Thursday, January 13, 2011

Dave Interviewing Dave

"So, now that you've almost reached forty-seven years of age, I'd like to ask you what your thoughts are on certain topics.  Would that interest you?"

"Sure"

Ok, then.  What do you see as the biggest joys in life right now?

My wife and kids.  My health.  My dog. Good food.  Good wine and beer.  A good movie.  A good book (on my Kindle, of course). Bicycling and hiking. Programming.

What would say are your biggest turn-offs?

Irrelevant opinions.  Blame.  Apathy.  Condescention. Extremism of any kind.

If you could fix one thing in your life, what would it be?

I'd eliminate my student loan balance.

What do you look forward to each day?

Feeling good.  Being happy and making people around me happy.

If you could fix one thing in the world, what would it be?

I'd make it so everyone would listen to everyone else.  And I mean listen.  Not just hearing.  Not partially either.  Everything they say.  Giving it thought.  Understanding it and being convivial in response.  That alone would eliminate most fighting, arguing, killing, wars, crime, and so on.

What kind of music do you like?

Any kind.  Well, I enjoy a wide range of music.  Mostly because I was a full-time musician for a few years.  So I'm happy with Shostokovich, Zappa, Korn, Dylan, Cash, Tool, Zeppelin, Stravinsky, Montgomery, Beck (both of them), Cake, Ozzy, Van Halen (not Van Hagar!), Coltrane, Hancock, The Who, The Stones, Bizkit, Linkin, Debussy, Schubert, Corea, Monk, and Mickey Hart.

Any music you don't like?

Kiss.  Eagles.  The Osmonds.  Jonas Brothers.  Michael Jackson.  Anything stupidly pop like Justin what's-his-face.

What books do you like?

Too many to name.  Same for movies.

What programming languages are you most comfortable with?

That depends on what you call a "programming language".  For me, it's VBscript, KiXtart, SQL, Javascript, CMD, PHP, CSS, WMI/WBEM/WQL, in that order.  I would have put LISP at the front, but those days are gone now.  Same goes for C++, Java and C#.  I just don't use them anymore.

What are your political leanings?

I hate politics and anyone who opens their mouth to talk about politics.  It's mental masturbation that solves nothing, infuriates and instigates for no purpose, and does nothing but divide people and perpetuate animosity.  Nobody reads the facts, they listen to editorialized "news" pundits who spoon feed them puked up rhetoric to whip their fanbase into a ratings frenzy.  It never convinces anyone to "change sides", so it only does a circle-jerk with like-minded simpletons, or pisses off the non-believers.  It's non-productive.  There is zero value-add.  If you want to vote, and it makes you feel good to vote: go vote.  Then STFU.

Same for religion?

Yep.

What do you see of technology in the future?

Just read any decent sci-fi book.

What trends do you see shaping the software development industry?

More commercialization and less free-thinking.  More government and corporate control over online services, online activity, online exposure.  Less innovation on a personal level, more at the business and government end.  The wild west is on its way out.  It was sure a lot of fun while it lasted.

What technologies do you feel were shamefully overlooked or under appreciated by either their owners or the consumer?

OS/2 Warp.  LISP.  Thin clients.  Web TV (although it's undergoing a rebirth, as are tablets). Nuclear power.  Self-driven cars.

What are the biggest lies you've heard?

Anything where the sentence that follows it is "you can't afford not to."  Also, any of the following statements:

"I have an open mind."

"I'm not prejudiced."

"I respect all religions."

Why the last one?

Because I've never known anyone who says that who even knows all of the religions in this world and what they represent.  It's like saying "I like all food from everywhere."  I say "Really? Even raw monkey brains?"

What are your religious views?

I'm probably a Deist.  Go look that up.  I keep forgetting what it means, but I know that most of the American "founding fathers" called themselves 'Deists' so they can't be all that bad.  If that doesn't work, I'd call myself "lazy".

What's your favorite sound in the world?

The sound of children laughing.

What's your least favorite sound?

It's a tie between people yelling at each other, and my neighbor's dog barking all night.

What's your favorite curse word?

Fuck.

What words turn you off?

When someone says "You know what I mean?" after every sentence.

What do you like most about working with technology?

Exploring the ways it can help people.  Either by saving them time, or improving what they do.  Empowering them to get more done with less effort in less time.  I love to automate things.  Building things and watching them run on their own.  It stems from my youth and endless hours with Lego kits.

What do you dislike most about working with technology?

Dealing with people that don't understand it, or those who try to marginalize it.  Impeding progress.  Inserting needless protocol into places where the cogs of the machine would work fine without their wrench being tossed in.  Human politics.  I also despise myths and false propaganda.  FUD.

What things do you find most amazing?

Phi (1.618).  Innovative minds like Einstein, I.K. Brunel, Jonas Salk, Beethoven, Mozart, Frank Zappa, Anders Hejlsberg, I.M. Pei, Jonathon Ive, Hunter S. Thompson, Isaac Asimov.  Women.  Sunsets.  How so many isolated cultures discovered alcohol on their own.  Most of what I see on Discovery Channel.

Anything else?

Yes.  Why anyone bothers reading anything that I write.

1 comment:

Randy said...

This is great. I wish you were in charge! Common sense...

And Autodesk - damn! I just know, hidden in those walls, that somewhere a smooth, intelligent, somewhat crash-proof software is out there.