6 ms·

Make a Mess, Clean it Up

158 points by snprbob86 17y ago

snprbob86 17y ago
This story is (was?) taped to the side of the defender cabinet in a small arcade at the Googleplex. Something reminded me of it and made me smile, so I decided to share the smile with all of you :-)
- joshu 17y ago
  Heh. I was just over there, but it's between other machines and the sides aren't visible. I just told the guy who runs the site (my officemate) that he's at the top of HN though.
  - snprbob86 17y ago
    It has been over two years since I was last in that arcade, so that piece of paper may be long gone. Maybe you would be so kind to print out and post another copy for Googlers who visit the arcade in the future :-) I really should spend some time reading the other top articles on your officemate's site. It appears that there may be many other gems on there.
    - joshu 17y ago
      I shall do it when I get back.
      - snprbob86 17y ago
        Awesome. This Xoogler thanks you on behalf of future Googlers!
  - allenbrunson 17y ago
    So you are office-mates with Andy Hertzfeld? Man, that dude is my hero. Didn't know he was at Google now.
    - nostrademons 17y ago
      I would've said the same thing about being officemates with Joshua Schacter, the guy you're replying to. ;-) BTW, they're in my old office, the one I was in from Feb-May. The Googleplex is not really all that big. (Andy Hertzfeld was two doors down when I joined in January, before they reshuffled evereyone.)
      - chanux 17y ago
        Everyone talks about their hero. Mine is playing defender, there in the image :)
        deleted 17y ago
        [deleted]
      - allenbrunson 17y ago
        Yeah, I know who he is. I was avidly following the brouhaha when that offhand remark he made a few months ago wound up on the front page of Mashable. Not to denigrate Joshua's achievements, but I'm not really into web stuff like most of you guys. The big topics around here are python, ruby, erlang, myssql, rails, et al. If I were to learn a new language today, I'd pick something like Z80 assembler. That makes me less marketable, but that's what appeals to me. Andy Hertzfeld did his best work in the severely constrained environment of the early Macintosh. I'm equally impressed by guys who were able to write games for the Atari 2600 and the Intellivision in 2K of ROM and a couple hundred bytes of RAM. That's the kind of stories I like to hear, for better or worse. Not surprisingly, I've read every story on folklore.org several times.
        steveklabnik 17y ago
        Have you read The Soul of a New Machine? It sounds like something you'd really like.
        allenbrunson 17y ago
- seldo 17y ago
  This is one of my favourite stories about how to get really good at something. I frequently say it to myself when I discover I have thrown myself in at the deep end of a technical problem :-)
  - johnl 17y ago
    Sounds like this means you can get successful by failing? OK by me.
  - j1o1h1n 17y ago
    Or you could just grow a moustache (http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Moustache.txt http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Moustache.txt)
  - billswift 17y ago
    My second blog post last spring (http://williambswift.blogspot.com/2009/03/value-of-mistakes-mistakes-and-learning.html http://williambswift.blogspot.com/2009/03/value-of-mistakes-...) was about the value of making mistakes for learning. I see I missed the "making mistakes on purpose" bit, and am going to add a new post now about that. The general idea was referred to several times in older Whole Earth Catalogs, I should have remembered it earlier.
chanux 17y ago
In folklore FAQ `Q: Can I run my own site, using the Folklore software?` `Yes, once the software is initially released (perhaps in March 2004), you will be able to download it and install it on your own server to run your own version of the site.` Where I can find the software?
MikeCapone 17y ago
Thanks, you've addicted me to Folklore.org Now I have to read it all...
- MikeCapone 17y ago
  After reading a few more stories, I really wish that the same kind of documentation was available for the development of modern projects (OS X? iPhone?). I was born in 1982, so the original Mac is more an abstract milestone to me. Too bad it probably won't happen because the teams are so much bigger now and there's a lot more secrecy surrounding things that are still on the market.

158 points by snprbob86 17y ago

This story is (was?) taped to the side of the defender cabinet in a small arcade at the Googleplex. Something reminded me of it and made me smile, so I decided to share the smile with all of you :-)

joshu 17y ago
Heh. I was just over there, but it's between other machines and the sides aren't visible. I just told the guy who runs the site (my officemate) that he's at the top of HN though.
- snprbob86 17y ago
  It has been over two years since I was last in that arcade, so that piece of paper may be long gone. Maybe you would be so kind to print out and post another copy for Googlers who visit the arcade in the future :-) I really should spend some time reading the other top articles on your officemate's site. It appears that there may be many other gems on there.
  - joshu 17y ago
    I shall do it when I get back.
    - snprbob86 17y ago
      Awesome. This Xoogler thanks you on behalf of future Googlers!
- allenbrunson 17y ago
  So you are office-mates with Andy Hertzfeld? Man, that dude is my hero. Didn't know he was at Google now.
  - nostrademons 17y ago
    I would've said the same thing about being officemates with Joshua Schacter, the guy you're replying to. ;-) BTW, they're in my old office, the one I was in from Feb-May. The Googleplex is not really all that big. (Andy Hertzfeld was two doors down when I joined in January, before they reshuffled evereyone.)
    - chanux 17y ago
      Everyone talks about their hero. Mine is playing defender, there in the image :)
      - deleted 17y ago
        [deleted]
    - allenbrunson 17y ago
      Yeah, I know who he is. I was avidly following the brouhaha when that offhand remark he made a few months ago wound up on the front page of Mashable. Not to denigrate Joshua's achievements, but I'm not really into web stuff like most of you guys. The big topics around here are python, ruby, erlang, myssql, rails, et al. If I were to learn a new language today, I'd pick something like Z80 assembler. That makes me less marketable, but that's what appeals to me. Andy Hertzfeld did his best work in the severely constrained environment of the early Macintosh. I'm equally impressed by guys who were able to write games for the Atari 2600 and the Intellivision in 2K of ROM and a couple hundred bytes of RAM. That's the kind of stories I like to hear, for better or worse. Not surprisingly, I've read every story on folklore.org several times.
      - steveklabnik 17y ago
        Have you read The Soul of a New Machine? It sounds like something you'd really like.
        allenbrunson 17y ago
seldo 17y ago
This is one of my favourite stories about how to get really good at something. I frequently say it to myself when I discover I have thrown myself in at the deep end of a technical problem :-)
- johnl 17y ago
  Sounds like this means you can get successful by failing? OK by me.
- j1o1h1n 17y ago
  Or you could just grow a moustache (http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Moustache.txt http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Moustache.txt)
- billswift 17y ago
  My second blog post last spring (http://williambswift.blogspot.com/2009/03/value-of-mistakes-mistakes-and-learning.html http://williambswift.blogspot.com/2009/03/value-of-mistakes-...) was about the value of making mistakes for learning. I see I missed the "making mistakes on purpose" bit, and am going to add a new post now about that. The general idea was referred to several times in older Whole Earth Catalogs, I should have remembered it earlier.

chanux 17y ago

In folklore FAQ `Q: Can I run my own site, using the Folklore software?` `Yes, once the software is initially released (perhaps in March 2004), you will be able to download it and install it on your own server to run your own version of the site.` Where I can find the software?

MikeCapone 17y ago

Thanks, you've addicted me to Folklore.org Now I have to read it all...

MikeCapone 17y ago
After reading a few more stories, I really wish that the same kind of documentation was available for the development of modern projects (OS X? iPhone?). I was born in 1982, so the original Mac is more an abstract milestone to me. Too bad it probably won't happen because the teams are so much bigger now and there's a lot more secrecy surrounding things that are still on the market.