Every project consists of a sequence of actions in pursuit of a particular goal.
While the goal is the entire purpose for the project, progress is only made by completing the actions.
A primary challenge with respect to the actions is that the most important actions are not always the most pleasant.
Some actions are more influential than [...]
For most people living in North America or Europe, almost all conceivable information is readily available.
The Internet, printed publications, and public libraries provide intellectual treasurers to all who are curious.
This is wonderful, but more information is not always better information. Availability of material can decrease competence when it is not actionable. Publication is infinite, but [...]
The following footage comes from a BBC TV series called “Fun to Imagine.”
I found it through the TED website.
The material is fascinating and I highly recommend watching and learning:
Knowledge is a wonderful thing. It permits increased insight. It fosters informed discussion and collaboration. It empowers tremendous advancements. It solves many problems.
For all of its excellence, however, knowledge can also be problematic. It can reveal dearly held notions to be incorrect. It can foster an unwholesome sense of pride and arrogance. It does not [...]
Google’s web search algorithm.
Algorithms for calculating the likelihood of medical challenges based on genetic traits.
Algorithms for contextual advertising.
Driving directions.
Flight safety procedures.
Financial audit guidelines.
I am preparing to take the Macroeconomics CLEP test.
Two figures that dominate the literature of economics are Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes.
While this is an oversimplification, it is generally accurate to describe Smith as a proponent of free market economics and Keynes a proponent of governmental economic interventionism.
Keynes believed free markets incapable of self [...]
I have a mantra on reviews: Rave reviews are really worthless (RRARW).
They are usually irrelevant because they are most likely to come from people whose opinions are uninformed or excessively favorable.
Rave reviews teach the recipient nothing.
They serve only to bolster the ego of the recipient, and egos are naturally oversized.
Rave reviews fail to address specific [...]
Jason Fried spoke at the Good Experience Live conference in 2006:
“Less” is a competitive advantage, explains Jason Fried, especially in software development. Fried’s company 37signals, which authored the book Getting Real and has created several popularWeb applications, lives this philosophy and has enjoyed great success as a result.
While I would have selected different language at times, [...]
Twitter is a popular microblogging platform at the moment.
Many users (or potential users) of the service are confused as to how to use it.
Twitter is presented as a means for answering the question “what are you doing?” but is really primarily a tool for real-time communication and search.
The most effective users of Twitter are doing [...]
Google is the world’s most important search engine.
Its search engine is without rival, and with good reason. Perhaps Bing will become that rival, but I doubt that it will.
Search is not the only avenue in which Google has excelled; it produces highly popular and usable web applications for various users.
Google is innovative and seems to [...]