“Shipping first time code is like going into debt. A little debt speeds development so long as it is paid back promptly with a rewrite. The danger occurs when the debt is not repaid. Every minute spent on not-quite-right code counts as interest on that debt. Entire engineering organizations can be brought to a standstill under the debt load of an unconsolidated implementation, object-oriented or otherwise.” FirstsLittlesLongInterestMinutesDangerObjectsDevelopmentFirst TimeOrganizationPaidDebtSpeedCodeEngineeringLoadImplementationShippingStandstill Author:Ward Cunningham
“Nobody cares that Mitt Romney is rich. It’s Romney’s inability to understand the institutional advantage that he gains from the government’s tax code largesse that’s a little offensive to people. Especially considering Romney’s view on anyone else who looks to the government for things like, I don’t know, food and medicine.” PeopleKnowsLooksLittlesGovernmentCareViewsRichTaxesGainsAdvantageMedicineCodeConsideringOffensiveInabilityRomneyNobody CaresLargesse Author:Jon Stewart
“Astride a horse I am not, nor camel-like carry a load, Subjects I have none, nor follow any sultan's code; I worry not for what exists, nor fret for what is lost, I breathe with extreme ease, and live at very little cost.” LittlesWisdomLostWorrySubjectsCostHorseExtremesBreatheCodeEaseIslamicLoadCamels Author:Saadi
“Nobody really knows what the Bourne shell's grammar is. Even examination of the source code is little help.” KnowsLittlesHelpingSourceCodeShellsGrammarExaminationBourneLittle Help Author:Tom Duff
“The purest case of an intelligence explosion would be an Artificial Intelligence rewriting its own source code. The key idea is that if you can improve intelligence even a little, the process accelerates. It's a tipping point. Like trying to balance a pen on one end - as soon as it tilts even a little, it quickly falls the rest of the way.” IfsWayTryingLittlesIdeasEndsWould BeFallProcessCasesSourceKeysBalanceCodePensArtificial IntelligenceArtificialExplosionsAccelerateRewritingTippingTiltTipping Point Author:Eliezer Yudkowsky
“The champions of militant Islam are, of course, misogynists, woman-haters; they are also misologists - haters of reason. Their armed doctrine is little more than a chaotic penal code underscored by impotent dreams of genocide. And, like all religions, it is a massive agglutination of stock response, of cliches, of inherited and unexamined formulations.” LittlesReasonDreamCoursesResponseIslamDoctrineCodeChampionMassiveGenocideClicheChaoticMilitant Author:Martin Amis