Thought Overflow...

Golda Velez

survival of the pithiest?

so high level patterns are the most durable - look at what percent of code is left from even 20 years ago; words from 500 years ago remain and are widely used "what a tangled web we weave..." quotes that use powerful imagery to communicate a complex pattern

Which story

Sometimes, it's hard for me to switch gears from something I care a lot about - launching this cooperative startup, or lobbying for these guys who are facing down dictators in Myanmar or kidnapped by thugs in Iraq - to writing python tests for a purpose that is,

That Dry Heat

I like biking in the heat. Being in touch with my body, feeling that actual need for shade and water, somehow makes me feel a bit more alive. It would be different of course if I had to do it, or if I had no shelter. But maybe because I

reputation and things

ok, just happy that Melvin Carvalho shared this with the W3C mailing list. Reputation space matters - I'm talking about human rights assertions here about bad things, how to verify and act on them - and I am really glad a few people might see this who can

Blocked - or only Stored Away

So many ideas, if I write one a day I could probably write for three months straight. But I am slow to put them out. Some because I want to really make a difference with them, and write for an audience; but finding the audience, and adding the research and

universal thoughts

So I was riding my bike back from Trader Joe's on my lunch break, and a thought occurred to me (all my best work is on a bike, or in the shower...). If the universe is close to 14 billion years old, and the furthest galaxies we can

Emerson how could you

And I thought Ralph Waldo was my friend...reading his essays for some comfort and deeper thinking and ran into one where he idolizes Napoleon. For ruthlessly killing people without hesitation. Emerson, really? What is wrong with you? So much for comforts of the past...we're gonna have

Binary Kids

This variation on Twenty Questions teaches kids a bit of information theory and lets them take a different approach to powers of 2. First, the kids should be familiar with the regular game of Twenty Questions. Then, ask as an open-ended question: "Suppose instead of the whole world. you

1/3

Here is another opportunity for discovery: one-third. For kids who have learned how to divide and get decimals (or show a child briefly who has learned long division and knows what decimals are). Ask simply, what is one-third in decimal? The discovery that 1/3 = .33333333... the repeating decimal, is

Zeroth Power

For kids who have been introduced to exponents but haven't been taught specifically about what it means to take 'N to the zero power', this is an opportunity for a small 'Aha!' moment. If a child already knows what is ten to the 2