In Dungeons & Dragons (the tabletop game), there are universal laws. These are published in the Player’s Guide. They set parameters for the characters, like how powerful they should be relative to monsters. The Player’s Guide outlines weapons, combat procedures, and success rates. It describes spells, what they do and how long they last. What … Read moreRules in context: D&D edition
Today I found myself in the kitchen, near the fridge with the wine (it’s an excellent Chardonnay from Sonoma, thanks XYZ Beverages in Tybee Island, you exceed my expectations although you don’t have a website to link to). My empty glass was out on the screened porch. Do I go outside for the glass? Or … Read moreThese are not the only options. Wineglass edition
The most mentally straining part of programming (for me) is focusing down on the detail of a line of code while maintaining perspective on why we are doing this at all. When a particular implementation gets hard, should I keep going? back up a step and redesign? or back way up and solve the problem … Read moreZooming in and out, for software and love
The magic of a gelled team is that they know how to work together, and together, they know how to do particular work. The members don’t know how to work together; the team does. These learnings don’t reside in the members individually, the learnings are in the interrelations. A shared know-how is jointly constructed between … Read moreKnowledge resides in teams
It is better to practice risky things often and in small chunks with a limited blast radius, rather than to avoid risky things. Charity Majors, “Test in production? Yes“ Charity is writing about deploys. Not-deploying may be safer for tonight, but in the medium term it leads to larger deploys and bigger, trickier failures. In … Read moreTiny dramas, tiny deploys
In hard sciences, we aim to describe causality from the bottom up, from elementary particles. Atoms form molecules, molecules form objects, and the reason objects bounce off each other is reduced to electromagnetic interactions between the molecules in their surfaces. Molecules in DNA determine production of proteins which result in cell operations which construct organisms. … Read moreReductionism with Command and Control
Gregory Bateson talks about distinct levels of learning. From behavior to enlightenment, each level represents change in the previous level. Zero Learning: this is behavior, responding in the way you always do. The bell rings, oh it’s lunchtime, eat. This does not surprise you, so you just do the usual thing. Learning I: this is … Read moreFive levels of learning
“Code, as a medium, is unlike anything humans have worked with before. You can almost design right into it.” me, in my Camerata keynote But not totally, because we always find surprises. Complex systems are always full of surprises. That is their frustration and their beauty. We live in complex systems. From biology up through … Read moreMission Statement
Linda (5) told me, there’s a spider in a web in the basement! I said, get a broom and knock it down. So she got a broom. Then she came to me, will you do it? Sure. She showed me the spiderweb, and there was the spider, and i was like ooh, it looks cool! … Read moreSpiders