Found at http://martinfowler.com/bliki/TwoHardThings.html:
There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation, naming things, and off-by-one errors.
Attributed (sort of) to Phil Karlton.
Yes, this joke is in terribly bad taste. Yes, I'm probably un-American since I find it funny. But still...
And Mohammed Atta, the leader of the World Trade Center attack team, had a degree in architecture. I've seen this factoid used to explain that the attack wasn't actually an act of terrorism; it was an act of artistic criticism. Atta was destroying what he and many others considered the ugliest blot on the New York City skyline.
That's by jc42 from this SlashDot thread, and it is a heck of a lot funnier in context.
There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — there are things we do not know we don't know.
From Tom Stoppard's play, "India Ink":
Dilip: You have to understand that begging is a profession. Like dentistry. Like shining shoes. It's a service. Every so often, you need to get a tooth filled, or your shoes shined, or to give alms. So when a beggar presents himself to you, you have to ask yourself — do I need a beggar today? If you do, give him alms. If you don't, don't.
If you’ve ever dealt with hard-core grammarians, you know these people are prepared to kill.
I suspect most people are familiar with the "It may be a mess, but it's my mess and I know where everything is" phenomenon. That doesn't necessarily mean that items are in the best location, but at least you know which suboptimal location you chose.
:: Wendy :: told me a story some time ago about something that happened while her parents were visiting. When she returned from work, her mother said, "Oh, Wendy, darling, I reorganized your kitchen for you. You had everything in the wrong place."
Wendy's mother was trying to be helpful, but of course it was a net loss for poor Wendy, who couldn't find anything in her kitchen for weeks. Yes, there was the whole "Oh great where did my mother put my food processor?" problem, but even after she found it, the "improved" location was far worse than its original location. In fact, in many cases, it was in the exact opposite location from where it should be.
You see, Wendy is left-handed, and her mother is right-handed.
Published Tuesday, November 10, 2009 7:00 AM by oldnewthing
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