Why another blog? Don’t we have enough already? Isn’t the roaring din of the blogosphere plenty loud?
Some might say, “Yes. Enough is enough.”
Others might say, “There’s plenty of room, here, in the Oceanus Internetus. Come on in. The water’s… fine…?”
Yeah. And there’s the rub. Sometimes, the water’s not so fine.
There’s much afoot in the Real World, ashore from this Internet-y ocean, that troubles us… that troubles me.
Common sense and critical thought are becoming “rari piscis” (struggling a little to keep the ocean metaphor alive). It seems that we often don’t look around us and actually see what’s before us. We are becoming lackadaisical and snugly apathetic in our comfy little Internet Echo Chambers. Tribalism is pulling at the fabric of our country. Science is scoffed at. Conspiracy theories get more traction than the science behind climate change.
I feel an urge to put word to paper (or, to blog page). I want to capture and examine (and maybe gut) some of the thoughts that swim around in my own head (see what I did there??). I’d like to create a quiet little island on the Oceanus Internetus where I, and maybe a few yet-to-be-found compatriots, speak together in quiet tones about sanity, common sense, critical thought and shared destiny.
I already have some discussion topics in mind. Those will be posted here in the future. For now, though, this is just a little launch party, a christening, if you will.
(Quick like a bunny: go open a bottle of champagne, pour a glass and scurry back. We’ll be waiting… This next part will be better with some bubbly.)
Armed with some random thoughts and vague motives, I hereby launch the good ship Musing into the Ether:
“We humbly beseech the great and kindly gods Postel and Berners-Lee: this blog is so small and the Internet is so great, please protect her and all who write upon her.”
You can drink your champagne now.
(Images licensed under the Creative Commons Zero License.
Sailboat photo by Daniel Büscher; champagne photo by Heather Smith)
Published by tdfunk
## Who Am I?
I'm a long-time polyglot mainframe, client-server, back-end, front-end, every-end software engineer, architect and sometimes development cat-herder. (Yes, I cut my professional teeth on Sperry, Burroughs and IBM mainframes. 😳 Yikes!! 😱)
I love writing software. To me, even after working for decades in this field, what we do is magic. It's digital alchemy: you envision something, then type a bunch of letters and numbers into an editor and then you change the world. To the unitiated, t feels like an illusion.
I intially learned this trade in the US Air Force, then I moved between various companies, wearing a multitude of hats, all while the industry changed, expanded and flourished around me.
Back in the day, we had character-based, green screen CICS applications. Today, we have The Cloud, Bitcoin, LLM's, GPTs, LLamas, e-vehicles, Atlas and Watson. Do you realize it's been since February 2011 since Watson beat Brad and Ken in Jeopardy?
So, what is this site? It's me, thinking out-loud on any number of ltopics, mostly about programming and software engineering. I pull back the curtain and peer into the darkness, to shed a little light on the legerdemain. Also, since it is, afterall, my personal corner of the Internet, I'll ocassionally drop a rant or other non-technical bit of text here.
So, welcome to my digital grimoire! Here, we juggle code snippets, wrestle with algorithms, and sometimes muse about the mysteries of the software world.
## Please Note
**Opinions Are My Own**: The thoughts and opinions expressed here are mine and mine alone. They do not reflect those of past, present or future employers, my dog, Buddy, or the sentient AI that may or may not be running the Simulation in which we live.
**It's Mine! All Mine!! (unless otherwise noted)**: Unless explicitly stated otherwise, everything here is copyrighted by me. Feel free to use and share the content, but remember, copying without crediting is like forgetting to comment your code—frowned upon and bad karma!
**Third-Party Rights**: Content that is not created by me but is featured on this site remains the copyright of its respective owners. All such materials are used under the fair use doctrine and are intended purely for educational or commentary purposes with no intent to infringement or get over on someone.
**Use At Your Own Risk**: While I strive to ensure the accuracy and usefulness of the information provided, I am not liable for any despair, coffee spills, or coding mishaps that may result from applying what you read here.
**No Warranties, Expressed or Implied**: Here’s the deal: the software and content here are provided "as is" with no guarantees. I can’t promise it’ll work perfectly or meet all your needs. Use it at your own risk—I’m not responsible for any misadventures or hiccups along the way. In short, I disclaim all liabilities under the sun -- or in this galaxy, for that matter.
**Consult Your Lawyer (or Dog)**: If anything here tickles your legal fancy, consult a professional (legal or canine). They are better at navigating the intricate nuances of law than a yours truly.
In other words, enjoy the read, play nice, be nice, and keep coding!
View all posts by tdfunk
Musing Into the Ether 