Category Archives: amaths-wars

Democracy 2

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You can choose whatever name you like for the two types of government. I personally call the type of government which can be removed without violence “democracy”, and the other “tyranny”.

— Karl Popper

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2011.02.15 Tuesday ACHK

Building your own brand

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Ultimately, you have to decide which is more important — building your own brand, or building the brand of the website you’re contributing to? While these two concepts are not necessarily opposed, I strongly urge everyone reading this to err on the side of building your own brand whenever possible. Websites tend to come and go; the only sensible long term strategy is to invest in something that’s guaranteed to be around for the rest of your life: you.

— Are You a Digital Sharecropper?

— programming and human factors

— by Jeff Atwood

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2011.02.13 Sunday ACHK

Nerd 4

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I thought it would be useful if I explained what a nerd was. What I came up with was: someone who doesn’t expend any effort on marketing himself.

A nerd, in other words, is someone who concentrates on substance. So what’s the connection between nerds and technology? Roughly that you can’t fool mother nature. In technical matters, you have to get the right answers.

— Paul Graham

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2011.02.09 Wednesday ACHK

Aircraft

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One of the mistakes novice pilots make is overcontrolling the aircraft: applying corrections too vigorously, so the aircraft oscillates about the desired configuration instead of approaching it asymptotically. It seems probable that investors have till now on average been overcontrolling their portfolio companies. In a lot of startups, the biggest source of stress for the founders is not competitors but investors.

— Paul Graham

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2011.02.07 Monday ACHK

The Man of Steel, 3

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During story discussions for The Dark Knight Rises in 2008, David S. Goyer, aware that Warner Bros. was planning a Superman reboot, told Christopher Nolan his idea on how to present Superman in a modern context. Impressed with Goyer’s concept, Nolan pitched the idea to the studio in February 2010, who hired Nolan to produce and Goyer to write based on the financial and critical success of The Dark Knight. Nolan admired Singer’s work on Superman Returns for its connection to Richard Donner’s version, and previously used the 1978 film as casting inspiration for Batman Begins. “They had [Marlon] Brando and Glenn Ford and Ned Beatty and all these fantastic actors in even small parts,” Nolan continued, “which was an exotic idea for a superhero movie at the time.”

— Wikipedia on Superman (film series)

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2011.02.03 Thursday ACHK

The Man of Steel, 2

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On February 24, 2010, it was announced that David S. Goyer is writing the script for a Superman film called The Man of Steel.

On March 10, 2010, Christopher Nolan himself confirmed that he and Goyer have been working on an idea for a Superman film. Nolan says, “He basically told me, ‘I have this thought about how you would approach Superman.’ I immediately got it, loved it and thought: That is a way of approaching the story I’ve never seen before that makes it incredibly exciting. I wanted to get Emma [Thomas] and I involved in shepherding the project right away and getting it to the studio and getting it going in an exciting way… A lot of people have approached Superman in a lot of different ways. I only know the way that has worked for us that’s what I know how to do.”

— Wikipedia on Superman (film series)

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2011.02.02 Wednesday ACHK

The Man of Steel

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Reboot

With the financial and critical success of The Dark Knight, Warners said of the reboot Superman film, “We’re going to try to go dark to the extent that the character allows it.” Legendary Pictures president Thomas Tull added that “Superman needs a powerful antagonist, a worthy opponent,” wanting to evoke Superman as an “angry God”.

Paul Levitz stated in an interview that Batman holds the key to the Superman reboot. He elaborated, “Everyone is waiting for Nolan to sign on for another Batman, once that happens, the release date for Superman and all other future projects will follow.”

— Wikipedia on Superman (film series)

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2011.01.31 Monday ACHK

Large organization

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Or rather, a large organization could only avoid slowing down if they avoided tree structure. And since human nature limits the size of group that can work together, the only way I can imagine for larger groups to avoid tree structure would be to have no structure: to have each group actually be independent, and to work together the way components of a market economy do.

— Paul Graham

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2011.01.28 Friday ACHK

Grown-ups

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Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.

— Antoine de Saint Exupery

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2011.01.24 Monday ACHK

Twelve Monkeys

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Themes

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Memory, time, and technology

“Cole has been thrust from another world into ours and he’s confronted by the confusion we live in, which most people somehow accept as normal. So he appears abnormal, and what’s happening around him seems random and weird. Is he mad or are we?”

— Director Terry Gilliam

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12 Monkeys studies the subjective nature of memories and their effect upon perceptions of reality. Examples of false memories include:

* Cole’s recollection of the airport shooting which is altered each time he has a dream.
* A “mentally divergent” man at the asylum who has false memories.
* Railly telling Cole “I remember you like this” when a barely recognizable Cole and Railly are seen in disguise for the first time.

References to time, time travel, and monkeys are scattered throughout the film, including the Woody Woodpecker “Time Tunnel” cartoon playing on the TV in a hotel room, The Marx Brothers movie Monkey Business (1931) on TV in the asylum and the subplots of monkeys (drug testing, news stories and animal rights). The film is also a study of modern civilization’s declining efforts to communicate with each other due to the interference of technology.

— Wikipedia on 12 Monkeys

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2011.01.23 Sunday ACHK

Intolerance for ugliness

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Intolerance for ugliness is not in itself enough. You have to understand a field well before you develop a good nose for what needs fixing. You have to do your homework. But as you become expert in a field, you’ll start to hear little voices saying, What a hack! There must be a better way. Don’t ignore those voices. Cultivate them. The recipe for great work is: very exacting taste, plus the ability to gratify it.

— Paul Graham

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2011.01.21 Friday ACHK

Inception 4.2

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潛行凶間 4.2 | 如何拯救眾生 5.2 | 無限複製 5.2

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What’s the most resilient parasite? An Idea. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules. Which is why I have to steal it.

— Inception (film)

— Me@2010.07.30

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2011.01.20 Thursday ACHK

Inception 14

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潛行凶間 14

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Repetition

Because the mind still dreams after a false awakening, there may be more than one false awakening in a single dream. Subjects may dream they wake up, eat breakfast, brush their teeth, and so on; suddenly awake again in bed (still in a dream), begin morning rituals again, awaken again, and so forth. The French psychologist Yves Delage reported an experience of his own of this kind, in which he experienced four successive false awakenings. The philosopher Bertrand Russell even claimed to have experienced “about a hundred” false awakenings in succession while coming round from a general anaesthetic.

— Wikipedia on False awakening

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2011.01.19 Wednesday ACHK

Inception 4.1

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潛行凶間 4.1 | 如何拯救眾生 5.1 | 無限複製 5.1

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What’s the most resilient parasite? A bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm?

An idea.

Resilient, highly contagious. Once an idea’s taken hold in the brain it’s almost impossible to eradicate. A person can cover it up, ignore it – but it stays there.

Information, yes. But an idea? Fully formed, understood? That sticks… (taps forehead) In there, somewhere.

— Inception (film)

— Me@2011.01.18

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2011.01.18 Tuesday ACHK