In the beginning

Example

In the beginning, there was root. Every program was installed thus.

/bin
/lib

This was not good enough. The frigging users and people who didn't know what they were doing needed a sandbox in which to play without destroying their entire machine. This need begot this.

/usr/bin
/usr/lib

Users rejoiced. Every piece of software that does not come with the stock OS started using this area and all was good for about fifteen minutes. Then, someone needed a place to work on new software and this need begot this.

/usr/lib/whatever/bin
/usr/lib/whatever/lib

But this did sucketh because it cluttered the usr folder and we all know how OCD programmers are. So the following was begot.

/usr/local/bin
/usr/local/lib

This place is far enough removed from the sight of every day that the following has happened without a tremendous amount of complaint from the OCD crowd.

/usr/local/whatever/bin
/usr/local/whatever/lib

This was not good enough yet. So, a whole new folder or sandbox was created for custom crap that needs to be done to each server for no good reason.

/opt/whatever/bin
/opt/whatever/lib

This simple example shows how the evolution of a social problem solution works on a very basic scale. Are we any better off with this structure in place? Well, it works.

This is but one more place where knowing the history of events is reacquired in order to get your job done. Never, and I mean under no circumstances, are things under the root folder to be messed with or overwritten unless an upgrade to the OS is being performed. It has gotten to the point that everything will break if things in the /usr folder are played with. Firefox for example installs itself under /usr/lib/Firefox/bin/ for God's sake. All the conventions are both suspect and ignored at one point or another. It is anarchy.

Universe

When someone asks me from now on if I believe in creationism or evolution or the world is riding on the back of an elephant on the back of a turtle floating through space I'm going to answer "yes, thank you."

The more I learn, the more I realize  I do not know. Every thing I learn about quantum and the greater universe, the more I believe in God.  In quantum, things and happenings both exist and do not exist until observed. That is, all possibilities are ready to play out. They just sit there not existing until life comes and trips over them.

In other words, nothing exists in the universe until it absolutely has to exist. If no one is looking, as I drop my foot to the ground, the ground suddenly hops in to existence as I come in to contact with it. This is not true of course.  It sounds good though. It is what would be true if quantum made sense to just any one. Quantum doesn't make sense.

I have a good feeling about the new collider. Not really that it will find anything that science has not already known about, but that it will give people in power the excuse to let some really magical piece of technology that "the world is just not ready for." through the filters and on to the streets. I have some specific hopes.

• New batteries that last millennial without exploding.
• New building materials.
• New means of mobility.
• New means of communication.
• Perfect optics.
  
• Bags of holding, magic carpets, rings of protection, amulets of ESP. I demand magic items!
  
• Death ray.
  
• Cure for all kinds of uncool stuff.
  

To be honest, I had a minor hope that space aliens would go public saying "You guys are about to blow yourselves up. Lets work together to prevent that. Shall we?" No luck. Not even a frigging black hole. What the hell good is that thing anyway? Actually, if there were just enough matter on the earth to have a black hole, the collider might just be the spark to cause the matter to collapse on a grand scale. Earth is far from massive enough to do this. There will be no chain reaction.

Philosophy

Every day, I worry about making the mortgage payment, car payment, insurance, water, Elle's school stuff. It is endless. I do not have time or strength to contemplate the making of the universe. This is sad. I believe that at any given moment in time the majority of people across the world must be worried about something. Idle hands are the devil's workshop. No matter how many conveniences or necessities science brings us, the people who are really in charge will make sure everyone has has something to worry about that does not conflict with satisfying too many people's needs and worries at the same time.

This is why we do not have 500 mpg cars or cures for cancer. There is no money in it.