Denton Arts and Jazz Fest 2012

I went to the DAJF yesterday for the first time in at least a couple of years.  It seems that the main jazz stage has been moved to the northwest corner of the park.  The prior location of the jazz stage has been renamed to Courtyard Stage.  My understanding is that this was done to better conform to fire codes.  Apparently the old location, with all its trees, hills, twists and turns presents a challenge if there is an emergency requiring serious equipment or personnel.  The northwest corner stage is more open and flat.

While this might be a pragmatic move, it is unfortunate from an aesthetic perspective.  The old location is beautiful with lots of shade and streamside locations to lay out a spread of chairs and blankets.  The new location is pretty much tree-less in the main area, so shade is almost non-existent.  Yesterday I chose the old location, even though it did not offer the top shelf jazz entertainment, so that I could stay out of the hot sun and enjoy a shaded breeze.

Less is More

Good design is about simplification. Especially in software design. Focus on doing one thing very well. Know what product you are and which market niche you fill. Don't step outside that niche for that particular product. If a need arises and resources exist to fill a new niche, create a new product for that particular category.

Too much bad software tries to be everything to everyone. Feature creep without a crisp vision of market categories can produce products with tons of features and diffused focus. Ultimately we pay the price in technical debt, huge test matrices and long maintenance release cycles.

This notion of simplicity can be carried into all dimensions. We should stop trying to do so much and only do the things that matter. Easier said than done.

Tyranny of the Minority

Is that what we have today in the national political arena? Tea Party, Occupy Movements etc.? What happened to the political center? Seems that the political center is the majority but the fringe minority has enough influence to derail any sensible, rational compromise that could move the country forward.

Political leaders are more interested in theological positions than working the problems and actually making structural changes.