iKJames

Spartan programming - practical minimalism in code

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:22:02 -0400

Spartan programming - practical minimalism in code:

Spartan programming main objective is minimal use of various elements of the programming language which may contribute to complexity. This programming style relies on strict self-discipline, avoiding some of the opportunities offered by the underlying language, geared at achieving the programming equivalent of laconic speech.

Spartan programming strives for simultaneous minimization of all of the following measures of code complexity:

Horizontal complexity, that is, the depth of nesting of control structures, just as the total line length.

Vertical complexity, that is, module length in lines.

Token count

Character count

Parameters, that is the number of parameters to a routine or a generic structure.

Variables

Loops, that is the number of iterative instructions and their nesting level.

Conditionals, that is the number of if and multiple branch switch statements.

Minimal: It makes sense

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 12:48:21 -0500

Minimal: It makes sense:

mnmal:

1 Kilometer = 1000 Meters
1/2 a Kilometer = 500 Meters
1 Meter = 100 Centimeters
1 Centimeter = 10 Millimeters

Water boils at 100 degrees celsius
and freezes at 0 degrees celsius.

1 Ton = 1000 Kilograms
1 Kilogram = 1000 Grams
1/2 a Kilogram = 500 Grams

You get the point. Now, let’s check…

Minimal: A word

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:27:40 -0500

Minimal: A word:

mnmal:

I still don’t understand why people get all upset about a word.

Fuck.

There. Are you upset now? I didn’t beep it, or change it or otherwise mask it. I just said it.
Here, again: Fuck.

It’s just a word, get over it and stop ruining my favorite shows and movies (especially those coming from the…

Principle of the least software

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:29:07 -0500

Principle of the least software:

mnmal:

Use only the software that you need. No more, no less. Choose one application for each task, and become an expert on that application.

Right on the center.

"Man is an over-complicated organism. If he is doomed to extinction he will die out for want of..."

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:29:03 -0500

“Man is an over-complicated organism. If he is doomed to extinction he will die out for want of simplicity.”

- Ezra Pound (via mnmal)

Say Less

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:07:14 -0500

Say Less:

mnmal:

When you say less, you emphasize more.

You may not be able to say more, but what you do say will be heard.

Half attention becomes full attention.

Scanned writing becomes writing that is read.

Discarded opinions become opinions that are taken into consideration.

Saying less increases the emphasis on what is said. Saying more increases the time, effort, and expense required to listen.

Loud communication is repulsive. Succinct communication is inviting.

You are statistically guaranteed to reach more ears by talking more; it’s easy to get attention by publishing every day. But talking and publishing every day are not the only ways to practice and improve communication.

You can write and ruminate every day without talking and publishing every day. What you do makes up the difference between receiving attention and holding attention.

Would you rather have people hearing you or listening to you?

Interesting thoughts…

This is helpful to me for my future … ikjames.me

mnmal: (photo via Presentation Zen) I agree with this....

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:07:01 -0500

mnmal:

(photo via Presentation Zen)

I agree with this. Powerpoint presentations (and more specifically bulleted presentations) tend to be to full of noise and not actionable information.

I personally prefer something along the lines of the Takahashi Method (used to some extent by Steve Jobs as well) where each slide contains a single phrase or a single word. Maybe a single image. The rest is on the presenter. You provide a simple guide about what you are talking about and the rest is on you.

I like that.

I’ve tried this approach in several presentations and people approached me after I was done to comment on how clear and clutter-free the presentation was.

Makes me realize a lot of people around me aren’t so smart, really.

Learning to Sit Alone, in a Quiet Empty Room | Zen Habits

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:06:57 -0500

Learning to Sit Alone, in a Quiet Empty Room | Zen Habits:

Can you sit alone in an empty room? Can you enjoy the joy of quiet?

Good advice for starting a Let’s Play, now to do it.

staff: Two days ago, you guys stepped up once again to show the...

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:04:34 -0500

staff:

Two days ago, you guys stepped up once again to show the world just how much we care about protecting the Internet. Together, we generated more than 140,000 calls to Senators, spent more than 4,200 hours on the phone with their staffers, and blacked out 650,000 of our blogs to make our point and inspire others to get involved. And what’s more, this was on top of the 90,000 calls we sent to members of the House of Representatives a month ago. Incredible.

It’s now becoming clear just how much impact our action is having. On January 18th, only 31 members of Congress opposed these bills. Just one day later, 101 members of Congress publicly stood with us in opposition. We are being heard.

And as of today, it looks like both the Senate PIPA and House SOPA bills have been shelved, for the moment. It seems pretty likely that the bills won’t pass as written—a big first win. We now hope that Internet companies, the creative community and the content industry join together to innovate and devise new partnerships to combat online piracy. We’re confident there are effective ways to do this without damaging the Internet or diminishing our freedoms.

You’ve made a big difference in keeping the Internet a safe and open place for creators. Thank you again.

staff: Tumblr’s Andrew McLaughlin MCing the Emergency NY Tech...

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:08:26 -0500

staff:

Tumblr’s Andrew McLaughlin MCing the Emergency NY Tech Meetup to protest SOPA/PIPA!

Photo by Craig Cannon

Minimal: Annoyance

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:27:22 -0500

Minimal: Annoyance:

mnmal:

Some of you noticed that there is a little envelope on the top right of the blog. This is a new annoying feature the Tumblr decided to force onto everyone and there is no way, so far, to disabled it.

As a result I have been receiving huge numbers of spam, messages in Russian, Chinese and other…

"Stressing about doing it the “right way” is what makes you better at “it”."

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:24:33 -0500

“Stressing about doing it the “right way” is what makes you better at “it”.”

- 35 (via mnmal)

"Why do we assume that simple is good? Because with physical products, we have to feel we can..."

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:27:08 -0500

“Why do we assume that simple is good? Because with physical products, we have to feel we can dominate them. As you bring order to complexity, you find a way to make the product defer to you. Simplicity isn’t just a visual style. It’s not just minimalism or the absence of clutter. It involves digging through the depth of the complexity. To be truly simple, you have to go really deep. For example, to have no screws on something, you can end up having a product that is so convoluted and so complex. The better way is to go deeper with the simplicity, to understand everything about it and how it’s manufactured. You have to deeply understand the essence of a product in order to be able to get rid of the parts that are not essential.”

- Jony Ive (From Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson)

(via The Russians Used A Pencil which was sent to me by Wells Baum)

Cutting the Cord on Cable | Kevin Sintumuang for the Wall Street Journal

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:27:03 -0500

Cutting the Cord on Cable | Kevin Sintumuang for the Wall Street Journal:

mnmal:

I’m quitting you, cable.

This will go easier if we can just admit it: We’re not right for each other anymore. I’m cutting the cord, getting rid of that white coaxial cable of yours and that clunky, dusty set-top box it’s connected to. This antenna, laptop and Roku box are moving into the living room with me because, well, they’re cheaper and slicker than you are—inside and out.

A really good article about the current state of cable TV and why the author decided to cut the service. It also provides all the streaming gadgets available, from Roku and the Apple TV, to game consoles and others.

My wife and I decided to cut the cable about 2 years ago. We were paying way too much for no content and for the most part we were watching series and movies rented or bought via iTunes. The cable offered those series on open (over the air) networks with another annoyance: commercials. So we didn’t see a point in paying for something we could get for less money and without commercials. So I bought an Apple TV (the original) and we’ve been enjoying the combination of Apple TV + Antenna + Netflix streaming for the past 2+ years. We pay WAY less and we get no commercials.

Life is good and simple.

We Are The 0.6%

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:18:04 -0500

We Are The 0.6%:

dinnerwithandroid:

parislemon:

Hard to pick the most ridiculous element of these updated numbers.

Is it that just 0.6% of Android users have Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) three months after it launched?

…

My unlocked GSM Nexus S (GT-I9020A) has not received the ICS update, and Google hasn’t said anything since they “paused” rolling out the updates.

But according to Google:

With this device, users will be the first to receive software upgrades and new Google mobile apps as soon as they become available.

I guess this is the winning attitude of an open platform.

staff: Awesome. This happened last night. :) Thanks for putting...

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:18:00 -0500

staff:

Awesome. This happened last night. :)

Thanks for putting this together, Frankie!
You have an amazing collection of Jon Stewart GIFs.

And thank you, Daily Show!!

biomedicalephemera: The Ornithorhynchus This illustration makes...

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:47:24 -0500

biomedicalephemera:

The Ornithorhynchus

This illustration makes me feel like I could train a platypus to beg for treats…they’d probably stab me with their venomous leg-spikes. Well, the males, at least.

Types of Animal Life. St. George Mivart, 1893.

cosmek: Munnar, India (by davе)

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:46:50 -0500

cosmek:

Munnar, India (by davе)

"Change hurts. It makes people insecure, confused, and angry. People want things to be the same as..."

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 18:18:36 -0500

“Change hurts. It makes people insecure, confused, and angry. People want things to be the same as they’ve always been, because that makes life easier. But, if you’re a leader, you can’t let your people hang on to the past.”

- Richard Marcinko, Seal Team 6 Founder (via mnmal)

designcloud: A Yoga Sand Sculpture Similar to a camera...

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:35:19 -0500

designcloud:

A Yoga Sand Sculpture

Similar to a camera capturing multiple exposures in a single image, artist Katie Grinnancreated this sculptural time-lapse of her body moving through a daily yoga routine using sand, plastic, and enamel. The end result is representative of both time and form as each split second is layered onto the last creating what is both a singular figure and many. Ginnan describes this as an exploration of “peripersonal” space. “Mirage focuses on the concept of peripersonal space, the space that your body encompasses at its most extended point in every direction, which describes the body’s potential boundary.”