Blog/September 2018/Sep 21st

September 21st

What with yom hakippurim in the middle of the week, we didn’t really do a whole lot. Esther made a puchero for the meal before the fast, as is her custom. For those who don’t know, this puchero is basically a chicken soup with lots of vegetables (especially corn on the cob and squash). It’s cooked “until done”, and the broth is separated from the vegetables and chicken, which are all eaten as separate dishes. It’s really good, but I only get it the afternoon before the Y”K fast, and to break the fast afterwards. Sad!

In the tech-world, there were a couple interesting things this week. First, the EU passed a draconian law called the “Copyright Directive”. Read the article for some of the more chilling provisions of that law. Then, Linus Torvalds (the creator of the Linux operating-system) apologized for his (frequent) abusive outbursts. In consequence, the Linux project has added a “Code of Conduct”. There’s nothing wrong with a COC in general, but particulars matter. The proposed COC reads like it was written by a SJW zealot. Which, in fact, it was. And then, the PostgresQL project also announced adoption of a COC. See a trend?

As I said, there’s nothing wrong with having a Code of Conduct. However, if you take a look at the “protected classes” in the first paragraph, you’ll notice five variations on sexual identifiers, but not one about political leanings or ideology. That’s important, because in the past year or so, people holding centrist, libertarian, or conservative political viewpoints have been consistently harassed, intimidated, and in some cases made to resign or were fired. For their political opinions. Which, to be clear, have nothing whatsoever to do with their technical aptitudes and fitness for their jobs. A case in point.

My COC is simple: “Behave civilly or I’ll shoot you between the eyes”. I couldn’t care less about your politics, your race or religion or whatever; all I care about is whether or not you’re a good fit for the job and actually do your job. Everything else is for discussion over beers after work.

And now for something completely different:

• HuffPo’s Zach Carter contends that “Classical Liberalism” is a front for “fancy racists”. Umm, no.
• The Democrat party in the US is being taken over by the Hard Left. And it’s not “good for the Jews”.
• A bit about quantum computing and cryptography.
• It’s time to end the “data is” vs. “data are” debate

Now I need to finish getting our sukkah ready. Not a lot more to do, but it must be done! I’m also working on a sourdough loaf (or loaves?) for sukkot. Letting the dough ferment for three days, working up complex flavors, I hope.

The weather will be decent until the beginning of the holiday, and then it looks like we’ll have some heating. I’d prefer cooling, but you get what you get.

A quiet and simple shabbat hopefully awaits us. Our menu includes:
homemade ḥalla, meatballs with potatoes, various salatim, and honey cake.

Until next time,
shabbat shalom and ḥag sameaḥ!

P.S.: And dulce de membrillo for sukkot!

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