November 24th, 2008 / No Comments » / by Ryan
They say that when you are choosing which programming language to use for a job, you should pick the one that is best for the job, not the one that is your favorite, or the one that you are the most familiar with. I agree with this idea in theory, but I’ve found that in the real world the “right” language is not always so easy to determine.
There was a time when I would have said that C++ was the answer for everything. Admittedly, that was not only my lack of experience talking, but also the fact that C++ was the only language I knew.
Truth is, the language that is “best for the job” is subjective. Some would say the best language is the one that best fits the requirements of the project, or that is the most efficient, or both. I would agree with both of those statements. However, what if the language that best fits the needs of the project and is the most efficient is an obscure language that no one on the team is familiar with and deadlines or other projects don’t allow time for the necessary learning curve? Isn’t getting the job done on time part of the requirements? If there is another widely known language that is a close second, shouldn’t it be considered? I can assure you that the ability to maintain the project after all of the original programmers are gone should be part of the requirements of every project.
There will always be the elitists, who say for whatever reason that their language is the best, end of discussion. While their suggestion may, in fact, be the best “technically”, it may still not be the best when taking into account all of the other non-technical requirements. And their stubbornness and rigidity is certainly not making them any friends in the office, of course the true elitist is either unaware of that fact, or proudly considers it part of the price to be paid to be a “leader”.
In software, there are a lot of ways to accomplish the same thing, so don’t be the close-minded jerk that thinks he/she is smarter than everyone else and the only one capable of coming up with an acceptable solution.
All sides need to be heard and evaluated. Only then can the “right” decision be made.
Posted in: Code, Thoughts
November 4th, 2008 / 3 Comments » / by Ryan
Every now and again when I first turn on the camera and take a picture, it turns out like this. It only happens on the first shot and it doesn’t happen every time. Anyone else have this problem?
Posted in: Photography, Technology
Tags: iPhone
October 20th, 2008 / No Comments » / by Ryan
As I was driving around last week I saw some trees that I thought would make a good picture, but I didn’t have the camera with me. So last Saturday I grabbed the kids and the camera and headed out. I wasn’t going to make a day of it, just grab a couple of shots and be done. It’s been a while since I’ve been behind the lens. I’m a little rusty but I managed to remember to check the basics. I was going handheld on these so I checked that Autofocus and Images Stabilization were on. I wanted Aperature Priority, so I checked that it was set, checked the ISO (which I usually forget) which wasn’t right so I fixed it. Took 3 shots and headed back home. When I got the pictures loaded on the computer I realized immediately that while I did check that Aperature Priority was set, I had completely forgotten to look and see what it was set to. Needless to say, landscape pictures don’t turn out to well if only a small portion of the picture is in focus, unless that is the “artistic expression” you are going for, which I wasn’t. So I’ll be heading out again soon to reshoot. I’m just glad that these weren’t “important” shots or somewhere that I’d had to drive to for hours.
Posted in: Photography
September 25th, 2008 / No Comments » / by Ryan
No I have not forgotten about this site, though you may argue otherwise. I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do here, and while I would love to devote this site purely to photography, I don’t get to spend enough of my time doing just that. So I think I’ll keep it mixed up with the things that I do get to do and enjoy, which are photography, programming and technology, along with the occasional off topic remark. Plus I don’t like the look of this page (well, it’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just that it is the default WordPress theme so it isn’t very original) so I’m going to be redoing the look of the page as well.
Posted in: Site News
June 19th, 2008 / 4 Comments » / by Ryan
If you’ve been to this site before, you may be wondering (or not) where most of the previous content went. Without going in to too much detail…I deleted it, I only left the pictures, and here’s why. I’ve been thinking about what I really want this site to be, and while I’m still not entirely sure, one thing I do know is that I don’t want it to be just a rant space. There’s enough of that out there already. Noone reads this blog, so it doesn’t really matter anyway. I just want this to be a place with things that are more uplifting. I think of it as a step towards turning a new leaf in life. I’m doing this site just for myself as a creative outlet and a place to “think outloud”, but if anything here somehow ends up meaning anything to anyone else I’ll just consider that a purely coincidental bonus.
Posted in: Site News, Thoughts