From Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug:
We’re all beginners under the skin. Scratch an expert and you’ll often find someone who’s muddling through – just at a higher level.
Experts are rarely insulted by something that is clear enough for beginners. Everyone appreciates clarity. (True clarity, that is, and not just something that’s been “dumbed down.”)
I am in a hurry.
I want to learn quickly. You too?
Anything that slows me down is to be avoided.
Commas are syntax to get the reader to pause. Commas slow you down. Commas are evil.
I wonder if anyone has written a book that doesn’t use any commas?
This message doesn’t use commas. I’ll bet you were able to read it really fast.
From The Art & Science of Web Design by Jeffrey Veen:
Pattern Language is an approach to determining the ultimate “goodness” of a design solution.
The architect Christopher Alexander is generally attributed with developing the notion of the Pattern Language.
His basic premise is that we should start from the bottom and work our way up – that is, by asking questions about very simple things, we can find the best answers and combine them into complex things.
For example, take a look at a doorknob that is near you. Is there a lock? What is the mechanism for locking and unlocking it? How does the knob turn? Is it round, or more of a handle? Do you need to twist it, slide it, or push it in order to open the door?
Lots of questions. You could probably think of even more if you stared at the doorknob long enough. In fact, if you spent enough time studying the process of opening and closing, locking and unlocking doors, you could become quite an expert on doorknobs.
Once you’ve become a doorknob expert, you should be able to accurately describe how that device should work. Then, you should start studying doors. Where should the knob go? What’s the best way to hinge the door to the frame? What’s the best size for a door? Where should it go in a room? How many doors should a room have?
Now you’re starting to become a room expert. You’ll also become a window expert, and a floor and ceiling and wall expert. How should the rooms be arranged in a house? What heuristics make for a space that feels good to be in? How do you connect those spaces?
As you work from the bottom up, you’ll find yourself looking at bigger and bigger issues – like how public spaces can foster community interaction, or how city design can alleviate congestion.
—
The process of developing pattern languages isn’t confined to the world of architecture. Patterns have been developed for such disciplines as computer science and corporate organization.
Today the life expectancy is around 75 – 80 years.
In 10 years from now there will be enough advances in medicine that the average life expectancy will increase to 120 – 130 years.
Suppose that you are now 50 years of age. That means that you can expect another 70 – 80 years.
But in 70 – 80 years there will be enough advances in medicine that the average life expectancy will have increased to 150 – 160 years.
That means you will have another 30 – 40 years.
But in that 30 – 40 years there will be enough advances in medicine that the average life expectancy will have increased to 180 – 200 years.
Get the idea?
Immortality!
Consider viewing a Web page in a browser. Some Web pages use a black background, with white text. Other Web pages use a white background with black text. Which is easier on the eyes? What are the advantages of one versus the other?
“I want to write a book. But what shall I write on?“
“I want to start a business. But what business shall I do?“
These are thoughts and desires that I have felt for some time. I now believe that they are wrongly-focussed.
Instead, I should be thinking,
“How can I help? “
“Is there an area of knowledge that needs a good explanation, for which I am qualified?“
“Is there something I can create that will help people?“
Rather than focusing on myself, and the benefits I can accrue from writing a book or starting a business, I should be focusing on others, and how I can help them with a book or a business.
Should I write a book, and accrue great benefits, that is nice, but the real focus should be on how it helps others. Should I start a business and accrue great benefits, that is nice, but the real focus should be on how it helps others.
This is a profound shift in my thinking, I think.
Person 1: “Do you think a person can change?”
Person 2: “No.”
….
Person 3: “You really don’t think that a person can change?”
Person 2: “No, but I’ve seen it happen.”
– On a TV show I saw last week
My friend recently bought a sound level meter that can measure the intensity of noises and sounds.
We conducted some experiments that have really opened my eyes to how much noise we are subjected to almost continuously. We found that it is very difficult to find a place that is truly quiet. Comfortably quiet places outdoors also appear to be the exception rather than the rule in modern society.
For example, sitting outside one evening the ambient noise was measured. A car stereo, estimated to be a quarter mile distant, had the effect of raising the ambient noise level from about 60 DB to about 70 DB. While driving down the highway at 60 mph, with the windows rolled down, the sound went from about 75 DB to over 93 DB when a motorcycle passed at a distance of 15 feet. The quietest place we could find registered 38 DB on the meter. This was in a basement where no perceivable noise could be heard.
My friend told me something very interesting: he said that it appears to be impossible to achieve absolute silence (0 DB). According to this source, http://www.makeitlouder.com/Decibel%20Level%20Chart.txt, ABSOLUTE SILENCE, ATT-BELL LABORATORY “ QUIET ROOM “ 10 DB
This quote captures the situation very elequently:
“Soon silence will have passed into legend. Man has turned his back on silence. Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation… tooting, howling, screeching, booming, crashing, whistling, grinding, and trilling bolster his ego. His anxiety subsides. His inhuman void spreads monstrously like a gray vegetation. ” ~Jean Arp
Over the years I have been getting less and less sleep, in the attempt to cram more and more stuff into every day. I believe that the consequence of this is my memory has been getting worse and worse. Recently my Mother sent me an article which states that our memory connections are made during hours 6-8 of sleep. I haven’t been sleeping long enough to allow the memory connections to be made!
I’ve decided that I cannot do everything that I would like to do in life. I have given up some things so that I can get more sleep. I now make sure that I get 8 hours sleep every night. I am shooting for 8.5 hours each night.
I must say, as soon as I started getting more sleep I noticed a marked improvement in my memory.
Recently I purchased some pistachios from the grocery store. After tasting a few, I threw them out. They tasted horrible. It was clear that the pistachios were harvested a long time ago, and had been sitting around.
I would like to find a place (in the U.S.) which actually grows pistachios. I have heard that some suppliers will actually Express Mail the pistachios the very same day that they are harvested. That’s what I want. I want to be eating the pistachios within a day or two of being harvested (and I’ll freeze the rest).
Does anyone know of a supplier of fresh pistachio nuts?
