Viewing profile — thinkingeric

He doesn't mention emacs-starter-kit, so as a community service, I'm pointing it out. I had used Emacs for a long time, and switching to this made my life much easier. And my custo…

I would label it as "essentially correct". The odds are very slim that you will a) Find gold in California b) Become a rock star c) Win a lottery d) Strike it rich and famous as an…

'The Little Schemer' is not intended to be a tutorial on Scheme. To quote the preface, "The goal of this book is to teach the reader to think recursively". Similarly, the other boo…

When I first read the comments here, I imagined Gabriel knocking his head on the wall, Charlie Brown-style. But the more I think about it, the more I think he might appreciate the …

And 'Write Yourself a Scheme in 48 Hours" http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Write_Yourself_a_Scheme_in_48_H...

"Then I added a little padding time because everything always takes longer than expected." If you are implementing something which is almost exactly like something you personally h…

No. They are kvetching.

Mr. Yegge says, "it only takes a few people to poison a community" Yes, and it is the kvetchers that are putting a black cloud over a language and community that has been evolving …

I use a slide rule regularly. It is neither quick nor accurate, but it is useful in the same way that making approximate calculations in your head is useful. That is to say, added …

"most children classified as 'dullards' by the education system just don't understand how to cope with the traditional model of teaching" Can't say I was ever classified as a 'dull…

Not at all. I agree with Spolsky about needing two monitors for GUI work, but otherwise more screen real estate pretty much equates with shifting your focus between contexts, which…

"teach them to estimate" I suspect that the 'calculator age' has caused kids (and kids that have now grown up to be parents) and maybe educators to over-value an increase in signif…

If it makes you feel any better, the guy is talking about 1982. If you were 'in' to computers at all as a hobbyist during that era, it typically meant low-level tinkering. Not at a…

Yeah, I caught the 'tort reform' misdirection as well. Also, I think earns north of $170,000 a year, which made his turning down the insurance 'on principle' a bit ridiculous.

Also, this is of course over and above what my company pays in premiums. Altogether it is a significant amount of money for a family of four that has no major medical problems. For…

Something to add to the discussion: She says "my recent M.R.I. cost $1,300 at the “retail” rate, while the rate negotiated by the insurance company was $700." I have insurance and …

"lower the client's perception of risk" That is a profound way to put it and certainly accounts for a lot of the premium that clients are willing to pay.

His breakdown is applicable to service work in general.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. This kind of analysis is required for any service business. Having done so for our company, I have the following observations on 'What to do?": Sc…

I'd add to that having already been paid for it and needing to hand off to others to maintain. I guarantee that the next project you do will be at a whole new level.

I'm sorry I don't have time to go through your app more, but here some things that occurred to me (I have 17 month old and 3 yr old, so just out of your target): 1) Try to collect …

Not to mention that they can inherit 'assets' other than wealth: connections, experience, confidence, cushion, as well as less consequential financial support that just makes their…

Here is a quote from that essay that says it much clearer than my pithy 'guideline': "I prefer minimum-length but maximum-information names, and then let the context fill in the re…

I use an additional guideline: things that are created near where they are used can be abbreviated more than something that is created 'far away'.

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/indiv.htm Also perhaps money market funds.