist.

This is the ultimate lifestyle - if you want to call it that.

Gradually, then Suddenly

O'Reilly

This is my faith in humanity: that we can rise to great challenges. Moral choice, not intelligence or creativity, is our greatest asset. Things may get much worse before they get better. But we can choose instead to lift each other up, to build an economy where people matter, not just profit. We can dream big dreams and solve big problems. Instead of using technology to replace people, we can use it to augment them so they can do things that were previously impossible.

Group Think

I am reading The Age of Surveillance Capitalism. Where she says, we are being closely watched by others - in order to control us. 

What I see, by contrast, is everyone watching everyone else - to make sure we all stay the same. Other people are not controlling us - we are. 

This is not new - it has been going on for thousands of years. Ever since large societies developed. The Greeks and the Romans knew about it - and wrote about it, at great length. 

The Decision to Not Think

This is part of the larger decision to not be, that has changed us completely.

What caused this group of decisions (that all begin with not)? That we do not know, since we cannot conduct experiments on society, much as we would like to. We have to accept ourselves as we are, and proceed from where we are.

This means we have to think about where we are, and where we seem to be going.

There is plenty of thinking gong on, but most people are resisting it.

It is important to recognize this resistance, which is difficult - because once most people believe something, the rest feel helpless, and cannot think at all.

Most Americans will say they are thinking, and have never stopped thinking. But when you ask them, what caused Trump  to be elected, they have no answer.

Or they will say, he will save them from the mess they are in, and we have to trust him to do so.

Or they will not say anything, but proceed to destroy America, and support Trump in this.

The World is Too Hard to Understand, so We have Stopped Trying

This seems like a reasonable response to an impossible problem. But is it? Is it impossible to understand, or have we stopped trying too soon? Or is there some other problem we are avoiding?

People don't care - they just want to stop trying. And they say "Let the world go to hell, we are through with it!"

They really think they can live without being in the world!

This is not a new idea, but was common when Christianity was being formed out of many religious sects, who thought the world was evil, and they wanted to get out of it.

It is not hard to see this in the 21st Century - when people feel the world is bad, and they must destroy it. They won't say this, but it is not hard to see, they believe this - and are acting on it.

How the Six Second Rule in Advertising was Determined

Advertising costs money, and advertisers want to get the most for the money they spend on it.

They have determined that any message lasting more than six seconds gets ignored. How did they determine this?

By trial and error - by varying the length of their advertising message, and seeing which ones worked. Six seconds was about the upper limit.

How did this work?

Because of how our hearing works. We cannot turn off our ears, they are on all the time. The part of the brain that gets the sound from our ears, has to determine if what it is hearing is important.

I must tell another story here. Back when I was an Electronic Engineer, I worked for the FAA (the Federal Aviation Agency). It had a lot of presence in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. And it wanted see if the people there could get accustomed to sonic booms. It told the people there it was running a test, to see if they could get used to sonic booms, happening at regular times (once an hour. on the hour). And it proceeded with the test. It found that noises of this type always produced an involuntary startle response.

It refused to allow supersonic flights. wherever they could bother people. It was protecting the American people, which was its job.

Other governments did not. The governments of Britian and France proceeded to develop the Concord, a supersonic jetliner. They could not prohibit sonic booms. because this would been a conflict of monetary interest.

Mexico permitted flights of the Concord over its country. I had a Mexican/American friend, who often visited her friends in Mexico. When she heard a sonic boom, she dropped to the floor in terror, thinking it was an earthquake. The maid kept working, and only said "La Concord!" My friend felt so stupid.

Mexico was not protecting its citizens, and this was the reason she was living in the States (in Silicon Valley).

The Cerebellum Is Your “Little Brain”—and It Does Some Pretty Big Things

Scientific American

This article is about some ground-breaking research - everyone should know about.

It is interesting to me, because it shows this part of the brain, controls how we walk - and also how we interact with others. Two things I have difficulty with, when I have my seizures.

I have also noticed the same problems with others, having severe mental, and emotional difficulties. 

The Good and the Bad Computer People

I worked in the Computer Industry for twenty years, 1980-2000. and I am here to tell you that these were bad guys, almost entirely,

They knew computers was where the money was being made, and they were determined to get that money, And they succeeded, except for a few exceptions in the Nineties.

When Sun Microsystems tried to take on Microsoft with their Java programming language, and Microsoft shot them down. But not entirely - the basic idea of a program that could run anywhere, was too powerful to resist, and Microsoft tried to take it over.

But Oracle had bought Sun, took Microsoft to court over this, and won its case!

I should also mention Netscape, that produced the first free browser program. This was also shot down by Microsoft, when it produced its own free browser - Internet Explorer (IE).

This set the stage for good and bad Computer Guys - where the bad had always won. But the Good Guys had a advantage - they could make better products, much better products! And these always won in the marketplace. Especially if they were free.

Very soon (in the next twenty years, or so) a few companies took over the Computer industry - Apple, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. But Microsoft was being forced to change - for the better. It had to, to stay in business.

Something else appeared, that changed the industry completely - the Cloud. That made computing cheaper, and even more powerful. And something else - free online training courses, anyone could take, to make them computer experts!

A new world had dawned, that most people could not comprehend at all. And they reacted violently, and tried to stop it.

The world had become divided into those apposed to all this change (most of the people) and those who benefited from these changes, and wanted more of them.

This smaller group contained all kinds of people, but they had one thing in common - the Computer, and its networks, the Internet and and the Cellular.

Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say these new technologies had them, and was not letting go of them.

History Repeats Itself

The history I have in mind here, was the Thirties in Europe - that ushered in WWII.

When the Germans, the most advanced culture in the world - succumbed to Hitler!

No one has been able to understand this, although many have tried.

To me, this effort is futile because, in any time of great stress - people turn to authoritarian leaders, to show them the way out of their problems.

The problem is not people's defective reasoning (which is often defective) - but the stress that causes this highly defective  reasoning.

The stress then was great, and the stress now is great.

The stress now, it is caused by the disparity between those who understand computers (who can program them,  and are rich) and those who do not (who are poor. at least relatively). The rich are making $100.000 (or more) contrasted with $20,000 (or less) for the poor.

It’s time for a new way to regulate social media platforms

The Conversation

While this may seem radical, remember other important elements of infrastructure — telecoms, railways and energy companies — have historically been publicly owned. Others, like banks, are very strictly regulated. If we’ve learned anything from 2018, it’s that industry self-regulation is a recipe for ongoing disasters.

We recognize that many are uncomfortable with the idea of the government imposing strict regulation or ownership rules on social media.

If You want to Keep Your Job, Keep your Mouth Shut

This was a fact of life I encountered on my first job, as an Electronic Engineer, in 1959. I didn't like it, but there wasn't much I could do about it. I had to have a job, so I would be a normal person, with a car - and even an airplane.

If I wanted this good stuff, I had to pay for it, by keeping the organization who provided my job, in power.

Sixty years later, not much has changed. The organization has changed - but its demands on us, have not.

What a Laptop Should be able To Do

 The Laptop I just bought cannot do all of the following, which I consider essential.

Support the installation on Git.

Support the installation of Anaconda, and all of the products that come with it. Especially Jupyter Notebook.

Most people consider these requirements as too much to demand. Because they do not use their laptop to do any programming. 

Those that do however, recognize the validity of these requirements - and gladly pay the price (about $1000) to get them.

This results in two kinds of people - those who are digitally aware, and those who are not. The first kind are rich, and the second kind are poor,

This gap in income. is greatly resented - and brings to power, leaders who promise to overcome this. If they are given all the personal power they need.

People Behave the Way they are Supposed To

This is hardly an earth-shaking statement - but for me, at least, a useful one.

If I want to see how the human world is working (or not working) all I have to do is look at how most humans are behaving in it.

But look at how they are really behaving, not how they say they are behaving. There is usually a huge difference.

In fact, this is the first thing to note about people - they usually behave differently than they think they behave.

And this is the first thing the Social Scientists have noted, and what people resent most about Science, It notices they way they actually are - not what they think they are.

This is easily noticed in the matter of Global Warming. This is happening, and cannot be stopped, but people are not noticing this. Or they will say it is not their problem, because its effects will not be obvious in their lifetime.

It is important, that we carefully analyze this kind of thinking. What is going on here, in the secret recesses of people's minds?

They have not recognized the problems of having a developed economy, one powered by the burning of fossil fuels. The gasoline they pump into their cars.

Why Obsolete Laptops are Sold

I just bought one, so I can answer this from personal experience. I bought it from Amazon.

I found it was not adequate for my needs, so I complained to the seller SKYTECH USA LLC. They replied promptly and offered to give me a refund, once I returned it to them. They would also refund the cost to mail it back. 

What was going on here? They were selling obsolete Laptops, knowing they would be adequate for most user's needs. If the minority of  users complained, they simply refunded their money, no questions asked.  

If this marketing strategy stopped working, they would stop using it. 

What my new Echo Dot can Do

I bought this (my second one) because of its fantastic specs. It would do everything, Amazon claimed.

 It can do this:

1.  It would decode a spoken command to a digit command (every voice-activated device can do this). 
2.  Sends this command to a place on the Internet, and gets a reply from the same place. This only takes microseconds, that for the human mind seems instantaneous.
3.  Here is the amazing part. Stored in the Echo are recordings of all the responses it can make. If I say "Sing to me!" It will respond with a recording of a woman singing (with a full orchestral accompaniment).

This relies on Artificial Intelligence, that you have probably heard about. It collects all the questions (a huge number of questions) that people are likely to ask a device like this. And stores them in a database, along with the correct response another digit (or number). 

When it gets a request from an Echo device, it sends an answer back over the Internet (another number).

The new Echo contains a large memory, with all these responses recorded in it, Recent advances in solid state fabrication, have brought these prices down, to where the whole thing can be sold for $30!

But I still prefer to ask my Laptop the same questions, using my Keyboard. A underrated, but fantastic device in itself. 

There are plenty of places (such as YouTube) where I can get Videos (not just Audios) of musical performances (or any other performance) over my WiFi connection. 

There is no Good, Cheap Laptop

To get a good one, be prepared to spend $1000.

This one of the dirty secrets of the Computer Industry. That has concentrated on developing the Phone, as a replacement for the Laptop.

Meanwhile, the Developers, who are well-paid (I used to be one of them myself), can spend a $1000, to protect their secrets, and think nothing of it.

Trump must be a Russian agent. The alternative is too embarrassing

WIRED

This is a good time to be a reader, of almost anything. And this article is a fine example of that.

It showed up in my inbox, cost me nothing, expanded my horizons, and taught me something. All good things, in my opinion - but not in the opinion of most people. 

We’ve reached a point in the Russia probe where there are only two scenarios left: Either the president is actively compromised by the Russian government and has been working covertly to cooperate with Vladimir Putin after Putin helped win him the 2016 election—or Donald Trump will go down in history as the world’s most famous ‘useful idiot,’ as Communists used to call those who could be co-opted to the cause without realizing it.

What were we Trying To Do?

We don't know, and we don't want to know. But whatever it was, we have failed miserably at it. That we can be sure of.

Believe me, this is no small matter. When we have no past, we have no present either. We do not exist! And that seems to suit us fine.

In fact, we can have pity on those who do exist, and have all the problems associated with that. And we can overlook the simple fact, that if we do not exist, we cannot do anything!

But this was not a problem for them - because this meant forces larger (and better) than them were in control,

As an observer, watching this going on, we can ask "What were these forces?"

One of them was obvious - Television, that completely changed who we were, and what we wanted to be.

Another was the Computer, that most people assumed, was just an advanced form of Television. Whatever it was, it was in close contact with something powerful behind it. They could not imagine it was a new force, in itself. Which it was.

This assumption was enforced by the introduction of the Smartphone - something people could hold in their hands, and could do nearly everything a larger computer (a Laptop) could!

This fit naturally, with the Social Apps (such as Facebook and Twitter) that also appeared. That were adopted by almost everyone.

They were now in control of the Computer, and everything associated with it!

The Problem with Being Interested in Nearly Everything

Today Why data scientists love Kubernetes pushed irs way into my inbux. I swear it did this by itself - without me pushing it there.

My new Windows 10 Laptop is Working

I bought the 2019 HP ProBook for $200, but getting it to work was a hassle!

I used it to write this posting in Blogger.

My bruised Right Hand

When I had my seizure, I must have put this hand down, to protect me as I fell on the sidewalk. As a result, it was badly bruised, and it has been a long time healing.

I was forced to realize, what a complicated and vital part of my body this is.

I could use my left hand more, but I am very right-handed.

Living with Alexa

I just bought an Echo Dot (3rd Gen) and am trying to set it up properly.

To do this you need set up another Alexa-enabled device - in my case, the WiFi settings on my Fire tablet. But for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to do this. It seems to be working fine without going through this.

If I had done things, I would just have opened a tab in my Chrome browser, and done everything for my Echo Dot there. But they did not consult me about this.

What's the bottom line here? I can't say I was cheated when I bought this - but I was definitely mislead, in a complicated way.

I still prefer to use my keyboard to type my questions into Windows 10.

What the Democrats have to do To Win

Americans are in a destructive mood, and the Democrats will have to seem destructive also. 

This should not be too hard. They will have to say they are in favor of a wall - but they can do it better and cheaper. And maybe say they are in favor of limited immigration also. 

Be reasonable wherever Trump is unreasonable.  

The Wall

Mexico-American relationships have been part of my family's history - that began when my father was a Marine in the Thirties, and was stationed in Haiti. He liked being there, and even had a local girlfriend - much to the horror of his family back in Iowa.

Looking back at it, I think what pleased Dad the most, was the opportunity it gave him, to be someone important. This was a normal human feeling, and was not tainted by the feeling that they were inferior beings. He just liked being important.

Much later, in the Fifties, his affections for Haiti were transferred to Mexico. He had learned the French language in Haiti, and he now learned the Spanish of Mexico. And every year-end holiday we drove all the way from Illinois to Mexico City. And then to Acapulco, which was then, in an undeveloped state.

The Mexicans were friendly, and enjoyed our company - and we enjoyed theirs.

Back then, Mexicans (those wealthy enough to own cars) could easily cross the border and get jobs in the US, And Americans could easily retire, and live cheaply in Mexico. Neither side demonized the other.

This situation deteriorated later, as I found out when I landed in a Mexican jail, and was deported from the country. Mexicans were determined to rid their country of the hippies that were polluting their culture.

He Married a Constructive Woman, I Married a Destructive One

It may sound strange to you, to hear me talk of romantic relationships in ethical terms. But I am not going to back down, and settle for less.

I am reading Principles: Life and Work, and I can recommend it - knowing you will probably not bother to read it.

He made his fortune, treating the markets like a machine - writing algorithms that described how they worked, and then betting on them. Sometimes disastrously.

But more than that, he became personally involved with the people in these markets - the farmers who grew the corn and soybeans to feed the livestock, the slaughter houses that processed these animals, and the supermarkets who sold the meat to the consumer. Each step in the chain had its own internal logic. And putting them all together, was an art as much as a science.

Careful not to have Another Seizure

After my last one, I do not want another. And I have found I can take it easy, in many ways.

For example, a new laptop is available for me to pick up in Cartago, the nearest large town. I got a real bargain when I bought this from Amazon (for $200) and I am eager to try it out.

Part of me wants to go today. But a wiser part of me, says Monday will be soon enough. I can make do with the defective one I have, a little longer.

Masa

Masa is corn flour, and the basic ingredient in many Latino foods, such as Tortillas.

Water is added to the corn flour to make a dough, and that is formed into the desired shape,

Wheat flour can be used to make bread, but corn flour cannot. And this results in a different kind of cuisine.

Reflecting on the #GoogleWalkout lawsuits

Medium

We welcome today’s shareholder lawsuits, and are grateful to those who brought them. Among other things, the lawsuits claim that by covering for and rewarding known sexual abusers such as Andy Rubin and Amit Singhal, Google’s Board of Directors and others in Google leadership abdicated their fiduciary duty to Google as a whole and weakened the company by driving away qualified employees.

Does this mean Silicon Valley is becoming more Ethical? Maybe, and it's about time. 

Capitalism and the Computer

I got to see how these tried to work together, when I worked in Silicon Valley in the Nineties. And I could see for myself, what a struggle this was.

Everyone was saying, as loudly as they could "No problem here!" When huge problems were staring them in the face. And they have not gone away. 

The basic struggle was this - Data wanted to be Free, but companies wanted to charge for it,

The prime example of this was Facebook, that everyone was using, but was robbing them blind.

Facebook users had a simple solution for this problem - ignore it, and it will go away. If they don't see a problem, it does not exist!

And they elected a President who has the same attitude - ignore the facts, and they will go away!

The Computer made Better Writing Possible

The Computer and the Internet together.

The first thing I noticed, when I started taking programming courses, was that the Computer was a natural writing instrument. You could write anything you wanted, as fast as you wanted. And delete anything you didn't want. 

The Internet lets you save anything you wrote in the Cloud - permanently. 

And it keeps getting better - it spell-checks for you. And with GitHub you can keep track of the versions of any text document. And with Block Chain, you can be sure it never gets corrupted. 

An Audible Book slows the reading down, to make a more natural experience. 

Kindle Books exist in a condensed form. I have a huge Kindle library, that I can read anytime I want expand them 

All of this stuff is free! 

Advantages to using the CAJA

The CAJA is Costa Rica's public health system. It is based mainly on numerous local clinics, called EBAIS. Every little town has one, where its people can get free medical care. They are backed up by regional hospitals, that provide care for every medical condition - although the waiting list for many conditions may take years.

If a woman needs an Xray of a Breast, she is better served by one of the numerous clinics that surround every hospital - for a reasonable charge.

The same is true when someone dies in a hospital - there are also numerous Funeral homes, priced to fit every budget.

I pay about $50 a month for my CAJA medical insurance. My brother and his wife, in the US, pay $500 each! The care they get is better, but not that much better.

Problem Solving

I am biased in favor of this human activity. It seems to me, if a person solves a problem, no matter what it is - he is a good person. Clearly a value judgement.

I have to struggle, to find an example where solving a problem is harmful. Although it is not hard to find examples were some people benefit from the solving of a problem, and other people are harmed.

But the usual response to thinking about this problem - is to refuse to think about it at all. And this, I have to say, strikes me as dead wrong. But very common.

Software Development gives us plenty of examples, where our thinking can be tested. It provides plenty of examples of solutions to problems, that benefit some people, but not others.

Software companies are obsessed with Data. Because it can be used to make money. If you know how people behave, you can tailor your products to make them more profitable. This may, or may not benefit the user of these products.

This is a subtle shift in the move  from Hardware to  Software. Few thought to question whether the users of the Railroads benefited from them. They had to use them, and adapted themselves as best they could. Often, quite well.
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With Software, they can see more clearly who benefits from it, and how it effects them, Or at least some people can - and software companies know this and are nervous about it.

There is a huge disagreement in the Computer Industry over ethics. They all want to proclaim how ethical they are - but say little about what they mean by that, or how they go about this.

I am taking an online course now, that explains how Google uses Machine Learning. It is interesting, and shows how Google uses it to its advantage - and to the advantage of its customers, such as the Blogger app I am using to write with right now.

I am Socially Sensitive

This was brought home to me today, when I went with Ray to get my Cedula renewed. Ray did all the work, and I just sat there, and watched what was going on. But I ended up exhausted!

When I am in a dysfunctional environment, I become dysfunctional myself!

The only solution for me, is to go somewhere else. 

Women's Rights

Women have been treated unfairly for thousands of years, ever since we became civilized. An event that somehow gave an unfair advantage to men.

There has been lots of speculation about how and why this happened, but no speculation at all, about the fact that it has happened.

The only question remaining is what to do about it now. And here we have to be realistic, and acknowledge the tremendous power women have always had, and still have.

Here I have to speak carefully, because I can be easily misinterpreted. But I might as well start with the facts - women have dominated both sides of my family for generations. And when I was married, my wife dominated me,

They sometimes allowed their men to appear to be in control - but this appearance was only superficial.  And both sides knew it. When either side forgot this, bad things happened.

In my case, my wife had a mental breakdown, terminated our marriage - and later killed herself,

Plenty of bad things.

What Software Developers, could learn from Me

This morning What DevOps Taught Us in 2018 pushed its way into my crowded inbox.

DevOps means that you are willing to change fast, develop fast, test fast, fail fast, recover fast, learn fast, and push the products fast to the market. The primary goal of DevOps is simple: Ship software updates frequently, reliably, and with better quality and moreover, DevOps is a mental model transformation of the entire organization for better organizational agility...

Great! But what does this do for all the people this technology is supposed to be serving? Not much. They have been left out of the algorithms, these clever guys guys have designed. 

I don't have to tell you what the solution for this, it's so obvious - put people back in those algorithms! 

My Body is Boss

And I can even make a stronger statement than that - the stronger parts of my body are boss over the weaker parts.

Right now, my left hand is stronger that my right hand, so I am using it more.

But a more important distinction operates between my mind and my body. My mind has to be smart enough to know when it is weaker than my body (which is fairly common, as I get older) and not push it to do more.

I am reading The Righteous Mind, and it has convinced me, that my body is righteous, and my mind cannot overcome this. When my body feels that certain behaviors are righteous, my mind must agree with it.

I did not say my mind will probably agree with it - I said my my mind must agree with it.

Being Smart, Being Good, and Not Being at All

The advantages of being smart, but not being good - are well-known. And this is one of the problems of Capitalism.

The latest, successful technologies give those who adopt them - huge advantages over those, who do not. And one of those advantages, is it allows them to bypass moral considerations.

This problem is well-known, and has resisted any solution. But a far bigger problem, in my opinion, is a solution that is popular, but not well-recognized - not being.

This gives its practitioners a huge advantage - they cannot be held responsible for anything that happens, especially bad things.

They are moral robots, that can be used by the powers that be - whatever they are.

That last of these technologies - is the Computer, with its networks, the Internet and the Cellular. That have merged in the Phone, that is now seen everywhere in the world!

What is the power behind this?

This is not hard to discern - money, or capitalism in another form. A person, with their Phone in their hand, is a direct extension of that power.

Money is talking through them. And it is so easy to use, no thinking is required at all!

In America, this is what is behind the Presidency of Trump. A man who cannot think, but only react emotionally to circumstances.

There is a parallel in Software Design - called React. The objects in this ecosystem, respond to whatever messages are sent to them. These responses, can include desirable social responses - if that is programmed into them.

But this is not being done very much, because it is not profitable - it does not make money for the organizations who employ the programmers.

In the short run, that is - but the long run is not even considered.

In Times of Great Change, People go Crazy

And the time of great change in our time, was the 19th and 20th Centuries. Although in the beginning of the 21st, things seem to be speeding up again.

Things have gotten worse, while people's awareness of these changes has reached an all-time low.

I keep up with the latest changes in Software, with what what we call Artificial Intelligence (AI). This is making our Software more aware - even as the people using it are becoming less aware.

Something is not right here - and that something is a big something.

Consider our attitude toward Global Warming. We know it is happening, and we know what its results will be - a rise in the level of the oceans. But we are not interested in this, because it will not happen for a hundred years, long after we are dead! We say "Let the people alive then deal with it. It's none of our business!"

Does this sound strange to you?

One of our attributes as thinking beings - was our recognition of causation. Once we abandon that, what do we have left?

Not much.

Welcome to your National Cathedral

Washington National Cathedral

All you little churches (such as the church my family belongs to) are facing some intense competition.

The Cathedral is spending lots of money advertising itself, and it wants your attention and attendance.

Joseph Smith was Crazy

But crazy in a way, that attracted people to him. People who thought he had a special relationship with God (they thought he was Prophet of God) and who made his writings sacred scripture. His craziness increased as he got older, and resulted in his death at the hands of an angry mob, in 1844, when he was still a young man.

His followers scattered, and ended up many places - the largest number in Utah, under the leadership of Brigham Young, After making an epic journey across the Rocky Mountains - the longest in religious history (the LDS). A smaller church, the RLDS, was formed under his oldest son, Joseph Smith III. And this was the church my family belonged to.

JSIII was a capable leader, in that he shared power with rich farmers, who owned the church, financially. Under their direction, the church moved from Plano, Illinois to Lamoni, Iowa, to Independence, Missouri, He was content with a active missionary program, that increased the church membership - under him.

Many of these new members came from Australia, and they formed the core of the active church leadership after his death.

Mitt Romney is in the News again

He is the new Senator  from Utah, and a Republican, no surprises there.

He is critical of Trump, no surprise there either.

What no one has mentioned, so far - is that he is a Mormon, and a high-ranking Mormon at that. He is not just speaking for himself, but the Mormon church also.

Ethereum Blockchain as a Service now on Azure

Microsoft

Microsoft is on to something here. And they explain why very nicely.

Los Angeles is an Undeveloped Country in the US

Every large town in every undeveloped country, is doing its best to emulate LA. Complete with Rich neighborhoods, and slums,

And a complete disregard for human values. 

Frank was Glad to Hear, I had a Seizure

And he probably wished me, many more.

Frank is an American, whose parents have a lot of money, and bought an hotel for him, in my hometown of Orosi, Costa Rica.

He is a bad guy, and proud of it.

WWII was Won by the USSR

I saw this for myself, when I was a college student working in a gold mine, in Nome, Alaska in the Fifties.

The Mining Company had its offices in what had been a Soviet airport during the War. The Russian lettering was still visible over the doors. Airplanes were built in California and Texas, in huge numbers, and then flown to this airport, and turned over to Soviet pilots. Who used them in their war with the Nazis.

How they got the oil for this war, I have no idea. Oil was still a problem in the Fifties, and acres were littered with empty oil drums. Later, oil was found, and a lot of it - in Alaska and the Soviet Union, and pipelines were built to transport it. But that was in the Sixties, twenty years later.

They can be Nice People, without Actually Doing anything

i just bought a Pupusa from a family who had immigrated from El Salvador, where pupusas had been invented. I was glad to support them, by buying their deluxe model for about $1.50. It was delicious!

Meanwhile, a local family were watching this go on - smiling broadly, but buying nothing.

What was going on in their heads?

The Greatest Sales Deck I’ve Ever Seen

The Mission Daily

I have never been in Sales, and never will be - but this is a good story. In fact, a religious story. 

I wish I had heard it earlier in my life, when I could have acted on it.

Ignore the photo of the guy in the white suit.

Technical People do not Like People

I cannot explain this - I can only assert that it has happened, and is still happening.

And that is was one of the effects of the Industrial Revolution, that I was born into. And which I did not care for.

My solution was a radical one - I left the US and moved to Costa Rica. And I am not going back.

The Big Thing, back in the States, is Artificial Intelligence (AI) that I have been watching closely.

I am sitting here, in my pajamas, in from of my Laptop, that has two WiFi Internet connections. Learning how Google does this.
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AI is amazing, no question about that. But it is not making people any better. And this point is a tricky one, that is hard to explain.

It helps people solve their problems better. But their most important problems can never be solved. Such as how to get along with other people.