xfax

Back at Microsoft, the following pattern was used quite extensively in the OS group:

  int someFunc() {

    DWORD error = ERROR_SUCCESS; 

    error = foo();
    if (error != ERROR_SUCCESS) {
      goto Clean0;
    }

    error = bar();
    if (error != ERROR_SUCCESS) {
      goto Clean0;
    }
    
      ....

    Clean0:
    return error;
  }

It's like saying Fort Knox has never been broken into, so let's stop wasting money protecting it.

By the way, this example is only meant to highlight the fallacy, nothing more.

The problem is that what may be "proper" today (thinking, say, 5-10 years out) may fail the test in 10-15 years. One has to design software under some constraints, usually defined by the problem boundary and thus it by definition cannot be infinitely scalable and flexible.

Also, the problem is the code ends up being maintained by programmers of varying levels of competency. Even if competency is not a problem, the varying styles inadvertently lead to spaghetti and inconsistent code.

I'd love pointers to other such great resources that shed light on what makes a good, no great, PM.

I wonder if we studied funded start ups over the last 10 years, whether we'll see a pattern of selling out and then discontinuing service.

Truth right here. And one of the things people ignore when they bash MBA programs. One of the most important things I'll take away from my program is the self realization and the change in the way I see the world. And of course, the people I've met.

An idea to get more people to give more - make it competitive. For example, it'll be cool if I could create a group for my school and then get people to 'tag' their donations with the group ID. Would love to see which school can get the most donations!

On a side note, I wonder how long before it'll be used to find security flaws in code (that results in an exploit) - I bet there are hundreds of hard-coded passwords, insecure defaults etc. all over the place.

Taking pleasure in writing using a pen presumably moves you away from taking notes on your laptop, tablet or mobile phone. Thus it does encourage you to write more, even though in aggregate you are probably storing the same amount of information.

My response was to your second point where I assert that some people derive pleasure from things that others perceive as mundane. Eating at a 4-star Michelin restaurant for example can be loosely (very) compared to writing with a $60 pen. So it's not bizarre.

To your first point, deriving pleasure from doing something does indeed encourage you to do more of it. Even eating - compare eating a mediocre meal at a food court to a scrumptious meal prepared by your mother (or whoever cooks well in your family!). Sure, writing is not an infrequent exercise, so perhaps the analogy goes only so far, but the point remains that if you enjoy it, you are likely to do more of it.

Beauty, as they say, is in the eyes of the beholder.

I frequently purchase ballpoint and gel pens from JetPens.com and am particularly fond of the Pilot Hi-Tec-C: http://www.jetpens.com/Pilot-Hi-Tec-C-Gel-Ink-Pen-0.4-mm-Bas...

What are some of your <$10 pens that you frequently go back to?

Linus could have easily written that email privately to Mauro and spared him the public shaming. He could have then written a stern yet civil public response. Would that be asking too much?

It doesn't matter who you are; basic human decency is not above you.

Simple, to the point and effective.

Seriously though, when you have to enter the PIN multiple times a day, it gets annoying.

Just logged in to my @live.com account - 4814 messages in my Inbox, 17 in my Spam folder.

Guess how many in my Inbox are legit messages? None.

  In November 2001, Fadia was consulted by a classified       intelligence agency for breaking an encrypted message sent   by one of Osama Bin Laden's men. Since then Fadia has been involved in numerous classified projects pertaining to cyber terrorism and crime. In August 2008, Fadia was consulted by the Navi Mumbai Police Department to trace the terror email sent just a few minutes before the Gujarat serial blasts. Fadia was also consulted by the Mumbai Police for decoding VOIP messages in relation to the Mumbai terror attacks.

Damn, are these guys really delusional or are they just good at selling themselves? Not that the Indian media helps - they are incredible at chest-thumping at the most mediocre things.

Not that there is inherently anything wrong about learning to think like a programmer and problem-solve; the problem is that people equate learning to code to learning use the RoR/Django or some iOS framework. This is a direct result of all the dumb money being poured into stupid ideas - it leads everyone to believe that their time is best spent learning the tools to give shape to their photo-sharing app.

VCs won't invest in companies they think can only grow so big because it's not enough returns for them. In that sense, he's correct - VCs won't blink at a business that has a theoretical maximum revenue in 8 figures.

What's worse is that VCs and Angels in Chicago are perhaps, to an extent, more clueless about building technology businesses. Sure, money here is not as plentiful but I still see frivolous 'apps' being touted as businesses and getting accepted into incubators.

Perhaps it is the whole VC model that is to blame. By definition, VCs require companies to 'exit' through either acquisitions or IPOs. Their incentives are not aligned with building strong businesses that can thrive for years on end, but rather businesses that might 'seem' attractive in the next 3-5 years so as to attract potential acquirers. Only if a business shows unprecedented levels of growth do they let it do it's thing and thrive (Facebook, Google etc.).

Since 'social', 'mobile' and 'big data' are the buzz words these days, VCs are pouring money into these ridiculous and frivolous ideas in hopes of an acquisition. It's only fun while it lasts and I see a world of hurt coming their way.