The World Wide Waste

I have a couple roommates that are not taking classes or working this semester.  Most of their time is spent playing video games, watching TV, or surfing the web.  All of these activities can be highly addictive.  Because there is always some sort of entertainment running in my apartment, I often find myself sucked in to some of these activities, even though I try to elude them and do homework instead.  It is not only important to avoid addiction, but also to place yourself in an environment where you aren't bombarded with reasons to procrastinate.  Avoid situations that make it harder to achieve your goals.

Paid Volunteers

Many open source projects are developed solely by volunteers.  Projects are enhanced when these volunteers have time to spend on the project.  On the other hand, some open source projects are funded by companies.  These projects have full-time developers working on the software.  A couple examples of this are Firefox, which is funded mostly by Google, and the popular Linux distrobution, Fedora, which is funded by Red Hat.  These full-time developers can ensure that the project grows at a steady pace.

The idea behind open source is volunteers contributing to the cause.  As more open source projects become successful, more companies may turn to the open source business model and pay developers to work on their open source projects.  When developers are paid for their work, then volunteers are less likely to contribute.  Will this shift from volunteers to paid developers be good for open source software, or is it a step closer to proprietary software?

World of Warcraft Debate

Copywoes

If you find a CD on the ground and pick it up, you are suddenly responsible for knowing what kind of copyright the contents of that CD are under.  You might be violating the copyright laws just because you picked up the CD.  To prevent such an atrocious act, instead of printing the band and album name on a CD we should print the copyright information.  Before you touch a CD you can ensure that doing so will not be a criminal act.  Instead of saying "Hey, have you heard Mayday Parade's new album?", we can say "Hey, have you heard that new CD under copyright version 10.2.3?"

Under Pressure

Women shouldn't be pressured to enter technical fields because they are at a low percentage in those fields.  Often students are forced into engineering or mathematics, even if they hate the subject, because those fields are viewed as more prestigious and better paying.  Parents will often coerce their children to enter the field they are in (or wish they were in).  Women, like men, should be encouraged to enter a field that they enjoy, not forced to enter a field they hate.  A small salary cut is worth loving your profession.

Getting on the Bandwagon

An increasing number of people, both members and non-members, have become interested in family history work.  Elijah has clearly turned the hearts of the children to their fathers.  Due, in part, to this shift in our hearts, new tools have made finding ancestors easier than ever.  Those of us who haven't tried family history work, maybe we should find out what all the fuss is about.

A Blessing and a Curse

Computers can help us be more efficient, but they can quickly become a distraction.  Sometimes we become so preoccupied with task management software that we spend more time planning our work than actually doing it.  Other times we surf the web and forget what our goal was.  If computers are distracting, the next time you write a paper try using a pen.

Sifting Through the Junk

Garages are typically crammed with junk. We resist discarding this junk to prevent missing it in the future.  A beautiful house isn't littered with old newspapers that might someday be read.  Similarly, well-kept programs don't have large chunks of unused code.  Programs frequently receive new features, yet features that have become obsolete are rarely eliminated.  We need to overcome this fear of deletion in order to streamline our programs.