Elves, buttercups, etc

kitty_tape @ 2009-12-20T21:01:00

2009-12-21T05:01:04Z

So, when you look on Amazon, sometimes the books related to books about atheism are books about religion. Thus, I learned about "The One Year Men of the Bible". Now, I am sure this is a perfectly reasonably book, but what came to mind was a calendar... awith the lack of shirts that a "Men of" calendar usually implies. =)

kitty_tape @ 2009-12-06T15:51:00

2009-12-06T23:51:20Z

I was recently accused of depending on an appeal to authority when I shared the following quote in an online discussion:

When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours. -- Stephen Roberts

This accusation proved useful because it helped me clarify my thinking on whether or not a quotation depends on authority for its value.

My rule-of-thumb: look at the call to action. If the call to action is "try this", then the statement is not an appeal to authority. If the call to action is "believe this" then it is an appeal to authority.

Now, this is only a rule-of-thumb. Sometimes a statement phrased as "believe this" has an implicit call to action. Statements of immediate observation fall into this category. "Mary say it is raining" has no call to action, but you can look out the window and see whether or not it is so. Sometimes a syntactic call to action is not feasible. "If you lived my life, you would believe what I believe" seems to have a call to action, but it is not one that could actually be acted upon.

This rule-of-thumb does not help to distinguish whether a statement is true or false; the Robert's quote above may very well be wrong, even if it is not an appeal to authority. It also does not differentiate between appropriate and inappropriate appeals to authority; "Eric Schmidt says that Google is coming out with a browser based OS" verses "Eric Schmidt says the recession is ending".

That said, as a rule-of-thumb which clarifies my thinking, I still consider it useful.

(Side note, I gave up on the conversation that sparked this thought process when the other person insisted that she was being serious when she said that she does not believe that atheists exist.)

kitty_tape @ 2009-12-06T11:18:00

2009-12-06T19:18:11Z

This week, mostly for food we are serving to other people, we will be using 25 eggs and 8 sticks of butter. If love is measured in the degree to which you are willing to give your friends heart attacks, we must really love our friends.

kitty_tape @ 2009-12-05T12:05:00

2009-12-05T20:05:56Z

Hmph, that ended up long.

Finished three short architecture books. The Good House: Contrast as a Design Tool by Max Jacobson, Murray Silverstein, and Barbara Winslow (3/5), Architecture of the Home by Ola Nylander (2/5), and Thermal Delight in Architecture by Lia Heschong (2/5).

As the numbers above make obvious, The Good House was the best of the lot. The book starts with a discussion of the theory of contrast and then presents a number of case studies to illustrate those principles. The authors claim that emphasizing the natural contrasts in a home can make it more interesting, comfortable, and compelling. Areas of contrast that are common in the home are the contrast between inside and outside, exposed and tempered, up and down, something and nothing, light and dark, and order and mystery.

Perhaps counter-intuitively, the authors suggest that the best way to emphasize contrast is to connect the contrasting elements rather than, for example, making each contrasting element more extreme. The book contains many examples, but a couple stuck with me.

To emphasize the contrast between inside and outside, connect them with a covered porch. The covered porch allows one to partially observe and experience both inside and outside without being a part of either. On a more practical level, the contrast between light and dark can be improved by adding a transition from light to dark. Without such a transition, the contrast can be overwhelming (e.g., by making it so you cannot see).

Architecture of the Home uses a similar format: a discussion of general principles followed by a number of case studies. However, the book is the publication of a thesis, and it reads like one. For example, the discussion of general principles is titled "Identifying Fields of Attributes". That said, the strength of this book is that the principles are derived from observation. Unlike the last book, where you could say that the principles were derived from the personal experience and observation of the authors as professionals, the principles in this book are analyzed based on surveys and interviews of the professionals and the actual residents. Although the conclusions may still be specific to apartment dwellers in Sweden in the early 90s, they still provide a different perspective than the first book.

Nylander identified seven principles that can be used to judge the livability of a home. These are

Materials and detailing: The quality of the materials and detailing of a building affect the residents' perceptions of authenticity and their sense of the home belonging to them. Higher quality finishes cause many residents to care more about the home which, in turn, increase their feelings of ownership.

Axiality: Strong visual axes strengthen understanding of the organization of the home. The extreme axiality of classical architecture can make a space feel formal (too formal, sometimes), but using axial lines to connect significant spaces can provide a sense of connection and emphasize their significance.

Enclosure: Areas of openness and enclosure give different feelings to a home. Architectural style, life stage, and even moment-to-moment changes in mood effect the degree of openness one desires. The sense of enclosure is effected by the size of rooms, the connectedness of rooms, and the "readability" of rooms (e.g., the ability of the resident to distinguish between functional spaces).

Movement: The way that a resident moves through a home effects their perception of that home. The size of the room affects the speed at which people move through it. Movement also affects our perception of function. A room with multiple entries and exits feels more public than a room with a single entry.

Spatial figure: The volume and shape of a room affects its perception. Throughout history, architects have tried and failed at defining ideal proportions. However, there are useful rules of thumb. For example, rooms that are extreme in one dimension tend to be uncomfortable. E.g., a wide, low parking garage or a tall, narrow entry way.

Daylight: People like natural daylight. The availability of large, relatively cheap windows led to their overuse in modern architecture, but most residents prefer to balance the desire for daylight and the need for privacy. Reflected light and light from multiple directions tend to be preferred to a single bright light source.

Organization of spaces: An important part of the organization of spaces is defining territory: public verses private, mine verses yours. In community settings, this organization is especially important. Residents who have some outdoor space they can call theirs inside of the space that belongs to the community have a stronger sense of ownership. Residents who do not even have space that belongs to the community feel that they have no private space.

The third book was Thermal Delight in Architecture. Heschong's claim is that the aesthetic aspect of thermal properties of buildings have been sadly neglected now that we have almost full control over the temperature of our indoor spaces. Yet, in Heschong's opinion, we lose something by always being in a highly tuned environment. Heschong sets out to describe the aesthetic importance of temperature by appeal to architects, authors, and cultural traditions.

Thermal regulation is necessary for life. Humans can only live with a reasonably small range of temperatures. As Heschong puts it, "Buildings, even in the conventional ways we now build them, can be viewed as a way to modify a landscape to create more favorable microclimates."

Yet once that basic need is met, thermal regulation takes on an aesthetic aspect. Take sitting around a fire as an example. Part of the delightfulness of such as exercise is from the contrast between the warm (perhaps almost too warm) fire and the cooler space beyond. Heschong gives many other examples, all of which lead to the conclusion that, despite common building practices, our buildings are more delightful when they are not uniformly heated and cooled.

Thanksmas food sign-up

2009-12-05T04:31:04Z

Oh yeah, I said I was going to get this up in the middle of this week. Well, I'm only a little late.

Types of dishes we need: dishes for the main meal (could be main or side dishes -- I'm not really sure of the distinction between some of them, anyway, for holiday meals -- Jeff considers stuffing a main dish =) ), dessert, drinks, and maybe appetizers.

The things we will provide are: turkey (no stuffing), hot-buttered rum (with and without rum, but it'd be nice if someone can bring apple cider for the non-rum ones), and two pumpkin pies (one chocolate, one normal; maybe both chipotle? opinions?). We also have a bottle of champagne that Matt brought earlier that we will have.

Sign-up below for what you want to bring. Even if you already told us elsewhere. We expect to have 16 people, so plan accordingly.

Also, it would be nice if people could bring some plates (~5) and bowls (~8).

Finished "The Great Book of Amber" - 3/5

2009-12-02T03:45:37Z

Finished The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny. This large tome contains all 10 volumes of the Amber Chronicles. The series is divided into two major story arcs, each consisting of five books. The first story arc is excellent. Zelazny weaves a compelling story. I found the opening particularly good. The way Zelazny starts the story, it does not even seem like fantasy. Just as you start to wonder whether or not he is ever going to get around it, he brings the fantasy element into the story with a bang.

The second story arc is mediocre. The story contains many good elements, but overall it comes across as a bit too... chaotic. The main character of that story arc seems to get pulled from event to event, each of which generates new threads. I would say less than half of those threads are resolved in the end, and many of those that were resolved were not resolved fully. That said, I have heard that the Zelazny meant to write more but did not have a chance to do so before he died. The dangers of building large, complex stories.

Overall though, it is definitely worth a read. Especially the first half.

Finished "The Time Paradox" - 2/5

2009-11-30T03:31:14Z

Finished The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life by Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd. This book was full of good content that was lost in the presentation. Even when I first got the book (as a promotional item), I was suspicious of it. The title and the reviews on the back work together to make it sound more self help oriented than science oriented. The content supported this instinct. The opening chapters on the different time perspectives are well written, but the rest of the book contains a bunch of loosely related ways to use time perspectives to improve your life. They would have made for great blog posts, but they only made for an okay book.

That said, unlike a lot of self-help books, this book at least has the advantage of being based on real and interesting science. Zimbardo and Boyd both have backgrounds as researchers who have studied time perspectives. Citations abound, and the authors do a good job of making the research accessible. This could have been a great book, and I was quite disappointed that it turned out to be only an okay book.

Zimbardo and Boyd have found time perspectives can explain a lot about behavior. In some ways, this is just yet another way of slicing and dicing people to understand how they behave (that's a good thing; every new perspective gives insight). However, time perspectives have an advantage over many of the currently popular ways of slicing and dicing: they can be changed. Thus, the authors spend a fair amount of time discussing the different time perspectives and outlining the "ideal" time perspective.

Zimbardo and Boyd have found six major time perspectives. The time perspective of an individual is a mixture of these six types. The time perspectives they present are:

Past positive: strong positive feelings associated with the past. Family and group oriented. Fond of tradition.

Past negative: strong negative feelings associated with the past. May have feelings of guilt, resentment toward the past. Feels trapped by their past.

Present hedonistic: focuses on the present, rather than on the past or the future. Committed to enjoying themselves. May be perceived as irresponsible.

Present fatalistic: believes they cannot escape their present. Subject to depression that is made worse by the feeling that it is inevitable.

Future oriented: focuses on outcomes, consequences, planning and saving. Sacrifices in the present for the future. Subject to stress.

Future transcendental: focuses on the distant, impersonal future whether through religion or a concern for future generations.

Zimbardo and Boyd believe that the ideal time perspective is high on past positive, fairly high and balanced on present hedonistic and future, moderately high on transcendental future, and low on the negative perspectives. They authors spend a fair amount of time going into why this is a good time perspective, but their suggestions are, largely, consistent with common sense. Overall, I found this book a useful read, although I could have got by with skipping the second half of the book.

Thanksmas RSVP reminder

2009-11-28T22:43:49Z

Don't forget to RSVP for Thanksmas if you haven't already. We will start the process of deciding who is bringing what mid next week.

kitty_tape @ 2009-11-26T09:10:00

2009-11-26T17:10:01Z

C++ is a language full of quirks. Sometimes these quirks are/were necessary to support the performance characteristics desired by the language designers. Sometimes these quirks are historic artifacts of a language whose design was started 30 years ago. Either way, these quirks often make it so that the language fails to follow bread-and-butter principles like "fail early" or "behave consistently".

Consider the following program:

#include <stdio.h>

class Foo {
public:
  void bar() { printf("%li\n", (long)this); }
};

int main(void) {
  Foo* foo = NULL;
  foo->bar();
  return 0;
}

After compiling with GCC 4.3.1, the output of this program was 0. Despite the fact that foo is NULL, we are able to call a method on foo, and, since that method does not access any members, it executes successfully.

Change bar() to be virtual and the program will seg fault when run.

From an implementation point of view, this makes sense. In the first case, the call site can be replaced with a call to a method known at compile time. this is passed to that method, and an error occurs when this is dereferenced, not at the call site.

In the second case, the compiler does not know at compile time what method it will need to call. As such, at run time it needs to look up the vtable for the object. Since foo is NULL this call fails at the call site.

But things that make sense from an implementation point of view but not a language design point of view still make me sad.

Don't tell, show

2009-11-19T20:47:33Z

Over the past few days I have had an experience which illustrates that actions count more than words.

I was having an online debate with someone about global warming. This person claimed to be open minded and willing to discuss the topic and I, apparently foolishly, believed him.

Despite saying he was open minded, despite claiming to be ready to seriously consider new ideas he did the following: insisted on forcing me down a branch of the argument I said was unimportant to me, only gave me one chance to defend my position, and called me a fool and said I had no credibility because he disagreed with my opinion. When the discussion changed topic and I suggest we move it to a different thread to avoid spamming people (and because I did not want to share semi-personal information on his wall), he did so, but with the comment "Just so you know, I don't ask twice. Are you going to tell me or not?". When I said his phrasing was off-putting and pointed out the privacy concerns with sharing my personal information on his wall, he "boo hooed" me and said that he considers being mean a way of being humorous. When I suggested that this meant we were destined to not get along, he called me high maintenance. When I unfriended him (mutually considered to be the best course), he accused me of not giving him a chance to reply, despite this being a round of comments after he had said that we should no longer be friends.

This person may really be an open minded, flexible, kind, wonderful person. However, given their behavior, I can only conclude that he is either deluded, lying, or does not realize the limitations of a textual conversation with someone hardly knows; I have time for none of these possibilities.

In short, it doesn't matter how much you say something if your actions show otherwise.

Thanksmas!

2009-11-13T05:02:42Z

It is the holiday season, which means Thanksmas is coming again! Yes, the traditional holiday returns for the second year!

If you missed Thanksmas last year, or want a refresher, here's the info: instead of Game Day in December, we have a big holiday party -- this does not mean there won't be games played, but the focus is a bit different. We'll host a potluck holiday meal, followed by a gift exchange. There will also be Thanksmas carols, and probably other kinds of fun.

It will be on December 12th (the second Saturday of December), starting at 2PM.

Since this is a big event, we would like a more definite list of people who will be attending than a normal Game Day; at which point we'll figure out what dishes everyone wants to bring. Please RSVP by December 1st if you will be coming (and let us know if you'll be bringing anyone with you).

The gift exchange should be a nice/fun/good gift around $20 in value -- something you would like yourself, or something you have that is so awesome you want to share it with others. If you are having trouble thinking of something, remember that this is a geeky & gamer crowd -- popular gifts last year were Xbox Live points, a set of dice (4d-20d), and a chess set. Make sure the gift is wrapped, so it is a surprise to the first person to open it (rules TBD).

If you have questions/comments/clarifications/etc., please let us know. Hope to see you there!

Jeff & Erika

kitty_tape @ 2009-11-12T14:38:00

2009-11-12T22:38:31Z

I realized something this evening. Every atheist and, I suspect, most theists recognize the invalidity of statements of the form, "If there is no God, everything is permitted." (this phrasing, according to the internet, incorrectly attributed, to Dostoevsky). However, I was always confused by the people who thought it was valid.

But then I realized that the world view they bring to their interpretation differs fundamentally from mine. These folks are, I believe, taking approximately the following viewpoint: "I know God exists. God is the source of our moral system. If God were removed from this system, then our morals would disappear."

I and at least some others who reject the validity of the statement are coming from a different point of view. "Regardless of God's existence, we observe morality in the world. There are inconsistencies from culture to culture and time to time, but there are also consistencies. Thus, we can conclude that whether or not God exists, morality of some sort exists relative to human societies."

In short, the key difference, I propose, is that people, like me, who disagree with with the validity of statements like "If there is no God, everything is permitted" are actually disagreeing with the statement "If there is no God and the world is as it is, everything is permitted". Those who disagree, I propose, do not consider that conjunction to be a reasonable antecedent.

Another possibility is a different interpretation of the word "permitted". If there is no God, then everything is permitted in the sense that there is no absolute authority figure to disallow it, but it everything is not permitted relative to the complex interaction between culture and society and history personal experience.

As an aside, I have always felt that the statement "If there is no God, everything is permitted" would, if believed literally, indicate a rather bleak and disturbing world view. In particular, if someone really believed that, it would follow that they personally would start lying, cheating, stealing, etc. as convenient if they were to be convinced no God.

My reasoning behind making that claim is as follows. Suppose that someone were to claim that they would still behave morally under all conditions (hard even in the best of times, but this is hypothetical) even if they were to become really truly convinced there is no God (this is, I am well aware, a supposition that some theists cannot even hold hypothetically). What then, I would ask them, is the reason behind behavior according to your past moral system? Either they hold their morals independently of their belief in God, in which case, they do not actually believe the initial statement, or they no longer have those morals, in which case they may very well start doing bad things if it suits them. I intentionally say, "if it suits them" because I believe that, in practice, even if someone were to actually believe this, habit would influence their actual beliefs regardless of what they might now consider themselves willing to do should the need arise.

It all depends on your point of view

2009-11-08T05:35:10Z

Once again I encountered an attitude that always surprises me. I was accused of attacking the Bible when I said that it contains events that, from my external point of view, can only be described as deity approved horrors. Yet this same individual did not consider it an attack when they said that someday I would be forced to kneel before God and would go to hell or when they said that loving, committed, same-sex relationships are an affront on morality.

To some degree, all humans fall prey to the bias of their own perspective. Both of us considered ourselves to be making statements which, from our own point of view, fall under the category of painful truths, not attacks.

Yet I have found that some Christians (not all) quickly jump to the conclusion that atheists are on the offensive when they say anything less than complimentary about religion. They assume that a very specific comment has a very general meaning. Often, these same Christians then go on to say things as bad or worse than what was said to them, but they do not see themselves as attacking and claim innocence if their statements are pointed out.

An much smaller subset turns this into a persecution complex. These are people who really believe there is a war on Christmas. They truly believe that they are like the early Christians and society is trying to crush them out of existence. When you point out that Christians are the vast majority in this nation, they claim that most of those people are not "real Christians" (I always imagine that followed by a trademark symbol). Fortunately, these people, despite their prevalence on the internet, are a small group.

In the end, this biased perspective no longer makes me feel angry or hurt or insulted. But it has become tiresome.

ETA: Apparently, 24% of Evangelical Christians (the single largest religious group in the US) feel like they are part of a religious minority.

kitty_tape @ 2009-11-07T13:09:00

2009-11-07T21:11:44Z

Game day is next Saturday, November 14! Please let us know if you think you might make it.

Within the next couple weeks we'll start organizing Thanksmas. Mark your calendars!

Finished "Some Place LIke Home", 3/5

2009-11-07T18:45:52Z

Finished Some Place Like Home: Using Design Psychology to Create Ideal Places by Toby Israel. In this book Israel lays out the ideas beyond what she calls Design Psychology. Design psychology investigates the connection between your past experiences of place and your present experiences of place (note that there are other uses and definitions of the phrase).

The book was divided into four parts: the past, the present, the future, and case studies. Each of the first three sections was divided into three parts: a general discussion of some aspect of design psychology, three interviews (the same three people interviewed for the theme of each chapter), and a list of design psychology exercises related to each section.

I personally found the interviews to be somewhat tedious. One of the interviewees was a post-modernist architect and architectural critic, and he was just as determined to conclude that his architecture had nothing to do with his past as the author was determined to conclude that there was a deep connection.

The exercises and their explanations were by far the most useful part of the book. The exercises helped clarify the different ways that people can come to their preferences for place. I think that these exercises are actually more valid for folks without architectural training than for the architects interviewed. Architects have formal training, so it makes sense that many factors, including the past, training, experience, art, influence their sense of place. For the rest of us, our sense of place builds mainly from the places we have experienced in the past and present.

A brief description of each exercise:

Past, Environmental Family Tree: List and reflect upon the type of places your extended family has lived in. E.g., urban, rural, suburban, poverty, riches, middle class, strong community, isolated, etc.

Past, Environmental Time Line: List and reflect upon the large scale places you have lived during your own life. Categorize them using your own sense of place as cities, towns, villages, suburbs, or countryside. Determine which type of setting you lived in the most as a child and as an adult.

Past, Mental Map: Draw a detailed map of one setting that was memorable for you before age 18. It need not be technically correct; it should reflect what you remember. Consider what made the setting distinctive and memorable.

Past, Favorite Childhood Place Visualization: Take a detailed mental tour of your favorite childhood place; try to engage all your senses. This place is likely to be at a smaller scale than the last exercise. E.g., if your mental map was of a town, this may be of a house or a playground. What made this place special? What qualities from this place do you or do you want to capture in your present?

Present, Personality and Place: Take some personality test of your choice. Reflect on how your personality reflects your sense of place. If you feel your current space does not align with your personality, how can you change it?

Present, Environmental Sociogram: If you live with others, do a rough sketch of your current home. Mark each space as individual space, shared space, or public space. Is there a good balance of each type of space? How could you change this to fit the balance you desire?

Future, Special Objects Inventory: List the objects that are most special in your life and what they mean to you. E.g., photographs might represent a love of family or a connection to tradition. Consider whether or not these objects actually reflect you. What values do you have that are not represented in your special objects?

Future, Homestyle: Analyze your past and present sense of home style according to the following categories: high culture, upper middle culture, lower middle culture, low culture, quasi-folk culture, fringe cultures. Consider the similarities and differences between the style categorization of your past and your present.

Future, Creating Some Place Like Home: Consider how well your home setting, home, and special objects satisfy the different levels in the following pyramid of needs (listed from base to top): home as shelter (safety, protection), home as place of psychological satisfaction (self-expression, love, and belonging), home as place of social satisfaction (privacy, community), home as place of aesthetic satisfaction (pleasure of beauty).

I found going through these exercises to be useful. They did not reveal any profound truths, but they did help me understand some aspects of my taste. For example, none of my childhood homes had attached garages; this may influence why I think attached garages are so ugly. Two of my childhood homes had attic spaces where I had a bed room; this may be part of the reason why I find attics to be such cozy, private spaces. Nothing earth shattering, but these are still useful things to understand.

Overall, I recommend the book. I believe that I will eventually buy a copy of my own to have access to the exercises.

kitty_tape @ 2009-11-04T16:05:00

2009-11-05T00:06:58Z

You know you've forgotten high school/early college when you are reading a resume and see reference to a scholarship and think, "That looks kind of familiar. Did I get that scholarship?"

kitty_tape @ 2009-10-31T07:56:00

2009-10-31T14:59:20Z

Health insurance claim summary:

Amount billed: $34.00
Amount we paid: $4.72
Patient responsibility: $0.52

I wonder if this claim cost more to administrate than the actual amount charged.

kitty_tape @ 2009-10-30T21:01:00

2009-10-31T04:03:10Z

Note to self, in retrospect these two ways of phrasing a TODO item do not mean the same thing:

Buy 2 D batteries.

Buy 2D batteries.

kitty_tape @ 2009-10-29T13:19:00

2009-10-29T20:24:17Z

I keep trying to add Joel on Software to my RSS queue, partially because I disagree with him a lot of the time. However, it seems like every time I subscribe to the blog, I see another article on how standard university CS education is useless. I then unsubscribe, not because his views are not worth discussing, but because it makes him seem so repetitive that I just assume he has nothing new to say.

So I ask the rest of you, have I just had an unlucky set of samples or is Joel On Software really just the type of blog that keeps repeating the same few topics over and over again?

kitty_tape @ 2009-10-28T07:45:00

2009-10-28T14:48:00Z

I just have to reshare this link from iris_of_ether

What happens when two gamer anime fans get married? Awesomeness!

More details.

Toward a New Regionalism: 3/5

2009-10-24T17:37:11Z

Finished Toward a New Regionalism: Environmental Architecture in the Pacific Northwest by David E. Miller. This book describes Pacific Northwest regional architecture and its connections the environment and sustainability. The author's thesis is that PNW regional architecture has always had an aspect of environmental responsibility because of the region's strong connection to the natural world. This historic connection has expressed itself in homes that use local materials, orient themselves with respect to light and wind, and take advantage of the relatively mild northwest climate.

Stylistically, Pacific Northwest regionalism has its roots in modernism, but it eschews the extreme minimalism of modernism for a closer integration with the natural world. Thus, while you will see post and beam construction and large expanses of glass in our regional architecture, you will also see use of natural materials and buildings that try to blend with the natural environment. My non-architecturally educated intuition is that Pacific Northwest regionalism takes more after the styles of Frank Lloyd Wright than more stark modernists such as Le Corbusier.

What I appreciated most about this book was the discussion of sustainable building technologies that are applicable to the region. For example, partial earth sheltering is an effective strategy in the NW because our geography is rather hilly. Our mild climates and low light levels both contribute to making passive solar strategies more effective than active solar strategies. Bioswales and rain gardens are particularly effective in the area for obvious reasons.

What made the book less appealing to me was that it focused on non-residential buildings. I did enjoyed learning about applying sustainable strategies to all building types, but my main interest lies the architecture of the home, and I would have appreciated if there had been at least one case study which discussed how regional design strategies can influence homes.

kitty_tape @ 2009-10-19T19:39:00

2009-10-20T02:39:58Z

The heater in my hotel room seems to be unable to actually, you know, heat my room. Pity.

Real game day reminder!

2009-10-12T00:28:58Z

Don't forget that next Saturday, Oct 17 is Game Day!

Finished "test-driven development: A Practical Guide", 2/5

2009-10-04T05:31:53Z

Finished test-driven development: A Practical Guide by David Astels. The book contains three parts. Part 1 introduces the reader to test-driven development. Part 2 discusses various tools and techniques for doing TDD. Part 3 presents an extended example by going through the test-driven development of a movie rating application.

Test-driven development builds on the principle that developers should write tests before they write code. The tests determine the code that needs to be written. As a side effect, this results in a suite of programmer tests. However, the book stresses that TDD primarily exists as a development methodology, not a testing methodology. The test suite produced by this methodology should not be considered a replacement for through testing by those who have testing as their primary goal.

My detailed impressions of the book and test-driven development.

test-driven development: A Practical Guide provides a good introduction to test-driven development. It contains many useful insights and practical tips. However, I suspect that you can find more focused, up-to-date introductions to the topic than the one found in this book.

kitty_tape @ 2009-10-03T17:02:00

2009-10-04T00:20:01Z

Finished A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, and Murray Silverstein. For anyone interested in urban design, place making, or the design of interior spaces, this book is a must read, or at least a must skim.

A Pattern Language is a catalog of 253 patterns that cover everything from the layout of cities down to the layout of rooms. Some of the patterns have been criticized, particularly those dealing with the layout of cities and towns, but overall, the patterns provide a rich guide to what makes a place feel good.

Especially with regard to designing homes, A Pattern Language stands out from other books because it does not suggest one size sets all rules. A design can combine patterns in different ways depending on the specific constraints. No "look" or "style" defines a pattern built home. The authors consider some patterns fundamental enough that they should always be used (e.g. light on at least two sides of every room), but ultimately patterns define the essence of those factors which have made for good places across different eras, styles, and locales.

An online catalog of the pattners.