I live in upstate New York with my
wife
and our cats.
I have two successful sons,
Greg Greg
and Dan Dab.
I attended
Liverpool, NY Central Schools
(1963-1976). I earned a BS in CS in 1981 from
Rochester Inst. of Tech.
and was a resident (1977-1980) of the acclaimed
Computer Science House. (See
my CSH page).
I retired in 2023 from a career in software development (most recently full-stack, Microsoft/Azure).
Scroll around for information about my family, tech, music, spiritual and other interests!
I am active with parish and diocesan activities and graduated in 2018 from the
College for Congregational Development.
I am interested in Bible exegesis and have written articles
from my amateur, lay perspective, and plan to participate in
Education for Ministry beginning in 2023.
For now, I have reviewed my thoughts with clergy and we have tried to weed out unjustifiable statements.
Still, these articles are my work, with my God's help, and I am the only person who should be held accountable.
Promote community service, church (etc.) and the arts. People learn to succeed when they're able to interact with successful
people. Diversity on its own does not ensure success, but no one starts out "successful". Everyone should be given a chance to
succeed. It's OK to address failure, but don't discriminate against someone who hasn't yet had a chance to succeed. People
tend to live and work with others who are in a similar stage of life, so where can a person just starting to climb the ladder
of success interact with successful people? One of the few welcoming environments is a place of worship. Are you looking for
role models? Go to church, synagogue, mosque, coven, etc. Are you a successful person looking to improve your community?
Go to your place of worship and welcome others.
It's not enough to vote: don't vote for a liar. Donald lost, election fraud claims are lies. Hillary deleted
classified data from her server at home, "personal email" claims are lies. Joe and Mitch are too old, "doing fine" claims
are lies.
Sometimes abortion is the best choice, but three considerations have value and must be weighed: mothers' body autonomy,
fetal rights and fathers' rights.
Godwin's Law ...
Jokes ...
Magnetic Poetry® seen on our
fridge: * pull up my little wedgey roughly * Dan is a gridiron champion * here be Gocek
country * flood the symphony of mud mountain * burn not the ugly blister * dad
is a tremendously fat huge pig eating dinosaur * stride through chocolate
gardens, they shadow death as do my tremendous muscles Art is not a thing; it is a way. - Elbert Hubbard, American author, c. 1900. The obstacle is the path. - Zen proverb. It doth confound our merriment. - "Beyond the Fringe" revue, from "So That's the Way You Like It", 1964 (Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller). Fourth floor! Clocks, locks, socks, smocks, and langerayyyy (lingerie)! - Daffy Duck, "Looney Tunes" character. The software isn't finished until the last user is dead. - Maybe Sidney Markowitz.**
FOOTNOTES:
* Regarding my Myers-Briggs type of ISTJ, this preference was reported by "the MBTI Instrument" in 2017.
I had previously taken the instrument around 1990 and my preference then was a cross between INTJ/INFJ.
My intuitive "N" had changed strongly to a sensing "S". I attribute this to a change from my younger days when I was full of
innovative ideas, but nowadays prefer standards and processes. A trainer in 2017 says we don’t intrinsically change,
but over time our preferences may change, such as after 30+ years in jobs that emphasize standards and processes.
ISTJs comprise about 11% of the US population, but specialized groups such as lay and clergy leaders in my mainline Protestant
diocese may have different demographics, and my type is less common there.
** Regarding Sidney Markowitz, I recall seeing this first in a magazine article shortly after graduating from
college and in my first real programming job, in the early 1980s. It's possible the magazine was
"Creative Computing",
but I don't think so. The article listed several computer-related one-liners. I saved the paper article for a
while, but apparently discarded it. I recall the article quoted NASA sources and I also recall the article named
the source for this quote with only a last name, but I don't recall the name or if he or she was a NASA employee.
"Sidney Markowitz" claimed in
a 2009 blog post
(retained on archive.org) to be the originator. My vague recollection is that "Markowitz" was not
the name given in the magazine article, but I can't say for sure. Markowitz refers to
a Wired magazine interview
in which "Richard Soley" attributes the quote to "a friend". According to Markowitz, Markowitz worked for a company
that partnered with a company founded by Soley, but it's not clear Soley and Markowitz ever met. "Soley's friend"
sounds something like what I remember from that magazine of the '80s, but I don't think the magazine was "Wired",
which didn't publish until 1993. Soley's company worked with Intel 286 and 386 PCs, developed in the early 1980s,
so the timing is right. I am always wary of self-proclaimed brilliance on the Internet, and even Markowitz admits
the quote evolved with colleagues from a debugging reference into a general software reference. Still, it appears
Sidney was in the right place at the right time.
St. Luke's Youth Group at the World Trade Center in NYC, 12/9/00
The gang from the SummerSongs songwriting camp, 7/2/99
Gary's prom date
Gary's RIT dorm room, 1979 (now the Computer Science House ARG room)