My job

I think, in ten years or so, software development will be done in the way project management is done now: as a marshaling of resources rather than the craftwork that currently defines it. The resources will mostly be machine intelligence, bent to the task of mapping fuzzily-defined specifications into executable code. There’ll be a few old crutzers still building things by hand, but such bespoke work will be expensive, and valued more for the aesthetic appeal than the practical benefit.

Ian’s skill set will be much more relevant than mine at that point.

Premature optimism

Debbie Dingell is worried.

Godfrey: What could Trump do to change things up and win your district in November?

Dingell: I got yesterday, from somebody, something called a confession. [Editor’s note: It was a viral, anonymous social-media post.] I used to think I was pretty much just a regular person. But I was born white into a two-parent household, which now labels me as privileged, racist, and responsible for slavery. I’m a fiscal and moral conservative, which by today’s standards makes me a fascist because I plan a budget. But I now find out that I’m not here because I earned it, but because I was advantaged … I think and I reason, and I doubt much of what the mainstream media tells me, which makes me a right-wing conspiracy nut. I’m proud of my heritage and our inclusive American culture. It makes me a xenophobe.

That’s what I’m worried about. This letter right here is what worries me.

(from https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/07/debbie-dingell-doesnt-believe-polls/614428/)

Tiresome

Getting tired of hearing state reps from around the country whining about how they did the right thing, but the virus infections are going back up. The virus doesn’t care. You can follow recommendations, or not. Recommendations represent everything from our current best guess at how to deal with the problem to politically motivated bullshit. No panacea. Virus doesn’t care which you do.

The plague state

The aspect of inequality I am concerned about is the fortunate group evading any need to address the problems of the world, because they can use their money and power to insulate themselves from the effects: climate, crime, housing shortages, …

But not this, apparently. Hope springs eternal.

https://www.thelocal.it/20200703/treated-like-criminals-italian-police-turn-away-american-tourists-arriving-by-private-jet