Often I just want to take my Blackberry Curve and throw it through the window. Why? Because it has a freaking track ball. Whoever thought a track ball was a good idea on a device that becomes as unresponsive as the Blackberry, should be stoned to death (or maybe they were just stoned at the time?).

The reason this has become so frustrating to me is because of the slow processor. Yeah, it’s a small device and I can’t expect it to be a super computer, I get it. But if in the moment that it becomes unresponsive, even for a fraction of a second, I happen to be using the track ball for any reason the results are often disastrous.

You see, as I scroll through options, and land on the one I want, for example “yes” instead of “no,” and then I click the button, sometimes I actually scrolled too far and actually click “no.” But I don’t know that until it becomes responsive again and “catches up” and suddenly the wrong option is highlighted and clicked before I can do anything about it. This doesn’t take a huge delay to cause problems (though huge delays are common).

When “no” gets selected instead of “yes” or vis-versa, or whatever I’m trying to use the track ball for, I get really frustrated. And it happens that I get frustrated a lot throughout the course of the day. Hence my frustration becomes anger.

Yes, my phone makes me angry. I’d really like to replace it, but it’s the only one my company will pay for me to have, and my anger ain’t worth the money. All I can do is shake my fist in the air and long for better days when my smart phone had a touch screen.

I have to say, I’ve been nothing but impressed with UDOT’s use of Twitter. Not only are they constantly and consistently updating us on road closures, serious accidents, and construction progress, they are also very responsive and helpful to individual requests.

For example: Back in July, I was stuck in traffic—more specifically, at a dead stop in traffic. I whipped out my phone and sent a tweet to @UtahDOT asking them if they could give me a reason. I’ll be honest, I really didn’t expect a response, but within minutes I got my answer.

Fast forward to last week. My wife and I were complaining about the fact that no one was merging properly at the end of the new lane added to Highway 201 last year. People weren’t even attempting to merge until the lane had already ended and it was starting to annoy us. One day on the way home from work, I paid close attention and discovered why people were so slow to react: the road sign indicating a merge was place exactly where the lane ended, giving drivers little to no time at all to start merging in advance. So, when I got home I sat in my garage and sent out another tweet to UDOT, this time with a complaint rather than a question. I did not get an immediate response this time, however. UDOT went to work on the problem and informed me via Twitter the solution to the problem once it was already in motion!

Now that’s service!

I was beaming the rest of the day after their latest response feeling like I had made a difference in the world. The credit is not all mine, however. Twitter has changed the world. And UDOT deserves a shout out for putting it to good use! Thanks, UDOT.

Vincent Price?

This year I participated in Movember. It’s a fundraiser for Prostate Cancer Foundation benefiting Livestrong where you basically start clean shaven on November 1st and proceed to grow a Mo (slang for mustache). The mustache helps give a reason to talk to friends, family and anyone else you talk to about Movember. You sign up on the website where you are given a donation page (MoSpace). The people you talk to can go to your MoSpace and donate money.

I was talked into participating by a co-worker. I had never grown a mustache before so I’ll admit, I was looking forward to having an excuse to find out what it looked like. I had a goatee for the previous 6 years, and was pleasantly surprised how well it grew and how much I liked it. Even though my wife is adamantly opposed to me having a mo, I accepted the challenge.

It turns out, facial hair is not facial hair. While my goatee was a good idea, the mustache was certainly NOT. Not only did it take the first 3 weeks of November to even be visible, but once it came in it was sparse and downright creepy looking. Think Kip from Napoleon Dynemite, but worse. To top that off, any kind of flash photography was enough to wash it out to where it wouldn’t show up in pictures when I wanted to post my progress on Facebook or my MoSpace page.

I guess a lame mo constitutes lame donations. I raised all of $26 for the cause and $5 of that was my own donation.

Next year I think I’ll just find someone who’s participating and donate $26 to their month and be done with it!

(It turns out I’m a fan of using puns for titles)

A great man once gave me some very personal and sound advice. Among other very important things, he admonished me to “Learn about history. Learn from the lessons of the past.” I was only 19 at the time, and took what he said as a suggestion to take a history class in college. Since that time, however, I have thought a lot about what he really meant. What learning history would really do to benefit my life or perhaps even the lives of others.

I think I’m starting to understand it now and would like to share this revelation with you. I think what’s really important for all of us, no matter what our calling in life may be, is to understand our place in history so that we can more purposfully contribute to tomorrow’s history.

As an Art major at the University of Utah, we were required to take a certain number of Art History classes. It bothered me at first that even though I had a painting and drawing emphasis, I was being forced to study the difference between the Northern European and the Italian renaissance. How would that help me paint better?

It wasn’t until later in my college career that I realized the importance of it, and that realization directly relates to the point I’m trying to make in this post. What I realized—or more correctly, what I was taught—is that in order to contribute something to the art world as a whole, you must first understand where that world has been and try to determine where it is going. Your relevance is determined by all that has come before you. You can’t even rebel against something until you fully understand what that something is, what it represents, what it means to everyone else. As far as I’m concerned it’s the main difference between an artist and someone who makes art. It’s the difference between Pablo Picasso and Thomas Kinkade.

So what does this have to do with me? What does this have to do with you? I have come to realize that no matter what your calling, whether it be a homemaker or a business owner, you will never fully reach your potential until you realize your place in history. Who came before you to get you where you are? What are you doing to benefit those who will come after you?

As a web developer I know that I am standing on the shoulders of giants such as Google, Amazon, and the like. I also recognize that many of the solutions to my problems have been provided to me by other developers facing similar problems who have posted their solutions for all to read. The reason I run my developer blog is to try and give something back. To try and help those just starting out or struggling with a particular problem. In so doing I am leaving my own mark on history. Strange as it may seem to a non-developer, my posting a solution to a javascript problem is literally my story. Internet millionaire turned essay writer and author, Paul Graham, once wrote something to the effect that programmers of today are the equivalent to the Renaissance Men of the 15th century. Just as society for the past 600 some-odd years has been greatly influenced by those men, so shall computer programmers dictate our society for centuries to come. Not only do I agree with his point of view, it gives me a thrill to realize that I’m right in the thick of that “movement.”

What’s your history? What’s the historical value of what you do every day? How are you lending yourself to shaping the future?

I promised to post the responses I received from Sen. Hatch and Congressman Chaffetz. Here they are!

From Senator Orrin Hatch:

Dear Mr. Gill:

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. I appreciate hearing from you. Health care reform is one of the most important challenges facing our nation and I am working hard to ensure access to quality and affordable care for the families in Utah.

As Congress focuses on the vital issue of health care reform, I believe it is important we address this national challenge in a bipartisan and fiscally responsible manner. Ensuring access to quality, affordable and portable care is not a Republican or Democrat issue—it is an American issue. As we move forward on this important issue, we should not make the mistake of assuming that the federal government is the solution to all our problems. Simply spending another trillion dollars of hard-earned taxpayer dollars—especially when we as a nation are facing a very difficult economic climate, and major government-run programs like Medicare and Medicaid are on a path to fiscal insolvency—A does not seem a viable solution.

First and foremost, we need to ensure that everyone has access to care that is affordable and that insurance companies cannot discriminate against Americans with pre-existing conditions. We must also rid our current government programs of the waste, fraud and abuse that results in billions of dollars being lost each year. Our health care system already costs almost $2.5 trillion a year; carelessly spending another trillion dollars to expand Washington’s role in health care while doing very little to control costs is not the answer.

As a member of the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee along with being part of the Republican Health Care Leadership Taskforce, I continue to be an active participant in these discussions and work with my colleagues—Republican and Democrat alike—toward a solution.

On July 15th, the Senate HELP Committee approved its partisan health care reform bill by a party-line vote (13-1O). Unfortunately, after a 23-day markup session, I could not support I the bill because—just to name a few concerns—it would not lower the growth of health care spending as it claimed, it would still leave an estimated 34 million people uninsured, and it would generate an estimated net loss of more than l.6 million jobs over five years.

Although we may disagree on this issue, I appreciate you sharing your views with me. I consider your input valuable and am honored to serve as your United States Senator from Utah.

The Finance Committee is currently considering its health reform bill. As this debate moves forward, I will certainly keep your comments in mind.

Again, thank you for writing.

Sincerely,

Orrin G. Hatch
United States Senator

And from Congressman Jason Chaffetz:

Dear Mr. Gill,

Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns with me about our health care system. Although the United States has the highest quality health care in the world, a majority of Americans agree that there is need for significant reform. I am working on ways to address the problems dealing with accessibility, availability, and affordability of health insurance.

Before I address my alternatives to health care reform, let me take a moment and explain why I am opposed to the current health care proposal before the House.

At its core, I am opposed to increasing the federal government’s control over health care. I fundamentally disagree with the idea that a federally-funded government health insurance option would improve the current system. While proponents of this approach argue that Americans would not be required to drop their health insurance and join the public plan, we must understand the “public option” would not operate on an even playing field. Simply put, a public health care option would result in fewer choices for Americans and lead to a single-payer system. A single-payer system would eventually lead to socialized medicine. While I am willing to work towards real health care reform, I will not vote for any health care bill that includes any type of public option. Additionally, I believe if members of Congress vote to pass a bill which includes a government run insurance plan, then those members should have to enroll in that plan as well.

I am also opposed to any health care bill that would increase taxes and increase the federal deficit. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the current health care proposal before the House would cost upwards of $1.5 trillion over a 10 year period. I ran for Congress on the idea that government needs to tighten its belt and learn to do more with less.

I am also against cutting funding to the Medicare Advantage program in order to fund other reforms to which I am adamantly opposed. I believe Medicare Advantage is a good alternative which incorporates many free market principles.

There are numerous proposals in the health care debate that I support and should be included in any bill that passes Congress. The health care reform bill should:

• Incentivize preventive care,
• Provide affordable access to insurance,
• Make policies portable,
• Cover pre-existing conditions,
• Allow opt-out provisions for states,
• Allow private insurers to compete across state lines,
• Promote more transparency in pricing and effectiveness of health care services.

These are not controversial provisions; these are provisions for which I would vote. Furthermore, both sides would likely admit these ideas would go a long way toward lowering costs and improving our health care system. I think we could solve a major portion of the health care problem by simply passing the provisions upon which we can agree.

I was also heartened to learn that President Obama was open to discussing lawsuit abuse reform as a tool for driving down costs. I believe that any health care plan absolutely must include such reform. Similarly, I believe that any health care bill that becomes law must prohibit the use of federal dollars to fund abortions and include a provision to exclude health insurance coverage to those in our country illegally.

Although there are many plans under consideration from both Republicans and Democrats, I have yet to find one that I believe would be the best solution for Utah. While there are promising provisions in each of the current proposals, most plans take a one-size-fits-all federal approach to health care. In reality, what works well in one state may not work as well in another. I believe that we will obtain the best results when we allow states as much autonomy as possible to address their unique challenges. I hope more states will follow the lead of states like Utah to innovate and experiment with new ways to improve health care for their residents. We would do well to unleash the creative power of state and local governments to innovate and drive new solutions.

In other words, the health care solutions should be driven by the states, not the federal government.

Again, thank you for your input and ideas. The process of reforming health care is very important. If we have a bad process, we will get a bad result. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to contact my office.

Sincerely,

Jason Chaffetz
Member of Congress