lgriffith

17 ms·

31.
by lgriffith 18y ago
Calling an event "random" does not mean its causeless. It simply means its not predicable. Its not predicable because we don't know and/or haven't measured the relevant causes. Hence, Black Swan events are caused. Perhaps it would be an
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by lgriffith 18y ago
The best way never to have to ship anything is to rewrite everything. The best way to have a really good product is to write all the critical stuff from scratch. The point of wisdom is to be able to determine what is actually critical and w
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by lgriffith 18y ago
To be means to be something - ie have and identity. Your identity depends upon what you are and what you make of yourself. If you seek your identity from others, then conflicting discussions of religion and politics can be seen as an ass
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by lgriffith 18y ago
Every system can be gamed. Including this one. What I find interesting is the + and - votes often appear to be attempts to deny or affirm the truth of the post in opposition to its actual truth content. Its as if mere expression of an opin
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by lgriffith 18y ago
I find HN a mixed bag. Some things are very good, most things are so-so, somethings are really bad. Just like real life. The simple act of registration is enough to keep me away from most sites. At least this one is good enough that I th
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by lgriffith 18y ago
The reason that managers do what they do to developers is because a manager does not have to think. Because of that, he has no understanding of what kind of environment supports or destroys one's ability to think. He sees his job is to ma
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by lgriffith 18y ago
FREE is as successful as poverty.
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by lgriffith 18y ago
If you haven't really "groked" the problem how do you know you have solved it? Answer: you don't and can't. That being said, there is something positive about using the tools you really do understand as long as the mismatch between the too
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by lgriffith 18y ago
Software written while wearing a tie has bugs. That's my story and I am sticking to it. We needn't focus on the small inconvenience that software written while not wearing a tie also has bugs. Obviously, even the threat of having to wear a
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by lgriffith 18y ago
Beware of the dreaded Second System Effect. As in your second system is assured to be a disaster because you think you know enough but never really do. The practice of rewriting everything once assures that you will eternally experience
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by lgriffith 18y ago
You were not supposed to analyze the words deeply. The words were shaped to elicit the emotions of safety, security, and familiarity that presumed to exist in the "good old days". On the surface it might feel good. Yet to live it as we
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by lgriffith 18y ago
"They are stupid [ the government] , but not that stupid." Don't count on it. There is something about government that attracts and concentrates stupidity. They discount reality, blank out unintended consequences, operate with stolen weal
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by lgriffith 18y ago
Hince my reference to good enough and rubber wall of Lisp. Lisp is not one thing. Its a collection of collections of things capable of being indefinitely morphed by itself. ANSI C is bad enough without those kinds of problems. Incidentally
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by lgriffith 18y ago
One problem is that ~90% of all published material is little better than white noise that should land in the bit bucket. The big problem is which ~10% is worth saving. The answer will be very different for each of us. Another problem is t
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by lgriffith 18y ago
The issue is that there is no one solution for all problems and all contexts. ANY given language was written in response to a given set of problems in a given set of contexts. Change one thing to be outside that domain and the fit is less
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by lgriffith 18y ago
Isn't it more a matter of means vs ends. Top down is more or less means programming in which you don't really know where you are going but know how you are going to get there. Bottom up is more or less ends programming in which you don't
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by lgriffith 18y ago
I did it with large and small. The largest one was General Motors (ca 1998). I negotiated the IP agreement with my first industrial employer. I didn't get all the terms I asked for but I did get enough to make it worth while to sign. An
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by lgriffith 18y ago
I practically rewrote every IP "agreement" for nearly every job I had since I started working in industry (ca. 1965). The terms were more or less as follows. 1. I am in the business of invention. I invent many things. I cannot possibly
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by lgriffith 18y ago
What I did starting in 1967 1. Learn speed reading 2. If it can be acted upon immediately, do it! 3. If it requires delayed action, put it on the todo list. 4. Else discard it. If its important, it will come back again. 5. Check todo l