http://www.spencegreen.com Software, business, writing, the Arabic language, and travel. Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:10:16 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Jeff Howe's 2006 article “The Rise of Crowdsourcing” called attention to new methods of directing collaborative energy. As with any next “big thing,” the first principles from which this movement grew have been applied for some time. The field of mathematics often turns to the masses for proofs—witness the Poincaire ... http://www.spencegreen.com/2008/08/03/amateurism-out-from-under-the-shadetree/ Good writing elucidates truths that seem self-evident. Paul Graham's most recent essay resonated deeply with me not because of its originality, but because he articulated an idea--however lost in his mellifluous prose--that unconsciously motivated my recent resignation. I live in Baltimore, but Baltimore does not inspire me. It does not ... http://www.spencegreen.com/2008/06/01/why-im-moving-to-palo-alto/ The Toyota Production System (TPS) was the progenitor for a variety of change-oriented manufacturing techniques. Six-sigma, Lean, and other such constructs trace their heritage to TPS. Because Agile methodologies were influenced by "lean" thinking and an abhorrence of "Big M" processes, they too have eastern roots. For me, the allure ... http://www.spencegreen.com/2008/05/16/the-brave-new-world-briefly-revisited/ Much attention has been paid to Knuth's recent interview on Informit. The Slashdot thread shows all the signs of a flame war, and the blogosphere has evidenced a vigorous response as well. The maelstrom has two focii: Knuth's rejection of most eXtreme programming (XP) practices and his admission that he wouldn't ... http://www.spencegreen.com/2008/05/06/knuth-on-software/ A colleague wrote the following note to me today: I am trying to fathom what you have against an additional library into the architecture. The AJAX framework provided by MS$ is an additional library we have to use, there are Oracle libraries we have to use…what is the roadblock you have ... http://www.spencegreen.com/2008/03/27/an-exchange/ In his eclectic book Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman, Yvon Chouinard traces the unusual development of Patagonia from a one-man smithing operation in California to the world's leading producer of outdoor clothing. Chouinard's self-deprecating style belies his preternatural understanding of the universal human craving ... http://www.spencegreen.com/2008/02/22/the-change-champion/ Software engineers do not often have the luxury of designing new systems from first principles. It is frequently the case that they must labor through some dreary chore, such as implementing version 49 of the SuperWhamo! application, or adhering to design constraints imposed not by reason, but by suits. When ... http://www.spencegreen.com/2008/02/22/a-plan-for-software-architecture/ After reading Steve McConnell's Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art, I called a friend to discuss my newfound insight. Like a child who first learns to write his name, I circled around the central object for no less than 15 minutes. Software is hard in a "different" way! We need ... http://www.spencegreen.com/2008/02/07/the-iowa-theory/