Dylan Hunter

Simple, nicely designed, and most importantly, right motivation - trying to do their own little part to try to make the world better. And even if they help only a little, they’ve still helped, (not to mention couldn’t possibly agree more with what they said about becoming fathers. )

From their About page:

“….people passionate about a cause can do little more than directly give money. What is lacking is the technological means for an online volunteerism to flourish, where individuals can raise money on behalf of others in a highly personal way. This is why we created Pledgie.com

“Pledgie.com was created by an artist Mark and a programmer Garry…..Garry and Mark are both new fathers and as such the words “discretionary income” are no longer in our vocabularies. Yet, becoming fathers actually increased our desire to make the world better.

“It is in this spirit that we hope Pledgie as an idea directly or indirectly makes the world a better place. “

(Will probably move this over to a more permanent page once I migrate this site over to a more wiki-oriented approach, but for now….)

A couple of the most recent, in reverse chronological order:

Execution - Larry Bossidy, Ram Charan
- Hung this one up partially-read several years ago, but my wife needed room in the drawer I had put it in, so since it was sitting on the floor looking at me every morning thought I’d give it another shot, (even if the cover’s color scheme is truly abhorrent! ). Seems to be a faster read and more interesting this time than I remember, (s’pose there’s a right and wrong time for all of these more practical books, and since I’m on a bit of an “It’s never going to get done if I don’t get to it” kick lately, s’pose it fits! ). Something to read during my commutes until I can make it back to the bookstore, and we’ll see if more…

Rails Recipes - Chad Fowler
- Just finished a couple of days ago, some very nice ideas/executions to keep in mind. Moving back and forth in the backpack everyday right now.

Agile Web Development with Rails, (AWDWR) - Dave Thomas, David Heinemeier Hansson
- Excellent, what more can I say! Also in the backpack.

Programming Ruby - Dave Thomas
- Very nice bridge between Why’s Poignant Guide and AWDWR, just right for what I was looking for when I first read it, and a good resource. And yep, also in the backpack, (can you tell it’s getting heavy? )

Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco
- Enjoyed again. Loved the movie, loved the book. How often do you come across a superbly-written, historically believable,educational,foreshadowing religious reform,emotionally and mentally engaging,don’t want to put it down,14th century who-done-it, (and I don’t even really like who-done-its! ).

If you think about as an attempt to minimize losses of current customers, that’s exactly what you’ll get - losses of current customers. If instead, you think about as the beginning of a sincere set of opportunities to thrill and delight the folks who believe in you the most, you’ll find they tend to have friends…