Why we even bothered to leave the trees

“But you are telling me, Susan, that the ‘Society for Humanity’ is right; and that Mankind has lost its own say in its future.”

“It never had any, really. It was always at the mercy of economic and sociological forces it did not understand — at the whims of climate, and the fortunes of war. Now the Machines understand them; and no one can stop them, since the Machines will deal with them as they are dealing with the Society, — having, as they do, the greatest of weapons at their disposal, the absolute control of our economy.”

“How horrible!”

“Perhaps how wonderful! Think, that for all time, all conflicts are finally evitable. Only the Machines, from now on, are inevitable!”

And the fire behind the quartz went out and only a curl of smoke was left to indicate its place.

~ Asimov, Isaac. "I, Robot". pp. 147-148. Available online: http://ekladata.com/-Byix64G_NtE0xI4A6PA1--o1Hc/Asimov-Isaac-I-Robot.pdf

Pull the Lever

Blew up one of my development systems today by pushing the checkbox that says something else but means "Definitely blow up the system."

In software engineering, this image continues to be useful.

(A major part of the art of software design lies not in knowing what features to add, but what features to remove or omit).

On Videogames

Me, an intellectual: "Videogames are simulation engines where people derive pleasure from the stimulus-response loop of acting within the parameters of that simulation. It tickles the same pleasure centers that evolved to ensure our early-sapient ancestors were rewarded for getting better at hunting a day's meal beyond the calorie intake."

Shigeru Miyamoto, an actual game designer: "The plumber's best friend is a dinosaur and he rides the dinosaur because how cool would it be if your best friend was a dinosaur you could ride?"