Too often we assume that a failed experiment is a wasted effort. But not all anomalies are useless.
Tags: Asides, Philosophy of science, Scientific method, Theory, Wired Magazine
The tragedy of the commons refers to a dilemma described in an influential article by that name written by Garrett Hardin and first published in the journal Science in 1968. The article describes a situation in which multiple individuals, acting independently, and solely and rationally consulting their own self-interest, will ultimately destroy a shared limited resource even when it is clear that it is not in anyone’s long-term interest for this to happen.
Tags: Asides, competitor Web sites, Environmental economics, free-spirited Internet user, Garrett Hardin, ISP, Market failure, Metaphors, Network neutrality, non-renewable energy sources, Resource, Sociology, Tragedy of the commons
The Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20 rule, the law of the vital few, and the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.
Tags: 80 20, Asides, Business, factor sparsity, Italy, law of the vital few, law relationship, Pareto principle, Power law, principle, principle of factor sparsity, rule, vital few, Welfare economics
Okay, so many of the points below aren’t purely my philosophy, but ideas and principles I have picked up along the way throughout my [development] career. Some relate to the UNIX philosophy, or even the Zen of Python, but wherever they’re from, they can be applied to many other domains.
Tags: Adobe, api, Asides, Design, Dev Opera, Development, Freelancing, Google, Google Code, JavaScript, Microsoft, philosophy, Python, unix, web community, work, Yahoo, zen, Zoho
Reasons why people working with computers tend to have lots of free time…
Tags: 3D artist, Asides, computer, Computer Worker, free time, hacker, IT Consultant, Programmer, sysadmin, system administrator, web developer, workers
One of the most amusing quotes of 2008 must be this: At a party to mark the handover of the Olympic flag in Beijing, newly elected Mayor Boris Johnson laid claim to Britain’s sporting inventiveness.
Tags: Asides, Beijing, Boris Johnson, Britain, China, Mayor, Olympics, Ping Pong, quote, the Olympic, united kingdom, Wiff Waff
Four resources to consider when embarking on a new project: Precedent (who’s done it already and how?); External data; Internal data and knowledge; and, Educated guesses No. 4 is most valuable. After all, all the research in the world won’t tell you how to design it. (Source: Cameron Moll)
Tags: Asides, Cameron Moll, embarking, four points, new, project
It is not often that the little old ladies of the choral society scream “since Fate strikes down the strong man, everyone weep with me!”, or when they are in a more cheerful mood, “My virginity makes me frisky, my simplicity holds me back. Oh, Oh, Oh, I am completely coming to life”.
Tags: Asides, Bavarian, bbc, Burana Codex, Carl Orff, Carmina Burana, choir, chorus, German, orchestra, television advertising, The Fellowship of the Ring, united kingdom
Since getting the new iPhone 3G I’ve been downloading ‘useful’ applications like there was no tomorrow. I now have the very useful Vicinity app, various social networking apps and the best of all, a Light Sabre.
Tags: 3G, Apple, Apple App Store, Asides, iphone, pence, social networking apps, wordpress
What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.
Tags: Asides, communicate, communication, Cool Hand Luke, failure, film, Luke What, Paul Newman, quote