Constant Random Change

Constant Random Change is a blog of an unemployed software engineer.

Who are you?

I am the unemployed software engineer mentioned above.

More information about me can be found in the three links that appear in the dropdown list when your pointer hovers above the “About This Site” link on top of the page.

(For people using browsers which do not properly display the dropdown list, here are the links: About Bry, About Datenshi, Quick-and-Dirty About Me.)

What is the purpose of this site?

Aside from being the blog where I can write about interesting stuff in a serious manner (in contrast with my LiveJournal account where I write about boring stuff in a candid manner), this blog forces me to do something productive with my time instead of just bumming out while waiting for me to get out of this slump.

What “interesting stuff” will you be writing in this blog?

The categories under the Daily Entry found on the right sidepanel will make up the topics on this site. You might find it weird that I would talk about such a wide range of seemingly unrelated topics, but they are actually intertwined with each other:

• Software Engineering – my former source of income and will most likely be my future source of income. Posts under this category will explore the intricacies of SE. They will often be marked by me complaining about a lot of stuff: complaining why this wasn’t taught in college, complaining why clients don’t do this, complaining why managers don’t do that, etc. Related to Management as explained by this post.
• Management – mostly business management (macro) but may venture into project management (micro). Posts under this category will mostly be management seen in the eyes of a rank-and-file employee. May also be related to Productivity and Finance once I focus on the micro side of management.
• Memetics – an intentionally vague catch-all category. Can refer to posts which deal with how information spreads and affects people in this (Information) age, or can refer to actual cases where that happens. In short, I could place anything interesting here because they are cases where information affects a person — me. Related to Management when memes are used to manipulate people.
• Finance – personal finance ideas and advice. I’m not really sure if posts here can be useful to my readers because of Between Heaven and Earth.
• Productivity – posts related to improving work efficiency. Also gives me an excuse to write cheesy stuff like dreams and aspirations. Related to Software Engineering,Finance and Between Heaven and Earth.
• Between Heaven and Earth – aka Pragmatism aka Survivalism aka Confessions of an Educated Lower-Class Citizen. Aside from getting to post about how I do things differently compared to you hedonist bourgeois punks, I could also use this category to post about the ironies I encounter in daily life.
• Fitness – personal tips on reaching an ideal weight and physical capability. Related to Between Heaven and Earth because any survivalist who isn’t physically fit is just a poser.
• Hardware – mostly computer hardware related posts. Could be tips, or could just be me talking about something I tinkered with recently. Not related to Software Engineering unless I get a consulting job for a company dealing with embedded devices. Related to Between Heaven and Earth and Finance when I talk about how I saved money in hardware.
• Personal Favorites – another catch-all category. I’ll post something about myself when I absolutely have nothing to write for the day. May be related to certain categories depending on the nature of the post.
• Training – posts based on my experiences as an instructor in my previous company. Will try to reconcile traditional teaching methods with latest developments in learning and cognitive theory. Related to related to Software Engineering, Management and Productivity due to the productivity benefits of training in the former.
• Gaming – no posts yet for this category. Posts under this category will deal with gaming in general (from table-top RPGs to CCGs) but will focus on computer games. May be related to Memetics as games are good cultural media.

As for the actual content for each category, I’ll be focusing on what people might call “common sense”: fundamental concepts that will quickly be apparent to those who will specialize in that field but are not apparent to outsiders or newbies. For example, usability is a no-brainer for Fine Arts or Mass Communication students who specialize in design but rarely do you find a fresh grad Computer Science student (who will eventually be making websites) with even a basic understanding of that concept.

Why did you name this site “Constant Random Change”?

I am a very unpredictable person. You might say I’m constantly changing.

But “Constant Change” isn’t good enough to describe myself. It implies that the rate of change (dx/dt for you math folks out there) is a constant value and I can still be easily calculated.

And so it lead to the inclusion of a random factor – “Constant Random Change”. (constant being “continuous” and not “static”)

What’s with the Google Ads? Are you planning to monetize this site and become a pro blogger?

Between my slow writing speed and my admittedly awkward writing style, I have no plans of becoming a pro blogger.

However, if the the audience reception exceeds my expectations e.g. a decent number of people come here to listen to my advice and opinions regularly, I might consider investing more effort into this site.

The ads are just one of the many ways I could measure your reception to my site, though. I really don’t care if I get money from them or not.