Scott Hanselman

I'm going to be posting a number of book reviews this week as I used a chunk of the weekend while Z slept to catch up on my reading. Some'll be technical, some not.

I've just finished a haunting book called kindred by the amazing and prolific Octavia Butler. This is the 25th anniversary edition from 2004 - this book was written in 1979.

The premise is that Dana, a modern Black woman, is called back to the early 19th century to save the life of a white ancestor. In the present her husband is White and at one point is pulled back with her. The dynamics of their relationship change dramatically as it is assumed that she is a recently enslaved freewoman from the North travelling with her owner (in fact her husband.)

Their relationship is tested as they are forced to live dramatically different lives. Most painfully to watch is how quickly and believably they slip into their expected roles, that of slave and slave owner. As an interracial couple they've typically swept awareness of their differing ethnicities under the rug, but those differences and associated race memories are pulled to the forefront when the extraordinary circumstances drag on.

There are sadly few books to compare this to, although the language has similar texture to that found in The Intuitionist. (Another racial allegory that I recommend, using science fiction and alternate reality to explore difficult questions.)

I would suggest this book to nearly anyone, but especially young people over 15-16 of any race, as long as a parent, mentor or book group that is well-versed in the time period can help some of the deeper nuances. I really would have enjoyed teaching this book at the high-school level either for Social Studies, History or English Literature. I took a number of Black Studies classes in college, did some teaching/tutoring, and looked into the PSU Black Studies major when computers found me. Perhaps one day I will teach again.

This is a fantastically powerful book and well worth the read. My next Octavia Bulter book will be Dawn.

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

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A little trick that I like to use when I install Firefox on a family member's computer is having multiple homepages.
In FireFox from Tools|Options|General, enter in the homepages you want, separated by pipes "|".

This will make the day of spouses, parents, great uncles and cousins who only visit three or four sites a day. Rather than trying to teach them the wonders of RSS, just show them how tabbed browsing works and send them on their merry way.

The WAF on this tip is high.

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

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We just upgraded to a rocking sweet new printer, but I just didn't feel right throwing the old Canon S300 away. It had become totally useless, unable to print black and yellow.

The printer was only a $50 printer and the local printer place said they'd repair it by soaking the print head for, you guessed it, $50. No way, says I. Instead I got a small plastic container and a bottle of isopropyl alcohol and soaked the print head (minus ink) overnight.

Amazingly, the printer has been brought back from the dead and prints better now than in years. I took it to my office and replaced the old Canon BJ200ex at work with my shiny new-to-me-at-work S300 Color.

New printer at home, well-loved printer at work and now an orphaned B&W inkjet on my shelf...gotta find a home for that...

Isn't recycling of techie equipment great? I just can't stand to throw anything away if it can be put to some use.

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

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We are looking to add a Senior Software Developer to our Consumer Banking team here at Corillian.  Are you "just the right person"?  If you are, then you fit the following description:

You know web development inside and out and can explain the HTTP protocol and HTML to your mother.

You have deep expertise with development using Microsoft ASP.NET.  You know the page event model, the control event model and the difference between a HTTPModule and a HTTPHandler and when each makes sense.

You understand how DOM and SAX parsers function, how XML schema works and how it is fundamentally different than database schema.

You know that TDD really means "write the test first"
 
You know how to read code, not just write code.

You are prepared to do what it takes to deliver value to the customer.

You work with others in an environment that encourages new ideas and improvement.

You have experience using a source control tool other than VSS.

You are willing to live in Portland, OR.  (To be a part of our team, you have to be here.  No telecommuting.)

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

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Wow, this post really nailed it. Sometimes I read a post and wish I'd written it and this is one of them.

Here's a choice bit:

With the amount of crap being vomited up by his Ethernet connection -- all day, every day -- it's tough to walk away from the spigot for fear that he'll return to waist-deep water. Ethan reads his mail in real-time to avoid being greeted by a hundred-message pile-up when he gets back from lunch. Bringing the computer with you is the only way to keep up. [greg @ an entirely other day]

Here's my pending life:

• Voice-mail messages at work: 2
• Voice-mail messages at home: 9
• Voice-mail messages on my cell: 3
• SMS messages on my cell: 5
• Hours of television on the DVR: 17
• E-mail messages at home: 525
• E-mail messages at work: 67 (I was at 0 last week...)
• Items in my feed reader: 4929
• Books on my nightstand: 23
• Active Projects at Work: 6
• Active Projects at Home: 9
• Homes Pending Sale: 1

Go read the post, then, if you feel like it, change your life. I think it's time for a large garbage sack and a little Ctrl-A, Del action...

Now, to be clear Getting Things Done works, but one of the risks of gaining the ability to filter lots of information is the psychic weight of all the worlds information. Folks start a new personal system of organization into order to handle some amount, x, of life that is coming at them. When that number x becomes x^2 the need to filter and when singing the refrain Do It, Defer It, Delegate It, Drop It, the Drop It part becomes especially important. 

Don't lose track of what's important. As much as it may pain me, I think I'll have to miss this week's Grey's Anatomy and probably not read the pending feed items this week.

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

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