Something More Than a Machine

Five Rules for Writing Good Code – skwpspace: I'm particular fond of #1:
Code tends to outlive jobs. When we create code, we are not writing for ourselves, but for an audience of peers and progeny that will look upon it and have to maintain it. Do we want them to do so with awe and respect, or with fear and disgust? Writing maintainable code not only makes our life easier, but the lives of those around us, and garners admiration, praise, and rewards - if not always financial, at the very least karmic.
You can ignore the rest, the other rules make the same basic point: Write for an audience. Though, I do have a few to add: #0 understand the problem before you work on the solution and #6 never ever commit a line of code you don't understand.
Reblogged November 29, 2009 at 01:38 AM #

Today's Bing background brought to you from Iceland!: Reblogged November 28, 2009 at 09:20 PM #

Awkward Family Photos: desperately seeking embarrassing pictures of British families - Telegraph: So many questions: Why has she got a pink Kalashnikov? Why are they all in the bath? Why does she have a peace sign on her pants? And what is, or was, that animal?

Reblogged November 25, 2009 at 03:18 AM #

Top 10 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make When Writing a Business Plan: Reblogged November 24, 2009 at 04:30 PM #

Twilio: Web Service API for Making and Receiving Phone Calls, building hosted IVR and PBX telephone applications: I don't know what's worse, the convoluted esoteric IVR phone tree software typical of this space, or building and maintaining an XML-based API client. Though, the fact that you can bypass the hardware expense of DIY and the recurring telco leases might make it worth the effort.
Reblogged November 24, 2009 at 04:12 AM #

Merchandise FAIL by Austin Marshall: Vote for my FAIL!
Reblogged November 22, 2009 at 12:59 AM #

Buy Bad Code Offsets | CodeOffsets.com: Sort of like carbon offsets, but for code.
Reblogged November 19, 2009 at 04:50 AM #

Scientist at Work - Nathan Myhrvold - After Microsoft, Bringing a High-Tech Eye to Professional Kitchens - NYTimes.com: The conclusions have often been backed up by careful scientific exploration. For example, confit, the French technique of cooking slowly in fat, is supposed to impart a unique taste and texture as the fat penetrates the meat. But Dr. Myhrvold said: “There’s no way it could penetrate. The molecules are too big.” He said double-blind taste tests proved that the same tasty results could be achieved by steaming and then rubbing some of the fat on the outside.
I'm adding The Fat Duck to my list of restaurants to visit.
Reblogged November 18, 2009 at 02:22 PM #

YouTube - Microsoft Store - Breaks Out into Song: It seems the best part about the Microsoft retail store is the giant wall of screens displaying one continuous scene. As for the song and dance? It reminds me of the Joes Crab Shack party boat that spontaneously breaks into a YMCA sing and dance along only as the boat passes by the other restaurants.
Reblogged November 18, 2009 at 02:06 PM #

Leopard seal teaches photographer how to catch penguins - Boing Boing: Wow.
Reblogged November 17, 2009 at 12:53 PM #

Managing Software Engineers: On office aesthetics:
Programmers don't have the same need for wood-paneled expensive plushness that, say, corporate lawyers or investment bankers might. However, the office has to be aesthetically satisfying or it will be tough for anyone to take seriously the idea that the company values aesthetic internal design of computer programs. Similarly, the office has to be finished and well-executed or nobody will believe that the organization is committed to finishing products. In the long run it is impossible for an organization to be excellent in one area and mediocre in all others.

Reblogged November 3, 2009 at 10:23 PM #