The Crowdstrike-caused, world-wide computer outages on July 18 reminded me of an old joke that, in retrospect, doesn’t seem quite as funny now: If builders built buildings the way programmers write programs, the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization. I wrote a bit of software myself long ago in another life, and I still play around with some pretty complicated Excel spreadsheets, so I can attest to its truth. Which brings to mind a piece of advice from one of my computer science instructors: Always have a paper backup. ______________________________________________________________ The assassination attempt on Donald Trump wasn’t the … Continue reading Random Thoughts, Whatcha Gonna Do? Edition