6 ms·

How many problems does this solution create?

56 points by eswat 17y ago

keefe 17y ago
problem #1 : poor documentation <ctrl+w>
Dilpil 17y ago
Hmm, doesn't word wrap for me, and is unreadable as a result.
- martey 17y ago
  Then save it and read it in your favorite text editor.
- soundsop 17y ago
  http://jottit.com/udef3/ http://jottit.com/udef3/
- chipsy 17y ago
  View source has a word wrap option.
  - tome 17y ago
    That depends on what browser you're using!
- murrayb 17y ago
  Try http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/ http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/ I couldn't live without it now.
  - teej 17y ago
    Doesn't work on this piece of text.
- lliiffee 17y ago
  Another solution for firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2351 https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2351
SlyShy 17y ago
I haven't applied this principle to my daily life like he has, but it is an important problem solving technique that I apply when programming. Most people just call this "managing complexity". ;)
chipsy 17y ago
It's definitely the case that I've written programs - or just specific features - that were wrongheaded and caused too much maintenance overhead for the perceived benefit. But when you're thinking in terms of an organization, the overhead of most complex solutions can be waved away by throwing people at it. And that, in turn, can be the foundation of a strong business - or a huge wasted effort.
zb 17y ago
There are some very interesting examples of this given in the book "The Logic of Failure" by Dietrich Doerner.
jason_tko 17y ago
Ironically, the solution of sharing an article through a Dropbox linked text file has created the problem of no text-wrapping, and low readability.
- cool-RR 17y ago
  It does word-wrap for me. I'm using Chrome on Windows XP.
- eswat 17y ago
  Apologies for the lack of formatting. Guess I need to reread this message a few more times for my own good. ;) Formatted HTML: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/506504/solving_problems_by_yongfook.html http://dl.dropbox.com/u/506504/solving_problems_by_yongfook....
lunaru 17y ago
I'm often inspired by the software that Yongfook churns out (fan of Sweetcron and Open Source Food). This just shows that it doesn't matter who you are or how talented you are - you have to find a problem you're passionate about solving. If the passion isn't there, there results won't be either. I think that's another way to state the article title.
Kliment 17y ago
Most of the discussion appears to be about word-wrapping, but I think the actual content is pretty important. This is an excellent evaluation strategy for people doing you favors. "How much trouble is it?" is my first question when thinking about something that might save me money. Annoyance has a cost.
patio11 17y ago
If I can make one comment, hard won from painful experience: if there is just one of you, there are only two acceptable answers as to when you'll have something done: "It is already done." and "It is not done." Customers tolerate missing features surprisingly well, and if they don't there are more fish in the sea. Missing promised shipping dates, on the other hand, costs you tremendously disproportionate amounts of goodwill. Making them often requires stress wildly disproportionate to the business value involved. Example: When I started (and was stupid), if a customer asked me "Does the software do $FOO?", and $FOO was in active development, I'd say "I'm working on $FOO right now and it should be ready on $ESTIMATE." Often $ESTIMATE was about a week away. Now that I'm older and wiser, I say "$FOO is not ready but it is planned for a later version of the software. Would you like me to email you when $FOO is ready?" This happened not two weeks ago with an enhancement to the online version of my software. It didn't support consistent columns yet (some users to call bingo games by word and column, which cuts search times for players down drastically, especially important when you're playing with older folks who don't have great eyesight). I've implemented that in Java before and thought it would take me less than one day in Ruby, and had a Saturday free. When I was young and stupid I would have said "I expect to have that done on Sunday." Good thing I didn't -- Friday I got enough overtime piled on to totally exhaust me, and I didn't get up until 3 PM on Saturday, with a planned social engagement at 6. But its all OK because my customer doesn't know any of this! It just took me until this weekend -- I sat down, banged it out, and just emailed her about it. If she buys, great, if not, none of us is worse off.

56 points by eswat 17y ago

keefe 17y ago

problem #1 : poor documentation <ctrl+w>

Dilpil 17y ago

Hmm, doesn't word wrap for me, and is unreadable as a result.

martey 17y ago
Then save it and read it in your favorite text editor.
soundsop 17y ago
http://jottit.com/udef3/ http://jottit.com/udef3/
chipsy 17y ago
View source has a word wrap option.
- tome 17y ago
  That depends on what browser you're using!
murrayb 17y ago
Try http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/ http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/ I couldn't live without it now.
- teej 17y ago
  Doesn't work on this piece of text.
lliiffee 17y ago
Another solution for firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2351 https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2351

SlyShy 17y ago

I haven't applied this principle to my daily life like he has, but it is an important problem solving technique that I apply when programming. Most people just call this "managing complexity". ;)

chipsy 17y ago

It's definitely the case that I've written programs - or just specific features - that were wrongheaded and caused too much maintenance overhead for the perceived benefit. But when you're thinking in terms of an organization, the overhead of most complex solutions can be waved away by throwing people at it. And that, in turn, can be the foundation of a strong business - or a huge wasted effort.

zb 17y ago

There are some very interesting examples of this given in the book "The Logic of Failure" by Dietrich Doerner.

jason_tko 17y ago

Ironically, the solution of sharing an article through a Dropbox linked text file has created the problem of no text-wrapping, and low readability.

cool-RR 17y ago
It does word-wrap for me. I'm using Chrome on Windows XP.
eswat 17y ago
Apologies for the lack of formatting. Guess I need to reread this message a few more times for my own good. ;) Formatted HTML: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/506504/solving_problems_by_yongfook.html http://dl.dropbox.com/u/506504/solving_problems_by_yongfook....

lunaru 17y ago

I'm often inspired by the software that Yongfook churns out (fan of Sweetcron and Open Source Food). This just shows that it doesn't matter who you are or how talented you are - you have to find a problem you're passionate about solving. If the passion isn't there, there results won't be either. I think that's another way to state the article title.

Kliment 17y ago

Most of the discussion appears to be about word-wrapping, but I think the actual content is pretty important. This is an excellent evaluation strategy for people doing you favors. "How much trouble is it?" is my first question when thinking about something that might save me money. Annoyance has a cost.

patio11 17y ago

If I can make one comment, hard won from painful experience: if there is just one of you, there are only two acceptable answers as to when you'll have something done: "It is already done." and "It is not done." Customers tolerate missing features surprisingly well, and if they don't there are more fish in the sea. Missing promised shipping dates, on the other hand, costs you tremendously disproportionate amounts of goodwill. Making them often requires stress wildly disproportionate to the business value involved. Example: When I started (and was stupid), if a customer asked me "Does the software do $FOO?", and $FOO was in active development, I'd say "I'm working on $FOO right now and it should be ready on $ESTIMATE." Often $ESTIMATE was about a week away. Now that I'm older and wiser, I say "$FOO is not ready but it is planned for a later version of the software. Would you like me to email you when $FOO is ready?" This happened not two weeks ago with an enhancement to the online version of my software. It didn't support consistent columns yet (some users to call bingo games by word and column, which cuts search times for players down drastically, especially important when you're playing with older folks who don't have great eyesight). I've implemented that in Java before and thought it would take me less than one day in Ruby, and had a Saturday free. When I was young and stupid I would have said "I expect to have that done on Sunday." Good thing I didn't -- Friday I got enough overtime piled on to totally exhaust me, and I didn't get up until 3 PM on Saturday, with a planned social engagement at 6. But its all OK because my customer doesn't know any of this! It just took me until this weekend -- I sat down, banged it out, and just emailed her about it. If she buys, great, if not, none of us is worse off.