Moving On
Posted by Jacob Harris Tue, 25 Jul 2006 17:37:00 GMT
Eight years. That’s how long I have worked at Alacra, starting fresh out of school in the heady days of the first web boom. Eight years is an astounding length of time to most programmers, conditioned to a revolving door approach to employment, and it is a testament to what an interesting and nurturing place Alacra is that I’ve been here this long. Furthermore, I’m hardly an anomaly among the developers, most of whom have been here well over five years too. It’s a place where people like to stay, and it feels more like a family than an office sometimes. But I am now leaving. Alacra’s been my only post-college job, and it’s simply time for me to try something new.
Next week, I will start working at New York Times Digital. Yes, that New York Times that is delivered to about 1.5 million readers in dead tree form. That number might seem impressive in itself, but 50 times that number of users read the online web version, meaning I will be working on apparently the most popular online news site in the world. Yow. No pressure there. Seriously though, I am looking forward to the challenges and I hope to learn a lot of new skills on the job. The new office building will also be pretty sweet when it opens.
Still, the change is weird. It’s definitely been a strange two weeks in this liminal zone, and I am filled with conflicting emotions. I am sad about leaving all my colleagues at Alacra, but enthusiastic about the opportunities ahead. It’s an exciting time.
liminal: A term which refers to the thresholds, boundaries and borderlines of binary constructions (black/white, masculine/feminine, Englishness/Irishness). These oppositions are often false, producing blurring and gaps which might be exploited in order to deconstruct these oppositions.
From Google
Okay, maybe liminal was not entirely correct, in the technical sense. I was interested though in that notion of borders, those transitional states.
I didn’t know what it meant and wanted to provide a definition for the less literate among us.
Maybe I should read the NYTimes more often so my vocabulary will improve. ;-)