I listened to an interview with a painter many, many months ago. In it, he discussed the difference between painting in watercolor vs. oils. Specifically, he pointed out that watercolor requires more planning because of the medium You have to plan your layers, starting with the light colors, then the darker ones.

How does this relate to software development, I wondered? I don't have an answer yet, unfortunately. But I decided to throw the idea out there for anyone else to comment on, and come back to it pretty soon.

Frequently we're given the advice "just be yourself". And yet, this is--just as frequently--the wrong advice.

When should you not be yourself? When has it gotten you into trouble? When has it worked out great?

I think we can stick with the common definition of "yourself", which is "how you behave most days" or "how you usually behave in those situations". A friend of mine once pointed out that you're always being yourself, since you can't be someone else. True, but not what I'm interested in.

Comments? Examples? Refutations?

I rarely comment on news items, but here's a quote from a NY Times article.

Questionns Raised for Phone Giants in Spy Data Furor
NY Times
John Markoff
May 13, 2006
. . .
Reaction around the country also appeared to be divided.

Cathy Reed, 45, a wealth manager from Austin, Tex., who was visiting Boston, said she did not see a problem with the government's reviewing call logs. "I really don't think it matters," she said. "I bet every credit card company already has them."

Others responded critically. Pat Randall, 63, a receptionist at an Atlanta high-rise, said, "Our phone conversations are just personal, and to me, the phone companies that cooperated, I think we should move our phone services to the company that did not cooperate."

Three things disturb me:
1. Cathy's apathy about the government or any other organization collecting massive amounts of data about her.

2. Cathy's statement about credit card companies. She uses her ignorance to justify her apathy.

3. Pat's comment is thoughtless. She's equating personal with private, and private with secret. A government does have a right to protect its citizens. With their consent!

For those who say "it doesn't matter", I wonder if they would hand over their phone bills for the last few years to the NSA directly with no questions asked and, apparently, no legal justification other than "the president said it's okay."

Some say "I have nothing to hide." They forget that people aren't reasonable when it comes to looking for enemies. They've forgotten the hunt for Communists by Senator McCarthy and his kind. Many people who "had nothing to hide" had their lives ruined through suspicion and outright fabrication.

There's a fourth thing that disturbs me. My own ignorance of what's being done with data about me, and my own apathy about that fact.