People are always talking about making lists of adventurous things they'd like to accomplish during their lifetime. Here's my list, and what follows are notes about what I'm currently up to.
Added to list: 100 mile diet for 100 daysJuly 23, 2008
Last night Meredith and I had our small group over for a potluck meal, and as we considered what to do for our time together in the fall, someone had a great idea: Attempt the
100 mile diet for 100 days. Wow.
We decided to start on Feb. 15 2009 to give ourselves time to read the book and plan, and that would make the end date the annual Mennonite Relief Sale. We have all sorts of other ideas in terms of fund raising for the church's building fund by hosting a 100 mile dinner, etc., as well as fund raising for the relief sale.
It's all a little scary at this point, but I'm excited. It should be lots of fun and an amazing learning opportunity!
I think this might be my first "group" thing in my list of 99 things. I'm looking forward to it.
Added to list: Make wild blueberry jam in Killarney Provincial ParkJuly 23, 2008
While in Killarney last weekend I was amazed to discover an abundance of wild blueberries. I guess I've usually been there in the fall, so I've never noticed. We picked about a half quart at the top of Silver Peak and made blueberry pancakes the next morning. Wonderful!
Then I had a great idea: Bring along some pectin and pick a few quarts at the top of Silver Peak and make fresh wild blueberry jam in Killarney! I can't wait! :)
The Next Big LanguageJune 10, 2008
I read an interesting
blog post tonight, and it looks like I've found a
blog that is my cup of tea. A guy who's really interested in programming languages and has lots of commentary.
The post about NBL (the fabled "Next Big Language") was interesting. Part of what got my attention was the assertation that basically everyone who attempts to create NBL "will almost certainly fail". And he's right.
But that shouldn't discourage people, because the point of developing a programming language shouldn't be to create NBL -- at the very most, it should be to develop new ideas, which some day have an impact on a later NBL. Here are some of my reasons for developing a programming language:
1. | Love: For me, it's because it's something that is a lot of fun. It's mostly the journey, not the destination, that makes it worth while. |
2. | Ideas: The impetus for creating a new language should be giving your ideas a place to grow and flurish. Creating NBL is less about new ideas and more about "not sucking", which means your language has to adhere to a long list of qualities which involves many thousands of hours of work. |
3. | Personality: We're all different, and part of life is finding ways to express what makes you uniquely you. The point of writing a book isn't to create "the best book ever", it's to give your inner voice a medium to express itself, to make something that is unique and beautiful, and representative of who you were made to be. That's not unlike authoring a programming language. |
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