I’m Jon Morgan, a software developer. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that this is just a technology blog, or that I let my professional skills dominate my life. Many of the topics discussed here have little to do with technology: topics like religion, history, society, books, language, and music. I’m also a keen hiker and have documented some interesting experiences while hiking. Software development does bias me towards rational thinking and logical analysis, but I hope I apply them to all my interests, not just my job.

The site allows me to write down and share thoughts and ideas on a wide variety of topics. This helps me understand the world, and I hope it can help others.
For more on the site’s purpose, try the Welcome post.
For more arcane information about me, read on.

I fail to follow all the stereotypes of a good software developer. In particular, while I occasionally drink coffee, I do not use it to fuel insane feats of productivity or even to survive Monday mornings. Nor does Coke figure strongly: caffeinated drinks in general seem to have passed me by. At least I’m able to like pizza, and to acknowledge chocolate as one of the most important food groups.
I have also been known to work well into the early hours of the morning on more occasions than I can count. Fortunately I’m not on call, so that work is almost always personal projects or reading, not professional duties.

I can remember back to the days before the Internet was widespread, and before email dominated my life - but I really don’t remember how we coped with the world back then.

I compulsively follow both cricket and tennis, though my own sporting activities don’t stretch beyond a little backyard French cricket.

Generally, I am introverted in person, but much more outgoing when hiding behind a keyboard. However, if you catch me late at night talking about a topic I feel passionate about, good luck trying to stop me…

I’ve heard that “being a perfectionist” is one of the “acceptable” character flaws. Well, be that as it may, it is a characteristic that drives me strongly, with some good outcomes and some really bad ones. It is satisfying to find important improvements after hours of agonising over what might be wrong. But it is incredibly frustrating to have spent hours agonising over a decision, and then end up doing the thing you first thought of. Or to take so long to get something right that it’s not ready when it’s needed. What with that and the internal self-critic (read: self-censor) that goes along with it, it’s a little surprising that I got this site online at all.

I’m enough of a tester that I enjoy trying to break things. Well, at least in the software world. The more problems I find, the harder I push on to try and find a few additional problems. Because really, a devastating list of thirty problems from minor to major looks ever so much better than a simple five problem list.