Browse: Page 6
By J. Timothy King on June 20, 2013
44! Don’t stop me now!
Photo © 2008 Jesus Solana CC BY 2.0
Today, I turn 44 years old.
I’ve already got two big birthday presents. The first is that today is the first day after the last day I have to drive my Firstborn to school this year. (Yay! School’s out!) It’s the changing of the season, which always excites me.
The other big birthday present I got is a small wad of cash someone hid in one of my birthday cards. And I’m going to use it to buy a new hard drive for this laptop I’m typing on, because it was running slow, and so I ran a self-test on the drive last night and discovered that it’s on the verge of failing. (Sheesh!)
But I would love more birthday presents!
The biggest gift you could give me, frankly, would be to post a short review of one (or both) of my inspirational ebooks: Continue reading “Happy Birthday to Me!”
Posted in A Gentile Dwelling in the Land of Messiah, About Tim King, Books, Love through the Eyes of an Idiot | Tagged birthdays, gifts |
By J. Timothy King on June 19, 2013
“I want to believe.”
Photo © 2008 Sunny Ripert CC BY-SA 2.0
This is part 4 in my series of how the Mac reminded me why I fell in love with software development, and why it still matters.
While reading Andy Hertzfeld’s anecdotes (and those of his colleagues) of designing the original Macintosh computer, I was inspired, inspired to take account of my own passions, the passions that these stories reminded me of. Today, I continue that list:
-
I love to create new patterns. I love solving problems through discovery, inventing that which has never existed before. (From part 1.)
-
I love applying principles in new ways. I love working with abstractions, and turning them into concrete expression. I love challenging the status quo, breaking through the limits of what everyone else says is “possible.” (From part 2.)
-
I love achieving status through collaboration, which is compassionate conflict. I am not a baboon. I do not achieve a sense of status by beating up (literally or figuratively) on my colleagues and friends. But I do expect to be recognized for the ideas I bring to the table, and I want to be taken seriously. (From part 3.)
-
I love moving in the right direction. I believe in making the world a better place, one step at a time, and that helps fulfill my need for purpose. Whatever I work on, it’s more than the work itself; it’s also how that work changes the bigger picture.
Continue reading “State-of-the-Art Computer Folklore (part 4)”
Posted in Confessions of a Veteran Software Developer, Software Development, Stories, True Stories | Tagged Apple, computers, history, Macintosh, software engineering |
By J. Timothy King on June 18, 2013
“Graduationâ€
Photo © 2004 Scott Jungling CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
While writing my latest post in the “Computer Folklore” series, I went off on a bit of a tangent. And I had to delete several paragraphs of story in order to get back on track.
The post is going to be all about how important it is for me to find meaning in my work. And how easily the work can completely fall apart if this need is not met.
I’ve recently had to re-wrestle with this story, because I think I’ve failed the Jewish-Christian Relations course I’ve been taking. It was, in part, an experiment. The professor who was originally going to teach the class has never given a talk or written a paper I didn’t appreciate. It turns out, she couldn’t; and I had plenty of time to cancel or to transfer to a different course, but I figured I’d play out the story the way it was shaping up, just to see where it went. Continue reading “Why I Will Probably Never Earn a College Degree”
Posted in Stories, True Stories | Tagged college, MJTI |
By J. Timothy King on June 13, 2013
Links and things that I’ve run across recently.
The journey begins…
Walking in the Moment between Tick and Tock: From Passover to Pentecost
“The journey from chaos to fulfillment begins…â€
On Tuesday, I assigned the ISBN for the eBook edition of Walking in the Moment Between Tick and Tock“: 978-0-9816925-6-2.
I told Bowker about it, so I’m committed now. I told them it was to be released on June 20, which happens to be my birthday.
I also put the book up on GoodReads.
All I have left is to finish up the formatting, then upload to Amazon, B&N, and Kobo. But I’m also giving away copies of the ebook with its launch, through Father’s Day and my Birthday and the beginning of Summer—the beginning of Party Season. So stay tuned.
The Truth about Bananas
Apropos of nothing, a couple of photos I happened across on Flickr: Continue reading “Bits & Pieces 2013-06-13”
Posted in A Gentile Dwelling in the Land of Messiah, Bits & Pieces, Books, Technology | Tagged David Ingber, Hebrew, Walking in the Moment between Tick and Tock, Yahoo!
By J. Timothy King on June 12, 2013
This is part 3 in my series of how the Mac reminded me why I fell in love with software development, and why it still matters.
While reading Andy Hertzfeld’s anecdotes (and those of his colleagues) of designing the original Macintosh computer, I was inspired, inspired to take account of my own passions, the passions that these stories reminded me of. Today, I continue that list:
“The Team Pair-programming”
Photo © 2005 Michael Caroe Andersen CC BY-NC 2.0
-
I love to create new patterns. I love solving problems through discovery, inventing that which has never existed before. (From part 1.)
-
I love applying principles in new ways. I love working with abstractions, and turning them into concrete expression. I love challenging the status quo, breaking through the limits of what everyone else says is “possible.” (From part 2.)
-
I love achieving status through collaboration, which is compassionate conflict. I am not a baboon. I do not achieve a sense of status by beating up (literally or figuratively) on my colleagues and friends. But I do expect to be recognized for the ideas I bring to the table, and I want to be taken seriously.
Continue reading “State-of-the-Art Computer Folklore (part 3)”
Posted in Confessions of a Veteran Software Developer, Software Development, Stories, True Stories | Tagged Apple, computers, history, Macintosh, software engineering
By J. Timothy King on June 6, 2013
Links and things that I’ve run across recently.
April Fools!
A couple months out of date…
From the April 1 Twitter blog:
Starting today, we are shifting to a two-tiered service: Everyone can use our basic service, Twttr, but you only get consonants. For five dollars a month, you can use our premium “Twitter†service which also includes vowels.
Unfortunately, the post had to be withdrawn from the Hebrew and Arabic versions of the site, because no one understood the joke.
(Not really. I made that last part up.) Continue reading “Bits & Pieces 2013-06-06”
Posted in Bits & Pieces, Technology, Twitter | Tagged April Fools, Bulletproof® coffee, David Kramer, love, Patrick Stewart, Robert Sapolsky, Sherry Riter, Tikkun Olam, violence
By J. Timothy King on June 5, 2013
This is part 2 in my series of how the Mac reminded me why I fell in love with software development, and why it still matters.
Remember 5¼″ floppy disks? And full-height floppy drives?
Photo © 2010 Rostislav Lisovy CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
While reading Andy Hertzfeld’s anecdotes (and those of his colleagues) of designing the original Macintosh computer, I was inspired, inspired to take account of my own passions, the passions that these stories reminded me of. Today, I continue that list:
-
I love to create new patterns. I love solving problems through discovery, inventing that which has never existed before. (From part 1.)
-
I love applying principles in new ways. I love working with abstractions, and turning them into concrete expression. I love challenging the status quo, breaking through the limits of what everyone else says is “possible.”
Ha! Continue reading “State-of-the-Art Computer Folklore (part 2)”
Posted in Confessions of a Veteran Software Developer, Software Development, Stories, True Stories | Tagged Apple, computers, EFG, history, Macintosh, software engineering
By J. Timothy King on June 3, 2013
Photo © 2013 epSos.de CC BY 2.0
Contentment makes poor men rich.
Discontent makes rich men poor.
Supposedly, Benjamin Franklin said that. I was unable, in my brief research, to confirm that these are actually the words of Benjamin Franklin. But it’s a good thought nonetheless.
I’ve written about this idea before, from a slightly different perspective, that our happiness is not primarily determined by our circumstances. Rather, to paraphrase the Apostle Paul: I can live in any circumstance, in any situation, whatever God calls me to.
Paul also addressed it from this side of the equation, in one of the most frequently misquoted lines from the New Testament: That money is the root of all evil… Except, of course, Paul never said that. Continue reading “The Love of Money”
Posted in Christianity, Inspiration, Judaism, Religion | Tagged encouragement, money |
By J. Timothy King on May 30, 2013
A couple weeks ago, I was reading through Andy Hertzfeld’s anecdotes at FolkLore.org, about how he and his colleagues developed the original Macintosh. These stories brought me back, first to nostalgic times, then to a nostalgic purpose. I remembered all the reasons I first fell in love with software development, many of which are also true of my writing, and I finally understood what I would need in order to rediscover that lost love.
(He’s also collected these stories in paperback: Revolution in The Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made.)
The Macintosh was originally a tiny research project tucked away in a corner of Apple, still riding off the success of the Apple II home computer. The project was always up for being canceled, but the people working on it believed in it, and believed that it would change the world. They were bringing features years ahead of their time to a “low end,” common man’s computer, inventing new technology in the process.
I started a list: Continue reading “State-of-the-Art Computer Folklore”
Posted in Confessions of a Veteran Software Developer, Software Development, Stories, True Stories | Tagged Apple, computers, Damon/IEC, history, innovation, Macintosh, software engineering |
By J. Timothy King on May 28, 2013
Walking in the Moment between Tick and Tock: From Passover to Pentecost
…at timk.me/walking
One reason I’ve been absent is because I’ve been working on a new book, a book that I’m now on the verge of releasing. (Exciting!)
Walking in the Moment between Tick and Tock a short, inspirational book (about ¼ the length of a full-size novel), looking at the period between Passover and Pentecost, between Pesach and Shavuot, integrating insights from both Christian and Jewish thinkers. It tells the story of these holidays as linked parts of the same narrative, two ends of a single span, and not as two independent holidays— I didn’t invent the idea, of course. But I found a number of profound insights connected with this idea.
Today’s double teaser from Walking in the Moment between Tick and Tock: From Passover to Pentecost: Continue reading “Teaser Tuesdays: Walking in the Moment between Tick and Tock”
Posted in A Gentile Dwelling in the Land of Messiah, Books, Christianity, Judaism, Religion, Teaser Tuesdays | Tagged Walking in the Moment between Tick and Tock |
