Steve's Seaside Life

Daily Archive: May 15, 2005

All Posts

Software Engineering – IT Conversations

Listen here.  I really enjoyed this wide ranging interview with Philip Greenspun, Philip has had the same MIT email address since the age of 13, and he’s had a profound yet subtle impact on many software developers. His 1999 book, Philip and Alex’s Guide to Web Publishing, was an inspiration to many programmers writing server-side code on Unix/Linux platforms. It was one of the first to be published both as a free download and as a traditional book. (Filled with color photos, printed on high-quality coated stock, and weighing in at 3.5 pounds it was also the first computer coffee-table book.)

In this interview with IT Conversations’ host Doug Kaye, Philip describes the evolution of his attitudes towards software engineering as manifested in Philip and Alex’s Guide and his latest book, Software Engineering for Internet Applications, for a course at MIT where “the goal of the course is that the student finishes knowing how to build Amazon.com by him or herself.” (That must be one heck of a semester!)

There were two topics I particularly remember;  first Philip describes how he was convinced that his company needed venture capital investment, even though it was growing rapidly and highly profitable.  The …

All Posts

Role change weekend

HouseworkAs I work from home I tend to make sure I do my share of the housework.  My normal daily jobs include:

  • tidying the bedrooms
  • making the beds
  • washing, drying and putting away the clothes

Well Debbie and I have been finding our respective daily tasks a bit of a grind, so on Friday we decided that we would swap jobs every weekend.  So this weekend I have been:

  • making all of the meals
  • setting the table
  • clearing the table, washing up, drying and putting away the pots

it’s been a great success, I have loved not having to do my jobs, and really enjoyed my new weekend jobs.  By Sunday I had change the routine and made it a lot more organised and peaceful and had written up (stephie laminated for me) a crib sheet that tells me all of the kids favorite meals, vegetables, fruit, drinks etc, as with 4 kids  I am always forgetting  Hopefully a weeks break from them will mean I enjoy these tasks every weekend, as they say “a change is as good as a rest”.