I often think about this Michael Abrash story: (chapter introduction) http://orangeti.de/OLD/graphics_programming_black_book/html/ch64/64-01.html#Heading1 http:

I often think about this Michael Abrash story: (chapter introduction) http://orangeti.de/OLD/graphics_programming_black_book/html/ch64/64-01.html#Heading1 http://orangeti.de/OLD/graphics_programming_black_book/html/... When I'm stuck, or getting close to stuck, I always try to assume what I want to do has already been done in some way. Long Google searches or discussions with domain experts, purposely vague, looking for similar ideas. Even a ridiculously not-so-related paper or mention in a paper will launch me in a idea-generation frenzy and I'll quickly build confidence. Love M. Abrash's books. Shame he didn't keep writing them, they were inspirational for me.