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Tag Archives: philosophy

That Other Guy, The Ghost Rider

Just wrapping up Neil Peart’s Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road. It is quite a read, and not really a motorcycling book, so much as one about being human. For the author to share his journey, well, it is very generous of him.

Sharing your Passion

What seems to be universally fun is spending time with people who are sharing their passion. Teachers do this, so do really good presenters, friends, and leaders. It is the experience of people sharing with you the song that their heart sings.

On Computing

Computing is very poorly understood. Case in point here is the litmus test I would argue to you that: In North America you can pull any 18 year old randomly off the street and ask them to do something and it would go like this: 1. Can you build a basic bridge between a 3ft [...]

Some Thoughts on Mathematics

R. L. E. Schwarzenberger, The Language of Geometry, in A Mathematical Spectrum Miscellany, Applied Probability Trust, 2000, p. 112: My own attitude, which I share with many of my colleagues, is simply that mathematics is a language. Like English, or Latin, or Chinese, there are certain concepts for which mathematics is particularly well suited: it [...]

Connecting With People

Four trips. In my life I’ve been lucky enough to have four great trips. Three around the U.S.A. and one around all of Europe. At the time I thought the whole point was to see things. Well, you see things, and maybe you feel good about them, too. What you remember though are the people. [...]

The Construction of Programs

Let us change our traditional attitude to the construction of programs: Instead of imagining that our main task is to instruct a computer what to do, let us concentrate rather on explaining to human beings what we want a computer to do. -– Donald Knuth

The Goal of a Teacher

To create an environment where learning happens. – Dr. George F. Corliss

The right way to look at computers

I object to doing things that computers can do. –Olin Shivers

Sayre’s law

Sayre’s law states, in a formulation quoted by Charles Philip Issawi: “In any dispute the intensity of feeling is inversely proportional to the value of the issues at stake.” (via wikipedia)

Instead of Saying “I Don’t Have Time,” Say “It’s Not a Priority”

Instead of Saying “I Don’t Have Time,” Say “It’s Not a Priority” – Laura Vanderkam