Tag: misc

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky (Discworld, #32)

“I meant,” said Ipslore bitterly, “what is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?”
Death thought about it.
CATS, he said eventually. CATS ARE NICE.”
― Terry Pratchett, Sourcery

“DON’T THINK OF IT AS DYING, said Death. JUST THINK OF IT AS LEAVING EARLY TO AVOID THE RUSH.”
― Terry Pratchett, Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

“The whole of life is just like watching a film. Only it’s as though you always get in ten minutes after the big picture has started, and no-one will tell you the plot, so you have to work it out all yourself from the clues.”
― Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures

…and thank you for all your books – all masterpieces.

Grazie per essere stata con noi tutti questi anni, per averci fatto crescere e per averci insegnato, col tuo esempio, che aiutare gli altri non è mai troppo e che c’è sempre qualcosa di bello in tutti e in tutto. Ciao nonna.

In these days when you want to share something you usually resort to a social network. Blogs are slowly going out of fashion.That’s bad at least for two reasons – there are plenty of social networks (well, no less than three) and they require you have an account to let you read my content.
Also I have many friend on facebook which I dislike most (every time I read some news about fb it seems getting closer and closer to the Evil Empire). Twitter is too brief for my verbose taste. Linked-in seems to be even more elitist than g+.
So here you are some interesting links I found about the matters that I have some interests in.

• Why you need that pesky diode in parallel to relay coil? (Ok, I know you knew)
• Read the code of the world first C compiler, yes Dennis Ritchie’s.
• Ok, iron still smoking in your hand, you finished assembly that ARM computer board, now what? This series of article promise to guide to you from dead hardware to a lively thing just armed with your trusted GNU compiler.

Ok, posted, now I’m going to push the link to this post into all social networks.

Engineering … it is a great profession. There is the fascination of watching a figment of the imagination emerge through the aid of science to a plan on paper. Then it moves to realization in stone or metal or energy. Then it brings jobs and homes to men. Then it elevates the standards of living and adds to the comforts of life. That is the engineer’s high privilege.[[Herbert Hoover, 31st president of the United States.]
Thanks to Jack Ganssle and the Embedded Muse for quoting this first.

(English follows)

(English follows)Un caro augurio di passare delle stupende feste natalizie e che il 2010 possa vedere realizzati i vostri sogni.

Dearly wishing you to spend wonderful Christmas holidays and to have your dreams come true in 2010.

I sympathize with Italians working in foreign countries. Also I have several friends that either by choice or necessity or both are now living and working far away from Italy. Also for a while, my wife and me seriously considered the option to relocate in Northern Europe.For this reason I am quite sensitive to the matter as one-who-would-have-loved-to-go-away-but-eventually-decided-to-stay could be.
I came across the Project for counter-exodus a while ago, I hoped it was a fade, but it came again and I find it upsetting.
The project consists in a law proposal for consistent tax deduction for Italians that after residing and working abroad at least for a couple of years decide to get back to Italy either as employee or entrepreneurs.
As many of Italian laws, this as well tries to solve a problem addressing (one of) the effects rather than cause. Italians go away from Italy for several reasons, most notably for widespread nepotism and patronage that locks out bright people from key roles in companies; for lack of advanced industries (videogaming just to name the one where my heart is); for low wages and then for a lot of minor facts ranging from pollution to politics.
I completely agree to facilitate the comeback of Italians so that all them could happily live where their families and most of their friends are. But this can be done by improving Italy for everyone, rather than grant special privileges to those who return. Why should I be penalized only because I didn’t escape? Just going to work in a foreign country is a sure grant of being a genius who deserves a special treatment? Why shouldn’t I deserve some sort of help in the nonsense jungle of setting up a company if I have a good idea with a sound business plan?
It is never too late to do the right thing and once in a while it would be nice if the problem would be solved the proper way once and for all.

I found this though somewhat inspiring…
(English follows)
La vita non è fatta per guardare indietro la strada percorsa, ma per sognare la strada ancora da fare. Non chiederti chi sei davanti allo specchio, non avrai risposta alcuna, semmai guardati dentro e scoprirai di non essere cambiato mai. Il tempo non invecchia l’anima di chi sogna.
(Giovanni Di Battista)

In English, it may sound something like:
“Life is not intended for looking backward to the road you went through, life is intended for dreaming the road ahead. Don’t ask who you are in front of a mirror – you won’t have any answer, rather look into yourself and you will find you never changed. Time doesn’t age the soul of the dreamer.”

(or maybe it’s just me getting old and liking suggestions that I’m not).