Letting the Qur'an Burn Makes Us Stronger

The phrasing in the headline isn't accidental. I said "Letting the Qur'an burn," not "Burning the Qur'an." Let me be clear that I think burning the Qur'an, the bible, any country's flag, the US Constitution, or even a copy of Fahrenheit 451, is a really bad idea.

Just in case that's not clear, let me repeat: it's a really, really bad idea. I do not in any way approve of anybody burning or destroying something that is sacred to somebody else.

But our country is strong because we allow people, even bigots and racists and just plain stupid folks, to have opinions which are -- you got it -- bigoted, racist, and just plain stupid. And burning stuff is just one way of expressing your opinion. If the Taliban or Al-Qaeda were in charge, you wouldn't be allowed to dissent. You'd have to do it in secret or risk being stoned to death.

If you're one of those radical, intolerant Christians who want to destroy something sacred to somebody else, you're not alone. In fact, you're just like the people you claim to hate the most. The Taliban destroyed buddhas, including the ancient and irreplaceable Buddhas of Bamyan. And as for Al-Qaeda ... maybe you've heard of the World Trade Center. Burn some Qur'ans and you'll be in great company.

We're better than that. We let people dissent. We know that a few bad people, like Qur'an burners, the Taliban, and Al-Qaeda, do not represent all Americans, all Christians, or all Muslims. Just like Timothy McVeigh and Terry Jones do not even come close to speaking for either all Christians or all Americans, the Taliban and Al-Qaeda do not come close to representing all of the Middle East or all Muslims.

So, hey, you want to be stupid, go ahead. The rest of us aren't interested in inciting more hatred.

No Tweeting During Philip Glass

I saw Philip Glass with my son tonight at the Kirkland Performance Center. I know this may come as a surprise, but I didn't tweet once during the performance. It's impossible to not notice the trend where people engage in social networking like tweeting instead of actually enjoying what they're doing. Maybe that works at a boring restaurant while you're waiting for your food to arrive, but complex music like what I heard tonight takes concentration! I can't imagine interrupting to tweet.

And, yes, the concert was awesome. I'd seem him once before, circa 1987, with a whole ensemble performing Koyaanisqatsi live. That was amazing and engrossing in a different way. This was just Glass on piano, a more intimate performance. Koyaanisqatsi live was unforgettable. I don't think this reached up to that bar, but I'll let you know in five or ten years.

Favorite pieces were a few of the seven etudes he played. He said he's written 16 of a planned 20, but he's only learned 10 of them so far (writing them is evidently easier than learning them). I also loved Night on the Balcony as well as Closing from Glassworks, which he played as an encore.

So You Got A Camera

So, you just got a camera. And the folks in the store are anxious to sell you an "accessory kit". They're anxious to do this because it's a high-profit item -- put a bunch of low-quality items together, give it a name, perhaps a name for a specific camera model, and sell it for a premium.

Ignore the accessory kits and instead think about what you need. Here are my suggestions:

• A memory card. Probably the one that came with the camera is too small. You need a minimum of one decent-sized card and a maximum of two. The price per GB is constant up to 16GB, so forget the idea of getting more smaller ones. The only advantage of two is the ability to transfer pictures from one card while you're using the other one. Always transfer the images to your computer and delete them off the card. Calculate how much space you need by estimating how many pictures you'll take between opportunities to transfer to your computer and then multiply by the space needed for the size you'll be shooting at.
• Speed does matter. With most cameras, faster cards let you take pictures faster. The cheapest cards off-brand cards seem to be the slowest.
• If your camera uses Compact Flash (CF), consider a UDMA card and a UDMA reader (see below).
• A UV filter, if you have an SLR. The real purpose is to protect your lens if it gets knocked. You don't need to pay absolute top dollar, but the cheapest ones may introduce distortion.
• A bag (not a case). You want a bag to stow the camera in when you're actually using it and possibly when you're using it not at home. I have a small Velocity 7 for active work. You don't want any case that is supposed to be used *while* you're actually taking pictures. They get in the way.
• If you have an SLR with multiple lenses, consider a backpack. I have an excellent one from Kata.
• Stability aka a tripod. You probably want some combination of the the following.
• A tripod. The best recommendations I know of are by Thom Hogan of bythom.com (he also writes great books). Most people can get by with less, maybe even just putting the camera on the edge of a table and using the self timer.
• A small tripod. Gorilla pods aren't bad (get the larger one, not the small one, it also comes in green). Or, maybe a Green Pod.
• A monopod. They're lightweight and good for added stability. Even a really cheap one can make a big difference. I've heard good things about the SteadePod.
• If you don't have one, you need a card reader for your computer. I have a Lexar dual-slot reader that supports UDMA. It does not have an attached USB cord (more convenient for packing) and closes to keep dust out.
• Consider a cheat sheet from Bert's Cheat Sheets. Small and handy. I also got one for my external flash.

Don't get:

• A memory card that's bigger than you actually need. Bigger is not always better: with some cameras, particularly point-and-shoots, larger cards mean the camera takes longer to turn on.
• Additional batteries or an external battery charger. You can always buy them later.
• An external flash, unless you know what you're doing (in which case, you probably don't need my advice anyway).
• Any lens adapter that goes on the outside of your lens.
• Remote control, unless you know you'll use it.
• Anything labeled an accessory kit.

And don't forget: enjoy your new camera!

Be The Change

My wife, Emily, and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary today by signing up to be bone marrow donors. Yes, you read that correctly.

Twenty years is quite a milestone. The average length of a marriage in the United States is just eight years. Knowing how much work it is to keep a relationship working, I can understand that statistic. We've had twenty great years, but not every moment was perfect. It takes work and compromise and love. We spent a lot of time thinking about how to commemorate this special milestone and we both wanted to do something special. But what?

Then I saw a tweet and a blog post from a friend of mine, Scott Porad, who wrote about his cousin Katie who needs a bone marrow transplant. There are 12 million people on the registry as potential donors and none are a match for her. And there are thousands of others in Katie's plight.

Organ donation isn't something that we're new to. Emily and I have both been signed up as organ donors since before we were married. When my sister and father died, tough as it was to make the decision at a time like that, we donated their organs. We heard back in both cases that their organs were used successfully (I don't know if that still happens). We've also both had close relatives die of cancer and we've donated money to cancer research. But we'd never signed up to be on the bone marrow registry. What was stopping us? Mainly lack of knowledge. Not knowing how trivial it is to sign up and how simple the actual donation process is -- in most cases, it's a relatively minor outpatient procedure. Once we learned the reality, it became a no-brainer to sign up, and it seemed like a pretty good way to celebrate life.

It costs money to add people to the registry, so you may be asked to defray the processing costs with a donation. If you can't afford to donate, they won't turn you away, but do think about donating if you can afford it. For us, the donation was an anniversary present to ourselves and two other people we'll never meet who will have their registration paid for. If you're excluded from registration for age or health reasons, I hope you'll consider donating to sponsor the registration of someone else. And, as long as we were at the Puget Sound Blood Center, we decided to donate blood too.

Will our signing up help Katie? Or any specific person in need? Chances are low. Very low. And that's why it's so important to get as many registrations as possible. It's a numbers game and, right now, the numbers favor cancer. Every person who registers helps to change that.

To join the registry anywhere in the US, visit the Be The Match Foundation at http://www.marrow.org/

For more information about Katie, check out http://www.kancerclub.com/

If you tweet about this, please use the hash tag #savekatie and reference @BeTheMatch. The short URL for this blog post is http://j.mp/bethechange.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world" -- Mohandas K. Gandhi

The Message is Love

No, I'm not a day late on my September 11th anniversary blog post. This is a post-9/11 post. In 2001, my wife wrote the following poem shortly after 9/11. You may have already read it as it was distributed fairly widely on the Internet and read at some events and eerily echoed in the opening monologue to "Love Actually".


The Message is Love
by Emily Dietrich

© Copyright 2001 by Emily Dietrich
Redistribution permitted for non-commercial purposes
Contact emily@magentic.org for other uses


Unlike the Titanic and Oklahoma City, this tragedy contained a window, created by a coincidence of technology and a few moments of life before imminent death, that allowed some victims an opportunity. They could send a last minute message, put one more thought out into the world, and they could know it would be heard.

This is what they said.
"I just wanted you to know that I love you."

They said,
"I love you."

That’s what becomes urgent.
That’s what a person wants to say,
wants the world to know when death is certain.

"I love you."

No one called to say
"Get these bastards."

No one spent dying breath to say
"I want revenge."

The calls were made to say
"I love you."

And in 2001, a time when technology has brought cell phones, voices from the sky, we are able to hear their last words. With our own ears, we hear those who will die in seconds say their last words, a rare privilege.

They said,
"I love you."

The answer to hate is love.
The opposite of terrorism is charity.

Let’s cherish the great gift these victims of terrorism have given us.
Let’s honor the promise implicit in the privilege of hearing their final words.
Let’s fulfill the obligation to life that our dying brothers and sisters ask of us.
Let’s use our lives to say
"I love you."

Make a Difference - Play Scrabble

When big companies make big donations to charity, they get a lot of publicity out of it. Today, I got an email from a small company that's giving back in a (relatively) big way. The company is Protiles and, as of June 1st, they are giving 10% of every sale to charity. Even though I've known about this company for a long time and think their products are fantastic, I had no idea what they were already doing for charity.

If you play Scrabble, Clabbers, or Anagrams, check out their products. They're the best Scrabble tiles available and are required use in most tournaments. I like the white injection-molded tiles myself, but they're all good. They have some funny videos too.

Here's the message from Protiles:

For several years Protiles has been selling sets of white tiles with pink letters and a pink breast cancer ribbon on the blanks.  Five dollars from every set sold is donated to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.  

Last year Protiles donated over 240 sets of Protiles to the 2008 Players Championship in Dayton, OH. 

In the last eight months Protiles has donated more than 150 sets of Protiles to school teachers in 15 states for use in their classrooms.  Here's a typical request:  "I am interested in using letter tiles in my class next year to help teach spelling.  Unfortunately, we have no funding available.  Do you ever make donations to a class or give a great discount to teachers?  I teach first grade at Bethlehem Elementary in Taylorsville, NC."

So far Protiles has sent sets of tiles to teachers in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Kansas, Tennessee, Florida, Nebraska, Texas, Indiana, Colorado, Arizona and North Carolina.  

Protiles also would like to honor Rose Kreiswirth's memory.  Rose was an expert Scrabble® player for over 30 years and cherished the game for its educational values. An accomplished player, Rose was as well known for her sense of fairness and her congeniality as she was for her competitiveness. The Rose Award will be awarded each year at the National Scrabble Championship to a female player who, in the opinion of the judges, best exemplifies the fierce competitiveness and compassion that we remember Rose for. 

Finally, my local Starbucks store asks customers to donate the new instant coffee, VIA, to the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The coffee comes in a small packet and works with both hot and cold water, perfect for a cup of coffee away from the comforts of home.  Would you buy a cup of joe for a soldier?

Beginning June 1, 2009 Protiles will donate 10% of the sales price of every set our customers order to these good causes.  We'll send sets to school teachers, we'll honor Rose, we'll support breast cancer research, and we'll send some good-tasting instant coffee to the troops.  

When you order Protiles tell us where you'd like the 10% to go.  If you choose not to choose, we'll choose for you.  Either way you'll know that we're doing something good together. 

The Day That Analog Died

A long, long time ago...
I can still remember
How that TV used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could see those people dance
And, maybe, we'd be happy for a while.

But digital made me shiver
With every DVD delivered.
Bad news in my email;
I couldn't stand another FAIL.

I can't remember if I cried
When I read about problems denied,
But something touched me deep inside
The day analog died.

So bye-bye, Miss American pie.
Took my telly to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were watchin' CSI
Singin', "this'll be the day that I die.
"this'll be the day that I die."

Why Won't Dick Cheney Shut Up?

Never before has a disgraced former Vice President spent so much time criticizing the current President, predicting and hoping for failure. As our last President suggested, if he's not with us, he must be with the terrorists.

I think Dick Cheney wants the terrorists to win. His views match Osama bin Laden perfectly. He wants more destruction. He wants another attack against the US. He wants to keep things as polarized as possible. And he doesn't want peace. It's the only way his nutty "torture is ok" and "god is on our side" views have any chance of prevailing.

Dick Cheney, please shut up.

I Almost Hit A Bicyclist

I was about to make a right turn onto a five-lane street. There wasn't much traffic, but I waited for it clear, then started my turn. Right in front of me, there was a bicyclist. Going the wrong way. In the dark. Without a helmet. Without a light. I didn't hit him, but I could have. As he bicycled off, I saw he had a red light on the back of the bike. Not much help that does when he's going the wrong way.

A long time ago, it was recommended that you should bike going against traffic. This stupid advice hasn't been given out for a long time. In fact, in Washington State, as in many states, it's illegal to ride against traffic. The King County web site has a good summary.

Here are the essentials:

• You're harder to see when you're biking the wrong way, both to vehicles in the street and to others.
• Motorists making a turn don't spend a lot of time looking the wrong way before making their turn. Pedestrians move slowly enough that they are usually spotted easily. Not so with bicyclists.
• Your speed relative to other traffic is much greater when you ride against traffic, significantly increasing the risk of an accident and the likelihood of injury in an accident.
• Assume that motorists are not looking out for you, both literally and figuratively. Do everything you can to be visible.
• Always wear a helmet, but know that it will not save your life in a major accident. Do everything you can to avoid an accident.
• Use two lights at night -- one in front and one in back. Lights that blink are a good idea. An extra light on your left leg that moves up and down for more visibility is a good idea.
• Following the law is always a good idea, but it's not enough -- in the vast majority of bicycle accidents, the bicyclists were following the law. It will not do you any good to have been in the right when you're hit.
  

Further reading

• bicyclesafe.com is an excellent, quick read with practical advice. Good to read even if you're not a bicyclist.
• Bicycling Street Smarts is book about "riding confidently, legally, and safely" which is available online.

Can We Save A Local Voice?

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is going to fold any day now and may become an online only paper. That's may become, not will become -- nothing is certain here. As P-I subscribers since we moved to the area, we're going to have to decide which paper to subscribe to -- the Seattle Times or what? I honestly don't know, but one possibility is that we'll get the New York Times instead of the Seattle Times. Which gives me an idea that I just have to toss out.

Why doesn't the P-I wrap the New York Times? By this I mean that they produce a combined paper which contains a single P-I section with local articles, local ads, local ad inserts, plus the national edition of the New York Times. The local section would contain no national news, no wire-service news, nothing but things that are of local interest. In other words, the local paper does what it does best and it combines with one of the best papers in the country (if not the best paper in the country) for everything else. The New York Times is already printed locally somewhere. That same plant could print one extra section for P-I subscribers.

Such a hybrid wouldn't save the entire P-I and it wouldn't save everybody's job, but it seems like it could retain the voice and more. It seems like a win-win for everyone.

Is there something I'm missing?

Happy Valentines Day!

Here's our valentine for this year:

Please Don't Eat The Piroshkis

There's a new piroshki restaurant in downtown Seattle that I highly recommend you avoid. It's called Piroshki on 3rd and is apparently the second restaurant in a now growing enterprise. I haven't figured out if the owners and bakers are evil or truly evil, but I think it's clear that they're bent on world domination. For once you've had one of their piroshkis, you'll have no choice but to return again and again. One person I know has already been there three times in the first four days since he learned about it and he has other trips planned already. I fear he may be a lost cause.

But you don't have to fall into this trap. Avoid the delicious, perfect, just-a-little-bit-sweet dough. Don't even think about the corned beef, mushrooms, and cheese piroshki. Don't be tempted by the smoked salmon and cream cheese. Don't stop to admire the fact that each flavor of piroshki is cleverly shaped differently to reflect its contents. And, if you're forced to go, make sure it's not around noon when everything is fresh out of the oven. Fortunately, if you get there too late, there may be a long line of people in front of you.

In fact, stay as far away from the whole area as you can. If you get too close, the smells may draw you in. Piroshki on 3rd is at 710 3rd Avenue, between Columbia and Cherry, in Seattle.

We've Waited Eight Years For This

It took eight years, but the President finally admitted a mistake. "I’ve got to own up to my mistake... I think I messed up. I screwed up," he said. Only this wasn't President Bush admitting a big mistake, like starting an illegal war -- it was President Obama admitting that he messed up in nominating Tom Daschle to head up HHS, despite his problems with taxes.

In television interviews, Obama was candid. "The most important thing, from my perspective, is making sure that the American people understand we don't have two sets of rules here, that everybody has responsibilities. In this situation, I take responsibility for it ...I'm here on television saying I screwed up and that's part of the era of responsibility, is not never making mistakes; it's owning up to them and trying to make sure you never repeat them and that's what we intend to do."

So, less than two weeks into his term and Obama has already been able to do something Bush couldn't do in eight years.

Yes, I know the snarks will come out of the woodwork and say Bush apologized for this or that, but there's a whole difference in attitude and I like it. This President knows he works for us.

Ban Inter-Anything Marriage

It's sad to see that the Mormons, a religious group that has been discriminated against, that has had their own marriage practices shunned and criminalized, in violation of the First Amendment, is a driving force in not only legalizing discrimination in California, but mandating it. California's Proposition 8 is, simply put, shameful. What is wrong with this people? How insecure in themselves are they that they can possibly be threatened by people they don't even know getting married?

But, hey, if we want to enshrine discrimination, let's go for it! Here's my draft of a California proposition to accomplish this:

This initiative measure is submitted to the people in accordance with the provisions of Article II, Section 8, of the California Constitution.

This initiative measure expressly amends the California Constitution by replacing a section thereof; therefore, revised provisions are printed in italic type to indicate that they are replacements.

SECTION 1. Title This measure shall be known and may be cited as the "California Real Marriage Protection Act."

SECTION 2. Section 7.5 of Article I of the California Constitution, is amended to read:

SEC. 7.5. Only marriage between two people, wherein one person is a man and one person is a woman, and wherein both people share the same age, color, creed, disabilities, education, ethnicity, eye color, hair color, race, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, and military/veteran status, is valid or recognized in California.

I know that it might be difficult to abide by these restrictions, and many existing marriages might suddenly be invalid, but it's the price we have to pay if we want to protect bigotry.

The Time of the Campaign

Estimates on the cost of the just-concluded presidential campaign are running around $1 Billion. That's certainly a lot of money, but, to put it in perspective -- it's only 3 days in Iraq.

A friend of mine recently lamented what she called a bigger travesty -- the consumption of time. I have to say that I disagree. Sure, there was plenty of time wasted, particularly the moments when the Republicans tried to call Obama a terrorist or a socialist, or when Sarah Palin went around telling people that only Republicans love our country.

But, as Barack said so eloquently on Tuesday:

This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change.

So, too, is it the case that the few moments that we each spent voting were not the election. They say the Presidency is a bully pulpit, but Barack Obama has been using the bully pulpit of the campaign trail for a year. His victory -- our victory -- would not have happened without his leadership over that time. By educating people, by advancing his agenda, by helping people understand that we could talk about hope rather than fear, and by helping people learn why our country deserved a leader like him, he has already changed the country for the better -- and it is that changed country which elected him.

That change couldn't have happened without a lot of time -- time that wasn't wasted.

Vote Against All Initiatives

Just a short little political message. I generally vote against all initiatives and propositions. The spirit of our government is rooted in compromise. We don't all agree, but by discussing our disagreements and reaching a compromise that we can all live with, we move forward in the best way for everyone. Voter initiatives fly in the face of that compromise. It's winner take all -- and almost every initiative takes advantage of that, pushing the limits of what's acceptable and distorting the truth to imply that the solution proposed is the only possible solution to the problem.

I'd love to see a split system, in which every initiative gets two votes: "I agree with the problem" and "I agree with the solution." I think we'd find that far more people would vote for the first statement than the second -- and maybe then we voters would have the opportunity to direct our legislatures without tying their hands with poorly designed laws. After all, we elect them to solve complex problems for us.

This year, I might actually vote for an initiative or two. For example, I'll probably vote for I-1000 ("Death with Dignity"), which is an example of a law that could never pass the legislature -- they're all too scared that the "moral minority" will campaign against them if they support it, so it's up to us voters. I certainly hope that I never have to avail myself of I-1000's provisions, but I know that just the fact that it's available could be of great comfort to some people. I'll look at the rest of the initiatives, but my default vote is always No.

I'm Roy Leban and I approved this message.

Listening to ... the Homeless

One of the albums I've been listening to in the car lately is Give Us Your Poor from Appleseed Recordings, a fundraising CD of music featuring Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger, Bon Von Jovi, Natalie Merchant, Bonnie Raitt, plus actors Tim Robbins and Danny Glover and many others. I would enjoy this album even if it were just a regular album, but here the proceeds benefit the homeless.

It's great music, including some from artists I would not normally choose to listen to. There are a couple of spoken pieces in addition to the music, but they fit in very well and are informative. I'm glad I've heard them and I don't skip over them while playing the whole CD (if I had created the CD, though, I would not have made one of the spoken pieces the very first track).

It's Not McCain's Turn

I don't get what it is about politicians where they think that it's "their turn" to be President. McCain's been around long enough, he's been a senior member of the US Senate, he's chaired committees, he's brought home pork barrel spending to Arizona, and now he thinks it's his turn to be President.

Let's compare McCain with Elizabeth Dole. Now, I happen to completely disagree with Senator Dole's politics, but she is far more qualified than McCain to be President. In addition to being a senator, she served in the Executive Branch, including as Secretary of Transportation under Ronald Reagan and Secretary of Labor under George Bush. She was president of the American Red Cross for 8 years. And, she's a former Presidential candidate herself. I'd take Elizabeth Dole on temperament any day over John McCain. But McCain didn't even consider Dole for the VP slot. Instead, he picked Sarah Palin, who is even more unqualified than he is.

Dole isn't the only potential candidate either. The Republicans had many candidates they could have picked from who are far more qualified than McCain, but I guess it's not their turn. It's McCain's.

The problem isn't unique to this year or the Republican party. Look at John Kerry in 2004, Bob Dole in 1996, George Bush in 1988 (oops, he actually won), and Walter Mondale in 1984. I'll admit that I actually liked Walter Mondale and I certainly voted for Kerry over Bush. But, in each case, the parties had better candidates they could have put forth, but it was as if the party leadership had anointed somebody instead.

I just hope the American people do the right thing this time around, and tell John McCain that it's not his turn.

Puzzazz is Live

At 12:01 Pacific Time, Puzzazz, a new puzzle web site went live on the internet. But there aren't many users yet. I guess I have to tell the world first. So, here goes.

I've wanted to create Puzzazz, which is a portmanteau word meaning Puzzles with Pizzazz, for a long time. For those who don't know, I'm a professional puzzle constructor and game designer (in my spare time). I've had puzzles published all over the place, including a recent book, and I'm one of the co-founders of the Microsoft Puzzle Hunt. As a game designer, I have a few games that have been well received, but I'm still waiting for one to get picked up by a publisher.

My vision for Puzzazz is a quick diversion. I don't want you to spend hours on my site. I want you to spend a few minutes every day. I want to make you smile. I want Puzzazz to become a part of your life. To that end, Puzzazz tracks your solve rate and your accuracy rate (which takes guesses into account). You can invite your friends and you'll get to compare how well they're doing to how well you're doing. If you use Twitter, you can set your preferences to auto-tweet for you whenever you solve a puzzle. Hopefully, all your Twitter followers will want to join Puzzazz too.

Puzzazz is mostly word puzzles and they'll get harder from Monday through Saturday. The Sunday puzzle will be a larger puzzle, with about the difficulty of a mid-week puzzle in a larger size, and they'll be a variety -- from word puzzles to sudoku to logic puzzles. If this progression sounds familiar, it's not accidental.

I'm interested in feedback on all aspects of Puzzazz, but mostly on the difficulty level of puzzles. As any puzzle constructor knows, gauging difficulty is one of the hardest things in creating puzzles. I've got it down for lots of puzzle types, but the puzzles on Puzzazz are different, so feedback from you will help me calibrate.

So, check out Puzzazz. And invite your friends.

P.S. If you want to read about the creation of Puzzazz, read this post on my thisDev blog.

You Are How You Manage

You know the slogan "You are what you eat"? Well, I think a lot of who you are is how you manage other people. There are lots of different styles, but my own encourages dissent. I don't want to foster competition, but I think that without dissent, without disagreement, you don't get the best solutions. I want the people who work for me to be better than me, at least at something. A few cases in point:

One time, I had an awesome tester working for me, one of the best testers I've ever worked with. A lot of people disliked him because he was a thorn in their side. But I loved him and encouraged him. When I really wanted to know the state of the world, I could ask him and he would give it to me straight. He made my job of managing the team easier. Years later, I happened to be called in as the "fix it guy" on a large project. He happened to be one of the testers on the project. He wasn't the test manager or even the lead, but he was the first guy I talked to and, in 10 minutes, I got a better lay of the land than I could have gotten in an entire day worth of interviewing other people. He made my job easier.

I've also managed a number of tech writers over the years, but I'm thinking of one particular guy who was a former writer. Now, I'm not a bad writer (one of my original majors in college was English, and I'm married to a former English teacher). But, I would regularly run important things I've written by this guy and he would almost always make it better. I made it clear that I didn't want him to pull punches and he didn't. I remember one occasion when I took him a two-page memo I'd written and the post-edit version turned out to be one paragraph. He made me a better communicator.

I once asked a guy who worked for me for an idea to present at an upcoming brainstorming session to make a particular decision. He had one suggestion that I thought was stupid, and I told him so. He argued with me, told me why it was a good idea. I stood my ground. At the brainstorming session, I presented his idea anway. After all, he was very confident that he was right. I also presented some of my own ideas. His idea won and, in the end, deservedly so. He did get the credit, but he made me look good.

In all these cases, and many others, if I hadn't encouraged dissent, I wouldn't have gotten the benefits. For me, this really works, though I'll admit that when I get new employees, they don't always believe me at first. It take some time. It doesn't work for everybody, but it works for me.

But I sure like it when I read a quote like this from Barack Obama on why he picked Joe Biden as his running mate:

"... if I'm in the room making the kinds of tough decisions that the next president's gonna have to make, both on domestic policy and on international policy, then I want the counsel and advice of somebody who's not gonna agree with me a 100 percent of [the] time. In fact, somebody who's independent enough that can push back and give me different perspectives and make sure that I'm catching any blind spots that I have. And Joe Biden doesn't bite his tongue."