On the topic of how representations relate to programming... if you have ever tried to express some tricky math in code you might have had a sense that it would be more clear if it were written out on paper with the proper notation. That's because mathematicians have streamlined their reasoning by deciding one day, well, I use the sum function a lot, let's call it Σ. Or I'd like to be able to recognize integrals from a mile away so let's call it ∫. Not to mention those symbols come along with a spatial organization: the lower limit of integration goes below, the upper limit goes on top.
Programmers can't easily streamline like this. Maybe there are multiple forces locking us in: the keyboard, text editor, and programming language. Sure, maybe the optimal way to write code is with a string of ascii characters arranged left to right top to bottom but I doubt it. So even in the visual-symbolic space there is unexplored potential.
I'm glad someone is out there tackling these assumptions and much more, I should keep an eye on his work.
On an unrelated note, his website is entertaining: http://worrydream.com/