I love my job...
...for the first time.
most other jobs i've had have been jobs that i did to earn a paycheck. however, about 4 years ago, i decided to turn a hobby (computers/programming/web design/graphic design, put them all together and you got "web development") into a more time-consuming hobby.
then, i turned it into a failing part-time business.
then, i turned it into a mediocre, still failing part-time business.
then, i turned it into a potential job.
...it was a "potential" job for a long time.
i studied, made some sites, read some books, did a little of this and a little of that, learned the buzzwords, kept up on new developments, got to know the standards, found out who's who and what's what, and got fairly good, i guess. (though, i admit that this blog isn't much to look at).
...it remained a "potential" job for a little while longer.
then, something pushed me over the edge: an asshole. there was an asshole i worked with. he knew he was an asshole. he was proud of being an asshole, and, as an asshole, he was pretty good at it. almost admirable, the amount of prick this guy could be. it was quite an achievement.
he refused to talk about anything other than making money. money this, money that. any time you mentioned anything that didn't directly translate to greed, he got pissed. (and, if you were of the democratic pursuation rather than the republican pursuation, he was doubly an asshole).
well, one day he said a few things that really got on my nerves. he started talking about how i was unsuccessful and i was "like a 14 year old kid with no sense of direction". now, bear in mind that he was saying this because he was intimidated by my intelligence. i'm not THAT smart, but i could see him get annoyed whenever i used a word that had more than 2 sylables in it. also, i was always telling everybody about my ideas, that i never do anything with. he one of those guys that wanted to be the big dick in the group, the alpha male, and i don't believe in heirarchy, so we didn't get along. eventually, i made nice with him to shut him up. it's amazing how much the "alpha male" can act like a little bitch whenever he doesn't get his own way.
however, there was some truth to what he was saying. i definately wasn't living up to my full potential, mostly because i hadn't decided what i wanted to do with my life yet. i figured "hey, i haven't decided what i want to do, but i have plenty of time to decide. i don't have kids, and i'm not married, so fuck it". i was right, but i was looking at it the wrong way.
i should have started deciding what i didn't want. i should have started eliminating possibilities that just didn't fit into my ideals. it's not about adding on to your life, it's about taking away. one thing that i didn't want was to work for some big corporation. another thing i didn't want was some asshole like him thinking that he was above me. i figured i could be more successful than he was in 5 years (he owns a lot of real estate).
so, i worked 2 jobs, saved a shitload of money, etc, etc, but it still wasn't enough. i knew i wanted to be successful, but i wanted to be successful on my own terms. i didn't want to waste my life like he did, driving a truck for 70 hours a week, alienating everyone, removing myself from human contact until everyone thinks i'm a prick because i don't know how to treat people.
i wanted something more, but what i wanted wasn't success in the traditional sense. i can't get myself to care too much about money or property, because it's not important. think about what the purpose of money and property is: power and comfort.
however, the world is changing. people think that property is power, but that's not going to be the way it is: we're moving away from a a property-based society through a knowledge-based society, into an idea-based society. people think that investing in real estate is a sure bet, but is it? a single idea can make the cost of property drop faster than you can say "i'll suck your dick for $20". for instance:
the process of building a house involves several things: planning, legal considerations, gathering materials, organizing labor, and actual construction.
Right now, EVERY ONE OF THESE THINGS except construction can be automated by somebody who knows how to program a computer and knows a little bit about marketing and networing. hell, all you need is ONE plan thats already legally approved in the district you're in and you can duplicate it any number of times. you can even modularize the design for customization. why not? it's just information, and information can be manipulated, generated, obfuscated, and many other "ateds".
The only x-factor is the construction. enter robotics.
with the combination of genetical algorithms, physics engines, and rapid prototyping, we're on the verge of revolution in robotics similar to the revolution in computing in the 70s. sure, they had computers before then, but they didn't have accessible computers. they didn't have a bunch of hackers trying to make something different. they didn't have a popular movement of hobbiests learning about this shit for the sake of learning about this shit.
one by one, dreams were dreamed, plans were attacked, and problems were solved. ordinary guys sketched ugly drawings on scraps of paper to have them become reality in under a year. as one layer of abstraction was mastered, another layer was being created. more questions were being asked: questions about what was possible, or more to the point, what was no longer impossible. with new questions came new answers, with new answers came new questions, and new possibilities.
we went from vacuum tubes to microprocessors. we went from punch cards to wysiwygs and IDEs. we went from dumb terminals to AJAX applications (which, ironically, aren't all thet much different---hmmm... ajax-based ssh terminal, anyone?). we went from telnet to firefox. bash to kde. switches and knobs to keyboards and a mouse(which, ironcially, are just a bunch of switches and two knobs, but i dirgress). the point is, if you take just a minute to reflect on what advancements are DESTINED to happen within the next few years and what will happen to society when they do, you can't help but notice how utterly obsolete our entire lifestyle is.
what the hell was i talking about again? oh, yeah, that asshole guy. yeah, he was an asshole and i didn't want to work with him anymore, so i got another job, where i get to play with some of the technology that i was just talking about.
i love my job.
most other jobs i've had have been jobs that i did to earn a paycheck. however, about 4 years ago, i decided to turn a hobby (computers/programming/web design/graphic design, put them all together and you got "web development") into a more time-consuming hobby.
then, i turned it into a failing part-time business.
then, i turned it into a mediocre, still failing part-time business.
then, i turned it into a potential job.
...it was a "potential" job for a long time.
i studied, made some sites, read some books, did a little of this and a little of that, learned the buzzwords, kept up on new developments, got to know the standards, found out who's who and what's what, and got fairly good, i guess. (though, i admit that this blog isn't much to look at).
...it remained a "potential" job for a little while longer.
then, something pushed me over the edge: an asshole. there was an asshole i worked with. he knew he was an asshole. he was proud of being an asshole, and, as an asshole, he was pretty good at it. almost admirable, the amount of prick this guy could be. it was quite an achievement.
he refused to talk about anything other than making money. money this, money that. any time you mentioned anything that didn't directly translate to greed, he got pissed. (and, if you were of the democratic pursuation rather than the republican pursuation, he was doubly an asshole).
well, one day he said a few things that really got on my nerves. he started talking about how i was unsuccessful and i was "like a 14 year old kid with no sense of direction". now, bear in mind that he was saying this because he was intimidated by my intelligence. i'm not THAT smart, but i could see him get annoyed whenever i used a word that had more than 2 sylables in it. also, i was always telling everybody about my ideas, that i never do anything with. he one of those guys that wanted to be the big dick in the group, the alpha male, and i don't believe in heirarchy, so we didn't get along. eventually, i made nice with him to shut him up. it's amazing how much the "alpha male" can act like a little bitch whenever he doesn't get his own way.
however, there was some truth to what he was saying. i definately wasn't living up to my full potential, mostly because i hadn't decided what i wanted to do with my life yet. i figured "hey, i haven't decided what i want to do, but i have plenty of time to decide. i don't have kids, and i'm not married, so fuck it". i was right, but i was looking at it the wrong way.
i should have started deciding what i didn't want. i should have started eliminating possibilities that just didn't fit into my ideals. it's not about adding on to your life, it's about taking away. one thing that i didn't want was to work for some big corporation. another thing i didn't want was some asshole like him thinking that he was above me. i figured i could be more successful than he was in 5 years (he owns a lot of real estate).
so, i worked 2 jobs, saved a shitload of money, etc, etc, but it still wasn't enough. i knew i wanted to be successful, but i wanted to be successful on my own terms. i didn't want to waste my life like he did, driving a truck for 70 hours a week, alienating everyone, removing myself from human contact until everyone thinks i'm a prick because i don't know how to treat people.
i wanted something more, but what i wanted wasn't success in the traditional sense. i can't get myself to care too much about money or property, because it's not important. think about what the purpose of money and property is: power and comfort.
however, the world is changing. people think that property is power, but that's not going to be the way it is: we're moving away from a a property-based society through a knowledge-based society, into an idea-based society. people think that investing in real estate is a sure bet, but is it? a single idea can make the cost of property drop faster than you can say "i'll suck your dick for $20". for instance:
the process of building a house involves several things: planning, legal considerations, gathering materials, organizing labor, and actual construction.
Right now, EVERY ONE OF THESE THINGS except construction can be automated by somebody who knows how to program a computer and knows a little bit about marketing and networing. hell, all you need is ONE plan thats already legally approved in the district you're in and you can duplicate it any number of times. you can even modularize the design for customization. why not? it's just information, and information can be manipulated, generated, obfuscated, and many other "ateds".
The only x-factor is the construction. enter robotics.
with the combination of genetical algorithms, physics engines, and rapid prototyping, we're on the verge of revolution in robotics similar to the revolution in computing in the 70s. sure, they had computers before then, but they didn't have accessible computers. they didn't have a bunch of hackers trying to make something different. they didn't have a popular movement of hobbiests learning about this shit for the sake of learning about this shit.
one by one, dreams were dreamed, plans were attacked, and problems were solved. ordinary guys sketched ugly drawings on scraps of paper to have them become reality in under a year. as one layer of abstraction was mastered, another layer was being created. more questions were being asked: questions about what was possible, or more to the point, what was no longer impossible. with new questions came new answers, with new answers came new questions, and new possibilities.
we went from vacuum tubes to microprocessors. we went from punch cards to wysiwygs and IDEs. we went from dumb terminals to AJAX applications (which, ironically, aren't all thet much different---hmmm... ajax-based ssh terminal, anyone?). we went from telnet to firefox. bash to kde. switches and knobs to keyboards and a mouse(which, ironcially, are just a bunch of switches and two knobs, but i dirgress). the point is, if you take just a minute to reflect on what advancements are DESTINED to happen within the next few years and what will happen to society when they do, you can't help but notice how utterly obsolete our entire lifestyle is.
what the hell was i talking about again? oh, yeah, that asshole guy. yeah, he was an asshole and i didn't want to work with him anymore, so i got another job, where i get to play with some of the technology that i was just talking about.
i love my job.
posted by That guy with the top hat at 5:00 PM
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