MattYoho

"Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code..."

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 22:14:59 -0500

“Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it.”

- Brian Kernighan, The Practice of Programming

"We’re all born late. We’re born into history that is well under way. We’re born into cultures,..."

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:49:45 -0500

“We’re all born late. We’re born into history that is well under way. We’re born into cultures, nations and languages that we didn’t choose. We’re thrust into social conditions that we detest. Often, we react in ways we regret even while we’re doing them.”

- Whoa. David Brooks. (via leighhouseholder)

"Seeking out the best solution, even if obvious, rather than the solution that makes the designer..."

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:38:20 -0500

“Seeking out the best solution, even if obvious, rather than the solution that makes the designer look the most clever or original, is a sign of maturity. Don’t run away from the obvious, run with it.”

- Daring Fireball (via bell)

Those dastardly bastards.

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:03:44 -0500

Those dastardly bastards.

loveallthis: Inspired by jeannr, I flowcharted the Beatles...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:55:36 -0500

loveallthis:

Inspired by jeannr, I flowcharted the Beatles classic, ‘Hey Jude.’

Via theremina on Flickr.

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:46:15 -0400

Via theremina on Flickr.

Our latest folder embed iteration.

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:06:54 -0400

Our latest folder embed iteration.

Will the World End in 2012?

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:17:00 -0400

A friend of mine casually posed this question after seeing a program broadcast by the History Channel. (Bless ‘em, those intellectually-bankrupt sons of bitches, they finally ran out of Hitler-based programming several years back.) Taken by the moment I prattled off this response.

Let’s saw you’re a Mayan astronomer, and adviser to the king. One day, inspired by appreciation for your powerful, cyclical number system, you casually mention to the king that you can create an accurate calendar indefinitely far into the future. Realizing your mistake just a moment too late, you react with horror, if not surprise, as the king replies he wants you to construct a calendar that will last until the end of time. Knowing that you could write until your death of old age and never complete a calendar that must go on forever, but knowing also that death will come immediately if you refuse his demand, you set to work, hoping against hope the king will lose interest in his decree. But as time goes on he does not, and so you write and compute and write and compute and so on until you’re certain you’ll go mad. Days and weeks pass and finally, your mind frayed, your hands worn to bloodied claws, you can go on no more. You give in, resigned to the knowledge that certainly, if nothing else has, you’ve reached your own end, for the king will not tolerate an unfinished calendar.

Sure enough, when his highness comes again to check your progress, he rages and cries out and demands to know why you’ve ceased, why you’ve stopped your work here and gone no further, knowing he, the king, has demanded a calendar that spans all of the days. And in your empty despair, with nothing to lose, a thought occurs to you. Why not?! “But my lord”, you say, “there is nothing left to do! The work is done. All days have been accounted for!” And the king is at first hesitant, as he tries to grasp the meaning of this, but soon he is amazed and pleased. For he now knows the date of the end of the world. And with that end-post in mind, he returns his thoughts to building his empire, comforted by knowing, as he amasses the strength and power he needs to ensure its longevity, just how many years he must prepare for as he lays the foundations it must have to last to the end of time. And you, in this narrowest of escapes, have learned its often best to hold your tongue around those with great power and little sense.

In other words, barring destruction at our own hands—perhaps via nuclear or biological means—no, the world will not end in 2012. And of course, even if we were to wipe out every last one of ourselves, the world would still not end, it would merely cease to be interesting. (For if it were still to be interesting, well, to whom?) And let’s say, though we do not, that we have the power to destroy the world, meaning the planet Earth. We still haven’t achieved the colloquial meaning of the phrase, for existence will continue to spin onward and outward, almost entirely unaffected by the blink of time bookended by Earth’s formation and cessation, the latter by our unguided hands.

Wind Waker really was beautiful in many ways, particularly...

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:57:26 -0400

Wind Waker really was beautiful in many ways, particularly musically. Amazing.

"It should be noted that no ethically-trained software engineer would ever consent to write a..."

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:59:03 -0400

“It should be noted that no ethically-trained software engineer would ever consent to write a DestroyBaghdad procedure. Basic professional ethics would instead require him to write a DestroyCity procedure, to which Baghdad could be given as a parameter.”

- Nathaniel Borenstein

Bake Baker: “Let’s kiss and make up.”

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:03:31 -0400

Bake Baker: “Let’s kiss and make up.”
Sherry Martin: “No, let’s just make up. That’ll give you something to work for.”

Ruby typing: I do believe you're doin' it wrong.

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:31:05 -0400

Ruby typing: I do believe you're doin' it wrong.:

I won’t totally dismiss the idea of a “class closed” hook to mirror inherited/included, but not for this. Quack quack, motherfucker!

Naive calculation of distribution in Ruby

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:22:00 -0400

trials = []
10000.times{ trials << rand(6) }
trials.uniq.map do |u|
  trials.select { |t| t.equal? u }.size
end.collect do |c|
  c.to_f / trials.size
end

Here’s a quick-and-dirty calculation of the distribution of values over 10,000 trials of Ruby’s rand() method on the range 0-5, analogous to rolling of a 6-sided die. An example output would be:

#=> [0.1707, 0.161, 0.1695, 0.1654, 0.1659, 0.1675]

It’s not an overly-elegant or efficient implementation. How would you do it?

Prioritization

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:20:55 -0400

Someday I’d like to think I’ll be able to build some web design skills. But someday I’d like to be a lot of things, and there’s only so many days between here and there. When am I going to get my first book written? And will that be before or after I’m no longer a terrible software developer? :-)

"a girl’s measurements should be: pupil size in picas, warmth of breath in kelvin and diary page..."

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:37:27 -0400

“a girl’s measurements should be: pupil size in picas, warmth of breath in kelvin and diary page count. now, add it up and tell ((no one)).”

- _why

Line: Taken inside Jeni’s Ice Cream on High Street in...

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:27:51 -0400

Line:

Taken inside Jeni’s Ice Cream on High Street in the Short North, May 2009.

Lighting in a bottles: Taken inside Jeni’s Ice Cream on...

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:27:46 -0400

Lighting in a bottles:

Taken inside Jeni’s Ice Cream on High Street in the Short North, May 2009.

"Whatever their future, at the dawn of their lives, men seek a noble vision of man’s nature and..."

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:58:00 -0400

“Whatever their future, at the dawn of their lives, men seek a noble vision of man’s nature and of life’s potential.”

- Foreward to The Fountainhead