True Believers is an accessible history of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party, however the narrative is a little dull.
As a political tragic I found the book compelling, however True Believers is not particularly effective at presenting an interesting narrative. I believe this is due to the lack of linkage to the impact on Australian society. Most of the book is "Caucus this and Cabinet that". Perhaps an outsider would have been better at focusing on the Australian public's perspective.
The book The Great Crash by Sexton is proof that political history does not need to have a dull narrative.
Rating: 3/5
Title: True Believers: The Story of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party
Author: Faulkner and Macintyre
ISBN: 9871865085272
Wednesday, 14 March 2012
Going Native 2012
I recently viewed some amazing videos from the Going Native 2012 conference. I would thoroughly recommend the videos for C++ developers on all platforms.
There is substantial coverage of the new C++11 features and clang. Even though this conference was sponsored by Microsoft the majority of the material is common to all platforms.
Specific videos I would recommend are:
Update: the question in Interactive Panel: Ask Us Anything! at 1:16 regarding tooling is very enlightening, particularly Carruth's (clang) answer at 1:20 Looks like Java-like analysis tools are coming through.
There is substantial coverage of the new C++11 features and clang. Even though this conference was sponsored by Microsoft the majority of the material is common to all platforms.
Specific videos I would recommend are:
- Bjarne Stroustrup: C++11 Style
- Threads and Shared Variables in C++11
- STL11: Magic && Secrets
- Clang: Defending C++ from Murphy's Million Monkeys
Update: the question in Interactive Panel: Ask Us Anything! at 1:16 regarding tooling is very enlightening, particularly Carruth's (clang) answer at 1:20 Looks like Java-like analysis tools are coming through.
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
William's Train Story
This is a story I made up for William.
William, his sister and his mummy and daddy climbed out of the car. They were going to the show on the train.
William and his family walked from the car to the train station. William's daddy went to the ticket window to buy everyone a ticket.
William, his sister, his mummy and his daddy came down the steps to the platform. Everybody was waiting for the train. There was a screen that showed when the next train was coming.
William and his sister remembered to stay behind the yellow line and not run on the platform. Trains are very big and can be dangerous.
Finally the train arrived. William held mummy's hand and William's sister held daddy's hand. Getting on the train can be tricky, and there is a gap between the train and the platform where it is easy to fall down.
Now everyone was on the train. William and his sister looked out the window at the trees whooshing past. Sometimes the train would stop at a station to pick up more passengers going to the show.
William and his sister explored the train. William explored the top level and his sister explored the bottom level. They both met again at the other end of the carriage.
Eventually the train reached the show. William and his sister stepped off the train, holding their mummy's and daddy's hands. William, his sister, mummy and daddy climbed the stairs out of the station.
William's family met Summer, Will and their parents, then went into the show.
William, his sister and his mummy and daddy climbed out of the car. They were going to the show on the train.
William and his family walked from the car to the train station. William's daddy went to the ticket window to buy everyone a ticket.
William, his sister, his mummy and his daddy came down the steps to the platform. Everybody was waiting for the train. There was a screen that showed when the next train was coming.
William and his sister remembered to stay behind the yellow line and not run on the platform. Trains are very big and can be dangerous.
Finally the train arrived. William held mummy's hand and William's sister held daddy's hand. Getting on the train can be tricky, and there is a gap between the train and the platform where it is easy to fall down.
Now everyone was on the train. William and his sister looked out the window at the trees whooshing past. Sometimes the train would stop at a station to pick up more passengers going to the show.
William and his sister explored the train. William explored the top level and his sister explored the bottom level. They both met again at the other end of the carriage.
Eventually the train reached the show. William and his sister stepped off the train, holding their mummy's and daddy's hands. William, his sister, mummy and daddy climbed the stairs out of the station.
William's family met Summer, Will and their parents, then went into the show.
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Rebecca and the Case of Too Many Butterflies
This was a story I made up for Rebecca.
It was Rebecca's birthday. Rebecca was blowing out the candles on her cake when she made a wish that she could see lots and lots of butterflies. Rebecca blew out all the candles on her cake.
Rebecca went to school with her brother and her mummy.
Later that day Rebecca returned home from school. When Rebecca's mummy opened the door the hallway was filled with butterflies. Rebecca looked in every room in the house: every floor, every wall, every ceiling and everything else was covered in butterflies!
Rebecca went to sit down on the couch, but there were butterflies on the couch!
Rebecca went to sit down on another seat, but there were butterflies on the seat.
Rebecca went to have a drink, but there were butterflies on the cup and butterflies on the juice. She tried to have something to eat, but there were butterflies on the bread and butterflies on the butter!
Rebecca decided to get ready for bed. She went to have a bath but the bath was full of butterflies. She went to brush her teeth, but there were butterflies on the toothbrush and butterflies on the toothpaste!
Rebecca decided to go straight to bed, without having a bath or brushing her teeth. But as soon as she went to her bedroom she saw that there were too many butterflies on her bed!
"There are too many butterflies," said Rebecca. So Rebecca opened the back door and said to the butterflies, "please butterflies could you go outside."
Rebecca held out her finger. Each butterfly landed on her finger and she gave it a kiss before it went outside.
It was Rebecca's birthday. Rebecca was blowing out the candles on her cake when she made a wish that she could see lots and lots of butterflies. Rebecca blew out all the candles on her cake.
Rebecca went to school with her brother and her mummy.
Later that day Rebecca returned home from school. When Rebecca's mummy opened the door the hallway was filled with butterflies. Rebecca looked in every room in the house: every floor, every wall, every ceiling and everything else was covered in butterflies!
Rebecca went to sit down on the couch, but there were butterflies on the couch!
Rebecca went to sit down on another seat, but there were butterflies on the seat.
Rebecca went to have a drink, but there were butterflies on the cup and butterflies on the juice. She tried to have something to eat, but there were butterflies on the bread and butterflies on the butter!
Rebecca decided to get ready for bed. She went to have a bath but the bath was full of butterflies. She went to brush her teeth, but there were butterflies on the toothbrush and butterflies on the toothpaste!
Rebecca decided to go straight to bed, without having a bath or brushing her teeth. But as soon as she went to her bedroom she saw that there were too many butterflies on her bed!
"There are too many butterflies," said Rebecca. So Rebecca opened the back door and said to the butterflies, "please butterflies could you go outside."
Rebecca held out her finger. Each butterfly landed on her finger and she gave it a kiss before it went outside.
Rebecca and the Butterflies
This is a short story I made up for Rebecca.
Rebecca and her mummy were on the way to school, when Rebecca saw a beautiful white butterfly. Rebecca and her mummy followed the beautiful white butterfly to the park. In the park there were lots of white butterflies. Rebecca took out her camera and took a photograph.
Rebecca and her mummy continued to walk to school. When Rebecca met her friends at school she showed them the photograph of the white butterflies.
Rebecca and her mummy were on the way to school, when Rebecca saw a beautiful white butterfly. Rebecca and her mummy followed the beautiful white butterfly to the park. In the park there were lots of white butterflies. Rebecca took out her camera and took a photograph.
Rebecca and her mummy continued to walk to school. When Rebecca met her friends at school she showed them the photograph of the white butterflies.
Friday, 10 February 2012
Book Review - Company Man
Company Man
Company Man is an exciting thriller, which explores the moral ambiguity of the modern age. Nick, a CEO of a company in a rustbelt town, sacks half the workforce in order to save the rest. In the aftermath he shoots a stalker that he believes is coming for his family.
Choices are made. Layoffs or close the whole factory. Call the cops or clean up the body.
The alternating views of the police were also interesting. The cops were lazy slobs during the stalking phase, progressing to formidable opponents while covering up the shooting. Meanwhile Nick's own conscience was catching up with him.
The twist in the end was interesting. Although I had thought of the ending as a possibility, there were so many threads and possibilities it was not predictable.
Company Man held my interest throughout the whole book, was an exciting thriller and presented a few interesting moral choices, without judging the choice in itself - it simply presented the consequences. Finder managed to make it possible to connect to most of the characters. In many ways all the characters were victims and all the characters were villains.
Rating: 4/5
Joseph Finder. Company Man
ISBN: 9780752868882
Friday, 18 November 2011
Ethics: Competition Versus Cooperation
Most ethical frameworks work well within a civil society but have a tendency to break down as soon as relationships outside that society are involved. The greatest example is war.
If your enemy is attempting to destroy you, don't you have every right to defend yourself? This is where the idea of competition versus cooperation becomes valuable.
The government and the laws of a country are examples of cooperation. The government combines millions of people together in order to create a playing field where these people can cooperate.
For example all the people in a country generally agree that within the country killing is bad and that stealing is bad. The building of roads and other infrastructure are other obvious examples of cooperating through government.
A slightly less obvious example of rules as a form of cooperation is the stock market. The stock market is often seen as the king of competition. Yet there is cooperation in setting the ground rules for trading, cooperation in disseminating information and following the rules for settlement.
Within this rules based cooperative framework there is competition. There is competition in labour markets, competition between different products, competition while driving and competition when buying a house. Any time a person looks after their own interests above others that is competition, whether or not the competition is economic.
The cooperation and competition dynamic may also be used to examine our relationship with animals and the ecosystem more broadly. Our relationship with cattle and poultry is one of cooperation: we eat the animals (or consume other products from them) and in return we have boosted their population.
Our crops are pollinated by bees which receive nectar in return. On the other hand animals which are a direct danger to humans, such as tigers in India or wolves in Europe, are competing with humans and have been virtually eliminated from those areas. In other senses animals may compete with humans. Humans and animals often compete for land. "Pests" such as mice, cockroaches and flies compete with us for food.
War is the ultimate competition. War is competing for our lives. Very little "ethics" or "cooperation" survives war. War needs its own article but I will give some examples to show why competition versus cooperation is a suitable mental construct to consider the ethics of war.
The Geneva conventions provide a basic level of cooperation during wartime. However the Geneva conventions have on occasion been found to require significant changes to remain relevant - particularly in 1949 after world war 2 and in 1977 with the signing of protocols 1 and 2.
The Geneva conventions protect civilians from deliberate attack (collateral damage is still permissible under the conventions) and treatment of prisoners. Other rules include how to indicate that one party wishes to negotiate a surrender or a truce.
One motivation for soldiers to follow the Geneva conventions is that of self-preservation. For example if one army mistreats, tortures or kills prisoners of war, the other side is likely to either not surrender as easily or mistreat prisoners of war in return.
So cooperation through the Geneva conventions for the basic human necessities are (mostly) adhered to due to self interest. The payback is still there but it only covers the basic necessities, though it does not even cover the most important necessity - life itself.
If your enemy is attempting to destroy you, don't you have every right to defend yourself? This is where the idea of competition versus cooperation becomes valuable.
The government and the laws of a country are examples of cooperation. The government combines millions of people together in order to create a playing field where these people can cooperate.
For example all the people in a country generally agree that within the country killing is bad and that stealing is bad. The building of roads and other infrastructure are other obvious examples of cooperating through government.
A slightly less obvious example of rules as a form of cooperation is the stock market. The stock market is often seen as the king of competition. Yet there is cooperation in setting the ground rules for trading, cooperation in disseminating information and following the rules for settlement.
Within this rules based cooperative framework there is competition. There is competition in labour markets, competition between different products, competition while driving and competition when buying a house. Any time a person looks after their own interests above others that is competition, whether or not the competition is economic.
The cooperation and competition dynamic may also be used to examine our relationship with animals and the ecosystem more broadly. Our relationship with cattle and poultry is one of cooperation: we eat the animals (or consume other products from them) and in return we have boosted their population.
Our crops are pollinated by bees which receive nectar in return. On the other hand animals which are a direct danger to humans, such as tigers in India or wolves in Europe, are competing with humans and have been virtually eliminated from those areas. In other senses animals may compete with humans. Humans and animals often compete for land. "Pests" such as mice, cockroaches and flies compete with us for food.
War is the ultimate competition. War is competing for our lives. Very little "ethics" or "cooperation" survives war. War needs its own article but I will give some examples to show why competition versus cooperation is a suitable mental construct to consider the ethics of war.
The Geneva conventions provide a basic level of cooperation during wartime. However the Geneva conventions have on occasion been found to require significant changes to remain relevant - particularly in 1949 after world war 2 and in 1977 with the signing of protocols 1 and 2.
The Geneva conventions protect civilians from deliberate attack (collateral damage is still permissible under the conventions) and treatment of prisoners. Other rules include how to indicate that one party wishes to negotiate a surrender or a truce.
One motivation for soldiers to follow the Geneva conventions is that of self-preservation. For example if one army mistreats, tortures or kills prisoners of war, the other side is likely to either not surrender as easily or mistreat prisoners of war in return.
So cooperation through the Geneva conventions for the basic human necessities are (mostly) adhered to due to self interest. The payback is still there but it only covers the basic necessities, though it does not even cover the most important necessity - life itself.
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