Monday evening I watched the new version of Magnum, P.I. I rarely watched the old Tom Selleck show, though I thought it well done. The new show seemed pretty good, too. I also watched the new show "Manifest". Some version of this plot idea seems to appear in a new show every few years. The first episode or three are always great, and then the show loses momentum. We'll see if this happens this time. I hope the show persists and develops its idea.
During the weekend I read about the Melbourne artist Claire Beckett Her work, in the tonalist style, did not receive the respect it deserved during her lifetime. She came of age in a conservative and sexist art era in Australia. Her parents required her to serve as their caretaker as they aged, and restricted her opportunities. But the work she did led to her lasting recognition, and is a pleasure to view.
I have been following the developments in the Linux community in which Linux founder Linus Torvalds apologized. His caustic comments in connection with patch submissions to the Linux kernels had become widely-publicized. They seemed unfortunate to me, even if pursued in a goal to achieve better software. I think it is good he is going to seek to act in a more sensitive way. I also think that the new code of conduct the Linux team adopted is a good thing. I was less impressed with the "post-meritocracy manifesto" which is making the rounds of the internet. Like a lot of idealistic statements, it intermixes some really good points with some fuzzy, undefined and sometimes troubling points. Loose language can lead to unwanted ambiguity and misplaced rules. On the other hand, some opponents of all codes and rules who surface on the internet trouble me more. I believe that there must be codes and rules and norms, and that the debate is not "to have them or not to have them", but "how to have good ones without having too many rules". I think, a bit ,about our society's willingness to give a free pass to people who are rich and in particular those seen as rich visionaries. Linux Torvalds' decision to step back and try to change seems a good one to me.
from Dreamwidth, because two posts of the same text are twice as nice