Brian Alvey

The Audacity of Code

134 days ago

In the end, that's what this internet is about. Do we participate in a project of cynicism or a project of code? Project managers call on us to code. Investors call on us to code.

I'm not talking about blind optimism here -- the almost willful ignorance that thinks bugs will go away if we just don't talk about them, or the cross browser crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. No, I'm talking about something more substantial.

It's the code of developers sitting around a codejam singing Sublime songs; the code of sites serving APIs to distant shores; the code of a young junior programmer bravely patrolling subversion; the code of a lawyer's son who dares to defy the odds; the code of a skinny kid with a funny domain name who believes that the internet has a place for him, too.

Code in the face of difficulty. Code in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of code!

Comments (13)

Add a Comment Inappropriate or promotional comments may be removed.

Reply
sarah gilbert 134 days ago

i never thought i'd be getting all teary-eyed over an ode to code.
Reply
Judith Meskill 134 days ago

i love that word - audacity, how very intrepid of you ... /smile
Reply
Dorie 133 days ago

I think I'm ready to change my platform affiliation.
Reply
Angela 133 days ago

Hi Brian--sorry to crash your blog but I was wondering by a random chance if you're the owner of a domain that I'm interested in. Would you email me? Thank you -- and I'm sorry again to crash your blog--I couldn't find your contact info.
Thanks!
~Angela
Reply
Gray 133 days ago

"the code of a skinny kid with a funny domain name who believes that the internet has a place for him, too."
yup, that's me. [http://unlimitedinfinity.com]
Reply
Gary Ham 133 days ago

A political reference that actually makes sense in the real world of information technology. Thank you for the insight. I am going to put a link on my site and send it to a couple of mailing lists that nned to see this. grandpaham.com
Reply
Markus Sandy 132 days ago

"Code is Law" - L. Lessig
Reply
Drew Hamilton 132 days ago

Actually, I'm kinda a fat kid with a few funny domain names. lol.
http://www.thepowernine.com
http://www.stkkr.com
Reply
Chewru Guru 132 days ago

LOL! Very clever. As someone who actually watched the DNC speech in 2004 and was amazed how well an orator Obama was, I never thought I'd see it spoofed into my WP dashboard. =)
Wordpress: "Code we can believe in!"
Wow, I really like this comment form too. Is it a plug-in I can find somewhere? It'd be terrific on Chewru, as the hardest thing I have a problem with is encouraging people to comment.
Reply
Brian Alvey 132 days ago

As much as I love Matt and WordPress, there's no plug-in for this.
I'm not using WordPress. I'm using my own Crowd Fusion platform.
Reply
Chewru Guru 132 days ago

Well, it's super clean and I'm jealous. I assumed because your post was in the WP dashboard you were actually running WP. I looked at your source after I posted and figured you were running something proprietary.
This particular comment form really does a good job of encouraging a newbie to comment. I'll have to see if I can find anything comparable in WP.
Looks like I'm pushing for that 22nd plug-in! I swear I'll have 50 by the time I get the site where I want it. =)
Reply
Dave Q 131 days ago

"Code is poetry" as Mr. Mullenweg puts it.
Reply
Chuck 130 days ago

better watch it, Barack Obama might wanna sue for royalties! :P ;)

Add a Comment

Inappropriate or promotional comments may be removed. To create a clickable link, simply type the URL (including http://) and we will make a link for you. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br> tags, but if you're into that kind of thing, you can use any of the following tags: b, i, strong, em, a (href only), p and br.

Click one of the three commenter types below. Member comments are added immediately once you confirm your email address. Anonymous comments are moderated by our editorial staff.