I decided to work at the local coffee shop this morning as my father-in-law is visiting and his bedroom is my office while he's here. I'm ordering my bottomless cup of coffee and trying really hard to ignore the pecan sandies that are calling my name when the young lady taking my order started peering at the Apple iPad they use as a sales terminal in a really strange fashion. She notices me noticing her expression and explains that their software was updated over the weekend and now it was harder to use. She was particularly upset about the smaller buttons on the screen.

I felt obliged to apologize on behalf of every computer programmer in the entire world for the difficulties that this update brought. I joked that we're all evil and we like making people's lives more difficult. And then it occurred to me that just based upon the evidence my server had available to her, programmers might as well be evil. We push updates that pass (hopefully) all manner of internal reviews including User Experience, but then when an actual user uses it, it is found to be worse.

Let me say that again:

Mr. Heinlein, as well as being a gifted and prolific writer, was also a keen observer of the human condition.

Political tags — such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth — are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. The former are idealists acting from highest motives for the greatest good of the greatest number. The latter are surly curmudgeons, suspicious and lacking in altruism. But they are more comfortable neighbors than the other sort.

Robert A. Heinlein (Science Fiction Writer, 1907 - 1988)

Today's cover song is a cover of Thunderstruck written by AC/DC and performed by Mozart Heroes.

If you've hung out at this blog even a little, you will likely be aware of my love of cover songs and especially cover versions of Thunderstruck. This one is an impressive arrangement matched by a well shot and edited video. Be sure to check out some of their other arrangements.

It's been far too long since we had a good quote from Winston Churchill.

If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965)

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Kanab, United States by Patrick Hendry

It seems to be the thing these days to slam members of the generation known as the Millennials. I understand that this happens with every generation. I'm in the unimaginatively named generation X and I recall people despairing that we'd ever get ourselves pulled together and ready for real life. Somehow we managed, but looking back I understand how they might have worried. We had our fair share of slackers and trouble makers, with the punks, goths and skinheads. And before my generation were the Baby Boomers. They certainly had slackers with their hippies, flower-power girls, stoners and potheads.