Author Archive: Paul Epps

Twitter: 2009-08-14

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$200K? That's all? The kid doesn't play hockey obviously. http://bit.ly/p0NxA via @TheOnion – Cost To Raise Child Exceeds $200,000 # RT @capricecrane: Cops called to Gosselin home, but somehow forgot to shoot Jon and Kate. What are my tax dollars paying for, exactly? # "Software Engineering: An Idea Whose Time Has Come and Gone?" by Tom DeMarco http://bit.ly/k32gm # Read more →

Control is Not Important

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To understand control’s real role [in software development], you need to distinguish between two drastically different kinds of projects: Project A will eventually cost about a million dollars and produce value of around $1.1 million. Project B will eventually cost about a million dollars and produce value of more than $50 million. What’s immediately apparent is that control is really important for Project A but almost not at all important for Project B. This leads us to the odd conclusion that strict control is something that matters a lot on relatively useless projects and much less on useful projects. It suggests that the more you focus on control, the more likely you’re working on a project that’s striving to deliver something of relatively minor value. To my mind, the question that’s much more important than how to control a software project is, why on earth are we doing so many… Read more →

Twitter: 2009-08-13

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HarvardBusiness.org: How to Innovate With Less http://bit.ly/V0upg # RT @capricecrane: Heidi Pratt claims 20-30 orgasms in a day. Less impressive when you figure she has one every time she talks about herself. # Read more →

What Was Difficult

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One friend described an interaction with Fujio Cho, former head of Toyota, visiting a plant and gently chiding people for too much attention to accomplishments and too little on struggle points. If he didn’t know what was difficult for them, he was reported to ask, how would he know where he could be of help? — HarvardBusiness.org. Read more →

Ultra Lean Planning

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I’m not wholeheartedly endorsing the Ultra Lean Planning approach but it does lead you to question how much of the overhead of traditional software development is really necessary. It may be important to know that the author is one of the top guys in the industry and not a random flake. Read more →

Cash for Clunkers

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Cash for Clunkers has the following elements of spectacle: Americans destroying perfectly functional cars Americans whose skills are uncompetitive in the global marketplace driving around in fancy new cars Somewhere in China and India they must be having a good laugh. — Philip Greenspun Read more →

Microwave Instructions

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“There are no microwave instructions,” my son says, looking over a frozen pizza box. I say, “You want microwave instructions? Put it in the oven and turn it on. Aren’t those pretty much the microwave instructions for anything?” Read more →

You Better Believe It

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These disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views–but of the facts themselves. Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American. Drowning out the facts is how we failed at this task for decades. — Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer, ‘Un-American’ attacks can’t derail health care debate   The “facts” to which they refer turn out to be not facts at all but representations about the glories of ObamaCare: “Health insurance reform will mean more patient choice. . . . Reform will mean stability and peace of mind for the middle class. . . . Reform will mean affordable coverage for all Americans. . . . Reform will also mean higher-quality care.” What, you don’t believe it? You better believe it, or you’re un-American. — Best of the Web Today Read more →

Polite Acerbity

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I am learning to bring into [my voice] that polite acerbity that makes people feel that far from being welcome they are not even tolerated and are under continual and scathing analysis at every moment. — F. Scott Fitzgerald Read more →

Twitter: 2009-08-09

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RT @paulandstorm: [S] A proper diet is half the battle: Upper GI Joe. # RT @diablocody: I used to think grownups automatically knew how to take care of themselves. Flash-forward to my squalid adulthood. # "I'm sorry but business is business." #usefulphrases # "You ought to have thought of that before you got into this trouble." #usefulphrases # "I'm not the person to see about that." #usefulphrases # Read more →

Twitter: 2009-08-05

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What's better on a hot summer afternoon — iced tea or lemonade? Thanks to Arnold Palmer, I don't have to choose! # "AA can only help weak people because their ego is strengthened by the group. I was never a joiner." — F. Scott Fitzgerald # Read more →

Helping the White House Keep an Eye on Things

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From the White House Blog: Scary chain emails and videos are starting to percolate on the internet, breathlessly claiming, for example, to “uncover” the truth about the President’s health insurance reform positions. There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care.  These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation.  Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov. Right. There’s no informed opposition to health insurance reform, only “scary chain emails” and “disinformation” traveling “just below the surface,” whatever that means. It all sounds very sinister though, so as agents of the government, we are encouraging all… Read more →

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