The premise goes like this (I’ve added my own points to help explain it further) -

+ The earth has mass, and because of that mass has gravity. (OK we can all agree with this - Earth Science 101, right?)
+ Everything that has a mass has gravity (again sure. - now we’re probably entering Physics 101)
+ Gravity has an effect on the physical world around it (See Issac Newton and the apple).
+ If you get 2 large objects with gravity near each other, the total force of gravity increases (you don’t wanna see the math behind this)
+ Energy waves have mass (however slight - because waves are made up of photons / light waves, radio waves, etc)
+ Brain waves are a form of energy wave, and therefore have mass (there are a ton of sites that argue both sides of this)
If the above are all true (you can see where I’m going)  then :

+ Brain waves have gravity (again however slight) and can therefore have an effect on the physical world.

So if you get a large group of people with the same thought - the associated gravity would not only converge it would actually multiply and have a larger effect, and therefore have an effect on the physical world around them.

Thoughts can move objects.

Take this further if you will.

Note that I am a born again Christian, so please don’t think I’m some terrible person for thinking this as a possibility.

Use the above theory and apply it to group prayer.  Have you ever been to a large  gathering? I went to a Promise Keepers men’s conference one time many years back.  10,000 guys filling a stadium praying all about the same thing.  You could feel it, something palpable.  Ever sit in a prayer meeting and just ‘feel the spirit’ ?  I know it sounds goofy, New-Age-y, mystical, or somehow wrong, right ?  Actually in the novel it is based on old mystical practices, which could arguably be Satanic, and rightfully so.  But I’m not taking God out of the equation.  He gave his disciples the ability to perform miracles, to heal, to cast out demons.  Maybe it was an ammped up thought process that actually gave them the ability to effect the world around them. To focus their thought and ‘aim’ it at the afflicted person.  Interesting, right?
I can’t explain miracles, thoughts, consciousness or the soul and the last thing I want to do is take anything away from God and how he does things, but I thought if the above were true, we’re missing something very cool that God enabled us to do.  Or at least, missing the understanding of how things work in our world.

Just wait till you read my take on the soul …

I love that quote, however, that’s a huge deal for programmers with vision.  Granted there are countless people (not just programmers) that have no vision and continue doing things the same old way because it works.  Ya gotta give them credit, what they’re doing works.  Change takes effort (or seems to). It is usually quite difficult to get people to even see the possibility that it may have been the best way to do it years ago, but not any more. If I can even get a sliver of hope through their thick shell of tradition, I’m fairly certain that I can break through and get them to change.

Ahhh, but then what.  Its MUCH easier to build a new process for someone than to build an improved process for someone.  There’s more pressure to make it simpler, faster, cleaner.  The entire time your client will be comparing the new system to the old one.  You’ll get the “well, the other one could…” or “with the old one it was easier because…”.

This is where your professionalism come in and where you get to shine, if you indeed have the vision and abilities.  Plan ahead.  If you’re rewriting an application, you better know 100% of everything it does, because that one feature you didn’t know about, or leave out because its stupid, they’ll rely on.  Trust me. If you are indeed rewriting an application, and you choose to leave out a feature because it is outdated, or the new way doesn’t need it, you better convey that to your client in some obvious way.  Don’t let them come to you and say - “I used to be able to click here to sort it this way”.  Have on screen ques directing them to how it operates now.  Maybe default sort the list, maybe make a header clickable to change the sort order, create a sort wizard, I don’t know, but it better be apparent.

The main rule to remember is : If it doesn’t behave the way the client expect it to - it’s broken. Your application may be 100% bug free, but it’s still broken if the user tries to double click somewhere and nothing happens.  Lets face it, some of it comes down to managing expectations, other times it is having your ducks in a row and making darn sure you did what you needed to do.

So when approaching a client that is stuck on Tradition, you better pull out your mojo and deliver, because if you hand over something they’re not expecting, isn’t faster, better, cleaner, or easier to use - you’ll be managing more than expectations.

SMASHINGMAGAZINE.COM is my new favorite website, I visit it every day.

Ok, they’re not all 70’s but you get the idea. The unfortunate thing is the vastness of the site. I have no idea how large it is, it just goes on and on and on. Beware, you’ll spend a lot of time here, sometimes too much time. I still go from page to page like a wide eyed kid in a toy store, clicking on demos, and bookmarking articles. I realize an hour has passed, but the good thing is that you’ll be a better ______ after it (programmer, designer, interface architect … whatever). So to deal with amy slight guilt for cruizing the web, I chalk it up to professional development. No one had to pay for me to drive/fly somewhere, put me up in a hotel for a couple days and attend a boring class. I ‘blew’ 2 hours online and I can almost always instantly improve something I’ve already written or get a head start on accomplishing something I need to do.

Fantastic resource, great reading - I’d recommend to to everyone.

This tool is a fantastic find.  Granted it isn’t as feature rich as BeyondCompare, but really, I just want to see the differences in files.  Sometimes its just a space that I don’t care about, something minor that trips up the synch algorithm or sometimes an actual code difference I didn’t remember.  Its saved my bacon many times.
I would highly recommend using this open source tool if you don’t have a file compare utility defined in Dreamweaver.  After installing it, simply go to : Edit | Preferences | File Compare and enter the path (for me that was : C:\Program Files\WinMerge\WinMergeU.exe)

You can also compare local files in a site if you select them both in the Files pallet, right click and choose compare files.  This is great if you have Copy[5] of process.php and want to see what’s different in Copy[2] of process.php or even process.php

I was told by a friend that worked at the library in a neighboring town that they offer downloadable audio books. All you need is a library card and you can set up an account and download books to listen to on your computer or mp3 player.

Awesome.  I love listening to books while I’m running, driving, or mowing it makes the time go by faster.  So I drive in to town, hit the library and get myself a card.  Excited, I head back to my office and log into their website.  I end up over at NetLibrary.com - who is the actual offering site for these audio books.  I create an account and start browsing downloads.  They don’t have a ton of books, but there’s a couple thousand in all different subject areas and genres.  I settle on one that I’d like to listen to and download it.

While its downloading I decide to read the instructions on the screen and read about how they use DRM (Digital Rights Management) to control the loan period.  Basically its a time-stamp on the audio file that only allows it to play until the license expiration is reached.  So for example the book I downloaded will only work for 20 days.  After that, any attempt to play it will result in a message alerting the user they have to update / renew the license.

Reading further, I see that the files will not work with an iPod.  Screetch, hold on … beep-beep, back the truck up.  Doesn’t work with an iPod ???  By far the most popular music player out there, and these audio books - designed for portable playing can’t play on them ?

I do a little research and it appears that Apple’s iPod doesn’t support DRM.  great.  wonderful. Read carefully because this is where the illegal part comes in…

I would never have thought this - ever - but what thought went through my mind… There has to be a utility to remove the DRM stamp so I can play this on my iPod.  … illegal, instant criminal, law breaker

yes I could go to the library, check out the book on cd, spend 30 minutes ripping the cd to mp3, copy to my ipod and delete it all when I’m done (because frankly they take up too much space) - but that’s a pain.  I want to download the book straight to my iPod and listen … and now I can’t.

…or apparently I could if I wanted to break the law and use a utility to strip the DRM stamp out…