Many Hands Light Work

Whatever the area of work the principle is the same. More hands, more eyes, more minds equates to problems being solved. Looking more closely at open source programming, there are pros and cons. Pros outweighing the cons. Open source programming is a community coming together to solve a particular problem. The community is unlimited. Anyone in the world can contribute if they so desire. The con would be poor programming elements being mixed in from who know where. Solution is some level of organization that can mediate all the the code coming in. You can't check everything, but it wouldn't hurt.

Women and Computers

I am an undergraduate in the BYU Computer Science program and there are two or three girls in any high level cs course (junior or senior). There has been no outward discrimination. Everybody is different and has their own interests. Universities shouldn't worry about getting woman into a certain program, even if the numbers are low, they should brainstorm ways of getting more people into their program. Whether they be men or women it should not matter. Each person is different and has a different view to bring to the table.

Cuckoo and Hacking

I hate reading books for classes. The Cuckoo's Egg was an exception. I read it like a novel that I hand picked. It kept my attention even being somewhat repetitive in nature. Along with being interesting I learned some things that I can apply in my life. The subject of tracking a hacker is not to exciting a topic. Nothing really physical is happening to do so. The most was him biking to work if he got beeped at home. Its astounding how hard Cliff had to work to get any kind of support and help from the different agencies that were being directly affected. He kept on chugging along despite no help. A lot can be learned from Cliff's experience. Cliff was persistent at what he believed to be the right course of action even when those he directly worked with were not supportive. Also, he kept a log book. The book became essential to him being helped and then to publish what happened. There had been quite a few cases such as Cliff's but none had the same type of log. I know the importance of logging any aspect of life. Doesn't matter if it is personal, spiritual, work related, or a hobby. Logging what happens will be useful in whatever case it is applied. Another thing I learned was not to be obsessed. Cliff flirted with this line on occasion, but overall I think he did quite well in keeping balanced. He took time to spend with his partner and didn't obsess to the point of losing his job. While working to catch the hacker and putting that as a high priority he did not put it as his only priority. Life needs to be balanced no matter what is involved. I loved this book and would recommend it to any one else.