Jim Dalrymple

Sometimes I say things

Read this first

My son and I, then and now

Here are Michael and I in about 2000:

Michael and Jim

And here we are two weeks ago on a father/son trip to Boston:

Michael and Jim 2013

View →


Meet Lucy

In addition to our two Border Collies, Ozzy and Harold, we now have a Basset Hound named Lucy. She isn’t really ours, but she needed a temporary home so we are fostering her.

Lucy

View →


Balance

I posted a video on The Loop of Harry Chapin singing “Cats in the Cradle” yesterday and received a lot of feedback from friends wondering if everything was okay. It is, but it does make you think.

“Cats in the Cradle” is such a poignant song, especially if you’re a parent. I have two kids – a daughter who is 19 and a son who is 17. I missed a lot of their childhood because of the amount I worked and in a lot of ways I regret that.

I say “in a lot of ways” because I needed to work and I have an overwhelming desire to succeed and be the best at what I do. I think in that respect, I have succeeded, but with every success comes a failure. For me it was the time missed with my kids and my wife.

We are taught to work hard and go after our dreams, but we are also warned to pay attention to what matters in life. For the majority of people, that’s family. Unfortunately, I only went after the...

Continue reading →


Saying what needs to be said

I was reading a post by MG Siegler the other day on how his posts could be shorter or more to the point. It got me thinking about my own writing.

When I started writing at MacCentral in 1994, my posts were basic news stories consisting of a few paragraphs. There were the odd longer stories, but not too many.

My stories at Macworld got longer over time as I did more analysis type pieces in addition to my regular news stories.

At The Loop and here at Svbtle, my stories are more direct and to the point. I don’t really do it on purpose, it’s just how I’ve progressed over the years, as I’ve honed my craft.

My only purpose now is to get my feelings out. I don’t want readers to wonder how I feel about the topic I’m writing about. If that takes one word or 500, it doesn’t really matter. I write until my point is made and then I stop.

That works for me.

Continue reading →


Sometimes too much is just too much

Over the years I’ve tried just about every major blogging software on the Internet. I’ve come to realize that I really don’t like any of them.

The problem, as I see it, is that the major platforms are trying to be everything to everyone. That’s just not possible. With the number and variety of Web sites out there these days, one platform is not going to satisfy everyone.

I run The Loop on Wordpress. It’s a great platform with a ton of features. But that’s part of the problem – there’s so much that I don’t need and never use that it just feels like a waste.

Of larger concern is whether or not the site is loading a bunch of code that’s not really necessary. I keep a watchful eye on the site to make sure it’s as lean as possible, but I’d rather just be comfortable with the system I’m using.

I mentioned Wordpress, but only because it’s the one I use. None of the others are any better.

...

Continue reading →


It’s not about the nerds

Jamie Kelly:

The thing that most of the commentators on Twitter’s API changes aren’t thinking about is this: Twitter started out as a cutting edge service used by the tech savvy. The people (myself included) who have been tweeting since 2006 or 2007 feel like they’re in some small way responsible for the services current mainstream success. Any maybe they are, but Twitter doesn’t see it that way.

Jamie brings up an excellent point. No matter how attached we are to Twitter, the company isn’t that attached to us.

Tech people have this funny way of feeling entitled to dictate how a company should be run, especially when we feel that we’ve made them successful. To a large extent, that’s how we feel about Twitter.

That would also explain why App.net was able to raise more than $500,000 – disgruntled Twitter users that feel like the company sold out. I can see the reasoning behind that...

Continue reading →


Death benefits

Instead, Bock, who joined the company in 2006 after a stint with General Electric, blew me away by disclosing a never-before-made-public-perk: Should a U.S. Googler pass away while under the employ of the 14-year old search giant, their surviving spouse or domestic partner will receive a check for 50% of their salary every year for the next decade. Even more surprising, a Google spokesperson confirms that there’s “no tenure requirement” for this benefit, meaning most of their 34 thousand Google employees qualify.

That’s very impressive.

View →


Reuters hacked

Thomson Reuters said the blogging platform of the Reuters News website was compromised on Friday and a false posting purporting to carry an interview with a Syrian rebel leader was illegally posted on a Reuters’ journalist’s blog.

I wonder if this was posted by the hackers too?

View →


Teaching our kids

My parents worked very hard when I was growing up. They are great people, fair people. I always respected them for that.

As I watch my kids, who are now 19 and 17, I realize that those are the same qualities I’ve tried to teach them. Be fair to people, but always stand up for what you believe in. Don’t follow the crowd if they don’t truly represent your thoughts.

Work hard and be proud of the job you are doing, and no matter what that job is, do it to the best of your ability.

Never look down on someone because of race, orientation or because they may not be as well off as you. Respect them because they are working, trying to make a better life for themselves.

Respect the people that deserve it, the ones that have earned it, and fight with everything you have against the people that don’t.

Those are my kids.

Continue reading →


Getting it wrong

The Supreme Court announced its ruling on the Affordable Care Act around 10:15 a.m. ET. CNN, which has been suffering in the ratings, and Fox both mistakenly reported that the individual mandate was struck down.

The race to be first is getting a bit ridiculous when CNN can get such an important story so wrong. I hate the way a lot of tech sites report news, but I think this says a lot about how bad things are getting.

View →