This problem is magnified several hundred times when it comes to managing email. I am starting to think that the solution is to treat information objects as members of a soup and manage them by attributes rather than by hierarchy and name. I would say that I am already doing this with my current email client of choice (Outlook 98). I sort the various mailing lists into other folders, but I find personal communications by remembering who it was from (find it by sorting by the from field), about when I got it (find it by sorting the received field), or the subject (find it by sorting by subject).
I've been listening in on this discussion and have what I hope might be a constructive suggestion for all those looking to prevent us geeks (and anyone else who is being oppressed by the system somehow) from suffering so much through high school. Go back into the trenches. Many programs exist for volunteers who wish to mentor children and many schools would probably be happy to have volunteers who might come to give a presentation or work with an afterschool program or club. Children need to see that being different is not bad. Many of the people who read this were/are different and yet have managed to succeed (however one measures success). Also, many people complain that there is nothing interesting at school. As a volunteer, you might not be able to affect the everyday curriculum, but you can almost surely think of something fun to do after hours at the school. Society (especially youth) needs to see us. For too long we've been hiding back near the metaphorical server farm, saying "Thank God I got out of that Hellhole alive. I'm never gonna think about those fuckers again!" For many, it will be hard to confront the memories and I'm sure there will be administrators who might try to prevent you from making contact with students once they realize that you think Quake is actually a pretty good way to develop better hand-eye coordination and not the Devil's favorite pastime, but in the end, I think the only way we can get society to change is by actively taking a hand in the formative process. p.s. If you can't/aren't willing/don't have time to volunteer, I would suggest that you consider donating money (if you don't have time because you're working too much at a great job) or actually becoming a teacher (if you can't volunteer because you have to work or you'll starve.) Many people have posted things to the effect of: "H.S. sucked, but now I've got a great job/wife/car/etc. so I've finally beaten those bastards in H.S." You may have beaten those ones from when you were there, but the same people are still there. Maybe this time they won't need to be beaten. And if you can't get a job (or don't want to get back in the computer industry ratrace) for some reason, I'm pretty sure there is a shortage of teachers in many places, especially those places where kids need the most help. Hope this stirs some thoughts and maybe makes a difference in someone's life.
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This problem is magnified several hundred times when it comes to managing email. I am starting to think that the solution is to treat information objects as members of a soup and manage them by attributes rather than by hierarchy and name.
I would say that I am already doing this with my current email client of choice (Outlook 98). I sort the various mailing lists into other folders, but I find personal communications by remembering who it was from (find it by sorting by the from field), about when I got it (find it by sorting the received field), or the subject (find it by sorting by subject).
I've been listening in on this discussion and have what I hope might be a constructive suggestion for all those looking to prevent us geeks (and anyone else who is being oppressed by the system somehow) from suffering so much through high school.
Go back into the trenches.
Many programs exist for volunteers who wish to mentor children and many schools would probably be happy to have volunteers who might come to give a presentation or work with an afterschool program or club. Children need to see that being different is not bad. Many of the people who read this were/are different and yet have managed to succeed (however one measures success). Also, many people complain that there is nothing interesting at school. As a volunteer, you might not be able to affect the everyday curriculum, but you can almost surely think of something fun to do after hours at the school.
Society (especially youth) needs to see us. For too long we've been hiding back near the metaphorical server farm, saying "Thank God I got out of that Hellhole alive. I'm never gonna think about those fuckers again!" For many, it will be hard to confront the memories and I'm sure there will be administrators who might try to prevent you from making contact with students once they realize that you think Quake is actually a pretty good way to develop better hand-eye coordination and not the Devil's favorite pastime, but in the end, I think the only way we can get society to change is by actively taking a hand in the formative process.
p.s. If you can't/aren't willing/don't have time to volunteer, I would suggest that you consider donating money (if you don't have time because you're working too much at a great job) or actually becoming a teacher (if you can't volunteer because you have to work or you'll starve.) Many people have posted things to the effect of:
"H.S. sucked, but now I've got a great job/wife/car/etc. so I've finally beaten those bastards in H.S." You may have beaten those ones from when you were there, but the same people are still there. Maybe this time they won't need to be beaten.
And if you can't get a job (or don't want to get back in the computer industry ratrace) for some reason, I'm pretty sure there is a shortage of teachers in many places, especially those places where kids need the most help.
Hope this stirs some thoughts and maybe makes a difference in someone's life.