links for 2011-09-06

• Prosperity to Regression
  Stunning graphic from the NYTimes shows how the US middle class was hollowed out over the last 30 years. The Great Prosperity, 1947-1979: productivity growth of 119% correlated to strong growth in wages and overall compensation for all workers.
  The Great Regression, 1980-Present: productivity growth of 80% was accompanied by almost STATIC wages or other compensation for workers. Almost all the productivity gains went to a tiny percentage of people at the top. More women went into work and debt piled up.
  [Bill Marsh/The New York Times]
  (tags: economy usa)

links for 2011-07-30

• My son, the 'American Taleban', is innocent
  John Phillip Walker Lindh, my son, was raised a Roman Catholic, but converted to Islam when he was 16 years old. He has an older brother and a younger sister. John is scholarly and devout, devoted to his family, and blessed with a powerful intellect, a curious mind, and a wry sense of humour.

  Labelled by the American Government as "Detainee 001" in the "war on terror", John occupies a prison cell in Terre Haute, Indiana. He has been a prisoner of the American Government since December 1, 2001, less than three months after the terror attacks of 9/11.

  John is entirely innocent of any involvement in the terror attacks, or any allegiance to terrorism. That is not disputed by the American Government. Indeed, all accusations of terrorism against John were dropped by the Government in a plea bargain, which in turn was approved by the United States district court in which the case was brought. [...]

  (tags: 1984 warmongering lies)

links for 2011-05-04

• Self-Organizing Agile Teams: A Grounded Theory
  Self-organizing teams are a hallmark of Agile software development, directly affecting team effectiveness and project success. Agile software development, and in particular the Scrum method, emphasizes self-organizing teams but does not provide clear guidelines on how teams should become and remain self-organizing. Based on Grounded Theory research involving 58 Agile practitioners from 23 different software organizations, this thesis presents a grounded theory of self-organizing Agile teams. These teams take on spontaneous roles in order to become self-organizing. The roles are: Mentor, Co-ordinator, Translator, Champion, Promoter, and Terminator. Teams learn freedom and responsibility, cross-functionality and specialization, under iteration pressure. Influences are senior management support and level of customer involvement. This thesis will help teams and their coaches better understand their roles and responsibilities as a self-organizing Agile team.
  (tags: geek agile scrum)

PEACE: the Heart of the Gospel

Rich Mullins — Peace (A Communion Blessing From St. Joseph’s Square)
Though we’re strangers, still I love you
I love you more than your mask
And you know you have to trust this to be true
And I know that’s much to ask
But lay down your fears, come and join this feast
He has called us here, you and me

And may peace rain down from Heaven
Like little pieces of the sky
Little keepers of the promise
Falling on these souls
This drought has dried
In His Blood and in His Body
In the Bread and in this Wine
Peace to you
Peace of Christ to you

And though I love you, still we’re strangers
Prisoners in these lonely hearts
And though our blindness separates us
Still His light shines in the dark

And His outstretched arms are still strong enough to reach
Behind these prison bars to set us free
So may peace rain down from Heaven
Like little pieces of the sky
Little keepers of the promise
Falling on these souls the drought has dried
In His Blood and in His Body
In this Bread and in this Wine
Peace to you
Peace of Christ to you

And may peace rain down from Heaven
Like little pieces of the sky
Like those little keepers of the promise
Falling on these souls the draught has dried
In His Blood and in His Body
In the Bread and in this Wine
Peace to you
Peace of Christ to you
Peace to you
Peace of Christ to you

Further Reading
Luke 4:16-20 : Jesus’ mission
John 20 : Empty Tomb
Luke 24:13-35 : Emmaus Road

Here are a couple more, since it’s Easter:

links for 2011-04-08

• Slashdot: Is Science Just a Matter of Faith?
  Faith gave us jihad, crusade, and inquisition. Science gave us mustard gas, involuntary sterilization, and nuclear weapons. Faith gave us international charities that feed starving children. Science gave us clean water. Gregor Mendel was a Christian monk. Muhammed ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi was a devout Muslim. Oppenheimer did not think of the Bhagavad Gita by accident.
  Don't characterize people involved in a community, or claiming adherence to a certain way of thinking or doing things, as stupid, or evil, or blind. Don't characterize a way of doing or thinking as universally good or evil- it blinds you to the evil or good that exists in it. If you think these men advanced science *despite* having faith, then you are interpreting the evidence to suit your assumptions. Accept reality; for these men, faith and science were not demiurgic oppositional forces, but simply two ways. We shouldn't dismiss faith as "magical thinking" that can't exist in the same mind as critical observation.
  (tags: science faith)

links for 2011-03-17

• Pivotal Tracker: The iPod of project management software …
  10 reasons I like Tracker.

  1) It’s free.
  2) It’s hosted.
  3) It’s a joy to use. It’s the iPod of project management software. It’s all drag-and-drop and clickity-clack and it just works.
  4) It’s multi-user. Your co-founder in North Korea can make changes in Tracker and you will see them instantly. No page reloads.
  5) It’s for lean startups. The building block in Tracker is a story: an increment of customer value that you deliver with minimal waste.
  6) It’s about completing your next most important task—not maintaining mile-long to-do lists, Gantt charts, and lists of bugs.
  9) It doesn’t do much. No, it doesn’t do dependencies and critical paths. It just keeps you focused on delivering value to customers.
  10) It’s powerful as hell. Tracker hides a lot of technology under a simple interface. It’s a serious Javascript-intensive web application that’s in the same league as Gmail and Google Maps.
  11(?!) Everything is on one page—there’s no need to navigate around. More Gmail, less Hotmail.

  (tags: tools agile scrum)

links for 2011-03-10

• Scrum for One
  Scrumming Solo: the idea of Scrum is, I think, very applicable to our personal lives. The whole point is, through a process of constant self-awareness, to identify what’s holding us back, how we can work around it, and where the next few days or weeks should take us. Consider, then, “Scrum for One”:
  (tags: personal scrum)

Christchurch Shattered.

Canterbury is dear to my heart, as I lived there from 2001 to 2010, working for HP for most of that time and attending the large Vineyard church. One of my friends and colleagues is trained in Urban Search and Rescue and is understandably busy. Unfortunately I have only heard from a few of my other friends so I fear for the safety of those who are not replying. As I’m based in Auckland these days about the only thing I can do is donate and pray, but I might fly down there when things calm down a bit to offer some support if possible.

This video was dedicated to the Haiti quake victims but the sentiment applies to the crushed city of Christchurch also.

Lyrics:

[...] Said, said, said I remember when we used to sit
In the government yard in Trenchtown
And then Georgie would make the fire light
Log wood burnin’ through the night

Then we would cook cornmeal porridge
Of which I’ll share with you
My feet is my only carriage
So I’ve got to push on through

But while I’m gone
Everything ‘s gonna be alright, everything ‘s gonna be alright
Everything ‘s gonna be alright, everything ‘s gonna be alright
Everything ‘s gonna be alright, everything ‘s gonna be alright
Everything ‘s gonna be alright, everything ‘s gonna be alright
[...]

So woman no cry, no, no woman no cry
Oh, my little sister, don’t shed no tears
No woman no cry

I remember when we use to sit
In the government yard in Trenchtown
And then Georgie would make the fire lights
As it was, log would burnin’ through the nights

Then we would cook cornmeal porridge
Of which I’ll share with you
My fear is my only courage
So I’ve got to push on thru

Oh, while I’m gone
No woman no cry, no, no woman no cry
Oh, my little darlin’, don’t shed no tears
No woman no cry,
No woman no cry

Oh my little darlin’, don’t shed no tears
No woman no cry
Little sister, don’t shed no tears
No woman no cry

Psalm 46 is also worth remembering at times like this.

1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

See also:

• MandM: Prayers for the victims of the Christchurch Earthquake
• Dim-Post: Christchurch
• Wikinews: Magnitude 6.3 earthquake hits New Zealand’s South Island; dozens dead

links for 2011-02-21

• Edward Feser: Why are (some) physicists so bad at philosophy?
  Philosophers and theologians are constantly told that they need to “learn the science” before commenting on quantum mechanics, relativity, or evolution. And rightly so. Yet too many scientists refuse to “learn the philosophy” before pontificating on the subject. The results are predictably sophomoric. Yet the reaction from clueless editors is: “Gee, he’s a scientist! He’s good at math and stuff. He must know what he’s talking about!”

  Contemporary philosophers are certainly not guilty of ignorance of science, especially where science touches on their areas of philosophical specialization. Hawking and Mlodinow are guilty of just the sort of ignorance of which they falsely accuse philosophers. But they are unlikely ever to know it. Until this childishness is universally treated with the sort of contempt it deserves, we will not have a sane intellectual culture, one in which the deepest philosophical, theological – and, indeed, scientific – questions can be fruitfully debated.

  (tags: science philosophy physics)

Reason #659 to support Evolution

Stolen from Abstruse Goose: Tree of Life