Lawyer-ware
My company is of course interested in collaboration software. The problem is the company isn't much interested in collaborating with anyone. All the software out there seems to do the job of helping groups of people communicate and share information. The problem is company A wants company B's information, but doesn't want to give any information to company B, or as little as possible. Information is a commodity after all. Business on a whole goes faster if people share information. It's like having 15 people in a round boat who all speak different languages and are all pointing different directions. No one will paddle until every one else does and then every one wants to go their own way. All collaboration software does is allow them all to yell at each other. The final version of the software will not be designed by users, programmers, communication experts, interface designers, or any one who will benefit from the software really. The one's who are calling the shots in collaboration software are the lawyers.

Window
I'm sitting at work waiting for a process to finish. I'm looking out the window and I wander who started the whole concept of working. Did one person work for another non-family member for compensation before agriculture? There must be a starting point somewhere. The ;line is blurry now that I think about it. What is compensation? Cooperative hunting and gathering doesn't count because individuals work for an extended family, the tribe. Shaman might count because they received payment for a service. Does paying a shaman count as homage to a God?

BMW 330i
A buddy of mine just got a BMW330i this week. It has a light upgrade and a nice interior. He bought it used from a dealership for several thousand under blue-book. We rode over to BW3's for lunch. It rides mice. I've always thought that BMWs were pricey for what yo got, but this guy beat the curve.

Space Travel
I wander what long term space travel will be like. I think of the roomy spaceships on TV like Star Trek and then add "massive budget cuts" to the equation. What comes out is a ship that looks much mori like a World War II submarine, at least on the inside. That makes me wander if life on space would feel like one of those old WW II submarine movies. I know that I am not the submarine type of guy. I would probably not make a deep space exploration team. Just being cooped up in a small space is bad enough, but there is nowhere to get away from every one else on the ship. It is impossible to avoid the assholes. There is no fresh anything. The recreation is limited. A halo-deck is not in the budget. You would work most of the time I'm sure. All of this does not take into account the fear of being on your own out in the middle of, well, NOWHERE! I can hear the following exchange.
*captain." says the first mate. " There is an un-reparable slow leak o deck 9 captain. It will deplete our air supplies in six months. What are your orders?"
The captain replies cooly "Abandon ship."
There are stasis chambers and other mechanisms to ease the pain of long-term boredom, but I like the idea of instant travel between points. Two points, no waiting. The submarine model isn't so bad. I remember the Russian sub that sank/crashed in the north Atlantic a couple of years ago. The Russian navy wouldn't let rescuers near the site. Those men were only 170 or so meters down and there was little hope even if those Ruskis would have given in to another country rescuing their crew. Think about space. When it hits the fan, you will be a bit further than 170m from fresh air. There is no holding your breath in a vacuum. The loss of pressure kills instantly. Not fast enough. You just might live long enough to experience your eyes exploding. :-( Do you still want to travel to the stars? I do. It is worth the risk in my opinion.