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I see two competing visions of how AI is going to affect the tech industry and, in particular, software engineers. This is going to be like what cars did to the horses and carriages. This is going to be like what offshoring did to software engineers in the US. Of the two, the second seems like the better analogy to me. I still remember there was a famous author, Ed Yourdon, who wrote a book (The Decline and Fall of the American Programmer) in 1992(!), predicting that US software developers would mostly find themselves unemployed because of a coming wave of offshoring to India. He was right that offshoring to India would be a huge wave. He was wrong about the effects on US employment (and, to his credit, wrote a follow-up book three years later admitting that). ...

Norway Returning to Ireland Ireland

Our son has come! Liam Richard Murphy was born on the night of Tuesday, 28 October, weighing 5 lbs 13 oz (2.6 kg) and measuring 17.25 inches (43.5 cm). We have online pictures of Liam from three days after birth through just last week. Liam came three weeks earlier than expected (I was induced because of preeclampsia), but he was healthy enough on delivery to go straight into my arms, without pediatric intervention, and was released from the hospital, along with me, after the usual amount of time. ...

Our very kind friends Miriam and Meg held a co-ed baby shower for us on a gorgeous Sunday in mid-October, when I was at almost 35 weeks pregnant. It was great: a low-key, congenial, very “un-shower-like shower”, as one guest commented. Mom came down to represent the maternal grandparents and stayed for the weekend. As befits a baby shower, there were babies present, as well as another pregnant friend, who was all but due. Check out the belly comparison! ...

I could’ve kissed the ultrasound tech, too, for that matter. Yesterday – Tuesday – was our 32-week ultrasound, the one to determine “route of delivery”, i.e. will Sproglet come out the natural way or will he and I go under the knife at a predetermined time? The reason this was a question was because of a large, inconveniently placed fibroid located behind the birth canal. I’d been put on notice very early on, at around 10 weeks, that I would likely have a C-section birth because of it. Sigh. ...

Tying myself up in twelve feet of fabric and sticking a nine-pound baby mannequin down my front – otherwise known as “Babywearing” – that’s life in Expectant-Parent-Land. So is standing in an aisle at Target and pondering the difference between six different brands of baby bottles (and wondering why the hell anybody needs so many different sizes and shapes in the first place, not to mention five different kinds of sterilizers). Oh, yes, and sneezing violently from the dust raised by hauling the computers and desks into the dining room from the office/guestroom, soon to be nursery/guestroom. (I don’t even want to think about trying to find homes for all of the papers and other crap that used to be piled up on said desks.) ...

C and I went to Wisconsin last weekend for my & my mother’s annual joint birthday weekend, flouting my OBs’ recommendation not to leave the state after I hit 24 weeks’ pregnant. However, we felt pretty darned safe doing so given that 1) my health is still good, 2) it was only a few weeks after 24 weeks (week 26 1/2, to be exact), and 3) Stevens Point is closer to Chicago than much of Illinois is! It was a great weekend to be there: we missed the Air & Water show, but still got to enjoy the beautiful summer weather. ...

We’ve posted our photos of the trip to Ireland. There’s a few from our day trip to Bray, some more of the wedding, but most are from from Killarney and our drive along the coast through counties Cork and Kerry.

The other day we went to see our friends in a fiddler’s competition at the Old Town School. S took a picture with the phone and with help from the Interwebs I copied one of the images over here via Bluetooth. (For the record, option three is the one I found easiest.) I’ve had a phone with a camera for a few months now but felt inhibited about taking pictures that would never leave the phone. No longer. Watch out world! ...

Actually, it’s been lifted for several weeks now, but I thought that since the news is fit for publication, it could be shared on our infrequently updated website as well. So yes, I’m pregnant—currently at 18 weeks (just over 4 months) as of mid-June—and the baby is due in mid-November. Due date is Nov 18th but we all know that babies stay on schedule about as well as the CTA does. ...