Author Archives: Ron Bieber

Explaining Source Control

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Photo by rbieber

So many things can have to be changed when switching hosting providers that sometimes code branching is the best answer (DUH). Here’s my feeble attempt at trying to explain the process during one such move. This actually went on for months, with me merging privately and creating builds for testing.

This was the final branching plan, once I knew everything would merge properly and I was asked to get everyone comfortable.

This is from sometime around 2002.

From the Bieber Labs archives … diagram compliments of Dia.

Books: Gods Debris by Scott Adams

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God's Debris : A Thought Experiment Over a two week Christmas break, one of the books I picked up was God’s Debris : A Thought Experiment by Scott Adams. I had heard about it on the Daily Source Code where Adam Curry mentioned it extremely briefly, basically just saying that it was an interesting book and really made you think. Given that description, and the fact that the book was something that looked like something I could read in a couple of hours (which I did) I picked it up. I’ve been meaning to post something up about it ever since, so here it is.

I was expecting “Dilbert-like” humour through the book, but this is not a Dilbert book. Instead it is a metaphorical journey down the path of one mans enlightenment while performing his job delivering packages. As he is working he happens upon an old sage that he is delivering a package to who begins a conversation with him that lasts for hours over things like religion, philosophy, probability and the existence of free will.

The book reminded me a lot of one of my favorite books, The Adventures of Anybody by Richard Bandler, mainly due to the structure and the pretty deep and thought provoking subject matter. Its a really well written book that is a breeze to read through and really gets you thinking well after you’ve closed the book.

I found the writing style to be extremely engaging, and Scott presents the concepts covered in a very easy to understand way, through the eyes of someone being taught the concepts. Adams is also cautionary in the introduction, pointing out that the ideas in the book are not his, except “by coincedence in a few spots not worth mentioning”. He also points out that the book should not be read by those under 14, and those over 55 may not enjoy it because it introduces some new ideas. Some of these ideas are pretty bizarre, but extremely interesting to think about. Finally, it should be pointed out that he is not presenting any of the philosophical ideas as fact, but as a vehicle to get you thinking. For me at least, he succeeded.

This book is quite a departure for the man that gave us Dilbert, but its a welcome departure. I really enjoyed the journey presented in the book and would encourage you to pick up the book and give it a read. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, as long as you don’t take what is said too seriously and take it for what it is.

Food for thought.

news @ nature.com – Web users judge sites in the blink of an eye – Potential readers can make snap decisions in just 50 milliseconds.

Aside

Web users judge sites in the blink of an eye – Potential readers can make snap decisions in just 50 milliseconds. – From the article: “The discovery came as a surprise to some experts. “My colleagues believed it would be impossible to really see anything in less than 500 milliseconds,” says Gitte Lindgaard of Carleton University in Ottawa”. One question. Any of these guys read Blink?