To those of you who don’t know about tracking, it’s a form of computer music which was quite common especially in the amiga times and nineties. It is usually tightly coupled with demoscene. I never tracked with amiga, but I used PC and a great software called Scream Tracker (ok, I used Fast Tracker too, but all my releases were with Scream Tracker). Oh, those were good times Anyway, tracker or mod-music is composed using samples and originally only four channels (later, when I did it, it was something like 16 or more depending on your cpu). Using samples you created patterns, which put together, made the song.

You can find my song and others from The Mod Archive (where you can play it online) or from Come As You are for example. It seems that even Winamp can play mods nowadays. The song is called Breed (S3M) and it’s a Nirvana cover. Listening to it now, over ten years later, it sounds kind of crappy but I have to say I’m very delighted for finding out, that something I created as a teenager, has survived this long. Damn, maybe I should continue with music, my next song could be Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle…

Breed wasn’t the only song I did (it was the only cover though), but it looks like the rest are lost in time (they probably never were on the web, back in the days we used mostly phone-based BBS systems). It’s a shame I didn’t keep copies. It would’ve been fun to listen to them now (or embarrassing at least).

There were some documentation attached to the S3M file, which among other things, listed my equipment. I still have the same Ibanez guitar (well, it’s broken but it hangs on my wall) and the same guitar amp (Marshall Valvestate) I used to record the riffs. Hmm.. it’s about time for a new amp! 

If you want to listen to some great mod music, try googling or searching the mod archive for songs by Purple Motion and Skaven. They were from the demoscene group Future Crew, and were one of my favorites. There were other great artists too, but unfortunately I’ve forgotten their names. Long live tracker music!

EDIT: I actually found another song by me, though this wasn’t on internet: The Outsider. That one is 100% original and includes some vocal samples from Blur and Scorpions. The first part is pretty boring but if you forward to 2:00 there’s some nice acoustic outro, which actually sound pretty good. Check it out.

I just finished reading Lisey’s Story by Stephen King. Before I get into details, I have to say, that King is one of my all-time favorite authors. Needless to say, I was very eager to get my hands on Lisey’s Story, as it was just recently published in Finland (late 2008 I think). My dear mother was kind enough to buy it for me as a Christmas present, so thanks mom! Anyway, I find it really strange, how many people seem to really dislike King, even hate his books. Most of my friends, for example, belong to this group. On the other hand, his novels are bestsellers on a regular basis. Lisey’s story is no exception, and I’m sure, that it will once again divide the public.

The novel is oddly (for King that is) described as a love story and that it sure seems to be. It’s not exactly conventional, as the story begins when the other part of the relationship has been dead for quite some time. And of course, like in most of King’s novels, the supernatural is present. I think that is the biggest single factor that alienates people from King. The supernatural. But there is another side to that as well. Why I love King, has almost nothing to do with supernatural, or even horror. It’s about imagination and stories. Stories well told. If you think alike, Lisey’s Story is definitely for you. It’s celebration of imagination.

To be honest, I had great difficulties when I first started to read the novel. I wasn’t quite sure if I liked the story or not, and there were some strange made-up words that didn’t feel right, as it made the story feel somewhat childish, though that was intentional as it turned out later. I’m sure, that many will not give the story a chance and quit reading before they reach even the middle point. I’m glad I struggled on, because Lisey’s Story turned out be one the best novels, King has written in a long time. There are some horror elements in it, but mostly it’s focused on feelings such as love and loss. It’s a beautiful story of a man and a woman, about sanity and insanity, about facing your fears, and most of all; it’s a study of imagination.

SOWISA, Strap On Whenever It Seems Appropriate, is one the tiny things that I will surely remember from Lisey’s Story for years to come. It’s something that Scott Landon, the deceased husband of Lisey used to say to her, to babyluv. Scott and Lisey had a language of their own, and as a reader you begin to understand it better and better as the story proceeds. At the same time you are dwelled deeper and deeper to the mind of Scott and Lisey, and the theme of the novel becomes more obvious. What is the source of imagination and how close it is to insanity?

I loved this book. I will surely use it to measure people, but I fear many won’t like it at all. Those who will, I think I feel close to. If they like Lisey’s Story, they probably share the same longing, the same thrill about imagination.

Most people don’t understand what software development really is. They think of computers, automation, and repetitive dull work. Maybe you’ve heard the phrase “even monkey could do it”. Hell, I’ve used that one myself describing my work. Even many of us who are in the industry, don’t seem to grasp the true nature of it. Not so long ago, I didn’t have a clue myself, but recently I’ve started to look things differently. I’m still in the dark but I’ve seen a glimpse of light. Does this sound like a cliché yet?

As a software developer, it’s all about your own attitude, self-respect even. More precisely, it’s about being professional. Sure, you can be the code monkey and not care about what you do, how you do it or in what environment you do it. This is how most people think, and this is exactly the reason why software developer as profession is not appreciated in a way, as it should be. If you think about it, this applies exactly the same in almost any profession. What makes software development special is that it’s not merely about engineering. It’s more than that. It’s an art. I stumbled across this post by David Christiansen, which is about how professionals perceive software development, or how it should be perceived. By now, you should have a clue what I think about it, at least from the topic of this post…

I’ve come to think software development as a craft. This is not something that I’ve made up myself, obviously, but it something that I’ve really started to relate to. There are many great blogs and articles about the subject, and here is one of them: http://blog.8thlight.com/articles/2008/9/22/definition-of-software-craftsman. There the author Micah gives a good definition of software craftsman and software development as a craft. I’m still in the process of feeling out about the whole Apprentice – Journeyman – Master thing, but I’m starting to like it. Anyway, what Micah says is: “A craftsman takes pride in his work an strives to do the best job he can. He believes that writing good software requires skill and careful attention. That software is not something that can be manufactured nor can it be delivered faster by merely adding more bodies.” I’m a craftsman. I’m might be just in the beginning of my path, an apprentice, but this is something I really believe in.

There is a very entertaining and good series of writings about software craftsmanship by Robert C. Martin, or Uncle Bob if you will. Go to http://objectmentor.com/resources/publishedArticles.html and select Craftsman from published articles topic list. It’s a very long story but it’s worth it. That series is actually the first contact for me about software craftsmanship. It also introduces some good sw-practices such as pair programming and TDD. 

I come from a school where software development is first and last defined as a business. I wasn’t supposed to get involved in the actual development and coding. But I did, and it took me a long time to change my attitude towards it. I always liked coding but I never pursued it as a career. Now, as I said before, my whole world is changing. I have always valued humanistic sciences and arts & crafts (I still do!). Now I’m starting to see that same value in software development, which I used to see only from the business point of view. I have to admit, this is a change I welcome with open arms. Even though I’m not a senior developer, not very experienced and not very skillful, I’m still able to notice that many developers around me don’t give a crap. They don’t value the work they do and they don’t value themselves. I want to do something to change that.

One last note, when I talk about software development, I don’t mean just coding, but everything from project management to testing. It’s all good.