More on the Apprentice finale

A lot of people on the 'net have been complaining about the pile-on that Jenn M. endured in the [i]Apprentice[/i] finale. I honestly can't agree with that.

Y'see, Trump had a whole bunch of people--Trump employees and past Apprentice candidates--comment on whether they'd choose Kelly or Jenn, and why. Not surprisingly, the vast majority came out in Kelly's support. Was this unfair to Jenn?

Hardly. Most of them had glowing things to say about Kelly, but they didn't speak negatively about Jenn. In fact, several said that both of them were strong candidates. Okay, so CFO Calamari did openly say that he didn't like Jenn at all (and stumbled over his words in the process), but he was the exception rather than the rule.

Some posters whined, "But by saying that Kelly is all these great things, they're also saying that Jenn isn't!" First of all, maybe they don't think she is. Second, it DOESN'T mean that Jenn doesn't have the qualities that they're extolling. It simply means that they recognize these qualities more abundantly in Kelly, or that they find his qualities to be stronger. It's hardly unfair to Jennifer at all.

"But why have that massive outshowing of support for Kelly?" they asked. "Is is really necessary?" Maybe not, but I doubt that the motive was to humiliate Jenn. Rather, it simply makes for good reality TV, and you can be sure that Mark Burnett wants to milk this show for all it's worth. I'd be shocked if the intent was to put Jenn in her place somehow.

Some cynics say that this was done to somehow justify Trump's choosing of Kelly. They say that Trump's mind was already made up, and that he wanted to justify it to the audience. That theory is just dumb. If he wanted to do that, he could have had the interviewees voice more biting criticisms of Jenn; instead, most of them commended her for her strengths. Trump and Burnett could also have shown more of her negative footage, such as the infamous scene in which she implicitly took credit for Ivana's idea.

So no, this wasn't especially unkind. A few of the comments made were unduly harsh, but the idea of having these people voice their opinions was not.

Apprentice wannabe Jenn M

I watched the excessively long, overdrawn Apprentice finale last night. For a moment there, I was deathly afraid that Trump would actually pick Jenn as his new apprentice. Thankfully, he picked Kelly. Kelly isn't too popular, and a lot of viewers hate his supposed smugness, but he's a darned sight better than Jenn. Heck, I never really sensed the smugness of which they speak, but perhaps I just haven't been paying close enough attention. (I tend to exercise, eat or do computer work while watching TV, since I can't abide the idea of being idle in front of the tube.)

Jenn's worst moment, as far as I'm concerned, was when she stole credit for Ivana's wheel-o-jeans idea. Some woudl dispute that, but I think it's pretty obvious, and her teammates certainly interpreted things that way. Even Trump agreed, based on his voiceovers (which suggested that he was disinclined to hire her).

Still, Jenn has her defenders, and some steadfastly deny that she stole Ivana's idea. (One vocal example is some person named "RubyStreak" on the Straight Dope Message Board.) Personally, I think they're fooling themselves. Sure, Ivana might not have said, "This was my idea! I thought of it!" but her actions clearly implied that -- intentionally or not. Some representative from Levi Strauss asked how the team came up with the wheel idea, and Jenn jumped right in with the answer.

What wrong with that, you might ask? Quite simply, Jenn DIDN'T know how they arrived at that idea. Only the person who came up with the idea (Ivana) could possibly know, unless she shared that information with someone else. Kevin clearly understood that, and so he stated that Jenn stole Ivana's credit away.

What's more, Jenn's teammates repeatedly pointed out that Jenn simply did not grasp the concept of the jeans wheel! How can she claim to know how this idea was arrived at, when she didn't understand the concept at all (not until it was finally created, that is)? Any attempt to explaint hat away is mere sophistry.

And even if that weren't true, she should have still deferred to her teammate. She could have simply said, "The credit for that idea goes to Ivana. Perhaps she can explain." That would not have made her look weak in anyone's eyes, and it would have made her come across as a team player who can give credit where it is due.

I noted that several people on the SDMB made that point, and I must agree with them. I don't understand why this RubyStreak character doesn't grasp that. Strange.

Mediocrity

Tonight I was reminded of some classmates I had as a college student.

In one class, I was scoring a B+, which was enough to exempt me from the final exam. I wanted to take the final though, so as to bump my score up to an A.

Some of my classmates kept dissuading me. "Don't do it! Don't do it! Why risk what you already have?" This bothered me because it showed that they were striving for mediocrity, and were unwilling to aim high. Sadly, I think this is indicative of my people in general.

I can't help but think that I would have been inspired to greater heights if I had been born here, with numerous models of excellence to inspire me.

Software development planning

I like the sentiments expressed in this article. I've seen far too many software development efforts fail due to shoddy planning and short-sightedness. This type of design work would never fly when doing mechanical or electronic design, yet it's often done in the computer programming field.

Stacy Haiduk

Whatever happened to Stacy Haiduk?

I've been reading a whole bunch of books on management and leadership lately. I've also come across this site filled with leadership tips. It also has a whole bunch of wholesome articles on diverse topics.

I've been reading Carolyn Kepcher's book, Carolyn 101. I also started reading Amy Henry's book, What It Takes, but I had to return it to the public library. I've found that watching Trump's show, The Apprentice, has been very educational indeed.

Bill Rancic's book is also on my list of things to read. Maybe I'll include some of The Donald's own books, but I'm not particularly interested in that. Maybe it's because I'm concerned that the Donald's books will focus too much on the money-making aspect of his work, rather than marketing and team dynamics. I don't know. Whatever the case, I shouldn't pre-judge his works.

I do want to read more business articles in general. The more I can deepen my knowledge, the better. I think this should make me a more skilled and capable techie-type in general.

The term "software engineer" is much-abused and often inaccurate, for reasons explained here.

Just felt like posting a link to the following biochemical animation today.

I had some discussions not long about about Lincoln, slavery, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address. It amazes me that there are people who demonize Abe so badly. Sure, he wasn't necessarily a great saint, and perhaps he still wasn't properly enlightened about the rights of African-Americans (at least, in comparison to modern society). He had his faults. Still, the way some people speak so viciously about him bothers me terribly.

So I was looking at this multilingual site, and it occured to me that it would be really nice if someone could jump from one page to its translation in another language, simply by clicking on the language name. This would require a bit of Javascript programming though, and a fairly extensive table. Maintaining the site when new pages are added can become a bit messy as well, although not unreasonably so.

Someday I might comment on the design of the splash page as well. Maybe some other time.

I'm not getting a flu vaccine shot this year. I don't think I can justify getting one, even though I normally opt for one. It just wouldn't be right.

I remember reading The Grapes of Wrath in college, and discovering the connection between its title and The Battle Hymn of the Republic (a truly stirring song!). That was a real "Eureka!" moment for me--one of the most satisfying in all my readings of literature.

Of course, I wish I could read me. Heck, I rented a video copy of "The Mysterious Island" this weekend, only to discover that the writers took enormous liberties with Jules Verne's work. What a rip-off.

A little something for Michelle Nicastro fans.

I just wanted to link to the following blog entry on scientific illiteracy.

I mentioned that I fed a Goliath birdeater recently. Like other arachnids, these are truly fascinating creatures. Goliath birdeaters have a real attitude though, so they are not for the faint of heart.

I mentioned that I fed a Goliath birdeater recently. Like other arachnids, these are truly fascinating creatures. They have a nasty attitude though, so they are not of the faint of heart.

These guys have real guts. You just have to commend them.

I have no ethical problem with offshoring of labor. Indeed, I think that it's often necessary for a company's survival.

However, when it leads to horror stories like this one, then it's a crying shame. A lot of companies are shooting themselves in the foot by being too quick to relocate their services abroad.

Speaking of strong female characters, one of my favorites was Gloria Dinallo from the short-lived "Misfits of Science" TV series. Played by a youthful Courteney Cox, she was a stunning young beauty, yet suitably hard-nosed and strong of character. She exhibited feminine empathy, yet she managed to maintain a strong inner character without becoming overly masculine.

What a great show.