All posts by ajohnson

Links: 1-11-2014

  • The Intrinsic Value of Blogging | Matt Mullenweg
    Quote on blogging: "First, write for yourself, both your present self whose thinking will be clarified by distilling an idea through writing and editing, and your future self who will be able to look back on these words and be reminded of the context in which they were written. Second, write for a single person who you have in mind as the perfect person to read what you write, almost like a letter, even if they never will, or a person who you’re sure will read it because of a connection you have to them…"
    (categories: blogging communication writing )

Links: 1-9-2014

  • illumos developer > 2013 > May > need reviews for..
    Quote: "Empathy is a core engineering value. This is especially true when it comes to backward compatibility, even moreso when targeting environments in which your product is used to make money. There are plenty of situations in which it’s easy enough to say "don’t do that, then" and leave it at that. Like most engineers, I have little patience for people who refuse to read the manual, make assumptions about the system’s behaviour from unreasonable bases, or engage in obviously retarded diagnostic procedures that serve only to worsen the original problem. All that said, there are also plenty of instances in which it’s essential to at least attempt to understand the plight of our users. This is one of them."
    (categories: culture development empathy engineering software )

Links: 1-5-2014