BloggEd

Ok, let’s put this straight.

Why do I blog? There are already so many good blogs out there, that no blog can really add anything to those, except noise and disinformation. Right? I almost can imagine the following conversation between me and my completely imaginary colleague named, umm, Juho.

Juho: So you write a blog too, eh?

Me: Yeah. Not that there’s anything worth reading, but I really think I have to do it.

Juho: ...yeah, just like the other 2×10^638 other nerds out there. So, what’s the subject?

Me: Uh.. programming stuff, mostly.

[Juho stares me blankly, pauses for an awkward 2.51378 seconds, during which I remembered that my latest article described how to patch the latest CI tool to show failure status in COLOR (the crowd goes “OOooh” at this point) with excruciating detail spanning more than 1300 lines, thus suddenly making me to wish we’d get back to the subject of where we can has cheezburger this time]

Me: Wait! I know there’s already zillions of those, but, you know, it’s really interesting! It’s almost like having Usenet conversations, with the exception of emphasizing your ideas on the subject. I even get comments, many of them! So, it’s, like, interactive and I learn stuff by writing about ..things. It helps me to stay up-to-date, and I perhaps I even get to give something bag to the blogosphere too!

[Juho tries to leave quietly, I pretend not to notice]

Me: It’s also like having a public CV on the ‘net, maybe helping you to get important contacts for the future. You’ll say stupid things for sure, but once in a blue moon you’ll pick something worth writing about and talk about it. I know I did! At least once!

Me: And, umm… [Now Juho really leaves me ranting alone by myself, and at this point I can’t continue pretending I failed to notice it, and as such I resort to the same tactics as cats; I pretend I was doing something completely else]

Ok. But I still maintain that I really have to. Why? Yegge told me to! And it is a good way to polish (or develop, as in starting to learn a skill you precisely succeeded in lacking to have) your writing skills. It’s a very good way for seeking your dream job, too. Ok, at least if you’re working in the IT sector. I doubt the building industry seeks professional workers by googling for them using particular, carefully selected keywords. I know I would search people’s blogs if I were to hire anybody! And if you know me, you know I’d use something like

-java -enterprise -certifi(cate|ed) +(haskell || erlang || lisp || smalltalk || ocaml) && bdd && distributed && (algorithm || math)

or something similar. Yeah. I’d definitely include some functional programming languages, even if I would only catch wannabes: if the person has heard of OCaml and is smart enough to even mention it, odds are that he’s more capable of designing any demanding Java/C++/C# apps in the long run—which is more important to the company than short-term benefits. Yeah. Then I’d check his internet provider’s B-class and grep my access log for any potential matches to this post. Yup, those nasty little cheaters.

...And minus Visual Basic. I’d specifically filter out any candidates with having poor judgement enough to invest time in learning such piece of Private Sub Warning If I UtteredThose(Words) Then IWould Go Insane EndIf. And I’m still not against Microsoft, they make lots of great software (really). C# isn’t bad at all, on the contrary, and Microsoft even develops F#, a commercial Haskell -like programming language, if one should believe the rumours.

Where was I? oh, right, I digress. But it really is all about formulating your ideas in a more cohesive manner, getting a good job, influencing others, meeting very smart people and getting a Mac Book Pro. Yup.