Better Living Through Thinking

Fancy Pants Adventure World 2

Wed, 07 May 2008

It's finished...and awesome

<http://armorgames.com/play/553/the-fancy-pants-adventure-world-2>

[ category: /links | link: Fancy_Pants_Adventure_World_2 ]

J.D. Eggleston in Freakonomics: How Valid are T.V. Weather Forecasts?

Tue, 22 Apr 2008

I've been wanting to do this for years, I'm glad someone finally did it:

<http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/how-valid-are-tv-weather-forecasts/>

Some actual quotes from forecasters:

We have no idea s going to happen [in the weather] beyond three days out. ...

(read more...)

[ category: /links | link: Freakonomics,Weather_Forecasting ]

Caring for Your Introvert

Fri, 01 Feb 2008

Jonathan Rauch

<http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200303/rauch>

My name is Scott, and I am an introvert.

Extroverts are energized by people, and wilt or fade when alone. They often seem bored by themselves, in both senses of the expression. Leave an extrovert alone for two minutes and he will reach ...

(read more...)

[ category: /links | link: Rauch,Caring_for_Your_Introvert ]

Orson Scott Card: How Software Companies Die

Thu, 17 Jan 2008

Excerpt from an essay (dated 1995) by author Orson Scott Card:

<http://www.zoion.com/~erlkonig/writings/programmer-beekeeping.html>

Here's the problem that ends up killing company after company. All successful software companies had, as their dominant personality, a leader who nurtured programmers. But no company can keep such a leader forever. Either he cashes out, or he brings in management types who end up driving him out, or he changes and becomes a management type ...

(read more...)

[ category: /links | link: Card,How_Software_Companies_Die ]

Stevey's Blog Rants: Code's Worst Enemy

Fri, 28 Dec 2007

Excerpt from a recent blog post from Steve Yegge:

<http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2007/12/codes-worst-enemy.html>

I happen to hold a hard-won minority opinion about code bases. In particular I believe, quite staunchly I might add, that the worst thing that can happen to a code base is size.

I say "size" as a placeholder for a reasonably well-formed thought for ...

(read more...)

[ category: /links | link: Yegge,Code's_Worst_Enemy ]

Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years

Fri, 17 Aug 2007

Peter Norvig

<http://norvig.com/21-days.html>

An insightful essay on the price of excellence and competency. Excerpt below:

Researchers (Hayes, Bloom) have shown it takes about ten years to develop expertise in any of a wide variety of areas, including chess ...

(read more...)

[ category: /links | link: Norvig,Teach_Yourself_Programming ]

Graham: Microsoft is Dead

Tue, 24 Apr 2007

An excerpt from Paul Graham's essay:

<http://www.paulgraham.com/microsoft.html>

The last nail in the coffin came, of all places, from Apple. Thanks to OS X, Apple has come back from the dead in a way that is extremely rare in technology. Their victory is so complete that I'm now surprised when I come across a computer running Windows. Nearly all the people we fund at Y Combinator use Apple laptops. It was the ...

(read more...)

[ category: /links | link: Graham,Microsoft_is_Dead ]

Who Is Jonathan Ive?

Fri, 12 Jan 2007

<http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/06_39/b4002414.htm>

An insightful article about one of Apple's design geniuses.

But if Jobs is the public keeper of Apple's design zeitgeist, then Ive is the private leader of its talented design team. "Apple is a cult, and Apple's design team is an even more intense version of a cult," notes Riley. Actually, it's not a big cult -- just a dozen people or so. But they operate at an extremely high level, both individually and as a group. Ive has said that many Apple products were dreamed up while eating pizza in the small kitchen at the team's design studio.
[ category: /links | link: Jonathan_Ive ]

Neti Pot for sinus rinses ("jalaneti")

Tue, 19 Dec 2006

I bought a neti pot in November from Health & Yoga:

(Link opens new window. Select "Neti Pot" in the products list on the left and click "Go").

I've used it almost every day and couldn't be more pleased.

...

(read more...)

[ category: /links/health | link: neti_pot ]

Graham: A Student's Guide to Startups

Fri, 15 Dec 2006

More perspicacity from Paul Graham:

<http://www.paulgraham.com/mit.html>

The best place to work, if you want to start a startup, is probably a startup. In addition to being the right sort of experience, one way or another it will be over quickly. You'll either end up rich, in which case problem solved, or the startup will get bought, in which case it it will start to suck to work there and it will be ...

(read more...)

[ category: /links | link: Graham,Student's_Guide_to_Startups ]

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Moon Status

Phase: 37.28%
Illuminated: 84.85%
Age (days): 11.01
moon phase 0.372750805216674 Fri Feb 3 21:02:43 MST 2012