May 09, 2005

Software philosophy

C.A.R.Hoare
Premature optimization is the root of all evil.

There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult.

Ken Thompson
When in doubt, use brute force.

Henry Spencer
Those who do not understand Unix are condemned to reinvent it, poorly.

March 20, 2005

Relationships

Alice Thomas Ellis
There is no reciprocity.
Men love women.
Women love children.
Children love hamsters.

March 08, 2005

How true

T.S.Eliot
The bad poet is usually unconscious where he ought to be conscious and conscious where he ought to be unconscious. Both errors tend to make him "personal." Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and emotions know what it means to want to escape from these things.

March 07, 2005

Occam's Razor

Albert Einstein
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.

October 08, 2004

Left

Ronald Reagan
I didn't leave the Democratic Party. It left me.

August 25, 2004

Bob Dylan by Joan Baez

I heard a squeaky little rat singing in the Village .

August 08, 2004

How not to allocate assets

Harry M. Markowitz..

I should have computed the historical co-variance of the asset classes and drawn an efficient frontier. Instead I visualised my grief if the stock market went up and I wasn’t in it – or if it went way down and I was completely in it. My intention was to minimize my future regret, so I split my contributions 50-50 between bonds and equities.

August 07, 2004

Short is the new tall

My wife is 5' 12". She wears high heels to announce how happy she is to be tall. I wear flip-flops to announce how happy I am to look ridiculous. Think Bernie Ecclestone without the money.

August 04, 2004

Titles for the film

Sven and Nancy
Sweet F.A.

July 31, 2004

Thought for the day

A woman can have about 1 child per year for 30 years.
A man can have about 1,000 per year for 60 years.

Vision statement of the day

We will strive to make as much money as we can without going to prison.