A Modest Proposal

["DALE WOODEN" <dwooden -at- newbridge -dot- com>]

All,

Once again Andrew Plato has set the list off on a very lively and
informative discussion, and NO, the suggestion I have in mind does not
have anything to do with population control.

I would like to nominate Andrew Plato and his sharp wit as the
?UnOfficial? Court Jester for the list. (On the grounds that its not
"Official? until Eric says so? )

As I understand it, the real task of the Court Jester was to remind the
King that he too was human with all the frailties associated.  Once
again this past week, Andrew & his pen have excited the list and the
ensuing discussion has been very informative and lively! Just the thing
to brighten up another day in Cubeville! ( It?s a lovely spring day here
& I'm 75 to 80 feet from the nearest window? ;<(  )

IMHO this weeks discussion can be summed up with the old expression
about the right tool for the job, same goes for the craftsman using the
tool. As a profession we are maturing and it shows in the changing
nature of the practitioners, and the practice. We are moving away from
being generalists who learned much of their craft on the job over time,
towards specialists who get a much shorter formal education in certain
aspects of the job. I think this is in keeping with the multiple, and
changing, roles we play. A generalist should be able to work alone while
a specialist is usually part of a team with other complementary
specialists.

As I see it, we will always need both the generalist and the specialist
and I think that the discussion incited by Andrew?s post this week
reminds us of that fact. We may not always agree with Andrew, but I
think we always come away the better for the discussions, even the
tangential ones, that follow many of his posts!

Of course we could also set up a Pillory.....

That?s my $0.05 Cdn. ($0.02 US) for the day!

Dale