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Say this line to anyone who works with technology and it’s sure to bring a cynical smile to their face.
Weeding out the bugs and glitches in new technology is an ongoing process: You are never done. As soon as you have one version more-or-less bug free (and often sooner than that), it’s time to tackle the new version.
Sometimes, when a bug is reported, the response from the developer is in fact that it actually wasn’t a bug. You guessed it: A feature.
The un-looked-for bonus.
Sometimes, this can be a really cool event. The supposed “bug” may have granted more access than you thought possible. Other times, it may get in the way. That tends to drive you crazy. Suddenly you can’t do things the way that you did before.
Sometimes, the “bonus” may not be all that great. There’s been more than one occasion where the unexpected “feature” actually caused a big problem. New versions of software that include spyware comes to mind.
How to handle it.
In each case, there is a way to handle it:
- If the “feature” is a genuine improvement, then just enjoy it.
- If the “feature” is an annoyance, check for the logic behind it. If there is no logic behind it, then proceed to the next one.
- If the “feature” is a problem, then my suggestion is to fight fire with fire, or to dump the application. In this example, say you download a music player, with built-in spyware. You can either make sure that your security software is really good, or you can dump the music player and try something else. I suggest the second option.
The bugs and features in our day to day lives.
I remember when I started doing exercises to open up emotionally. I allowed myself to sense those around me more. I’ve always been rather sensitive, but I wanted to be more consciously sensitive. After doing these exercises for a while, I needed a test. I went to a crowded area and, before long, wound up a jittery wreck. The mental/emotional “noise” of all those people was way too much. I thought at the time that there was a serious problem here. I took a look at how it all fit together. Eventually I came to the conclusion that my conscious sensitivity was doing what it was supposed to. I needed, instead, to find a way of dealing with that newfound perceptiveness. Not a bug, a feature.
This fits in with the “system” approach: One or two techniques alone won’t make up a working system. Look at what is and isn’t working for you. Find what will work, and fit them together like a team. I still retain my openness. I now have some ways in place to watch my state. I also have techniques to give myself some mental/emotional “padding”. Put them together, and I can keep going without walling myself off from the world.
Another technique I tried out didn’t have a great “feature”. It wound up causing me to fall into one of my personal poisons. So, in a moment of clarity, I dumped the technique and moved on.
Putting it all together.
The term “best” is overused in our society. Rarely is one example actually the “best”. There’s most useful, least expensive, lightest, heaviest, brightest, quietest, biggest, smallest, but rarely will all of those traits combine to form the “best”.
At the same time, I do think that you can find what works best for you, for now. It’s like selecting the members of a team, or the pieces of a system. What may not be considered “the best” may in fact be perfect for what you are planning. If you found a desktop computer that was fast, reliable and cheap would you care how much it weighed? How about the OLPC project? Build simple, low-cost laptops and use them as education aids in remote locations. The list goes on and on.
Find what works for you. Keep tweaking.
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***The November 2007 Challenge***
This is the badge for my two goals. There are two “points”: One for each piece of the challenge. (Living up to the “Blogging Promise” at right and maintaining a good, consistent meditation practice each and every day.) The challenge began 11-9-2007 and ends 12-9-2007. Comments, suggestions, and feedback welcome!
